|
2006 Malaysia GP
Team Quotes - Sunday 19 March
The 2006 Malaysian GP was an historic race for the Renault F1 Team, as drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso took the team's first ever one-two since Renault returned to the sport as a works manufacturer in the 2002 season, and only the second one-two finish in Renault's Formula One history, the last occasion being at the 1982 French Grand Prix.
Giancarlo Fisichella bounced back in style from a disappointing retirement in the Bahraini Grand Prix seven days ago, controlling the Malaysian Grand Prix from start to finish. Running a two-stop strategy, the Italian made a perfect start from pole position and did not put a foot wrong all afternoon. He pitted on laps 19 and 38, and ran an otherwise untroubled race as his R26 car and RS26 V8 engine did not miss a beat.
Fernando Alonso started from a lowly seventh position after problems in qualifying, but much of the disadvantage had been eradicated by the time he reached turn two. A lightning start, and a daring outside pass on both Williams drivers under braking into the first corner, meant the Spaniard emerged from the opening corners in third position. After holding off the lighter Williams of Mark Webber during the opening laps, and conserving his tyres for what would be a very long first stint, the Spaniard began to show the true pace of the R26. His two-stop strategy saw him visit the pits on laps 26 and 43, as he vaulted ahead of Jenson Button's Honda into second position, which he held comfortably to the flag.
The Renault F1 Team leads the Constructors' Championship with 28 points from the opening two races. Fernando Alonso heads the Drivers' Championship on 18 points, while Giancarlo Fisichella is fourth on 10 points. The RS26 V8 engine has also taken both race wins under the new V8 regulations, and Fernando Alonso's engine completed its first two-race life with a total of 18 points scored from a possible 20.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: This was a fantastic performance from the whole Renault team. Every single member of our team put in an exceptional performance today. Fisico and Fernando were fantastic. Giancarlo controlled the race, and Fernando amazed us at the start. The car was so heavy, that to do what he did into turn 1 was something special. I think this performance shows that we interpreted the rules for 2006, with the new V8 engines, in the right way. We have a great group of people, and everybody is pushing in the same direction. I am very happy for the whole Renault Group today, and they should be proud to have an incredible team like this one.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: We had a fantastic amount of success last season, but the one-two finish eluded us throughout 2005. It is the ultimate team prize, and we are delighted to have achieved it today. What a fantastic result this was for Giancarlo. We saw yesterday that he has real strength of character, as he bounced back from a disappointing weekend in Bahrain, and this just reinforces that. It was a controlling and compelling performance. It is important not to forget Fernando, who was disadvantaged in qualifying by a team problem. He fought through the field to make the most of his race, as he always does. This is a team result, and belongs to every single person at Enstone and Viry.
Team McLaren Mercedes driver Juan Pablo Montoya finished today's 56 lap Malaysian Grand Prix in fourth place. Juan Pablo was on a two-stop strategy coming in on laps 23 (8.3 seconds) and 42 (7.0 seconds). Kimi Raikkonen was hit by Christian Klien's Red Bull on the opening lap of the race which damaged his rear suspension and caused him to retire. Track conditions were very warm with air temperatures reaching 33 degrees centigrade, track temperatures at 37 degrees and 62% humidity. Juan Pablo remains fifth in the Drivers' standings with nine points and Kimi is sixth with six. Team McLaren Mercedes is joint second with Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship with a total of 15 points.
Ron Dennis: "Kimi being taken out in the first lap and Juan Pablo's first stint tyre graining problems masked our true competitiveness. We also had to sacrifice some downforce to improve the cooling efficiency of the car. The whole team is looking forward to the scheduled improvements to both the car and engine, which should make us even more competitive in two weeks time. Unlike many teams, we have enjoyed good engine reliability which also supports our positive expectations for Melbourne."
Norbert Haug: "Kimi was pushed out in the opening lap and we missed him a lot in this race. Our reliability was there and Juan Pablo drove a solid race. I would like to thank everybody in the team in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart for all their efforts over the last busy month to create this level. Our engines ran fine in both races within a week's time. We have a solid basis, however we definitely want to do better and we will continue to work hard."
Jean Todt: "Considering all the problems that we've had over the weekend, today our objective was to bring home some points and that's what we achieved. The team and the drivers worked well as did the Bridgestone tyres. Today it was very difficult for us because Michael, on a two-stop strategy was starting from 14th place on the grid and Felipe 21st, was on a one-stop strategy. The seven points that we've picked up – four with Felipe and three with Michael - are very important in as far as future prospects are concerned in that we're only at the start of the season. I'm very pleased for Felipe because he deservedly got his first championship points as a Ferrari driver. Now we have to work very hard in all areas so as to improve our competitiveness and reliability."
Ross Brawn: "Obviously this result isn't too bad considering how we qualified. The tyre performance was consistent and this proves that we chose the right compound, especially in the first stint. Michael didn't quite have the pace in the second stint so we need to understand exactly why. That's why he lost the ground to Felipe and Heidfeld."
Panasonic Toyota Racing capped off a promising weekend with its first point from 2006 in today's Malaysian Grand Prix under the sweltering skies of Sepang. After showing strong potential in qualifying, yesterday's engine failure demoted Ralf Schumacher to the back of the grid but he battled strongly on a three-stop strategy on his way to 8th place. Jarno Trulli suffered a broken diffuser early on and thus endured a difficult afternoon's work. Nevertheless he ended up only one place further back, just outside the points. The Toyotas have shown improved pace this weekend but there is still a lot of work to do. Both Ralf and Jarno are scheduled to test at France's Paul Ricard circuit next week as the team aims to make further gains on its early season performance.
Tsutomu Tomita – Team Principal: "That was obviously a much better performance over the whole weekend and a strong performance in the race thanks to a significant improvement in the combination of our car and our Bridgestone tyres. That gives the whole team a very high motivation which is the most important thing that we could gain here. Of course we are delighted that Ralf scored our first point of the year. Ralf was originally scheduled to do two stops but because of high pneumatic consumption we had to switch him to a three-stop strategy. So to score points from last on the grid is especially impressive due to that fact. Jarno struggled with a diffuser that was damaged early on, which meant he really struggled for race pace but he still finished 9th so those are very encouraging results. The team deserved that result for all their hard work, but now we must start pushing to get on the podium. We will go to Paul Ricard next week to test further development of our combination with the Bridgestone tyres in preparation for the next race and then the start of the European season. We will keep pushing hard as we seek further success."
Sam Michael, Technical Director, WilliamsF1: "It was a shame that we had two DNFs with the cars after a promising start. Both cars got off the line well until the first corner when Alonso went round the outside of both of them. Nico's engine failed early in the race, then we had a problem on Mark's car with the hydraulics - he developed a leak that we couldn't fix in the pitstop and the car stopped about a lap and a half later. It's a disappointing end to the weekend, but car performance-wise we could have been solidly into the points looking at everyone else's pace and we'll go to Melbourne with fixes to these problems with increased determination."
Bernard Ferguson, Cosworth: "With it being the second race for the Cosworth CA2006 V8 engines in both cars, we knew it would be tough, especially in the hot conditions. Unfortunately Nico's engine expired on lap 7 due to an as yet undiagnosed problem. We need to get the failed engine back to our Northampton headquarters as quickly as possible so we can analyse the failure."
The Honda Racing F1 Team were back on the podium today after Jenson Button finished the Malaysian Grand Prix in third position. From second on the grid he was embroiled in a race-long battle with Renault, holding P2 until Alonso squeezed out ahead of him after the second round of pitstops. Today's result boosts Jenson's points tally to 11 after two rounds of the Championship, which puts him equal second with Michael Schumacher in the Drivers' standings.
Rubens Barrichello had a disappointing end to a difficult weekend, finishing 10th after incurring a stop-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane when he had been looking good for points.
Gil de Ferran: "We are happy with our first podium of the year. Jenson fought hard all afternoon but in the end we lacked a little pace and he lost some time in traffic during crucial periods of the race, especially around the second stop. Rubens was on course to be fighting for points, but unfortunately got a 10 second stop-go penalty for a pit lane speed violation. Another good note was the reliability of the engine, which in its second race showed no problems in dealing with the hot conditions we have encountered in Malaysia. We are certainly encouraged by our performance so far this season, but at the same time are determined to make further improvements and bring us closer to the fight. Let's see what Australia brings."
Shuhei Nakamoto: "Aside from the problem with Rubens yesterday, which necessitated an engine change, we have been encouraged by the engine performance in the first two races. We have two weeks to improve for the next race in Australia and will be working hard in testing and with the data we have gathered here to do our best for Melbourne."
If our Red Bull Racing boys thought they were on for a nice afternoon in the warm heat of Malaysia watching the Grand Prix on their garage plasma screens, they soon found out different… You'd think a team owned by a drinks manufacturer would be able to deal with hot weather, but strangely enough this was the first time that neither car made it to the flag since last year's Hungarian Grand Prix, the other notoriously hot race on the calendar.
Just one lap into the race, Christian Klien made his first pit stop following an incident with Kimi Raikkönen and had to be pushed into the garage for repairs. Soon after Klien re-joined the race, his team-mate DC, who had made an excellent start, came in to the pits and was taken into the garage with a hydraulics failure. Christian then returned to the garage with a suspension problem. Coulthard was forced to retire, while Klien made it back out on track, before also retiring with a similar hydraulics problem.
Christian Horner, Sporting Director: "It's disappointing to have both cars retire here. Christian got involved in an incident on the first lap with Kimi Raikkönen, which caused him to pit for some suspension repairs, but we elected to put him back out in order to gather more information and learn a little bit more about RB2. Unfortunately David had a hydraulics failure. After Christian had completed several more laps, a similar problem occurred on his car. The one positive thing to take away from the race is that the performance and pace of both cars looked very competitive. Christian was doing good times with heavy fuel and David also looked competitive. It's a great shame, but we'll fight back at the next one."
Strong performance and first championship points for the new BMW Sauber F1 Team. Nick Heidfeld drove an impressive race in the PETRONAS Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang, before an engine failure cost him fifth place. Jacques Villeneuve finished seventh and thus collected two championship points.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): We are happy with the first two points for the new team, which we earned in the home country of our premium partner, Petronas. However, overall we are disappointed. Nick was in an excellent position to finish fifth until his engine failure intervened. We had already used that engine in Bahrain, and it will now be analysed in Munich.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis): Our cars demonstrated strong performance today, which mirrored what we had expected after practice on Friday. It was a thrilling race for us, particularly for Nick who was able to keep both Ferraris behind him after his second stop. Unfortunately, he was unable to finish the race so instead of five points we only collected two. Both drivers did an excellent job and those two points are the reward for the team.
MF1 Racing made an encouraging return to form in Sepang on Sunday.
Both cars took the chequered flag - in 12th and 13th positions, respectively - and displayed the reliability that had been the team's hallmark in 2005.
The team returns to action at Melbourne's Albert Park street circuit for the Australian Grand Prix on April 2nd.
Colin Kolles, Managing Director: "I'm pleased that we were able to overcome our reliability issues, which was a positive sign. Our pace was not so bad either, compared to where we were last year. What's more, we were actually getting faster toward the end of the race, so we're continuing to make improvements all the time. We still have a lot to learn about this young car, and there is a lot of room to explore its potential."
Adrian Burgess, Sporting Director: "It was satisfying to have our first double-finish of the year after the problems we had in Bahrain. We were forced to make manual starts with both cars, which compromised our eventual finish quite heavily. As a result of that, we got stuck behind some slower cars off the lights, but after that, we had pretty good pace for the rest of the race. Both our guys drove brilliant races. The pit stops, the cars and everything else ran fine for the rest of the race. We just have to work on the reliability issues that we had with the driveshafts and get our starts back to normal. We know what we have to do and we should have some new parts for Melbourne."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "If Tonio had not had to pit after the opening lap, I think he could have maybe finished a couple of places higher up. Scott did not finish because of what looks like a failure with the clutch lever on the steering wheel. What we can learn from this weekend is that if the works teams sort out their problems, we will struggle to finish in the top twelve. Williams also look extremely competitive, so it will be very difficult to pick up points this season. We have to up our game, do a really good job especially in qualifying, because if we get into the top ten on the grid, we might bring home some points."
Takuma Sato and Yuji Ide drove a solid race for the Super Aguri team in Sepang today. During what was only the team's second grand prix, they were able to challenge for position and contribute to an exciting, action-packed Malaysian race.
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal: "I think that the team did a great job during the pitstops and Takuma had a great race. He made a good start today and had better performance than we thought we could achieve from the current chassis. Unfortunately Yuji had a similar mechanical problem to the one he suffered in Bahrain and stopped once again before the checkered flag - but I think that he drove very well today. I am very happy that we have completed our second race and I am very much looking forward to traveling for round three in Australia next week."
A notoriously tough Malaysian Grand Prix took its toll on the Bridgestone runners today in sweltering conditions but Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher and Toyota's Ralf Schumacher battled through to take valuable points. For the Williams team in particular it was a day of unfulfilled promise as engine and hydraulic problems put an end to their race. Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg had started from the second row of the grid and were running a strong race up with the front runners until their early demise potentially robbed them of podium places. In fact, engine problems seemed to compromise the progress of several Bridgestone runners this weekend. Both Ferrari drivers and Toyota's Ralf Schumacher had been penalized ten places on the grid following engine changes earlier in the weekend. Massa started from 21st and Michael Schumacher from 14th on the grid while his brother Ralf started from the very back, making their points scoring finishing positions significant achievements. The Bridgestone teams now head for Melbourne where the Australian Grand Prix will be held in two weeks time.
Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport: "It was a shame not to make the podium today but both Ferrari drivers and Toyota's Ralf Schumacher scored points. We could see from Ralf's pace during the race that Toyota is steadily improving as they become more familiar with the Bridgestone tyres and I believe they will show their true performance as the season progresses. It was not a good day for the Williams drivers who stopped due to engine and hydraulic problems respectively but I am sure that if they had continued the race we would have seen the strength of the Williams package. Felipe Massa did a good job to finish fifth with a one-stop strategy. It was good to see how adaptable the Bridgestone tyres were this weekend, being able to support one, two and three-stop strategies, which is not easy in these hot conditions. Michael had a longer first stint than Felipe and although he pushed very hard to gain positions in that first stint he couldn't keep up the momentum. He did finish sixth however. From our point of view it is clear we had the right tyres for this weekend and once things start to come together for our teams in all areas of their packages we look forward to seeing their competitiveness increase. It was also good to see the two Midland drivers and Takuma Sato in the Super Aguri bring their cars home. This provided them with valuable track time and good car and tyre data, all of which will help improve their overall packages."
Ross Brawn, Technical Director – Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: "Considering our starting positions today it was a reasonable result. We're generally happy. The Bridgestone tyres were consistent. We certainly chose the right compound – which we saw in the first stint. Michael, however, did not seem to have the same pace in the second stint and we shall need to understand why that was the case."
Mike Gascoyne, Technical Director, Chassis – Panasonic Toyota Racing: "Clearly we managed to get the Bridgestone tyres working better this weekend. Qualifying was disappointing and we could have achieved a better grid position. We are very pleased with the race pace and Ralf was able to push when we switched to a three-stop strategy. To score points from the back of the grid is encouraging. We had no issues with the tyres and we are happy with the level of performance."
Giancarlo Fisichella maintained Renault's winning start to the season with a measured drive to victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix. After qualifying his Michelin-shod RS26 on pole position, the Italian led from the start and maintained his advantage throughout the 56 laps.
His championship-leading team-mate Fernando Alonso made a bright start from eighth place on the grid to seize third place on the opening lap, and he eventually worked his way up to second to complete a team one-two.
The Renault F1 team's executive engineering director Pat Symonds said: "We had a fantastic amount of success last season, but the one-two finish eluded us throughout 2005. It is the ultimate team prize, and we are delighted to have achieved it today."
Alonso netted the race's fastest lap to complete Renault's perfect weekend. He leads the world title chase by seven points after two of the 18 races.
Jenson Button qualified on the front row alongside Fisichella and ran second for much of the race, but he was unable to keep Alonso at bay during the final round of scheduled pit stops. "I lost quite a bit of time behind lapped traffic," he said, "and that cost me dearly."
Even so, the Englishman finished well clear of Juan Pablo Montoya. The McLaren challenge was diluted on the opening lap, when former Malaysian GP winner Kimi Raikkonen spun into retirement moments after a collision with Christian Klien. The incident also ended the Austrian's chances of a strong result.
As the race entered its closing stages, Michelin was set to complete a clean sweep of the top five positions, but engine failure forced Nick Heidfeld to retire with just seven laps remaining. His team-mate Jacques Villeneuve salvaged a couple of points for seventh, however.
Of the remaining Michelin runners, Rubens Barrichello proved his tyres' durability by running the longest stint of the race – 31 laps – although he was subsequently penalised for speeding in the pit lane when making his only scheduled stop.
That dropped him to 10th in the final standings, ahead of Tonio Liuzzi. Liuzzi had to make an unscheduled stop for a replacement nose after clipping another car on the opening lap.
Scott Speed ran strongly in midfield for much of the race, but eventually stopped with a suspected clutch problem, while David Coulthard made a fantastic start from the back of the grid – the consequence of an unscheduled engine change – but dropped out with a loss of hydraulic pressure after 10 laps.
Nick Shorrock, Michelin F1 director: "We passed with flying colours. This was always going to be a challenging race in the fierce heat– but Michelin passed with flying colours. Our partner teams did an excellent job in terms of preparation and strategy – and the result speaks for itself. But for the unfortunate first-lap incident that befell Kimi Raikkonen and Nick Heidfeld's engine problem, the outcome might have been even more convincing. "We ran three different types of tyre in the race and two of them featured inthe top three. Irrespective of strategies, all our tyres demonstrated a great blend of performance and consistency – a tribute to all the hard work that our engineers and six F1 partners carried out during the winter. This is a very pleasing result."
Pat Symonds, executive engineering director, Renault F1 Team: "Faultless! Sepang places enormous stresses on tyres, with its blend of intense heat, long corners and various traction events. Michelin worked hard in every area over the winter and the long stints we ran today were a real test. Michelin's tyres were faultless and allowed us to stick to our chosen strategies and kept the pace. There were no significant changes in balance or performance throughout the race."
|
