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2006 United States GP
Team Quotes - Sunday 2 July
The Renault F1 Team endured its toughest race weekend of the 2006 season today in Indianapolis.
Run in sweltering temperatures at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the US Grand Prix proved tough for the Renault-Michelin package, with neither Giancarlo Fisichella nor Fernado Alonso able to keep the pace of their Ferrari rivals. The Renault drivers finished the race in their starting positions, scoring a total of ten points to bring the team's total from its North American campaign to 25 points – compared to zero in 2005. The team now enjoys a 26-point advantage over Ferrari in the constructors' championship, while Fernando leads the drivers' championship by 19 points. Giancarlo's strong podium finish has elevated him to third position, on a total of 43 points. After a run of four successive victories, today's result only strengthens the team's determination to bounce back even stronger at the next event, its home race in Magny-Cours.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: Today was not our day. The competition was too strong for us, and the maximum we could have got from the race was eleven points. In the end, we scored ten, so we limited the damage as much as possible. Giancarlo did a fantastic job to finish third, it was everything we could ask of him today. Fernando never got the car to his liking all weekend, but still scored valuable points. The team has done a great job during two difficult races in North America, and we all go to France determined to win again at our home race – and extend our advantage in the championship.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: It was great to see Giancarlo on the podium, after a very strong race on a day when our competitors were clearly quicker than us. Fernando struggled with the car this weekend, but we did as much as we could to limit the damage in terms of the championship. Track temperatures were in the 50s this afternoon, and on a circuit that demands so much from the tyres, Michelin responded in a conscientious manner. We may not have won this race, but we can still hold our heads high and they, like us, will be determined to bounce back on home territory in Magny-Cours in two weeks' time.
Team McLaren Mercedes drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya both failed to finish today's United States Grand Prix after an incident in the second corner of the opening lap. Both cars were on one-stop strategies which the team considered the best option strategy wise.
Ron Dennis: "We have looked at our data and the footage from various cameras and it's clear that as is often the case with accidents several things happened in close sequence. Heidfeld heavily squeezed Button, who squeezed Juan Pablo. Prior to those cars touching Juan Pablo ran into the back of Kimi who was making every effort to keep out of trouble. Inevitably the team feels intense frustration and disappointment when its cars are eliminated as a result of touching each other. However this was a racing incident and should be treated as such."
Norbert Haug: "To lose both cars at the second corner is obviously a nightmare. Sorry to all the spectators and team members, we all would have loved to contribute to a good race. We will be testing next week in Jerez in Spain to get focused for the French Grand Prix."
Third win and first one-two finish of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. This is the twelfth win for the Prancing Horse in a Grand Prix held in the United States, the sixth at Indianapolis, number 186 from 733 races. For Michael Schumacher this is his eighty seventh win from 242 Grand Prix starts, the fifth at this circuit.
Jean Todt: We have been dreaming of a result like this for a while now and finally it has come. After an extraordinary qualifying yesterday, we knew that if all the pieces of the jigsaw – reliability, consistent performance from the Bridgestone tyres, the work of the drivers and the team – fitted together, we were capable of getting the job done and that's what happened. After the strange 2005 race, run in circumstances that we don't want to go over again and won by Ferrari on a Technical Knock Out, today we repeated the result by being superior to all our rivals. This is the best possible start to the second half of the season and a one-two finish is a further encouragement to tackle the eight remaining races in the best possible way.
Ross Brawn: Everything went to plan today. It all felt good, especially on the tyre front, from the first day when they already delivered the grip we needed. We had seen some tyre graining at first, but this disappeared in the race. In fact the Bridgestone tyres were perfect and they allowed us to have an easy weekend and an easy race. The team and drivers did a great job. Put all those elements together and you get a performance like the one we saw today. We had a few races where it went the wrong way and today the momentum came back to us in a substantial way. I was surprised at the gap to the Renaults, but I don't think this is an indication for the future. I think the remaining races will be much closer. Now we have to keep the impetus going: in Magny-Cours, good tyres will once again be important and we will also have some improvements to the car that I am optimistic about. 
Panasonic Toyota Racing will tonight begin its journey back across the Atlantic Ocean with five points in the bag after Jarno Trulli took 4th place at today's US Grand Prix. On a scorching hot day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the race was interrupted by an accident at the first corner that took seven cars out of contention. Jarno faced the toughest of afternoons, starting from the pit lane after the team changed his rear suspension following yesterday's problem in qualifying. But the Italian made the most of the early laps and was up to 8th place by lap 10. Running on a one-stop strategy he made up more ground and his finish added to his points from Canada last week. Ralf Schumacher started 8th on the grid and he was able to avoid the carnage at the start. He ran another strong race and held 5th place when he was forced to retire with a bearing failure on his front left wheel just ten laps from home. The Toyota team is next scheduled to test at Spain's Jerez circuit this week in preparation for the French Grand Prix in a fortnight's time.
Tsutomu Tomita – Team Principal: "First we are delighted that the American race fans saw a proper F1 race today. For Toyota, Jarno made an exceptional race from the pit lane. But he was confident before the race because our car was obviously fast this weekend. We went for a one-stop strategy because he was starting so far back and our Bridgestone tyres looked so consistent. Everything went well for him – including the accident and the safety car period – but his pace was very strong throughout the race even on heavy fuel loads. In the end we were fighting Fisichella and though we lost third by a couple of seconds we are very happy. Of course it hurts that we had another retirement with Ralf. It's a pity that he had a wheel bearing failure because he ran a very good race. Despite the fact that he was held up behind Barrichello early he was still able to pass Alonso at the last stop. So we need to work hard to improve our reliability. But our pace shows that we are getting nearer to the top cars. We must now push to continue our development programme so we can catch them. We haven't given up on our aim of winning our first race this season."
Sam Michael, Technical Director, WilliamsF1: "This race was disappointing for us with Mark once again falling victim to a mistake by another driver and Nico finishing just outside the points. Nico's car was mechanically sound and Bridgestone supplied a good tyre, so it is clear we need to make significant improvements. We will bounce back."
Sean O'Mahony, Principal Engineer - F1 Race Engineering, Cosworth Ltd: "It was disappointing to see Mark leave the race so early and disappointing not to have achieved a points finish with Nico, despite having attempted to extract the maximum from his engine today."
Rubens Barrichello ended an action-packed United States Grand Prix in 6th position today, securing much-welcomed championship points for the Honda Racing F1 Team. His team-mate Jenson Button was caught up in the first lap drama which took out no fewer than 8 cars in a race which ultimately saw the field decimated by more than half. Just 9 drivers out of 22 took the chequered flag after 73 laps of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Jenson was hit by Juan Pablo Montoya on the left rear wheel, which in turn launched him into Nick Heidfeld. He returned to the pits where the team worked furiously to try to repair the damage but despite their best efforts, Jenson was forced to retire.
Despite their disappointment that only one car finished the race, the Honda Racing F1 Team were encouraged by an otherwise positive weekend. Rubens and Jenson now head to Jerez where they will take part in a three-day test to prepare for the French Grand Prix in two weeks' time.
Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "We have mixed feelings about today. Rubens drove a hard race pushing all the way to collect our first points since Monaco. Jenson unfortunately got caught out in the first lap incident and as a result of the damage incurred, we had to retire the car. Overall this was a much more competitive race for us than of late, although we continue to set our sights higher. We are testing in Jerez next week to evaluate improvements for the next round where hopefully we can continue our progression."
Christian Horner: After a fair bit of chaos on the first lap, David emerged unscathed and, focusing on a one stop strategy, drove another strong race. In a car that was difficult to handle on heavy fuel, he delivered when he needed to and was able to go longer than all the others before his first pit stop. Thanks to some great work from the team today, a great pit stop and a good strategy, we managed to get David out in front of both Rosberg and Liuzzi. From that point on he was able to pull away and finish seventh. Congratulations also to Toro Rosso on gaining their first point.
After a good qualifying performance the BMW Sauber F1 Team left the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday empty handed. Nick Heidfeld had moved up to seventh after the start when he was involved in a first corner accident. His car rolled several times, but the German escaped unhurt. Jacques Villeneuve was also seventh when he retired on lap 24 with an engine failure.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): A strong qualifying was followed by a disappointing race. It looks as if Indianapolis for BMW is always associated with some special drama. At the first corner Nick was already involved in an accident. The crash wasn't his fault and ended with the car rolling over several times. Luckily he wasn't hurt. On Jacques' car we had a sudden engine failure. We will only be able to analyse in Munich what caused this failure. In Magny-Cours we have to try and regain some lost ground.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director Chassis): Obviously it is a great pity that both cars retired here. Nick had a very good start, but unfortunately his race was over in the first corner. Also Jacques was well placed when he retired. Our strategy would have worked out.
What began as an encouraging weekend for MF1 Racing at the U.S. Grand Prix ended with retirements for both Tiago Monteiro and Christijan Albers, marking the first time this season that both drivers were eliminated from the same race.
Tiago Monteiro's M16 suffered extensive sidepod damage as the result of a shunt, while Christijan Albers' car suffered a terminal transmission problem.
The team now returns home to Silverstone for a test on Friday, July 7th, in preparation for the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours in two weeks' time.
Colin Kolles, Managing Director: "One day, the luck will be on our side and we will score some much-deserved points. Unfortunately, it didn't happen today because of race incidents."
Dominic Harlow, Chief Race and Test Engineer: "It was a thoroughly disappointing afternoon. Obviously, with the number of cars that were eliminated during the race, we could have perhaps hoped for something to come out of it. All in all, we've just got a lot of damage and possibly a transmission-related issue with Christijan's car, which led to his eventual retirement. Tiago, uncharacteristically, found himself caught up in a racing incident that prevented him from continuing. That's all there is to say about this afternoon. Now, we have look forward to testing next week and pressing on with our developments."
Johnny Herbert, Sporting Relations Manager: "It was very disappointing to have that situation on the first lap. From what we've seen, it just looked like a racing incident, with lots of cars squeezed together and it was just unlucky that Christijan sustained some damage in the fray. And then, on the re-start, Sato clobbered into the side of Tiago, so that put paid to his race. It was a very messy, unfortunate result for us, because we had a good start to the weekend but, disappointingly, we didn't finish that way."
Gerhard Berger: A positive day. A shame for Scott as the accident was not his fault and he had done a great job in the first corner, when he got into a really good position. I am very happy that we have our first point. We have been trying very hard and finally we have done it. It was a tough race and even if lots of cars went out, we competed with Red Bull, we competed with Rosberg. And well done to the whole team: pit stop, strategy, everything went really well. Everyone did a great job.
The US Grand Prix weekend ended in disappointment for the Super Aguri Team. Franck Montagny’s race ended before it had begun when he made unavoidable contact at the start of the race during an incident at the first corner that wiped out a total of seven cars. Takuma Sato made a good start off the line and was running in 11th position when the safety car was deployed. At the restart Taku made an over taking charge beside Monteiro (Midland) who then closed the door across him, forcing Taku off the track at turn one.
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal: It was a very bad day for us. Franck could not manoeuvre to avoid the accident at the start as it happened right in front of him. Taku was running in a good position when he tried to overtake Monteiro who then closed the door in front of him. I don’t know who was at fault there, but what matters is that both of our cars were out at the beginning of the race and that is extremely disappointing.
Bridgestone shod Michael Schumacher, Felipe Massa and Jarno Trulli gave their teams and fans a US Grand Prix to remember this afternoon while Bridgestone is celebrating the seventh Indianapolis GP victory on its tyres in as many years. The Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers took a dominant 1-2 podium result edging them closer to their rivals in the constructors' championship while Panasonic Toyota Racing took points for a fourth place finish. Once off the front row of the grid the Ferrari pair was unchallenged as they two-stopped their way to victory in front of the delighted US crowd. Trulli meanwhile made maximum use of the consistent performance of his Bridgestone tyres this weekend to one-stop his way from a pitlane start to fourth. His teammate, Ralf Schumacher, had also looked set for a top five finish before cruelly being sidelined by a mechanical problem. For the remaining Bridgestone runners it was unfortunately not a weekend to remember with only WilliamsF1's Nico Rosberg crossing the finish line just out of the points in ninth.
Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport: I'm delighted with today's result! This means a great deal to all the Bridgestone staff around the world and I must especially thank our tyre servicing and engineering staff both in the UK and in Japan. It was a very tough race with track temperatures of 49 degrees Celsius but the Bridgestone tyres performed just as they were supposed to, enabling Ferrari to take a 1-2 finish and Toyota's Jarno Trulli to take some valuable points. Bridgestone would have had four cars in the top five had Ralf Schumacher not had to retire shortly before the end - he was desperately unlucky. Nevertheless we had three cars in the top four, one of whom started the race from the pitlane. It was a clear indicator of the performance edge the Bridgestone shod cars had this year. We had no tyre problems during the race which was very satisfying, showing we could produce both a safe and high performing tyre. The Williams team will be disappointed I'm sure with their result but we will do our best to help them be competitive in the second half of the season. We now go into the hottest part of the European F1 season, which will be tough, so we want to make sure our tyres continue to have performance and durability for remainder of the races. But, I must say I am very satisfied with our tyre performance today.
Bridgestone Team News Ross Brawn, Technical Director – Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: The Bridgestone tyres were perfect today! We saw on Friday they would go well here. It turned out we were really quite dominant today and were able to have a smooth race. Everything worked really well: the tyres, the car, the drivers - they were all great. When all these factors come together you get the performance we had today. This result has helped to hold back the tide. We've had a few races which have gone the wrong way but things are coming back to us now. We just need to keep the momentum going.
Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis – Panasonic Toyota Racing: This was obviously a very strong race from Bridgestone, but that was no surprise because we knew the tyres were consistent. That's why we were able to go for a one-stop strategy with Jarno. Yesterday we also saw that the grip was good so it was no surprise that it was a very strong Bridgestone weekend.
Giancarlo Fisichella was the leading Michelin finisher in today's United States. The Italian drove a strong race to finish third, behind the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa.
It was a tough race for Michelin, which lost six of its leading cars as the result of a multiple accident at the first corner. About 10 drivers were caught up in the incident and Nick Heidfeld was launched into a series of rolls. McLaren Mercedes drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen were also eliminated, as were fellow Michelin runners Christian Klien, Scott Speed and Jenson Button. Button rejoined after being involved in the initial mêlée but had to retire soon afterwards.
The Safety Car was deployed for six laps while the wreckage was cleared and Fisichella was trapped initially behind team-mate Fernando Alonso, who made a good start from fifth on the grid to pass third-fastest qualifier Fisichella at the original start. As the race settled down, however, Fisichella moved back ahead of Alonso and took a comfortable third place, well clear of Jarno Trulli.
Alonso slipped behind Trulli, who started from the pits and gained ground with a single- stop strategy, but fifth place keeps the Spaniard 19 points clear of Schumacher in the title race with 10 of the 18 races completed.
Rubens Barrichello, David Coulthard and Vitantonio Liuzzi also scored points on Michelin tyres – a world championship first in Toro Rosso's case. Coulthard underlined Michelin's durability by running a 47-lap opening stint – the race's longest by a margin of four laps.
It proved to be a race of real attrition, with just nine of the 22 starters still running at the end, but Jacques Villeneuve (BMW Sauber F1 Team) was the only Michelin driver to retire for reasons unrelated to the opening-lap pile-up. He was lying seventh when his engine failed on lap 24.
Michelin is now preparing for its home race, at Magny-Cours on July 16, and will be evaluating tyre compounds and constructions in a test at Jerez, Spain, this week.
Nick Shorrock, Michelin Formula One director: "The tyres we brought this weekend were designed to give us a combination of durability and performance. We succeeded handsomely in the first part of our quest – witness David Coulthard's 47-lap stint – but, for once, we fell short in the second. As always, though, we'll learn lessons from what happened and put them into practice at future events.
"There have been a number of positives this weekend. The public enjoyed a g ood show and the atmosphere at Indianapolis has been fantastic since we first arrived. Despite losing six cars as a result of the first-lap pile-up, five Michelin drivers from four partner teams finished in the top eight – and I'd like to compliment Scuderia Toro Rosso on scoring its maiden championship point.
"Our immediate focus now is the forthcoming Jerez test, where we will be evaluating tyres for the French Grand Prix. Weekends like this serve as a spur to everybody at Michelin and I expect us to be back to our customarily competitive best at Magny-Cours."
Pat Symonds, executive engineering director, Renault F1 Team: "A circuit as demanding as Indianapolis– particularly when track temperatures get into the fifties – requires a lot from the tyres. Michelin responded to this in a conscientious way and while we may not have won this weekend, we can still hold our heads high. Just like all of us at Renault, Michelin will be determined to bounce back strongly at their home race in Magny-Cours."
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