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2008 Grande Premio do Brasil
Team Quotes - Sunday 2 November
Felipe Massa won the Brazilian Grand Prix and Kimi Raikkonen finished third. Thanks to this result, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro has won the Constructors' Championship for the sixteenth time, the eighth in the last ten years. Felipe took his eleventh win from 106 race starts, the second in his home race. For Ferrari this is win number 209 from 776 Grands Prix entered and the tenth in this race. The Ferrari drivers finished second and third in the Drivers' Championship, the Brazilian just missing out on the title by a single point.
Stefano Domenicali: "It was an incredible day and we are happy with what we have achieved. Eight out of ten: that was the target set us by President Montezemolo at the start of the season and we achieved it, at the end of a difficult, complicated and incident-packed season. The entire team, both at the track and back home always work with great intensity and it deserves to be congratulated for this. Of course, there is disappointment that we did not get to see Felipe realize his dream, especially given how the race turned out, but I think that nevertheless, days like this are important. Felipe has grown so much, year after year, demonstrating his talent and personality, answering his critics with his driving and with his mind. He has had an amazing season and would have deserved the title. That's sport, it can sometimes be cruel. Last year we won the Drivers' title by a point and this year we lost it by one. I wish to congratulate Hamilton, the new world champion. In conclusion, I wish to thank first and foremost, President Montezemolo, who is always close at hand, especially in the most difficult moments. Then I also thank our technical and commercial partners and of course, the FIAT Group, of which we are proud to be a part."
Luca Baldisserri: "Last year we won both titles at the last race and this year we lost one, with just a few metres to go. We had a perfect race, without making the slightest mistake in difficult conditions, with the rain playing its part at the start and at the end. Once again, we have won the Constructors' title which is in itself a great achievement. It confirms that this team, considering also all the changes it has undergone in the last two years, is still the best. I wish to congratulate Felipe, for yet another amazing race: he has had a fantastic season, as a driver and as a person."
The BMW Sauber F1 Team had a disappointing final to what was a very successful season. At the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica finished tenth and eleventh. For the first time since 34 races (2006 Brazilian Grand Prix) the team failed to score in a race. Kubica finished fourth in the championship behind Kimi Räikkönen, with both of them having scored 75 points. Heidfeld is sixth in the final standings, with 60 points. In the Constructors' championship the BMW Sauber F1 Team is third.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): "As last year, it was a dramatic final. Lewis Hamilton clinched his title literally on the last kilometre of this race - congratulations, also to Ferrari! For our team it was a disappointing finish to a very strong season."
Willy Rampf (Technischer Director): "For our team this was an end of season to forget. With Robert we gambled at the start with dry tyres, but the track was too wet. Therefore he pitted immediately for a tyre change, and after this found himself at the end of the field. From here there was nothing he could do. Nick lost position right after the start. Even pitting earlier than others at the end of the race did not change the situation. Nevertheless it was a very successful season for our team, and this race doesn't change this. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and to Ferrari for winning the championship."
The ING Renault F1 Team made the most of an exciting Brazilian Grand Prix as Fernando Alonso finished in second place to end the team's season on a high. But the joy was tempered by the retirement of team-mate Nelson Piquet from his home race.
Rain showers hit the Interlagos circuit shortly before the start causing a ten minute delay to the race and forcing the whole field to start on wet weather tyres. While Fernando enjoyed some combative opening laps, Nelson's race was short-lived as he fell victim to the poor conditions, retiring on the opening lap.
As the track continued to dry, Fernando opted for an early switch to dry tyres on lap ten, rising to third as the rest of the leading pack followed suit. A second stop on lap 40 saw Fernando fuelled to the finish as he emerged in a solid second place when the final pit stops shook out. A late race rain shower made for an exciting climax as Fernando pitted for wet weather tyres to hang on to second place until the flag.
After the team's strong end to the season and a comfortable fourth place in the constructors' championship, the team now looks forward to the upcoming winter tests as preparations for 2009 continue.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director ING Renault F1 Team: It's a super result and a great way to end the season so a big thanks for the whole team. Our second half of the year has been superb and in the last eight races Fernando has scored the most points of anyone. It was important to show to Renault that we could fight back and I'm proud of the efforts of the team this year. Congratulations also to Fernando and Nelson for the job they have done this season.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: What a fantastic way to finish the season, not just for the team but for Formula 1. Our result today reinforces the fabulous job our staff have done over the year. We now really look forward Australia 2009. Congratulations to Ferrari and Lewis.
In front of packed grandstands, today's Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos delivered a thrilling Championship decider and produced a new British World Champion in Lewis Hamilton. Predicted rain fell earlier than anticipated when a heavy shower drenched parts of the circuit before the formation lap and delayed the start by ten minutes. Both AT&T Williams drivers were subsequently caught up in a first corner incident prompted by the wet conditions, although neither suffered terminal damage. From 18th on the grid, Nico Rosberg climbed six places over the course of the race, finishing the last Grand Prix of 2008 in 12th. Driving an accident damaged FW30, Kazuki Nakajima crossed the line in 17th place. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton on his maiden Drivers' crown and to Ferrari for another victory in the Constructors' Championship.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: Well done to Lewis for what I suspect will be the first of many Championships! It was an interesting race for both our cars; there was potential, but ultimately no points today. Both drivers had decent starts and Nico gained several positions around the outside at Turn 1. Unfortunately, Kazuki was hit from the side and then spun but luckily the damage was not terminal.
Although we have had some strong races this year and a couple of podium finishes, development of the FW30 was not enough to remain competitive. Reliability was again solid, with only one mechanical DNF in 36 starts. Some time ago, we arranged our internal resource to concentrate on development for ‘09. Everyone at the factory is now fully focussed on next season in order to ensure we have a much more competitive car next year taking into consideration the new aerodynamic rules, slick tyres and KERS. Thank you to all our staff, partners and technical partners for their efforts this season.
Christian Horner: It's a great shame for David to be eliminated from his last Grand Prix at the first corner, but he can look back on a long and illustrious career where he's achieved a great deal. He now moves on to a different phase in his life and will continue to have a close relationship with Red Bull Racing. We're looking forward to working with him outside the cockpit. Mark drove a good race in difficult conditions. We took the opportunity to fill the car at the first stop and he didn't make any mistakes throughout. We also elected, like several others, to use intermediate tyres for the last few laps, but unfortunately ninth place is a frustrating position to finish. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton on his first World Championship. The team has worked incredibly hard throughout the season and despite a frustrating second half, we can look forward with optimism.
Fabrice Lom, Renault, Principal Engineer, Track Support: What a final, the Championship was incredible and lasted until the last corner. Congratulations to Lewis, I think he deserved it as he drove well all season. It's a shame for Massa, he drove well also, but at least he won in front of his home crowd today. Looking to us, it was a dramatic last Grand Prix for David, who only did one corner. I'm so disappointed for him. Mark had a very good race, but unfortunately he didn't score any points, so we are seventh, not a good result, but we will bounce back for next year.
Tadashi Yamashina - Team Principal: "It's good to finish the season with both cars in the points even if that was a mixed day for us. Timo drove very well and his strategy paid off in these uncertain conditions. He stayed out on dry tyres at the end but just failed to hold on to fourth place. Clearly we came in with high hopes for Jarno after his excellent qualifying yesterday but the weather didn't work in his favour. There was a problem at his first pit stop and he lost some time, so that cost him position. He did well to score a point in difficult conditions. Overall it is good to finish a positive season for us with a double points finish. We are happy with the progress we have made but our ambitions are higher than this and we want to make more progress. Now we can head into the winter with confidence that we can take another step in 2009."
Franz Tost: Both drivers made a good start: Vettel was fifth, Bourdais eighth. Lap 9 saw the first pit stop for Vettel, a short one to keep him ahead of Alonso, which worked well, although as he stayed out longer than us, he got us back. In the openingl laps Seb drove very well, first of all pushing Massa and then keeping Alonso behind him, without making any mistakes. Towards the end he passed Hamilton and Glock in very difficult track conditions. Bourdais was unlucky to collide with his old friend Trulli! This cost him the chance to score another point for us. It's a shame the season is ending because, for the last few races Scuderia Toro Rosso has shown a very strong performance and we would have liked to continue in this manner. The team did a fantastic job and ran an effective strategy today. I thank both drivers, well done to the entire team, both here and back in the factory and thanks also to Red Bull. We are already looking forward to the 2009 season.
The 2008 Formula One World Championship reached its conclusion this afternoon in Brazil, where the Honda Racing F1 Team's RA108s came home in 13th and 15th positions. Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button both improved on their 15th and 17th grid positions to give the team its 10th two-car finish of the year.
A thrilling season-finale had everyone guessing before it had even begun, when a rain shower on the grid forced the start to be delayed while the cars switched to wet weather tyres. Both Honda drivers then made good get-aways and managed to steer clear of trouble at the first corner, where David Coulthard ended his final Grand Prix in the barrier and brought out the Safety Car.
The race restarted at the beginning of lap five with Rubens in 11th place and Jenson in 14th. Rubens lost a position to Nick Heidfeld on lap six and on the following lap Jenson became one of the first drivers to pit for dry tyres. Rubens switched to dries on lap nine and the Honda drivers circulated in the midfield for the middle segment of the race.
On lap 33 Jenson made his second pitstop, from which he rejoined in 15th place. Rubens made his second stop on lap 40, emerging just ahead of Jenson. They changed positions at Turn 1 on lap 43 and circulated in formation until Jenson made his third pitstop on lap 56.
Rubens pitted for what should have been the final time on lap 64, just as rain was starting to fall again and Jenson followed a lap later, both cars switching to extreme wets. Just four laps from the end, Rubens was forced to pit again after his tyres completely overheated because they did not suit the conditions, making this a busy day for the pit crew who performed eight faultless pitstops.
Sum up your final race of the season today?
Ross Brawn, Team Principal: The sudden shower just prior to the start of the race set the tone for what was always going to be a very exciting race here today. We fitted the standard wet tyres, which was the correct choice by the time we began the race following the delayed start. When the conditions improved, we were amongst the earlier cars to stop for dry tyres and both drivers gained positions because of that. In the ensuing laps, the cars were running together and being held up in traffic so we decided to pit Jenson early and split the remainder of the race, leaving Rubens running to plan. In the end, as the race continued to unfold, this strategy favoured Rubens. With the advancing rain at the end of the race we pitted both cars and fitted the extreme wet tyres. This was a large roll of the dice in anticipation of a potentially torrential downpour which, had it paid off, could have moved us much further up the field. Unfortunately the level of rain did not exceed the limits of the standard wet tyre that everyone else had opted for, however from where we were in the field it was a risk we could afford to take. Today we close the book on a difficult season for our team and look forward to concentrating all our efforts on 2009. Finally, I would like to congratulate Lewis Hamilton on winning the Drivers' Championship and Ferrari on securing the Constructors' title. It has been a very exciting season for the sport and today's race was a fitting finale to a fantastic championship fought with a great spirit."
The Force India Formula One Team suffered a frustrating end to its debut season in today's Brazilian Grand Prix. Points looked tantalisingly close for Giancarlo Fisichella, who had made an inspired early call to change to dry tyres on lap two following the heavy rain on the grid. The Italian was catapulted up the field to third position when the rest of the field pitted some five laps later and he held a points scoring finish until his first pit stop on lap 38. An undetected clutch problem however led to two stalls in the pit and Giancarlo dropped from the sharp end of the field to the rear. Undeterred, he continued to push until the end to finish a disappointing 18th.
Adrian Sutil put in a steady performance in the chaotic rain-soaked race, making no mistakes in the changing conditions. The German finished his second season of F1 in 16th overall.
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer: 'First and foremost congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for winning his first World Championship in such difficult conditions. For us, it was a disappointing end. Giancarlo drove a fantastic race after he made the call to stop and go onto dry tyres. It was very wet on the main straight and through sector one, so we were taking a risk but it was the right call and he drove a very, very competitive first stint. We would have scored points, which would have been an apt result for what's been a difficult season. Unfortunately in his first pit stop Giancarlo had a clutch problem and had a series of stalls, which dropped him right down. Adrian drove a steady race and fended off Kubica for the greater part of the race to get a finish in the final event of the year. Thanks to all the team at the track and back at base. Although we do not have any points, everyone has worked very hard.'
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director: 'All our congratulations to Lewis and to McLaren for clinching the championship in such dramatic fashion. It would have been a dream result for us to get points in our last race of the year and for some time it looked like that dream would come true. Unfortunately it just did not go our way, but we showed we could make the calls and race competitively. I would like to thank my team, my drivers and all our valued sponsors for sticking with it, not losing faith and pushing right until the very end. We know things can only get better now.'
In one of the most dramatic finishes to a world championship ever, Lewis took the title by a single point after securing fifth position on the final corner of the final lap of the final race of the 2008 season. Lewis finished the year with 98 points, one point ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who won his home race at Interlagos this afternoon.
Heikki Kovalainen finished seventh - a result that helped the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team to second in the constructors' championship with 151 points. Ferrari amassed a winning total of 172 points.
At the age of just 23 years, 10 months and 26 days, Lewis is the youngest champion in Formula 1 history. He takes McLaren's 12th drivers' world title, and the third for the McLaren Mercedes partnership, which won the drivers' title in 1998 and '99 with Mika Häkkinen.
Ron Dennis: "Well, that was a really tough race. We never pushed hard, we never did anything silly, but of course the late rain made things extraordinarily tense. Even so, even when Sebastian got past Lewis, we never gave up, and Lewis never gave up, because we knew that Timo was on dry tyres. Lewis took his chance brilliantly, and the result was one of the most thrilling finishes in sporting history. I'm so proud of Lewis; I'm so proud of the team; everyone - every single one of them - did an absolutely fantastic job. Thanks, also, to Mercedes-Benz and all our partners - and, last but not least, congratulations to Ferrari on winning the constructors' championship."
Norbert Haug: "I am really, really happy for all of us at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. Everybody in the team worked so hard throughout the year. Thank you all, guys. Lewis finally won the title with one point ahead of Felipe Massa after he lost it by one point last year to Kimi in his first one in Formula 1. Congratulations to him. Lewis showed a very disciplined race today and I can imagine how hard it was for a driver like him who wants to win every race that he had to drive carefully to just get the necessary points. Congratulations to Ferrari on the constructors' title; this was a truly remarkable year for Formula 1."
Lewis Hamilton has been crowned 2008 FIA Formula One drivers' champion after finishing fifth in a nail-biting season finale played out in Sao Paulo for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Felipe Massa won the race and looked set to become champion with Hamilton only re- gaining the fifth place to win the title within sight of the finishing line.
Massa won by over thirteen seconds from Fernando Alonso with Kimi Raikkonen finishing a further three seconds behind. Sebastian Vettel finished fourth ahead of Hamilton whilst Timo Glock took sixth. Heikki Kovalainen finished seventh and Jarno Trulli took the final championship point with eighth.
The drivers' championship went in Hamilton's favour with 98 points to Massa's 97. Raikkonen was tied on 75 points with Robert Kubica but the out-going drivers' champion takes third position through virtue of more race wins. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro won the constructors' championship with 172 points to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes' 151. The BMW Sauber F1 Team finished third with 135.
Today's race was an epic conclusion to a thrilling season. Rain fell just before the scheduled start meaning the start was delayed by ten minutes. All drivers started on Bridgestone's wet tyre, but the rain proved short-lived and drivers were soon making pit stops for Bridgestone's dry tyres. In the final ten minutes of the race the rain started again leading to a flurry of activity as competitors pitted to return to the wet tyres.
Glock did not make a final stop for wets, opting to remain on the dry tyres, but was unable to keep fourth place and was passed by Vettel and Hamilton a handful of corners before the chequered flag, meaning Hamilton won the championship. The race's fastest lap, a 1min 13.736secs, was set by Massa using the medium compound on lap 36.
Bridgestone's Potenza Formula One tyres will next be in test action at Barcelona on November 17-19. Two compounds of 2009 specification slick tyres will be available for teams as will one compound of the 2008 specification grooved tyre. The next Grand Prix is scheduled to take place in 21 weeks' time at Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix on March 27-29.
Hiroshi Yasukawa, Director of Bridgestone Motorsport: Congratulations to Felipe Massa and Ferrari for a fantastic race win, and congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and McLaren Mercedes for winning the drivers' championship. This was a superb way to end a great season and not many races have been as exciting as we saw today. Bridgestone celebrated its 200th Grand Prix this year. Ten years ago we celebrated the first drivers' and constructors' world championships won with our tyres when Mika Hakkinen and McLaren Mercedes triumphed, so it is an honour to see Lewis Hamilton win the drivers' title using our tyres today. Lewis has driven with Bridgestone tyres for most of his career, from the early days in karting, through the GP2 Series to Formula One. We also celebrate the eighth constructors' championship won using our tyres by Ferrari and this is a momentous achievement. This was the first season where we have been the Official Tyre Supplier to Formula One and we offer our thanks to all teams and organisers around the world, the FIA and all of our Bridgestone personnel in Formula One and around the world.
Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development: Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for winning the 2008 drivers' championship. Congratulations also to Felipe Massa for winning his home Grand Prix and well done to Ferrari for winning the constructors' championship. We are very appreciative of the fine battles we saw on track today in a very exciting race. The weather was crucial and it made for difficult tyre choices for competitors. Everyone started on the wet tyre then opted for the dry tyres for their second stint. The race pace was very good in the conditions and the rain at the end made it very interesting indeed. Looking back over the season I am very happy with Bridgestone's participation. We have enabled very close competition throughout the year and there were no tyre defects. Thank you to all Bridgestone staff and all competitors. We now look forward to the 2009 season and a return to Bridgestone slick tyres.
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