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2008 Formula 1 ING Magyar Nagydij
Team Quotes - Sunday 3 August
Six points for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro in the Hungarian Grand Prix, thanks to a third place for Kimi Raikkonen. Felipe Massa had to retire with engine failure when leading three laps from the flag. After eleven races this season, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro still heads the Constructors' classification on 111 points, while Kimi and Felipe are second and third in the Drivers', 5 and 8 points respectively off the leader.
Stefano Domenicali: Today we showed the worth of our team and our drivers, but we lacked the total reliability which is absolutely vital. Felipe drove possibly the best race of his career and we are very disappointed about what happened to him just a handful of kilometres from the end. He made an amazing start, attacking at the right moment and then he was comfortably managing his race in the final stages heading for a well-deserved victory. Kimi's race was compromised by his poor qualifying result yesterday: when you start further back it's hard to climb up the order. He was stuck behind Alonso for much of the race, but when he finally had a clear track ahead of him, he showed all his and the F2008's potential. We have to react to this negative moment in our usual way: with grit, determination and with everyone playing their part. We have three weeks of hard work ahead of us to be as well prepared as possible for the European Grand Prix.
Luca Baldisserri: It hurts to see a car stop with a failure just a few laps from the end when you are solidly in the lead. It's a real shame, because Felipe drove an extraordinary race: a perfect start, always a fast pace and a great management of the situation in the final stages. Kimi was behind Alonso for two thirds of the race and only when he had a free track ahead of him was he able to show what he can do. Today, we showed our package is up to the job in terms of performance, but we lacked the necessary reliability. We must continue to work to improve still further, as indeed our competitors are doing. We can expect some weeks of hard work ahead of the next race where we want to achieve what slipped from our grasp today in the very last moments.
A single point is the scant booty for the BMW Sauber F1 Team after the Hungarian Grand Prix. Although Robert Kubica had a good grid position (4th) he finished eighth and only just made it into the points. Nick Heidfeld's chances were very limited anyway as he was 15th on the grid. A one stop strategy elevated him to tenth.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): We were completely off the pace during the race. Neither driver was able to do the lap times we expected after the sessions on Friday and Saturday. It was the same on both tyre compounds. The reason for that is currently not clear, but we shall analyse everything. Congratulations to Heikki Kovalainen for his maiden win in F1 and, of course, Timo Glock for his strong weekend, crowned by finishing second.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): Of course we are very disappointed with today's performance. Now we need to analyse why we were not able to match our qualifying performance during the race. We shall do this in the factories in Hinwil and Munich because, due to the testing break, we are not able to test before the next race in Valencia in three weeks.
The ING Renault F1 Team came away with a double points finish today as Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet finished in 4th and 6th places respectively in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Both drivers made good starts with Fernando gaining a place to run in a solid 6th position during the early stages, wile Nelson enjoyed a combative opening lap to remain in the top ten during his opening stint.
Fernando held ground during the first round of pit-stops as he waged a race-long battle with the Ferrari of Raikkonen, while Nelson took advantage of a longer first stint to play himself into contention and into the points.
As the race unfolded, both drivers continued to race competitively, running long middle stints to minimise their time on the super-soft tyres. They emerged from their second pit-stops in 5th and 7th places, before gaining another position following Massa's retirement.
Having scored 8 points this weekend to move up to 5th in the constructors' championship, the team now heads into the summer break and will reconvene in Valencia for the European Grand Prix in three weeks time.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director ING Renault F1 Team: Today's result is a solid and encouraging one for the whole team. Our two drivers did a great job and we are now ready to continue pushing hard in the second half of the season to finish in fourth place in the constructors' championship.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: It's a great result for the team and probably our best race of the year. Both cars had to race hard and we had to think our way carefully through to the end of the race. The results and points achieved today are a good reward for lots of hard work in the team and at the factories.
Altogether a trying weekend for AT&T Williams at the Hungarian Grand Prix with neither driver able to collect points. From the outset, the team struggled for pace at the Hungaroring. Coupled with a mechanical problem for Nico in qualifying and weak starts on both cars, Rosberg and Nakajima were on the back foot going into a Grand Prix on a circuit renowned for its limited overtaking opportunities. Nico finished the race where he started in P14, despite losing time in the pits following a problem with his fuel rig. Kazuki's afternoon was no less difficult, but was somewhat alleviated by a change to his strategy mid-race, which helped put him in 13th place at the chequered flag.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: Being a track like Budapest, it's extremely difficult to overtake, especially when everyone gets stacked up behind one another. We didn't have a good first lap, with both cars losing positions. We also had a problem with the fuel rig on Nico's car, which dropped him behind Kazuki, whose strategy we had changed. Difficult race, but we'll look forward to the next one. During the break before the next couple of Grands Prix, even though we're in a balancing act of developing the 2009 car with improving this year's car, we'll still be working hard on the FW30 in order to make progress in the remaining races.
Christian Horner: A disappointing race. Unfortunately we just weren't fast enough and it was a circuit that didn't play to our strengths. Our nearest rivals both had respectable scores today, but we'll be pushing hard to recover lost ground in the remaining races.
Benteyn Pierre-Emeric, Renault, M Webber Engine Engineer, Track Support: We're disappointed not to score any points this weekend. We'll continue working hard to find more performance in our package and will fight hard to come back soon.
Tadashi Yamashina - Team Principal: "I really can't find the words to celebrate this result, the best of our season. We had a few difficulties in practice but during qualifying the drivers pushed themselves to the limit and things got better and better. Today Timo did a fantastic race. We saw immediately that his car was quick and and his third stint was almost perfect. He was under threat from Kimi but he was quick in the third sector and he was able to fend him off. Jarno was quick as well and pushed hard but he was blocked for most of the race he couldn't show his pace until briefly in the last stint. So this is a stunning performance and my thanks go out to the whole team and everyone working in the factory. I'm very appreciative of all their hard work and next we will aim for the centre of the podium."
Franz Tost: There can be no excuses: this was a bad weekend for the whole team. It seems that Budapest is not Vettel's place as we had technical problems on Friday and this continued in the race, as he had to retire. At this time, we are not exactly sure what the failure was, but we suspect it was due to overheating. As for Bourdais, he made a good start, moving up from 19th on the grid to 16th. Then, at his first pit stop on lap 32, we had a problem with the fuel system which caught fire. Fortunately it was extinguished in time, but the problem reoccurred at his second stop. On this occasion he had to make a further stop to have the extinguisher foam removed from his visor as he could not see. We must now carry out a full investigation of all the problems on both cars, after what was a very disappointing weekend for the whole team.
The Honda Racing F1 Team's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello brought their cars home in 12th and 16th places respectively in today's Hungarian Grand Prix. Whilst the team were unable to add to their points tally today, the weekend has brought a small step forward in terms of performance following the introduction of new car developments.
At the start, the clean side of the grid proved to hold a big advantage. Rubens made a strong get-away from 17th to be 13th by Turn 1, while Jenson got bogged down in the dust surrounding his 12th place grid position and ended the opening lap in 14th place.
Running on the prime tyre, both drivers were held up by Heidfeld for the early stages of the race. Jenson made his first pitstop on lap 32, from which he emerged in 15th place. Rubens' first stop a couple of laps later proved to be the defining moment of his race because he was delayed by a problem while refuelling and dropped to 19th position. Both RA108s were once again on Bridgestone's harder tyre for this middle segment of the race and both lapped consistently and quickly, as they had on their long runs during Friday practice.
The team's second and final pitstops passed smoothly when both drivers switched to the option tyre. Jenson stopped on lap 52, rejoining the race in 13th place; Rubens stopped two laps later and ran in 17th position until the chequered flag on lap 70.
No points today but there were still signs of progress this weekend?
Ross Brawn, Team Principal: "Today's race was never going to be easy from our grid positions. From the first lap both drivers were held up by Heidfeld who was running on a different strategy and this prevented them from using their true pace. The new developments that we brought to Hungary have definitely helped us to improve the performance of the car. As is always the case though, the rest of the field isn't standing still and we do not yet have the pace to score points on our own merit."
With three weeks before the next race and the traditional August break, does car development effectively come to a stand-still?
RB: "Far from it. It's true that the break will give the Race Team members some well-earned respite from what is a fairly gruelling schedule, however the staff at our bases in Brackley, Bracknell and Tochigi will all be pushing on to help us improve our competitiveness for Valencia."
Giancarlo Fisichella took a hard-fought 15th position in today's Hungarian Grand Prix following a close battle with the Williams of Rosberg and Nakajima and the Honda of Barrichello. The Italian moved up three positions from his starting slot and enjoyed a race-long battle with his closest rivals in the searing conditions of the Hungaroring.
Team-mate Adrian Sutil also raced competitively until the closing stages, however his Hungarian Grand Prix was compromised early on as a result of a brake problem. The same issue later led to a puncture and his subsequent retirement just eight laps from the end of the race.
The team now has a short break in advance of the European Grand Prix in three weeks' time.
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer: 'An exciting race for our guys, with both driving very good races under the circumstances. Giancarlo lost a position at the start but both drove good first stints. We put them on slightly different strategies, with a short middle stint for Adrian and a longer one for Giancarlo. We were able to jump some people in the pit stops with Giancarlo, and although he just wasn't able to hold it in the final pit stop, at least we were able to race with the group in front. Adrian had a brake problem very early on, which meant we had to wind his brake balance forward and ultimately he had to stop with a puncture caused by this brake failure. While it's disappointing not to get two cars to the finish, we can be pleased with the team's performance and both the drivers who all pushed very hard this weekend.'
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director: 'I think we can be pleased with the team's performance this weekend. On a track where qualifying often determines the finishing position, Giancarlo was able to improve three positions on his starting position through a combination of a bold strategy and his own very polished overtaking maneouvres. Adrian also looked to be racing competitively, despite the problems that started very early on for him. While it's disappointing to not get two cars to the finish, again we raced very well and finished in front of cars yet again. We're looking forward to the European Grand Prix now where I hope the introduction of the seamless shift gearbox will move us ever-closer to the midfield.'
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Heikki Kovalainen took his first Formula 1 victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix today. Heikki finished 11 seconds clear of Toyota's Timo Glock after leader Felipe Massa (Ferrari) retired three laps from the chequer. His win marks the third successive victory for the team and makes Heikki the 100th Formula 1 winner since the World Championship began in 1950. Lewis finished fifth after pitting early to change a damaged front tyre on lap 41.
Both drivers were on two-stop strategies: Lewis stopped on laps 19 (9.4sec) and 41 (8.8sec), while Heikki pitted on laps 21 (9.9sec) and 48 (6.8sec).
After 11 races, Lewis maintains his overall lead in the drivers' championship with 62 points. Heikki remains sixth with 38 points. In the constructors' championship, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has moved up to second position with 100 points. Ferrari still leads with 111 points.
Ron Dennis: "One of the oldest motor racing phrases ever coined is: To finish first, first you have to finish.' Hackneyed it may be, but it's true nonetheless. Even so, you have to feel sorry for Felipe, who did a very good job. But Heikki drove superbly, scoring his first grand prix victory in fine style and converting his excellent qualifying pace, which has been apparent all season, into a thoroughly well deserved win.
"Lewis's race was compromised by his losing the lead at the start; but we fuelled him long for the second stint and therefore believed he was well placed to leapfrog Felipe in his final pitstop. Sadly for him, though, it wasn't to be: damage to his front-left tyre cost him that victory chance. However, from Lewis's perspective, as bad days go, it could have been a lot worse. But today was Heikki's day, and a very good day it was, and everyone at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is absolutely delighted for him."
Norbert Haug: "I'm sorry for Felipe and Ferrari. Lewis had bad luck with the tyre, Felipe with the engine. Heikki's first win is sensational and he deserves it. We are obviously successful with our Finns; first Mika, then Kimi and now Heikki. Without the damaged tyre, Lewis also had a chance of victory; until then his race went according to plan and his strategy with a later second stop could have put him ahead of Felipe. Congratulations to Timo and Toyota on their second place - today Timo kept the world champion behind him. The podium showed again that the fight for the World Championship will remain very exciting. During the so-called summer break, we will continue to work hard to be well prepared for the next race on Valencia's street circuit which will be new for everybody."
Heikki Kovalainen has won his first Formula One race after an exciting and tension-filled Hungarian Grand Prix, round eleven of the FIA Formula One World Championship.
Kovalainen used a soft soft super soft tyre strategy at the Hungaroring near Budapest to take the top step of the podium in his 28th Grand Prix. The race had looked to be going the way of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver Felipe Massa, until he retired from the lead with just three laps remaining and scored no points.
Massa had led the field after overtaking pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton at the first corner and the duo maintained an advantage at the head of the field through much of the race. On lap 41, Hamilton suffered a deflated tyre, the exact cause of which is being investigated by Bridgestone and the team, which meant an early pit-stop from second position. Although this affected his strategy, he was able to fight back to finish in fifth.
Timo Glock crossed the line in second place, 11 seconds behind Kovalainen. Kimi Raikkonen finished in third place and also set the race's fastest lap, using the super soft compound in his final stint to achieve a 1min 21.195secs. Fernando Alonso finished in fourth, 1.4 seconds ahead of Hamilton.
Sixth position went to Nelson Piquet, Jarno Trulli finished in seventh and Robert Kubica scored the final point.
Leaving Hungary, Hamilton continues to lead the drivers' championship with 62 points from Raikkonen on 57. Massa is in third place on 54. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro lead the constructors' championship with 111 points, whilst Vodafone McLaren Mercedes have moved into second place on 100 points. The BMW Sauber F1 Team are in third on 90 points.
Formula One now takes a brief break until the European Grand Prix on 22-24 August at the new street course in Valencia, Spain. Bridgestone's soft and super soft compound Potenza tyres will be used, in what is Bridgestone's 200th Grand Prix since entering the sport in 1997.
Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development: Congratulations to Heikki Kovalainen for scoring his first Grand Prix win, and also to Timo Glock for achieving his first F1 podium finish, especially after his accident in the last race. Performance from both compounds was good and the super soft was faster when we saw more rubber laid on the track, as we saw from Kimi Raikkonen's fastest lap. The super soft also performed well in the case of David Coulthard, who used it to run a long first stint, starting the race with a heavy car. Regarding Lewis Hamilton's tyre deflation, we are still investigating the reason for this as it is not immediately apparent from initial analysis, however a puncture from a sidewall cut looks to be the probable cause.
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