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2008 Gran Premio de Espana Telefonica
Team Quotes - Sunday 27 April
Third win and second consecutive one-two finish of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, with Kimi Raikkonen on his second victory in first place and Felipe Massa second. This is win number 204 from 762 Grands Prix entered by Ferrari, the seventeenth from 126 races for Kimi.
Stefano Domenicali: "We are obviously delighted with this result, the best one possible. It comes as a result of the work done in preparing for the race throughout the weekend and I want to thank the whole team, both those who are here at the track and those back in Maranello, for their efforts. We have to continue in this way, paying great attention to every little detail. We are up against very strong opponents and it takes just the slightest thing for a good result to slip through ones fingers. We are leading both championships and we have to keep on down this path."
Luca Baldisserri: "A very satisfying one-two, the second of the season. Usually, the Spanish Grand Prix is the litmus test for the pecking order down the grid after the first run of races outside Europe: from what we saw, it seems we are maintaining a slight advantage, which means we can be reasonably confident about the rest of the season, as long we don't make any mistakes and continue to develop the car. All the same, this race was very closely contested. All key elements worked well – the team, the drivers, the car – and when that happens, the results follow. We have to continue like this."
The BMW Sauber F1 Team ended up with five Championship points for Robert Kubica after an action packed Spanish Grand Prix. This means second in the Constructor's standings ahead of McLaren Mercedes, who lost a car in a heavy accident. Initial information is that Heikki Kovalainen is ok. Nick Heidfeld had bad luck as he was forced to refuel during the subsequent safety car period. A stop and go penalty dropped him down from fifth to the back of the pack.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): "First of all we are all relieved that after his accident Heikki Kovalainen signalled he was okay. Robert lost a position at the start and was close behind Lewis Hamilton turning into the first corner. He was almost as close to Hamilton when he finally crossed the finish line. Nick gained two positions at the start so was well on his way. The safety-car period destroyed our strategy. We literally missed getting Nick into the pit lane before the safety car by a few seconds. As a result he had to refuel during the safety-car period, and we got a 10 second penalty because of that. For our team it was the least points we have scored so far this season, but we had a good performance throughout the weekend without any technical problems."
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): "Overall we expected more from this race. Robert lost a position to Hamilton right after the start and, because they both had a similar speed and were on the same pit stop strategy, he couldn't get third place back. Nick purely had bad luck. Just before he was supposed to come in, the Safety Car went out. His tank was empty and he was forced to enter the pit lane under the red light. The ten second penalty ruined his race."
The ING Renault F1 Team suffered a disappointing afternoon in Barcelona as both Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet retired from the Spanish Grand Prix.
After a promising performance in yesterday's qualifying session, the team started the race in good shape and Fernando raced competitively at the front of the field during the opening laps. But Nelson's early retirement set the tone for an afternoon of unrealised potential as the Brazilian was involved in a midfield collision on lap seven, causing damage to his R28.
As the race unfolded Fernando remained on course for a strong points finish, but trouble struck at half-distance with an engine problem forcing the Spaniard into retirement. The team will now regroup and look to build on the promise shown this weekend in two weeks time for the Turkish Grand Prix.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: "It is disappointing to come away with nothing, especially after such a hopeful weekend. Nelson's race was spoiled when he ran wide at the beginning, but Fernando drove impeccably and in spite of the engine problem we have seen that the car is very competitive and we can look forward to the next race."
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: "A weekend that had a lot of potential has slipped away from us. A fifth place with Fernando looked easy today and a good showing from Nelson would have backed this up. We don't yet know the cause of the engine failure on Fernando's car, but in spite of the disappointment of the final result, we take encouragement that our relative performance has moved up. There is still a lot to do, and we will continue to work hard to improve the car."
Kazuki Nakajima secured two points for the AT&T Williams team today at the Spanish Grand Prix, thereby confirming the team's fourth place in the Constructors' Championship. Kazuki was one of just 13 finishers this afternoon during an eventful race which saw two safety car periods. Nico Rosberg executed the best start of the day, jumping from 15th on the grid to 11th position by the end of the first lap. Unfortunately, however, he was unable to capitalise on his efforts when a failure on his FW30 forced him into the team's first retirement of the season on lap 42 of the race.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: It was good to score some points with Kazuki for the team's standing in the Constructors' Championship, but it's also slightly disappointing as we should have scored more. Nico was looking good for sixth place after he took advantage of the second safety car period and pitted at the right time, but he unfortunately suffered a failure. We haven't identified the problem as yet, it's currently under investigation.
Christian Horner: "It was an excellent race for Mark, well executed by both driver and team, his pace was strong all weekend and we're very pleased with fifth place. For David, the nightmare of yesterday's qualifying session continued. It looked as though he might be able to pick up a couple of points at one stage in the race, but unfortunately things just didn't go his way today, I'm sure his luck will change soon."
Fabrice Lom, Renault Principal Engineer, Track Support: "It's a very good result for us, fifth place is a strong place to finish. We've taken a step forwards in performance and we were quicker than Williams and Toyota today. For David, it was difficult starting so far back, it was always going to be hard to recover from there."
Tadashi Yamashina - Team Principal: "This fourth race weekend has been tough from the beginning on Friday practice, through qualifying to today. Still, everybody worked hard and did their best - including the drivers - and we were heading for a very strong result. Then one error cost us. After Timo's collision there was confusion between the cars and Jarno received the wrong message. So we must analyse what happened and make sure we avoid this mistake in the future. At the next race we will do our best again and hope for a better result."
Franz Tost: "Our races are getting shorter and shorter at the moment! Vettel stopped at Turn 4 on Lap 1, while Bourdais managed six more laps. Vettel could do nothing about it as Sutil spun right in front of him and Bourdais didn't see Piquet and they collided."
The Honda Racing F1 Team scored its first World Championship points of the season in today's Spanish Grand Prix, when Jenson Button finished in sixth position. A tenacious drive from the Briton, plus some astute strategy calls from the team's pitwall, saw him climb through the field from 13th position on the grid.
Jenson drove a 29-lap middle stint, which was longer than any other driver, which helped him to climb up the order from 13th to fifth. He dropped just one position during his second and final pitstop on lap 54, and he crossed the line in sixth place to secure three Championship points for the team.
After a strong start from 11th on the grid, team-mate Rubens Barrichello's race ended with disappointment. The Brazilian ran as high as sixth in the early stages, before retiring with extensive bodywork damage resulting from a pit lane collision with Giancarlo Fisichella on lap 25.
Honda's first points of the season. You must be delighted?
Ross Brawn Team Principal: "The whole team is delighted to score some points as we embark on the European season and it is just reward after the tremendous efforts made by everyone. We have made a good step forward with the new upgrade package and today's result reflects all the hard work that the team have put into developing the car since the start of the season. We are making good progress, which is encouraging for the rest of the season and for the future. I really feel that all elements of the team, chassis and engine are beginning to gel."
What will Honda be doing to maintain the momentum?
RB: "We have a number of smaller developments to introduce over the next few races, to tailor the package to the varying characteristics of the forthcoming circuits, and at the same time we will be working hard on the development of our next substantial upgrade for Silverstone."
Super Aguri eperienced mixed fortunes at the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix today. Takuma Sato took the chequered flag in 13th position, the team's highest placing of the season to date, whilst Anthony Davidson was forced to retire his SA08A in the opening stages of the race due to an overheating issue resulting from a pierced water radiator.
Aguri Suzuki, Team Principal: "It was a tough race with only just over half of the competitors crossing the finish line. Despite the fact that we did not attend the test here last week, both drivers and all the mechanics and engineers have done a great job today. I am sorry for Anthony as he retired due to damage to his radiator, but he did a great job at the start. Taku had a very good race in a difficult situation and came home in 13th position, which is our best result so far this season. It has been a difficult weekend for everybody in our team and I would like to thank our partners and the fans for their continued support."
The Force India Formula One Team has secured its best-ever finish in a thrilling Spanish Grand Prix. Giancarlo Fisichella claimed 10th position to give the team its first top 10 finish in just four races. Giancarlo drove an excellent race, running as high as 8th position for several laps and fighting with the BMW of Nick Heidfeld. Unfortunately Adrian Sutil did not finish the race after a first-lap collision brought his Spanish Grand Prix to a very premature end.
Both drivers made good starts to immediately graduate to the midfield, with Giancarlo up to 15th by the end of the first lap. After an initial safety car period caused by Adrian's accident, the Italian then pushed hard to be 14th before the first round of pit stops. His first pit stop was planned for lap 21, however just as he was about to peel into the pits, a second safety car was deployed to remove Heikki Kovalainen's car, and Giancarlo was forced to conserve fuel and stay out until the pit lane was opened. A short stop ensured he leapfrogged up the order and, with the numerous retirements ahead, was elevated to 8th position by lap 41.
The Italian was however bottled up behind a fighting Takuma Sato and was unable to make full advantage of his lighter fuel load. After a second stop on lap 44, a charging Nick Heidfeld then caught Giancarlo and the Italian was soon engaged in a close battle with the BMW driver. Despite keeping him behind for several laps, Giancarlo eventually submitted on lap 55 to finish his fourth race for Force India in a highly credible 10th position.
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer: 'Good and bad. Both drivers had excellent starts but unfortunately Adrian just lost the car on the first lap and was forced to retire. Giancarlo drove an excellent race and was able to pick up several positions and run at the pace of the group in front as we expected. It was difficult at his first pit stop when the safety car came out as we were just seconds away from coming in, but Giancarlo did a great job to conserve fuel so we could hang on until the pit lane opened. We short fuelled him to jump the cars in the pit stop, which worked perfectly for us, but we then got bottled up behind Sato, which meant we couldn't use the light car to build up the cushion and we dropped a couple of places. It was a shame as at one point 8th place was on the cards. But well done to Giancarlo and the team - our first top 10 finish. Once again our race pace shows well, but we now have to get Saturday right as we haven't got the most out of qualifying yet.'
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director: 'I am so proud of this result today: a top 10 finish in our fourth ever race is quite some achievement, especially considering where this team was back at the end of last season. Giancarlo showed real star quality in the race, with a good start, pushing hard, keeping it together and actually being in a points scoring position for several laps. Keeping the car that was leading the constructors' World Championship behind us also put a big smile on my face! Unfortunately Adrian was not so lucky; he tried to move up, sadly it didn't work, but if you start close to the back you have to take risks. We now just have to work on qualifying and improve on this - if we start higher up the grid, who knows where we could go?'
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton finished the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona in third place. After 66 laps (307.104 kms), Lewis came home 4.1 seconds behind winner Kimi Räikkönen. Lewis's team mate Heikki Kovalainen hit the tyre barrier at the Campsa corner on lap 22 and the exact cause of the accident is still to be confirmed. Lewis was on a two-stop strategy and came in on laps 21 (8.4 seconds) and 47 (7.6 seconds). After the fourth of 18 Grands Prix, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is third in the Constructors' Championship with 34 points; Ferrari took the lead with 47 points ahead of BMW Sauber on 35 points. Lewis moved up to second in the drivers' ranking with 20 points; Heikki is sixth with 14 points. Räikkönen leads with 29 points.
Ron Dennis: "Lewis drove very well to third place today - but for obvious reasons our main concerns during the race were with Heikki. I am therefore extremely pleased to be able to report that he is safe and well. Heikki was airlifted to the Hospital General de Catalunya in Sant Cugat del Valles, for precautionary checks, and will remain there overnight. However, he has no broken bones and CT scans performed at the hospital confirm that he has no head injuries and the team is optimistic that he will make a full recovery over the next few days. Subject to the results of an FIA medical examination we hope that he will be able to compete in the Turkish Grand Prix. The precise cause or causes of his accident are not yet known. Our data shows evidence of a sudden tyre deflation shortly before the accident, but it is still too early to identify what triggered that deflation other than to say that it is likely to have been the result of a wheel rim failure. The impact was a relatively heavy one, but our car's passive safety devices, designed in compliance with the FIA's safety regulations, protected the driver in the way they were intended to do. Equally, I would like to pay tribute to the FIA Medical Team, whose work was both rapid and efficient. Finally, the local Spanish marshals also did an excellent job."
Norbert Haug: "According to the circumstances, Heikki is OK, and this is the most important news today. We all would like to thank the medical team for their professional actions. Lewis was competitive and drove a great race with an excellent start. The drivers in the top three stayed reasonably close together with a maximum of eight seconds on lap 46 from the restart after the Safety Car on lap 28 until the finish line on lap 66. We will now work very hard to make a further step forward."
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) has won the fourth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship from pole position after using a medium-medium-hard compound Bridgestone Potenza tyre strategy in the Gran Premio de Espana Telefonica at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Raikkonen was joined on the podium by team-mate Felipe Massa and McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Finishing fourth was Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) and illustrating the close nature of the racing in Barcelona, the top four were separated by only 5.7 seconds after the 66 lap race.
Fifth spot went to Mark Webber (Red Bull) with Jenson Button (Honda) taking sixth. Kazuki Nakajima (Williams) finished seventh and Jarno Trulli (Toyota) took the final championship point.
The race saw two safety car periods. The first was caused by an incident between three cars on the first lap. The second occurred on the 21st lap after McLaren Mercedes driver Heikki Kovalainen experienced a sudden tyre deflation. Investigations continue, but it is thought that the deflation was likely to have been the result of a wheel rim failure. The Finn crashed into the barriers and was subsequently examined in the medical centre and air-lifted to hospital for observation.
Tyre performance from the hard and medium Bridgestone Potenza tyres was strong in the race and the majority of drivers used a medium-medium-hard strategy to achieve their result. The race's fastest lap, a 1min 21.670secs, was set by Raikkonen on lap 46 using the medium compound tyre.
Leaving Barcelona, Raikkonen leads the drivers' championship with 29 points, ahead of Hamilton on 20. Kubica is in third place with 19 points. Ferrari now lead the constructors' championship with 47 points, ahead of BMW Sauber on 35 points. McLaren Mercedes are in third place with 34 points.
Formula One will next be in action with the Petrol Ofisi Turkish Grand Prix at the Istanbul International Circuit on May 9-11 where Bridgestone's hard and medium compound Potenza tyres will be used.
Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development: "Kimi Raikkonen used his tyres very well to win quite a confusing race with the two safety car periods. The medium compound was the better tyre today with an obvious advantage of grip and better lap times, and this was because the circuit was much cleaner than yesterday. Most competitors used a medium-medium-hard strategy and this was the correct choice. In terms of wear and tyre appearance, performance was good, but we expected this as we have tested here so many times. Regarding Heikki Kovalainen's incident we do not believe that there was a tyre failure. As is normal, we are now conducting a thorough investigation with the team and we are happy Kovalainen appears to have not sustained any visible injuries."
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