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2008 Petrol Ofisi Turkish Grand Prix
Team Quotes - Sunday 11 May
Fourth consecutive win of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, the second for Felipe Massa. This is victory number 205 from 763 Grand Prix starts for Ferrari, the seventh from 93 starts for Felipe.
Stefano Domenicali: We are very happy with this result, but we know it was a tough one to get. Felipe drove a great race and made the most of yesterday's pole position, but given what happened at the start, Kimi's result in managing to get onto the podium, could have been a lot worse. It was yet another example of the fact that, in this sport, it takes very little for the pendulum to swing one way or the other. We wanted to continue down this winning path which started as a reaction to the heavy hit we took in Melbourne and we have managed it. We hope this is a nice wedding present for Clementina, the daughter of our President, Luca di Montezemolo! These sixteen points are the result of the work from the whole team at all levels and that is why we chose Francesco Uguzzoni, the head mechanic to go on the podium and pick up the winning team trophy. Now we have to prepare maybe even more carefully for the next rounds: at Monaco and Canada last year, we suffered a lot and we will have to do our best in preparing for these races, both in the test session at Paul Ricard, from next Wednesday to Friday and in analyzing the data back in Maranello.
Luca Baldisserri: All in all, a really good result. We had the potential to get a one-two, but after what happened at the start, we could have ended up with one car outside the points. The choice of when to use which tyre was based on data gathered in free practice and on past experience at this track, as well as a logical prediction of how the track surface would evolve. With hindsight, it is easy to say that we could have gone for a different choice. The team worked well and the cars ran trouble free, which included amongst other things, successfully completing the useage cycle of four races for the gearbox: for this and for their usual technical contribution I would like to thank Shell especially. Now we can expect two tricky races, where last year we were not competitive enough to win. We have worked a lot to remedy the problems which we had there and now we will find out if we have worked in the right direction.
The BMW Sauber F1 Team was able to defend second in the constructors' championship in the FIA Formula One Word Championship by scoring nine points in the Turkish Grand Prix. Robert Kubica came fourth in Istanbul, and Nick Heidfeld followed him home in fifth.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): Taking our starting positions of fifth and ninth into account, I am very happy with today's result. Both drivers gained positions at the start. Kimi Raikkonen was able to overtake Robert during his first pit stop as we expected. On the other hand, Nick gained two places during his first pit stop. Fourth and fifth and nine championship points underline the team's performance today.
Willy Rampf (Technical Director): We have scored nine important points. This is more than can be expected if you start from fifth and ninth, therefore we are happy with the results. Both drivers had troublefree races with no errors. Now we are confident as we look forward to Monaco.
The ING Renault F1 Team made the most of an eventful Turkish Grand Prix as Fernando Alonso brought his R28 home in a well-earned 6th place, while teammate Nelson Piquet ended the afternoon in 15th.
A mixed qualifying session yesterday saw Fernando and Nelson start the race from 7th and 17th places respectively, with the team targeting a points finish in the race. An eventful opening lap saw both Renault drivers in the thick of the action with Fernando making up two positions, while Nelson was forced to take avoiding action in the first corner melee, dropping to the back of the field.
As the race developed Fernando ran competitively in the top six for the whole afternoon to secure the team three valuable points. Nelson faced an uphill battle to recover from the back of the pack, but raced hard to finish in 15th place.
Having confirmed the progress made in recent weeks, the team will look to carry its good form into the Monaco Grand Prix in two weeks time.
Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: It's nice to see some encouraging signs of improvement. Fernando made a fantastic start and had a great race to get us some important points. It was difficult for Nelson starting from so far back, but he managed to drive a consistent race and kept pace with the midfield pack. We are confident that we are starting a new phase which will see us get closer and closer to the top three teams.
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: I think we made the most of our chances today. Fernando's race was essentially with Webber, but it was gratifying to see that we were closer to the BMWs once again, although there is still a gap that we need to close. Nelson's race was always going to be difficult and there was little we could do for him strategically, but it was a spirited drive, especially his defence against Heikki.
The Turkish Grand Prix yielded a valuable point for the AT&T Williams team today as Nico Rosberg drove a determined race to bring his Williams-Toyota FW30 home in eighth place at Istanbul Park. Nico capitalised on a good start, gaining three places from 11th on the grid within the first three laps. Having defended his position throughout the race, Nico's result was his best to date in Turkey. Meanwhile, Kazuki Nakajima suffered the first DNF of his Formula One career today when he was forced to retire following a first corner incident.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: It's good to get a point for the Constructors' Championship. It was a clear-headed drive from Nico; he was flat out all afternoon, didn't make any mistakes and delivered. Unfortunately, the traffic just prior to both pitstops cost him some time. The whole midfield is very tight now as today demonstrated, so we need to bring some more performance to the car if we are going to stay in the battle for fourth place. Kazuki was hit from behind which left his car too badly damaged to continue so his race was over, which was a shame. Apart from that, we had no reliability issues.
Christian Horner: Mark was mainly racing against Fernando (Alonso) today and was very close to out running him at the first pit stop; I think he missed out by half a second, which was unfortunate. Seventh was ultimately the outcome and we collected a fourth consecutive points finish. David lost a position to (Nico) Rosberg on the first lap and spent the rest of the afternoon chasing him. He looked quicker, but unfortunately we couldn't out run him through strategy today, and David finished an always frustrating ninth. We're pleased to have maintained our one hundred per cent reliability record after another promising weekend.
Fabrice Lom, Renault Principal Engineer, Track Support: It's a good result, although we're a little disappointed as we hoped to finish sixth. We've gained a place in the Constructors' Championship and, in terms of engine management, we're pleased. We were a little concerned following Fernando (Alonso)'s problems at the last race. This is now a demanding track for the engine, especially with Turn 8, so we're pleased with the reliability of the engine here.
Tadashi Yamashina - Team Principal: "Friday's practice session went well and we found a good set-up but for the rest of the weekend the pace of the car was not quick enough. There is still a big gap between our performance and that of the front teams so that is the main reason for our result today. Of course Timo was not helped by his mechanical problem in qualifying. Then today both cars lost ground at the start so we will have to investigate that further when we get back to the factory. Those issues meant that the two cars were stuck in traffic for most of the race. But now we must improve our performance and aim for a better result next time."
Franz Tost: Both our drivers got good starts, but in the first lap, Vettel was hit by another car, got a puncture and had to pit to change tyres. After that he was having a reasonable race, but when he came in for his scheduled stop, unfortunately, there was a problem with the refueling rig and he had to be called in again next time round, as no fuel had gone into the car. This cost him over twenty seconds, but at least he finished the race. We had a similar problem with Bourdais' stop, but this time, we spotted it before he left the pits and we switched to the spare fuel rig. After that, he Bourdais had a problem at Turn 12, which the data reveals as a technical failure that we will now investigate. We are glad the STR2 era is over and now we look forward to running our new car, as from the next race in Monaco.
The Turkish Grand Prix ended in frustration for the Honda Racing F1 Team as Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello finished in 11th and 14th places respectively.
At the start, Rubens got too much clutch slip away from the line, which allowed Jenson - who started one place further back in 13th - to pass him into turn one. However, no sooner had the race started than the Safety Car was deployed after a collision at the back of the field between Fisichella and Nakajima.
The race resumed two laps later, with Jenson and Rubens running in 11th and 12th places after they had both gained another position when Kovalainen pitted following a puncture. The Hondas then ran in formation until Rubens made his only pitstop of the race on lap 27, from which he rejoined in 14th position.
On the prime tyre, Jenson climbed to eighth place during this first pitstop window before making his single pitstop on lap 31. He rejoined the race in 11th position, behind Jarno Trulli and ahead of Nelson Piquet, and it was at this stage of the race that the tide turned against him. He struggled for grip on the softer, option tyre as he had during qualifying yesterday. As more rubber went down on the track, the handling of Jenson's RA108 improved and he started to set more competitive lap times.
Rubens' record breaking race was a disappointing one as he was unable to improve on 14th position.
Can you summarise the team's race today?
Ross Brawn, Team Principal: After a surprisingly uncompetitive qualifying yesterday we were hoping that it would be business as usual for the race today. A few laps in both drivers had poor balance and it was clear that our pace was not enough to challenge for the points. We switched the strategy on both cars from two-stop to a one-stop mid race. This was mainly to defend against the cars behind and this approach proved successful. It also gave us the possibility that we would gain if there was a safety car in the middle part of the race as this was our only realistic chance of points today.
What steps do you plan to take in order to improve for the next races?
RB: We have a track test at the Paul Ricard circuit in France to prepare for Monaco and Montreal, followed by an aero test at Barcelona to validate our next aerodynamic step. We should have some visually interesting new parts for Monaco, the highest downforce circuit so far. However we do not expect Monaco to be the highest downforce track of the year - our calculations show that Singapore will require even more. Montreal is at the opposite end of the spectrum with the demand placed on very high straight line speed.
A tough Turkish Grand Prix yielded one finish for the Force India Formula One Team, with Adrian Sutil coming home in 16th position overall. Giancarlo Fisichella's race was brought to an end by the first corner when, after a good start, the Italian unfortunately ran into the rear of Nakajima's Williams, causing irreparable suspension damage.
Adrian also made a good start, however a Toro Rosso shut the door on him through turn five and damaged his front wing, forcing him to pit to change the nosecone. With the safety car deployed to clear the stricken cars from the startline accident, Adrian rejoined at the rear of the field. In his first pit stop on lap 21 he jumped the two Toro Rosso cars and started to close the gap to the group in front by more than one second a lap and, by his second stop on lap 38, was just under seven seconds behind Rubens Barrichello's Honda. He fell back behind Vettel after the stop however regained the position later in the race when Vettel had a problem in his own pit stop. Despite Vettel putting him under intense pressure in the latter stage of the race, Adrian held onto secure 16th place.
The race team now moves straight to Monaco for the sixth Grand Prix of the year in just over one week's time, where Giancarlo will celebrate his 200th race start. Prior to the race the test team will travel to the Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France for a three day test from 14 - 16 May.
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer: 'Obviously our race became very difficult after the first three corners with Giancarlo going off at the first corner and Adrian losing his front wing. With the safety car we were able to get Adrian back out and his first couple of stints were good, particularly the middle one when he was staying with the group in front. He was pretty consistent, but once we started to get blue flags it was difficult to keep the temperature in the tyres and that made the last stint very difficult. It was however very important for Adrian to get a race finish today, which he did. We now move onto the next race in Monaco, a track that both drivers have performed well on.'
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and managing director: 'After the high of our first top 10 finish in Spain, this weekend was always going to be difficult to measure up. Sure enough it was a challenge in many respects, but I still feel there are positives to take away. We had been quite open about our difficulties in replicating free practice pace in qualifying, but I was happy to see this trend had been reversed here in Turkey. It was also important for Adrian to get to the chequered flag today, both for himself and for the team, and he had a strong race after he got back out after his accident on the first lap. His middle stint was encouraging as he caught the midfield and, on his final set of tyres, he was able to keep Vettel behind him despite the sustained pressure. Of course it is always a shame to see one of our cars out before the first lap, but as I have said before, you have to take risks: this is motor racing. Let's now look forward to Monaco now that both drivers love and have performed well on. It will be a good opportunity for us to challenge the teams in front.'
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton finished the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul in second place. After 58 laps (309.396kms), he came home 3.7 seconds behind winner Felipe Massa. Lewis's team mate Heikki Kovalainen had to make an unscheduled stop on lap two (8.4 seconds) following a coming-together at the first corner with Kimi Raikkonen and ended up 12th. Lewis was on a three-stop strategy and came in on laps 16 (6.4 seconds), 32 (6.2 seconds) and 45 (5.9 seconds). Heikki made his planned stops on lap 27 (9.9 seconds) and 50 (6.2 seconds). After the fifth of 18 Grands Prix, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is third in the Constructors' Championship with 42 points; Ferrari leads with 63 points. Lewis is third in the drivers' rankings with 28 points; Heikki is sixth with 14 points. Räikkönen leads with 35 points.
Ron Dennis: Today we saw a truly phenomenal drive from Lewis, in which he optimised a three-stop strategy that we were forced to adopt as a consequence of concerns we had with his tyres. As a result of the eight points that his second-placed finish netted him, he closed the gap on Kimi in the World Drivers' Championship to just seven points. Heikki's race was spoiled by a punctured left-rear tyre, the result of contact with Kimi at the first corner. As soon as the pit lane had reopened, we called him in for tyres and fuel. Thereafter he drove forcefully and well all afternoon. But for that puncture, he would have scored heavily today. I believe we have closed the gap to our main competition which gives the team a great boost before heading for Monte Carlo.
Norbert Haug: A really exciting Grand Prix and, as I think, quite entertaining for the spectators. We had an aggressive strategy for Lewis which almost paid off as our aims were first places in both qualifying and race. Lewis drove a great race with a good speed. His overtaking manoeuvre when he passed Massa was surely enjoyed by lots of television spectators as it does not happen too often in Formula 1 that the leading car is passed. Kimi touched Heikki at the first corner, and Heikki had to make an extra pit stop due to a damaged tyre. This ruined his race and prevented him from taking a possible podium finish. We all will continue to work very hard and are looking forward to the season's highlight in Monte Carlo in two weeks' time.
Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) has taken his third consecutive Turkish Grand Prix victory after using a medium-medium-hard tyre strategy at Istanbul Park for the fifth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship.
Massa took his win after starting from pole position and he led Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton across the finish line by 3.7 seconds. Hamilton used a hard-hard-hard-medium tyre strategy, making three pit stops to Massa's two, and finished just 0.4 seconds ahead of third placed Kimi Raikkonen (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro), who used the same strategy as Massa.
Finishing off the podium but in the points were BMW Sauber F1 team-mates Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld in fourth and fifth, Fernando Alonso (ING Renault F1 Team) in sixth, Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) in seventh and Nico Rosberg in eighth.
The race saw an early safety car period after a multi-car incident on the first lap. Tyre performance was good with both compounds performing well and the cooler weather than expected not causing any issues. The race's fastest lap, a 1min 26.506secs was set by Raikkonen on lap 20 using the medium compound, whilst the race's second fastest lap, a 1min 26.529secs was set by Hamilton on lap 31 using the hard compound.
Leaving Turkey, Raikkonen leads the drivers' championship with 35 points from Massa on 28 points. Hamilton also has 28 points and is in third position in the standings, having only one race win to Massa's two. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro lead the constructors' championship with 63 points to BMW Sauber F1 Team's 44. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are in third place with 42 points.
Formula One will next be in action May 22-25 with the Grand Prix de Monaco on the streets of Monte Carlo, where Bridgestone's soft and super soft compound Potenza tyres will be used.
Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development: Today we saw a very interesting race with many strategies and different tyre choices. There was a lot of variation in which order drivers used the hard and medium compounds and this made for an exciting Grand Prix. In the case of Lewis Hamilton's car, Bridgestone and the team had safety concerns which did influence his strategy, however he achieved a very good result. These concerns affected no other car on the grid, and we will be analysing the data to see what we can learn from this. We did see three cars finish the race after making only one stop, so durability was certainly strong for the tyres for these competitors. The track and ambient temperatures did not cause any issues. We have now contested the most severe circuit on the calendar and say goodbye to the difficult turn eight until next season, although our vigilance will, as always, remain high.
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