Martin Whitmarsh, Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: "Even as recently as four weeks ago, I don't think many people would have believed you if you'd told them that we'd win the Hungarian Grand Prix in dominant fashion, but that's exactly what we did today. And the fact that we did just that is a fantastic testimony to what can only be described as a superhuman team effort. Yes, 2009 has been a very hard year for us, but no-one at Woking, Brixworth or Stuttgart ever gave up; we all kept pulling together, we all kept our spirits up, and above all we all kept working. I'm immensely proud of every single one of them.
"And, today, Lewis, who has also never stopped pushing all year, was simply magnificent: there's no other word. He was in the groove all afternoon, he delivered breathtaking speed where it mattered, and he controlled the race like the winner he is.
"So, going forward, what can I say? We had the strongest car at the Hungaroring this afternoon - and, although it's an idiosyncratic circuit, we're confident that we'll have a reasonable package for Valencia, too. But motor racing is an unpredictable business and the only thing you can bet your house on is that we'll never stop working. And, more than that, we'll grow stronger as a result of the difficulties we've faced: we've learned lessons this year, and for next season we're aiming to build a car that's capable of challenging for the world championship from the start of the season, not halfway through it!"
Norbert Haug, Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: "A sensation! Lewis was a class of his own - a historic win, the first with the KERS Hybrid in Formula 1 - the Silver Arrows are flying again! Unfortunately, Heikki got stuck in traffic, but he was fast and with his fifth place we scored as many points today as in the previous nine races together. We think of Felipe - he would have been capable of being among the best or even to fight for a victory today, as Kimi showed. We wish him a good recovery. Thank you to all our team members who worked so incredibly hard for this success. Now is the summer break and you deserve it."
Stefano Domenicali: We dedicate this result to Felipe: at this time, all our thoughts are with him and his family and I think this sentiment also applies to those who are close to him and to fans all over the world. Kimi drove a great race and the team worked in impeccable fashion, concentrating on the job
despite what happened yesterday. We got the best result we were capable of. Please allow me on behalf of everyone at Ferrari to send our best wishes to Felipe. We love you and we are all thinking of you.
Chris Dyer: A super result on a difficult weekend for the whole team. Kimi drove a great race, starting with a really fantastic opening lap, followed by a very good second stint on the softer tyres. In between those phases, the team pulled off a great pit stop to put Kimi ahead of Webber. We were a bit worried about a problem with an exhaust and so we told the driver to be very careful at the second pit stop. We lost a bit of time and then in the final part, we had to deal with a fast closing Webber, who was very quick, but all the same, we managed to respond well enough to comfortably manage the situation to the finish.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): "For our team this was a race without anything significant happening. Both drivers were able to make up places at the start and keep themselves in the racing action. Our cars ran trouble-free, but after the difficult qualifying there was nothing more we could do on this track. With better starting positions we would have been able to fight for points today. Congratulations to the McLaren Mercedes team for a very convincing victory. It is remarkable how quickly the balance of power is constantly changing this season."
Willy Rampf (Head of Engineering): "Starting from 15th and 18th, any prospects for the race are obviously limited. Therefore we tried to make up lost ground with our strategy. This worked well at the start when both drivers gained places. But then, from lap 18 onwards, Nick got stuck in traffic and lost too much time. We therefore decided to make an earlier pit stop for him. At the end of the day it didn't help much. Based on our grid positions, there was nothing else we could achieve."
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: "It's a very disappointing end to a weekend that started with a lot of promise. From around lap two, Fernando had a failure on the fuel pump and we had to try and control the problem manually, which cost us a lot of time. We stopped early because of that and then unfortunately we had a problem with the wheel fitting. Ultimately we retired the car because of the fuel pump problem. Nelson was always going to have a difficult afternoon and he pushed through to finish the race, but he wasn't in a position to score any points."
Remi Taffin, Head of Engine Operations: "Fernando made a good start, probably his best of the year and he had good pace in the early laps so we were hopeful of a good result and aiming for a podium. Unfortunately a technical problem ended his race. It's frustrating, but once again we have demonstrated
the progress that we have made recently as this is only the second race where we have benefited from the new developments. Our attention now turns towards the European Grand Prix where we hope to convert our potential into a good result."
John Howett - President: "That was a strong team effort and I am pleased with our performance today, especially after the difficult qualifying. The drivers performed exceptionally well to make up so many places; we had a strong strategy and the pit crew did a great job, all of which is very encouraging. We have to understand why we did not show this performance in qualifying but we will be working hard to remedy that for the next race so we can get both cars into the top six. Our factory closes for two weeks at the start of August and that gives us time to gather our strength and come back with renewed vigour in Valencia, where we performed well last year and aim to do so again this time."
Franz Tost: Well done to Jaime on finishing his first race, which means he's learned a lot this weekend. That was our main target with him. He will need another two races, after which I expect to see him make it through to Q2. Unfortunately, Sebastien caught some debris on the right side of the front wing, damaging it, thus losing performance. We will now focus on Valencia, where we will have a new front wing which should help us to improve our overall performance.
Christian Horner, Team Principal: A good drive from Mark today for third. Unfortunately, we perhaps gave away too much time in the middle stint on the harder tyre and a small issue at Mark's pit stop allowed Kimi (Raikkonen) to jump ahead, but I think Lewis was out of reach today. Nonetheless, a good result for Mark in both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships. For Sebastian, things just didn't go his way today – unfortunately a knock on the first lap looks as though it caused suspension damage that resulted in his retirement. Going into the break, we've closed the gap in the Constructors' and we're looking forward to the next race in four weeks time in Valencia.
Fabrice Lom, Renault, Principal Engineer Track Support: A difficult race. Our cars made very good starts, but the long run to the first corner meant the KERS cars were stronger and unfortunately we lost some places. Sebastian had an accident, which caused damage that forced him to retire. Mark had a solid race, in which tyres played a big role. We finished third and scored more points than Brawn, so in the end a good result for the team, but a disappointing result for Sebastian.
Nico Rosberg scored a second consecutive fourth place at the Hungaroring today, elevating him by two places in the driver's championship to fifth position. A good baseline pace from the FW31 all weekend, and a crucial defence of his position against a KERS-powered McLaren at turn one provided the essential elements for Nico to build a strong performance on a circuit that witnessed only a few overtaking manoeuvres in 70 laps. Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima edged closer to securing his first points of the season, but starting the race ninth with limited opportunity to gain position on track, and most of the field running similar tyre and fuel strategies offered little prospect to improve on his start position. The team's continued thoughts are with Felipe Massa for his recuperation.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: It was good to score some points from another fourth place for Nico, although our expectations are going up and we really want to get onto the podium. It was a shame to miss out on a point for Kazuki. Both drivers had good starts and race pace was underlined by Nico's third fastest lap, so everything is going in the right direction, we just need to start putting away some more points.
The Force India Formula One Team has finished a tough, hot Hungarian Grand Prix with Giancarlo Fisichella in 14th position. Giancarlo used a two stop strategy to move three positions up on his starting slot and produced a particularly strong second and third stint when fighting with the BMW of Robert Kubica and Rubens Barrichello's Brawn GP.
Adrian Sutil's Hungarian Grand Prix unfortunately came to an end after just one lap. His VJM02's water temperature had rocketed on the formation lap, causing the engine to run very hot. Adrian returned to the pits to attempt a solution, however when it became clear no immediate fix could be found Adrian was retired from the event to save the engine from damage.
The team now looks to the next event in Valencia where a major new aero upgrade package is anticipated.
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal: Obviously today's race was overshadowed by Felipe's accident yesterday and our thoughts are with him and his family. We wish him all the best for a speedy recovery. For us personally, the weekend has been one of mixed fortunes. Qualifying was not as we would have hoped, but Giancarlo had a strong outing with some very fast times in the mid point of the race and we again raced in the midfield. We're now very much looking forward to Valencia where the new upgrades should give us yet another advance on the field.
Brawn GP's Jenson Button finished in seventh position at the Hungarian Grand Prix today with team-mate Rubens Barrichello bringing his Brawn-Mercedes car home just outside the points in 10th place.
Jenson had a reasonable getaway from eighth on the grid and had maintained his starting position by lap two whilst Rubens was touched by another car going into turn two resulting in some damage to his left sidepod and dropped back to 18th position.
Both drivers were heavily fuelled on different tyre strategies with Jenson stopping first on lap 25 to swap his option tyres for a new set. Rubens started on the harder prime tyre and stayed with that compound at his first stop on lap 33 when it was evident that Jenson was struggling with the softer rubber.
After a long middle stint, Jenson pitted on lap 55 with some quick lap times and good work in the pit lane enabling him to jump Trulli for seventh place. Rubens switched to the options on lap 57 and quickly caught up Nakajima and Trulli but was unable to get past on a track notoriously difficult for overtaking.
Ross Brawn: "Hungary has proved to be a very challenging weekend for the team which has left us with a number of questions to answer regarding the performance of the car. After a positive start on Friday where we felt that we had a good understanding of the tyres, they proved to be our main area of concern in the race today. Both drivers tried different strategies with their tyre choices but we were unable to prevent the graining which affected their pace at crucial stages of the race. We have four weeks until the next race and after our factory shutdown we will be working extremely hard to identify the cause of our recent issues and make the improvements required to return to our early season form. Finally congratulations to Mercedes-Benz on a very well-deserved win today for what is their seventh victory of the season."
Hamilton finished over 11 seconds ahead of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver Kimi Raikkonen who used the same tyre strategy to achieve his best finish of the season. Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) used a super soft - soft - super soft strategy for his second third placed finish of the year.
Hiroshi Yasukawa - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport: "Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes for taking their first win of the year. They have worked very hard for this result and it is good to see another winner this season. Well done to Ferrari too for their best result of the season with Kimi Raikkonen on what has been a very difficult weekend for everyone. Of course, our thoughts are with Felipe Massa who we wish a speedy recovery."
Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development: "Lewis Hamilton and McLaren have shown that it is possible for a KERS car to win, even on a very slow circuit, which was a great achievement today. The track conditions continued to improve through the race and we saw Mark Webber set the fastest race lap five laps before the chequered flag.
"It was interesting to see different tyre and fuel strategies through the field. Both Bridgestone tyres worked well. Some cars suffered from oversteer and we did see some rear tyre graining today, particularly on the super soft. Those who could manage this achieved good results. Overall, our tyre allocation was correct for this circuit. After what we have seen today I think we will see a very interesting end to the season after the summer break."
