2010 Turkish Grand Prix
Team Quotes - Sunday 30 May
Martin Whitmarsh, Team principal: "Today's race had everything: drama, suspense, excitement and a perfect result from a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes point of view. The 43 world championship points we earned from our one-two finish have propelled us to the top of the constructors' world championship. But we're particularly encouraged by the fact that, despite our having to ask both our drivers to drive with fuel conservation in mind from early in the race, it was immediately clear that Lewis had the pace to pull away if only he could have passed Mark - and he very nearly did on a number of occasions. It was edge-of-the-seat stuff - and Jenson was pushing Sebastian pretty hard just a few hundred metres behind.
"After the Red Bulls fell over each other, Lewis and Jenson raced each other pretty hard whilst still driving with fuel conservation in mind, and I imagine their dice made hugely entertaining TV, too.
"On the slow-down lap, Jenson congratulated Lewis on the radio, which is an eloquent illustration of the affection and respect they have for each other.
"Looking forward to the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks' time, we're pleased to have closed the performance gap to Red Bull, and are hopeful of bagging another hefty haul of world championship points in Montreal. But I want to stress that I can only say that as a result of the fact that everyone in the entire Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team - our drivers, our engineers, our mechanics and every single person who works so hard back at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking - is so motivated, so driven and so committed to the cause."
An eventful Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park today saw Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg bring their Mercedes GP Petronas cars home in fourth and fifth places, an improvement of one position on their respective grid placings.
The pair had a fairly quiet race with Michael moving up to fourth briefly after a first lap battle with Jenson Button but he was unable to hold the position that he took in turn one. Michael made his only pit stop of the race on lap 14 with Nico following one lap later where a quick in-lap and excellent work from the pit crew kept him ahead of the chasing Robert Kubica.
Rain threatened in the middle of the race but only a few light spots eventually fell around the circuit. The collision of the two Red Bulls on lap 40 promoted Michael to fourth place and Nico to fifth position where they remained until the chequered flag.
Ross Brawn: "A solid performance today in which we achieved the potential of the car with both drivers. We had a purposefully quiet early part of race as we were unable to challenge the leading group and therefore decided to save our tyres for the second half. Michael, Nico and the team did an extremely good job with the car that we had and once again our pit stops were very impressive. Compliments to them all today. We have made reasonable progress with our latest set of upgrades thanks for the hard work of everyone at the factory but clearly we have a lot of work still to do."
Norbert Haug: "Fourth and fifth positions for Michael and Nico were the best results we could achieve today as our pace was only ok in the last third of the race. We are aware that we need further improvements and we definitely will get them. Congratulations to McLaren Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton for achieving the 71st victory for Mercedes-Benz since our first win with David Coulthard in a McLaren Mercedes in Melbourne 1997. Four Mercedes-powered cars came home in the top five today which is a remarkable result, especially for our hard-working engine guys, so well done to you all."
Christian Horner, Team Principal: It's disappointing for the team to have got into that position today. The one thing I always ask the drivers is that, yes, they can race each other, but give each other room, and that's exactly what didn't happen. They were too far over on the left, Sebastian got a run on the inside of Mark, but then came across too early. They didn't give each other room; it's as simple as that. It was a massively close race between us and the McLarens up until that point. We managed to get ourselves ahead with a better pit-stop and a better strategy for Sebastian and were first and second. Sebastian was a bit happier on the prime tyre than Mark and was looking quicker at that point in the race. He got a run on Mark up the inside and we saw what happened. It's massively disappointing and the situation shouldn't have occurred. To give McLaren 28 points on a plate is very frustrating for everyone in the team - especially after so much hard work. We've lost a lot of points today with what's happened. We need to learn from it, so we don't find ourselves in this position again.
Fabrice Lom, Renault, Principal Engineer Track Support: Today's result is a big shame. We had a very good result in our hands, but unfortunately we didn't cement it. But, if we want to keep the positive, we have to underline that both cars were trouble free mechanically today - the engines performed very well and we gave a very good defence on the long straight against the McLarens. We are still in a good position in both Championships, so let's put this behind us and recover for the next race in Canada.
Ten points was the meagre tally for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro on the day of its eighth hundredth Formula 1 Grand Prix. Felipe Massa finished the race in seventh place, just ahead of his team-mate Fernando Alonso. Having started from eighth on the grid, Felipe stayed in this position almost throughout, until he inherited one place thanks to the misfortune of others. Fernando maintained his twelfth place at the end of the first lap and made up a few in the run of pit stops. Then, he was right behind Petrov for much of the race, attacking on lap 54 thus taking eighth place. After this race, the Spanish driver is fourth in the Drivers' classification, while his team-mate is sixth. The Scuderia is third in the Constructors' championship.
Stefano Domenicali: This was definitely a very poor weekend for us and it's a shame we were unable to celebrate our 800th Grand Prix in a worthy manner. We did not have the performance level we expected and we were definitely inferior to the two teams which dominated the Turkish weekend. We are at the level of the second group of drivers; those who were fighting throughout the Grand Prix, all within a few seconds of one another. But we know what an influence qualifying has on the final result and yesterday we struggled even more than usual in this area. This afternoon, we did what we could: Felipe didn't make any mistakes and Fernando managed to make up a few places with the pit stop and by passing Petrov. Now we must make a step forward to close the performance gap: our engineers are capable and ready, as they have shown so often and I am sure they will be able to do it again, improving the performance of the F10. We are entering the crucial phase of the championship and we have to do everything to tackle it in the best possible shape.
Chris Dyer: Given the position of our two cars on the starting grid, this is an acceptable result. What is not however, is our performance level this weekend, given that it definitely did not match our expectations. Felipe was always in traffic and never had a chance to overtake those immediately ahead of him. Fernando drove a good race, making up a few places thanks to the strategy and pulling off a nice passing move on Petrov at the end. When he made contact with the Russian driver's Renault, he also damaged a wheel rim, but luckily he was able to finish the race and take points that are definitely valuable on a weekend like this.
Poor starts contributed to a mid-field race for the AT&T Williams team at Turkey's Istanbul Park circuit today. A mechanical issue dropped Rubens Barrichello from 15th on the grid down to 20th, from where he pushed hard throughout the race to recover to 14th. Nico Hulkenberg picked up a front puncture in the opening lap, the consequent stop bringing him out to fight from 23rd position. In the remaining laps, Nico worked his way up to P17 to conclude the race from where he started.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: We finished roughly where we qualified today. Rubens had a problem with anti-stall off the start, it wasn't a driver issue. Shortly after his pitstop, he then had a throttle control problem which dropped him back down the order again. The problem reduced so he was able to continue the race, but we'll be stripping the car down to identify what caused it. Nico came together with another car on the opening lap which damaged his front wheel. That forced him into a premature pitstop, so the rest of his race was consumed with tyre management. For the forthcoming events, our objective will be achieving better qualifying and race performance.
Eric Boullier, Team Principal: Overall it has been a very satisfying weekend. Both cars have run well and we had both drivers in the top ten in qualifying for the first time this year. In the race today we again showed the strength of our car and the progress we have made recently, but it was a shame that we couldn't jump ahead of the Mercedes with Robert during the pit stops because we felt we were quicker than them. As for Vitaly, he has been excellent this weekend and drove a very strong race, pushing Massa hard and fighting well against Alonso. It's cruel luck to pick up a puncture so close to the end because he really deserved a good result after such a strong weekend.
Alan Permane, Chief Race Engineer: We've had a really strong weekend here and until the last couple of laps it had been a fairly straightforward race. Both cars spent most of the race stuck in the train of cars behind the Mercedes and so it was difficult to see the true pace of the car. We therefore need to work on our qualifying pace to try and get ahead of them on the grid so we can realise our full potential. Robert was as solid as ever and hasn't put a foot wrong all weekend so it was good to score some more points with him. Vitaly was also very impressive today and had very strong race pace. It's a real shame that he picked up a puncture while he was fighting with Alonso, but he can be very proud of his performance today.
Remi Taffin, Head of Engine Operations: Vitaly had a fresh engine for this race, while Robert was on his third race and will have a new engine for Canada. We had no concerns during the race and that allowed Robert and Vitaly to push hard all afternoon. Both cars were working well and both drivers did a great job, but it was such a shame for Vitaly to get the puncture so close to the end. He has done an excellent job this weekend and really deserved to score some points.
The Force India F1 Team has secured another points scoring finish in today's thrilling Turkish Grand Prix. Adrian Sutil claimed ninth position for two points, his fourth top ten position of the season, while Tonio Liuzzi finished 13th overall, five places up from his starting position.
Both Adrian and Tonio had good starts off the line and were running in tenth and 15th respectively before the first round of pit stops. Adrian stopped on lap 12 while racing Alonso and Kobayashi however a slight delay with the front right tyre change cost him around three seconds and he dropped back to 13th. Adrian maintained his pace and stayed with the Japanese Sauber driver until he could ultimately regain a position on lap 50. Tenth became ninth when Petrov pitted with a puncture on lap 54. The two points now bring the team's total to 32 and Adrian's season tally to 22.
Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal: After the various issues we've had over the weekend, it's very satisfying to come away from Turkey with some more points to our name. Adrian drove a great race and richly deserved his points today. Tonio has had a harder weekend and we really need to understand why he's not getting the grip he needs to be able to regain his earlier season form. That will be the focus for next week so when we get to Canada we can have a chance at another double points finish. We've also got some work to do on our SRW and when we do, I hope we'll be mixing it again with the top end.
Franz Tost: "As we have seen in past races, our performance on Sunday is much better than in qualifying and today yet again, both our drivers had good race pace. So we now need to concentrate on transferring that good level to qualifying, as your race is won or lost dependent on your grid position. It's difficult to score points when you start from far back. The team did a good job in terms of our tactics: unlike the majority, we started on the Prime tyre, as we expected the Option to struggle in the early laps. In the second stint, the Option did indeed bring a better pace. In the later stages, we saw that although Alguersuari was close to De La Rosa, he could not pass him and, as Liuzzi was around 19 seconds behind, we called him for another tyre change and if the race had been one or two laps longer, Jaime could have got the Saubers and scored a point. Unfortunately, Buemi had a collision with Hulkenberg on the opening lap. The Williams front wing clipped Seb's right rear wheel and after pitting for new tyres, he went out again with a damaged floor and parts missing from the right rear brake duct. Nevertheless, he did quite good lap times for the rest of the race."
Lotus Racing were having one of their best days of the season until a double hydraulics failure brought both Jarno and Heikki's races to an end on laps 32 and 33 respectively, Jarno coming to a halt on track and Heikki retiring in the pit.
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: "Obviously very disappointing to have two cars go out on the same lap when we were having such a strong race, our strongest performance all year. We started the cars with Jarno on the harder tyre, and Heikki on the soft - Heikki was slightly quicker on the option to start with, but towards the end of the stint Jarno was catching him. We were hanging on for the pitstops, monitoring the rain situation, but then had sudden hydraulic failures on both cars. Heikki's was a leak from the power steering, and with Jarno we don't know as yet what the specific issue was. Despite that we have to keep our chins up after what was a really strong weekend from the whole team, fix these problems and move on."
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: "This looked like it was going to be a great weekend for us so it's obviously very disappointing to have it all brought to an end in such a fashion, after what was probably our best race so far. Jarno and Heikki should be very proud of the times they put in, and the whole team should be pleased with how far we've come. This is a low but to be champions we have to deal with the lows, learn from them and move on. It all reminds me of the early days of AirAsia, but we have just been awarded the title of world's best low cost airline for the second year running, so I know we can repeat that with this team, and one day be victorious. Onwards and upwards, and now we'll focus on Montreal."
It was an eventful Turkish Grand Prix with sudden rain announced briefly during the race. The drivers of Hispania Racing, HRT F1 Team, could close the gap to the other teams and did a great race before they had to retire. The performance of Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna was good and they could fight for positions with other teams. Unfortunately, in lap 47 Bruno Senna had to retire from a strong race following a problem with the fuel system. His team-mate Karun who was battling for 19th position was classified in 20th. The Spanish team's attention now turns to the Canadian Grand Prix where the team hopes to have better luck.
Dr. Colin Kolles, Team Principal: "It was a difficult race for us. We were running well and making good progress, gaining good experience. It was disappointing to have one car retire on a fuel system problem and Karun Chandhok not finish higher than 20th. We now look ahead to the next race in Canada."
Finally both cars finished a race, and the first championship point was scored. At the Turkish Grand Prix Kamui Kobayashi came in tenth, and Pedro de la Rosa took the chequered flag right behind his team mate in 11th.
Peter Sauber, Team Principal: "Looking at the whole weekend it's clear we were able to confirm the upward trend which we saw in Barcelona. Of course we were lucky in the race, but we finished with both cars and finally scored a well deserved championship point."
James Key, Technical Director: "I'm very pleased we scored a point at this event. It was also good that we had a two car finish. It was fairly eventful in many ways, because, to begin with, it was a case of making sure we were matching the top ten pace, which Kamui did superbly well. He stayed very close behind Fernando Alonso. On the strategy side of things, we decided to bring the cars in early, and particularly Kamui given his tyres were several laps old after doing Q3 with a used set of tyres. That seemed to be the right call. Unfortunately he was held up slightly at his pit stop, which cost him two seconds. Without that he could have been further ahead. Towards the end Kamui's tyres went off quite badly at the front, and he lost quite a lot of lap time, which allowed Pedro and some other cars to catch him up. But the fact is both came home in tenth and 11th. I think this is deserved by everyone and we should be very pleased with this result."
Istanbul Park Circuit delivered a spectacular Turkish Grand Prix today, in which Virgin Racing emerged as the best of the new teams once again.
It was a race in which Virgin Racing defied all the odds after a new engine issue surfaced on Lucas' car - this time with the engine oil system - with just an hour to spare before the race. The turnaround, including removing the engine from the back of the car, was an incredible feat of teamwork, delivering Lucas out on track from the pit lane seconds after the lights went green.
Timo lost a place on the opening lap to Senna following a poor start which compromised the early part of his race. He retook the position and his race was running relatively smoothly car until he experienced low hydraulic pressure with just five laps to spare. This should have put an end to his race, but he battled on with just 5th gear at his disposal and a complete loss of hydraulic pressure, to cement a well-deserved two-car finish. Timo and Lucas ended the race in 18th and 19th positions respectively.
John Booth, Team Principal: "To finish the race with both cars and as the best of the new teams is a fantastic reward for the whole team, who've worked incredibly hard all weekend to contend with the various issues that cropped up. After the power loss issue with the engine yesterday, the very last thing we needed just an hour before the race was an issue with the engine oil system, which had us taking the car to pieces to get to the engine when we would have been in the final throes of our race countdown. On one side of the garage we were calmly executing the grid sequence with Timo, but it was quite a different story on the other side of the garage where the guys were faced with the seemingly impossible odds to get Lucas' car together and out into the race. They were an absolute credit to us today."
Nick Wirth, Technical Director: "A great reward for the team today after a very stressful pre-race build-up on Lucas' car. We had been forced to change Lucas' engine last night after he experienced a large power loss on Saturday that severely compromised his qualifying, and with the Parc Ferme rules, it was only today that we could test the new engine, which exhibited a last-minute oil-system issue.
"Timo's race started badly with an anti-stall on the start, which ultimately compromised his race until he got some clean air at about one third distance. Once things settled down, he started setting some lap times that confirm our general progress - his fastest lap time was only 2.3 seconds slower than the race winner's best lap and comfortably faster than any of the other new teams. Sadly, he experienced a drop in hydraulic pressure near the end, but as we were so far ahead of any of our direct rivals by then, we played it safe and asked him to stay in 5th gear for the last few laps.
"Both drivers did a good job in challenging circumstances, as did the whole team, and to get our second 2-car finish of the year is a great feeling, as the more reliability we get, the more performance we can add in the forthcoming races."
Mark Gallagher, General Manager, Cosworth Formula 1 Business Unit: "We will examine the oil system issue that occurred just over one hour before the race. It was an anomaly and required the team and Cosworth track support crew to undertake a significant amount of work to get the car out into the race. Fortunately our technicians were able to tackle the problem and worked alongside the Virgin Racing mechanics who did a magnificent job in re-assembling the car in time to join the race seconds after the start."
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton won a thrilling and dramatic Turkish Grand Prix where Bridgestone's Potenza tyres took on the challenge of Turn Eight and enabled a wheel to wheel dice for the entirety of the 58 lap race in searing hot temperatures at Istanbul.
Hamilton led team-mate Jenson Button across the line with pole-sitter and long time race leader Mark Webber finishing third after an additional pit stop following contact with his team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
Hiroshi Yasukawa - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport: "This was a very exciting race so congratulations to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and Red Bull for
such good performance. The Istanbul Park circuit enables fantastic racing, with difficult corners and interesting gradient. We have been able to prove the strong performance of our tyres in front of a world audience and I think anyone who watched the race will agree about the excitement we saw. Many Bridgestone guests from Turkey and even from South Africa were part of this tremendous spectacle and we are very happy for Bridgestone customers and dealers to have enjoyed this."
Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development: "Today we saw a real Turkish delight in Istanbul. The pace at the front was exceptionally close on both compounds of Bridgestone Potenza and this provided exciting racing. Our tyres performed well on one of the toughest corners in motorsport, despite the forces they are put under by this season's ever improving aerodynamics and heavier cars. Our primary concern is always safety and we are proud to have provided safe tyres for this race. We also supply tyres which allow good usage by many competitors. The race's fastest lap set by Petrov's Renault on the soft compound on the penultimate lap, and the Red Bulls and McLarens were so very close all race. This will be one of Bridgestone's many Grands Prix which I will remember for a long time."
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