Fourteenth victory of the season for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, the second for Rubens Barrichello. It is Ferrari's sixteenth win in the Italian Grand Prix, the third in a row and win number 181 from 702 Grands Prix starts. It was Rubens' ninth victory from 196 Grand Prix starts.
Jean Todt: We knew it would be a fight and so it was. Both our drivers faced difficult tasks. All our chances of victory rested on Rubens, given the start positions, while Michael faced a climb through the field after what happened in qualifying and the decision to start him from the pit lane. Rubens responded in grand style driving an amazing race. The difference between a two and a three stop strategy was very fine, with neither driver nor team in a position to afford making even the slightest mistake to take the win. Rubens and the team were perfect in this respect. Michael had a laborious day and, as if the handicap of the start was not enough, he also had to deal with a spin and a puncture. But he still wanted to leave the mark of a champion on this race, setting the fastest lap on the final lap. With this result, Rubens has made sure of second place in the Drivers' championship. So, for the last two races our sole objective is to secure victory, as our will to win is still as strong as ever, despite all our successes to date. We really wanted to win here today. China is a very important country for our future and we want to dedicate this win to the tens of thousands of fans who packed the grandstands at this fantastic facility, which is the most modern race track in the world. Furthermore we wanted to win for our partners; commercial ones like Philip Morris and Vodafone and technical ones such as Bridgestone, Shell, AMD and Olympus. I am proud that Ferrari's name is the first to go into the record books for this Grand Prix.
Rubens Barrichello: I have spent much of this season trying to catch up Michael and now I am going through a good phase and here in China, everything has gone well all weekend. I must thank the team for giving me a good set-up that allowed me to push hard when I needed to. The reception we have had from the Chinese people has been fantastic. I had a very good start and I was amazed at the amount of grip I had on the first lap. Kimi pushed me quite hard but I was able to keep a gap. I was not sure I had command of the race until my final pit stop when Ross told me that I should be okay. So, as I left the pits I still pushed flat out and then at Turn 3, I looked in my mirrors and saw no one behind me so I knew I was okay. Towards the end, when I had a lead of about eight seconds, the team told me to back off a bit, but then I had to step up the pace again when Jenson got closer. Also at one point, I had to lap Villeneuve who did not see me at first as he was fighting for position but then he let me through correctly. This track has been really challenging, but with a variety of possible lines through the corners overtaking is possible and that is all we need for a good race.
Michael Schumacher: I am happy that Ferrari won today. If one driver fails, the other is there is the way we share our responsibilities, so congratulations to Rubens. This was a slightly more interesting race than I would have wanted! But at least all the unlucky things have come in just one race weekend, so hopefully we will have no more this season. I tried to pass Christian (Klien) when I saw the door was open, but he turned in as I was halfway alongside. It was just a normal racing incident. Then I had a spin as I was following Alonso very closely in his slipstream and lost downforce. Finally, came the puncture on the left rear tyre which cost me a lot of time as I had to drive a long part of the track at very slow speed, coming into the pit much too early which meant the team decided to change my strategy.
Ross Brawn: It is great to win the first ever Chinese Grand Prix. It was a fantastic race from Rubens. He had a very good start and was quick when he needed to be, in order to keep Kimi behind him. It was a perfect race from him and a very, very good job. He deserved the win because he has been strong all weekend. Michael's race was very messy. Obviously, it was going to be tough from a pit lane start, after yesterday's qualifying but on top of that, we had a spin and what looks like a puncture and that destroyed his race. I am not sure where he would have finished without these problems, but days like this happen and luckily all this misfortune came on the same weekend. I am looking forward to Suzuka. As usual, Bridgestone did a great job, especially considering we had no previous data from this track.
