10/07/2005
NEWS STORY
Despite not enjoying their usual competitive form, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team made the best of their competitiveness to hold off a sustained challenge from Red Bull & Sauber to finish the race just outside of the top ten in 11th and 12th place. The team expects to return to form at BMW's home race in Hockenheim in a fortnight following an intensive test of the new aerodynamic developments in Spain this week.
Mark Webber: If you are starting from 11th position it is usually difficult to score a strong result unless you have a fast car. It was very hard for us today as circumstances were similar to Magny-Cours. We didn't have much of a chance quite simply because the car was not quick enough. There's a lot of work ahead of us and we need to get back to form, and do so quickly.
Nick Heidfeld: It was a difficult race, as expected. I had a pretty routine start and held position. For most of the race, I had to work hard to defend my position from Coulthard, Klien, Villeneuve and Massa, while coping with a difficult and inconsistent balance on the car. This is of course not where we want to be and we'll now work flat out before the next race to address our problems. I'll be on duty at the Jerez test this week and will contribute as much as I can.
Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): Both drivers did get the most out of the cars today. We had no reliablility issues, both stops worked well as did the strategy. From here we will go back to the factory and investigate how we can make improvements to the package and our performance.
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): The lap times in the race were consistent with our qualifying performance. As there were few retirements today, the outcome was fixed and we finished approximately where we have started from. As a consequence, there was little opportunity to collect points today. We had no reliability problems on either car today. What now is important is to make best use of the three day test in Jerez in order to improve for the next GP in two weeks time.