22/10/2006
NEWS STORY
Patrick Head, Director of Engineering, WilliamsF1: "It can only get better from here, but obviously the result is massively disappointing. The Bridgestone tyre was quite clearly superior today. It's meaningless, but I think we could have had quite a good race. This is the second year in a row in Brazil that we've been out of the race with both cars before the end of the first lap and it's really very disappointing for everyone in the team. However, we can now only go back and make sure we have a much better car and look forward to a stronger season next year. Well done to Fernando and very well done to Renault for winning both Championships. With Michael retiring today, we saw all his fighting spirit come out in what were difficult circumstances and obviously he'll be a major loss to the sport. It is very sad that this is the last race for Cosworth in F1 for the immediate future. They have done a great job and have been a pleasure to work with. I hope the Cosworth name returns to F1 very soon."
Mark Webber: "Such a waste. It was an interesting first few corners, I was fighting with Jenson and Pedro going into the first one and putting a bit of pressure on Pedro. It was shaping up to be quite fun, but I braked a bit later going into turn four and then I was hit from behind. I lost the diffuser and that was that. It looks like Nico lost his braking point. He was very deep going into the corner and I didn't think he was going to make it. It wasn't nice to see Nico with a puncture and then colliding with the wall, but he's ok. It's always bad when team mates collide, but he didn't do it on purpose. This is the game we're in, there are no rewind buttons, so when it goes wrong, it goes wrong. This isn't the result we were hoping for and it's a real shame for the guys."
Nico Rosberg: "I was really hoping I could do something good in the last race. After the start, I was trying to get out of traffic, gain some ground and get back the place I had just lost to Jenson so I was close behind Mark going into the corner. I think he braked hard and maybe an extra metre too early, perhaps because something had happened next to him, and I hit him. It probably seemed a big accident from the outside, but it didn't feel so hard in the cockpit and I am fine. I am sorry for the team, of course, because I wanted to finish this season in a better way. It has been a difficult year, but I have learned a lot. We now have the winter ahead of us and we will all work together very hard to be prepared for next season."
Chris Jilbert, Principal Engineer, F1 Race Engineering, Cosworth: "Not quite the way that we had envisaged our current involvement in Formula One to draw to a close, but I guess we can genuinely say that we ran both engines at 20,000RPM for the whole race! It really does not seem possible that there will be no Cosworth-powered cars in the F1 paddock in 2007. It is an incredibly sad day for everyone who has been involved in making our Cosworth F1 engines so powerful, reliable and successful and I'm sure that these comments will be echoed by the numerous people up and down the pit lane who have either worked at, or with, Cosworth in the past. We pride ourselves on being world class and can proudly state that we have been able to deliver what is possibly the most powerful, most reliable engine in Formula One during the 2006 season, despite not having the backing of a manufacturer. Let's hope that Cosworth can return to its rightful place on the grid in the future. My thanks go to everyone at Cosworth for all of their dedication, commitment and resolve through what has been a very difficult couple of months."
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