20/07/2014
NEWS STORY
The Marussia F1 Team delivered a solid two-car finish in Hockenheim today, with Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton ending the 67 lap German Grand Prix in 15th and 17th places respectively.
Following two days of very high ambient and track temperatures, the weather turned for race day, with cooler conditions but the threatened rain remaining clear of the circuit.
Jules Bianchi: "I had an issue at the start and dropped to the back but I got back ahead of Kobayashi and Max in a few laps and I was happy for that. Then the race went pretty well for me. I could keep everyone behind me and I was quite a bit quicker than the cars behind, so the only factor was that we were not quick enough to catch the Saubers. As we know, this is something we have to work on. So, the race was how we expected really. The balance changed a little because of the different temperatures today but otherwise fine and a good team result with us retaining our championship position."
Max Chilton: "I got a good start and managed to avoid the Turn 1 incident but after that my race was not so good. We changed the strategy to try to get ahead of Kobayashi but it didn't work out for us. I was giving it everything but not getting enough back from the car, so we have a few things to work on before Hungary. We seem to have lost a little bit everywhere with the changes we have made to the car prior to this race, so it will be a short but busy week ahead to try to regain that ground."
John Booth, Team Principal: "After a difficult start to the weekend we can at least be pleased that we have got back to a point that is fairly similar to the level of performance we have seen in recent races. After an issue at the start, which we are yet to fully understand, Jules was at least able to make progress after the safety car and from that point on he was in a fairly lonely race, although the mix of strategies of our two-stop versus the Sauber's three-stop did at least throw up some opportunities. Unfortunately Max had a delay at his first pit stop, which put him behind Kobayashi and from this point he was stuck. Again we can see the situation is clear that we need several tenths in order to move forward. This weekend we have seen the gap widen slightly and we look forward now to carrying on making progress refining the set-up on Friday in Budapest."
Claudio Albertini, Head of Customer Teams Power Unit Operations, Scuderia Ferrari: "It has been a very intense German Grand Prix, which ended with a result in line with expectations. Honestly it was difficult to achieve more today. From the point of view of reliability it has been a tough weekend, especially since the first the temperatures during the first two days were very high. Today the situation was improved thanks to the cloud cover, which has definitely helped. Now we are looking forward to another weekend on the track, this time in Hungary; a last effort before we can catch our breath during the summer break. At each race there is always something new to learn to try to get a better performance from a power unit as complex as that of this year and, at the same time maintain the highest level of reliability. One thing is certain: we got to the middle of the season and the Ferrari-powered Marussia is ninth in the Constructors' classification. We will do everything to help the team to remain in this position until the end of the season and develop further in terms of competitiveness."
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