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Team and Driver Quotes following the Race
(selected
team quotes, for a full team and driver preview click on the team name) McLaren Mercedes ( Kimi Raikkonen -
1st, Juan Pablo Montoya 7th ) RON DENNIS
"A tremendous result for the team. Kimi drove an absolute
faultless race coping well with the need to pace himself to not only conserving the car but of course also the tyres. The safety car
deployment caused minor confusion with our strategists working to double-check the data before making the final call on whether to
bring Kimi into the pits or not. Clearly they were right and the outcome obvious. Juan Pablo had an impressive drive through the
field which coupled with our strategy gave him a well deserved fifth place. A special mention to our Partner Michelin who clearly
gave us the best tyres today. Full Team
and Driver Race Report Back to Top Williams
BMW ( Nick Heidfeld - 2nd, Mark Webber - 3rd ) Sam Michael
(Technical Director WilliamsF1): It was a good job from the whole team and it was fantastic to see Nick and Mark side by side on the
podium. We raced a tyre that was perfectly suited to Monaco. This is a circuit that rewards cars with a lot of downforce and an
ability to look after the tyres. From today's result we were clearly the closest to McLaren. On the strategy we made ground during
the safety car period by stopping both of our cars. On the second stop we took a risk with Nick by calling him in earlier. We then
did the same with Mark but unfortunately for Mark he lost a place to Nick. Full Team
and Driver Race Report Back to Top Renault ( Fernando Alonso -
4th, Giancarlo Fisichella
- 12th ) Flavio Briatore, Managing Director
"The
only way to analyse a race like this is to look at things calmly. On the negative side, our competitors did a better job than us
this afternoon and we need to understand why our car had such severe problems with tyre wear; on the positive side, it was a day
when it would have been easy to score no points at all, and we still got five. Fernando worked miracles to finish fourth, while
Fisico couldn't do anything as his tyre wear was even worse. This is not a performance that puts us under pressure – we already
were, as always in Formula 1. The season will be a long one, and we now that we all have to work hard to maintain our position at
the top of the table." Full Team
and Driver Race Report Back to Top Toyota ( Jarno Trulli -
10th, Ralf Schumacher - 6th ) Tsutomu Tomita - Team Principal
"It
was a very good race from Ralf and it was a very good, richly deserved result. After his crash yesterday, to drive a completely
rebuilt car from last to 6th is a very good performance. It shows again that in Monaco anything can happen at any time. You just
need to keep up there until the very end. By contrast, Jarno was very unlucky. Because we were on a one-stop strategy the safety car
period didn't play into our hands and he ended up stuck behind another car. When he tried to pass him he went over the kerbs very
heavily and then he reported a handling problem. We checked the car in the pit stop and didn't see anything which was why we sent
him out again. It's a pity he missed out on points but both drivers performed very well and in terms of a spectacle this was one of
the best races of the season." Full Team
and Driver Race Report Back to Top Ferrari
( Michael Schumacher - 7th, Rubens Barrichello - 8th ) Jean Todt: “This weekend ended much as we expected. Although we had a
car-tyre package that was very quick in the race, the characteristics of this circuit meant that neither of our drivers was able to
overtake slower cars which would have allowed them to exploit the potential of the car. On the track, Michael’s race was
conditioned by what happened during the incident behind the Minardi. He could not avoid colliding with Coulthard, which broke the
front wing. Michael therefore had to pit earlier than expected. Rubens also had some troubles. As he was about to leave the pits
after his stop, his engine stalled and, as he rejoined the track he broke the pit lane speed limit and had to return for a penalty.
The outcome of the race shows once again we have to work very hard on improving the performance of our package in qualifying. Our
rivals have built the basis of their success on the one flying lap which leaves us to fight an uphill battle in the race.” Full Team and
Driver Race Report Back to Top Sauber ( Felipe Massa -
9th, Jacques Villeneuve - 11th ) Peter
Sauber (Team Principal):
"We had a perfect strategy for the race today and some very good work by the pit crew brought
us up to a very strong position after the first incident that brought out the Safety Car. However, the incident caused by Jacques
cost us five valuable championship points that would have enabled us to close the gap on our direct competitor, Red Bull. What
happened today is the most depressing thing that a team can experience." Full Team
and Driver Race Report Back to Top Jordan
( Tiago Monteiro - 13th, Narain Karthikeyan - Retired ) Trevor Carlin, Sporting Director
“Unfortunately Narain
Karthikeyan retired after a small broach with the barriers and damaged the hydraulic system on the car. Tiago Monteiro did a good
steady job and brought the car home even though he had a few handling problems. This is another race finish for Jordan Grand Prix
and a 100% finish rate for Tiago. ” Full Team
and Driver Race Report Back to Top Minardi
( Christijan Albers - 14th, Patrick Friesacher - Retired ) PAUL STODDART, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth
“Considering
this marks the first Formula One finish for the Minardi Cosworth PS05, and we were ahead of our nearest rivals on race pace, I
really feel that serious progress has been made this weekend. Despite both cars struggling to maintain grip during certain stages of
the race, Christijan soldiered on to achieve a well-deserved finish, while Patrick, having had his best weekend in Formula One thus
far, sadly did not get to see the chequered flag. The whole team has put in an outstanding effort this weekend, and it’s now
onwards and upwards to the next race.” Full Team
and Driver Race Report Back to Top Red Bull ( David Coulthard -
Retired,
Vitantonio Liuzzi - Retired ) Christian Horner, Sporting Director:
"It was a
frustrating incident for David and the second time he was hit over the weekend through no fault of his own. He had looked in good
shape with the amount of fuel that he had in the car, so it’s disappointing he wasn’t able to capitalise on what was a very good
grid position. Tonio struggled with excessive tyre wear, which ultimately caused him to hit the barrier and end his race. It’s a
frustrating finish to the weekend; ultimately it promised a lot, but failed to deliver." Full Team
and Driver Race Report Back to Top Bridgestone Hisao Suganuma
– Technical Manager – Bridgestone Motorsport
“Overall we’re pleased with the performance in the race today but
disappointed with the final result. During the race we saw the two Ferraris looking very quick with Michael setting the fastest lap
on lap 40. We are also pleased with the status of our tyres after the race, we didn’t experience any problems with wear or
blisters, everything was fine and we kept the performance during the whole race. However, it is a shame that the Ferrari drivers
could not qualify in a better position and the overall qualifying performance of the car and tyre package needs to be improved.” Full
Bridgestone Race Report Back to Top Michelin Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director
“Today
we witnessed another excellent result for Michelin and its partner teams – but we also saw clearly how alternative set-ups and
traction control maps can influence tyre wear in different ways. The top three drivers used two different prime and one option. From
the tests we previously conducted we knew that the result for the level of wear for the two prime specifications was similar.”
"The
wear rates in the race were pretty much what we predicted and it was very satisfying to see Kimi Räikkönen and McLaren-Mercedes
continue our unbeaten run. To annexe the top six places with four partner teams once again illustrates Michelin’s ability to
provide competitive tyres for a wide range of different circumstances.”
“I think we have witnessed both ends of the wear-rate
spectrum this season. The compounds we used in Australia would probably have lasted for three race distances, but some teams have
pushed their tyres right to the limit today. As always, we will go away and put these lessons to good use as we strive to maintain
the advantage our Formula One partners enjoy at present.” Full
Michelin Race Report Back to Top BAR Honda (
Jenson Button, Takuma Sato ) BAR Honda F1 team banned from event ... more
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