25 May: European Grand Prix Preview - Red Bull Racing
DAVID COULTHARD: “After
a disappointing race in Monaco I am hoping for better luck in this weekend’s race at the Nürburgring. We were very unlucky to be
put out of the race last weekend as I was heavy on fuel and could have been one of the last to pit. I never spend too much time
reflecting on what might have been so I’m just looking forward to getting on with the job this weekend.“
TONIO LIUZZI: “This
is one of my favourite circuits and I have good memories of the place as I won my first car race here in Formula Renault. The track
is long and technically challenging, with some up and downhill sections and a good mix of slow, medium and fast turns and some rapid
changes of direction - it should be fun to drive in an F1 car. The key to a good lap here is to get into a rhythm, balancing your
own style with what you can get out of the traction control when dealing with the chicanes. After three grands prix, I feel I have
gained a lot of experience and I hope to put it to good use this weekend.”
CHRISTIAN HORNER, Sporting Director: “This
weekend sees a change to the qualifying format, with just a single session on Saturday determining the grid for Sunday’s race. I
believe this will be an improvement on the previous format, with qualifying split across two days, as we will have a defined grid by
Saturday evening. Our cars have always tended to work better when running with the race fuel load in the Sunday session, so this new
format should suit us. The weather can be unpredictable at the Nürburgring and therefore could provide some interesting results.”
GÜNTHER
STEINER, Technical Director: “With less than a week to prepare for this race since the last one, it is a busy time for all
the teams. However, it has been particularly busy for us, as we have had to deal with the results of the Monaco accident damage
suffered by David in free practice and by both drivers in the race. Everyone at the factory has worked hard to produce the new
components and we will be fully prepared for the Nürburgring. The new qualifying format has no significant effect on the technical
side, but the engineers who run our race strategy simulation programmes will need to have their plans fully formulated before the
start of Saturday’s qualifying, whereas before they had an extra day to think about it. It is nothing to worry about as they faced
the same time constraints with last year’s format.”
