European F1: last lap heartbreak for Raikkonen

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European F1: last lap heartbreak for Raikkonen

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Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, fifth place: “Before the start, I might have predicted a fifth place finish, but I thought it might be easier to come by. Today, my race pace was not as good as usual. We know what we have to do, which is to keep on working hard, on all areas of the car. When I went off the track, it was because I suddenly got more understeer than usual and once off the clean line there was no way to keep on the track, but even without that incident, I don’t think I could have caught Coulthard. At least Rubens’ result shows that we are moving in the right direction. I feel sorry for Kimi as it is a bitter experience to have something like that happen so close to the finish.”

Giancarlo Fisichella, Mild Seven Renault F1, sixth position: “I am very disappointed after the problem I had on the grid – I don’t know why the engine stalled when I engaged first gear. That meant I had to start from the pit-lane and it was not easy from there. The car balance was pretty good though, but I spent a lot of the race stuck behind Button, after they short-fuelled him at his first stop to keep track position ahead of me. That meant the laps around the second stop were critical, and the team did a great job with the pit-stops and strategy to help me go ahead – I passed five cars at the final stop I think. Considering my starting position, I think I did the absolute maximum today, and I feel confident for Canada. I just want a bit more luck.”

Juan Pablo Montoya, McLaren Mercedes, seventh place: "I am disappointed with the outcome of the race which was very tough forme. I had a good start and turned into the first corner in third place when I was hit by Mark Webber and went off. I resumed in 13th position and had to make my way up through the field. It is a pity not to have finished higher up as I had a quick car all weekend. We now have to look ahead and I will do my best to achieve a good result at the Canadian Grand Prix."

Jarno Trulli, Panasonic Toyota Racing, eighth place:"After an afternoon like that, a point is certainly better than nothing, but it could have been much more. Unfortunately we had a problem firing up the engine on the grid and because of those few seconds we earned a drive through penalty that completely spoiled my chances. I pitted earlier than we intended because I was stuck in traffic and after that my race was fairly anonymous because it is nearly impossible to overtake here. But I kept pushing, pushing and pushing and it paid off when Raikkonen had his problem at the very end. It's a pity because otherwise after such a good qualifying and start we would certainly have made the podium and I could even have won. Still, given everything that happened I'll settle for 8th place." Tsutomu Tomita, Panasonic Toyota Racing Team Principal: "This was obviously a disappointing race result for us but Jarno did well to bring the car home for a point – even if it was helped by a competitor's troubles. We knew we were in for a tough afternoon right from the beginning. Our problems started on the grid when Jarno's engine didn't start and we couldn't get the spare starter quick enough to get off the grid in time. That's why we got the drive through penalty which left him too far behind to manage anything higher than 8th place. Then Ralf was involved in an accident at the first corner. From then on he kept pushing but he spun off trying to catch Sato. Still, this is a long season and we will have good results on some days and less good on others. This result will spur us on even more for the next two races in Canada and the USA."

Tonio Liuzzi, Red Bull Racing, ninth place: “I had some understeer from the beginning of the race, meaning I couldn’t push as hard as I’d have liked. Some cars got past me and it was difficult to match their speed, which was a bit disappointing. I’d like to have scored some points here but, overall the team’s had a good day, so I’m happy.”

Jenson Button, BAR F1, tenth place: “We thought that we would be reasonably strong here, so today’s race has taken us by surprise. We had a lot of oversteer in the car but also in turn-in we had huge amounts of understeer, so I don’t understand what was going on really. I struggled a lot, but at least we made enough progress to move a bit further up the grid for Canada. We have a few new aero parts coming for the next race so that will help us there I’m sure. We have a lot of work to do in testing next week and hopefully we will be able to make a bit more of an impact on the grid in Montreal.”

Takuma Sato, BAR F1, twelfth place : “We are pleased that we have come back and shown that we have a reliable package and I really appreciate all of the hard work by everyone in the team and at Honda to get us back racing this weekend. After gaining a few positions braking into turn one, one of the two cars involved in the accident in front of me spun sideways and stopped, and so I unavoidably damaged the front wing. After that we came back with relatively good pace, but we now need to find more speed during our test next week for the races in Canada and Indy."

Jacques Villeneuve, Sauber Petronas, 13th: "I was level with Felipe going into the first corner, but then I got caught up in the incident there. Unfortunately for me that put me behind Karthikeyan, and he was fighting me like we were in a 10-lap kart race. Okay, have fun and let’s race, I’m not saying don’t try to resist the challenge, but relax. He could see I was a lot quicker but whenever I got my nose inside him he just blocked me. That cost me 40 seconds and ruined my strategy, and that’s really the story of what was for me a pretty boring race."

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