Brazilian Grand Prix - Formula 1

Sunday Quotes - Teams [2003-6-April]

Ron Dennis [Team principal - McLaren]:
"A tremendous and well deserved result for the team. We varied our strategies with the hope of covering all the potential eventualities, which certainly played a role in Kimi's race win. David's drive was outstanding, and his fourth place was a poor reward for his efforts. For both drivers to finish with intact cars was a credit to their driving skills and the equipment provided by the team as a whole. Our commiserations but admiration to the Jordan team whose sporting behaviour after the race was a credit to them and to the sport."

Norbert Haug [Motorsport director - Mercedes-Benz]:
"A totally dramatic race. I'm really sorry for David, who was leading for most of the time and deserved a better reward than fourth. Congratulations to Kimi and the whole team, who did an excellent job. Both our drivers didn't put a foot wrong in tricky conditions. As a team, we have done a great job today. Thanks to all the guys in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart who worked so hard - they all deserve this good start to the season."

Gary Anderson [Director of race and test engineering - Jordan GP]:
“Second is a great result for us, although I have to admit I'm disappointed that we didn't get one more lap as it was looking good. Fisichella drove well, the car kept going, the tyres lasted well and we're very pleased. Ralph had a front suspension failure, although I don't think it was the same thing he had in Malaysia. After this problem, we considered carefully what to do about Giancarlo, because you don't want to take any risks. Thankfully, we made the right call.”

Eddie Jordan [CEO - Jordan GP]:
“The most important thing today was the fantastic spectacle with lots of excitement. Obviously, there was disappointment for some, but this was our day. I thought we had a chance to win it - particularly towards the end when Giancarlo passed Raikkonen. We were the quickest car at the track and it was fantastic. If you had asked me would I have expected a podium in Brazil, I would have said you are out of your mind – but it happened. I'm so happy for Giancarlo to be on the podium here and it's going be good for the future.”

Martin Leach [President - Ford Europe]:
“We did not go to Brazil expecting a podium finish, but the Jordan Ford team have performed exceptionally well today and executed exactly the correct strategy. Giancarlo drove a controlled and mature race in difficult circumstances to finish in second place. Our partnership with Jordan is generating massive amounts of enthusiasm and support from our employees within Ford of Europe. After such an outstanding result, we are now looking forward now to the start of the European season.”

Pat Symonds [Executive director of engineer - Renault F1]:
“We had a race of mixed emotions. I think Fernando achieved a great result although, clearly, nobody likes to see their driver unable to take the podium. Fortunately, he is okay. He drove a very good race in extremely difficult conditions. It was very hard to calculate the correct strategy in those conditions. Jarno was unfortunate to have to make his pit-stop just as the race finished and this cost him positions. Overall, our drivers did a very professional job in very difficult conditions."

Denis Chevrier [Operations manager - Renault F1 France]:
"It was a very difficult race. Our objective was to finish the race without any incidents but, unfortunately, Fernando had his accident at the end. From an engine point of view, the race unfolded without any problems at all."

Peter Sauber [Team principal - Sauber]:
"A spectacular and dramatic race! In the end, for us, it was a happy one - we have two undamaged cars and, more importantly, two undamaged drivers. On top of that, we were able to score four more points."

David Richards [Team principal - BAR]:
"It's difficult to know where to start after a race like that. My first thoughts are how pleasing it was to see that nobody was seriously hurt after so many extraordinary accidents. For our part, like so many others, we missed out on a great opportunity. However, at the end of the day, our reliability was excellent, Jacques scored three points and Jenson emerged unscathed from his accident. No one can say that Formula One is boring after a day like today."

Geoffrey Willis [Technical director - BAR]:
“A fair result for the team I think. We gained another three points from an incident-filled race, but we were lucky that nobody was hurt today. It is always easy to dwell on what might have been had the race been run to full distance. Nevertheless, the team reacted well to the safety cars and we were in a good position. Jacques was certainly very quick at the end of the race, which showed us that the cars and tyres were working well in these conditions.”

Shuhei Nakamoto [Engineering director - Honda Racing Development]:
"First of all, I'm pleased that Jacques has scored his first points this season. He did well to keep going in such difficult conditions. Jenson also did an extremely good job before his unfortunate spin. However, I think our strategy was looking good today. The three flyway races have been tough and we're looking forward to starting the European season in two weeks time.”
“On a final note, I would like to pass all our best wishes to MotoGP rider Daijiro Kato in the hope that he can fully recover from his crash in the race at Suzuka today."

Dr Mark Gillan [Head of vehicle performance- Jaguar Racing]:
"Not a race anyone is going to forget for many a year to come!”
“We were informed on the grid that the race would be delayed by fifteen minutes and, given how far back Antonio was on the grid, we decided to start his race from the pit-lane with a full fuel-load. Given how bad the track conditions were, we knew that finishing this race alone would probably ensure points and, with that in mind, we had nothing to lose and everything to gain by opting for a one-stopper with Antonio.”
“With Mark, we suffered from a slight electronic problem on the grid, but the team addressed it effectively and we got him away okay.”
“We were running very strongly in the race and everything was going according to plan until lap 24 when Antonio spun off at Turn Three – a corner that cost many drivers their race today because of standing water. Mark, however, was running very well indeed and, when the safety car was deployed on lap 32, we pitted him for the second time and fuelled him until the finish – a strategy that would have seen us on the podium today had we not have suffered from the huge accident on lap 53.”
“The Jaguar R4 has performed strongly here all weekend and the race was no different. The sector times were on the pace and, even though Mark was carrying more fuel than was necessary to compensate for a fuel pick-up issue, his lap times were very competitive in conditions which, quite frankly, were atrocious. The Michelin tyre worked very here all weekend and while we are obviously pleased with having earned two championship points, it's a shame we couldn't have taken what we really deserved from the weekend. Having said that, it's great to see Eddie Jordan get onto the podium with our parent company Ford who provide the horsepower for both our teams! We have clearly demonstrated the potential of the Jaguar R4 this weekend and, while we would have liked to have scored our first points under somewhat more positive circumstances, we have at least rewarded our committed parent company, sponsors and workforce with a taste of things to come."

Sam Michael [Chief operations engineer - BMW.WilliamsF1]:
"A disappointing day as it would have been nice to have finished better . We struggled a lot and, obviously, didn¹t get our pit-stops best timed because of the incidents that happened - but this is always difficult in wet weather. Obviously, McLaren are doing a good job in the championship so far. It's up to us to work harder and close the gap to them and we are pushing to do that."

Mario Theissen [Motorsport director - BMW]:
"Today's race was more than hectic, and I really hope that Fernando Alonso wasn¹t seriously injured.”
“The start of the race was hampered by the weather conditions, by the accidents and, thereafter, by the safety car's deployment. Juan Pablo went off at the same corner where four other drivers also crashed, and it was clearly particularly slippery there. Ralf drove consistently but had his pit-stop shortly before the race was stopped and therefore dropped from place three to the back of the field.”
“We didn¹t experience any technical problems with either of the cars. The new version of the BMW P83 engine that we ran in the Friday qualifying sessions in Australia and Malaysia today achieved its first race finish."

Ove Andersson [Team principal - Toyota F1]:
"I think it was a very, very difficult race for all the drivers out there today, and there were too many accidents. Olivier had a bit of bad luck at the beginning, involved in an incident with Firman. With Cristiano, we don't understand why his car was not competitive and we will look into the data and investigate. We have to look forward to the next race and the start of the European season. Sooner or later, good results have to come our way."

Jean Todt [Team manager - Ferrari]:
“Today's race was very frustrating, but that's racing. We had the quickest car on the track and what could have ended as a one-two finish turned into a race which left us with nothing at al - it is the first time since Nurburgring 1999 that we failed to score any points.“
“Michael went off the track, his first retirement since the 2001 German Grand Prix, while a fuel feed problem caused Rubens to retire when he was comfortably in the lead. Obviously, I am very disappointed, for the drivers, for the team and for Bridgestone, who did an excellent job. I hope that the return to Europe, in front of our fans in Imola, will signal the end of what has been a difficult run of grands prix for us.”

Paul Stoddart [Team principal - European Minardi Cosworth]:
"Today saw possibly the first time ever that Minardi was potentially in a genuine, race-winning position. Many people may laugh, but only those of us within the team will ever know the truth. We had the strategy, but not the luck."

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