Team reaction after race in Abu Dhabi (part 2)

Nick Heidfeld: “My start was okay, and I was able to pass Robert (Kubica). But then I lost that position when I had to go round Michael (Schumacher) and Vitantonio (Liuzzi) after their accident. After that I was stuck in traffic, and we had agreed before the race that in this case I would come in and change tyres straight away. It was a very good move, even better than expected as it put me three positions further up. I was then able to close the gap to Felipe (Massa), but I had no chance to overtake him. It would have been nice to score in the last race of this season, but it didn’t work out. Congratulations to the new world champion Sebastian (Vettel)!”

Kamui Kobayashi: “I am disappointed with the result, as I definitely wanted to score in the final race of the season. I did what I could, but there was no way to overtake. My car was okay, but we had bad luck with our strategy. It didn’t work out with some cars stopping early when the Safety Car was out after the accident. I had a good start gaining two positions, but later I could never go at my full pace, as I was always stuck. I also want to congratulate Sebastian (Vettel) for his great success!”

Peter Sauber, Team Principal: “First of all congratulations to Red Bull and Sebastian (Vettel) who drove an excellent race today and deserved to win the title. Unfortunately, we finished the final race of the season outside the points. Both drivers did a very good job. Nick was able to keep the Williams and the Force India behind him. Kamui was unfortunate to get stuck behind Rubens Barrichello for almost the whole race. This was the end of a very challenging season for us. We had a very bad start. After eight races we had just a single championship point because the car wasn’t fast enough and, even more importantly, not reliable, which was very unusual for our team. We finished the season with 44 points. This is certainly not satisfying for us, but it was not possible to make up for the losses from the earlier races. Nevertheless there are also positive aspects to review: Since James Key joined us we have significantly improved on the technical side. Furthermore Kamui has shown a great development during the season, so I am very happy he drives for our team. I want to thank the entire team for their efforts, which goes for the people at the race track as well as for those in Hinwil, and especially for our drivers Kamui, Nick and Pedro.”

James Key, Technical Director: “It’s a little bit disappointing not to get into the points, because this would have been a nice way to finish the season. It was a fairly hectic race with the early safety car, during which time we decided against coming in, but it looks like the people that came in were able to capitalize. We brought Nick in at what we felt was about the right time for the change from option to prime tyres. He drove an excellent race, but was stuck in traffic for most of the time. We left Kamui out to see whether he could make up time after Rubens Barrichello pitted, because we were held up by him. But by the time Rubens came in we had lost too much time to the people behind, and unfortunately Kamui came out behind him again. So he ended up in traffic as well, which was frustrating for him. This meant we finished outside the points. Thanks to the team and the drivers for the season and for pushing so hard, particularly during the difficult start of the season. Congratulations to Sebastian (Vettel) and Red Bull.”

The AT&T Williams team managed a defensive strategy in Abu Dhabi today to secure sixth place in the constructors’ championship. Although neither Rubens Barrichello nor Nico Hulkenberg managed a points finish, the team ensured that their nearest rivals were behind them at the finish in order to cover any eventualities. The combination of an early Safety Car and a circuit character that limited passing opportunities meant that there were few options to affect the outcome of the race. The team extends its congratulations to the 2010 Formula One World Champion, Sebastian Vettel.

Rubens Barrichello: Our main goal today was to cover Force India and ensure our championship position, which we did. I had a better car than the results show, but we did the best we could with the strategy we followed. I had a really good battle with Sutil who ran long into the race, and he left his pit stop in front of me, but I dived past him on the outside of turn 4. It was a huge move, exhilarating and really the best part of a race that was pretty flat out, so in a way it was a surprise to finish so far back.

Nico Hulkenberg: That was a difficult race. Strategy-wise, I started on the prime and did a long first stint and then a shorter one on the option but car pace wasn’t good so it didn’t work out for us. I lost position at the start, and then while avoiding the first lap incident, but I don’t think it made much of a difference to the overall picture.

Patrick Head, Director of Engineering: To finish 12th and 16th from seventh and 15th is not something to be pleased about. Our race pace clearly doesn’t match our qualifying pace, so that’s something we need to improve over the winter for 2011. Ultimately, of the various goals for the weekend, the main one was to finish ahead of Force India and retain sixth in the championship, which we achieved. Thanks to the whole team for doing a good job over a long season and many congratulations to Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull for tying up the drivers’ championship.

The Force India F1 Team has finished the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship on a high by securing its best-ever finish in the constructors’ championship. The team finishes the season with 68 points and seventh in the series after an incredible season that saw it clinch 15 points scoring finishes, nine Q3 slots and three double top ten finishes.

Adrian Sutil: Not such an exciting race for me today as I was driving alone for a lot of the time and then had a late stop as we tried to make up some positions. I came out side by side to Rubens and lost a position, falling into 13th. It wouldn’t have made any difference as we needed points today and unfortunately we couldn’t get them. It was a good effort from the team and we tried our best, just the safety car period at the start was unlucky for us. But thank you to the team for all their hard work this year and a big well done for getting 7th position. It’s our highest position as a team - and my highest in the championship - and shows just how far we’ve come in the last three years. Congratulations also to Sebastian for his great win today.

Tonio Liuzzi: For me today was a bit of a disappointing end to what’s been a fantastic year for the team. I had a good start, gaining a couple of positions and had got into a good place for the first stint, but then I came round the third corner and saw a cloud of smoke in front. I couldn’t move anywhere as there were cars all around me and then when the smoke cleared I saw Michael the wrong way round and stopped on track. I couldn’t do anything but thankfully we were both OK after the accident. I am sorry that we could not score any points today to get back to sixth in the championship but even so the team has worked so hard today and for the whole of the season. But congratulations to Sebastian on his first world title.

Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal: Sixty eight points is something I, and the whole team, can take great personal pride in. When we bought the team we scored zero points the first year, then 13 last year and now more than five times that in 2010. We’ve really achieved our racing stripes and I hope that next year, with the Indian Grand Prix as a target, that we can go bigger and better. This is just the start for us. Lastly I must extend my congratulations to Red Bull and to Sebastian Vettel on their wins this season, they have had a fantastic year

Lotus Racing secured its primary goal of tenth place in the 2010 FIA Formula One™ World Championship when Heikki Kovalainen finished the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 17th place. Jarno Trulli’s race came to an unfortunate end on lap 51 and finished in the garage after his car suffered a rear wing failure with just three laps left.

Heikki Kovalainen: “What a fantastic end to our season. The race itself was just great, right from when the lights went out. I got the best start of the season, made up places immediately and from that point on I just got my head down and got on with it. Everything went perfectly according to plan. The tyres weren’t really degarding and as the car got lighter and the fuel burnt away I was able to keep putting in what felt like qualifying laps throughout the whole race. I was able to pull away a gap to the cars behind me and we managed the traffic really well all race. After I came out of the pits I had to let a few cars past which cost me several seconds, but that wasn’t a problem as I could keep pulling away from my direct rivals. This is the perfect way to end our first season, and gives us a huge boost for next year. We finished on a high, achieved all our goals and we have a very exciting future ahead of us. Thank you to the whole team for a fantastic season – I can’t wait for next year.”

Jarno Trulli: “First of all congratulations to the whole team. Everyone has done an amazing job this year and while it’s been long and tough, for a brand new team it’s been special. My race was one of the ones I’ll want to forget. I had a problem with the front wing to begin with, and then a rear wing failure finished the race so I’m pretty glad it’s over! This year I’ve had all sorts of bad luck but I’m very confident about next year as the package that’s been put together is very good and it gives everyone in the team a chance to take the next step forward.”

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “Job done. When we started out on this project the first target was to be best of the new teams. When you think how late our entry was confirmed that was always going to be a good challenge, but we have done it. We gave Tony, Din and Nasa tenth place and that makes me very proud of the whole team. On a personal level I’d like to thank my partner Silvi. We did this together and I could not have done it without her or the whole team. However, this is just the beginning. Next year what is important is the steps we take forward, but for tonight we will enjoy the achievement. We have earned it.”

Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “I am completely relieved, completely ecstatic, completely happy and completely vindicated in making the decision to go into F1™. What we have achieved today is what dreams are made of. To complete 19 races after having just five months to build a car and finish in tenth in style is something that is truly magical. It shows you that even in the modern age where money and power counts for so much, there is a chance for ambition and dreams to shine. 2010 is a year that we can be proud of. We brought Lotus back into F1™™ after many had talked about it, but we did it. I can confidently say that everyone associated with the Lotus history can be very proud of what we have done this year. This is the first chapter of a long career ahead and we will create our own future, destiny and history from here. I am thankful to all the incredibly special staff we have in Hingham, Malaysia and here in Abu Dhabi for what they have done this year and my abiding memory of 2010 comes from one of our engineers, who told me he had achieved higher grid positions with other teams, but never with a team that feels as special as this. To all the Lotus fans thank you so much for your support – we could not have done it without you. I am thrilled that Lotus Racing has opened up F1™™ to everyone out there, and we cannot wait to see you next year.”

Virgin Racing completed their inaugural season in Formula One with Lucas di Grassi finishing in 18th place in today’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The start of the race was very dramatic, with a safety car intervention required almost immediately after the start when Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Force India car mounted the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher, who thankfully was not hurt.

The team had opted to run the two VR-01s with different strategies, Timo starting on the medium Prime tyre, and Lucas on the super-soft Option. Lucas elected to pit while the safety car was out, and the team performed brilliantly to get Lucas out ahead of the two HRT cars that he had followed into the pitlane. Timo stayed out and was battling to pass Jarno Trulli, until the Lotus suffered a broken front wing and Timo was set free. Unfortunately a few laps later his gearbox showed signs of failure and on lap 43 he was forced to retire.

Lucas continued to drive a great race, effectively using only one set of tyres, but was unable to close the gap to Heikki Kovalainen and remained in 18th place until the end of the Grand Prix.

Timo Glock: “The last race of our debut season was quite interesting. I had good pace and was able to keep speed with Lotus. In the end, unfortunately the gearbox got too hot and failed in the closing stages of the race, so it was disappointing but I still had a good pace and that is a reflection of how much we have developed the car over the year. I would like to thank the whole team and in particular my car crew. They did a very good job and I’m looking forward to working hard to get us in good shape for next year.”

Lucas di Grassi: “A very unusual race with a safety car at the beginning. We decided to go for the pitstop straight away in order to change to the Prime tyres. We had to do more than 50 laps with the same set of tyres, which seemed like a difficult task, but we managed it. I am ending the year with a feeling of ‘mission accomplished’ - I did the best I could with what I had and only one or two mistakes during the whole season, so I feel that the effort and quality of my work have been much better than is reflected in the raw results. I would like to thank everyone in the team for this year. Everybody has behaved like a very close family, so well done to all of us for our first year in Formula One for us.”

John Booth: “The Option tyre was a bit of an unknown quantity today, so we decided to split our strategy and start one car on each type of tyre. Both drivers had strong races and we were in a good battle amongst the new teams. Unfortunately Timo’s gearbox overheated, forcing him to retire soon after his pitstop. Lucas finished strongly, despite being on the same tyre for almost the entire race. I would like to congratulate the entire team on an incredible debut season. After a tough start everyone pulled together so well and I am immensely proud of the team we have all built together. It has been an honour to work with such a fantastic bunch of people. I would also like to thank our Partners for their faith and unfailing support. Cosworth provided us with a very reliable and competitive engine and it has been a real pleasure to work with Bridgestone in their final year of Formula One competition. We now look forward to our new partnership with Marussia and a very promising 2011.”

Hispania Racing ended its first ever season in Formula 1 in a very good way, after achieving its ninth double-finish of the year and its fourth in a row today in Abu Dhabi. Both Hispania Racing drivers, Christian Klien and Bruno Senna, got their race off to a good start and were able to avoid the crash on the first lap. After that, both of them drove at constant pace and were able to keep close to the other new teams, fighting for positions with them for the last time this 2010 season. It was a strong race for Hispania Racing, and Bruno Senna ended up 19th and Christian Klien was finally 20th.

Dr. Colin Kolles, Team Principal: “We are happy about our ninth double-finish of our first season in Formula 1. We were on a good strategy when we decided to do our pit-stops during the safety car period and could win some positions then. Unfortunately, we lost too much time due to blue flags during the race but both drivers showed a good performance. At the end of a hard first year in Formula 1, we became more and more reliable and constant in our results. I want to thank the whole team who managed the impossible and made us become part of the highest series in motorsport. We are going the right way and we are fired up for the next season in 2011.”

Christian Klien: “It was a tough race today and it was very hot inside the car. The car was difficult to handle with a lot of fuel, but the lap times got better with less fuel. It was a positive race weekend for the team, as there were no technical problems. We could see that the gap to the other new teams got smaller and we could go at a constant pace. I want to thank everyone in the team for the extraordinary job they did all over the season and for giving me the opportunity to compete in the Singapore, Brazil and Abu Dhabi races.”

Bruno Senna: “Today was a good but very tough race here in Abu Dhabi. I tried to push and get close to our competitors in front but then I was in traffic, so that didn’t help us end further up. I enjoyed my first season in Formula 1 and I want to thank the team for their hard work they did during the year. I really have learnt a lot and it was a good preparation. You learn so much by actually racing that I can’t wait to put all this experience into practice next season.”