Team reaction after the Bahrain GP (part 1)

Ferrari

A one-two finish for Scuderia Ferrari in the Bahrain Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2010 World Championship. Fernando Alonso finished first on his race debut with the Prancing Horse, while Felipe Massa came second on his comeback after the accident in Budapest last year. This is victory number 211 for the Scuderia from 794 Grand Prix starts, the fourth in the seven editions of this race. For Fernando, it is win number twenty two from 141 Grand Prix starts, his third at the Sakhir circuit.

Stefano Domenicali: “A fantastic start to the championship! This amazing one-two is just reward for all the work of the team, both at the track and the factory in Maranello, over these past few months and I dedicate the result to them. Today, we had to manage a very complicated situation with Felipe’s car, because of the high temperatures, but we did it and I was very happy to see our driver on the podium on what was a very special day for him. As for Fernando, what can I say? There could be no better way for him to start his adventure in red! I also want to thank our technical and commercial partners who have always supported us, even in the most difficult times and I think there is no better way to also welcome on board a new important sponsor like the Santander Bank. Now we can enjoy this wonderful day for a few hours, but as from tomorrow, we must start preparing for the next round in Australia, adopting our usual approach which involves keeping calm, with our feet on the ground and working hard. We have a very long season ahead of us, in which reliability will be crucial, as indeed we saw yet again today and where we will be fighting very strong and determined adversaries.”

Fernando Alonso: “I want to dedicate this victory to President Montezemolo, who believed in me and to our mechanics who did a really great job, especially this morning, when they changed the engine on my car in a very short time. Jumping onto the top step of the podium was a special feeling and I hope I have matched the expectations of the whole team. We worked so much this winter and now we are beginning to see the results of that. The first races of the season are very important: we must get to the European part of the year with a lot of points in the bag and a high level of understanding of how the tyres work at various types of track. The key to winning will be to continue to develop the car race by race. Today, on the harder tyres, we went very well, but with the softer ones, I was struggling a bit to stay close to Vettel. I was planning to attack in the final ten laps, but luck gave me a hand: you always need a bit in every race. At the start, I got away well, making the most of being on the clean side of the track and I managed to pass Felipe, going for a space that was big enough to pull off the move without any risk. Then I was lucky not to have any problems with the car, while my team-mate had a more difficult time and had to ease up a bit. Now it’s time to think about Australia. We will see who has the best car at that track, but I think the four top teams will all be in the fight.”

Felipe Massa: “I am very happy with this result and I want to thank all the team and our fans. It is my best opening race of a season since I started in Formula 1 and, given all the problems we had, I am very pleased. We had to manage the temperatures on the car and, for around thirty laps, I was not able to push as hard as I could. At the start, I lost a place to Alonso, but then the car worked well with both types of tyre. With the softer tyres, the Red Bull was quicker than us, but on the harder ones we were much better. I want to thank one more time all those who have been close to me over these past months, writing and sending me messages. Now we must look to Australia to be as well prepared as possible.”

Chris Dyer: “A fantastic result for the whole team. We worked so hard over the winter – in the wind tunnel, in the design office, the engine department, on track, everywhere –and today we reaped our reward. It was a great welcome for Fernando and an equally nice welcome back for Felipe: it would be hard to have asked for more in the first race. It was not an easy weekend, because we had to tackle a whole series of problems which we controlled thanks to the efforts of everyone at the track and back home, but I really hope we have fewer of them in the future. Because of the high temperatures, we were not able to run the race we wanted, but especially with Felipe, we had to adopt a very conservative approach, although I don’t think we were the only ones faced with that particular difficulty.”

Luca di Montezemolo : “I am happy but above all really proud of my men who have done an extraordinary job This victory has been pursued and wanted after months of hard work. I am extremely happy for them and for our fans. Ferrari is always Ferrari. I am delighted for our drivers too. Alonso starts with a victory and Massa still so fast in a tough race after last year’s terrible accident. A first and second place which encourage us to look forward and keep up the hard work.”

McLaren Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton :
“Third place was a very strong result for us today. I feel that we did a good job: our reliability was great and the pace today was pretty good, but we still need to push very hard to close the gap to the cars in front.
My race was decided on the first lap when I locked up at Turn Four, ran a bit wide, got in a bad position and Nico [Rosberg] got past me. After that, I spent the whole first stint close behind him, but just couldn’t get close enough to pass him.
After the pitstop, the guys were able to get me out ahead of Nico – which was a fantastic job, thanks guys – and I had some clear air and was able to make up quite a bit of ground to Felipe [Massa]. If I hadn’t been sitting behind Nico, I think I might have been able to challenge Felipe for second place.
I had a slight vibration towards the end of the race, but I think it was just the result of a locked front wheel. When you’re pushing to close the gap, you lock the tyres just once and it takes several laps to get over the flat-spot. But it wasn’t a big problem.
It’s going to be difficult for us to close the performance gap immediately, but I think I’ll go back to the factory and give them the biggest push. I know they’re all pushing flat-out as it is, but we need to get some upgrades, and we need to bring as many of them forward as we possibly can.”

Jenson Button :
“At the start of the race, I didn’t know what was going to happen to my tyres so I took it a little easy. I was a bit disappointed that we pitted when we did, because I’d probably looked after the tyres a little too much – because, in the last five laps of the stint, I was able to push to catch Mark [Webber] and Michael [Schumacher].
At the stop, I jumped Mark, which was great. It was a really good pitstop from the guys – both for Lewis and myself actually, because we each jumped the car in front.
I then paced myself on the tyres until there were about 20 laps to go. I caught up with Michael, but didn’t have enough pace through the middle sector to stay with him and have a go at him in the last sector, which was disappointing. But it was fun all the same.
Overall, I think our car is pretty good at looking after its tyres, but there’s always room for improvement and I think everybody in the team wants more speed and more downforce.”

Martin Whitmarsh, Team principal :
“Both Lewis and Jenson raced very well here in Bahrain this afternoon. After the disappointment of our qualifying performance yesterday, the fact that our race pace was strong today was extremely encouraging. In fact, in the last part of the race, Lewis’s was the fastest car on the track.
However, like Jenson, who got stuck in a queue of traffic early on, Lewis was a little delayed by Nico in the first few laps. As a result, neither of our drivers was able to show their true race pace until after their pitstops.
Happily, both our drivers benefited from excellent pit stops – Lewis got ahead of Nico and Jenson got ahead of Mark – so I want to take this opportunity to say ‘Well played’ to the team for calling both pitstops at the right time and executing them so efficiently.
Overall, then, we’re pretty happy with our haul of 21 world championship points today, and will now continue to develop our car on the back of this very promising first outing. Our aim is to be fully competitive in Australia.
Last but not least, the seventh Bahrain Grand Prix was, as expected, an impressively organised event. This year is the second time it has been the first grand prix of the year, and I’m sure that all who either took part in it or watched it will agree that it was a very worthy season-opener.”

Red Bull Renault

Sebastian Vettel : “It’s a pity today. It was positive all weekend, except for the exhaust failure. From Saturday morning onwards, we were one of the quickest cars on track in all conditions. We had control of the race today and we were on top of the strategy – everything was running smoothly. I think at every point I knew how my tyres were, so we kept good control of the tyres and
brakes. At some stage, I think about 15 to 20 laps from the end, you could see my lap times were getting slower. It seems something mechanical broke, luckily we could continue and finished fourth, but we should have won today. It cost us a lot, but we’ve got 12 important points.”

Mark Webber :“It was a bit of a traffic jam out there. I had a fight with the two Mercedes in Turn one and Michael (Schumacher) had the inside for two; after that it was just about working out how we were going to jump them. It was very, very difficult to stay close to the cars in front. We got hurt yesterday in qualifying; we still managed to get a few points today, although not as many as we would have liked. We definitely learned a lot as a team today. It wasn’t the most exciting grand prix I’ve driven – following gearboxes all afternoon – but the world class drivers who were ahead don’t normally make mistakes. I tried as hard as I could to make Jenson (Button) and Michael make mistakes, but it wasn’t happening. We have a long Championship ahead and the boys are working incredibly hard; we showed last year we can fight, so I’m looking forward to Melbourne.”

Christian Horner : “It was cruel luck with Sebastian today. He drove a great race and was pulling away at the front. We had a very good pit stop with him and he was controlling the lead comfortably until lap 33, when he had a sudden loss of power.
He was then powerless to defend to the Ferraris and Hamilton, but he drove extremely well to retain fourth position. It gives us valuable points, but ultimately it’s very disappointing to lose such a great opportunity for a victory. Mark lost ground in the first turn and a little more with a slight sticking front tyre at his pit stop, losing him a place to Jenson (Button). After that, despite being a lot faster than the cars in front, he was unable to overtake.”

Fabrice Lom, (Renault) : “It’s a very disappointing result. With the pace we showed yesterday we really thought we would get a better result.
Mark had a bit of an engine problem at the start which lost him a place and then he lost another with the pit stop. He was eighth in the end, which shows how difficult it was to overtake. For Sebastian, everything seemed to be in our pocket, but then an exhaust problem caused him to lose power. He was still able to finish fourth, which shows great talent. We are
a bit disappointed, but we can take a lot of positives from this weekend. We will clear the negatives and be stronger in Australia.”

Mercedes GP

Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher brought their Mercedes GP Petronas cars home in fifth and sixth positions respectively at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix today.

Starting on the option tyres from fifth on the grid, Nico had a great start
to overtake Lewis Hamilton into turn six to move up to fourth. Michael,
starting from seventh on the grid, was running in sixth and also using the
softer rubber.

The pair made only one stop during the race, Michael on lap 15 and Nico on
lap 16, to switch to the prime tyres. Nico lost a position to Hamilton at
the stops and they remained in fifth and sixth positions for the remainder
of the 49-lap race. Nico chased down Sebastian Vettel at the end of the race but was unable to pass in the turbulent air.

Today’s result puts Merceds GP Petronas in third position in the Constructors’ Championship with 18 points.

Nico Rosberg
"I had a great start today and was happy to be running in fourth position by
the end of the first lap. However I lacked pace on the option tyres in the
first stint and struggled for pace. Lewis beat me on strategy in the pit
stop which we need to analyse later and see what happened. I couldn’t quite
get Sebastian at the end as I lost grip in the dirty air when I got close.
However fifth place is a good start for us and I am confident that we can
develop well from here."

Michael Schumacher
"After three years away, I’m happy to say that I had fun out there today,
especially at the beginning with the good start that I had. I can live very
well with sixth position and it gives both me and the team a good base to
make progress. I have every confidence that we will improve the car. Working
with the team for our first race together was very positive and the guys did
a great job so I would like to thank them for their support in my comeback
race. We all know that we have some way to go but we will get there. The
season is long."

Ross Brawn
"Nico and Michael did a great job this weekend to finish in fifth and sixth
positions and now we need to give them the car to improve on those placings.
We were not quick enough today and our race pace was not there to finish
further up the field and challenge for a podium position. We have some hard
work ahead but I am confident that we can progress the car strongly in the
next few races. The team performed extremely well this weekend and for our
first race with our two new drivers, we achieved two strong points-scoring
finishes."

Norbert Haug
"It was a difficult race weekend for our team with these extremely hot
conditions in Manama. We looked better in the practice sessions than during
the race and it appears that we could not handle the tyres as well as the
teams ahead of us. Fifth position for Nico and sixth place for Michael was
the best possible result today. We have some work to do and we are confident
that we will catch up soon."

Force India Mercedes

The Force India F1 Team has opened its points account at the first race of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Bahrain Grand Prix. Tonio Liuzzi drove a faultless race, matching the pace of the Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes cars, to secure ninth position. With the implementation of a new points system this year, Tonio has chalked up two points - marking his first points since the 2007 Chinese Grand Prix and Force India’s first points since the 2009 Italian Grand Prix.

Adrian Sutil was unfortunate to finish out of the points in 12th position. The German spun on the first lap when a cloud of smoke from the back of Mark Webber’s car completely blocked his vision and he made light contact with Robert Kubica. The incident was enough for him to spin to the rear of the field, but he pushed hard to make up several places and was closing on the top ten in the latter stages. He did have some consolation of posting the second quickest lap of the race.

Adrian Sutil : At least we finished. After the incident in the first corner it was the maximum we could do. We had a good race in the end, learning a lot about the tyres and how the car behaves at the end of a race, but the incident pretty much destroyed my hopes of getting any points. I don’t really know what happened in that corner - I was driving and then there was a big cloud of smoke so I was blind going into it. I touched someone and spun and that was it. It’s a shame but we will keep pushing for the next race.

Tonio Liuzzi : I’m really pleased. We achieved our target and scored some points, which is a great result for myself and for the team. It was a difficult race as with this amount of fuel and the tyres, plus the heat, we had a bit to control but overall I think we can be pretty happy about how we handled it and to be in the points is magic. All the top teams finished ahead of us and there were no failures or reliability issues so it was the maximum we could have achieved. I’m now looking forward to Australia where we will get some more updates and it could put us in an even better position for the next race. Overall a great result for the team.

Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal : What a great start to the season! I am absolutely delighted that we have scored in the first race of the season. It was always our aim to score points and we knew we had the pace to do it, but nevertheless to finally get there gives a great feeling. Tonio drove a superb race, matching the pace of the top teams in front, and it is certainly encouraging for the coming races. Adrian was unlucky and I know he will be disappointed not to have been able to capitalise on his starting position, but the season is long and he is hungry so I do not think he will have to wait long for his turn.

Williams Cosworth

The 2010 season opened modestly for the Williams team at the Bahrain GP, with Rubens Barrichello claiming the last point-paying position by finishing in p10. Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg sustained some early car damage which he had to carry for over 40 laps, hampering him on his debut and he ultimately finished in fourteenth spot.

Rubens Barrichello: It’s good to have a point, but in all honesty, we thought that we would do a little better when we arrived here. So it’s really all down to us, we can see that the competition is pretty fierce and there were no retirements among the leading cars. I think we finished around about where we deserved so it will be up to us to close up the gap.

Nico Hulkenberg: It was a tough and difficult debut for me today. Right from the start, I had to take some evasive action to avoid a crash in turn 2, which dropped me couple of places and a few laps later, I spun at turn 6. I am still not really sure how it happened, initially I thought there was something broken on the car, but it was not the case. I jumped the kerbs and maybe hurt the car a bit, as it was quite difficult to drive for the rest of what was a long and lonely afternoon for me. It’s been a tough weekend, but the practice and long run pace has been good and we need to build on that.

Sam Michael, Technical Director: It was today good to get both cars to the finish and one car in the points. Cosworth will also be happy with engine reliability after all their hard work over the winter. We went for a different strategy with Rubens on the prime tyre, but it looks like the option was quite strong. Nico had car damage after an early spin, so he spent the race learning about the tyres. We are looking forward to Melbourne and taking a step up in performance.