Team reaction after the Chinese GP (part 1)

McLaren Mercedes

Jenson Button: "This was my best victory in Formula 1. Every race you win becomes your best, but this was an extremely special win in very tough conditions.

"And it’s especially satisfying because it was a really dominant victory for the whole Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. We scored a one-two today, and the reason we did so was that every single element within the team worked perfectly. From the strategy calls to the pitstops, you need to get everything just right if you’re going to win in conditions like these. And today we did indeed get everything just right.

"It’s not luck that brought us out on top today. We made the right decisions - the guys on the pitwall and back in Woking made the calls brilliantly, and I couldn’t have asked for better support.

"My first few months with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes have been extraordinary – I really feel a real part of the team now – so today’s result gives us great excitement, encouragement and enthusiasm as we head to Barcelona, and the start of the European season. We hope to be even stronger there."

Lewis Hamilton: "First of all, congratulations to Jenson – he did an incredible job and made an excellent tyre choice in what were very tricky conditions this afternoon.

"It was very tough at the start – it started to rain right away, and it was a difficult call to decide to pit for intermediate tyres. I made a very late call when I thought I’d heard a comment over the radio, and pulled into the pits when I was halfway round the final corner!

"Unfortunately, it wasn’t the right choice – the tyres started graining almost immediately and I needed to stop again, this time for dry tyres. But, after that, I got my head down and made up a lot of positions before the rain got heavier.

"I want to thank the team for making not only some pretty impeccable strategy calls, but also for executing some fantastically slick pitstops. I think the team was operating right at the top of its game today, and I want to thank all the guys for such an incredible effort.

"Towards the end of the race, my tyres really weren’t in good shape. So, while I was able to get past a lot of cars, I wasn’t able to catch Jenson. But we both had an absolutely fantastic afternoon, and I think the whole team deserves this incredible one-two result. I hope the spectators and viewers enjoyed it, too!

"We know we still have to make some improvements to our car, but two wins from four races and the lead of both world championships only make us even more determined. The team is very strong at the moment, and it’s just fantastic to be a part of that.

"We’re confident of making an even bigger step for the Spanish Grand Prix next month, and I want to pass on my thanks and encouragement to all the men and women working so hard in Woking and Stuttgart: your efforts are enormously appreciated, and today’s result could only have been achieved with all your incredible efforts."

Martin Whitmarsh - Team principal: "Today’s race was seriously challenging for drivers and teams alike. The strategy was very tricky to call correctly, but in the end we probably selected two different strategies that suited Jenson and Lewis very well.

"Lewis produced a storming drive characterised by all the passion and flair we’ve grown used to seeing from him – I thought some of his overtaking manoeuvres were simply stunning.

"Jenson drove like the world champion that he is to record a truly brilliant win in extremely testing conditions. You won’t see many better drives than that, I can tell you – he was very, very impressive today.

"The team did a fantastic job, too. It was a very busy afternoon for all the pitcrews, but I thought ours performed particularly well.

"Credit should also be given to Mercedes-Benz for not only supplying the winning engine but also powering the first three cars home – it was the first all-Mercedes-Benz podium in Formula 1 since Aintree 1955.

"Lovers of Formula 1 trivia may also be interested to know that today’s result marks the first all-British one-two since A1-Ring 1999, where Eddie Irvine led David Coulthard home.

"Now, we’re hoping to get our cars and ourselves out of China, home, and then on to Spain just as soon as we can. We’re already looking forward to racing in Barcelona, where we hope to be very competitive yet again."

Mercedes GP

An exciting Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit today saw Nico Rosberg drive an excellent race in the challenging and constantly changing weather conditions to achieve third place and his second consecutive podium finish.

Intermittent showers throughout the race put the emphasis on making the right strategic calls as Nico stayed on slick tyres for the first phase, leading the race from lap 3 for 16 laps, before switching to intermediates as the conditions steadily worsened.

Michael Schumacher had an eventful race, coming into the pits a total of four times on his way to a tenth placed finish for the final points scoring position, as he managed his worn intermediate tyres.

After four races as the Formula One calendar returns to Europe, MERCEDES GP PETRONAS are in fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship with Nico in second position in the Drivers’ Championship.

Nico Rosberg: “It’s fantastic to be on the podium for the second race in succession. It was an eventful race and we made very good choices which put us in contention for the result today. Following advice from Jock and the team, I decided to stay out on slicks and give it a go when the first showers hit. I was out there just thinking please stop raining! But it was the right call and it was a nice feeling to be leading the race for a while. When it started raining again, I suffered quite badly from tyre degradation on the intermediates and Jenson was able to get past. We didn’t seem to quite have the pace on inters but third place is great and we’ve made a step in the right direction this weekend. There’s more to come from the team so it’s really good to be heading into the European season with some strong results and second place in the Drivers’ Championship.”

Michael Schumacher: “Today was one of those races that you do not want to remember, just like the whole weekend really. It was not good for me and not good from me. You have to take it as another experience and accept it even if it is frustrating that I was not able to get my tyres together better. My strategy in that respect was not very impressive as in the last 10 laps my tyres were just gone and seemed to be more slicks than intermediates. I was one of those drivers who had gone onto the last set quite early and we should have done that differently and positioned the tyres better. In general I had some good and tight fights which was fun but with my last stop being probably too early, in the end I just couldn’t do anything and my fights were quite hopeless then. Congratulations to Nico who made it to the podium and at least one of us scored good points. I am looking forward to going home now but let’s see if we manage to!”

Ross Brawn: “We had a very good race with Nico today. He drove extremely well in difficult conditions and the team did everything right on the tyre stops, making good strategic decisions. We lost some of our advantage with the safety car which was a shame but overall an excellent day and a great drive from Nico. With Michael, we clearly had a more difficult time but at least we got a point out of it. We have some issues that we need to understand as the deterioration of his tyres and therefore his pace is a problem that we need to resolve before the next race. We haven’t quite got the car at the moment but when we do, we know that we can get the job done.”

Norbert Haug: “A great result for Nico and everybody at MERCEDES GP PETRONAS today. Well done to all of our team members on the second podium in a row with two third places for Nico and our team. Nico is now second in the points standings after four races and certainly one of the most remarkable drivers of this young season. Congratulations to our friends at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and to Jenson and Lewis for their one-two result. This was the 70th victory for a car with Mercedes power since Melbourne 1997 here in this important Chinese market for Mercedes-Benz. A special thank you from my side and on behalf of our Board to all of the hard-working guys at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth and Stuttgart. A great job from you all! It was not a good race weekend for Michael unfortunately. We will investigate what the problems were and I am convinced we will all see much stronger results from him rather sooner than later.”

Ferrari

Alonso and a ninth for Felipe Massa. At the end of this first group of races outside Europe, the Scuderia lies second in the Constructors’ classification, with its drivers third and sixth in their championship; Fernando ahead of Felipe.

Stefano Domenicali: “First of all, I want to compliment the pit stop crew, who did an amazing job today, handling three double stops without making the slightest mistake and also helping the drivers to make up places. As for the strategy choices, especially for the first stop, it’s clear from the top four finishers that two drivers made one choice and the other two a different one, which means it is difficult to give an instant assessment of which was the right one. With hindsight, Button’s paid off better, but it can also be said that, but for his penalty for a jumped start, Fernando could definitely have fought for the victory. As for the passing move involving Felipe and Fernando, we only saw it afterwards on the television replay and I think it was just a racing incident and there is absolutely no problem between the two drivers: when you are always racing to win, you can have moments like this. There’s a slight feeling of regret after these first four rounds of the championship. We have definitely ended up with less than we were capable of, sometimes because of incidents beyond our control and sometimes because of things that were down to us. Having said that, we are still fully in the fight for both titles and that is already very important. Now we must continue to push on the development of the car and its performance, especially in qualifying. Starting in Barcelona, we must get back on the podium and that is completely possible.”

Fernando Alonso: “In a race like this, anything can happen. We did five pit stops to change tyres, which is definitely unusual: all in all, I think we took the right decisions at the right time. In a race like this you only understand at the end what would have been the best thing to do, as neither on the pit wall nor in the car do we have a crystal ball! I made a serious mistake at the start as my reflexes let me down and I left early. It’s never happened to me before and I am very disappointed with myself. Luckily, despite the penalty, I managed to finish fourth. The passing move on Felipe? If he was not my team-mate, there wouldn’t be so much talk about it and for me it was a normal move and it definitely won’t compromise our relationship. We have a great potential and we must hope we get some normal races like the one in Bahrain. The start of the championship has gone well: we have shown we are competitive on all the tracks and we have what it takes to win the title. Clearly, we have to up our points tally and improve our qualifying performance. McLaren deserve the top spot, because even though they might not have the best car they have got the most out of it every time.”

Felipe Massa: “This was a very complicated race and clearly I can’t be happy with the result. Of course, two points are better than nothing, but in the upcoming races we have to do better and that means working on the development of the car. Right from the start, it was difficult to make the right choice in terms of what tyres to use because of the changeable weather. As for the passing move Fernando made, I ended up on a puddle of water coming out of the hairpin and slightly lost control of the car: he managed to get inside me, passing me going into the pit lane. I lost some places because of it, as I had to wait for his stop to be finished. In the closing laps, I was struggling a lot with the tyres, but Michael was suffering worse than me and I managed to pass him. We have seen how the situation can change radically from one race to the next: we need to work as hard as possible to try and get the most out of the potential at our disposal.”

Chris Dyer: “An extremely difficult race, affected by the changing weather and, in Fernando’s case, by the incident at the start. After the start of the race, we opted to go for the intermediates, but the track did not stay wet enough for long and so we had to go back to slicks. Then, when the rain came, we went back to wets and both cars proved to be very competitive and the drivers did the best job possible of managing the tyres, better than many of the others, thus managing to gain some places. After the penalty, Fernando drove a great race, just as the pit stop guys did an exceptional job and very well done to them for that.”

Renault

Robert Kubica: “It was an exciting race today and it’s good to have scored some more points. At the start of the race I made a bad start and lost a lot of positions, but we made the right decision to stay out on slicks when it started to rain and I was able to move up through the field into third place. However, the critical moment of my race was when the safety car came out, which ended my hopes of a podium because I lost the big lead I had to the cars behind me. So although I’m happy to finish fifth, I still feel a bit frustrated to have missed a podium.”

Vitaly Petrov: “I’m happy to finish my first race in Formula 1 and to score my first points. It was a difficult race and it wasn’t easy to make the right decisions today. In the beginning, when it started to rain, some drivers came in for intermediates, but we decided to stay out on slicks, which was the right decision. Then I kept talking on the radio with the team to decide when we would change to intermediates, and again we got the timing right. When I changed to my second set of intermediates, I knew it would be important to look after the tyres, but we didn’t know if it would continue raining or if the track would dry out. But I kept pushing, the engineers told me that I had good pace, and in the final laps I had some good overtaking moves, especially with Schumacher and Webber, to gain some more places.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal: “To get two cars in the points today is a great result for the team and I’m very pleased with our performance. To see Vitaly score his first points is fantastic, especially in such spectacular style with a fighting drive where he showed great pace. It’s good for him to have a race distance under his belt and I’m sure he will take a lot of confidence from this excellent result. Robert, too, had another brilliant race, and didn’t make a single mistake all weekend. I also want to pay tribute to the team who have worked so hard recently, both here at the track and back at the factory in Enstone. They have not made any mistakes all season and have made great calls with the strategy: today’s result is a great reward for all their efforts.”

Alan Permane, Chief Race Engineer: “What an exciting race and another strong performance from the entire team. Robert drove an excellent race and we can be happy to have picked up some more good points with a strong fifth place finish. It’s great to see Vitaly score points today and deliver such a mature drive. In the closing stages he did an excellent job to look after his intermediate tyres and it was very rewarding to see him overtaking much more experienced drivers. However, we’re a little disappointed because we were in third and fourth places before the second safety car period. Without that, we could probably have finished on the podium.”

Rémi Taffin, Head of Engine Operations: “Two cars in the points today and a superb performance from both drivers, especially Vitaly who showed good, consistent pace in very difficult conditions. He also overtook lots of drivers today, including a certain former world champion. Robert drove another faultless race and has scored some more important points. As a team there were no problems during the race, which went very smoothly, and we can be pleased to have maximised our potential to come away with fifth and seventh places.”

Red Bull Renault

Sebastian Vettel: “It was a difficult race – on nearly every second lap there was a car to pass or I got passed. I lost quite a bit of time with the first pit-stop, but we fought our way back and ended the race in sixth. We started on pole, with a one/two actually, but we didn’t finish there. I think today it was very chaotic and to take sixth can be quite important. Obviously our main competitors finished ahead, so that’s not nice. We struggled quite a lot in some of the conditions with the car, it was okay when we were in clean air, our pace was decent, but it’s very on and off in these conditions. It’s a lot just to maintain your track position. I had battle with Lewis (Hamilton) in the pit lane. At the stop I was ahead; I don’t know why he pulled to the left and was keen to touch me. I hoped I didn’t get a puncture from that – I don’t really understand why he did that as I was a bit ahead of him and had the advantage anyway.”

Mark Webber: “It was a difficult race for us and we got a bit blown away – we weren’t quick enough, simple as that. There were very changeable conditions during the race, I know it’s the same for everyone, but the cars are very sensitive when it’s not going one way or the other. So, an interesting grand prix. We know where we lose out in these difficult conditions and we will improve it. I went for another set of intermediates towards the end of the race to try and make up some places. I thought it might work, it did, but then we weren’t quick at the end.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal: “It was a very chaotic race today. Both drivers
elected to stop early on when the rain came. Unfortunately Mark hit the front jack and damaged his front wing, which ultimately cost both drivers a bit of time. Then, a few laps later as the circuit dried, they ended up coming back in for slicks. Seb got out ahead of Lewis and then they rapidly caught Sutil but, as Seb was passing Sutil, Hamilton got back past him. He lost quite a lot of time at that stage during the race. After the restart, Mark got pushed wide a lost quite a few positions. We took a gamble and opted to put him onto another set of intermediates early. By doing that he was able to leapfrog the cars ahead of him. Unfortunately the tyres were very worn by the end of the race, but it elevated him from twelfth at the time to eighth. Sixth and eighth isn’t the result that we were looking for from first and second, but it is such a lottery in chaotic conditions and they are still valuable points. It’s not often you get a race like that and when you’re first and second you’ve got everything to lose, rather than everything to gain. Things went right for McLaren today, with Lewis on an identical strategy to our guys. So, well done to them and we’ll fight back at the next race.”

Fabrice Lom, Renault: “I hope people enjoyed the show. I’m sure it was a very good race to watch from the outside, but for us it was bad. We recovered a small amount of points, but it was much less than we expected to get here. The good thing is that the engine behaved correctly in these difficult situations, which is always good. We now just have to focus on the next race; we have three weeks to find more pace and be stronger.”

Force India Mercedes

A thrilling Chinese Grand Prix for the Force India F1 Team’s Adrian Sutil today, with the German racing strongly in the top ten as the changeable rainy conditions created a lottery for tyres and position. Unfortunately, Adrian just missed a points’ scoring position by seven tenths of a second and crossed the line in 11th place.

Tonio Liuzzi’s race ended extremely prematurely after he retired from the race on lap one in an incident in the fourth corner.

Adrian Sutil: It was a real strategy race this time. At times it was difficult to know which was the best tyre to be on, as it would rain and then dry and then rain again. We started on the dry tyre and then pitted for inters under the safety car on lap one. At this point it was the right decision as it was raining quite a bit and it was easy for me to overtake a lot of cars. Then it eased and we switched to the dries for a few laps but then there was more rain.On the second set of inters we put on on lap 19 I was able to fight with the top guys, including Lewis, Sebastian and Felipe for quite a few laps, but then the tyres grained up and I had to pit again. I lost a couple of positions in this final stop and that was what dropped me back to 13th. Although we could close to within a second of Michael I just ran out of laps to get past. But that’s how it is, sometimes you win in this type of race and sometimes it just doesn’t go your way.

Tonio Liuzzi: Unfortunately I had a problem warming up the brakes on the formation lap due to the cold and the rain and then when I went into corner four on the first lap and braked, the rear completely locked and I lost control of the car and went off. It was a shame as we had had a really good start and gained three positions in just the first corner and it could have been a very interesting race, particularly with how the conditions panned out. But that’s how it is, it didn’t go our way this time, but we will keep pushing for the next races.

Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal: It is disappointing to see our run of points end and not to have been able to make more of these conditions, but that’s sometimes what happens in this type of conditions: it can become a bit of a lottery. There are still some positives from the weekend - Adrian again proved his wet weather prowess and also that we are genuine top ten. We’ve got some work to do now that Renault has opened up a sizeable advantage but we have some developments in the pipeline and the season has a long way to run. We’ll regroup and come back strongly in Spain I’m sure.