Team reaction after the Monaco GP (part 2)

Toro Rosso, HRT F1, Lotus, Williams, Sauber & Virgin Racing

By Franck Drui

16 May 2010 - 17:43
Team reaction after the Monaco GP (...)

Toro Rosso Ferrari

Sebastien Buemi: “It was a good race for me in the sense that I was able to finish without any accidents or technical problems and I finished ahead of my team-mate. Maybe we could have done a little bit better with a slightly different strategy, as I was doing some good lap times, but after I pitted, I found myself behind Liuzzi and then I was eleventh throughout. It was not a particularly exciting race for me: at the start, as Hulkenberg didn’t get off the line, it meant I had a better run when the lights went out and my only worry was when I ran over some debris from Barrichello’s accident. I expect we should be competitive in Turkey in two weeks time.”

Jaime Alguersuari: “On Saturday, my qualifying did not go well, as I ended up seventeenth, so the main objective today was to finish the race, and gain experience for next year in Monaco.You cannot expect more on this track as it is very hard to overtake, especially as the man ahead of me was my team-mate, so you cannot take such a risk. I only had one little moment, when I spun at turn 1, but it didn’t lose me a position. On the plus side both our cars finished the race, which in itself is an achievement here. Now, I just want to try and do better in Turkey, which will be another new track for me.”

Franz Tost: “First of all, congratulations to Red Bull Racing for a fantastic job: to finish first and second in Monaco is really exciting and something special. As for ourselves, our race here was compromised by our qualifying performance, as everyone knows overtaking is quite difficult here. Therefore, I did not expect much more than this result. We can take some satisfaction for getting both cars to the finish at this difficult circuit. It was also very important for Sebastien as because of some bad luck at the previous races, today’s result was his first finish of the season. Jaime will also benefit from his 78 laps this afternoon, which will be good experience for him when he returns next year. Now, we hope to put ourselves into points scoring positions on a more regular basis, starting in Turkey at the next round.”

HRT F1 Cosworth

It was an eventful Monaco Grand Prix in which the drivers of the Spanish HRT F1 Team, Hispania Racing, Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna gained valuable experience, if narrowly missing out on seeing the chequered flag. Both drivers had good starts and kept out of trouble driving consistent races and making good progress throughout the afternoon.

Bruno Senna was forced to retire on lap 58 with a hydraulic problem. Karun Chandhok’s hopes of seeing the chequered flag were lost when he was hit by Jarno Trulli on lap 70 at La Rascasse. The pair were battling for 14th position at the time.

Dr. Colin Kolles, team principal: “As anticipated, it was a difficult race for us, but we all put in a great effort and came close to seeing both cars make the finish. Unfortunately, Bruno Senna retired with a hydraulic failure on lap 58 while Karun Chandhok walked away from an accident at the Rascasse corner. It was a real pity as it would have been possible to finish 13th by that point and was just four laps from the chequered flag. We are the best classified of the new teams. I am disappointed for the team that we narrowly didn’t finish our race and because the accident happened under blue flag. We look ahead to the next race and are determined to bounce back in different conditions. Both drivers did a very good job”.

Karun Chandhok: “I am extremely frustrated by the outcome of the race. Jarno hit me out of nowhere but he has apologized for the incident. We were looking good to finish in thirteenth position but we are still the best of the new teams. It has been my strongest race of the season. We had a good start and managed to jump both Di Grassi and Trulli during the pitstop. After that I was catching Senna until he retired, and was cruising to the end. This is a big disappointment for the whole team - as this would have classified us in tenth position. It is hard to take for the team and me, however we can be happy with our performance today”.

Bruno Senna: “The team made a good call for me to make a tyre stop on lap 2 under the safety car. It worked well and I had a great run through the race, pushing when I needed to and managing the tyres so that they would survive more or less an entire race distance. We could have finished 13th but instead, a hydraulic problem put me out a few laps before the end. None the less, I was really happy with my performance today and that of my team. We managed to punch above our weight today and we will try to continue that until we are able to upgrade our car”.

Lotus Cosworth

Lotus Racing leave Monaco with mixed emotions after a very impressive display during the race came to an early end for both cars with only a few laps remaining. Despite this, the team demonstrated impressive pace throughout the race, making good on the promise shown in practice and qualifying, and will see the race as another step forward in experience and performance.

Heikki Kovalainen: “It was a fantastic race right from the beginning. I had a bit of a struggle at the restarts to get the tyres up to temperature, but once I got everything working I was able to almost keep up with the Renault. I was pushing very hard, and the car felt fantastic – the balance was really good. Just before I retired I could feel the steering alignment was a bit uneven – on the right hand corners I had to use maximum lock, even in the tunnel, and it got the point where it didn’t feel safe anymore. In Monaco you can’t take a risk with it so I came in. It was a mechanical issue, but despite that I’m really pleased with today. We again showed we’re firmly the best of the new teams and we are nearly there with the next group, so I think we just need to keep attacking, and that’s how we’ll achieve results.”

Jarno Trulli: “This wasn’t a great weekend for me. After we had a problem with the wheelgun in the pitstop I was stuck behind the HRTs and trying to find room to overtake – in the last lap Karun seemed slow through the second and third sector, and I’d seen he was leaving room at Rascasse, so I tried to get through but we touched and that was that – the end of the race. It was one of those things – a racing incident, but I still feel like we’re going in the right direction as a team, and I want to put the bad luck behind me when we get back on track in Turkey.”

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “This was our strongest performance yet compared to the midfield, so obviously mixed emotions for where we finished. Heikki had a very strong race and in the middle his performance was particularly good compared to the midfield group. It’s a shame we had a problem on his car - the steering joint failed, something we’ve not seen before - but overall it was a very positive weekend for him. For Jarno, he had a much more difficult weekend, clearly struggling with the balance of the car and I think as a team we have to take a look at everything to be able to do a better job for him. Obviously he was compromised by the slow pitstop, which dropped him down the field and affected his whole race. He was capable of going much faster and when he made the move he unfortunately fell victim to the nature of the Monaco circuit. So I leave feeling pleased we showed such good pace, and we move on to Turkey.”

Tony Fernandes: “I take a lot of positives from the race today and it was another one where we had at least one car classified. Most importantly Heikki made a great step forward and it was fantastic watching him race with Petrov. He and the whole team felt it was the best race of the season for him and that boosts confidence further for the season ahead. We’ve got some more new parts coming which will continue to take us forward, and hopefully Jarno’s luck will turn, but even with that we’re all pleased. It’s also great to see so many of our fans out around the track - hopefully we gave them some good racing today, and in years to come we’ll give them some good results as well.”

Williams Cosworth

The AT&T Williams team return home from the Monaco Grand Prix empty handed as both FW32s suffered mechanical issues during today’s race. Relegated to the back of the grid after a clutch paddle failure at the
start of the formation lap, Nico Hulkenberg’s race ended in the tunnel on lap one when his car suffered a component failure on the front wing. Rubens Barrichello had a strong start to the race, gaining three places
as the lights went green to run in sixth, but retired on lap 30 following a failure on the rear of his car. The team will be investigating the cause of both retirements ahead of Istanbul.

Rubens Barrichello: What happened today was a real surprise. I had such a good start but the car started to feel really strange after the pitstop. The steering wheel, in particular, didn’t feel normal. The problem continued to get worse and then I crashed. We now have to investigate the car to find out what the problem was.

Nico Hulkenberg: I didn’t have a good start, obviously. There was a problem with the clutch before the start of the formation lap which meant I had to start from the back. I’m then not entirely sure what happened in the tunnel. The car felt odd one minute and the next I was in the wall. I am really disappointed not to have completed the race and get the mileage under my belt, but that’s life.

Sam Michael, Technical Director: That was not a good day for the team after a promising start for Rubens. Nico had a problem with the clutch paddle on the steering wheel during the formation lap. He then had a failure with the front wing mounting on the first lap of the race. Rubens had a fantastic start and was running in sixth when he started to experience poor handling after his stop. 11 laps after his pitstop, he had a failure at the rear end of his car. We need to get all the parts back to the factory in order to identify correctly what components on both cars caused the failures. We have quite a bit of car damage to repair, but we’re making progress with performance and look to further that in Istanbul.

Sauber Ferrari

From 15th and 16th on the grid there wasn’t much expected from the race, but both drivers started well and the situation improved significantly. However, before the first half of the Monaco Grand Prix both cars had retired due to technical problems.

Kamui Kobayashi: “It is a shame because our race pace was a lot better than our performance in qualifying. I think we again missed a chance to score points. My start was good. The first corner is never easy in Monaco, but it went alright. But then I wasn’t able to shift up anymore. I just looked for a safe place to park the car and that was it.”

Pedro de la Rosa: “Obviously another race I wanted to finish. The car was okay at the beginning. At the start I stayed away from trouble, which was the main target, and then I was taking care of the tyres. We had a split strategy, which I think was good. I was on the softer compound, Kamui on the harder one. I was cruising behind Vitaly Petrov and waiting for my chance to push. But I was alarmed when I had a problem with the quick shift, and when the power steering became heavier and heavier it was clear I had a problem with the hydraulic system.”

James Key, Technical Director: “A disappointing end to a tough weekend, and one we wouldn’t want to repeat. It was frustrating in many ways because our drivers were being held up in the race, and there was more to come from the car. We felt that a strategic call could help us to overtake some cars ahead. We split the strategies of our cars to take advantage of safety car situations. So we had left our options open for the race, but then we saw on the data that we had a significant increase of hydraulic temperatures on Pedro’s car. Pedro reported that the steering had become particularly heavy. We pitted him and wanted to see what the problem was, but there was clearly a hydraulic pressure problem. We couldn’t diagnose it quickly enough to get him back out again into the race. Just a few laps later there was a gearbox issue on Kamui’s car. He lost a gear and then couldn’t select the next one, which caused him to stop on the track. That problem is currently under investigation. We shall learn what we can from this weekend, but look forward to tracks where we think the car will work better and hope for a much more promising showing in Istanbul.”

Virgin Racing Cosworth

Virgin Racing’s first Monaco Grand Prix ended with disappointment today after the team’s race was cut short by car problems for both drivers.

After a generally sound weekend of running in free practice and qualifying, as well as further clear signs of the performance benefits brought by recent upgrades, the race itself came to a frustrating early conclusion, first for Timo and then for Lucas just four laps later.

Both drivers got their race off to a good start, Lucas claiming track position from Timo briefly, who then retook the place and leapfrogged the Lotus Racing car of Jarno Trulli in the process. Lucas also gained a place and the pair were running 18th and 20th when the safety car was deployed following a crash in the tunnel. Further incidents and pit stops promoted them to 17th and 19th and they were having a strong race, resisting the advances of Fernando Alonso who started the race from the pit lane. After 22 laps, Timo reported a damaged track rod and he stopped out on track. All hopes rested on Lucas, who made his first scheduled pit stop on his 25th lap but his race was run when he experienced a wheel problem on his out-lap.

Timo Glock: “It has been a very disappointing end to the weekend. I had a problem at the start and then lost position to Lucas, but I had a really good first lap and overtook Lucas and Jarno Trulli at Loews. This got me into a good position behind Heikki Kovalainen and I could go a similar speed to him, but I had a bit too much tyre degradation on the rear and some problems with the brakes as well. Unfortunately in Casino corner, the rear suspension failed, which ended my race, so we now have to investigate and understand why that happened.”

Lucas di Grassi: “The first part of my race today was good. I overtook Timo and had a good fight with Fernando for a couple of laps, but then as soon as we made the pitstop we had a wheel problem that forced us to abandon the race. It has been a frustrating end to the weekend, so we need to improve for Turkey and make sure we are in a position to fight to be the best of the new teams.”

John Booth, Team Principal: “A disappointing end to our first Monaco Grand Prix, but we take a lot of positives away from the early party of the weekend, where we saw good steps operationally and with the new car. The team have done a terrific job during two challenging back to back races, so it is frustrating that we were unable to achieve a better reward for them today. We will go to Turkey with the second revised VR-01 where it will help us enormously to be running the same specification of car on both sides of the garage. We look forward to a better race there in two weeks’ time.”

Nick Wirth, Technical Director: “Timo experienced a right rear track rod failure for reasons that we will need to investigate next week. Lucas’ right rear wheel came loose immediately after the pitstop, losing drive and causing him to stop. We actually experienced problems with the left rear wheel in the pitstop and early analysis after the race shows that there are problems with all the wheels fitted during the stop. We’re all very disappointed with our first Monaco Grand Prix but I’m sure we can address these issues quickly and look forward to the debut of the second revised VR-01 in Turkey.”

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