"For Michael
and me, it was also a special race as we both have the honour of
being ambassadors for the Republic of San Marino. There are two
people I am particularly happy for today: Rory Byrne; it was a pleasure
to see him collect the team prize on the podium and Bridgestone
President, Shigeo Watanabe, as once again our partner provided us
with excellent tyres. As in the past at Imola, President Montezemolo
arrived with his family at the end of the race to celebrate with
us. We hope we will be able to continue for a long time to come
with what is becoming a very enjoyable tradition!"
Michael
Schumacher:
"This was a dream result, to come home after three
races and give the tifosi what they wanted. It is a dream come true,
especially as I am an ambassador for San Marino. At the start, Jenson
set a mind blowing pace: it was as though I was driving in the wet
and he was in the dry. But after a few laps, everything came up
to temperature and I was able to push. Fortunately, after that,
I was able to maintain my pace, while his seemed to drop off. As
for my fight with Juan Pablo, I wanted to keep him behind me so
that I would not lose touch with the leader. At first, I saw him
attack me, but then I did not see him, nor did I expect him to come
round the outside. I think it was just a racing incident. In the
final stages, I eased off the pace to bring the car home. I hope
we come back here to Imola."
Rubens
Barrichello:
"My race was spoilt by traffic. I always found myself
with a slower car ahead of me and so I was never able to push my
car as hard as it could go. Ralf Schumacher especially blocked me
several times, at the start for example when he made a move that
saw me go off the track. It's a shame as I knew I had a great car
and I was convinced I could have a good race. At least I managed
to bring home three points, which are important for me and for the
team."
Ross
Brawn:
"You could see in the first few laps that our tyres
took a while to come to temperature and when they did, they were
fantastic. We just had to be patient and wait for the right moment,
with Michael hanging onto Jenson for the first few laps. We hoped
he would stop before we did and that was what happened. Then Michael
did two stunning laps before his pit stop which saw him move into
the lead. After that it was a case of monitoring everyone else's
strategy. Rubens's race was compromised by traffic, especially at
the end of his second pit stop when he was hindered by Ralf Schumacher
in the pit lane."