Jean Todt:
“This is an encouraging result, but we must not forget that our aim is to take the win, which escaped us again today. Having said that, prior to the race, I would have happily settled for both drivers on the podium, given that Michael, who had chosen a very aggressive strategy, had a problem at the start and Rubens, who went on to drive an extraordinary race, had started from the pit lane. It was a great performance from him. To finish third, starting where he did is exceptional. We cannot ignore the fact that several cars ahead of us retired and that the team also brilliantly exploited the opportunity presented by the Safety Car. We still have eleven races to go and we and all our technical partners, especially Bridgestone and Shell, will do our utmost, to get back to where we are used to being.”
Michael Schumacher:
“We can be happy with this result, particularly with Rubens coming from last to third. We developed the car well over the weekend, but now we have to work on the package more to make it good in all track conditions. At the start, me and Jenson went backwards! I just had no grip. In the closing stages, I was able to close on Kimi, my pace was as good or a little bit better than his, but it was not enough to pass. He almost gave me a present when he ran wide at Turn 4, but he did not stay there long enough.”
Rubens Barrichello:
“In over 200 grands prix, this is the first time I have ever started a race from the pit lane. It’s nice to do something new after so many races. In the early stages, the car was difficult to drive because it was so heavy. We changed our strategy by putting some extra fuel in at the start, as it would not have been any use to make my stops at the same time as everyone else. It took me a while to pass a Minardi, but after that I pushed all the time. The pit crew did a fabulous job to call me in at just the right time. I had a little bit of oversteer and was locking the rear brakes a bit, so I think my rear tyres suffered. I was lucky when Webber ran wide, Massa tried to avoid him and I passed both of them on the outside. Apart from that my only problems were with my drinks bottle and my radio which stopped working early in the race. What happened in qualifying was a shame but to come from last to third is a great achievement.”
Ross Brawn:
“Obviously a very pleasing result given the problems we had in the last few races. However, at the start, things looked bad with Rubens in the pit lane and Michael getting swamped at the start. He actually made a good start and his initial acceleration was good and then he seemed to run out of grip. With our very aggressive strategy, running sixth on the road was a disaster. We worked out what could be done and had a pretty good race from then on. The car was good, well balanced, but not exceptional. We were still a little bit off the pace. We got the most out of it and with our strategy around the time of the Safety Car, everything worked extremely well. The guys did a fantastic job and the Bridgestone tyres worked well right to the end. With some new developments coming, I think we can look forward to some good races in the very near future."
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