Motorsport Store | 2005
Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix |
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Team and Driver Quotes following the Race (selected team quotes, for a full team and driver preview click on the team name) Renault ( Fernando Alonso - 1st, Giancarlo Fisichella - Retired ) Pat Symonds, Executive Director of
Engineering �To see a driver control a race like Fernando did this afternoon is an impressive sight. His performance is even more
remarkable when you consider he did not even use all the revs available on the engine in the opening laps. He seemed capable of
increasing his pace when necessary, without putting undue stress on the car. Full Team and Driver Race Report Back to Top Toyota ( Jarno Trulli - 2nd, Ralf Schumacher - 4th ) Tsutomu Tomita - Team Principal "It is still like a dream to find ourselves in such competitive shape after only three years in the sport. I think first and foremost it is great to confirm our ultimate competitiveness at the front of Formula 1. It is also an outstanding achievement to consolidate Toyota's second place in the world championship. It really is a fantastic result. Performance-wise excellent drivers from both Jarno and Ralf. Jarno drove another smooth and consistent race making it look easy. Ralf did a great job in qualifying this morning to take him five places up the grid after a difficult lap yesterday. We knew his strategy would be compromised by stopping early but he drove a challenging race to pick up 4th place and five points - a great effort. Congratulations must again go to everyone in the team, the sponsors and the Toyota family. Now we have to look to ensure we retain this second place in the championship once the European season gets underway in Imola in three weeks." Full Team and Driver Race Report Back to Top Williams BMW ( Mark Webber - 6th, Nick Heidfeld - Retired ) Sam Michael (Technical Director WilliamsF1): This is obviously not the result we were aiming for after qualifying. In the ambient conditions we ran the engine at its thermal limits, which may have contributed to Nick's engine failure. In terms of lap times we had to manage the engine revs during the race which made it difficult for both drivers to defend. Either way we are confident that we will be able to race more strongly in Imola. Full Team and Driver Race Report Back to Top McLaren Mercedes ( Kimi Raikkonen - 3rd, Pedro de la Rosa - 5th ) Ron Dennis: "A challenging weekend, which, in contrast to Malaysia, allowed us to demonstrate the true potential of our cars. We are fully aware of what we have to do to improve our qualifying positions and will try hard to accelerate elements of change that were originally targeted for the Spanish Grand Prix. A great result for both drivers with Kimi achieving a podium position and Pedro demonstrating the level of professionalism and speed that we have always observed in his testing role. Our goals for 2005 remain completely unchanged, there are still 16 races to go and everything is still possible." Full Team and Driver Race Report Back to Top Red Bull ( David Coulthard - 8th, Christian Klien - Retired ) Christian Horner, Sporting Director �It was a good end to a frustrating start. It was really disappointing for Christian to not make the start after such a strong weekend but at least with David we had a fairly lengthy strategy that panned out for us. He really stuck with it and we salvaged a point. It was a pretty exciting finish on the last lap and perseverance and persistence paid off. We were again reliable with David�s car and another point and we�re looking forward to getting back to Europe. � Full Team and Driver Race Report Back to Top Ferrari ( Rubens Barrichello - 9th, Michael Schumacher - Retired ) Jean Todt: �The race was as tough as it was disappointing. Starting from the front row, Michael retired on lap 11, when he was fighting for the lead. Rubens staged a great climb up the order which took him from last to fifth place, but then he just lost out on a points finish in the very last moments of the race. It is disappointing, but we have also learnt that the F2005 is competitive. It is clear that we have a lot of work to do to improve its overall reliability, along with our partners, first and foremost Bridgestone. The net result of these first three races outside Europe is certainly a negative one and not up to our standard. However, I am convinced that we are totally capable of recovering in time for the race at Imola, where we will race in front of so many of our fans.� Full Team and Driver Race Report Back to Top Sauber ( Felipe Massa - 7th, Jacques Villeneuve - 11th ) Peter Sauber (Team Principal): "This was a very tough race, and both drivers did a very good job. Jacques was unlucky to lose the final point when Coulthard ran into him in the closing stages, but Felipe's two points for seventh place were a great present, a thank you to the team as everyone here in Bahrain and back home in Hinwil celebrates our 200th race. It is a satisfying way to finish the opening stint of the season, and sets us up for our forthcoming test session in Barcelona later this week which will help us to prepare for the European races." Full Team and Driver Race Report Back to Top Jordan ( Tiago Monteiro - 10th, Narain Karthikeyan - Retired ) Trevor Carlin, Sporting Director Full Team and Driver Race Report Back to Top Minardi ( Patrick Friesacher - 12th, Christijan Albers - 13th ) Paul Stoddart, Team Principal, Minardi Cosworth Full Team and Driver Race Report Back to Top BAR Honda ( Jenson Button - Retired, Takuma Sato - Retired ) Geoff Willis, Technical Director Full Team and Driver Race Report Back to Top Hisao Suganuma � Technical Manager � Bridgestone Motorsport �It looked like a potentially successful weekend but unfortunately it did not finish as we had hoped. We have clearly made steps forward in the past two weeks and with the support of our teams we shall no doubt make further steps forward. Ferrari worked hard to bring forward the introduction of their new car and together we set about improving the performance of the Bridgestone tyres for this weekend. In this respect we feel we have made progress. Rubens had a tough time here getting very little track time prior to the race but Michael was able to run strongly this weekend in the practice sessions and he went on to confirm his pace with two good qualifying sessions, setting the third and second fastest times respectively, giving him an aggregated front row position on the grid. Both he and Rubens were also fighting strongly at the beginning of the race: Michael maintained his second place until retiring and Rubens clawed his way up from last on the grid to fifth before he began to lose his tyre�s competitiveness. This is obviously an area on which we need to work over the next three weeks and we shall do our best for the race in San Marino.� Full Bridgestone Race Report Back to Top Pierre
Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director �When we first saw the 2005 Formula One tyre rules, our engineers knew they were
taking on a difficult challenge � and I�d like to compliment all of them on a job well done. Our unbeaten start to the season
has been a source of great satisfaction. It reflects very well on our technical expertise.� Full Michelin Race Report Back to Top
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