It was a very hectic final race of the European season today and on a drying track, Mark Webber came through to finish an eventual fourth, having started 9th and collecting five valuable points for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team in the process. Team- mate Antonio Pizzonia had an accident with four laps to go and was forced into retirement.

Mark Webber: 4th Best time: 1:52.287 (lap 44 , 2nd overall)
Chassis: FW27 04 / BMW P84/5 Engine: 2nd GP

"It was a difficult race, strongly affected by many changes of tyres. It was a shame that we lost a lot of time when the Safety Car came out at the start of the race and we switched to dry tyres and then back to intermediates again. We obviously took a gamble, as everyone did today. We could have scored even a better result but it was also very easy to be in the wall today. It's long overdue for me to have, let's say a 'normal' race, and I want to give this result to the team because it has been a tough season so far and they have put in a great effort. It is still not the result we want but we made the right decisions after all. It was also a good job by BMW, to get through two tough races with the same engine."

Antonio Pizzonia: DNF (accident on lap 40) Best time: 1:57.541 (lap 32, 15th overall) Chassis: FW27 03 / BMW P84/5 Engine: 2nd GP

"The race was hectic with the track conditions changing and consequent tyre changes. We made our pit-stops just after Mark, where I lost some time, but that was part of the game. With regards to the accident with Montoya, I was on dry tyres, and lapping quicker than him. He was quite slow maybe because his tyres were not good anymore or maybe he was just cruising to the end of the race. I thought he saw me and when he braked really early I thought he was trying to let me by. I put my car next to him but obviously he hadn't seen me because he turned into his normal line and I couldn't avoid the crash. I am sorry for him because I am not here to destroy anyone's race. I destroyed my race too."

Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1): "Today's race was a very exciting one for everybody. We picked up some good points with Mark. It was a good to go on dry tyres for the last laps. We tried earlier in the race to put both cars on dry tyres as did a lot of other teams. But it didn't work and both needed to pick up intermediates again. The Stewarts are investigating what happened when Antonio came together with Juan Pablo."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): "This was a really eventful race. As the entire weekend, it was influenced by the weather. Difficult conditions resulted in several accidents. Today the right strategy was crucial, especially to find the right moment for the change from intermediates to dry tyres. Many drivers tried this too early. Dry tyres were only the best choice for the last laps. This decision enabled Mark to improve to fourth position. Having started ninth, this is a very good result."

TEST: Silverstone 14-15 September, Antonio Pizzonia + Nico Rosberg all days

2005 Belgian Grand Prix - Main Page
2005 Belgian Grand Prix - Team and Driver Race Reports Page

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