Jenson Button (1st):
“It was a great race today and I’m so happy to have seen the chequered flag without a safety car or red light in front of me! To achieve my third victory of the season is amazing and we are going back to Europe with a strong lead in both championships. I couldn’t wish for anything more. It has been a tough weekend for the team which makes this win even more rewarding as we didn’t have the pace that we expected. I was really happy with my first lap. I knew that I had to overtake Sebastian quickly and got him round the outside on turn one. I had a couple of attempts at Lewis round the first lap and almost got him at the last corner. I knew that he would pull away from me on the straight so I dropped in behind and used the tow to overtake him at turn one. It wasn’t easy from there but getting up to third on the first lap was crucial for me. Our thanks to Mercedes-Benz this weekend who have not only provided us with a powerful engine but have integrated so well with our team. You need a close-knit unit to succeed in Formula One and that is what we have at this team.”
Sebastian Vettel (2nd):
“Very good. A good result and good points, but it was a difficult race. The start was okay, but then suddenly Lewis (Hamilton) was next to me – he must have pressed his special button and got an advantage. At the first corner we were three deep, me in the middle and Jenson (Button) on the outside, so I had to give way and lost two positions. Unfortunately I then got stuck behind Lewis, which caused degradation to the tyres - you start to slide and never really come back from that. It’s hard braking here so you need the tyres and rear stability. In the second stint I was just behind Jarno (Trulli), which was a shame as I was on soft tyres and could have gone a bit quicker. In the third stint, it was the other way round and I had to defend against Jarno who was then on the soft tryes. He was very close in my mirrors, but I didn’t make any mistakes and we came second! A massive thanks to all the guys for this great result.”
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Jarno Trulli (3rd):
I’m a little disappointed to be honest because I thought we had a chance to take Toyota’s first win this weekend. But it was a hard race. I was slightly slower into the first corner than Timo so I spent the first stint following him. I knew I was going longer than him but it was still difficult. Then we went for a very long second stint on the hard tyres. It was really hard fighting with the other cars and eventually Sebastian took the position after my last stop. After that he was on the hard tyres and I was on the soft. I was pushing him because I was quicker but there was no way to overtake. Still, I have to thank the engineers and mechanics because they did a very good job and it’s good to be on the podium again.”
Lewis Hamilton (4th):
“My start was quite good. Unfortunately, I was not able to keep third place - Jenson was just so fast through the corners so he was on my tail all the time. I’m delighted with fourth. The Toyotas, Red Bulls and Brawns were so fast in the high-speed corners that it was just impossible to keep up. But this is another encouraging step for the team, we just need to keep working on the car because we’re not really fighting back quite yet, we are collecting points. And the gap will be bigger when we go to Barcelona because it’s a high-downforce circuit. We should challenge for the top 10 there, but another top-five will be harder.”
Rubens Barrichello (5th):
“We brought home some valuable points today but it was a tough race for me. I lost a lot of time behind Piquet after my first stop which was a real shame as it compromised my race plan. We went for a three-stop strategy and then took the decision to come in slightly early for my second stop as I was being held up behind Hamilton. It was so hot out there this afternoon and the car was burning my waist on the right-hand side which made it very difficult for me. It seems that luck is on Jenson’s side at the moment and well done to him and to the team for winning the race today. I hope that my turn comes soon!”
Kimi Raikkonen (6th):
“I am happy to have picked up a few points but I can’t be that pleased with our performance level. I’ve been around long enough not to get very excited about a sixth place. We are well aware we have to improve. In theory, the new package we will have in Barcelona should see us make a good step forward, but we won’t know just how big it will be compared to the others until we are on track in Spain. Today, we got the most out of the F60’s current potential, even if I lost a bit of time in my final pit stop because of a problem with a part of the fairing on the left front wheel which cost me the chance of exiting pit lane ahead of Barrichello.”
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Timo Glock (7th):
“That was a difficult race. I made a promising start and I was surprised to get ahead of Jarno from the dirty side. Then we were the first car to pit, which was already critical. But when I went out on the prime tyres I don’t know how many seconds I lost on the first two laps because I was really struggling for grip. I couldn’t get any heat into the tyres and I really lost the race in the second stint. I was sliding around and it was clear that the speed was better on the options. In the end I was chasing Kimi but there was no chance to overtake. Still, two points are better than none and we will now look for more in Spain.”
Fernando Alonso (8th):
“We did our maximum today. The start of the race was not perfect and we lost a position which put me down to eighth. After that nothing unusual happened during the race and there were no retirements so we were eighth fastest and we finished eighth. We always aim to score points, but we only scored one point and so we need to improve at the next Grand Prix.”
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