Rubens Barrichello, Brawn GP (1st):
“What a fantastic day. I am so delighted with the win after what was a really tough race out there. It’s just amazing and a weekend that I will never forget. Even after five years, you don’t forget how to win and the feeling is so good! Although we were fuelled heavier than the McLarens, I knew that I would have to push really hard throughout the race. My engineer Jock was great today, he really encouraged me and helped me to maintain the pace, and the team did a fantastic job with two excellent pit stops. I want to thank everyone who has supported me and this victory is dedicated to the whole of Brazil but particularly to my great friend Felipe Massa. I hope he is back racing against me soon.”
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren (2nd):
“This is my second podium in a row, and I’m very happy to be here. We did the best job we could today. Am I disappointed? Yes, I think we all are - but that’s simply an indication of just how hard everyone in this team is pushing to win. We’re never satisfied unless we’re winning, in fact. But, ultimately, we didn’t really lose anything today - it was always going to be tough to beat Rubens and what we tried wasn’t quite enough. Before my second pitstop, I’d been saving fuel and was a bit unsure if I had enough for that extra lap or not. The pitwall had initially asked me to pit - but, just when I was coming in, they told me to stay out and do an extra lap - however, I was already inside the white line and committed, so it was too late. In those circumstances, it’s always better to be safe and to pit, because the last thing you want to do is run dry out on the circuit. But the call was a marginal one - the team was pushing the envelope, as I say - and it came just a little too late for me and the mechanics, who weren’t perfectly prepared. Make no mistake, I think those guys are the best in the business; what happened was simply a result of the team trying everything in their power to turn a safe second place into a possible win. In any case, our overall performance this weekend confirmed the huge improvement we’ve made recently, but we still lack a bit of race pace compared with the very fastest cars. You can be well sure we’re working on fixing that, though. Congratulations to Rubens - he drove a fantastic race today and really deserved this victory.”
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari (3rd):
“I am happy about this result. Already on Friday we saw that the car was pretty competitive over a distance and we therefore thought we could fight for a podium finish. We were also aware that, in qualifying, we might have struggled, especially on light fuel. Both these predictions proved correct and today we were once again able to get on the podium. I managed to make up a few places at the start and my first aim was to pull out a bit of a gap over Rosberg, who was going to stop after me. In the second part of the race, I realized that I could close on Kovalainen and try and make the most of the run of pit stops to get ahead of him and I managed it. Now we go to Spa, a track that I like a lot: we must wait for Friday to see how competitive we can be. At this point in the season, if we manage to get everything right, then we can aim for the podium and if anything was to happen to those ahead of us, we can try and do even better. We must do all we can to hang on to third place in the constructors’ championship.”
Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren (4th):
“To start second and finish fourth isn’t ideal. But I’m more pleased with my overall performance in this race than in Hungary. We showed good performance throughout the whole weekend, and I really want to thank the whole team for helping us to achieve that - it’s good to see things improving like this. We don’t yet have the pace of the frontrunners, but everyone has done an incredible job to get us to where we are. We’ve scored more points in the last three races than any other team - but I still want to score more. I’m already focusing on Spa; it’s a circuit I love and I really want to be on the podium there.”
Nico Rosberg, Williams (5th):
“I did enjoy the race, but the heat really took most of the fun out of it. It wasn’t nice, but it was still a good result for the team. Fifth again, after starting seventh, is not bad, and gives us more points. I was hoping to beat Raikkonen today but he was too fast. Our car seems to suit every track we go to, and the team is doing well to keep development going from race to race. It’s nice that we are always up there and I hope we continue like this, and possibly make a step forward onto the podium soon.”
Fernando Alonso, Renault (6th):
“Sixth place is the best I could do today for my home Grand Prix and the three points are a good result considering that we started eighth. It was a very tough race: first of all because of the heat but also because it was a very competitive race and I had to push all the way, constantly fighting to keep my position. But we have been quick all weekend and therefore I’m quite confident we can keep this pace and deliver an even better result in Spa.”
Jenson Button, Brawn GP (7th):
“Rubens did a great job this weekend and he deserves the victory. It’s been a long time so I’m happy for him although of course I would rather be on top of the podium. The small mistake in qualifying and a difficult start caught behind Vettel really cost me today as I got caught in traffic and it’s really tough to overtake around this circuit. Still we did what we came for this weekend and beat the Red Bulls, our main title rivals, so I’m not too disappointed with seventh position. We’ll go to the next race in Spa positive and ready to have a good race.”
Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber (8th):
“I had to start the race from a very bad position as I was in the middle of the pack and we were all very close together in the first corners. Unfortunately I was not able to make up positions at the start, and I even lost a place to Nick. But then during the race my pace was good. Although my stints were shorter, I was even able to overtake Mark Webber during his final pit stop, which was very good.”
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