Lewis Hamilton - McLaren (1st)
“It was quite an eventful race. I didn’t get a great start, it looked like I had a better reaction than Mark (Webber) but the car just didn’t seem to be going anywhere. Fortunately, I was able to attack Sebastian (Vettel) into Turn Three - I got past him, which was a relief, then I was challenging Mark for a long time, before I lost some time to him at the pit stop, when my right rear took longer than normal to go on.So then I had to battle two Red Bulls rather than just one; it was hard enough trying to overtake one of them, so trying to overtaking two was really tough. But the good thing is that I had the race pace to keep up with them, even though I was having to keep an eye on my fuel consumption from early on. But anyway, unfortunately for them, they collided – and enabled us to get past. After that, I felt confident we could get a potential one-two, and we were trying to look after the tyres and save the fuel to the finish. The [laptime] target they gave me was perhaps a little bit slower than they’d meant, so Jenson was suddenly on my tail. I had a great battle with him, and was happy to get past because it was quite a surprise.We’re allowed to race out there, but we have to be sensible. At the end of the day we’re a team: we both want to win the constructors’ title and we both want to win the drivers’ title. But we’re not stupid. I wouldn’t do anything dangerous to touch Jenson - and vice versa - and that’s the great thing about racing each other. We know we have that cushion and that respect for each other, so we don’t really have a problem with it. Having said all that, winning today doesn’t feel quite as good as it sometimes does. That’s because it’s a little bit different from some of my previous race victories: ideally, the racer in me wants to win by overtaking the guys in front, not by seeing them crash out in front of me. Rather than inheriting a win, it’s much nicer to fight your way past your rivals and earn the win the hard way. Still, I’m very happy for the team. My girlfriend is here too, which is nice, and my dad is on holiday and I really wanted to win today so that I could dedicate the win to him. It’s his 50th birthday tomorrow, you see, and a Grand Prix victory is the best birthday present I could ever give him.”
Jenson Button - McLaren (2nd)
“What a crazy race! I got a good start, but I was stuck behind Lewis going into Turn One, and then Michael (Schumacher) was able to get round the outside of me. I got Michael back into Turn 12, though, which was very rewarding after Barcelona, and then it was four of us, two McLarens and two Red Bulls, who pulled away. It was very difficult to get close enough to overtake, but I was able to look after the tyres, and then just before the stop I pushed and was able to close up to Sebastian - I thought maybe I could jump him but that wasn’t the case in the end. Even so, we were all running pretty close and anything could have happened at the end of the race - which it duly did when the two Red Bulls got together, which gave Lewis and me a good one-two. We were then both told to conserve fuel - although I’d already been conserving fuel for about 30 laps at that point actually - and we never imagined the pace of the race would be so fast. At the end, I had a run on Lewis out of Turn Eight. I don’t know why he was a bit slow, but I got a good run into Turn 12 and managed to get past him. We had a good little battle and we were wheel-to-wheel for three corners, but it positioned me wrong for the final corner, I got a poor exit and he was able to get back past me along the pits straight and on the inside into Turn One. After that, I was told to save even more fuel because I was pretty close to critical. It was a tough battle, but we didn’t touch and we still finished first and second, so that’s how you do it.”
Mark Webber - Red Bull (3rd)
“Sebastian had a bit of a top speed advantage, he went down the inside and we were side by side. I was surprised when he came right suddenly, as I was holding my racing line. It happened very, very fast and it’s a shame for the team. Not an ideal day. The McLarens were solid and it was a good race between all four of us up at the front until then, neither of us wanted to make contact with each other. It’s obviously not ideal, but it happened. There was a long way to still go in the race, but that was an interesting few metres on the track between both of us. In the end it wasn’t the result that either of us wanted. We’ve got great character in our team and two fast drivers at the front - we’re not dicing for 15th and 16th - we’re going for victories so there’s clearly a lot at stake. I’ll have a chat with Sebastian about it, we might have a difference of opinion but we’ll be adults about it and press on.”
Michael Schumacher - Mercedes GP (4th)
“My race started as I had hoped when I was able to catch Jenson right at the start. Unfortunately I did not have a lot of grip with the tyres as the formation lap was quite slow and the pressures had gone down which combined with the top speed of the McLarens meant that I could not hold Jenson behind me for long. I was even struggling to keep the car on the track during the first lap. From there onwards, I was in my starting position and when Sebastian retired, we were able to pick up a place. That was about it. It was a straightforward race for me without any more possibilities. I understand at the front there was quite a bit happening so for the fans, it was a good show. All in all, I think we had a positive race and we clearly made a step forward towards Red Bull and in front of Ferrari, so we can be quite happy about that.”
Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP (5th)
“I am reasonably happy with fifth place today although it was an uneventful race for me. I was slightly faster than Michael for much of the race but it was not possible to overtake and I had to be careful as Robert was pushing hard behind me. For me, the most exciting part of the race were the in and out laps for my pit stop which were pretty fast and together with the great work from the team, that enabled me to stay ahead of the cars just behind me on track. Although our general pace still has to be improved, I’m satisfied that we have taken what we could from this weekend.”
Robert Kubica - Renault (6th)
“It’s been a good weekend for us and it’s nice to score some more points today. Unfortunately we started the race behind the Mercedes and I remained stuck behind them all afternoon, even though my car seemed to be quicker because I could keep up with them easily. I knew we had a chance to get ahead of them during the pit stops and I had a very good out lap, but their pit stops must have been a bit quicker and so we couldn’t jump ahead. The car felt good during the race and the updates we brought here improved the car which is encouraging for the next few races.”
Felipe Massa - Ferrari (7th)
“It was a very boring race for me, from start to finish, but it was also very difficult. I was always stuck behind Kubica and the two Mercedes, who were running at a similar pace to me. Very often I managed to get close, but I never had a real chance of overtaking Robert. I knew that, starting from eighth, it would be tough and so it proved. Now we must stay calm and try and quickly improve the car, starting with the very next race in Canada. Here we lacked performance, especially in the fast corners. The rain? The few drops that fell in the final laps had no affect on my driving.”
Fernando Alonso - Ferrari (8th)
“It was a very boring race for me, from start to finish, but it was also very difficult. I was always stuck behind Kubica and the two Mercedes, who were running at a similar pace to me. Very often I managed to get close, but I never had a real chance of overtaking Robert. I knew that, starting from eighth, it would be tough and so it proved. Now we must stay calm and try and quickly improve the car, starting with the very next race in Canada. Here we lacked performance, especially in the fast corners. The rain? The few drops that fell in the final laps had no affect on my driving.”
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