28-July: At the post
Race press conference for the German Grand Prix, Michael
Schumacher described his feelings after winning for the first time at
Hockenheim with Ferrari and said "You can imagine how much I was dreaming
for this result because we have been so successful in the past three years
that this particular race, here in Germany, in Hockenheim, wasn't supposed to
be mine so far. Finally being able to win it means a lot to me and seeing the
people, the crowd, after we won the championship last weekend - it's really a
dream come true.
It's without words honestly, because we have achieved so much in this year
that it's amazing. I only thank God that he was giving me this opportunity.
The team, again, did a fantastic job. It was a very tight battle today between
Ralf and myself but I think the German fans really loved that. It's obviously
a shame what happened to Ralf. It would have been nice to have two Schumachers
in first and second position but I'm sure we will get more opportunities in
the future maybe. Anyway, I'm more than thankful to have been able to achieve
this result. Thank you."
As for the race itself, Michael indicated that he struggled on his first set
but was fine afterwards and said "The tyres started to blister, I had
quite a lot, especially in the first stint, so I really had to fight very hard
to keep this advantage that we had. We started to lose it, actually, towards
the end, so we were a bit concerned what would happen with the next set of
tyres and so on. But thank God the tyres stayed together with the second and
third set and that was the base for the victory in the end."
Michael wants to relax with his family over the 3 week break and said "I
really look forward to having that time for my family, to take some time off
and then just relax and recharge my batteries for the last part of the season.
We still have to win the constructors' championship although we are in a very
comfortable position but still we have to do this. Whatever the points
position, racing is still a big enjoyment and I look forward to this, to have
some more battles and fights.":
Juan Pablo Montoya indicated that losing a place to
Raikkonen at the start cost him the race however he was very fortunate to end
up in second and said "At the start, we went off the line really well but
then the car just bogged down and Rubens pulled away and Kimi went by me and I
think that had cost me most of my race. It took me quite a few laps to go by
him and then I went by him and I was still on the same pace as the guys in
front of me. But it was just way too far back and sometimes it's better to be
lucky than good.
At the end of the day it's racing. I've been on pole for the last five races
and out of the last six races, this is my best result - and I wasn't on pole!"
Juan Pablo talked about his move on Raikkonen and said "I think the team
backed up the revs when I was stuck behind him and we discussed it and we
decided we were losing too much time behind Kimi, we needed to go by him, so
they pumped up the revs and I went past him. It was very difficult to pass him
because they seemed to get good acceleration out of turn two and the only
place to pass him was the hairpin.
We came out of the hairpin and he was holding me back a little bit even though
I got up beside him and he put a car length in front ahead of me again and he
made a mistake going out of the new bit going into the stadium and I got him
there. He was trying to run around the outside there and there is not too much
room up there."
Montoya was happy with his tyres and described them as being consistently
quick all day.
Ralf Schumacher was disappointed with 3rd place after
running a strong second for most of the race and said "It has been a
disappointing day for all of us, I think. The team, myself, everything went
wrong which could have done. I was held up by some guys, I couldn't do my pit
stop because someone in front of me was so slow and then, at the end, we had
to come in. It was just a safety stop because we were having a problem with
the engine."
Ralf indicated that he only could have been able to pass Michael after the
first pit stop but was held up going into the pits. He said "In the first
stint I would have said yes. After the first pit stop, for a few laps it was
brilliant then I struggled with understeer and had some traffic, then I came
back at the end again and it was reasonable, but by that time Michael was too
far away."
Ralf explained why they didn't change tyres during his second pit stop and
said "There wasn't a necessity for us there to change tyres, since the
car would understeer in the first stint and second stint, after the first pit
stop. We didn't want to hurt the balance by putting on another new set. The
tyre wear was so good that there wasn't a need, basically."
28-July: What the teams and
drivers said following the Race at Hockenheim ... Report
28-July:
German GP
– Race: Michael Schumacher wins the race ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya
and Ralf Schumacher. Rubens Barrichello, David Coutlhard and Nick Heidfeld
make the top 6 ... Timed Results
... Report ... Notes
28-July:
German GP
– Warm-up Session: Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time of the
session ahead of Rubens Barrichello and Giancarlo Fisichella. Olivier
Panis, Takuma Sato and Nick Heidfeld make the top 6 ... Timed Results ...
Report ... Notes
Friday
Practice Session 1
Friday Practice Session 2
Saturday Practice Session 1
Saturday Practice Session 2 Qualifying Session
Warm-up Session Race
11
AM Hockenheim Time / 9 AM GMT
1 PM Hockenheim Time / 11 AM GMT
9:00 AM Hockenheim Time / 7:00 AM GMT
10:15 AM Hockenheim Time / 8:15 AM GMT 1:00 PM Hockenheim Time / 11:00 AM GMT 9:30 AM Hockenheim Time / 7:30 AM GMT 2:00 PM Hockenheim Time / 12 PM GMT
