23-June: At the post Race press conference for the European Grand Prix,
Rubens Barrichello was delighted with his firs win of the season and
his second of his career. He said "It was a fantastic race. Obviously we
were so close at the start. We were looking for no mistakes. I was behind, I
didn't really want to put Michael into a difficult situation but then on the
inside, I backed off a little bit and I saw a McLaren going by on the outside,
so I just came off the brakes. It was very risky because it's very tight. So I
had a good line out of one, and then I saw both the Williams fighting so I saw
a gap again and I went for it. And because our car was so good on the first
lap I had a chance to quite quickly overtake Ralf, which made my race
really."
When asked if he thought team orders will apply as in Austria he said "Of
course people will be saying many things about that, but let's just enjoy this
one. It's been a fantastic run. From third on the grid to finish first is a
fantastic feeling. My whole family is here, my son, my wife is here, so let's
just enjoy it. I don't want to talk about Austria."
Barrichello thanked Michael and the team for helping him when he struggled
with set-up during the weekend and said "I'm actually delighted because
Friday wasn't such a good day. Saturday morning was a bit of a struggle again.
This time I had a good set-up but the tyres were a bit difficult and Michael
seemed to be very happy and this time I chose the tyres he was using and it
was definitely the right choice. I want to thank him and the team for letting
me have the data and support because otherwise I think I would have struggled
a little bit because the tyres would have been really good in comparison to
our competitor. But I think the choice we had for the race was definitely the
best one."
Michael Schumacher indicated that he was hoping to
try and pass Rubens through the pits but his spin cost him and said "I
was giving it everything, obviously, but after the pit stop I ran into quite a
group of backmarkers, which cost me a little bit of time. I don't know whether
this would have been enough to catch up, because by the time I went to my pit
stop I was behind by about two seconds. I don't know how much it really cost
me at this moment. He did a superb race, he didn't make a mistake, so he
deserves to be the winner and I deserve to be second."
As for the spin, he believed he lost downforce being too close to Rubens and
said "Rubens was saying that he had some difficulties on the same lap at
the same corner, so he was suggesting that there might have been some dust or
oil or whatever. I felt I was just too close but I knew I had to be close
because it was close to pit stop time. I knew that I would stay out for one
lap longer, so I had to be close and then use the one lap more to my
advantage. I just was a little bit too close and I lost control of it."
Regarding the start and why he lost out to Rubens, he said "Basically I
chose the wrong side on which to brake at the start. I didn't see an
opportunity on the inside. When you're very close it's more difficult
sometimes to chose than when you're further back when you can see what's going
to happen, you have a better view. I sort of slipstreamed Ralf, Montoya was
inside, almost side by side with Ralf so I thought I had better go to the
outside and see what these guys do, maybe I can outbrake them or whatever. But
then, unfortunately, as it makes a sort of kink, the outside got tighter and
tighter and I had to slow down early and then I saw Rubens and Coulthard
flying by, so I thought 'well, could be the wrong choice' but luckily I caught
up Coulthard again in the second corner and then it was quite an eventful
first couple of laps to get by Juan, which was very close actually. It was a
nice battle with Ralf, very fair and then it was my job to get close to Rubens
and finally everybody has seen what I did."
Michael indicated that the team ordered them not to race each other after the
second round of pits and said "As we saw in the first stint, there wasn't
any chance to overtake on the circuit because we were too similar, and then
the team came on the radio and said 'you have enough gap to the back so let's
take it in a safe way and drive to the finish, because you guys can't do
anything on the circuit anyway'."
As for why the team didn't apply team orders, Michael said "I think the
points situation was quite a different one in these days than it was in
Austria because nobody sort of knew how the season would develop and we are
obviously in a much more comfortable situation now whereas in Austria we
weren't."
Kimi Raikkonen was happy with his second podium
finish of the season and said "I think I would have been here more often
this year but I've had quite a lot of bad luck. I haven't finished too many
races. The first race was good on the podium, and this was a good race for us
today."
He was right behind Coulthard and Montoya when they touched and said of the
incident "I think Montoya was just defending the line on the inside and
David tried to go around the outside and then I don't really know what
happened but Montoya got a bit sideways and he hit David and that was the end
of the race for them. For me, I was quite lucky. I got past both of them and
then I caught up with Ralf. I was trying to overtake him but then the team
told me that he was coming in on the same lap so I just stayed behind him and
pushed after that."
Despite finished third, he was a long way behind the Ferraris. Raikkonen
explained "I don't know. It just wasn't quick enough for Ferrari today.
The tyres and everything worked well together today and I think our car was
pretty good, sometimes a bit difficult to handle in the middle of the race. We
were pretty much quicker than Williams. We caught up with them and were able
to overtake them, so it was a good race for us."
23-June: What the teams and
drivers said following the Race at the Nurburgring ... Report
23-June:
European GP
– Race: Rubens Barrichello wins the race ahead of Michael Schumacher
and Kimi Raikkonen. Ralf Schumacher, Jenson Button and Felipe Massa make
the top 6
... Timed Results ... Report
... Notes
23-June:
European GP
– Warm-up Session: Rubens Barrichello sets the fastest time of the
session ahead of team-mate Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard. Kimi
Raikkonen, Heinz Harald Frentzen and Takuma Sato 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 Nurburg Time / 9 AM GMT
1 PM Nurburg Time / 11 AM GMT
8:15 AM Nurburg Time / 6:15 AM GMT
9:30 AM Nurburg Time / 7:30 AM GMT 12:15 PM Nurburg Time / 10:15 PM GMT 9:30 AM Nurburg Time / 7:30 AM GMT 2 PM Nurburg Time / 12 PM GMT
