NewsOnF1 - 2003 San Marino GP - What the teams and drivers said

Jean Todt: "This was a special victory. Today in Imola Michael proved yet again, even to those who do not seem to accept it, that he is a special man. Despite being in mourning, he wanted to take part in this race for the sake of the team and went on to win it. Then, going onto the podium, he wanted to acknowledge all the team and our fans, who love him as much as we do. We have gone through some very stressful moments and Michael appreciated the way the team supported him. It is at moments like these that the values we hold dear and cultivate in the team come to the fore.
Turning now to the race itself, I can say that it was good to end the career - at least that is our current plan - of the F2002 with a victory and a third place. It is a car which has exceeded all expectations. Rubens also drove a great race, fighting his opponents all the way. Second place only just eluded him. The Bridgestone tyres worked very well and the support of all our technical and commercial partners played a key role. The road to the top is still a long one and we are well aware of that. To return to our winning ways in Imola, in front of our fans and the Gestione Sportiva staff who were here to support us, is a marvellous feeling. We said we would answer our critics who accused us of being in crisis with our actions and we are proud to have done so."

Ross Brawn: "After a difficult start to the season and especially difficult circumstances this weekend, today's result is a great incentive to keep doing well and tackle the coming races with confidence. It was a shame for Rubens that he had a problem during the third pit stop as, but for that, he could probably have finished second. The car performed strongly and the strategy worked well."

Michael Schumacher: Unavailable for comment due to the death of his mother.

Rubens Barrichello: "My race was conditioned by the fact that I never really had a clear track ahead of me, because of the Williams drivers' strategy. In the whole race, there were only three laps when I could push to the maximum. So I was unable to fully exploit my three stop strategy. I was unable to get past Ralf in the pit stop and my problem at my next one lost me some time and but for that I might have caught Ralf earlier and been able to catch Kimi. But it was a fun race from a driving point of view with some good clean fights.
When I came up behind Ralf, I was enthusiastic about my overtaking, I saw my chance and went for it. In the closing stages, I tried all I could to catch Kimi, but I really did not get close enough until the final lap and then there was not enough time to pass him. It was nice of Michael to let me pass him, when his race was already secure and I was pushing very hard on my 'in' lap."

McLaren ( Kimi Raikkonen - 2nd, David Coulthard - 5th )

Ron Dennis: "Our race performance and ultimate result reflected firstly our starting positions and secondly a marginal disadvantage in one area of our tyres' performance. Inevitably in a tyre war teams enjoy an advantage when their respective Partner gets it right which was certainly the case with Michelin in the first three Grands Prix. That said a good strategy and excellent performances from our drivers gave us some valuable points which sees us maintaining our World Championship lead."

Norbert Haug: "An excellent tactical performance by the team. Our two stop strategy was perfect and helped us to achieve good race results considering our grid positions. 12 points for the West McLaren Mercedes team and eight for Kimi keep us in a good position in our Championship campaign."

Kimi Raikkonen: "I'm pleased with second place and would like to say a big thank you to the team for choosing the right strategy today. I managed to get fifth place at the start and then did everything I could to hold on to that. I must admit I was quite pleased when I saw Ferrari and BMW Williams coming in for their first stops. I had a problem getting the car into gear during the second pitstop, but it didn't cost too much time. Towards the end of the race Rubens put me under a bit of pressure, but I could keep second place and the lead in the Championship."

David Coulthard: "An encouraging result taking into consideration that our main competition was on three stops which put our qualifying performance into perspective. I made a good start and got past four cars on the run to the first corner, and then it was all about not making any mistakes. I enjoyed the battles throughout the race particularly the ones with Rubens and Ralf, but at the end of the day I paid the price for my low grid position."

Williams ( Ralf Schumacher - 4th, Juan Pablo Montoya - 7th )

Sam Michael: "In general our chassis improvements became visible in Imola. However our race was hampered by a few things. We went for a three stop strategy which promised to be the quicker one, which is proven by the fact that the race winner stopped three times too. But this strategy does not leave any margin if anything goes wrong, and we had several problems at the pit stops, the worst one being a malfunctioning fuel rig."

Gerhard Berger: "We hoped for a podium finish today, but that was unfortunately not the case. A few things went wrong in the pit-stops. As well as the problem that Juan experienced with the fuel rig, Ralf selected the wrong gear when he restarted after his first pit-stop and lost some vital seconds there. Also Juan slightly missed the pit-stop area at one of his stops. However, it was clear today that the gap between the top teams is tight."

Ralf Schumacher: Unavailable for comment due to the death of his mother.

Juan Pablo Montoya: "Definitely an unlucky race for me today. I lost some ground at the start as I was trying to find a corridor for overtaking on the cleaner side of the track. Then my race was decided at my second pit stop, when far too little fuel went into my car due to a problem with the fuel rig and I was forced to pit again immediately after. I pushed as much as I could hoping to gain some positions but in the third sector of the race I had some understeer and also I lost some time lapping slower cars."

Renault ( Fernando Alonso - 6th, Jarno Trulli - 13th )

Flavio Briatore: "A rather positive weekend for the team. It's very encouraging to have confirmed the reliability of our engines and to have scored three more points on this very difficult circuit. We are very satisfied."

Mike Gascoyne: "It was a very competitive race. Fernando made an excellent start and drove a very strong race. We decided to change our strategy from three to two stops during the race and he was consistent and kept his position, which is very pleasing for him. Jarno's weekend was ruined by problems on his car, which forced him to qualify and race in the T -car, which wasn't set up for him.
He wasn't happy with the balance of the car and unfortunately he couldn't progress. However -overall - a big satisfaction for the team, who maintains a 100% finishing record since the start of this season. It's great to bring home some more points at this race, where we didn't think we would be very strong."

Denis Chevrier: "This was a straightforward race, with no accident on the track and no mechanical problems for us. Fernando was able to put into practice what we expected from him, by fighting with the top teams and finishing into the points. For the first time, we don't have both cars scoring points, but Jarno's race had been already compromised yesterday. The problems continued even on the starting grid and his race was uneventful."

Fernando Alonso: "A perfect finish to a good weekend for me. Today I couldn't hope for a better result. The car felt very good, I was competitive from the start and it was great to be able to race and fight with the top teams. I am very happy and optimistic for my home race in Spain, in two weeks."

Jarno Trulli: "Today, it was good to get to the end of the race, to confirm the reliability of our car. I am obviously frustrated, because although I didn't encounter any particular problem, to race in the T-car, which wasn't set up for me, made it impossible to make any progress during the race. It's a consequence of the new rules and I must accept them. I will have to put this behind me and I am already looking forward to the next race."

BAR ( Jenson Button - 8th, Jacques Villeneuve - Retired )

David Richards: "Overall we were extremely competitive this weekend but when the leading three teams get all their cars to the finish, scoring a point is an achievement. If I compare our gap to the front of the field versus 12 months ago we've come a long way, and if we continue this level of improvement, the whole team must feel very positive for the future."

Geoff Willis: "This was a mixed result for us, with Jenson gaining another point but Jacques not finishing. There was a small fire at the first stop, and on the out-lap the engine stopped after the fire caused terminal damage to the wiring loom. Both cars were running a two-stop strategy but Jenson and Jacques were baulked by Webber's slow getaway and dropped behind slower runners. After Jacques' retirement, Jenson ran to plan to finish P8, although he struggled a little for pace in the last stint. The race history shows that we qualified with the same fuel load as the front row; this gives us further evidence that we have made substantial progress towards the front of the grid since last year."

Shuhei Nakamoto: "Jenson drove hard today and this is the third race in a row that we've scored points, so that's encouraging. This wasn't a good race for us though. It was very unfortunate that Jacques had a problem and couldn't finish. I would also like to add that our thoughts are with Daijiro Kato's family at this very sad time."

Jenson Button: "It's good to get a point here but a little disappointing that we couldn't do better today. I got a little bogged down at the start behind Webber but then I pushed as hard as I could. I think we got everything right today in terms of strategy but we still finished a long way off the leaders. I think we've been able to demonstrate improving reliability but we just need a little more speed. We have an aero and engine upgrade for the next race, which we're testing in Mugello next week, so we should see a small step forward for Barcelona in two weeks' time."

Jacques Villeneuve: "It's very disappointing not to finish the race here because things were looking good for us today. I had a problem changing down and then the engine stopped shortly after. I was quite surprised that so many people ran a three-stop strategy because we were on two stops and we were quite competitive. We've had a few problems recently and sadly they've been on my car, but it is encouraging that we are competitive. We just need to work on reliability now and make sure we don't keep missing out on good opportunities."

Toyota ( Olivier Panis - 9th , Cristiano da Matta - 12th )

Ove Andersson: "First of all I must say that I am extremely pleased that we have seen both cars complete today's race. This is a big step forward for the whole team. We struggled here on Friday, so in the end, I think we have the best result we could expect from this weekend. The team has worked very well and the cars have been reliable. I am particularly encouraged to see how well the pit stops worked today. Now we have to improve the overall speed of the car and look ahead to the next race in Spain."

Olivier Panis: "The positive point about today's result is that we can celebrate our first two-car finish of the season. I did my absolute best today, pushing hard on every lap and it is nice to complete my first race for Toyota. The car was not too bad today and everything worked okay. The team has done a good job all weekend and I am pleased with the joint effort from every single person. Ninth is obviously a frustrating place to end a race, just out of the points, but the reliability is there again and that is very important for the next round. I am now looking ahead to the next race in Barcelona, where the car should perform much better and we should be in a position to go a step further and pick up some points."

Cristiano da Matta: "I had a good first and second stint in the race, but unfortunately this track is difficult for overtaking, and after my second pit stop I was unable to get past the cars in front of me. This track is not a track that suits our car, so I feel that we did a reasonable job in the circumstances. I am much more confident driving the TF103 and I did the maximum I could today. We made big improvements to the car since Friday and it was not so bad in the race. Barcelona should be much better for us, and we have completed plenty of kilometres there in testing, so I think we should go well there in two weeks' time."

Sauber ( Nick Heidfeld - 10th, Heinz Harald Frentzen - 11th )

Peter Sauber: "We are not surprised by the result of this race, but obviously we cannot be satisfied with it. It was the first regular race of the season, and it showed the limitations of the Sauber Petronas C22."

Nick Heidfeld: "It's never enjoyable to finish a race but not to score points. I made a good start but then I got pushed on to the grass by one of the BARs and lost a couple of places. After that I had the choice for a two or a three-stop strategy and we chose the three, although we know the chances of getting blocked were higher. Unfortunately I did get blocked quite a lot, so that was it."

Heinz Harald Frentzen: "We did our best today and I think we got the best out of the car, but too many of the front-runners were reliable. Our situation is a bit clearer now. The car is very reliable, but we need the things we have in the pipeline to improve it further."

Jaguar ( Antonio Pizzonia - 14th, Mark Webber - Retired )

Dr Mark Gillan: "A very disappointing end to a weekend which should have netted us some points. To have qualified in 5th place and lost over six positions by the first corner was very unfortunate indeed for Mark and at this stage, we are examining the problem to find out why it happened. It's a very rare thing to have happened but Antonio also suffered from a start-line issue that meant starting from the pit-lane. Just to add to our problem list, Mark was penalised with a Drive Through Penalty that in total cost us around 24 seconds.
We don't know exactly the reason behind Mark's retirement but it looks like a suspected drive shaft failure. Once we get the cars back to the factory, we'll undertake a thorough investigation to find the root cause. We do, however, take away many positives from the weekend. The Jaguar R4 has clearly been very competitive here all weekend and that's a good sign for the remaining circuits on the calendar.
Like the front-runners today, we also adopted a three-stop strategy and the car was on the pace thereby proving that we are running comparable fuel loads with the top teams. The corrective action we took on the fuel pick-up issue that affected the first three races has worked successfully and we haven't seen signs of the problem at all this weekend.
The Jaguar R3 was way out of its depth here last year and to have taken such a big step to where we are now is very encouraging. Points have eluded us so far but it will not be long now before we start earning a return on the huge investment everyone is making in terms of engineering-driven focus and commitment."

Antonio Pizzonia: "The bad news from today is obvious but the good news is that a Jaguar has reached the chequered flag for the first time this season! My race was effectively over at the start though because of a launch-control problem. I simply couldn't get the system to engage and the team is looking into why.
Given that I started the race from the pit-lane one lap down, I was in no position to make an impact on the race but finishing was very important from a reliability-test perspective. We have a test next week in Mugello and we'll focus on correcting some of this weekend's issues prior to the Spanish GP."

Mark Webber: "The race began very badly for me with the issue on the start line and cost me a lot of positions. By the end of the first lap, I had gone from P5 to P11 but the pace of the Jaguar R4 was very good - something we have clearly demonstrated all weekend. The race then took another unfortunate twist for me with the Drive Through Penalty but there was still a lot to play for.
I was up to P9 before I retired and I reckon I could have had Jenson Button's 8th place had it not been for traffic problems. We obviously have some issues to address but let's be honest - I would much rather have a quick car with some reliability niggles than a slow and unreliable car. The programme is clearly moving in the right direction and our pace is very encouraging in comparison to the top teams.
The Jaguar R4 has been very competitive at all the circuits it has raced on so far and given that Imola was our wake-up call last year, I am quite confident now of this car's potential at the remaining twelve tracks facing us."

Jordan ( Giancarlo Fisichella - Retired - Classified 15th, Ralph Firman - Retired )

Gary Anderson: "We first knew Ralph had a problem when he reported the clutch slipping, which we later discovered was caused by an engine problem which soon afterwards caused him stop. On Giancarlo's car something went wrong with the engine, there was a lot of smoke. We had a hydraulic problem as well but it stabilised and would have been okay for the last ten laps. When you're not in good condition it's best just to learn as much as you can about reliability. They say what a difference a day makes - well what a difference a week makes!."

Giancarlo Fisichella: "I'm a bit disappointed. I lost quite a lot of time on the pit stop and then more time to overtaking Trulli and a hydraulics problem and then I blew up the engine. I lost a bit of time behind Ralph, we were on different strategies but we were at the same part of the track. Anyway, our pace wasn't too bad and I'm looking forward to the next race."

Ralph Firman: "I got held up by the Minardis at the start of the race but once I got clear of them, I was able to push on quite hard although the car had a little bit of oversteer on the turn in to corners. Later I had a clutch problem and after a couple of laps the engine just packed up. I'm looking forward to the Silverstone test next week, as the time in the car will be a great help to me. I think I still need to improve myself in qualifying but in the race I always seem to do a reasonably good lap time."

Minardi ( Jos Verstappen - Retired, Justin Wilson - Retired )

Paul Stoddart: “This was not the result that we had been hoping for at the team's 'home' Grand Prix. Sadly, a failure of the refuelling rig denied Justin a chance to finish the San Marino Grand Prix, and would have done likewise for Jos, had an electrical problem not intervened and prevented him from completing the race before his next scheduled stop. I had hoped we would get both cars home today, but despite a sterling effort from the drivers, it was not to be. Hopefully, we'll have a better race in Barcelona.”

Jos Verstappen: “It has been another disappointing race. The first I knew there was a problem was when the cockpit started to fill with smoke and then the engine just stopped. Until then, the car had felt fine, and I had no problem staying ahead of Firman. The chassis balance, though, was definitely better on the first set of tyres than the second.”

Justin Wilson: "We elected to take on fuel at the end of the formation lap and start from the pit lane, slotting in behind Ralph Firman and Jos. After four or five laps, the car started to slide around quite a bit, so I decided to maintain the best pace I could and just hang on to the pit stop. When I did come in for tyres and fuel, the stop seemed to last longer than normal. I didn't realise there was a problem until they called me back to the pits on the next lap and told me that the fuel hadn't been delivered. Up until that point, the car had been running fine. It's fair to say that it's been a disappointing day."

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What the teams and drivers said Friday - Saturday - Sunday

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