Full list of Driver Quotes from today’s Chinese Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)- Grid: 1, Race: 1st: It s unbelievable I m so, so happy. Ten laps from the end I tried to control the gap between me and the car behind and adapt my pace. I was trying to have everything under control, but it was difficult. At some points I was trying to bring the car home, but that meant I lost focus, so then I just tried to take it corner by corner, not looking too far ahead.
On the last two laps I backed off a bit, as I didn t want to risk aquaplaning on the water at the side of the track. And then… well it s just fantastic. Winning my second race, one with Toro Rosso and one with Red Bull, makes me extremely happy and I hope we can continue working in this direction! I m extremely proud and happy. I m so happy to have won the race, it was an enormous and great job by the whole of Red Bull. I want to say a massive thank you to them all, everyone has worked so hard, so thanks to the team and also to Red Bull. Greetings to Austria!
Mark Webber (Red Bull)- Grid: 3, Race: 2nd: It s such an incredible day for the team you have no idea what the guys went through last night. We were absolutely shitting ourselves that the cars wouldn t finish the race because everytime we ran yesterday, they stopped. So, it s incredible to get the cars home and to get maximum points. This comes after the near misses in Australia for Sebastian and for myself in Malaysia. It s a great day for the team in Milton Keynes, well done and thank you to them, and also to everyone in Austria.
“It was a challenging race at times! It was hard to follow the cars in the beginning due to the spray, but then further into the race, it started to settle a bit. After the second safety car stint, I had a good scrap with Jenson. On my official lap at the front, I couldn t believe how clear it was – I thought Oh my God, it s beautiful! I then pushed like hell to make up as much time as possible it was fantastic. When Jenson re-passed me, I was very keen to try win the race, so I passed him around Turn seven as I knew he wouldn t know I would be there, it was one of the best moves of my career. I m happy today!â€
Jenson Button (Brawn GP) – Grid: 5, Race: 3rd: The last turn particularly was like a lake and you just couldn’t brake for the corner. I struggled with the car aquaplaning and the tyres shuddering as we couldn’t get the temperatures high enough to make them work properly. Mark Webber and I had a good fight for a few laps but I just couldn’t stay with him. However to finish the race today is an achievement in itself and to be on the podium is fantastic. We couldn’t have beaten the Red Bulls and congratulations to Sebastian and Mark on a great result.
Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP) – Grid 4, Race: 4th: “It was a tough race in very challenging conditions out there today. I only had three brake discs working on my car for the first 19 laps which made it even more difficult for me to keep the car on the road. Thankfully the problem resolved itself when the brakes heated up during my first pit stop and I had a good pace from then but unfortunately it was a bit too late. However we got the car to the end of the race in difficult circumstances and I scored as many points as I could have done, so we have to be happy with that.â€
Heikki Kovalainen (Mclaren)- Grid: 12, Race: 5th: “The visibility was unbelievably poor – especially during the first few laps after the Safety Car came in. But our pace was good and, during the last laps of the race, I could get close to Rubens just not enough to start an attack. Our strategy was spot on: finishing higher than fifth was not possible today and I’m very pleased to have scored four solid points without making a single mistake despite some massive moments!”
Lewis Hamilton (Mclaren)- Grid: 9, Race: 6th: “I made a few too many mistakes today. It was very slippery and my front-left tyre was finished long before the end but I still gave it my best. This afternoon was a real struggle but I’m glad I got some points for the team.”
Timo Glock (Toyota)- Grid: 19, Race: 7th: “In the end we picked up more points from the pitlane so we have to be happy with that. But it was a very hard race, especially at the beginning. I was quite surprised when we started the race. When you’re at the back of the field there is no chance to see anything and it’s like driving blind. I made up some ground but I damaged my front wing when I touched Nick.
“It was so difficult to see, I misjudged my braking point and hit him on the back. That meant we had to bring our pit stop forward by a few laps to fix the damage. Later when I had a clear run for five or six laps I was pretty quick and on the pace but as soon as I caught Kimi I was stuck behind him. I couldn’t see the standing water so I had to back off, particularly in the areas where you could overtake. In the end I got past and we were able to bring it home 7th.”
Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso)- Grid: 10, Race: 8th: I am very happy as the team did a super job so that we got another point to take away from here. I am pleased that in three races, I have scored twice. Maybe I could have done a little bit better, but I’m happy all the same. We were very competitive in the early stages and I got past Raikkonen and Hamilton, but after that I struggled a bit.
“I think it was one of my hardest races ever. As for the incident with Vettel, it happened under safety car conditions: I didn’t see him and I tried to swerve to the right, but it was not enough to avoid him. We changed the wing on my car and I’m glad I didn’t spoil his race.
Fernando Alonso (Renault)- Grid: 2, Race: 9th: “It’s a disappointing end to a weekend where we showed a lot of potential. The team have done a great job to improve the car, which was very competitive, especially yesterday when we qualified on the front row. However, today we were unlucky and I think it’s one of those days when you take decisions at the wrong moment and everything seems to turn against you.
“We thought that the safety car would be out for the next 10 or 15 laps so we came in to get fuel and at the same time the safety car came in so we found ourselves starting the race last. We were on the first row on the grid and all of a sudden we were last so this was the end of our race. Bahrain will be another big test and then we have Barcelona so we need to keep improving.”
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)- Grid: 8, Race: 10th:
We have made mistakes and we are not quick enough. In Barcelona, when we will have new aero parts, we should be able to pick up some of the grip we are lacking now. I am sure we can be competitive enough to win again but this work will take time. The team is motivated, I’m sure of that and we will all do our bit. Now it is easy to criticize, but we know how to turn things round.
Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber)- Grid: 17, Race: 13th: “Driving was very dangerous today. We had aquaplaning nearly everywhere and the lack of visibility was a disaster. There were quite a lot of situations when I couldn’t see anything. All this also caused my heavy accident with Jarno Trulli. When Jarno braked into the corner I hit some standing water. Although I hit the brakes very hard the car still accelerated. I went quite high into the air after hitting his rear tyre, but fortunately nobody was hurt. After coming to the pits we had to change the front wing a second time as I felt some vibration and massively lost grip. This ruined my race.”
Nico Rosberg (Williams)- Grid: 7, Race: 15th: For the first few laps, they were good. It looked like the way to go so I was quite pleased, but then unfortunately more rain came and it was all over again. Bahrain is only a week away and a good result, which everyone in the team deserves, is overdue.
Adrian Sutil (Force India)- Grid: 18, Race: DNF: Sometimes even in a straight line in fourth or fifth gear I was struggling with aquaplaning and I was very lucky to keep the car on the circuit for so long. It’s a shame – you focus so much and think you can do it, but the car was just out of control at the end. I had the same feeling as Monaco – it’s hard to believe when you are in the car and then suddenly you lose it and it’s all over from such a great position.
But you have to get over it, we had a great performance today. It’s good for the team and I think we deserved the points, I just feel bad for everyone here. It was a very good strategy call, but that’s what we had to do: take a risk.
Felipe Massa (Ferrari)- Grid: 13, Race: DNF: I was third and lapping in the same times as the leaders, even though I had enough fuel on board to go for a one stop. The car was going well, except when running behind the Safety Car: at those times, there were a few moments when the power seemed to drop. Then, without warning, the accelerator would not work and the car went quiet. I would say to our fans that they should not give up on us, as this is a difficult moment, but the championship is still long.
Jarno Trulli (Toyota)- Grid: 6, Race: DNF: That was not a good day for me. The conditions were very difficult, there was a lot of standing water and lots of aquaplaning. When the safety car came in I made a solid start and my pace was okay in the early laps. But then I started struggling for grip, the pace just wasn’t there and the longer it went on the more ground I lost. On lap 17 I just felt a big hit from behind and I lost my rear wing. I made it back to the pits but we couldn’t continue. Still, my pace yesterday shows we’re close the front so now we must hope for better fortunes in Bahrain next weekend.”
