Jenson Button – Brawn GP (1st):
“I wish I could have had the whole team up there on the podium with me today! This was definitely a victory for us all, everyone at the track, back at the factory in Brackley and at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth. Today we really showed what this car and engine can do and to beat our closest competitors fair and square is a great feeling. I had a good start from the dirty side of the grid and it was really important to maintain second position into the first corner. I took my opportunity on the first lap when Sebastian went wide and from there we controlled the race. Once we knew that Sebastian was going for a three-stop strategy, we filled the car up at my first stop and I just tried to be as consistent as possible to keep him behind me. It’s not nice to see a car catching you so quickly, even when you know he is on low fuel, but once he pitted I was able to push harder. I had a smile on my face for pretty much every lap today, the car felt that good, and I was able to back off in the last stint to conserve the engine. This is the first time that the car has been absolutely perfect for me and it means so much to the team to see just how good this car is. To go to Silverstone for our home race leading the championships is a wonderful feeling but we know that we have to keep pushing to maintain our advantage.”
Mark Webber – Red Bull (2nd):
“A good race. I knew I had to hang in there for as long as possible in the first stint. It worked out pretty well and I managed to go a lap longer and save fuel, which helped me gain some time. I knew Sebastian s strategy and that I was in with a sniff of getting a podium finish. Both Sebastian and I knew that first place was gone and it was about who would finish behind Jenson – he was on another planet! The second stint was therefore crucial, I had to push really hard. When you re on a different strategy, the other guy is almost invisible until after the pit stops, but it turned out well for us and my engineer kept me updated with what was happening. I did enough in the middle stint to be able to jump Sebastian at the pit stops. Then, at the end we turned the engine down and brought the car home.â€
Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull (3rd):
“The start worked out okay, I was ahead but then I nearly lost the car in Turn Nine and 10 on the first lap. It was my mistake, it was extremely difficult there and I nearly did the same on the second lap. It was quite tricky, but I think without that there wouldn t have a big difference, as Jenson was too quick today. After that I thought the strategy might swap to a two-stop plan, but it didn t. I got caught behind Jenson who was heavier in the second stint and that allowed Mark to get ahead. Nonetheless, a good result for the team and I think we can be satisfied with second and third.â€
Jarno Trulli – Toyota (4th):
“I am pleased with the race result and also with the car. We have worked really hard to find more performance and it’s great to be back in the fight for a podium. The team deserve a lot of credit for the improvement this weekend, including the engineers who have made a good step with our starts. My start was incredible and I made up two places into the first corner, however I struggled a lot on the first lap with locking brakes so I dropped back to fourth. After that I got into a good rhythm and I was fighting hard with Nico Rosberg. He got ahead at the first pit stops but I bounced back and overtook at the second stops. I was really competitive towards the end when there was a lot of rubber down and it was enjoyable to be fighting at the front. I started the weekend with a positive feeling and we quickly found the right set-up so I am extremely happy to be back to a competitive level.”
Nico Rosberg – Williams (5th):
“I am happy with fifth place and happy for the team as well because this is a good result. I had a great start, which I have to thank my engineers for as it went exactly as I d hoped it would, and by the end of the first lap I d managed to make up four positions. From there, I pushed hard to get past Trulli, and I thought I could because my pace was good, but he had a quicker car today. I hope we can keep up this momentum and score points at every race. At the moment, I would say we can consistently be in the top eight.â€
Felipe Massa – Ferrari (6th):
“A very difficult day for us. We have to accept the fact that sixth place was the best we could do, because we were not quick enough to fight against those in front of us. We must continue to push on the car development front to make up for what we lack in terms of performance, starting with the race at Silverstone. From Friday it was complicated to find a way to make the tyres work well: for example, today the softs seemed to go better than on previous days, but using them right from the start would have been a risk because the degradation, up to yesterday seemed to be pretty significant.â€
Robert Kubica – BMW Sauber (7th):
“It is good to finally score points. I think I raced well today. My pace was good and I made no mistakes. The race was very hard, as nearly all the time I had someone very close behind me, and the smallest mistake would have cost a position. It was very hard to keep up the pace. However, finishing seventh was a clear step forward and we now have to keep up the speed of development.â€
Timo Glock – Toyota (8th):
“It was not easy to score points from 13th on the grid. At the start I was a bit unlucky; I got a good launch but I got caught at the exit of turn one and another car pushed me to the outside. I lost some positions so maybe the result could have been even better. But in the end I am happy to score a point because the car was spot on, really quick with race fuel. It’s tricky to make up positions in Formula One but our strategy was right, the pit stops were great and the set-up worked really well so thanks to the team for a good job. Our target before the race was to get into the points so I am pleased to achieve that and I expect even more at the next race.”
Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari (9th):
“It was definitely not the race we were expecting or the one we wanted. The first lap was decisive for me: I lost valuable places and then it wasn t possible to get them back because today we weren t quick enough. Over recent weeks, we have improved our performance a lot, but we are not yet at the level of the best, especially at tracks like this one. It is never easy to catch up, because in the meantime, the others are not exactly stopping their own development. We must not be negative about this after a weekend like this one, but we should continue to concentrate and to push: I am sure we can soon return to fighting for the top places. It won t be easy but I have confidence in this team.â€
Fernando Alonso – Renault (10th):
“Of course I feel frustrated that we didn’t manage to finish in the points, but to be honest we couldn’t expect much more today. We started in eighth position and having the lightest car on the grid penalised us because after the first pit-stop we just couldn’t keep up with the pace with the top contenders. We therefore need to improve quickly. Hopefully the changes expected for the Silverstone race will be significant enough to see us score some good points and change our situation for the second part of the season.”
