Fahrerstimmen – Tag 3

We thought that three-stops would be the quicker strategy here and that was what we fuelled for in Q3 yesterday. I had a good start from pole but Rubens had an absolute flier and I couldn’t hold him off. Having lost the lead and with the prospect of being caught behind Rosberg, we made the decision to switch to a two-stop strategy. The car felt so heavy with the fuel on board after my first stop but I worked really hard on my final two stints to make the strategy work for me. To come away with the win is a little unexpected but it means so much to continue our run of success. Obviously Rubens is disappointed not to have got the win today and he has been a huge help over the weekend in helping me overcome the issues that I faced on Friday. His turn will certainly come. There’s a great feeling within our team and I am very proud of them for producing such a great car. A special thanks to all the guys back at the factory in Brackley and to Norbert Haug and Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines. They supported our team through the difficult times and we couldn’t have achieved this without them.

The race began really well for me and I had a great start overtaking Sebastian and Jenson to be leading the race coming out of turn one and through the safety car period. The car was feeling really good during the first stint and getting out from my first stop ahead of Nico on track set the race up nicely for me. I was quite surprised when Jenson’s strategy was switched and from then I knew that I had to go flat out to make my strategy work. However I suffered on my third set of tyres and was not able to get the lap times which would have kept me ahead of Jenson. It was a great result for Jenson and the team today but I am disappointed not to have won the race after having such a good weekend. I am a positive person however and I am confident that my victory will come soon.

It’s good to be back on the podium. It’s interesting how the team’s mentality has changed – last year we would have been happy to score points and now we want podiums at every race! We’re working incredibly hard and the guys’ eyes are falling out of their heads with all the late nights and long hours. Sebastian had more trouble with traffic today, but the team got us both home with a lot of points, which is fantastic. I had a very long second stint and was much happier with the car than in the first, although the tyres had nothing left for the last ten laps. We planned to be long in the second, as we knew Felipe would be one lap longer and his drive would be the key to my race. We had to unlock ourselves from him and that second stint was the key. I was very happy with the way I drove and the car was fantastic. I expect Monaco will be closer than this, but the way the car performed here, on a circuit that is a tough test on a car, is a good sign for places like Turkey and Silverstone. Red Bull has done a great job and so have Renault.

My start wasn’t the best – by the first corner Rubens (Barrichello) was first and I was fourth, so obviously we lost some positions – most importantly to Massa. I was then stuck behind him for almost all of the race. He was impossible to pass, he did a very good job with no mistakes. It’s obviously disappointing as my car was quick today, but I couldn’t finish on the podium. Still, it’s a strong result for the team and we take away some good points.

It was a great race for us. We were not too optimistic before the start and our simulations suggested we would finish in 9th or 10th place. But I had a good start and I was up to 6th after the first corner. The car worked really well during the race and then I was able to overtake Massa on the final lap. It was also an interesting race for the fans.

It’s a real shame to have lost two places in the final stages, even if we’ve finally made it to the scoreboard. We knew we couldn’t match the pace of the Brawns but we had managed to get ahead of the Red Bulls and, but for the fuel problem, I could have certainly stayed ahead of Vettel and Alonso. The final part of the race was a pain. I was already struggling on the harder tyres and then I had to try and save fuel as much as possible, while at the same time staying ahead of Vettel. Then the team told that if I wanted to make it to the finish, I would have to let Vettel by and slow down a lot: if I had made another pit stop I would have finished out of the points. Today, the car’s pace on the softer tyre was reasonably good, even if we’re still lacking a few tenths, but at least we are back to fighting for the top places.

Es war ein hartes Rennen, aber ich denke, eines von meinen besseren. Ich hatte mir Punkte zum Geburtstag gewünscht, aber ehrlich gesagt nicht so wirklich daran geglaubt, weil ich ja nur als 13. gestartet bin. Der Start war die entscheidende Situation, da habe ich vier Plätze gutgemacht. In der ersten Kurve habe ich einen Schlag von hinten bekommen, aber mein Auto war zum Glück nicht beschädigt. Es war nicht leicht, meine Position gegen Kimi (Räikkönen) zu verteidigen, und der Kampf hat mich langsam gemacht, deshalb habe ich den Anschluss nach vorn verloren. Unsere Boxenmannschaft hat fantastisch gearbeitet und mich beim zweiten Stopp noch an Nico (Rosberg) vorbeigebracht. Es ist ein klasse Ergebnis für uns, und das Tempo im Rennen hat bewiesen, dass das neue Aero-Paket ein klarer Fortschritt ist. Das sind gute Nachrichten für die weitere Saison.

I really believe we could have taken fifth place today but things didn’t go too well. I had a very good first few laps but, after 10 laps or so, I started to experience a problem at the rear of the car which I’ve had all weekend. Something inexplicable would just happen and affect the balance which caused a lot of oversteer. Oddly enough, it would then be ok again. As this was happening throughout much of the race, I couldn’t really push and that really hurt me. Going home with one point is always positive though and we should have a good car in Monaco so I think we’ll have the chance to get a good result there.

"Today was a difficult race for me because we lack the downforce of the top cars,” said Lewis. “I was a bit worried about my tyres after driving over so much debris at the first corner but I came out of it okay. It was a tough, long race and it was incredibly hard to keep the car on the road – it felt like driving on ice at times, especially at the end of the second stint, when the tyres were finished, and in the final stint, when there was very little grip on the prime. I gave it 100 per cent for the entire race so ninth place doesn’t feel like the proper reward for the team, who worked hard all weekend. Still, we’re all hopeful that Monaco will be a better race for us because the absence of fast corners shouldn’t hurt us as much as it did here. In fact, I’m already looking forward to it.

I had a tough race. At the start the car didn't pull away; I don't know why but we have to analyse it because Jarno didn't have a great start either. He was in front of me into turn one and then I saw him spinning. I got through the incident but then I was behind Nico (Rosberg) and I couldn't get close enough to him in the slipstream; every time I was close my tyres started to go off. Even when I was in clear air today the car was not perfect so we have to look at what happened and try to come back stronger for the next races.

Am Start habe ich wegen eines Kupplungsproblems gleich mehrere Positionen verloren. Aber das war nur der Anfang eines sehr schwierigen Rennens. Nach der Safety-Car-Phase hatte mein Auto überhaupt keinen Grip. Ich konnte absolut nicht attackieren, der Wagen rutschte nur herum. Bis gestern in Q3 lief alles bestens, die Performance des Autos war sehr gut, aber heute konnte ich definitiv nichts ausrichten. Wir müssen genau analysieren, was los war.

I was lucky not to get caught in the accident at the start of the race. The performance of the car was disappointing and the balance wasn’t good. I don’t have a fully updated car yet so I hope that we can make some improvements for the next race.

Another difficult race for me. I didn’t have anywhere to go off the line and ended up damaging my front wing as I was caught in the middle of the first lap incident. Fortunately, I didn’t lose a massive amount of time because the safety car was deployed, but my race was really over from there. Our race pace was quite good, and that allowed me to get ahead of Fisichella, but this is just a disappointing end to the weekend.

The first corner was quite messy as Trulli spun in front of me and there was a lot of debris around the circuit. I was a little worried about having picked up some damage but in the end I was out of trouble and didn’t pick up anything. We decided to change the tyres under the safety car though and change the strategy, which was a good choice in the end. At the beginning the car was quite heavy and I tried to keep my pace. It wasn’t easy but then the car was getting better and in the last 10 laps I was one of the quickest on the circuit. Unfortunately in the last pit stop we had a problem with the refuelling so I had to come in and do another extra pit stop, which cost me the chance to go back ahead of Nakajima. Overall the car balance and grip were good so it’s encouraging for future races.

I had a good start but then as I accelerated away from turn three I saw a car flying into me. Jarno had spun on the inside of the corner and he was just in front of me and I couldn’t do anything. It went so quickly and my car was damaged and I had to stop straight away. I wasn’t injured, just disappointed I couldn’t get to the end. I will have a good look at the accident after the race, but it was just one of those incidents that can happen at the start.

Luck just doesn’t seem to be going my way right now,” he said afterwards. “It’s been a difficult weekend – the car’s performance is not where we want it to be and this was tough for us all – but that’s life. But we shouldn’t forget that we’ve improved our car massively since we last tested here in the winter and eventually we’ll be fighting with Jenson and the other guys at the front. I’m already looking ahead to Monaco where I’ll be fighting harder than ever. I’m not going to let this get me down.

It was a very frustrating day for me because I was optimistic our strategy was good and I would be able to score a lot of points. Unfortunately my race did not last very long. I had a poor start because the engine didn't pull exactly as it should have done so I lost some positions and was right behind (Fernando) Alonso and (Nico) Rosberg going into the first corner. Rosberg went off then during the next corner he came back on to the track right next to me. I had to avoid him because he came back on really quickly. I had to steer off the track and lost control of the car over the grass, so I spun and someone hit me. But there is no point in looking back; now we have to focus on the next race when hopefully we can achieve a much better result.

I am very unhappy because I could have finished in the points. Unfortunately, I had a hydraulic problem linked to the control of the accelerator which meant I had to retire. At the start I managed to make up a few places but then, I found myself behind Heidfeld’s BMW. The car is better, but we must fix these reliability problems. Obviously, when you have to make up ground you can end up making avoidable errors, as has happened to us in this first part of the season, but that doesn’t mean to say the team has lost its way. We are the same people who over the past two years have won three world titles out of the four available.

I became aware everything was slowing down in front and I didn’t even have the time to brake before I was flying over the back of my team-mate’s car and I thought I was going to roll over. I’m not sure how it happened although I saw that Trulli had spun and came back on the track. It’s very frustrating.

I’m not really sure what happened. I do know that I didn’t get a very good start, so that Raikkonen and Kovalainen overtook me before the first corner. Then, at the exit of the second corner, Trulli spun and I had to brake to avoid him. My team mate did not see I was slowing down and could not avoid me. His car went over mine, I saw his tyre go over my head and that was it.