Fahrerstimmen – Tag 3

Das war mit Sicherheit die glücklichste Erfahrung in meiner bisherigen Rennfahrerkarriere. Was für ein verrücktes Rennen. Ich war überrascht, als ich sah, dass in der Safety Car-Phase niemand vor mir lag. In diesem Moment wusste ich nicht, was los war. Aber ich konzentrierte mich darauf, die Reifen auf Temperatur zu bringen. Denn sie fühlten sich eisig an. Bis zur Safety Car-Phase hatte Lewis perfekte Arbeit abgeliefert. Er war das gesamte Wochenende über besser als ich. Er hätte den Sieg definitiv verdient gehabt. Ich kann mir vorstellen, wie schrecklich er sich jetzt fühlen muss. Dieses Wochenende war für mich eine Warnung. Beim nächsten Rennen in Montreal muss ich noch härter arbeiten. Natürlich freue ich mich auch, wieder hier in Monaco gewonnen zu haben. Das ist immer etwas Besonderes. Ein Teil von mir wird heute diesen Sieg feiern. Ein Sieg ist ein Sieg.

Today we took everything we could and it is nice to end up in second place. I tried to be agressive on the start, but I couldn’t get the second position straight away. We had a good pace and we put the Mercedes under pressure, closing the gap on the pit stop and not letting them get away at any point, but obviously it was not enough. We tried the undercut but they replied a lap after and unfortunately they came out in front. In the last laps Lewis with the Supersoft tires behind me was putting a lot of pressure, it was really difficult because for some laps my tires were really cold and I was struggling to make sure I stay on track, I was focused on having good exits. There is still something we need to understand and to learn, if it’s colder in qualifying on one lap it is difficult to get the tires work; this is something we need to improve. I want to thank the guys in Maranello , the engine was fine and very good on the straights so that we were safe staying in front. In all areas there’s a lot of work going on because we want more, we keep our feet on the ground knowing where we want to go and were we want to be. I’m very happy, it was a great race and the team gave 100%. In Canada the track layout is totally different, but we will try to be competitive there as well.

Ich kann meine Gefühle im Moment gar nicht richtig ausdrücken. Ich sah das Team auf einer Leinwand in der Boxengasse stehen und dachte, dass Nico reinkommen würde. Als ich an die Box fuhr, war ich der vollen Überzeugung, dass dies die anderen auch gemacht hätten. Dieses Rennen liegt mir seit vielen Jahren am Herzen. Es ist etwas ganz Besonderes für mich. Deshalb wollte ich unbedingt gewinnen. Das Team war das gesamte Jahr über fantastisch. Ich gebe ihnen keine Schuld. Wir werden es analysieren und herausfinden, was falsch gelaufen ist. Aber das machen wir gemeinsam, um uns in Zukunft zu verbessern. Ich sage stets zu meinem Team und meinen Fans: Wir gewinnen und wir verlieren gemeinsam. Das Leben geht weiter und wir greifen wieder an.

"I am happy with today's race, it was my best finish in Formula One and it was a great result for the team to finish fourth and fifth," said Dany afterwards. "I had a good start and was able to control my race from then on. We took a gamble with strategy allowing Daniel past after the last safety car to try and fight for a podium position, as he was on the faster Supersoft tyres. But as he was unable to pass anyone, as agreed, he gave the place back on the last lap. We hope we can carry this momentum onto the next races."

"It was a good race today and a good result for the team," he said. "I had some fun in the last few laps trying to get close to Hamilton and Vettel to fight for a podium position. I knew we were in a position to attack in the end, which made it exciting I think. The team worked well, Dany let me past to have a crack at the podium and I gave back the place on the last lap when I couldn't get past Hamilton. "I had a little incident with Kimi and it's hard to get a clean move without a little contact in Monaco, I appreciate the stewards not taking any further action and I think the crowd and the fans enjoyed it. We'll try and keep up the pace in the next few races to hopefully stay in the top five."

We knew that after starting from sixth position it would have been a difficult race. I was all the time behind slower cars and there was no way to overtake them even if I had a much better pace. At the the pit stop we managed to pass one Red Bull, we gained one place but we lost it for a stupid reason. I was following my normal line when Ricciardo hit my rear tire and pushed me wide, regaining the position. It’s not very clear what you are allowed to do, it’s really odd but there’s nothing we can do. For the next races we have to make a better job overall to make sure we get tires working and things sorted out without mistakes on Saturday in qualifying. This will make our life a lot easier on Sunday. Now we go to Canada a bit happier overall but it’s too early to make predictions, we have similar tires but the layout of the track is completely different, so let’s wait and see.

I’m very happy right now. As a team we’ve done a fantastic job all weekend and seventh place is the result of all this hard work. For me it was a normal race – very straightforward and quiet, which is strange for Monaco. I was racing on my own for most of the race because the cars ahead were able to pull a gap on me and I had space to the cars behind. It was difficult to keep concentration for 78 laps, but after the safety car I was on fresh supersoft tyres and it was really good fun. I was able to attack Kimi [Raikkonen], but there wasn’t an opportunity to get the position. It’s a very important result for the whole team and gives us six points for the championship. It means I’ve scored points in half the races this season, which shows we’ve done a good job of maximising our opportunities.

“It’s been a positive day for us. We were hoping to score a point today, and we scored four. I certainly didn’t expect to finish eighth. “At the start I lost a position to Nico [Hulkenberg], but got it back by going around the outside of him at Turn Three on the first lap, which was good fun. Once I got past Pastor [Maldonado], my race was basically about turning quali lap after quali lap: it was flat-out. “That was tough – in fact it was pretty physical out there – but I really enjoyed it. “I’m really happy for the team – we’ve worked hard to get into this position, and they deserve this. We have work to do, but this is a hugely positive step for us.”

Es war ein tolles Rennen. Ich bin sehr glücklich darüber, erneut Punkte gesammelt zu haben. Nach einem schwierigen Wochenende ist es ein grossartiges Gefühl, mit Punkten belohnt zu werden. Das Rennen war anstrengend. Ich habe mein Bestes gegeben und bin konstant am Limit gefahren, um das Maximum aus dem Auto herauszuholen. Das Team hat heute sehr gute Arbeit geleistet. Sie haben die passende Strategie gewählt sowie mich zu optimalen Zeiten an die Boxen zum Reifenwechsel gerufen. Die Punkte gelten jedem einzelnen im Team.

What an amazing race, I'm very happy with the result! To start from the pit lane in Monaco, on my debut, and to cross the line in P10 feels like a victory! It was a very good race from the team in terms of strategy and tyre management. We worked for it very hard and completed a super long stint on the Soft tyre. This finally paid off and we managed to score a point. I was really enjoying it out there, I was quick and enjoying this unique track, I didn't want the race to end!

My race was obviously very difficult right from the start: Fernando [Alonso] more or less pushed me into the wall on the first lap and from that moment I basically had to play catch up. I knew he was there so I left him a bit more space and turned in later, but he must have locked up as he crashed into me and sent me straight into the wall. The only damage was to the front wing, but getting back to the pits and changing the wing cost me a lot of time. My race was already compromised then - it is not easy to race from so far back because you have to let the leaders through and you're on the back foot the whole time. In terms of pace I was doing quite well, especially when in clean air, but obviously getting lapped costs you a lot of time. It is a shame as I feel that without the incident I would have been well into the points today. I still take encouragement from our pace and hopefully we can maximise the next weekend in Canada and get some more points.

I didn’t see much of the accident with Verstappen, just his car flying past me in the air! Overtaking in Monaco is difficult and I think he gained that bit of experience today. It’s good to know he’s okay, as it was a bit dangerous for both of us, and it cost us what would have been a hard-earned point. Until then my race had been going pretty well when you consider where we started. The car felt good and the strategy was working well. After the accident, I turned around which established all four wheels were there, then looked in the mirrors to see if the rear wing was still there too, then got on with my race.

Das Rennen auf dem 13. Platz zu beenden ist enttäuschend. Allerdings wussten wir schon von Beginn an, dass es mit der 17. Startposition kein einfaches Rennen werden wird. Wir müssen nun die Daten analysieren, um diese genauer zu verstehen. Daraus können wir lernen, um es dann in den kommenden Rennen besser zu machen. Generell war die Balance des Autos recht gut, zumal auch die Rundenzeiten in einigen Abschnitten des Rennens konkurrenzfähig waren.

This has been a tough weekend that ended in an even tougher race. We tried everything to try and get some points but with the pace we had it wasn’t possible today. We tried the two-stop strategy which never really came to us, with the safety car coming at just the wrong time. There are not too many positives from the weekend but plenty we can learn from as to why we struggled. We know we still have a good car and go to races in the next few weeks where we should be able to demonstrate our true performance.

Today was a very frustrating day and a race to forget for us. My race was effectively over in Turn 1, with another car pushing me over and I was left with a lot of damage to my tyre and front wing. The pitstop I had to make on Lap 1 put me right at the back of the pack and I spent the rest of the race looking out for blue flags. The car has not had its usual performance all weekend but we know that we are heading to tracks in Canada and Austria that suit our car and we should be back fighting towards the front.

It was not a bad qualifying for me. I am a little closer to my team-mate and my runs were good, so I think we can have a good race tomorrow. The chances of being able to keep pace with the cars directly ahead are a little improved by the nature of this track, so that means we can be in a good position to take advantage of any opportunities that may come our way.

It’s encouraging to be a little bit closer to the cars ahead, but I think there was a little more to come from the car because our first run was cut short when I had a problem. We managed to get on top of it in between the first and second runs. Overall it was a good session and a very special feeling to take part in my first F1 qualifying here. I’m really looking forward to the race tomorrow and to making the most of any chances to progress through the field.

“At the start, I don't think I deserved the penalty [for the incident with Hulkenberg]. At that particular moment, I don't know what else I could have done. “Most significantly, it’s a pity we couldn’t finish the race today. The car started to upshift in a really strange way on the lap before I stopped; then, on the first corner, I had no braking. The car stayed in neutral and I couldn’t put it in gear. “That’s frustrating because we could have had both cars in the point for the first time this season. We need to keep improving the car to ensure these sorts of things don’t happen again. Still, having these problems this year is good, because it means we won’t repeat them next year.”

I got off to a good start and even though I was blocked between Perez and Maldonado, in general I was happy with how the car performed straight away. I took it easy during the first laps and stayed out of trouble. After that we had great pace, I managed to pass Maldonado early on in the race and we then closed the gap to Perez. I was feeling very good in the car! Unfortunately, we had a slow first pit-stop, so we lost some positions and had to fight my way forward. I pitted again when I got stuck behind Bottas and on the Super Soft tyres we had great pace again. I was really happy with the car in the race. I was even catching up with Vettel and Rosberg, even though I decided to stay behind because it made it easier to get past other people. Then I got very close to Grosjean while fighting for the final points position and I ended up in the barriers. It was quite a big crash, but I'm feeling fine.

I had a problem with the brakes and I could feel the pedal pressure wasn’t right from very early on and that compromised our race from the off. It got worse and worse so we had to retire the car. It’s a shame for the team, we had a good car here, very good pace for the race and I think a strong strategy. There’s potential in the car, we just need to carry on, work hard, and look forward in the championship.