Fahrerstimmen – Tag 3

Dieses Wochenende verlief für mich absolut perfekt. Ich fand bereits im Qualifying eine perfekte Balance und das setzte sich im Rennen fort – einfach fantastisch. Ich hatte einen großartigen Start und konnte danach die Pace von der Spitze weg kontrollieren. Vielen Dank an alle in den Werken für dieses unglaubliche Auto. Wenn man ein solches Auto hat, kann man richtig ans Limit gehen und das ist ein super Gefühl. Lewis fuhr sehr gut, um so schnell nach vorne zu gelangen. Hut ab vor seiner Leistung. Das einzig Negative an diesem Wochenende war, dass die Zuverlässigkeit sich ein bisschen zu einer Sorge zu entwickeln scheint. Lewis hatte gestern offensichtlich ein Problem und heute gab es mit beiden Autos Schwierigkeiten. Hinter uns steht jedoch ein großartiges Team und ich bin fest davon überzeugt, dass wir das lösen werden. Es ist unglaublich, mit vier Siegen in die Europasaison zu starten und ich freue mich schon sehr auf Barcelona. Vielen Dank an Russland. Es war wunderbar hier!

Zuerst möchte ich den Jungs danken, die die neuen Teile heute Nacht aus der Fabrik hierhergebracht haben – und natürlich auch den Mechanikern, die die ganze Nacht durchgearbeitet haben, um alles für mich und das Rennen heute vorzubereiten. Die Jungs auf meiner Seite der Box erleben gerade eine schwierige Zeit, aber ich glaube fest an sie und vertraue ihnen. Wir haben in dieser Saison ein paar Veränderungen in der Box vorgenommen, aber das ist absolut nicht der Grund für die Probleme. Das war es in den vergangenen drei Jahren nicht und auch jetzt habe ich keinen Grund, das zu glauben. Ohne ihre harte Arbeit wäre ich gar nicht erst hiergekommen. Also nochmals vielen Dank an sie alle. In der ersten Kurve ging es ziemlich hektisch zu. Ich weiß nicht, was passiert ist, aber ich sah etwas im Augenwinkel geschehen und dachte mir: „Das passiert mir nicht noch einmal!” Es gelang mir, mich herauszuhalten und es zu vermeiden, aber wenn ich eingelenkt hätte, hätte ich sie mitgenommen. Es war reiner Instinkt und ich bin froh, dass ich diesmal ohne Berührung durchgekommen bin. Danach hatte ich eine gute Pace und das Gefühl, dass ich um den Sieg mitfahren könnte. Aber dann kam das Problem mit dem Wasserdruck, das diese Chance zunichtemachte. Am Ende war es hart, aber ich probierte es so gut es ging. Ich musste das Auto richtig ins Ziel tragen und so wie das Wochenende verlaufen ist, bin ich einfach nur froh, dass ich die Zielflagge gesehen habe. Es liegt noch ein langer Weg vor mir in dieser Saison und ich habe nicht mehr viele intakte Motorteile übrig. Wir müssen unsere Zuverlässigkeit steigern.

“Overall it hasn’t been a very easy weekend, but today we tried to make the best out of it. I had a good start and managed to get second position but then, like last year, after the Safety Car I could not hold up the Williams behind me on the straight. After that I was trying to fight them back, but I lost one place to Hamilton. So we decided to run longer to gain positions and we did quite a pretty good job. The car was handling very well through the whole race, even if we were forced to do some fuel saving and this affected our laptimes. The third place we managed today is what we were able to achieve, but is not ideal, because we want to be at the front with both cars. It’s a pity not to be fighting for the win, but we take this result and keep on working to put ourselves in a better position.”

The beginning of the race was pretty good and we managed to defend against some of the quicker cars behind. I think being aggressive with the early pitstop was good but unfortunately the cars with more pace managed to get through, and at the end of the race there wasn’t much happening for me. All-in-all the team has done a good job this weekend. It’s positive to get a lot of points for Williams. There’s definitely progress, this is a good track for us so that helped, but we just need to keep improving. I definitely had more in mind today than fourth so we need to keep pushing.

I think it was a very positive weekend for us and a very positive race. I would have loved to finish fourth and not fifth, but that’s just part of the game so I’m happy with the result. We managed to score a lot more points than Red Bull, and that’s the target for us right now. They have a very good team and a very good car, but we need to keep believing. This weekend was a very good weekend so we need to keep fighting like that. I think for the team the best position was fourth and fifth. Valtteri was able to manage the tyres better here, whilst I was able to manage them better in China. That’s the way it goes, but today’s result is very good for Williams.

“We were lucky in Turns Two and Three on the opening lap – due to those accidents, we were able to gain some places for free. “But, as we saw last year, we can make a good start but then not be able to maintain those strong starting positions. This year, it’s different – we have the pace: to finish sixth, and set the fifth-fastest lap, shows that our car is still gaining pace. “In fact, the car felt good all race – obviously, we were saving fuel at some points of the afternoon, but, on one lap, I just decided to go for it – to wake myself up a little bit! – and the lap-time showed the potential is there. “Finishing in the points should be our regular target from now on.”

“It feels really good to get these points for the team as I know how hard everyone’s been working this season. I made a great start, but then lost a couple of positions at the first corner because of a spin in front of me. After that I was pushing hard for the entire race, made some good overtakes and I had a great pit stop from the crew. We were a bit lucky today; we’ve been unlucky in the past so I’ve certainly no complaints!”

“It’s great to be back in the points, especially after a very difficult weekend where we were never very happy with the car. It was a good first lap to avoid all the incidents, and then I kept (Sergio) Perez behind. There are still so many things we can improve on the car. I’m still not a hundred percent happy with the behavior. I think for the next race it’s going to be so much better. It’s very positive knowing that we have something that will become better.”

“It’s obviously good to come away with my first points of the year, but without the puncture on lap one the result today could have been so much better. I didn’t get the best start, but I found a good line going into turn two and I was ahead of Ricciardo and Vettel coming out of the corner. Then I realised I had a puncture, which dropped me to the back of the field. After that it was a recovery drive and I managed to get back up to ninth place just behind Grosjean. I had a quicker car and fresher tyres, but he had very good traction and I just couldn’t get close enough to make a move. It’s a shame not to score more points because we did everything right today, but we were just really unlucky. There are lots of positives to take away from this weekend – the great performance in qualifying and the strong race pace. The car is improving and we have some upgrades on the way so I’m feeling optimistic ahead of Barcelona.”

“To get both cars home in the points – and at a track which we didn’t feel would really suit our package – is a fantastic result for the whole team. “As the pack dived into Turn Two, I had to back off because it was mayhem. The bollard at Turn Two is the problem at the start because people are trying to fight through Turns Two and Three. I think that needs some looking at. “From there, I was disadvantaged, but the pace was in the car. After that, it was just a case of fighting my way back – which I really enjoyed. It’s difficult to overtake around here, but I was able to make a few moves and enjoy myself. “I think the next race in Barcelona will be reasonably difficult for us, but there’s no reason not to look forward to targeting another points haul in Monaco.”

“It’s frustrating and a shame to be out of the race more or less from the first lap onwards but I think these things happen with racing. After the start I felt a big hit. I saw Seb come into me but it looked like he got hit as well. We had a lot of damage and had to pit. We thought we’d try the mediums but that wasn’t really working. Unfortunately the damage was so much that we didn’t really learn anything from today’s race and we don’t know what our pace was. Barcelona and Monaco should be better, so we have a few races to be excited about.”

“What an unfortunate race. Even though I did one of my best ever starts, a piece of another car got stuck in our side pod, which made me lose downforce during my first stint and also meant I had to stop too early for my pit-stop onto the Softs. This then compromised my second stint and I then also got a 10-second penalty…Now it’s time to reset, get ready for my home race – it always gives me an extra boost! – and come back stronger than ever.”

“It’s great for the team to get our first points of the season and I’m pleased that we’re making genuine progress with the car. Kevin showed what is possible today so that’s a good target for the next races. Overall we’ve learnt a lot of positives this weekend so I feel there’s a lot to build on for the races ahead.”

“It’s been a decent race for me. I had a difficult weekend as I have been struggling a lot to get the tyres to work on this special surface here. After the long-runs on Friday, we expected the car would behave better on high-fuel, which was the case today. For myself I can be satisfied with my race performance. Obviously, the result is not where we want to be. We are struggling with our pace at the moment, but we just need to focus even more to work on our performance.”

“There was a lot going on at the start and I didn’t expect to slow down as much, I locked the rear wheels and the car was a bit out of control which caused the contact with Sebastian. On Turn 3, I couldn’t see what was happening ahead, Sebastian seemed to slow down and unfortunately I didn’t have time to react and this caused the second contact. I’m sorry for Sebastian and also to the team as we gave away a lot of points today from both my side and Daniel’s. It doesn’t feel great, this is probably the messiest first lap of my career.”

“I had a good start and was able to gain some positions in the first laps of the race. Unfortunately, on my first stint with the supersoft tyres, I had a slow puncture on the left front tyre, which forced me to box on lap 12. We changed to the soft tyres on which I made it to the end. This early pit stop surely compromised my race. It is unfortunate, but I can also take some positives from the weekend as I felt comfortable in the car.”

“It was a tough race from the beginning. It was definitely not a nice start. I arrived at the first corner with a lot of space in front and I braked but, unfortunately, I couldn’t stop the car and I ran into Nico (Hulkenberg). It’s a shame not only for me but for him, as well. I tried to do my best to recover the race but, obviously, we got the penalty and lost a lot of track time. However, I pushed until the end and we managed to finish the race, which was a good thing. We now need to focus on the next race in Barcelona.”

“A disappointing result today. I got a good start and managed to avoid all the problems in the first couple of corners, then the first stint was quite good for me. I had a good fight with the Saubers but after the first pit stop they were in front of me. I tried to push hard to overtake one of them again but I couldn’t manage it and I destroyed my tyres behind them so I had to box again. At the second stop we had a problem with the left-rear which lost us a lot of time but by then I think 18th was the best we could hope for. Now we have to focus on heading to Europe and what we can do to improve. My thanks to the team so far for a good first few races and their hard work.”

“Unfortunately I had to retire today after running in P6… It was looking like a great race up until then, as I was cruising around and I didn’t have any pressure from behind; I was just following the guys in front and our pace was strong. We could hold on to the tyres very well and I have to say I was quite relaxed, managing everything well and it was all looking so good… Who knows what could’ve happened! Of course it’s disappointing to have to stop the car, but this is a mechanical sport and these things happen. Now we just have to take the positives from the weekend and get ready for the first European race of the season in Spain in two weeks’ time.”

“It was a very frustrating end to my weekend. I got to turn two and felt a big shove from behind: Esteban (Gutierrez) out-braked himself, hit me and spun me around. I was hit by other cars and the damage was too much to even attempt to continue. It’s very disappointing and not the way I wanted to celebrate my 100th race weekend. Hopefully our luck will change soon as we have been very unlucky lately. We should have some upgrades in Spain and I want to be back scoring the points we deserve.”

“Today I was unlucky and it’s very disappointing, especially after I made such a good start, probably my best of the season so far. I managed to gain a couple of places, however when I got to turn 2 there were lots of cars fighting and the Force India of Hulkenberg spinning but I had nowhere to go. There was contact on the side of the car and quite a bit of damage, which meant I had to stop the car. After a good couple of days it’s disappointing to finish the weekend in this way, but looking at the positives I feel we have been more competitive and I’m looking forward to continuing this at the next race in Barcelona.”

“I think it’s a shame because today we had done everything right. I had a really good start, I was a bit stuck at the first turn, but then I was able to go. Of course there’s always a bit more risk in starting behind, but P7 is not P15. I was going into second corner, I was already attacking and approaching fifth place, but it doesn’t help when people behind don’t brake. What Kvyat did was completely unnecessary. I had a massive hit from behind, then another big hit in turn 3 and that finished my race. As far as I know, the race is 53 laps, but not everybody seems to remember. I don’t think I need to say much, I think if you look at the footage you’ll have the answers to your questions. Today it was not my fault, there was nothing I could have done differently, nothing I would change. I don’t dislike him (Kvyat), but I think he did a mistake two weeks ago, he made a mistake today but it doesn’t help me now. Obviously I would have loved to drive the car today to feel if we could keep the same balance into the race, but for the future nothing has changed. Of course I’m disappointed but we’re already focused on the next race.”