The British Grand Prix Thread (Montoya wins!)

Ed · Post by Ed » Sun Jul 10, 2005 12:46 am

2nd fastest Kimi Raikkonen quote (drops to 12th due to engine change)

It's frustrating having to change engines and incur the 10 place penalty again, but we showed in France last weekend what is possible. There is nothing I can do but get on with things, push as hard as possible and hope our strategists got things right. The lap was OK, but I ran a bit wide in one of the quick corners. Also, as the engine failure happened early in the second session, I was unable to run with new tyres then which made things more challenging during my flying lap. In racing anything can happen and we will do our best and hope for an exciting Grand Prix tomorrow.

Full McLaren team and driver quotes

Ed · Post by Ed » Sun Jul 10, 2005 1:31 am

3rd fastest Jenson Button quote

It's a great feeling to be lining up on the front row of the grid at my home race and in my highest-ever qualifying position here at Silverstone. We got everything we could out of the car for qualifying but we do have a very good race balance and strategy, so I think we can have a good race from here and target the podium for sure. The car has struggled a little through Becketts and Copse, which has been a bit of a worry, but it is working very well in the low-speed corners.
It's so nice to be in this position and to be able to go head to head with the competition. We've had a pretty tough time of it this year, so it's great for the fans and the team who have worked so hard. The crowd here is a big boost to me and it's awesome to see so many fans and union jacks out there. I'm sure that we can put on a good show for them tomorrow, particularly in what has been a very difficult week for Britain.

Full BAR Honda team and driver quotes

Ed · Post by Ed » Sun Jul 10, 2005 2:04 am

Team and driver quotes following qualifying can now be available here

FIA Post Qualifying Press Conference now available here with Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button

Ed · Post by Ed » Sun Jul 10, 2005 2:36 am

When asked about the rumour that he's joining Ferrari next year, Jenson Button said

Yeah, I read that this morning as well. A nice piece! I can?t say anything on my future next year, I?m just living in the moment which is pretty good.
Q: But you won?t deny it.
JB: I won?t, but I cannot talk about my future next year. That?s it. I am not going to say yes or no.

From the Post Qualifying Press Conference

Ed · Post by Ed » Sun Jul 10, 2005 2:39 am

Williams are clearly struggling. Nick Heidfeld has opted to go back to the old package while Webber will continue with the new package!

Sam Michael

The new bodywork, introduced in Magny-Cours, is a result of our aggressive development programme, which to date has delivered significant competitive gains. However, pushing hard sometimes means problems will arise. We continue to work at the factory and on track to find performance. For the British GP, the drivers have taken different directions. Mark will run the new configuration while Nick has decided to rely on a more conservative but validated bodywork configuration. We have a good strategy for the race and we look forward to the battle tomorrow

Full Williams BMW team and driver quotes

JayVee · Post by **JayVee** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 12:12 pm

Alonso on Pole

Not many thought that

I do feel sorry for Raikkonen though

but this may give Montoya a chance to close up (and Barrichello too

)

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 12:49 pm

Congrats, JayVee, on Alonso getting P1 for the GP on Sunday....Who'd thought Raikkonen would have another engine failure?

Well, there's always the race on Sunday. Hopefully, Kimi'll take the win from the Spainard at Silverstone.

JayVee · Post by **JayVee** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 1:00 pm

You can hope

Alonso The Cute will have other ideas

Villeneuve seems to have gotten a boost since BMW bought Sauber!!

I picked him for 8th taking a risk, if it works I'll be leading the idiots

Byron Forbes · Post by **Byron Forbes** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 1:18 pm

Raikonen is so pitifully unlucky that he's starting to make Nigel Mansell's career look lucky!

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 1:24 pm

Didn't Raikkonen give Michael Schumacher a run for the WDC in 2003? So then, how could he be unlucky now? McLaren's just going through a bad stretch of luck now, they'll come back in the race.

Byron Forbes · Post by **Byron Forbes** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 3:33 pm

You don't think Raikonen has had more than his share of reliability problems over the past 2 seasons? It's almost as if the gods are intervening - "Sorry buddy, we already let a Fin win a few times recently"!

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 3:53 pm

It's another aspect of racing, byron...up until now, any team in Formula 1 would have to have had perfect luck and reliability in order to beat Ferrari, so any thing encountered(engine problems, crashes, etc.) could just be chalked up to bad racing luck.

Besides...if the racing gods had wanted to intervent, they wouldn't let Schumacher win cons. WDCs' the past few years.

Ed · Post by Ed » Sun Jul 10, 2005 11:46 pm

Race - Montoya, Alonso, Raikkonen, Button, M Schumacher, Barrichello, R Schumacher

Full results - Commentary

Ed · Post by Ed » Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:01 am

So Fernando Alonso extends his lead in the championship over Kimi Raikkonen to 26 points. Michael Schumacher remains in 3rd 8 points behind Raikkonen.

Renault remain in the lead of the Constructors' Championship with 102 points with McLaren in second with 87 points and Ferrari in 3rd with 75 points.

Next race is the German Grand Prix on the 24th of July!

Ed · Post by Ed » Mon Jul 11, 2005 2:03 am

British Grand Prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya said:

It's a great feeling winning my first Grand Prix for Team McLaren Mercedes. My start was perfect, and I managed to get by Fernando in a wheel-to-wheel dice after the second corner. I was really going for it and knew that he had more to lose than me ? I just wanted to win the race. It was then all about staying ahead and our strategy combined with two excellent pit stops really helped me to manage that. The team did a great job particularly calling me in one lap early for my first pitstop to avoid traffic, which was the right decision and meant I gained an advantage to Fernando. However, it was not an easy race as Fernando put me under a lot of pressure until the very end. I'm relieved to have won my first race of the year especially as it was the home Grand Prix of McLaren and a lot of the people from the Technology Centre and Mercedes-Benz at Brixworth were here cheering

Third placed Kimi Raikkonen said:

I think I did the best I could today, and we can leave Silverstone with two podium finishes. If I had not had the problems yesterday and lost 10 grid positions, the result would have been different, but that is motor racing. However we lost only two points in the Championship battle and hopefully we can challenge for victory at the remaining races. During the race I lost a lot of time behind other cars. It's so difficult to get close in the fast corners as you just lose all grip. When I got past Michael and Trulli in the pitstops it was too late and the gap to the front was too big. There is no doubt that we have the speed as I was able to set the fastest time of the race on the last lap, so I look forward to Hockenheim where hopefully we should have an 'uneventful' weekend

Full McLaren Mercedes team and driver quotes