Selected Team and Driver Race Preview Quotes (as they become available):
Renault
Bob Bell - Chassis Technical Director
Q:How pleased are you after four races?
We are delighted with our results so far, but I think the points tally is only part of the story. We are plainly in a very strong position, and in terms of pure competitiveness, I think we are stronger at this stages than we were in 2005.
Q: Looking to the coming pair of races in Germany and Spain, what are you expecting?
I suspect they will be Michelin races, and that our main competition will come from the Michelin teams, which means McLaren and Honda. We are not writing off Ferrari, of course, but we have tested strongly in Barcelona, and the car was very quick at the N?rburgring last year.
Fernando Alonso
Q: Are you optimistic ahead of this race?
I am expecting a big fight again. I think the level of competition is much closer than the championship standings suggest, and there will be some big challengers. The Michelin tyres have performed very consistently at every circuit this year, and they have done a great job. It will be the same in Germany, I am sure, so we will see a big push from McLaren-Mercedes at their home race, running on the same Michelin tyres as us...
Q: And how about Ferrari and Michael Schumacher?
What we don't know at the moment is how consistent Ferrari will be. So far, they have been strong at the same tracks as in 2005, and not so good at others. It is too early to say if it will be the same this year, so we can't write them off ? and Michael is racing in front of his people too. We must concentrate on our job though, at Renault. I have the new B spec RS26 engine, which is a good step forward, and there are new developments on the car at every race. So I am sure we can be fighting for the win again on Sunday afternoon.
Giancarlo Fisichella
Q: Imola was a disappointment for you? what happened?
I pushed as hard as possible in the race but from eleventh [his qualifying position], there was not so much I could do. The car was very heavy in the first stint and difficult to drive. The handling came back in the next stints ? but there is only so much you can do with the strategy at Imola, and it is hard to make up places. I got stuck behind Barrichello at one point but even so, nearly got sixth place. It is frustrating, but we know we lost the chance of a good finish in qualifying. We made some mistakes, and it won't happen again.
Q: So what are your predictions for the race??
I think we will be right up at the front. I still have another race on the B spec engine, but we have had excellent reliability on it, so we know the performance will be there. The car was very quick last year at this track ? I went from the pit-lane to P6 in the race, so we had strong pace and the Michelin tyres worked well. The R26 will be quick, like it has been at all the circuits. I am sure the competition will be strong too, from the usual teams. But we will fighting for the podium, and to score the maximum points possible.
McLaren
Norbert Haug, Vice President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
The N?rburgring is the birth place of the Silver Arrow, which will celebrate its 72nd anniversary during this year?s Grand Prix. In our first home race in 2006 the strain on all team members who work outside of the pits will be bigger than previously at Imola for example, however we all look forward to these efforts. After Imola we tested intensively at Silverstone and covered a total of 1,689 kilometres. The N?rburgring?s layout is a good mixture of very fast, medium fast and slow corners. Right in front of the Mercedes grandstand the lap starts with a dramatic hairpin leading into the Mercedes Arena, which is particularly interesting because this twisty part of the track allows different racing lines. We have always been fast at the 'Ring and last year we held the lead until the last lap, when Kimi?s suspension broke due to vibrations he encountered since the halfway point of the race because of a flat-spotted tyre. To hold the same position through to the finish line would be the greatest reward for everybody in the team who had continuously worked hard since we began testing on 23rd January
Kimi Raikkonen
Although it is not like some of the wider tracks such as Bahrain and Turkey, there are a couple of genuine chances to overtake at the N?rburgring, such as the chicane, the first corner with its wide entrance and also as you go into to the Mercedes Arena. At Imola it was impossible to pass even if you had the pace, so hopefully we will be able to make the most of our strategy for the qualifying and race and get a good result here. Although the nature of the track means you can build up a good rhythm, there are some odd cambers and bumps that you have to watch out for. Also, as with San Marino, N?rburgring is another track where you really use the kerbs pretty aggressively, to make sure you get a fast lap time. Following my exit on the final lap at the N?rburgring last year as a result of a flat spotted tyre, I am hoping to have a less dramatic race this year; however this track seems to always see exciting and close racing
Juan Pablo Montoya
It was good to get on the podium at Imola and get some points. The strategy worked well and hopefully we can build on that and continue to move forward in Europe.The N?rburgring is a fairly mixed track, with some straights, hairpins, different types of corners, however I would say it is dominated by slow corners. As a result, we will run with a medium-high downforce here and traction and grip are more important than at a super fast track such as Canada. It does tend to be quite grippy here as it is pretty smooth, but there is a lot of understeer and this is always a focus of the free practice sessions to minimise this. We have been testing at Silverstone for three days following San Marino, it was an interesting test and we had some good running with new components for this race. As this is a home race for Mercedes-Benz, I hope we can put on a good show for the home fans
Williams
Sam Michael, Technical Director, WilliamsF1
The N?rburgring is a high downforce circuit with a couple of good overtaking opportunities over the lap, particularly at the chicane before the pit entry. With a lot of continuous lateral loading on the car, the toughness of the tyres is important. The N?rburgring is a track at which Williams has traditionally performed well at and we are looking forward to a competitive weekend.
Mark Webber
Although our qualifying and race pace at Imola was not particularly strong, the most positive outcome from the weekend was that we managed to get some reliability back into the car. Bridgestone has made good progress since the winter, but one of the biggest challenges we still face is getting the tyre selection correct for every event. We will have to wait and see how we fare against our main opposition at the N?rburgring, but we will, of course, look to optimise our strategy and tyre usage over the course of the weekend to get the best possible result. The weather at the N?rburgring can be very unpredictable at this time of the year, so the race can sometimes be very mixed.
Nico Rosberg
It?s going to be great driving at one of my ?home races.? I?ve enjoyed some success at the N?rburgring in the past so I?ll be drawing on that in my first Formula One outing. The circuit is good fun; it?s nicely flowing and has various types of corners. As a team, we?ll be looking to improve upon the recent progress that we?ve made, particularly at the Silverstone test this week.
Toyota
Pascal Vasselon - General Manager Car Design and Development:
Unlike its predecessor the Nordschleife, the current N?rburgring is an average track for Formula 1. It ranks in the mid-range for most of the important items like downforce levels, braking energy and tyres. But what will be especially challenging this year is the weather. It's still early in the year and in May anything could happen in that part of the world - sun, rain or possibly even snow! You can wake up and the temperature could be anything between 0 and 35 degrees. So we have to anticipate that and we have to make sure we cover any eventuality, especially when it comes to tyres. We spent last week testing at Paul Ricard working on some new parts and especially tyre choice and that leaves us confident that we will be able to react to any conditions that we can face.
Ralf Schumacher
We struggled on race day in Imola but our pace shows that we've made big steps forward since the start of the season. We initially struggled because our car concept made it difficult to get grip out of hard compounds in low temperatures. But we have worked hard on our set-up and we reaped the benefits for our podium in Melbourne. Now we hope to regain that good form with another good result at our home race. I've always really enjoyed racing at the N?rburgring, which is always greatly affected by the weather. I won my first Formula Junior race at the track and I won the grand prix there in 2003. It will be great to have some of the people from the factory there. That support will be really appreciated so let's hope we can give them a result to cheer.
Jarno Trulli
I've had nothing but bad luck in the races so far this year so it's time for a change. Now that we have resolved our set-up problems we can concentrate on pushing the team forwards. At the N?rburgring the weather will be a crucial factor and I am glad to know the circuit well from my time in German F3. That experience helps to predict what the weather could do and to plan strategy, as it did when I finished second in a rain-affected race there in 1999. It would of course be great to challenge that high again. Our pace has been improving in recent races so we will push hard to try and maintain that momentum. I know that the package is good and it would be especially satisfying to perform well in front of the massed ranks of Toyota employees and fans.
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