Mark Webber grabbed two points for Red Bull on Sunday but the race ended almost when it started for David Coulthard after a close encounter with Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello which took out the three most experienced drivers in the race.
DAVID COULTHARD, (Finish Position DNF, Start Position: 11th) “That was a disappointing race, I only got to Turn one! I kept a steady line off the start into the first corner, making sure I left space on the inside to keep out of trouble. Watching the replay, it seems Ralf (Schumacher) came together with another car behind me. That rotated Ralf’s car and he speared into the side of mine, which caused a lot of damage. It burst the oil cooler, so that was the end of my race.”
MARK WEBBER, (Finish Position 7th, Start Position: 9th) “The race for me was pretty much a scrap with Jarno (Trulli) from start to finish. I would have liked slightly better car balance in the middle stint, but it’s good to get two points in the bag. Of course, you always want more – more downforce, more reliability, more speed – but hopefully those things will continue to come and we can look forward to more points finishes like this in the future.”
CHRISTIAN HORNER: “A problem free race for Mark, and probably his first clean run of the year. It’s great for him to finally get on the scoreboard with a solid seventh place today.He very nearly pipped Trulli at the final stop, it was very, very close as he exited the pit lane, and the team did a great job to put him into that position. Unfortunately, David was a victim of somebody else’s incident at the first turn of the first lap, but that’s just one of those things. We now look forward to Magny Cours.”
FABRICE LOM, Renault Principal Engineer, Track Support: “The result today is very satisfying although we must admit it’s a pity David was not able to race at all after the accident he had in the first corner. As we expected, the car performed pretty well this afternoon and we did not have any reliability problems; Mark had a fantastic race and scores today his first points this season. We were very pleased by the engine performance throughout the weekend and today’s result seems encouraging for the French Grand Prix in two weeks.
DAVID COULTHARD, (Finish Position DNF, Start Position: 11th) “That was a disappointing race, I only got to Turn one! I kept a steady line off the start into the first corner, making sure I left space on the inside to keep out of trouble. Watching the replay, it seems Ralf (Schumacher) came together with another car behind me. That rotated Ralf’s car and he speared into the side of mine, which caused a lot of damage. It burst the oil cooler, so that was the end of my race.”
MARK WEBBER, (Finish Position 7th, Start Position: 9th) “The race for me was pretty much a scrap with Jarno (Trulli) from start to finish. I would have liked slightly better car balance in the middle stint, but it’s good to get two points in the bag. Of course, you always want more – more downforce, more reliability, more speed – but hopefully those things will continue to come and we can look forward to more points finishes like this in the future.”
CHRISTIAN HORNER: “A problem free race for Mark, and probably his first clean run of the year. It’s great for him to finally get on the scoreboard with a solid seventh place today.He very nearly pipped Trulli at the final stop, it was very, very close as he exited the pit lane, and the team did a great job to put him into that position. Unfortunately, David was a victim of somebody else’s incident at the first turn of the first lap, but that’s just one of those things. We now look forward to Magny Cours.”
FABRICE LOM, Renault Principal Engineer, Track Support: “The result today is very satisfying although we must admit it’s a pity David was not able to race at all after the accident he had in the first corner. As we expected, the car performed pretty well this afternoon and we did not have any reliability problems; Mark had a fantastic race and scores today his first points this season. We were very pleased by the engine performance throughout the weekend and today’s result seems encouraging for the French Grand Prix in two weeks.