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Brazilian Grand Prix - selected driver quotes

Renault’s Fernando Alonso, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Force India’s Adrian Sutil on their first lap collision; Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima on their double DNF for Williams; and Brawn GP’s Jenson Button on overcoming his poor grid slot to clinch his first world championship. The drivers and senior team personnel report back on Sunday’s title-deciding race action…

Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen (6th):
"What happened on the first lap ruined my race. First I was hit at the first corner, then when trying to pass Webber, I was hit and lost the front wing. At the pit stop, I ended up with some drops of petrol in my eye, from the fuel line stuck on Kovalainen's car and then I was engulfed in flames and blinded: I was going to stop, but luckily the flames soon went out. Even now, my eyes are still burning, but I'm alright. After the restart, I could only try and use the strategy to move up the order and at least I brought home a few points. I am disappointed because today I'm sure we could have made it to the podium. There is one race to go: let's see what we can do in Abu Dhabi to get back that third place."

Giancarlo Fisichella (11th):
"Obviously, starting from the back row, my race was already compromised. Then there was also the incident with Kovalainen, who spun in front of me, forcing me onto the grass, which prevented me from trying to make up a few places in the fight on the opening lap. We had opted for a one-stop strategy and it was a good one, but in the final part of the race, the soft tyres began to develop a bit of graining and I was not able to match the pace of those ahead of me and I even lost a place. On top of that, the KERS worked in fits and starts. Looking at my experience with Ferrari so far, I don't want to hide that I feel a bit upset, as there has not been a single weekend in which everything went to plan. Now we go to Abu Dhabi which will be a new venue for everyone: I will do my very best to help the team retake this third place which slipped away from us today."

Brawn GP
Jenson Button (5th):
"Today was the best race that I've driven in my career and I'm really going to enjoy this moment. For the team to win the constructors' and the drivers’ championships here is just fantastic and they deserve it so very much after all the difficult times that we all went through over the winter. This season has been a rollercoaster ride from the elation of the wins at the start to the hard graft in the second half of the season which has seen us grind out the results needed to take the titles. We have to say a huge thank you to Norbert Haug and Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines for all of the support that they have given us over the year. Without their commitment and faith in the team, and the fantastic engine that they have provided, we would not have been able to achieve the success that we have today. The list of people that I have to thank personally is too long to mention but they all know who they are and how much their support has meant to me over the years. To everyone back at the factory in Brackley, thank you for all of your hard work and for producing such a fantastic car. It's going to take a while to sink in but for now I'm just revelling in the achievement of a lifelong dream. It's going to be one hell of a party tonight!"

Rubens Barrichello (8th):
"Whilst I am obviously disappointed with the result today, I have to be pleased with our year at Brawn GP. We really have a great car and a great team and it has truly been an amazing year when you consider the situation that we were in just before the start of the season. I'm truly pleased for Jenson as a friend and he is a great champion. We have a fantastic relationship working together and that has really shown through this year. Well done to him. It was a true fight and I fought really hard but he really won it in the first half of the season. The team have been superb this year and they thoroughly deserve to win both the constructors' and drivers' championships today. We're going to have a great night together and I'm pleased to have played my part in securing the constructors' title for the team."

Red Bull
Mark Webber (1st):
“I’m happy with that! You never know in the first stint of a race what’s going to happen, although I knew Rubens (Barrichello) and Robert (Kubica) were a bit shorter than me. I was matching Robert’s pace to start with and when they made their pit stops, I knew I had a clear run to make a gap to start my second stint. I just cleared Jenson (Button) on my outlap, which was good too. I was just making sure the tyres were comfortable for the whole stint. I was a little bit panicky in the second stint as Robert started closing, although my pace was not too bad and I knew he was quite short in the middle stint. I was then able to control the gap to Robert and he backed off towards the end, which gave me a nice run home. It’s fantastic feeling to win again. As a team we’ve had quite a few victories this year off the back of some tough seasons, but today has confirmed second place for us in the constructors’ championship. We’re very proud of what we have achieved this year as a team - I want to thank Renault as well, the engines have been very good and they’re not easy environments for them to work in. Congratulations to Jenson and also to Brawn on clinching the championships today after a good fight. It was a good weekend for the Australians, as Jason Crump won the World Speedway Championship last night. He’s a close friend of mine and he won it under difficult conditions, so a good weekend.”

Sebastian Vettel (4th):
“I think there is a guy at Brawn who is happier than me today. All in all it was a good race - starting from the back and finishing fourth. We were helped by some people crashing, but I think fourth was the maximum we could do today. Without the problems in yesterday’s qualifying, we could have won the race, but we didn’t so there’s not much more to say. The pressure wasn’t too much during the race, I was just focusing on each lap. I knew that Jenson was just ahead or behind me and would score points for the championship - but you don’t really think about it until the last couple of laps. Before that you never know what can still happen. At one point I was praying for rain, there was the smell of rain, but it didn’t come. Congratulations to Jenson and Brawn, I think they did the best job this year.”


BMW Sauber
Robert Kubica (2nd):
“The basis for today’s result was laid yesterday when we decided to take a gamble and drive the wet qualifying with a low-downforce set-up. This went well in Q1, but was difficult in Q3. Although some people were disappointed with eighth place yesterday, I was quite pleased. Today we had a good and consistent pace. I was surprised at the beginning that it was quite easy to follow Rubens Barrichello and Mark Webber. But I had to reduce the engine revs after about 15 laps because the water temperature was too high, and I had to avoid the tow of the guys in front of me. After my first pit stop I was unlucky because I got stuck behind four cars. At that stage Mark was able to increase the gap. This is a great result in a difficult season, and I really hope that I will see this team on the grid next year.”

Nick Heidfeld (DNF):
“My start wasn’t perfect but I saw there were very tight fights and decided it was better to stay clear of trouble. Then straight away there were crashes in Turn Two and at the exit of Turn Five. I was able to overtake a couple of cars, and among them was Romain Grosjean who didn’t really play fair. I was worried I could lose my front wing then. After I had left him behind me I closed the gap to Sebastian Vettel but could not overtake him. Then I was due for my first pit stop. I wondered how quick the car was and soon I received the call to save fuel and to save more fuel, but it was too late. I ran dry in Turn Eight. At least it is good that the team has something to be happy about today.”


McLaren
Lewis Hamilton (3rd):
“It was an incredible race for me and I’m so happy. Starting at the back was a completely different feeling from last year. This time, I wasn’t involved in the championship outcome, but I’m incredibly happy for Jenson. I’ve been down to congratulate him, his team and his family.As for my race, I was so far behind on the grid that I didn’t expect to finish on the podium, but I fought so hard and kept pushing like crazy throughout the whole race. It feels like a win when you come through fighting for positions all the time with good overtaking manoeuvres at the end. I just kept pushing and did one qualifying lap after another, which was very hard. The team kept telling me to keep going at that speed and our strategy was excellent. This was a great team effort.”

Heikki Kovalainen (9th):
“While the results don’t show it, I had a good race out there today. I lost about six or seven laps’ worth of fuel with the incident with the fuel-hose. And, without that problem, my first stint would have been longer and would have allowed me to get ahead of some of the cars ahead of me.I chased Kobayashi for a long time, and, even though I had the pace, I couldn’t launch an attack on him because my rear tyres had degraded quite a bit by then. Still, I’m very pleased that our team has now moved ahead of Ferrari in the constructors’ world championship. And I really feel I could have added to that total without my problems in the pit lane today. I’m already looking forward to the next race in Abu Dhabi. My aim there will be to go flat-out to ensure we consolidate that position and finish the season in third place.”


Toro Rosso
Sebastien Buemi (7th):
“It was a very difficult race for me, as I had to push hard every lap, but in the end to come away with points for the first time since China is a good result, for me and for the team, who did a good job today. My start was difficult, as I was sandwiched between Kubica and Rosberg at the first corner, so they got past me, which was a shame. However, we did not have a particularly strong race pace, so we must look at the data to try and understand why. I have mixed feelings because after our performance on Friday I had hoped to finish in the top five, so although the points are nice, it’s not as good as I expected. Now we can look forward to Abu Dhabi where we must try and build on this result and keep moving forward.”

Jaime Alguersuari (14th):
“I am happy to have finished the race and I feel I am still making progress and learning every time I go out on track. My start was quite good and I managed to get past Kobayashi. But I was on the wrong side for the start and other cars began going past me as I was slow in a straight line. After that, I was stuck in traffic and from then on my race was always going to be tough. When I had a clear track I could be quicker and overall, I feel I have improved again this weekend.”

Toyota
Kamui Kobayashi (10th):
"It was a tough race for me. As this was my Grand Prix debut I experienced a lot of things for the first time in Formula One so it was a learning experience. Physically it felt like a really long race and it was quite tough. My first target was to finish the race and I am pleased to achieve that, but after the start I was in a decent position to score points so I am a little disappointed I didn't. The car felt good in the first stint but when I changed tyres the balance felt a different and I was struggling a bit; probably this was just down to experience. It was my first race so there are several areas to improve but overall I am happy with how I have performed this weekend and I would like to thank the team for all its support."

Jarno Trulli (DNF):
"I am extremely frustrated by what happened today because I had a very good chance to challenge for the podium. On the first lap (Adrian) Sutil was very slow through turn four because he was fighting with (Kimi) Raikkonen. He was on the inside so I took the outside line but he kept pushing me wider and wider. In the end I was on the grass and had no control of the car so I crashed into the wall at high speed. I think there was enough space for both of us to get around the corner."

Force India
Vitantonio Liuzzi (12th):
“It was a long race, starting from last on the grid after the gearbox change yesterday. We made a change to the soft tyres in the safety car period, using them for just one lap to get them out of the way as we felt we couldn't do longer stints with them. On the harder compound in the first stint I had a good pace but we struggled a lot with oversteer on the second so I couldn't get past Giancarlo. Then at the end I had a brake problem, which compromised the race but at least we finished this difficult Grand Prix, which was important. We had hoped for rain as we seemed to be very competitive in those conditions but that's how it is - now we can just look forward to Abu Dhabi.”

Adrian Sutil (DNF):
“The start was fine, I lost one position as Kimi overtook me on the outside. It was fine for the next corner but then Kimi hit Webber and lost his front wing. I was following him through the corner but then suddenly I got hit in the rear and lost control of the car. Trulli was there on the outside trying to go round. It was a really stupid maneouvre as there was no space and I couldn't see him at all. At that point it wasn't worth it and it ended my race far too early on as I went over into the gravel. Jarno was furious and said it was my mistake but I just told him what had happened to me. But it's over and now he's just got to deal with it.”


Renault
Romain Grosjean (13th):
"I made a good start but after that I was missing grip and it was difficult for me to get heat into the tyres. I did my best and pushed hard throughout the race, but unfortunately that wasn't enough. The end of my race was better but because of the problems at the start of the race I only finished in 13th place."

Fernando Alonso (DNF):
"It was a very busy first lap and unfortunately I got caught up in it. I made a good start and we had a promising strategy for the race, but unfortunately when Sutil and Trulli collided I was hit by the Force India as well. It's a real shame because this is a special track for me; I always enjoy racing here and I think we could have scored points today."


Williams
Kazuki Nakajima, Williams (DNF):
“We were lucky to gain some places at the start and make progress up the field after all the incidents. It was quite difficult after the restart; I didn’t manage to hold position and I was left stuck behind the cars in front. We were having a good race until the accident, so I’m disappointed it ended this way.”

Nico Rosberg, Williams (DNF):
“I had a good start, making up one position off the line and then managing to stay away from the incidents ahead of me. I was lying in third, but then Kubica overtook me at the restart when the safety car went in. Fourth was still ok though because we had a strong strategy and competitive pace. It was therefore looking good until the gearbox problem. After a promising weekend, this result is a shame.”

Posted by Rebecca at 11:11 PM

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