Spain

Last Race: 12th May Spain

Spain GP Results
Pos Driver
1 Fernando Alonso
2 Kimi Raikkonen
3 Felipe Massa

Sun: Williams, Lotus, Virgin, Hispania

Sunday 31st July 2011

Sun: Williams, Lotus, Virgin, Hispania

Sun: Williams, Lotus, Virgin, Hispania

It was yet a disappointing Sunday for Williams, who joined Virgin and Hispania at the back. Lotus failed to finish...

Williams:
Rubens Barrichello: "I am pretty disappointed with the result because we were fighting for some points today. We struggled with our tyres throughout and I lost a part of my front wing at the beginning of the race. Then, when it started to rain, I saw a big chance for us. I saw Hamilton spin and I thought we could do something to have a chance to finish high in the points. But the rain only came out for a lap or so and so our stop for inters didn't work. It's a shame, but we don't have the pace right now."

Pastor Maldonado: "It was a hard race. We made some places up at the start but it was difficult to stay on the track, even on inters. I made a mistake on the way into my first pitstop by not pushing the pit limiter button which meant I received a drive-through penalty. It then started to rain again. It was a lottery deciding whether or not to go back onto inters or stay on the dry tyres and we chose the inters, but then the rain stopped shortly afterwards and so we had to make another stop for dry tyres. We didn't get points today, but we've made some improvements this weekend and we will be working hard over the break in preparation for the final races of the year."

Virgin:
Timo Glock: "A very interesting race today, I have to say, and very good fun. I got a great start and got ahead of Heidfeld and some other guys in faster cars and was able to stay in front of them. They obviously were able to get past me after it started to dry and I just concentrated on my own race, managing to hold the gap behind me. Then when it started to rain, we made the right decision, staying on the slicks. It wasn't easy to stay on track today as we saw, but we got the right result in the end. A great team performance in tricky conditions, making all the right decisions and some great pit stops which made all the difference. Thanks to everyone for their hard work in the long run up to race 11 and now they deserve an enjoyable break so we can come back fighting again in Spa."

Jerome D'Ambrosio: "I'm disappointed really, but the conditions were very tough out there. I had a very good start to the race and I was happy about that but I made an error when the rain came, choosing to stop for intermediates when I probably should have stayed out on slicks. So I lost a lot of time with the pit stops and I also had a tough moment when I spun in the box when I came in, although thankfully the car didn't hit anyone. Definitely not my best race."

Hispania:
Daniel Ricciardo: "Overall, I'm satisfied with my race and the best finish in three races. During the race, I wasn't really sure where I was on track because a lot of cars made quite a few pit stops so in all honesty I didn't really know how I was doing. Towards the end I felt we had quite a good balance in the car and I was able to do some good times. I'm sure there are things I could have done better so we'll look into that to keep on improving. But again I feel we are progressing well; Silverstone to Nürburgring was a very big step and this time we have taken another good step. I want to be ahead of our main rivals and prove I can go the distance in the race. The most positive thing today was that we made the right decisions with pit stops, so we need to try and stay in this path. Today's race certainly gives me something to smile about coming into the summer break."

Tonio Liuzzi: "It was a tough race. We got off to a good start until someone hit me from behind coming out of the chicane, causing me to spin. I lost a lot of time there and then the balance of the car wasn't ideal. The set up for wet conditions was kind of a lottery since all previous sessions were held on dry conditions. We suffered again a problem with the front wing and the front tyres were suffering a lot as a result of this. We replaced the nose and the tyres but we still were suffering from massive understeer. We switched to intermediates when it started raining and then back to soft tyres at the end, but the balance didn't improve much. We knew from the start this race would be a hard one and it has been but we fought until the end. Now we need to look forward to the summer break where we must keep working for upgrades for Spa."

Team Lotus:
Heikki Kovalainen: "A weekend of real ups and downs for me. I struggled to find a decent balance in the practice sessions but then it all came good in quali where I put in a really good lap after finally getting comfortable with the setup. I started the race well and was keeping pace with Maldonado, Sutil, Perez and the guys around me, and right through the early stops I was able to push them, and keep pulling away from the guys behind. We came in for inters when the rain really started again about two thirds of the way through the race, then back in pretty shortly afterwards for options again, but then I was given the instruction to shut the engine off due to a water leak. Having seen how close we were in race pace to the midfield I'm not disappointed - it's just another step in the growth of the team and we'll pick up where we left off in Belgium in a few weeks time."

Jarno Trulli: "My run of bad luck in Hungary seems to have struck again! The car has been great all weekend and even though I didn't have the best start I was really enjoying myself out there. I got past Timo pretty early on and then had a good first stop but it looks like a water leak brought my race to an early end. Despite that, the steps forward we've taken here have been really positive, so after the break I'm sure we'll be back fighting again at Spa."

Related Links
Race: Button Marks 200th With A Win

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