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McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton on fulfilling his childhood ambition with victory in Monaco; Bourdais and Coulthard on their dramatic exits; and Adrian Sutil on the bitter end to what could have been a dream race for Force India; all the drivers report back on the Monte Carlo action…
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren (1st):
To follow.
Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber (2nd):
To follow.
Felipe Massa, Ferrari (3rd):
To follow.
Mark Webber, Red Bull (4th):
“That was good, a great result which gives us a lot of points. It wasn’t the most exciting race in the world in terms of racing, but it was very difficult early on in the
wet conditions and we were aqua-planning at Casino. It was definitely over the edge for the intermediate tyres for a few laps when it was raining hard, but then it started
to dry and we had to think about changing tyres. It would have been good to have had a little bit more fuel as we had to change to dry tyres maybe five laps earlier than
we would have liked. It wasn’t ideal, but the team did such a good job, both at the track and at the factory in Milton Keynes, it’s great to get a strong result.”
Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso (5th):
“The race today was extremely difficult, especially at the start when with all the water on the track surface there was a lot of aquaplaning. But we were very strong as the track began to dry and that’s what made the difference. It’s great to score my first points of the season at Monaco and with the new car as well. A big thank you to the team, who worked so hard to understand the car and improve it over the weekend. And a special thanks for the pit stop which was fantastic and gained me two places. These points are a nice present for one of our mechanics, Gaggio, who has been with the team for ever and we will have a nice party for him tonight with something to celebrate as this is his last race with the team.”
Rubens Barrichello, Honda (6th):
To follow.
Kazuki Nakajima, Williams (7th):
“It was really a difficult race, especially at the beginning when the track was very wet. I couldn’t see anything in front of me, or at the rear, so I just tried to keep the car on track. I think we had some luck with the weather and the track conditions as I was on a onestop strategy and it really worked well for me. It was a shame to have a problem in my pit-stop, but I still finished in the points so I am quite happy.”
Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren (8th):
To follow.
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari (9th):
To follow.
Fernando Alonso, Renault (10th):
“We were not able to achieve what I think would have been possible in a normal race. The track was always changing; the car was sensitive and I made some mistakes. After that, we tried to change our strategy, but it did not really pay off, which is a shame. As we are not fighting for the championship we certainly took our chances and some risky choices, but today that did not work and we must hope that the next race in Montreal goes better.”
Jenson Button, Honda (11th):
To follow.
Timo Glock, Toyota (12th):
To follow.
Jarno Trulli, Toyota (13th):
To follow.
Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber (14th):
To follow.
Adrian Sutil, Force India (DNF):
To follow.
Nico Rosberg, Williams (DNF):
To follow.
Nelson Piquet, Renault (DNF):
“I had a difficult weekend and I am extremely disappointed. The conditions on the track were changing, but we took the risk to switch to dry tyres when the track was still damp and tricky, which is when I went off and damaged the car. But I will not dwell on this and feel sorry for myself. I must remain focused for the Canadian Grand Prix.”
Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India (DNF):
To follow.
David Coulthard, Red Bull (DNF):
“It’s was always going to be a race where you had to be very careful at the beginning. I was having difficulty with my downshifts and got caught out on the entry to Casino; I corrected, corrected and corrected, but then ran out of road. It looked like Sebastien (Bourdais) had a similar event and then found me in an area where he was about to have his crash. I’m extremely disappointed as this is a race where keeping out of trouble gives you a good chance of getting points. But, that said, the boys did a great job to recover the car after the qualifying accident and I’m obviously very happy that they scored a fourth place with Mark.”
Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso (DNF):
“The conditions were complicated as it is never easy to drive on these intermediate tyres when there is standing water on the track surface. As far as my accident was concerned, David had gone off the track. For some reason, even though it seemed to have stopped raining by then, there was more water on the track at that point than before and when I saw the yellow flags, I backed off a bit more and lost control of the rear of the car.”
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