Fahrerstimmen – Tag 3

Wow Winning the Monaco Grand Prix is something that you dream about as a child and as a racing driver and the reality of taking that victory just feels awesome. To win in Monaco is truly a special feeling. With Rubens taking a superb second place, a one-two finish for the Brawn-Mercedes team in Monaco is fantastic. The race felt like it went on forever and you feel that the barriers are getting closer and closer as the end of the race approaches. But for the last couple of laps, I was able to relax and really enjoy the moment. It’s been an unbelievable day, capped with my impromptu sprint down the pit straight to the podium. I can tell you it’s a very long way But it was amazing to get such a fantastic reception from the crowd and I hope the fans enjoyed what was a great race for the team. The car felt good today but we didn’t have the best of starts to the weekend so it makes this victory even more of an achievement. For the team, for Mercedes-Benz and for my family who were here in Monaco watching the race this weekend, today has to be the high-point of what has been an exceptional season.

Another one-two for the team today is just amazing. I had a really good start on the option tyre and was able to get ahead of Kimi before the first corner which put me in a great position to challenge Jenson. I had tremendous pace but following so closely behind him affected the aero balance of my car and I suffered with massive graining on the rears which lost me a lot of time. We had a great strategy to recover and I came in earlier than planned to keep second place but by then Jenson was over ten seconds ahead. However it was a great race and I really enjoyed the challenge and the fight with Kimi. I’m still very much in the fight and collecting as many points as possible whilst pushing Jenson as hard as I can.

I can’t be happy with third place, as my aim is always to win, but all the same, this podium is very satisfying for the entire team after a very difficult start to the season. However, I am happy that we are back competing at the front again. Over the past few weeks we have made a real step forward in terms of performance and this result confirms it. We still have work to do to catch up with the best, but we are moving in the right direction. This weekend, if some details had worked out differently, the result could have been different – I’m thinking of missing out on pole by a whisker or of my second pit stop when I lost a few seconds. But overall, we have to be pleased.

I am very happy with today’s performance. The car was very competitive: it’s clear we are on the way up and hopefully we can soon be back to fighting for the win. At the start, I lost a lot of time behind Vettel and then, because I made a mistake, I was also passed by Rosberg. But after that I quickly got back up the order and I think I could also have passed Kimi. In the three laps I had longer than him, at the second pit stop, I found myself right behind Button and so I wasn’t able to exploit the opportunity. Starting on the hard tyres was the best choice: we still lack a bit of aerodynamic downforce to be up with the Brawns, but it is too early to claim to be the second best team in the championship. What is sure is that we are working well and I am sure we will see further results of that soon.

We’re pretty happy with fifth to be honest, to get a few points after a challenging qualifying session is pretty good. There were a few more people that came in on the act this weekend, so for us to still come away with a few points is good for us in the Constructors’ Championship. The guys worked like hell this weekend to fit a lot of new parts so it was important for us to get some points. At other venues we’ll be stronger again.

I’ve got to be happy with sixth place today, more just wasn’t possible and we did the best we could have in the circumstances. It was a great start with lots going on, but I managed to come through and it set me up well for the early phase of the race. We then did a long middle stint on primes as we were worried about the durability of the option tyre, but they seemed to hold on much better than expected in the last stint, perhaps due to the amount of rubber down on the circuit by the end of the race. That said, I always enjoy racing here, it is a huge challenge that requires you to be inch perfect and it was very demanding out there.

It was a hard race and very tight from the beginning, but the car felt good and kept improving during the race. We had a good strategy but here in Monaco the starting position is essential and so starting ninth and gaining two places and two points is a satisfying result. My motivation and the motivation of the team remain very high. We have a lot of new things for the upcoming races and we are confident that the second part of the season should be better for us.

It feels good to score points here, at what can be considered my home grand prix as there is no French race. The team worked really hard today. I felt that, again, I hadn’t done a good job in qualifying, so, I can be happy to finish P8, given the small number of incidents today. It’s another point which is important: it’s not enough, but it’s better than nothing! The car performed consistently, especially on the Prime tyre although the balance wasn’t perfect. Then, on the Options I tried to look after them as I’d had trouble with them on Thursday. I managed the situation, as the car was moving more and I had some degradation. Once I got ahead of my direct rivals and there was no one within reach in front of me, I settled into a rhythm, concentrating on bringing the car home. I had several tricky moments, but that’s what street racing is about. It was a fun race, with the satisfaction of scoring a point starting 14th. If I can improve in qualifying in the coming races, then maybe we can hope for more, starting in Istanbul.

Ninth position is a great result for the team. The pace was very good and consistent and I felt I was driving well, taking care of the tyres and putting in some fast laps at the same time. I just lost a position at the start and perhaps it was this that cost me the point in the end, but we have to be happy about today. It was a great step forward, to get two cars into Q2 and then to get within two seconds of a point. We need to keep pushing and be there all the time now.

I have to say that finishing in the top 10 was a bit more than I expected at the start of the race considering how the weekend had gone up to then. We had good pace in the last stint but when you start from the pit lane in Monaco you cannot expect to score points. This weekend started badly and from then on we were playing catch up. At Monaco you want to start the weekend on a good basis and then adjust the car to the track as it evolves, but we had problems from the first practice. I am looking forward to Turkey and I hope we can improve significantly.

Ich habe versucht, beim Start und in der ersten Runde Boden gutzumachen, aber das hat diesmal leider nicht geklappt, es war einfach zu eng. Dann steckte ich hinter Adrian (Sutil), der anscheinend Probleme mit seinen Reifen hatte. Einmal bin ich ihm sogar ins Heck gefahren. In Kurve eins hat mich Lewis (Hamilton) getroffen, ich hatte Glück, dass ich weiterfahren konnte. Ich war auf einer Einstopp-Strategie und habe die weichen Reifen im zweiten Stint gefahren. Sie haben ziemlich abgebaut. Wir haben heute alles gegeben, aber wir waren hier einfach zu langsam.

“It was an extremely tough race,” Lewis said. “I raced my heart out and feel satisfied with my performance today. I damaged a footplate on my front wing quite early on when I clipped one of the BMWs going into Ste Devote. It meant I had a lot of understeer throughout the race – putting a new wing on made it a bit better but it wasn’t enough. In the closing laps, my tyres were going off just as much as Nick’s and it was a bit too dangerous to attempt a pass. “I was thinking about one of the Rocky films – in the first film, Rocky says, ‘I just want to see the end of the fight’ and I got to the flag, pushing as hard as I could throughout the race. “Congratulations to Jenson and everyone at the Brawn GP team – they’re clearly doing a fantastic job this year.”

It was a tough race for me, as we anticipated after the qualifying result. It was always going to be very difficult from where we were on the grid and my strategy didn't work out. I seemed to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time with the traffic, which is obviously a real problem at this track. Whenever I was putting in a few good laps I had to slow down again because slower cars were in front and it is impossible to overtake. Now this difficult weekend is over we have to forget about it and focus on the next race when I am sure we will be much more competitive.

We had started on a one-stop strategy, which would have been OK but we used the supersoft tyre from the start and they grained up very quickly. I had to pit and lost a lot of time there. That was it really – it was hard to come back from this. In the end I was doing some quick laps and had quite a good pace, so there are some positives and we can be happy at some aspects. There is more to come from us for sure.

The start and the initial part of the race was good for me, but ultimately it was frustrating as I always seemed to be picking up traffic out of the pitlane or responding to blue flags and then losing track position to the one-stoppers. In the final analysis the outcome was disappointing, I was on the option tyre and I was pushing perhaps too hard when I had my accident nearly at the finish, but at least I had a good feeling with the car today.

“A disappointing outcome to my weekend after some real promise,” Heikki said afterwards. “During my first stint, I had a little difficulty making my tyres work properly. Nevertheless, I was able to get past Sebastian Vettel. My second set was much better and I was just waiting for Nico’'s pitstop to have chance to pass him, unfortunately I didn’t get that far. “I hit the kerb at the fast chicane and the car’s rear stepped out. I couldn’t catch it and hit the guardrails. It was my fault and I want to say sorry to my team – who have worked so hard to provide me with a competitive car. We’ll keep pushing, developing the car and continuing with the catching-up process.”

I’m really disappointed to have been taken out of the race. I made a decent start and I was in good shape because I was running a long first stint and all the cars ahead of me were very close. Then I got hit from behind on the straight by Sebastien Buemi, which damaged the rear of my car and forced me to retire. It’s really frustrating as I think I could have maybe scored some points today.

Wir hatten über das gesamte Wochenende Schwierigkeiten. Ich hatte ein Problem beim Start und fiel auf den letzten Platz zurück. Dann hatte ich einen Reifenschaden an meinem rechten Hinterrad. Nach dem notwendigen Boxenstopp konnte ich heute mit dem schwer betankten Auto gute Rundenzeiten fahren, wenn man das Potenzial des Autos berücksichtigt. Am Ende hatte ich Probleme mit den Bremsen und musste das Auto abstellen.

Not much to tell – I was braking maybe a little bit too late, locked the rears, lost the car and hit the wall. Of course we lost a lot of time already in the first stint, being on the soft tyres. We were confident that they would work for the first short stint, but they didn't. Of course it’s disappointing, but sometimes this happens. In Monaco, you make a little mistake and you pay the price.

I didn’t have a perfect start and I lost a position to Piquet, but it was not going too badly. Then I just tried to overtake him, as with Vettel slowing everyone down on the Option tyre, I thought this might be my only chance to get back ahead of him. I was right up behind Piquet, in his slipstream and when I tried to pull out and make my move he went on the brakes and I could not get out from behind him, so I ended up pushing him all the way into the first corner. I am sorry about this and I went and apologized to him.