News
11th May 2014, 19:50
Valtteri Bottas on matching his best Grand Prix result, and the growing hunger within Williams; Nico Hulkenberg on why Force India had to treat Barcelona as a damage limitation exercise; Jean-Eric Vergne on why he won't let bad luck make him despondent. Drivers and senior team personnel report back on a climactic race in Barcelona...
Toro Rosso
Daniil Kvyat, 14th
"To be honest it was quite a difficult race today. We lacked pace, even though I must say that the first stint was quite positive and it seemed possible to even fight for some points. In the end, tyre wear was quite heavy and together with the lack of pace, it turned out to be a tough race. The opening lap was okay and there were lots of battles, in which I managed to overtake a few cars on the outside line and by the end of the first stint I even managed to close in on both Force India cars. But unfortunately it was not enough and even when I put on a fresh set of option tyres for the last stint and overtake a couple of cars towards the end of the race, it was not possible to make it into the points today."
Jean-Eric Vergne, DNF
"Somebody has asked me if I feel a bit persecuted by bad luck at the moment. It might look like this, but this is part of the game. I always do all I can, my team is working really hard and problems can happen. For the ten grid positions penalty I don't blame anyone. When I crash the car it's the team that pays my mistake, so this is part of racing. Today I was really determined in having a good race, against all odds. The first stint was quite difficult as I had a front left brake problem which caused front locking, but the pace was really looking strong on the option tyres, until an exhaust problem put an end to my race. I'm still very positive that I will have my chance. I drive a Formula One car and I enjoy doing it, no matter what! This race weekend is now behind my back, we have the test session here next week and Monaco is just around the corner. My team and I will once again put all our efforts together to have a good weekend there."
Franz Tost, Toro Rosso team principal
"We struggled during the whole weekend here in Barcelona, without being able to achieve the pace that we were expecting. In both qualifying and the race we couldn't build up the speed to go into Q3 and to finish in the points today with Daniil. As for Jean-Eric, unfortunately we had to call him in soon after his first pit stop because of a problem to the exhaust system. Now we will work very hard to prepare the car for a better performance in Monaco."
Caterham
Kamui Kobayashi, DNF
"My start was pretty good and I was up to 18th by the end of lap one having passed Chilton, but I couldn't keep Maldonado or Vergne behind me and lost places to them by lap five so just focused on my own race. The car felt okay but I still had the same traction issues as we'd had all weekend so it was still a bit of a handful, but the deg levels on the first set of medium tyres that we'd started with were good so we could run a very long first stint, finally boxing on lap 23 for another set of mediums.
"The car felt better on the second set of tyres and I was able to make up some time to Bianchi ahead, but then on lap 44 I had a pretty scary moment going into Turn 1 when the left front brake failed and I was just able to keep the car out of the wall. That was the end of my race and the end of a difficult weekend. We clearly don't have the performance we're targeting, but changes have been made to help us sort this out and the whole team is working harder than ever to make progress, and we have two days of testing here to help us learn more about the new parts we brought to Spain, so we'll aim to fight back in Monaco next week."
Marcus Ericsson, 20th
"I was pleased with how I got off the line and was with Kamui in 19th but then Maldonado hit me pretty hard as he tried to pass going into Turn 13. His move risked putting both of us out of the race, but luckily the car was okay and I was able to continue, even though that had put me back to 22nd.
"My pace in the early laps was okay but the car balance wasn't great so I couldn't really do anything to stay with Chilton who'd got past when Maldonado made contact with me. In the high speed corners it was understeering too much but it was the opposite in the low speed turns, oversteering a lot which, combined, meant I just couldn't push anywhere.
"We did a long stint on the second set of mediums, pushing them to lap 40 when we made the second stop, switching to a set of new hards to run to the flag. From that point my focus was just making sure I could get to the end and bring a tough race weekend to a close. For me it's another grand prix under my belt, another chance to learn and as hard as it's been, I know we can improve so I'm as positive as ever and excited about racing in my first F1 race in Monaco in a couple of weeks."
Cedrik Staudohar, Renault Sport F1 track support leade
"We had a very clean race on the power unit side and there was little more we could have done today. It was good to see Kamui and Marcus fighting other cars at times but ultimately the car needs more pace to do it on a regular basis. There are some improvements coming from our side for Monaco to aid driveability and energy management and we'll work with the team to get the most of the package as it evolves."
Williams
Valtteri Bottas, 5th
"Today we did our best. The strategy was correct and the team did really well in the pit stops, I made no mistake on the track so we made the maximum of what was on offer and got some good points from it. It's pleasing to be in the points and it equals my best ever result. It was a shame Vettel was so quick at the end, I tried to defend, but he had fresher tyres. The atmosphere in the team is fantastic, we are all pushing forward and points feed that hunger."
Felipe Massa, 13th
"I made a good start and could have made more positions, but Ricciardo was in front so I couldn't do anything. The three-stop strategy would have worked had the first stint been clean, but I had cars in front which damaged my tyres a lot. This meant that rather than pulling away from them and having clean track, when they pitted they had the advantage. This happened again at the start of the second stint, so things just didn't go my way."
Rob Smedley, Williams head of vehicle performance
"The car was the third quickest yesterday, as it was today, so overall we are pleased to be there. We came here with an upgrade package and it's clearly worked. Valtteri did a good job to make a two-stop work. We tried a different strategy with Felipe to try and release him, but unfortunately his race didn't quite work out, so we all need to look into every aspect to make sure we are in the best shape with Felipe for Monaco. We are very positive for the future though."
Force India
Nico Hulkenberg, 10th
"It was a case of damage limitation today. We knew from the early practice sessions that this wasn't going to be our strongest track so to get two cars in the points is a positive result. The tyre degradation was high and the car was not so easy to drive, but I think everybody was struggling in the final part of the race. I thought we would need to make a third stop, but fortunately the tyres held on and I was able to score a point. We will use all the data we got over the weekend to improve for the next few races where we hope to be a bit more competitive."
Sergio Perez, 9th
"It was quite a hard afternoon, so to come away with two points is not too bad. I had pretty strong pace in the race and my tyre degradation was okay so I think we probably could have been a bit more aggressive with the strategy. Maybe if we had stopped earlier I could have jumped ahead of some more cars because my pace was good, but it was just so difficult to overtake. We knew this track would be a tough test for us, so this result is more or less what we expected here. Maybe P7 or P8 was achievable today, but we should feel quite happy to keep up our run of points."
Vijay Mallya, Force India team principal
"There were few surprises in this afternoon's race and our final result of ninth and tenth is a fair reflection of the pace we have shown during this weekend. As I said yesterday, this circuit was never going to play to our strengths and yet we still managed to secure a double points finish. It means we've scored points in every race so far this year and this keeps up our momentum in the championship. Like everyone, we suffered with high tyre degradation and it was tricky to make the right decisions on when to stop. We felt we were quite aggressive with both car strategies, but in hindsight we probably could have pushed the limits even more. We now head to Monaco with 57 points and sitting in a strong fourth place in the championship."
More to follow.
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Toro Rosso
Daniil Kvyat, 14th
"To be honest it was quite a difficult race today. We lacked pace, even though I must say that the first stint was quite positive and it seemed possible to even fight for some points. In the end, tyre wear was quite heavy and together with the lack of pace, it turned out to be a tough race. The opening lap was okay and there were lots of battles, in which I managed to overtake a few cars on the outside line and by the end of the first stint I even managed to close in on both Force India cars. But unfortunately it was not enough and even when I put on a fresh set of option tyres for the last stint and overtake a couple of cars towards the end of the race, it was not possible to make it into the points today."
Jean-Eric Vergne, DNF
"Somebody has asked me if I feel a bit persecuted by bad luck at the moment. It might look like this, but this is part of the game. I always do all I can, my team is working really hard and problems can happen. For the ten grid positions penalty I don't blame anyone. When I crash the car it's the team that pays my mistake, so this is part of racing. Today I was really determined in having a good race, against all odds. The first stint was quite difficult as I had a front left brake problem which caused front locking, but the pace was really looking strong on the option tyres, until an exhaust problem put an end to my race. I'm still very positive that I will have my chance. I drive a Formula One car and I enjoy doing it, no matter what! This race weekend is now behind my back, we have the test session here next week and Monaco is just around the corner. My team and I will once again put all our efforts together to have a good weekend there."
Franz Tost, Toro Rosso team principal
"We struggled during the whole weekend here in Barcelona, without being able to achieve the pace that we were expecting. In both qualifying and the race we couldn't build up the speed to go into Q3 and to finish in the points today with Daniil. As for Jean-Eric, unfortunately we had to call him in soon after his first pit stop because of a problem to the exhaust system. Now we will work very hard to prepare the car for a better performance in Monaco."
Caterham
Kamui Kobayashi, DNF
"My start was pretty good and I was up to 18th by the end of lap one having passed Chilton, but I couldn't keep Maldonado or Vergne behind me and lost places to them by lap five so just focused on my own race. The car felt okay but I still had the same traction issues as we'd had all weekend so it was still a bit of a handful, but the deg levels on the first set of medium tyres that we'd started with were good so we could run a very long first stint, finally boxing on lap 23 for another set of mediums.
"The car felt better on the second set of tyres and I was able to make up some time to Bianchi ahead, but then on lap 44 I had a pretty scary moment going into Turn 1 when the left front brake failed and I was just able to keep the car out of the wall. That was the end of my race and the end of a difficult weekend. We clearly don't have the performance we're targeting, but changes have been made to help us sort this out and the whole team is working harder than ever to make progress, and we have two days of testing here to help us learn more about the new parts we brought to Spain, so we'll aim to fight back in Monaco next week."
Marcus Ericsson, 20th
"I was pleased with how I got off the line and was with Kamui in 19th but then Maldonado hit me pretty hard as he tried to pass going into Turn 13. His move risked putting both of us out of the race, but luckily the car was okay and I was able to continue, even though that had put me back to 22nd.
"My pace in the early laps was okay but the car balance wasn't great so I couldn't really do anything to stay with Chilton who'd got past when Maldonado made contact with me. In the high speed corners it was understeering too much but it was the opposite in the low speed turns, oversteering a lot which, combined, meant I just couldn't push anywhere.
"We did a long stint on the second set of mediums, pushing them to lap 40 when we made the second stop, switching to a set of new hards to run to the flag. From that point my focus was just making sure I could get to the end and bring a tough race weekend to a close. For me it's another grand prix under my belt, another chance to learn and as hard as it's been, I know we can improve so I'm as positive as ever and excited about racing in my first F1 race in Monaco in a couple of weeks."
Cedrik Staudohar, Renault Sport F1 track support leade
"We had a very clean race on the power unit side and there was little more we could have done today. It was good to see Kamui and Marcus fighting other cars at times but ultimately the car needs more pace to do it on a regular basis. There are some improvements coming from our side for Monaco to aid driveability and energy management and we'll work with the team to get the most of the package as it evolves."
Williams
Valtteri Bottas, 5th
"Today we did our best. The strategy was correct and the team did really well in the pit stops, I made no mistake on the track so we made the maximum of what was on offer and got some good points from it. It's pleasing to be in the points and it equals my best ever result. It was a shame Vettel was so quick at the end, I tried to defend, but he had fresher tyres. The atmosphere in the team is fantastic, we are all pushing forward and points feed that hunger."
Felipe Massa, 13th
"I made a good start and could have made more positions, but Ricciardo was in front so I couldn't do anything. The three-stop strategy would have worked had the first stint been clean, but I had cars in front which damaged my tyres a lot. This meant that rather than pulling away from them and having clean track, when they pitted they had the advantage. This happened again at the start of the second stint, so things just didn't go my way."
Rob Smedley, Williams head of vehicle performance
"The car was the third quickest yesterday, as it was today, so overall we are pleased to be there. We came here with an upgrade package and it's clearly worked. Valtteri did a good job to make a two-stop work. We tried a different strategy with Felipe to try and release him, but unfortunately his race didn't quite work out, so we all need to look into every aspect to make sure we are in the best shape with Felipe for Monaco. We are very positive for the future though."
Force India
Nico Hulkenberg, 10th
"It was a case of damage limitation today. We knew from the early practice sessions that this wasn't going to be our strongest track so to get two cars in the points is a positive result. The tyre degradation was high and the car was not so easy to drive, but I think everybody was struggling in the final part of the race. I thought we would need to make a third stop, but fortunately the tyres held on and I was able to score a point. We will use all the data we got over the weekend to improve for the next few races where we hope to be a bit more competitive."
Sergio Perez, 9th
"It was quite a hard afternoon, so to come away with two points is not too bad. I had pretty strong pace in the race and my tyre degradation was okay so I think we probably could have been a bit more aggressive with the strategy. Maybe if we had stopped earlier I could have jumped ahead of some more cars because my pace was good, but it was just so difficult to overtake. We knew this track would be a tough test for us, so this result is more or less what we expected here. Maybe P7 or P8 was achievable today, but we should feel quite happy to keep up our run of points."
Vijay Mallya, Force India team principal
"There were few surprises in this afternoon's race and our final result of ninth and tenth is a fair reflection of the pace we have shown during this weekend. As I said yesterday, this circuit was never going to play to our strengths and yet we still managed to secure a double points finish. It means we've scored points in every race so far this year and this keeps up our momentum in the championship. Like everyone, we suffered with high tyre degradation and it was tricky to make the right decisions on when to stop. We felt we were quite aggressive with both car strategies, but in hindsight we probably could have pushed the limits even more. We now head to Monaco with 57 points and sitting in a strong fourth place in the championship."
More to follow.
For tickets and travel to 2014 FORMULA 1 races, click here (http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc9 24805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Ftickets.formula1.com%2F).
For FORMULA 1 merchandise,