German Grand Prix - team and driver preview quotes Публикувана на: Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:09:00 GMT
The tight and challenging Nurburgring circuit will host the German Grand Prix next weekend. As the ‘home’ race for Nico Rosberg, Nick Heidfeld, Timo Glock and Adrian Sutil, BMW, Mercedes and the Toyota team, the event has special significance for many on the grid. Here the drivers and senior team personnel explain why they can’t wait to head for the mountains to tackle the legendary track…
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
2008 Qualifying - 1st, 2008 Race - 1st
“The Nurburgring a fantastic circuit, a little older than a lot of the current tracks we currently visit and with quite a different feel to what we’re used to: it’s fast and flowing with some good spots for overtaking. And it’s in a fantastic part of the world too; deep in the forests of western Germany, where the fans seem to live and breathe Formula One. It’s always an amazing party atmosphere whenever we race in Germany. While we aren’t expecting any major upgrades for this weekend, I’m still looking forward to the race. It’s an honour to be part of the Silver Arrows and, while our results haven’t recently shown it, we’re still pushing incredibly hard and are all hopeful of moving closer to the front before the end of this difficult season.”
Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren
2008 Qualifying - 3rd, 2008 Race - 5th
“The Nurburgring is a great circuit. It’s got a variety of different corners - some quite tricky, technical sections that need a good flowing rhythm and some faster bends, where the car needs to be well set up. Cresting the rise through the uphill esses after the hairpin just feels fantastic in a Formula One car. Coming to Germany is the perfect time to pay tribute to the efforts of everyone at Mercedes-Benz. Their engines are probably the most powerful and most reliable in the sport and their KERS is also fantastic. Mercedes-Benz has played such a big role in the success of our team, so I’m really hoping to have a strong race in front of all our supportive fans at our second home race of the season. Myself, Lewis and the rest of the team are working hard to develop this car - it’s a long process, but we are all pulling together and we’re hopeful of making some further steps soon.”
Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal
“The Santander German Grand Prix is our team’s second home race of the year. Having had such a fantastic and close relationship with Mercedes-Benz for 15 years means we meet many old friends in Germany and we really enjoy the fantastic support we receive – not only from the many thousands of Mercedes-Benz employees who attend the race, but also from the hugely vocal crowd that always plays such a large part in making the atmosphere at a German racetrack so unique. While we can’t expect to match our previous record in Germany, where we’ve won the race for the past two seasons, we’re still pushing hard to develop MP4-24 into a more competitive proposition. Make no mistake, we’re hugely proud of having the Mercedes-Benz three-pointed star on the front of our cars - and nothing would make us prouder than getting back to the front again as soon as we possibly can.”
Norbert Haug, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Vice-President
“We finished the previous Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in 2007 as winners, as well as last year’s Santander German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. This year, we will start without a chance of winning, because our work of improving the car did not bring the desired success. Therefore, we have to continue working extremely hard. At the Nurburgring, the Silver Arrows were born and we will commemorate their 75th anniversary with a parade on the racetrack and an exhibition at the paddock entrance to present their unique history to every Nurburgring visitor as well as to the world’s TV viewers.”
Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber
2008 Qualifying - 12th, 2008 Race - 4th
“It goes without saying that our verdict on the season at the half-way point is anything but positive. Especially when you compare our results so far with our aims going into the season. Of course I hope we will make improvements, and that’s what everybody in the team is working to achieve. A lot of fans and fan club members traditionally come to my home race. That is something I really enjoy and it gives me an extra shot of motivation. I will once again be lining up for my home race with a special helmet design. This year it has been created by a fan on my website, and he will present me with the helmet before the start of practice on Friday. I have many happy memories of the Nurburgring. I went there a lot with my parents when I was a child and the ’Ring is only an hour away from my home town of Monchengladbach. In winter we went sledging on the Hohe Acht slopes, I learnt to ride a bicycle at the Nurburgring and this was also where I sat in a kart for the first time - with a tyre and a blanket wedged behind my back so that I could reach the pedals.
“Since then I’ve competed in races at the ‘Ring in Formula Ford, Formula Three and Formula 3000 and celebrated many victories there. My best Nurburgring result in Formula One was in 2005 when I took pole position and finished second in the race itself. For me, the Nordschleife is the most sensational race track in the world. In April 2007 I drove our Formula One car on the circuit, which was just brilliant! It was amazing to turn off the Grand Prix course onto the Nordschleife and drive along this huge race track all alone in front of all those people.”
Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber
2008 Qualifying - 7th, 2008 Race - 7th
“The Nurburgring is our home race. Even though this season has not gone well for us so far, there will be a lot of BMW Sauber F1 Team fans there crossing their fingers for us. This is just the right time to put in a strong performance and record a good result. However, I have to admit that the track itself is not one of my favourites. Having said that, it does have a big variety of corners and also opportunities to overtake. The best of these is in the first corner, where you can take various different lines. So I expect we’ll see more passing moves again at the Nurburgring and enjoy an exciting race.”
Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director
“Going into the German Grand Prix, we cannot be happy with the season so far. After three successful years, this recent period has been the first set-back for our team - and is one we will overcome. After all, this is the same team in Munich and Hinwil that has delivered continuous improvements since the team was founded. We are all absolutely determined to start moving forwards again and I expect us to experience an upturn in form. It is certainly not easy to make up lost ground without the chance to do any testing, but that is what we’re aiming to do. We are bringing a series of mechanical improvements to the Eifel mountains, as well as a further developed version of our double-decker diffuser.”
Willy Rampf, BMW Sauber head of engineering
“After our disappointing performance at Silverstone we have to turn things around at the Nurburgring. That’s something we owe our many fans who always come to the race here. The characteristics of the Nurburgring mean the cars tend to understeer here. The key question is: how do you set the car up to stop it pushing over the front wheels too much? That can be resolved by an optimal aero balance combined with the corresponding mechanical set-up. We will be bringing a modified version of our double-decker diffuser to the Nurburgring, and we have also made improvements on the mechanical side. Much will doubtless depend on how successful we are at getting the tyres to work.”
More to follow.
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