Austria
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Austrian GP - Race
05/18/2003
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Weather: intermittent light
drizzle, track 23-33°C, air 19-20°C |
Spielberg (AUT). The BMW WilliamsF1 Team endured a
trying day of highs and lows at the Austrian Grand Prix after Juan Pablo Montoya
retired from the lead of the race on lap 32, while Ralf Schumacher improved on a
difficult grid position of tenth to finish in sixth place, promoting the team to
third equal in the Constructors' Championship.
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Ralf Schumacher:
6th Chassis: FW25 05
Best time: 1:10.246 min (lap 40, 10th)
After a difficult weekend I have three
points in my pocket, which is some compensation. I made a few mistakes, but
I managed to recover some of the lost ground. The main problem I had in the
race was with the balance of the car with the third set of tyres and in
particular the fronts which were graining badly. Otherwise the car was okay
and I think the team has demonstrated that it has raised its performance. |
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Juan Pablo Montoya:
DNF
Chassis: FW25 06
Best time: 1:10.112 min (lap 28, 9th)
The guys did a great job all weekend, and
I'm not angry, what happened was just racing. Right from the start we were
looking really good and everything was working to plan. Even when some
drizzle came I was catching Michael at a rate of two seconds a lap, which I
think clearly shows that the FW25 has potential, the team is going in the
right direction and the Michelins are working well. Then I started losing
water pressure and I knew the race was over. A shame, but at least we know
we have the potential to win. |
Sam Michael
(Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1): |
Mario Theissen
(BMW Motorsport Director): |
| It is a shame
that we had a water leak with Juan's engine, otherwise he looked strong,
he had a lot of fuel on board and he could have won the race today. The
chassis and the tyres were working well together. Ralf started from
further back, but none the less managed to claim three important
constructors' points. In summary the team is looking forward to Monaco,
the car is definitely improving and we must now translate this potential
into results. |
Of course it's disappointing
if you retire from the lead of a race. Juan Pablo could have won this
eventful race. We were aware at the start that a regulation standard valve
which limits water pressure was not operating correctly. The cooling
system continuously lost water, and obviously even without water the best
engine cannot survive. Ralf improved progressively from tenth position and
had fourth place within his reach, but his third set of tyres made the car
difficult to control, and he dropped back to sixth place. In summary, a
disappointing result, but clearly improving performance. |
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