France
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French GP - RACE
07/06/2003
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Weather: dry, overcast, air
24-25°C, track 28-31°C |
Magny-Cours (FRA). For the second time in a row, the BMW
WilliamsF1 Team today secured their second one-two victory. As at the
Nürburgring, Ralf Schumacher crossed the line first, ahead of team mate Juan
Pablo Montoya. Ralf's win in Magny-Cours is his sixth Formula One victory. It is
WilliamsF1's 111th win and BMW's 17th win. The BMW WilliamsF1 Team confirms
their second place in the FIA Formula One Constructor's Championship, only three
points behind Ferrari. Ralf stays third in the Driver's rankings, followed by
Juan Pablo, who set the fastest lap during today's race.
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Ralf Schumacher:
1st
Chassis:
FW25 07
Best time: 1:15,698 min (lap 37, 2nd
overall)
Finally I did it from pole position! In the
first part of the race it all seemed to go very well but after the first pit
stop the car did not feel so good and I lost some time. Also I was delayed
by several drivers that I had to lap, especially Jarno Trulli, who I could
not overtake due to a yellow flag. Regarding the light off I had in the last
laps, it was my fault as I braked too late. I hope we can keep this momentum
going even though we are now going to circuits that are even tougher on the
car. We are definitely getting closer and closer to Ferrari but for the
moment I prefer not to think about our World Championship chances as things
can change so quickly in F1. More on Ralf's
victory... |
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Juan Pablo Montoya:
2nd
Chassis:
FW25 06
Best time: 1:15,512 min (lap 36, 1st
overall)
I was not too comfortable in my car today
and I was losing time, especially in the third sector. I pushed very hard
and decided to come in earlier for my second pit-stop because there was
quite a lot of traffic and I was wasting time but still I could not catch
Ralf. On this track you cannot really overtake easily, so you try to do it
with the pit-stop strategy. After the third stop I just backed off and drove
to secure my position, as Michael Schumacher was a fair amount of seconds
behind me with only a few laps to go. |
Sam Michael
(Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1): |
Mario Theissen
(BMW Motorsport Director): |
| This is a
fantastic day for the team. Ralf drove a brilliant race today, true
textbook style, not putting a foot wrong. The current performance of the
BMW WiliamsF1 Team is the result of a number of factors and the effort put
in by our technical partners, but it is fair to say that the latest
improvements have predominantly come from the aerodynamic department and
through Michelin's intensive tyre development work. |
The second consecutive 1-2
is simply unbelievable if you think about how weak we were at the start of
the season. The way we dominated the race from the first to the last lap
was stunning. We were able to go faster than everybody else at any time.
After the third pit-stop we just eased up. Front row and a 1-2 finish is
the best result we have ever achieved in our three and a half years of
partnership. With regards the Championship, we have nearly caught Ferrari
which is good for us and for the fans in future races. |
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