Germany
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German GP - Race
08/03/2003
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Weather: Sunny, dry, air
34-35°C, track 46-49°C |
Hockenheim (GER). The fourth win of the 2003 season put
the BMW WilliamsF1 Team in a strong position in both the Constructor and Drivers
FIA Formula One World Championship. Juan Pablo Montoya achieved his second
victory of the year in Sunday's German Grand Prix at Hockenheim and in doing so
has moved up to second place in the Drivers Championship. He now has 65 points,
six less than leader Michael Schumacher. The BMW WiliamsF1 Team remain in second
position in the battle for the Constructors' title, having reduced the gap to
Ferrari to just two points. It was the ninth win since the foundation of the BMW
WilliamsF1 Team in 2000. However, Ralf Schumacher was unable to complete the
race when his FW25 was involved in an accident with Barrichello's Ferrari and
Raikkonen's McLaren Mercedes at the start which caused him to retire on the
first lap of the race.
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Ralf Schumacher:
DNF
Chassis:
FW25 07
It's obviously a huge disappointment but
this is the way motor racing is sometimes. You cannot think about what
people around you are doing and sometimes these incidents do happen. I was
just trying to defend my position and I didn't make any sudden move or
anything so there was all the time in the world for other cars to move away
from me. The impact from Raikkonen's car crashing into my car, damaged all
of the left sidepod and radiator and the floor and I couldn't do anything
but retire. |
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Juan Pablo Montoya:
1st
Chassis: FW25 06
Best time: 1:14,917 min (lap 14, best
overall)
A perfect finish to a perfect race weekend.
The car was excellent. I started from the clean side of the track and
basically I just had to be consistent, to keep the same pace all race and to
try not to make any mistakes. It was amazing how I could pull away and maybe
because of this it was not too bad a race from the physical point of view. I
am happy to be only six points away from Michael now, since there are just
four races to go and it is so important to score points consistently, for me
this counts now more than ever before. Things can easily go wrong for
everybody as we have witnessed today when it happened to both of the
Schumachers. More on Juan's victory... |
Sam Michael
(Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1): |
Gerhard Berger
(BMW Motorsport Director): |
| It was another fantastic
performance from the entire team. Juan drove an error-free and superb race
from start to finish. The engineers did an excellent job in preparing the
car, and also the strategy was very good. We were able to pull away from
the rest of the field right after the first pit stop. To be honest, it was
surprising to us that quite a number of teams went for a two stop
strategy. For us, the decision for three stops was very clear. Furthermore
the tyre choice obviously was right as they worked very well in the heat.
Unfortunately we lost Ralf's car only a few seconds after the start,
otherwise, I definitely believe it would have been another one-two victory
for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team today. |
It was
important for us to turn our strengths here into points. Especially
regarding the Constructors' world championship we are now within striking
distance of Ferrari. There is a lot that can happen over the remaining
four rounds of the season. Juan Pablo drove a perfect race, but Ralf had
bad luck.. Even under these hot conditions the chassis and our BMW P83
engine have proven to be very reliable. |
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