Reliable two-car finish for MF1
MF1 Racing overcame some bad luck earlier in the weekend to claim a reliable two-car finish in the European Grand Prix at Germany's Nurburgring. The team now heads to the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona for next weekend's Spanish Grand Prix where it will be joined by Giorgio Mondini, who will undertake Friday testing and reserve driving duties.
Tiago Monteiro "This is the kind of race I really enjoy. From the beginning of the season, Christijan and I have never had a chance to compete against one another under normal race conditions, so this was the first time we got to mix it up. I think we had a pretty good rhythm compared to the others, especially at the beginning of the race. I got a good start and was able to pass a few cars in the beginning, so I took advantage of that and just pushed like hell from that point on. I got a good gap and after that it was just a matter of staying focused coming out of the pit stops. The car performed really well and stayed balanced throughout the race. I hardly needed to change my settings, so I have to thank my engineers and mechanics for that. The gap between us and the cars ahead is shrinking, and I think the tyres are improving, as well. Even though we were on a soft compound, there was still a lot of grip left at the end of the race. I'm glad we were able to perform well after a relatively shaky start to the weekend."
Christijan Albers "I had a good start, so I was quite happy with that, because that's an area we struggled with in the first four races. And then when we arrived at the first corner, Coulthard and Liuzzi collided immediately in front of me, so I lost all my positions as I braked and swerved to avoid them. After I overtook Montagny, I found myself behind Tiago, who was being held up by Sato. Fortunately for my teammate, Sato made a little mistake and allowed Tiago to get by before too long, but he made things a little more difficult for me. Anyway, I managed to overtake him after a few laps, but by that time, Tiago had already run away. After that, the car was running quite well, I have to say, and I was able to catch up again. Toward the end of the race, however, I developed a mysterious vibration in the rear, so we'll have to analyse that. I think it was just bad luck that I couldn't finish higher this time, but I hope to do better in the next race."
Colin Kolles, Managing Director "Both Tiago and Christijan drove consistently, but I think that as a team, we will need to take more risks with our race strategy. We appear to be reliable again and the speed is improving from race to race, so we're looking forward to continuing this trend in Barcelona."
Johnny Herbert, Sporting Relations Manager "I think today's race was a step forward for us. We were only lapped the one time, but we closed the gap during the race, which was good. We had a much better weekend with a more competitive qualifying, red flag issue notwithstanding. But I think overall, it was much more positive for everybody. The team is encouraged and I'm happy about that. Hopefully, we can keep pushing forward."
Dominic Harlow, Chief Race and Test Engineer "We had a reliable, textbook race today. We just need to get some more performance out of the car and that's what we're going to go away to find, I hope. In terms of our overall race time, we're looking more competitive than we were at the start of the season, and it's heading in the right direction."
