Crash for Sutil as Albers retires
At the end of what had been hitherto been a positive Monaco Grand Prix weekend, there was ultimately disappointment for the Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team as neither cars made it to the end of the race.
Adrian Sutil had a good start and stayed with the group in front, also keeping the Aguri of Anthony Davidson and Toyota of Ralf Schumacher behind him. After his first pit stop on lap 45, Adrian dropped back behind Schumacher, however was unable to get back into contention when on lap 55 he ran wide on the entrance to Casino Square and nudged the barrier. As the right rear tyre came off the rim the German was unable to continue and retired.
Christijan Albers started the race on an aggressive two-stop strategy on supersoft Bridgestone tyres, counting on unpredictable weather or a safety car period that so often characterise the Monaco Grand Prix would materialise. Unfortunately neither situation did and the Dutchman was unable to make the most of his strategy. Christijan put in some quick laps towards the end of the race, lapping at the same pace as the group in front, but unfortunately his race came to a premature end on lap 70 when he retired in the pits with a driveshaft failure.
Adrian Sutil (car 20) "In general it was a good race until I crashed in Casino corner. The start was the normal Monaco crowded style but I managed to do the first corner quite well. Over the first 44 laps we had a very good performance, the tyres were consistent and I just went quicker and quicker as the track improved. My lap times were pretty fast as well and we were racing some cars. It wasn't a lonely race as I always had somebody behind me and had to push so I enjoyed the race. I'm disappointed I made a mistake - the brakes had became worse and worse and it was hard to find the find the right braking performance as they were unpredictable. I went a little bit to the outside of the corner and there was so much rubber and dirt that I hit the barrier and the tyre came off the rim. There wasn't a lot of damage, it was just the tyres but I couldn't continue, which is sad for everyone."
Christijan Albers (car 21) "It was a difficult weekend. First of all we had really bad luck with Qualifying with the hydraulics and then we retired from the race. As we were at the back we had to take a risk and went for a really aggressive strategy, started on soft tyres and went for two stops. At first I was struggling with the rear but when I came in and changed to the normal soft tyres, it started to go really well and we went a lot faster, but then you are just lost in the traffic and have to let the leaders through. It's just a shame, but on the other hand if we had had some luck the strategy it could have worked out. Now we should leave this behind and go to Canada - I have some ideas about what we will change and make the car more driveable over there."
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer "A disappointing end to quite a good weekend. Christijan started from the back after the problem in Qualifying and we went for two stops, relying on a safety car period as we had to do something with the strategy, but that didn't happen so we knew his race was compromised. Adrian had a good race on a one stop strategy and was very competitive in the group around him and was able to race other cars, but he made a mistake, touched a barrier and his race was over. It had been a good weekend until this point, so ultimately very disappointing."
Colin Kolles, team principal and managing director "Although the result was a real disappointment, there are some positives we can take away from the weekend. Adrian's superb fastest time in practice and our race pace were both exceptional given our form until now, so we have to focus on these rather than the fact neither cars made it to the end. It's a strong basis for Canada and the US GPs."
