Gearbox problem for Webber as Coulthard brakes end plate

It was a difficult day at Monaco for the Red Bull Racing Team. David Coulthard had a small collision with Liuzzi and damaged his front wing and end plate, which caused understeer. Coulthard was able to finish in 14th position before stopping on track due the end plate which was broken. Team mate Mark Webber had to retire the race with a gearbox failure.

David Coulthard (Finish Position 14th, Start Position: 13th) "Unfortunately I came together with Tonio (Liuzzi) and damaged the front wing and end plate of my car, so I had a lot of understeer all through the race. We were debating whether or not to change the wing at the pit stop, but decided to stick with it as the time lost in changing it would be so high - but we couldn't get anywhere. When I stopped at the end of the race, we saw the end plate was broken, so we must have been losing a lot of down force. The guys in the garage have done a great job turning mine and Mark's cars around this weekend. There are still a lot of races left this season and I still think Red Bull is going to improve."

Mark Webber (Finish Position DNF, Start Position: 6th) "There were a couple of things going on. First I had a small misfire on the engine, which wasn't really fantastic, especially through the Swimming Pool section, but it also affected me at other parts of the track. I was pressing on and dealing with that. Then I lost third gear and although I tried switching between second and fourth, the car kept locking up. Initially I tried to drive around the problems, but when that happens here, you end up in the fence looking even more stupid!"

Christian Horner "A very disappointing race. Mark's car unfortunately developed a misfire which confused the gearbox and caused third gear to break, ending with his retirement. David made contact on the first lap with Tonio Liuzzi, and damaged his car's front wing. The damage sustained was greater than suspected and he lost a considerable amount of time which prevented him from getting anywhere near a points-scoring finish. It tops off what's been a frustrating weekend where the potential was there to score points, but we're going home with nothing."

Fabrice Lom, Renault Principal Engineer, Track Support "It was a tough race and we are a bit disappointed. David's position on the grid made his race very difficult, as we expected. For Mark, it was another story. After the start, he started to feel some engine misfires that ultimately caused the gearbox to fail. The problem is still under investigation to allow us to understand what happened. We are not worried regarding the reliability of the engine but we must understand the origin of the issue we had today on Mark's car. It's a shame we were not able to make the most of our package today because it has real potential. We look forward now to racing in Canada, which is a very different type of track."