Podium for Wurz on his 10th anniversary of F1 debut
In a gripping performance, Alex Wurz drove the AT&T Williams team to its first podium in two seasons, through the debris of multiple accidents, safety car deployments and altering race strategies up and down the pitlane. His team-mate, Nico Rosberg, was unlucky not to be able to join Alex on the podium after an unavoidable stop-go penalty compromised his front running position from which he was unable to recover, especially with the loss of a large number of racing laps.
Alex Wurz "Scoring a podium on the 10th anniversary of my Formula One debut is a dream. I had a difficult weekend and starting the race from the back was hard, but I didn't give up and tried to push as much as I could. It was one of those hectic races but I had a super car and the team did everything right in terms of strategy and keeping me well informed about all the various incidents.
On the driving side, I made no mistakes and I was able to get rid of some graining by the end of the race, just in time to keep Kovalainen behind me who was on prime tyres. Early on it had been a close call when Speed and I touched and my rear wing got damaged, but the team knew it was safe and everything was okay to continue, even if I was giving some downforce and straight line speed away for the rest of the race."
Nico Rosberg "After I gained two positions at the start, I thought I could really get something good out of today's race, but then I was really unlucky. I had no fuel and had to pit exactly when the safety car went out for the first time and according to the new rules, I was penalised, and from this point onwards it was very difficult to recover the position I had.
After my second stop, I came out of the pits at the back of the pack. The battle with Trulli ended in both of us spinning and I lost even more time when the gearbox got stuck. What an afternoon! One positive thing for the team is that Alex made third today and our car has showed good pace, which makes us confident for Indianapolis next weekend."
Sam Michael, Technical Director "A fantastic day for Alex and the team, he ran a one stop strategy and was carrying a lot of fuel for much of the race as well as coping with the super soft tyre for forty laps and the loss of downforce due to damage to his rear wing sustained when Speed ran into him, so he did a really good job, kept his head down and never gave up despite all the problems.
Nico was very unlucky, his pace was really good and he had everyone around him covered and he would have been on for a podium, but he missed the safety car pit window by 13 seconds. We had no option, we had to bring him in and take the penalty, otherwise he would have run out of fuel. He suffered because of the new safety car regulation but we have secured six points today which is great for the team and it has been a great effort from everyone at the factories in Grove and Cologne."
After sustaining a heavy accident, everyone at AT&T Williams wishes BMW Sauber driver, Robert Kubica, well.
