Reliable but slow Red Bulls at Magny-Cours
Red Bull step away from the French race after a disappointing performance of both cars. It has been an unfortunate race for both drivers as they got stuck behind other drivers and couldn't really push to pass because a lack of pure pace. The team will look into the problems to see what can be done ahead of next week's British GP.
"The race was going quite well at the beginning and normally, with my longer strategy, I should have been able to jump some people. But, I’m not sure if my in laps weren’t quick enough, or the pit stops weren’t quick enough, but with both stops I didn’t gain any advantage. Towards the end of the race we turned the engine down, as we weren’t racing for points in the last few laps. Looking towards Silverstone next weekend, we’ll see what comes out of our de-brief now, to see what we can do before then."
Mark Webber, Finish Position 12th, Start Position: 14th"I had a pretty good start and was fighting with Rubens (Barrichello) through Turns two and three. I got to Turn five and had to go between the cars of Ralf (Schumacher) and Rubens and nearly lost my front wing, but we got through it. I was held up by Ralf in the first stint, who in turn had Barrichello in front of him. Then, on the first lap of my second stint, I had to deal with Ralf while on new tyres, so it was a frustrating race. We tried to go shorter in the second stint to jump Rubens, but it didn’t work out."
Christian Horner"Unfortunately this was our least competitive race of the season so far, the only positive being that both cars ran reliably from start to finish."
Fabrice Lom, Renault principal engineer, track support"Today’s result shows once again how important it is to start from the front of the grid, and that it’s still very difficult to overtake other drivers because the competition is so tight this season. The engine suffered a little bit today following other cars but there is nothing to be worried about for the next race in Silverstone. The only thing we can be positive about is the fact that our direct rivals did not score any points either today, but we have to bounce back next week at the British Grand Prix!"