While Toyota and Renault bagged points in Bahrain, Williams narrowly missed out
Toyota:
Jarno Trulli: That was a very tough race for me and I did a great job so I am happy both for myself and for the team. It's my job to resist pressure and this result was due to driving experience and getting the best out of the car. The pit stops and the strategy were perfect and the car's balance was good. But the problem was that it was very hard to battle in traffic because everyone else was quicker than me on the straights. I had to defend and attack at the same time and it is hard to attack if you are slower than the cars you are fighting with when it comes to top speed. So it was a great race and it feels like a victory. I would like to dedicate the two points to my son Enzo, who is celebrating his second birthday today."
Ralf Schumacher: It's been a difficult weekend for me since the beginning and it was another hard day out there starting from so far back. Jarno's points show that it was not a bad race but I made my life hard and struggled to adapt the car to suit me since Friday. Today we didn't get away well off the line and that meant I was always going to be in traffic. If you have a less than perfect set-up then it is difficult to make up ground. So it was not a good day but we can't change that. Now we need to work hard and analyse everything. We have a new aerodynamic package coming to Barcelona so we hope that brings us further forward."
Renault
Giancarlo Fisichella: This was another tough race for us. I made a good start and the pace was really good in the first stint - I was clearly lighter than Kubica in front, but he was holding me up which meant I couldn't build a gap to the cars behind me. Then I struggled in the second stint, as the rear tyres went away very quickly and I lost a number of positions - I was on the limit, but couldn't do any more to defend my place. Then the performance came back again in the last stint on the hard tyres, and I pushed Jarno as hard as I could - but just ran out of laps to get past him. It's disappointing not to achieve our maximum today, but ultimately, that maximum was seventh position. It is one point lost, but we all know that we want to be fighting for much more than that, and hopefully we can make some progress between now and Barcelona in four weeks."
Heikki Kovalainen: I made a good start off the line, and overtook both Williams and Trulli's Toyota. Last week, I was side by side with him and he got the advantage - and I was determined that it wouldn't happen again. After that, the rear tyres dropped off quickly on the heavy fuel load and I was struggling everywhere - Trulli got past me, then I tried to defend aggressively against Rosberg, but he overtook as well after the final corner. The car improved a lot in the second stint, and I could see I was catching Fisi and Jarno, and thought that maybe we could do something. But then in the final stint, the rear end was tricky again, and I couldn't maintain the pace of the guys in front. It was a tough afternoon, like we expected, and it was a shame not to score points. We know, though, that the hard work needs to be done back at the factory - and I am confident that they will be pushing to their maximum to improve our competitiveness for the next race."
Williams:
Nico Rosberg: Not a good race today, it was a bit difficult for me. I've been struggling with the brakes this weekend. On such a hard braking circuit, it was difficult to overtake because I didn't have a feel for them. Also, every time I'd try to overtake, I'd go off-line and get dirt on the tyres. It really surprised me how long it took for them to get back in shape; it was taking one, even one and a half, laps. It was a struggle to be fighting all the time and many people around me were making mistakes again and again. Not easy. We now have more than three weeks before the next race and we must work hard to get back on top of the midfield as we were in Malaysia, because we are very close to the top and just need to find those important few tenths to stay ahead and consistently score points."
Alex Wurz: It was difficult today. I was struggling with the grip and oversteer and could not attack the cars in front, even when they were slower than me. My car had the speed and our strategy was also ok, but the problem was I could not try to overtake since I was sliding around all the time coming out of the corners because of the poor traction. It's a pity as today I was hoping to get into the points. Unfortunately, neither of us did."
