|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Ralf finished 7th at Bahrain and received an official reprimand. Ralf: After all that happened in my race I would define my final position as damage limitation. The collision with Sato was an unfortunate race incident, from my point of view, however, he was a bit optimistic in thinking to get back the position he had simply just lost. All in all, I am not too disappointed because I have seen from the data that I was running close to Ferrari's pace, whenever I had free track ahead. This leaves some room for hope. source: sportinglife.com Mario Theissen: "I hope we can repeat what we did last year. We just have to move on. But I think the tyres and the weather might have a lot to do with it". He said the Imola race track should suit BMW-Williams a bit more. source: homeoff1.com Ralf on the Bahrain qualifying: "I am really pleased with my car and my qualifying performance. My race set-up should turn into an advantage tomorrow. But still, my lap time could have been better today. I lost some time in the middle sector. Ferrari seems to be very strong again, but I think, if my brother and Rubens do not manage to open up a gap soon after the start, we could give them a hard time tomorrow" source: grandprix.com Ralf on the Bahrain circuit: The increasing amount of grip was a problem in itself according to Ralf. "One small problem is the fact that since the track gets quicker and quicker, we don’t know if our car goes faster thanks to the set-up changes we make or just because of the improved grip-level. I generally like the track very much even if it is still quite dusty" source: planet-f1.com Speaking to BBC Sport Online Ralf said that the team has not been happy with their form since the start of new season. "We are pretty unhappy with the last two races. It is a bit surprising that we could not get it together when you look at the end of last year when we were very close to Ferrari and were beating them at times. But I don't think it is going to take us as long as it did last year to sort out the problems. I'd say we are only three or four tenths away at the moment" Ralf on Renault: "I think at the moment the best car in the pit lane is Renault, when you consider that from rumors they have 80 or 90 horsepower less than the top team and they are pretty quick" he told reporters at the new Bahrain Grand Prix circuit on Thursday. "The car looks very nicely done and seems to have good aerodynamics, as they had last year. In Malaysia it (the Renault) came from the back and in Australia they were ahead of us by 25 seconds or so" source: espn.go.com Ralf does not talk to his brother Michael about Formula One any more because he is eager to win the title himself. "We still talk to each other like in the past, but Formula One is a taboo topic because we've become such rivals professionally" Ralf told Germany's Bunte magazine on Wednesday. Michael said he sees Ralf every fortnight. "How many other brothers can say they see each other every two weeks?" source: reuters.co.uk Ralf on the upcoming race in Bahrain and his recent engine failure: I am convinced that the Bahrain Grand Prix will be a lot of fun, for the drivers and for the public. I’m already excited to see how the place has changed since my short visit in December last year. The race is opening new frontiers for Formula One but going to a new track inevitably throws up various questions, for example will it suit our car and how comfortable will I feel on the new track? The role the dry heat will play and whether sand will be a problem are also going to be issues we will have to face. Juan Pablo's second place in Malaysia has shown that we are not that far away from Ferrari as we feared, but there's still a long way to go to before we can beat them. Testing at Le Castellet this week has shown that we are working in the right direction so I hope that we will be able to make up more ground in Bahrain. The engine failure doesn't annoy me at all. We haven't experienced an engine problem for more than a season, so this isn't a major issue. I would rather have it happen in a situation like in Malaysia when eighth place would have been my best possible result anyway than at another race when I'm in the lead. Ralf's verdict on the Malaysian GP: I had a reasonable start but got trapped in traffic, so I lost several positions and dropped to ninth place. At the third lap I had contact with Webber and my front wing was damaged, causing massive understeer, especially in sector two which was obvious from my times. I was trying to overtake Mark but then I realised there was not enough room and I backed off, trying to avoid the collision, however Mark didn't give me enough space. Finally I had a technical failure, which caused an early end to my race. Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport director: The engine failure was completely unexpected and was not due to the hot temperatures. We didn't take any big risk either. The failure must have been due to a defective part. Q: How did you see your car’s performance at the last Grand Prix, the opening Grand Prix of the year? It was clear to see certainly we are not pretty happy with it. First of all being behind Ferrari so far away, then obviously behind Renault, that is what we didn’t expect, but I am sure we can turn it around. It will take a bit of time but I guess it will be a bit different here anyway. Melbourne was pretty cool for our circumstances at least for the tyres and everything, so it should be better here. Q: Was it a surprise to Williams to be where they were in Melbourne? Definitely. I think winter testing went pretty well for us, we were pretty much at the top, so we expected to be at the top in Melbourne as well. Qualifying, at least for my team-mate, was decent, but then in the race it was clearly a different world. That is what we didn’t expect and we woke up pretty quick. We were really surprised, yes. Q: So, you've got improvements in the pipeline, the normal development. Has that now been accelerated? What is the situation post-Melbourne? Well, we tested... There are no significant changes here for us because we are a bit short of time. For Bahrain we expect something but for here it is basically the same package, only little changes. Q: What were your feelings about the one-engine rule over the weekend? We weren’t limited in mileage, we did our programme, but in a way it is right. And anyway I cannot see the cost saving effect. Talking to our supplier there is no difference basically. And obviously for smaller teams it is going to be more difficult because we will see less driving, definitely. Q: How about the lack of launch control? Did you enjoy that? Well, it could be an advantage because starting is not going to be as consistent as it used to be but it is something the driver takes care for and it is another mistake we could do and not blame it on the team so it makes our life more difficult. Q: Since the Australian Grand Prix your name has been connected with Renault and Toyota. Are these just rumours? What is going on? I have no intention to stop yet, or for the next ten years maybe. No, but, definitely, my clear... I just... I’m pretty clear about what we want to achieve with Williams this year. Obviously we are a bit far away from that at the moment but we saw last year that can always turn around, so I am pretty confident in that. And whatever will be the future, as soon as we know it, we will let you know, obviously. Q: But is Renault true? Is Toyota true? Have you been talking to all these people? At the moment I am talking to BMW-Williams, that is the team where I am and where I would like to stay and we are still talking about it. That is all I can say. Q: David, should you leave McLaren, would you consider one of the vacancies, should there be two, at Williams? DC: Yeah Ralf, hurry up and make a decision, for God’s sake! Yeah, it is my intention to be on the grid next year and obviously that means finding the most competitive drive I can other than McLaren, because McLaren’s position is quite clear. Q: (Stan Piecha - The Sun): Ralf, after Melbourne Juan Pablo was quoted as saying you nearly had him off the track. Do you have anything to say on that? Um, the only thing I have to say is that it was a pretty strong move and next time I WILL have him off the track. DC: Phew, that’s brilliant! Oh, sorry, I was just meant to think that! I was thinking how mild the question was, because I was thinking you would have said something a bit more like ‘Juan Pablo said you were an idiot...’ you know, really wind him up, but you didn’t need to! Q: (Stan Piecha) Do you feel that strongly about it? No, it was just a move that was based on me making space for him, which I did not, obviously because that early in the race I did not want to put our positions into danger on the basis of scoring as much as possible and getting the best out of the weekend. I just think that move was not the right thing to do at the time. Q: (Stan Piecha): And have you had a word with him about it? I don’t need to say anything about it, other than what I said before. Q: (James Allen - ITV): So, presumably what you are saying is you detect quite a significant difference in him and his approach to racing this year. How much of that do you put down to the fact that he knows he is leaving the team at the end of the year and that he knows he doesn’t have much to lose in his relationship with you or the team? To be honest, we have a reasonable relationship as team- mates, that’s not the thing. Sometimes we clearly do not agree on the circuit, which is normal because we both want to win. Otherwise I am concentrating on the team’s problem at the moment, which is trying to fill the gap, than on whatever my team-mate does, to be honest. Q: (Byron Young - The Daily Mirror): What didn’t you like about his manoeuvre? I think I have said enough about it. The only thing I would add is that if someone brakes into a corner with the intention of either crashing into somebody or assuming that he will give space then that is the wrong move, let’s put it that way. Q: (Shing Huei Peh - The Straits Times): Can you comment on how the heat affects your driving here? I think that besides losing fluid it is not a big problem. It is really depending on how hard it is to drive. When I won here two years ago it was a nice easy Sunday afternoon drive but last year it was more difficult. It depends whether the car is easy or difficult to drive. Q: Do you have a water bottle in the car? Do you have fluid available during the race? Yeah, if I want to, yes, maybe I will take some on board. Webmaster: I was reading in a magazine this week how they have chilled water in the car and can have a drink when they want through a tube in the helmet by pressing a button on the steering wheel saying "drink". source: f1.racing-live.com Ralf on his Rivals: Ferrari are absolutely from another world. If Williams can't catch them this year then maybe they will never catch them. I am not frightened (by their pace), but I am alarmed. Ralf after finishing 4th from 8th on the grid in Australia: Of course I cannot be happy with today's result, even if, after all, I have made up four places from my starting position and I have collected some points for the team. We were on a good strategy and the team did an excellent job in the pits. Worrying is the fact that at this race, we are missing one second from Ferrari, which I didn't expect and I believe this is down mainly to the design of their car as well as to some tyre graining for us, which we have to overcome. The whole of our package needs to improve slightly and this is going to take maybe a couple of races, but I am confident we can make it. |
|
|
|
|
|
Other Sponsors electrical connectors, Mangosteen Juice, real estate short sale, Jupiter FL real estate, |
Furniture Markdown Great Deals on furniture - Free Shipping! |
Y-Net Wireless Internet Denver area high speed wireless privider. |
|
|
Dog House Technologies Doghouse Techonologies is located in Tampa Bay FL and offer professional web design, ecommerce development and custom application design for the internet. |
|||