News
22nd June 2014, 17:50
Jenson Button on his and McLaren's ongoing struggles; team mate Kevin Magnussen on the surprise of losing sixth to the charging Force India of Sergio Perez in the closing stages; and Pastor Maldonado on why he is upbeat about Lotus's progress despite both cars missing the points. The drivers and senior team personnel report back on a captivating and breathless race in Austria...
McLaren
Jenson Button, 11th
"I'd hoped we could make up some places today, but it's never easy to overtake around here. We went for a different strategy - starting on Primes - but it didn't really work for us.
"At the start, Nico [Hulkenberg] pushed me wide at the exit of Turn 1 - there was no real need for that as there was enough room for both of us - so I lost a couple of places. From then on, my race was all about sitting in the train, waiting for people ahead of me to pit, and trying to make my strategy work - which in the end I couldn't. It was a long afternoon's work for 11th place. I'm now really looking forward to Silverstone."
Kevin Magnussen, 7th
"I really thought we were going to finish sixth today, but Checo [Perez] just had too much pace at the end of the race. That wasn't great, but it's positive that we're making improvements. We've made progress this weekend, but we still need to keep pushing: we still need to find good, efficient downforce.
"Still, I think we got everything out of our package this weekend. It's tough racing in the midfield pack, like we did today, but we're going to get there. It's maybe difficult to see it from the outside, but, believe me, we're making improvements all the time."
Eric Boullier, McLaren racing director
"Kevin drove extremely maturely all afternoon, balancing the need to turn fast laps when required with the ever-present necessity to manage tyre wear. For the first half of the race, he was able to maintain a steady sixth place, best of the rest behind the two Mercedes-Benzes, the two Williamses and Fernando's [Alonso] Ferrari. He did well to hold that position until lap 66, when, running on worn Primes, he was unable to prevent Checo, running on fresh Options, from passing him.
"Jenson was never quite able to compensate for his less-than-optimal grid position, but he nonetheless did his level best to capitalise on an adventurous race strategy which in the end didn't quite work out. As a result, he was able to finish only 11th, through no fault of his own. In summary, then, seventh and 11th isn't the result we were hoping for, but, as I said yesterday, we're on the right development path, even if the gains we're making are frustratingly incremental at the moment. We'll continue to work as hard as we possibly can in an effort gradually to enlarge those gains, but it won't be an instant fix.
"Even so, we're very much looking forward to the Santander British Grand Prix, at Silverstone, the spiritual home of British motorsport, where, once again, you can be well sure that Jenson and Kevin will both be driving their hearts out in an effort to put on a good show for McLaren's many UK-based fans, who'll be cheering them on from the packed grandstands all around the circuit."
Lotus
Romain Grosjean, 14th
"Today hasn't been easy. We had various issues during the race to add to our struggle for overall performance so it was quite a challenge! We stopped very early for soft tyres but unfortunately we soon experienced graining from these which made it difficult for the rest of the race. Looking at the past, the team has always managed to make a great comeback. It might be a bit of a big build-up this time, but I know that we will work hard and do all we can to fight back to where we want to be."
Pastor Maldonado, 12th
"For me in the car it was actually quite a good weekend. We finished the race which is positive and we made the most of the package we had today. We are losing a lot of time in the slow speed corners and we need to keep improving in this area to be more like our good high speed corner performance. Unfortunately we had some brake issues from very early on in the race so I wasn't able to fight others around me, even though it was nice to be running in the top ten during the course of the race. After that, it was a case of saving fuel and brakes to get to the chequered flag. I think Silverstone will suit us much better."
Federico Gastaldi, Lotus deputy team principal
"There are positives from today. Both cars made the chequered flag in what's been a difficult race for many teams. Pastor and Romain really got their heads down and made the most of the cars under them and should be applauded for today's drives. It is obvious where we are lacking against our rivals so our focus going forwards is clear."
Alan Permane, Lotus trackside operations director
"That was a tough race in many respects. The nature of this circuit is definitely a challenge for us and we had concerns over the brakes after the hot conditions here today. We've certainly learnt a lot from our return to Spielberg and our focus now turns to the familiarity of Silverstone which should suit our package far better."
Toro Rosso
Jean-Eric Vergne, DNF
"I have struggled with the brakes from the beginning of the race. It's difficult to drive the car with such a considerable rear locking. It's not good for tyre life and for the balance in general so it was really a tricky race. I was doing my best to finish it at least but in the end I just could not bring the car to the chequered flag. Problems happen, it's a shame that they occurred here but the new aero package is working well and we have a good car to face the next Grand Prix in Silverstone. There are still a lot of races in front of us and I'm sure we are moving in the right direction for the rest of the season."
Daniil Kvyat, DNF
"I'm obviously disappointed with how today turned out, especially because everything was working so well this weekend and it seemed like a promising race. Our pace was strong, our updates and also tyre management worked well. The start was difficult, I lost a few positions but I managed to get a position back. From then on I was able to push hard and it looked like we could have a strong result. Around lap 26 I saw my rear right tyre blow up and I was forced to stop. I'm not quite sure what exactly happened, but we will now analyse everything closely and find out what the problem was today. On the positive side, we have made a solid step forward this weekend and I think it looks promising for the upcoming races, so I can't wait to get to Silverstone where we will aim high again."
Franz Tost, Toro Rosso team principal
"Starting from seventh position and not finishing the race is quite disappointing. We have to investigate the problem on Daniil's rear right suspension, as well as the brake problem on Jean-Eric's car. Generally speaking the car showed a solid performance in Qualifying and now we have work hard to transfer this also into a strong race result. It is a real shame that we were not able to do so here at the Red Bull Ring and in front of all the Red Bull family, but we are hopeful that we can come back stronger at the next race in Silverstone."
Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 track support leader
"We had a lot of promise this weekend but unfortunately didn't deliver in the race. The Power Unit has worked well over the entire event and was engaging extremely well with the new aero package. Daniil's grid position is a lot more representative of where we are than the race results show today."
More to follow...
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McLaren
Jenson Button, 11th
"I'd hoped we could make up some places today, but it's never easy to overtake around here. We went for a different strategy - starting on Primes - but it didn't really work for us.
"At the start, Nico [Hulkenberg] pushed me wide at the exit of Turn 1 - there was no real need for that as there was enough room for both of us - so I lost a couple of places. From then on, my race was all about sitting in the train, waiting for people ahead of me to pit, and trying to make my strategy work - which in the end I couldn't. It was a long afternoon's work for 11th place. I'm now really looking forward to Silverstone."
Kevin Magnussen, 7th
"I really thought we were going to finish sixth today, but Checo [Perez] just had too much pace at the end of the race. That wasn't great, but it's positive that we're making improvements. We've made progress this weekend, but we still need to keep pushing: we still need to find good, efficient downforce.
"Still, I think we got everything out of our package this weekend. It's tough racing in the midfield pack, like we did today, but we're going to get there. It's maybe difficult to see it from the outside, but, believe me, we're making improvements all the time."
Eric Boullier, McLaren racing director
"Kevin drove extremely maturely all afternoon, balancing the need to turn fast laps when required with the ever-present necessity to manage tyre wear. For the first half of the race, he was able to maintain a steady sixth place, best of the rest behind the two Mercedes-Benzes, the two Williamses and Fernando's [Alonso] Ferrari. He did well to hold that position until lap 66, when, running on worn Primes, he was unable to prevent Checo, running on fresh Options, from passing him.
"Jenson was never quite able to compensate for his less-than-optimal grid position, but he nonetheless did his level best to capitalise on an adventurous race strategy which in the end didn't quite work out. As a result, he was able to finish only 11th, through no fault of his own. In summary, then, seventh and 11th isn't the result we were hoping for, but, as I said yesterday, we're on the right development path, even if the gains we're making are frustratingly incremental at the moment. We'll continue to work as hard as we possibly can in an effort gradually to enlarge those gains, but it won't be an instant fix.
"Even so, we're very much looking forward to the Santander British Grand Prix, at Silverstone, the spiritual home of British motorsport, where, once again, you can be well sure that Jenson and Kevin will both be driving their hearts out in an effort to put on a good show for McLaren's many UK-based fans, who'll be cheering them on from the packed grandstands all around the circuit."
Lotus
Romain Grosjean, 14th
"Today hasn't been easy. We had various issues during the race to add to our struggle for overall performance so it was quite a challenge! We stopped very early for soft tyres but unfortunately we soon experienced graining from these which made it difficult for the rest of the race. Looking at the past, the team has always managed to make a great comeback. It might be a bit of a big build-up this time, but I know that we will work hard and do all we can to fight back to where we want to be."
Pastor Maldonado, 12th
"For me in the car it was actually quite a good weekend. We finished the race which is positive and we made the most of the package we had today. We are losing a lot of time in the slow speed corners and we need to keep improving in this area to be more like our good high speed corner performance. Unfortunately we had some brake issues from very early on in the race so I wasn't able to fight others around me, even though it was nice to be running in the top ten during the course of the race. After that, it was a case of saving fuel and brakes to get to the chequered flag. I think Silverstone will suit us much better."
Federico Gastaldi, Lotus deputy team principal
"There are positives from today. Both cars made the chequered flag in what's been a difficult race for many teams. Pastor and Romain really got their heads down and made the most of the cars under them and should be applauded for today's drives. It is obvious where we are lacking against our rivals so our focus going forwards is clear."
Alan Permane, Lotus trackside operations director
"That was a tough race in many respects. The nature of this circuit is definitely a challenge for us and we had concerns over the brakes after the hot conditions here today. We've certainly learnt a lot from our return to Spielberg and our focus now turns to the familiarity of Silverstone which should suit our package far better."
Toro Rosso
Jean-Eric Vergne, DNF
"I have struggled with the brakes from the beginning of the race. It's difficult to drive the car with such a considerable rear locking. It's not good for tyre life and for the balance in general so it was really a tricky race. I was doing my best to finish it at least but in the end I just could not bring the car to the chequered flag. Problems happen, it's a shame that they occurred here but the new aero package is working well and we have a good car to face the next Grand Prix in Silverstone. There are still a lot of races in front of us and I'm sure we are moving in the right direction for the rest of the season."
Daniil Kvyat, DNF
"I'm obviously disappointed with how today turned out, especially because everything was working so well this weekend and it seemed like a promising race. Our pace was strong, our updates and also tyre management worked well. The start was difficult, I lost a few positions but I managed to get a position back. From then on I was able to push hard and it looked like we could have a strong result. Around lap 26 I saw my rear right tyre blow up and I was forced to stop. I'm not quite sure what exactly happened, but we will now analyse everything closely and find out what the problem was today. On the positive side, we have made a solid step forward this weekend and I think it looks promising for the upcoming races, so I can't wait to get to Silverstone where we will aim high again."
Franz Tost, Toro Rosso team principal
"Starting from seventh position and not finishing the race is quite disappointing. We have to investigate the problem on Daniil's rear right suspension, as well as the brake problem on Jean-Eric's car. Generally speaking the car showed a solid performance in Qualifying and now we have work hard to transfer this also into a strong race result. It is a real shame that we were not able to do so here at the Red Bull Ring and in front of all the Red Bull family, but we are hopeful that we can come back stronger at the next race in Silverstone."
Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 track support leader
"We had a lot of promise this weekend but unfortunately didn't deliver in the race. The Power Unit has worked well over the entire event and was engaging extremely well with the new aero package. Daniil's grid position is a lot more representative of where we are than the race results show today."
More to follow...
For tickets and travel to 2014 FORMULA 1 races, click here (http://redirect.viglink.com?key=11fe087258b6fc0532a5ccfc9 24805c0&u=http%3A%2F%2Ftickets.formula1.com%2F).
For FORMULA 1 merchandise,