Quotes of the Week
"Flavio would not recognize a diffuser even it is were stuffed with money." Sir Frank Williams, Team Principal, Williams, amusingly responded to Briatore's anger about the diffuser affair. "Anyone is better [than Ross Brawn], even the first Chinese taxi driver you see in the street." Flavio Briatore, Team Principal, Renault, commenting that he will propose that FOTA replace Ross Brawn who is currently the head of FOTA's technical committee. Briatore is furious about Brawn's victory in the rear diffuser controversy, claiming the situation has cost most Formula One teams millions and compromised F1's credibility. "After the death of Senna the principle was to not give certain (ground) effects to the cars, but now suddenly it's all legal. Our drivers are or have been world champions, and then you have a (Brawn) driver who was almost retired, and another who is a 'paracarro' [concrete roadside post], fighting for the championship. I don't know how we can say we have credibility. It is impossible to recover the ground we have lost on those teams. In three or four races the championship will be decided and I don't know what the interest of the TV viewers will be when Button has 60 points and Nakajima 50. It will be better to listen only on radio and watch something else." Flavio Briatore, Team Principal, Renault "Bernie [Ecclestone] claimed he didn't read the FOTA association letters because his dog always ate them before he could get them in the shredder." Martin Johnson, Reporter for London's Times newspaper. "Yeah, FOTA are keen on a common KERS. But Max [Mosley] is having none of it. He wants us to have a KERS war!" Sam Michael, Technical Director, Williams "Only a person of supreme arrogance would think he is right when so many of his esteemed colleagues would disagree. Anyone with a command of English will tell you it is a hole, so do not let someone attempting to be clever with words defeat the express purpose of the rules. The appeal is not because we have not made the most of an opportunity, but because Brawn, Toyota and Williams have not acted within the regulations." Nigel Tozzi QC, Ferrari's legal representative, speaking at the International Court of Appeal. He was referring to Ross Brawn, Team Principal, Brawn GP, and the design of the diffuser used by Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams. "We didn't consider this to be a radical new design. It was an innovative approach of an existing idea, and Formula One is all about innovative design. It's a cornerstone and objective of the sport." Ross Brawn, Team Principal, Brawn GP, commenting on the design of the diffuser used by Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams
"I find it almost pleasurable to hear Ferrari say they have won 11 world championships (drivers' and constructors') with an illegal car." Adam Parr, Williams CEO, referring to Ross Brawn's reference to a number of cars – including Ferraris – from recent years which could be construed as contrary to the FIA regulations.
"Ron [Dennis] going makes no difference. I don’t know if he stepped back to put distance between himself and the team, but it won’t matter to the council. They will still want to investigate what went on around the stewards’ hearing in Australia. If he resigned to stop the hearing, it won’t work. This is not about the personalities of Ron and Max [Mosley], it is about finding out if there was more to what happened than we have already learned." Bernie Ecclestone, President and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Association, commenting on the upcoming World Motor Sport Council meeting to deliver judgment on the ‘Liargate’ scandal that has engulfed McLaren.
"The FIA took such a strong decision because they felt that someone was making a joke of them and they want to show everyone that the FIA is just like a judge. Go in front of the judge and you have to be honest and tell the truth." Jarno Trulli, Formula 1 driver, Toyota, commenting about his Australia podium being reinstated after Lewis Hamilton was disqualified for having falsely told the stewards that he didn't let the Toyota pass him.
"I think anyone who has looked at the relationship between McLaren and FIA over the last few years would have to conclude it would be healthier and more positive for all of us to have a more constructive relationship than we've had in the past. I think part of this process is that we show the FIA that we accept the seriousness of what has occurred and that we are working hard to change the culture of the business." Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal, McLaren, commenting that McLaren's shareholders "graciously" rejecting his offer to quit over the lie-gate scandal involving Lewis Hamilton and Dave Ryan.
"Thank you, everybody. It's been a very interesting situation and a mix of feelings, obviously. It feels like I just woke up from a nightmare. (Crying) I'm sorry, everybody. Everybody knows that I'm a pretty emotional guy. And to go through this with my family, it was very difficult. But the family, not only the family but the fans, they were amazing. As Roger [Penske] said, so many people sent messages. So many people sent prayers through Facebook, through the Internet, through my website. And I tell you one thing: I never lost faith. Sometimes I questioned it a little bit, but those prayers that people were sending me, it kept me really strong. It kept me really focused. And without everybody, without those prayers, it would have been very difficult to go through what I did. But, again, my message is believe the guy upstairs, believe in the Lord, because he will not let you down. And today just proved that he did not let me down." Helio Castroneves, IndyCar driver, Team Penske, speaking at a press conference in Long Beach where he competed in the IndyCar race after being acquitted at his tax evasion trial. “It's unbelievable – I'm so, so happy. Ten laps from the end I tried to control the gap between me and the car behind and adapt my pace. I was trying to have everything under control, but it was difficult. At some points I was trying to bring the car home, but that meant I lost focus, so then I just tried to take it corner by corner, not looking too far ahead. On the last two laps I backed off a bit, as I didn't want to risk aquaplaning on the water at the side of the track. And then… well it's just fantastic. Winning my second race, one with Toro Rosso and one with Red Bull, makes me extremely happy and I hope we can continue working in this direction! I'm extremely proud and happy. I'm so happy to have won the race, it was an enormous and great job by the whole of Red Bull. I want to say a massive thank you to them all, everyone has worked so hard, so thanks to the team and also to Red Bull. Greetings to Austria!" Sebastian Vettel, Formula 1 driver, Red Bull, exuberant after winning the first race for Red Bull at the Chinese Grand Prix in the rain Vettel jokingly thanked his helmet and visor "which protects my eyes as the rubber is coming off!" Sebastian Vettel, Formula 1 driver, Red Bull, commenting on Bridgestone's decision to bring the softest compound of slick tire to the Chinese grand prix.“To be here at the top of the podium is a fantastic accomplishment for a team like ours. We’ve been existence for less than a year. It was great to happen here. I came close here a few times so to finally get one is really special. We will probably have some champagne tonight. It’s a special moment. Since we started work in late February of last year, it has been nonstop work. It’s a well deserved prize for everyone. It is great that we could accomplish a victory after being so close so many times." Gil de Ferran, Team Owner and co-driver of de Ferran Motorsports, commenting on his team's first win at the Long Beach ALMS race
"I got lots of Champ Car street and road course wins, but I haven’t had one in the IndyCar Series, so to finally get one feels good for all kinds of reasons. After everything we went through last year and then Chip (Ganassi) coming up and saying, ‘Hey, do you want to drive my Indy car?’ And now we’re back here winning together. Having finished second to his cars here twice I said to him last night, ‘If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em,’ and here we are. Thanks to my crew and the whole Target team. It’s good to be back and see full grandstands and see a buzz at the track. Great day." Dario Franchitti, IndyCar driver, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, commenting after winning the maiden IndyCar race in Long Beach "The thought went through my mind — 1989 with Jack Roush (Martin's former car owner) — when I got my first win at Rockingham, I said, 'My life is fulfilled.' I thought about saying that again tonight, but I'll stop short of that But it means that much. It means just as much as getting that first one to me. We made a couple of early adjustments, but after that we never made adjustments. There were cars better than us in the middle of the race, but it came to us. At the end, nobody could run with us." Mark Martin, NASCAR driver, Hendrick Motorsports, commenting after winning the race at Phoenix International Raceway, the 36th victory of his career at 50 years old.