Quotes of the Week
"If they come in here with a gun and hold it to my head, they had better be sure they can f—ing pull the trigger. And they should make sure it's got bullets in it because, if they miss, they better look out." Bernie Ecclestone, President and CEO of Formula One Management and Formula One Association, commenting on the threatened boycott of the Australian Grand Prix by Flavio Briatore of Renault, and Ron Dennis of McLaren due to a dispute over unpaid income
"I think I was born under a lucky star to announce the sponsorship, and then an hour later to get a pole position and a second pole position. It certainly was a dream come true. We've had literally hundreds of proposals [from F1 teams]. The reason we liked this team was they were the underdog team, and Virgin likes to be the underdog in the battle. We weren’t expecting them to be the underdog team quite so quickly." Sir Richard Branson, commenting on naming Virgin as a major sponsor to the Brawn GP Formula 1 team just prior to Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello qualifying 1st and 2nd for the Australian Grand Prix
"What an amazing day! This is just a fairytale ending to the first race of our career together at Brawn GP. It may have looked like an easy victory but it really wasn't easy at all out there today but we brought the car home and that's all that matters. This win is for me, my family and my team. It's been a traumatic few months and I want to say a massive thank you to them all for being so strong and never losing belief. This weekend we have achieved everything that we deserve for all of our hard work over the past few months. And what's so exciting is that there is so much more to come from myself and from this team. I can't wait to get to Malaysia!" Jenson Button, Formula 1 driver, Brawn GP, winner of their maiden race at the season opener at the Australian Grand Prix
"We have worked incredibly hard for this victory today and to see the dedication, commitment and sheer hard work come to fruition with Jenson and Rubens bringing home a one-two finish for Brawn GP at the first race of the season is immensely rewarding. After everything that our team has been through over the past four months, this is quite simply a sensational result. It's difficult to put into words what this win means to our team but I'm sure that I speak for every single one of them, here at the track and back at the factory in Brackley, when I say it has been a wonderful weekend." Ross Brawn, Team Principal, Brawn GP, commenting after winning their maiden race at the Australian Grand Prix Formula 1 season opener
"Ferrari have only woken up because someone has driven faster than them. The accusations are coming from teams who did not come up with the idea and now they are getting angry. For anyone who has read the rules it was quite obvious." Ross Brawn, commenting on rivals, including his former Ferrari team, questioning the legality of its (and two other teams) rear diffuser.
“The last two years have been very tough. To drive that car we had last season, it was a handful. It was a beast — but we had to deal with it. This win is for me and for the team and that’s what I care about. There have been a lot of positive comments in the past and those are the ones that you obviously enjoy. I’m just happy to be here and I’ve worked bloody hard to be here. You don’t find Ross Brawn speechless very often but the last 15 minutes I’d be surprised if the Big Bear said a word. When we saw him when we went up to the podium he had nothing to say. It was good to see as it was a very emotional day for him — as it is for us as well." Jenson Button, Formula 1 driver, Brawn GP, winner of their maiden race at the season opener at the Australian Grand Prix
"The biggest problem they (the protesting teams) have is that they didn't think about it. Williams have done a stunning job, obviously as have Brawn GP and a few other teams. The others have been caught with their pants down and they don't like it. It's all credit to the officials for saying that those cars are within the regulations and they cannot see anything wrong with them. But if one of those cars wins and the appeals are upheld then they will lose the race and that will be a terrible start for what should be a fantastic year ahead." Nigel Mansell, 1992 F1 World Champion, does not agree with big teams including BMW, Red Bull, Ferrari and Renault that the accused trio need to scrap their clever rear diffuser designs. "I didn't get to take a picture with Bodine 25 years ago, but we got to take one out there today with Jimmie. It was a special day. You know, any time you can win here, it was a heck of a race, it's really neat to be able to win one to celebrate the 25th, so excited." Rick Hendrick, Hendrick Motorsports, commenting after Jimmie Johnson won the NASCAR race at Martinsville Speedway on the 25th anniversary of Hendrick’s first Sprint Cup Series win as a car owner "Kurt, if you don't want to be in the car, get out and I'll get somebody else to drive it." Roger Penske, team owner, Penske Racing, talking to Kurt Busch on the radio during the NASCAR race at Martinsville Speedway after Kurt was getting emotional during the race "It is like being on an airplane. There are moments when you climb, moments when you dive and moments of turbulence. It has not been a fun flight. The good news is that this plane will be landing soon. Every day we get back on that plane. Up and down, turbulence, whatever the day brings we just keep hanging on. Hanging on until it finally lands." Helio Castroneves, IndyCar driver, Team Penske, commenting during a break during his tax evasion trial