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| The first thing Ralf did....thanked his team!! |
Nurburgring (GER). A one-two victory for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team at the Nurburgring as Ralf Schumacher won the European Grand Prix ahead of team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya. This is the second one-two for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team, the last was at the 2002 Malaysian GP and it is the seventh victory in the last three and half years for the team.
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| A great drive by everyone in the winners circle |
For Schumacher it is his fifth win in F1. The team improved its’ position in the Constructors World Championship to second. It was a perfect weekend for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team, which announced on Friday the extension of their partnership until the end of 2009.
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| I never give up |
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| Ralf savors the moment |
Ralf Schumacher: 1st
Chassis: FW25 07
Best time: 1:32,826 min (lap 34, 2nd overall)
It is great to win after a long time and especially after I failed to turn two poles into victory in the last two races. I had a very good start and for some reason Michael did not. I took the chance and jumped into second position into the first corner. I think that seen from the outside that manoeuvre looked more spectacular than it actually was. I believe I could have caught Kimi, even if it would have been difficult. We had a perfect car with perfect tyres today and if we consider we were about ten kilos heavier than the others at the start, it was a very good performance.
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| This photo says it all.....Ralf pushes past Michael & his Bridgestones!! |
Juan Pablo Montoya: 2nd
Chassis: FW25 06
Best time: 1:33,094 min (lap 59, 4th overall)
I am pleased with second position, especially because after the start I dropped into 5th place. I had some problems with tyre graining, so I decided to change only the rear tyres at the first pit stop, but it wasn’t the right choice so I changed all of them at the second stop. On new tyres the car felt much better. With regards to the overtaking manoeuvre on Michael, I braked late and gave him enough room to go around the corner on the inside. We touched and he spun. It was a racing incident, even if I must say that overtaking Michael at his home GP was much fun.
Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):
It was a fantastic day today. Ralf and Juan drove superb races and the team did a great job in terms of preparing the cars and strategy. The mechanics also did an excellent job at the pit stops. It is a great result for our team and also for the championship. We know our car is competitive and we are looking forward to being strong over the next couple of races. We will maintain our aggressive development programme for the up coming races. Juan overtaking Michael was a fantastic manoeuvre that should be a normal part of F1. The fact that Michael spun was a racing incident.
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| Panke & Berger....Gehard must have enjoyed the moment almost more than RALF |
Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director):
It was just a perfect weekend for our team. First we finalised the extension of the contract and then we achieved a one-two victory on BMW’s home ground. I feel really happy for the team and especially for Ralf. Today he demonstrated to everybody that he is a first-class driver. I would suggest we have all earned a glass of champagne now.
