Valencia,  24 June, 2012

Weather
air 28 °C
track 45 °C
sunny

After a double from Xabi Alonso in the Euro 2012 quarter final, here is one for Fernando Alonso, the first driver to take two wins this season. The Scuderia Ferrari man thus recorded his 29th win from 186 race starts in his career, the eighth from 46 races at the wheel of a “Prancing Horse”. It’s Fernando Alonso’s third European Grand Prix victory, the seventh for the team, coming on top of its win here in 2008 with Felipe Massa. For the Spaniard it’s his second win on home soil, after his victory in Barcelona in 2006. This is win 218 from 839 Grands Prix starts for the Scuderia.

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Luca di Montezemolo
“This is Ferrari at its very best, the one everyone wants to see! Fernando was extraordinary and it’s hard to find the words to describe his race. I am very sorry for Felipe, who was really unlucky: he was going very well and I’m sure he could have brought home a good result if not for all the problems he had. Today has shown the spirit of a team that never gives up and it also reflects the spirit of our homeland in Emilia Romagna, where so many people are going through a particularly difficult time after the earthquake a few weeks back: let’s hope this victory will at least have put a smile on their faces!”

Stefano Domenicali
“We are very pleased with this victory, but we won’t let it go to our heads. Yesterday, we had said that the result of qualifying did not reflect our potential and I think today’s performance proves we were right. A shame for Felipe, who really got hit with one misfortune after another, first with debris ruining the balance of his car, then with the fact the Safety Car period came immediately after he had pitted and finally, the collision with Kobayashi: he had started in fine style and had everything in hand to get a really good result. Fernando was spectacular, in terms of showing aggression and in the way he managed the car and tyres. We could tell that this weekend felt very special to him and the win was really emotional for him and the whole team. Today, some of our competitors had reliability problems and that serves as a reminder that this aspect is crucial for success: in such a closely matched season, a no-score carries a high price in the classification. We said it at the beginning: these twenty five points will definitely not go to our heads. We are well aware how things can change in the blink of an eye and we must continue to work on improving the car’s performance, because it is still not at the level we want.”

Fernando Alonso
“This has been an unforgettable day for me and I can’t find the right words to express my feelings! Winning in my country is an indescribable emotion: I still remember the victory in Barcelona in 2006 and winning today in Valencia with this fantastic team, is amazing, especially when we are going through such a difficult time at the moment in Spain. It’s nice that sport and I’m thinking of the wins for the national football team and Nadal, might be able to give people something to smile about. Stopping on the slowing down lap? I don’t know what happened but it came at the right moment, because I was in front of the grandstands and I was able to celebrate with my fans! Sport always delivers the same lessons in that there are highs and lows and things change quickly. Yesterday we didn’t make it to Q3 and today we have won: it means that we should never give up, right to the chequered flag. It’s a nice present for everyone who has come from far away, maybe even sleeping in their cars and then staying in the grandstands in this torrid heat. At the start, it was not easy to make up places and I tried to delay the braking to the maximum at Turn 4, staying on the outside. Then I started to fight my way up and, after the Safety Car, I began to think a podium could be possible. Then I attacked Grosjean and managed to pass him, although I was worried that I might have sustained some damage when we touched. After two or three corners I realised everything was alright and I relaxed. When I went into the lead after Vettel retired, we were all hoping the tyres would last to the end. I was always talking to my engineer who told me I was running the same pace as those following me: in the end, there was not much left, but unlike Canada, the others were in the same situation. It was emotional being on the podium with Andrea Stella, because he has also worked with Michael and Kimi: he could celebrate in the best way possible a totally unexpected win, given our grid position. Thinking back to yesterday, what happened confirms there is still a lot of work to be done and we have to be honest about this, to ourselves and to our fans. We will do all we can to win this championship, but we still don’t have the quickest car and we must push to reach this objective as quickly as possible.”

Felipe Massa
“What do you want me to say, nothing went right today! From lap 8 onwards I started to feel there was something not right at the back of the car and, at the end of the race, the team found some damage that had completely ruined the balance and the aerodynamic downforce level. From being able to attack the Force India, I went to losing a second a lap! I am very disappointed, because I had a good pace and could keep up with the group Fernando was in. Then there was also the collision with Kobayashi and there, any hope I had of finishing in the points evaporated. The car was going very well today and it was at the level of the best, I am pleased for Fernando, who drove a fantastic race to win, but there’s also some bitterness as today could have been very nice for both of us”

Pat Fry
“While yesterday we were maybe too sure of ourselves in Q2 and not particularly lucky, today we did everything to perfection with Fernando, while Felipe was really incredibly unlucky. The fact that this morning, we could never have expected this win makes it all the more sweet. We profited from the reliability problems of others but that’s part of the game and it’s a reminder of how important it is to ensure that the cars are sufficiently robust and not just fast. Fernando was fantastic, aggressive when he had to attack in the opening moments and very clever in managing every stage of the race. We must improve our performance because this weekend, the Red Bull showed it had made quite a step forward again and we aren’t where we want to be, meaning ahead of everyone. We have more developments coming, but we are perfectly aware that our competitors won’t be twiddling their thumbs. Now we can enjoy this fantastic win for an evening, a win which is down to everyone working here at the track and, above all, in Maranello. But then we must get down to work again to be as well prepared as possible for the Silverstone round. We are facing three races in four weeks and we must not relax, not even for a second.”

Michael Schumacher
“Wow, I did not even think of getting on the podium for any second in the race today, so what a wonderful result! Finally it happened! After such a long time waiting and for jumping on the podium so unexpectedly, I feel extra happy. I think that was the best answer to give to everybody who started doubting our work: get the car together and fight back; never give up, as anything can happen. A big thank you to the team and to everybody who kept on believing we would get on the podium again. That’s what team work is about. A special word for my mechanics and engineers who have done a fantastic job this weekend after some difficult races this year. I didn’t think a podium was possible – not even at the end of the race, because it was pretty busy in the last laps and I had lost count of where I was. Then when I crossed the line, I asked the guys where I was and they said “Third – on the podium!” It’s one of those moments that you enjoy deeply as a driver. We were close a couple of times but it was great for it to happen in a spectacular race like this, through strategy and lots of passing on a circuit where overtaking is difficult.” 

Nico Rosberg
“That was a really exciting race. I had a bad first few laps and lost positions, then the Safety Car came out at a bad moment for me. After the restart, I thought I would end up finishing out of the points, because I had the oldest tyres and therefore no grip, which made it very hard to defend. We had planned to try a one-stop strategy but had to convert to two stops, and thanks to the strategy guys, we were on fresh tyres when everybody else was struggling. I was in P12 on lap 47 and P6 at the end, so it clearly worked and we are very happy with a good team result after such a chaotic race, with two cars in the top six. A great result for Michael with his podium and I am happy to score some more nice points.” 

Ross Brawn
“Congratulations to Michael and the team on a fantastic and well-deserved podium finish. Michael demonstrated today that if we can give him the opportunities, he will get a great result. And well done to Nico as well. He was in quite a difficult position at one stage but came back and gave the team a really strong points score today. The early part of the race was quite difficult for us, and our early strategy did not come together as the tyres behaved differently to our pre-race predictions. So we had to react, and we did so extremely well, leaving our stops as late as possible to give our guys fresh rubber at the end. It was such an exciting end to the race, and I am very proud of both of our drivers, everyone here in Valencia, and back at our factories in Brackley and Brixworth today.”

Norbert Haug
“A marvellous race from Michael with the right speed and the right strategy. Coming from 12th on the grid to third on the podium is a good achievement, which Michael truly deserves and he achieved that with a great drive. Nico started sixth and lost five places during the first lap, which was a big handicap - so to climb back to sixth place was a good recovery. Since his win in China, Nico has scored one point less than Fernando Alonso, who brought home the most points in the last six races. As for the rumour spread by another team that Michael used his DRS flap where he should not have done, I can confirm that this was not the case, as our data proved and the stewards of the meeting confirmed. I am really pleased for Michael and the team. We always believed in each other and today was the first of hopefully more podiums to follow.”

The next round of the championship takes place at historic Silverstone for the British Grand Prix from 6 to 8 July.