“With regard to the race it’s good to be back on the podium. After qualifying, we knew it would be a difficult grand prix, so I am actually pleased to be third. I made a good start and was able to get lots of traction and could go to the right alongside Robert [Kubica] almost immediately. I managed to overtake him, which is usually not easy as I recall from our battles in Formula 3.
“I pushed extremely hard, particularly in the second and third stints and tried to keep up with the Ferraris. Actually I was pleasantly surprised about how close the competition at the top was, which is great for
Formula 1.
“We did a good job today. There are areas where we definitely need to improve, but it’s comforting to know that we are relatively close to
Ferrari. I look forward to the Turkish Grand Prix, where hopefully Heikki will be back in his usual fine form.”
Robert Kubica:
“We had very good pace during today’s race. Unfortunately I lost a position at the start, but anyway at the end our gap to the leader was only five seconds. If someone had told me that yesterday I would not have believed it.
“I hope Heikki is ok. When I passed the accident I saw the car in a very strange position. The
FIA is making great efforts for car safety, so we have to be really thankful to them.”
Mark Webber:
“I’m very, very happy. The team worked very hard following the test to get all the parts ready in time, and it paid off. We didn’t have a great start to today’s race, but we had good pace and we were there at the end.
“It’s great to get a strong finish. I didn’t have very good grip in the final stint, but we weren’t under pressure at that point, so we were ok. I’m happy with my driving and the team did an excellent job.”
Jenson Button:
“It was a good race for us today, and I’m really pleased to finish in sixth with three points. Unfortunately the safety car came out at the wrong time for us, although I am pleased to hear that Heikki [Kovalainen] is ok. I was on a long first stint, so it was bad timing and definitely cost me some places.
