"It was a shame we missed a point-scoring opportunity here. Overall it was an encouraging weekend and the positive is that we have another event in just one week's time where we can try again."
Ross Brawn [Honda - team principal]:
"Shortly after we called Rubens in for the second of two planned pitstops,
Timo Glock had a crash and the safety car was deployed. We had no alternative but to continue to bring him in because he was out of fuel, although we realised that the pitlane was going to be closed due to the safety car and that this would result in a 10-second stop-go penalty. During the pitstop the lollipop was lifted just a fraction early while the fuel hose was just coming off the car. After the pitstop Rubens exited the pitlane when the lights were still red and obviously this is in breach of the regulations. A tough set of circumstances after an otherwise very committed drive by Rubens. He got a good start and was able to keep
Kimi Raikkonen behind him for 19 laps, so it is the positives that we take away from this weekend."
"In qualifying we saw that the pace of the car was in the midfield and today's race confirmed that we have the potential to fight for points, which is our target. The aerodynamic package for Melbourne has worked well but a further step is required to move us up the grid and enable us to be a regular contender in Q3."
Hirohide Hamashima [Bridgestone - director of motorsport tyre development]:
"Today we had good tyre performance with both Bridgestone Potenza compounds performing very well. We will analyse our data, but initial indications are that generally the medium compound was slightly better in race conditions. The soft compound did experience some graining, particularly when the track was dusty early in the race, but there was sufficient wear life to use a one stop strategy, and we are happy with tyre performance. It was an eventful race today, with three safety car periods. Only seven cars were running at the end and we saw competitors in the points who we would not have predicted from the winter testing. This was exciting to see. We now head to Malaysia where once more we can expect high temperatures and close competition."
