Belgian GP: Williams race notes

At the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team strengthened their claim for second place in the FIA Constructor's World Championship. Juan Pablo Montoya achieved another podium finish placing third and Ralf Schumacher was fifth and also collected some points.

Juan Pablo Montoya

"This has been an outstanding outcome to a difficult weekend. I am a bit surprised I could keep up with Kimi Raikkonen who had a very fast pace in the first part of the race. I really did not expect such a good result today. When I pitted for the first time I managed to stay ahead of Kimi thanks to the great job of my team. Also we made some adjustments during the pit-stop and they helped a lot. In the last part of the race I managed to keep behind me the other McLaren of Coulthard and I would like to acknowledge the help that I received from the pitwall over the last few laps to achieve this result. We still have hopes for the second place in the drivers' championship. The moment Rubens fails, we have to be there."

Ralf Schumacher

"I can only be reasonably satisfied today as I made a few mistakes. At the start I was blocked by a slow starting Raikkonen, then I spun and went into the gravel trap and finally when I restarted after my second pit-stop I pushed the wrong button on the steering wheel by mistake. In the end I have scored two points which are very valuable to the team in the fight for the second place in the Constructors' World Championship."

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):

"It was a really good race by Juan today. He had a good start and looked after the car well but pushed when he needed to. Ralf lost some time when he spun on the way to a pit stop and then we had a problem leaving at the second stop. The team worked very well at all four pit stops and we did not suffer from any technical problems today. We have had a reliable car and engine. The Ferraris are still a long way in front of us, but they remain our target."

Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director):

"Juan Pablo drove a strong race today. He was constantly under pressure but he asserted his authority against the McLarens. Unluckily Ralf lost some time at the start and with his spin. Both the drivers took advantage of very good pit-stop work. In one go we have achieved six points today and strengthened our position in the Constructors' Championship widening the gap by three points to McLaren."

Juan Pablo Montoya: 3rd
Chassis: FW24 04
Fastest Lap: 1:49.293 on lap 44 (3rd overall)

Ralf Schumacher: 5th
Chassis: FW24 06
Fastest Lap: 1:49,681 lap 15 (5th overall)

-williams-