Brazilian GP Williams race notes

THE RACE - 26th March 2000

It was a good weekend for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team which proved the reliability of their cars in a race where only half of the drivers saw the chequered flag. Ralf Schumacher scored one point by achieving a solid sixth place and Jenson Button finished his first Grand Prix in seventh position, just missing the points zone.

Ralf Schumacher
Final Position: 6th
Best Time: 1:16.398
T-Car Chassis: FW22 02
"I had quite a bad start as my engine nearly died. During the race I was quick but not quite quick enough. After struggling the whole weekend to find a good set up, the race was quite hard. I hope it will be different in Imola. Anyway I didn't expect to score some points in both the first two races of our learning-year together with BMW. The BMW WilliamsF1 Team has every reason to be happy and I am myself!"

Jenson Button
Final Position: 7th
Best Time: 1:16.379
T-Car Chassis: FW22 01
"It's been a good race even if the first lap wasn't really anything special. It was a bit hectic right after the start and this didn't really help: my start was probably the worst I have ever made! I dropped from 9th to 14th position but it was good to come up and finish seventh. It would have been even better if I could have scored my first point but it didn't happen. The best part of my race was overtaking Jos Verstappen. Getting used to passing in a high-speed car obviously takes a bit of time. After failing to finish the race in Melbourne and going so close to scoring one point here I am obviously looking forward to racing in Imola and Silverstone, where the team will be testing next week."

Frank Williams
"Personally I am thrilled to bits, another championship point in our new partnership with BMW. Both cars finished strongly."

Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director)
"We have had quite solid performances in the first two grands prix with our young engine. In Interlagos the engines are very stressed and to have both cars still running strongly at the end on this circuit makes us more confident about our consistency. Running reliably and gaining experience is our main target this year. ItÕs fantastic to have again reached the point-zone with one car. Ralf and Jenson drove very good races, but unfortunately they both had bad starts. Possibly for this reason Jenson has missed scoring his first championship point. He finished his first Grand Prix, where the circuit is very demanding for the drivers. His overtaking move on Verstappen was really impressive."

The BMW WilliamsF1 Team will be testing in Silverstone on 29th and 30th March with Ralf Schumacher only.