European GP Williams race notes

In a very incident packed race, neither of the BMW WilliamsF1 Team cars saw the chequered flag. Ralf Schumacher had an early end to his race when he got caught in an accident between Irvine and Verstappen and slid off on lap 30 whilst in 9th place. Jenson Button didn’t finish either because of an electrical failure caused by water in the footwell. He was in seventh position at the time with only three laps to go.

Jenson Button
Final Position: DNF
Best Time: 1:23.688
Chassis: FW22 04
"It was a very difficult race. I was very close to Herbert’s Jaguar and had a couple of attempts to pass but I couldn’t get past him. It was too wet and I couldn’t see a thing. When you are a 100 meters behind it’s so difficult with all that spray! Racing in such bad weather conditions is something I am not used to. If it was clearer, I could possibly have set some good times as the car felt very good. It’s a bit of a shame that I couldn’t finish this race, especially with only a few laps to go. At the exit of the hairpin the car just died and stopped."

Ralf Schumacher
Final Position: DNF
Best Time: 1:23.802
Chassis: FW22 05
"I was on a one-stop strategy and I think I had a good chance in this race. My start wasn’t too bad and the race went well, until the rain started. The car then developed brake problems and on the straights I had to pump the pedal which caused me a couple of "off tracks". I saw the accident coming between Irvine and Verstappen at the Castol chicane, but I expected them to both slide off onto the inside. As Irvine’s rear moved onto the right in front of me, I was already accelerating and I could not avoid hitting it. "

Patrick Head (Technical Director WilliamsF1)
"A very poor race for us. We may have been guilty of letting the car out for too long on the dry tyres, but there was clearly plenty of potential for points today. Ralf was not to blame as he couldn’t avoid getting caught up in the accident between Irvine and Verstappen. Jenson had a bump with Herbert which exposed the front of the nose and from then on water leaked into the chassis and it looks as if we’ve experienced some sort of electrical shut down just before the end."

Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director)
"This was not our day. Even if we had hoped for these conditions, we could not make the most of them. Our strategy wasn’t perfect today and Ralf was involved in an accident through no fault of his own. Pity also for Jenson as he retired so close to the end of the race. A cold comfort is that we are still third in the Constructors’ championships."