US GP: Williams race notes

Today at the 2002 US Grand Prix in Indianapolis the BMW WilliamsF1 Team secured second place in the Constructors' Championship. Juan Pablo Montoya came fourth in spite of a collision with team-mate Ralf Schumacher who was forced to do a long pit stop to repair his car and ended up 16th in the race.

Juan Pablo Montoya

"At the end of the day I think I had a good race but the outcome is very disappointing. In the second lap I was passing Ralf and I braked late. I was going round the outside and suddenly he hit me. I think he braked a lot later. Then I made a mistake in the pit stop as I pitted much too early. I saw a sign out and I thought I had to come in and the crew didn't know I was coming. Unluckily, it wasn't the time to come in yet."

Ralf Schumacher

"I had a good start but after that there was the unfortunate accident with Juan. It is always difficult to pass anyone on the outside. There wasn't a lot of room there at all. Anyway, before giving an accurate opinion I should have a proper look at the TV images first. Most important is that such things should not happen between team-mates no matter who's responsible. It was very annoying that I had been pushed so far back, as my car today was really good."

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):

"It was a good day for the Championship as we have secured second place now and it is good that we have had both cars finish the race here for the first time. Apart from this we have had quite a lot of incidents in this race. Ralf and Juan came together in the first corner of lap two and Ralf lost his rear wing. The pit crew did a fantastic job to change that quickly. After this Juan was looking strong for the fuel level he had on board. Then he got confused when he thought he was signalled into the pits which was not the case. Therefore he pitted too early and could not take full advantage of the car's performance and the strategy."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):

"Indianapolis is the circuit with the longest full throttle section of all the F1 tracks and it is very demanding on the engine. Therefore, at its race debut, it is very positive that the new development of our engine behaved well right here. Both cars finished the race with no engine problems. In the last part of the race Juan Pablo was very quick but not quick enough to achieve a place on the podium as we would have needed some more laps for that. Anyway, we have achieved second place in the Constructors' Championship on the third year after BMW's comeback to F1. This is a big success for the whole team."

Juan Pablo Montoya: 4th
Chassis: FW24 04
Fastest Lap: 1:12,798 on lap 72 (3rd overall)

Ralf Schumacher: 16th
Chassis: FW24 06
Fastest Lap: 1:13,260 on lap 71 (4th overall)

-williams-