US GP Williams race notes

Ralf Schumacher
"I am very disappointed that I had to retire when I was second. We had a problem with the engine air pressure system and I had to stop to avoid a complete engine failure. In drying conditions I was one of the quickest cars; I overtook quite a few cars and caught up to Hakkinen, it was great! I was able to keep up with Michael and - no doubt - I would have been second. We had tremendous support from the US crowd and driving at the Speedway has been a very positive experience. I am looking forward to coming back here next year."

Jenson Button
"I stopped when I was trying to overtake Barrichello on the straight. I hit something and the engine just died. I am so sorry I could not finish this race, the crowd has been fantastic here and the circuit is great. At the beginning of the race I had a puncture due to contact with Trulli. He was in front of me and from my point of view he was in the right position, he wasn't moving around or anything. I got alongside him and then maybe because of the braking it seemed to me that he slightly crossed onto my side of the circuit and we touched."

Patrick Head
"Obviously a disappointing race for us. Jenson had a bump with Trulli early on, which caused him to have a puncture. He stopped, put on dry tyres and we think something might have been bent on the car but anyway he was going very quickly and was in a good position, close up behind Ralf when the car shut down on the straight. We don't know what it is, we assume it's an electrical problem. Ralf was running a very good race in a strong second place and had a pneumatic leak somewhere in the pneumatic system that we were unable to adequately recharge. So eventually after several attempts to refill the system we decided to retire the car. What was pleasing is that the car was going very well when it was running. Now we are heading out to Japan and Malaysia and we have to get back to some points finishes."

Dr Mario Theissen
"We had to call in Ralf as we experienced an air pressure leak in the pneumatic valve system of his car. It is a true pity for us to have failed on such a little thing because our whole package was particularly quick and consistent here. Also Jenson was on a good pace and was just behind Ralf, when he was stopped by an electrical problem. In spite of the disappointing result it's good to know that we have closed the gap to the top teams with regards to performance."

TEST: The BMW WilliamsF1 Team will be testing in Estoril from Wednesday 27th to Friday 29th September. Jenson Button will be on duty for the first two days with Ralf Schumacher taking over for the last day.