FIA F1 - Post Race Comments Brazil

Interlagos, Nov. 25, 2012: Williams’ Bruno Senna and Sauber’s Sergio Perez on very early ends to their races; McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg on their collision; Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher on ending his final Formula One race in seventh; McLaren’s Jenson Button on his cool-headed victory; Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso on missing out on the title by three points; and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel on claiming a third successive championship. The drivers and senior team personnel report back on Sunday’s action…

Williams Bruno Senna (DNF) “I had a good start and was racing well but unfortunately I had an incident when Sebastian tried to take the apex and there was nowhere to go. This is racing and sometimes these things happen. I want to take the opportunity to thank the fans who were such a big support at my home Grand Prix as it always makes a big difference.”

Pastor Maldonado (DNF) “We had an excellent start moving up several places but unfortunately I lost the rear of the car at Turn Three. It was a slippery surface and there wasn’t much grip which caught us by surprise at the beginning. There wasn’t much we could do so we were unlucky today.”

Mark Gillan, Williams chief operations engineer “Both cars had excellent starts getting up into the top 10. Unfortunately Bruno got hit by Vettel who cut across him on the apex of Turn Four on the first lap and this stopped the car. Pastor was running in eighth position at the start of the second lap having gained eight positions on the first lap, but hit the wet kerb on the exit of Turn Three which pushed him off the track and into the tyre barrier prematurely ending his race.”

Laurent Debout, Renault track support to Williams “It was a very short and disappointing race for us. All the same one win and 76 points in our first year of working with Williams is a great start. The relationship has blossomed and the performance shown at the end of the year gives a lot of encouragement for next season. We will go back to Viry and Grove and continue in this vein, expecting to better this in 2013.”