Belgian GP race - BMW WilliamsF1 Team

Belgian GP - RACE 2nd September 2001

Weather: Overcast but dry. Air temperature 16°C. Track temperature 16°C.

After the best possible result in qualifying, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team failed 
to score any points in the Belgian Grand Prix. Due to problems on the grid at 
both the first and second starts neither of the drivers were able to take 
advantage of their front-row positions. Juan Pablo Montoya stalled at the 
first, and at the second Ralf Schumacher could not leave the grid as his car 
was still raised off the track after the team had run out of time changing a 
rear wing beam. At the end of the race Ralf was seventh, while Juan Pablo 
retired with an engine failure just after the re-start.

Ralf Schumacher 
Position: 7th
Chassis: FW23 07
Fastest lap: 1:51.058 - 2nd fastest on lap 25
"This was a difficult race and with each set of tyres I suffered from 
understeer to begin with and later on oversteer. The car was also too slow, 
and furthermore we made mistakes. There are many things we can learn from 
today."

Juan Pablo Montoya 
Position: DNF
Chassis: FW23 06
Fastest lap: 1:55.832 - 17th fastest on lap 4
"I am really sorry about what happened to Luciano and I hope he is going to 
be okay. On the first start, the car fired up but as soon as I pressed the 
clutch it stalled. On the second start I went off like a rocket and was 
looking good until De la Rosa who had been hit by Heidfeld ran into me. Then 
the car was pulling to one side and I was a bit scared something was going to 
break so on the first lap I took it quite easy. I was pushing pretty hard 
past three or four cars and past Ralf, it was kind of exciting. Then the 
engine just went. Weekends like this are just racing!"

Patrick Head (Technical Director WilliamsF1)
"Just as we got quite a few things right yesterday, we made some very severe 
errors today both in the settings of the car and with problems that occurred 
on the grid. The important thing is we understand what we have done and make 
sure we put it right in the future. It is quite clear we have still got a lot 
to learn."

Dr. Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director)
"We had enough problems for a whole season in this race. On the first start 
Juan Pablo's engine died and then on the second start Ralf's car was not 
ready in time. Then during Ralf's pit stop the air gun malfunctioned, and 
overall we just didn't have the pace we needed today. This makes zero points 
at the end of the day, and this is what we deserved."

Testing - Magny Cours 5/6/7-09-01 - Juan Pablo Montoya and Marc Gené

Current high-resolution photographs may be downloaded from the BMW Press Club 
at www.press.bmwgroup.com (registration at any time).


Media contact:

WilliamsF1
Ann Bradshaw
ann.bradshaw@williamsf1.com
Tel: +44 79 772 75 838

BMW
Guido Stalmann
Tel: +49(0) 170 5666 112
guido.stalmann@bmw.de

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Sylvia Proudfoot
spur07@cs.com
403 287 3945