USGP race - BMW WilliamsF1 Team

UNITED STATES GP - RACE September 30, 2001

Weather: Dry and sunny. Air temperature 20°C. Track temperature 27°C.

The BMW WilliamsF1 Team cannot help but be disappointed with both Juan Pablo 
Montoya and Ralf Schumacher retiring from the United States Grand Prix within 
two laps of each other. First to go was Ralf when he spun off on lap 36 and 
then a suspected hydraulic problem caused Juan Pablo to park his car at the 
side of the track.

Juan Pablo Montoya 
Position: DNF
Chassis: FW23 08
Fastest lap: 1:14.448 on lap 35 - new lap record
"We were doing really well today until I stopped with what I think was 
hydraulic failure. It is a bit disappointing as I think we could have got a 
win here which would have been my second F1 win and two back-to-back here 
would have been brilliant. It didn't happen but we still have the last race. 
As for the overtaking manoeuvre on Michael, it was good fun, I was just going 
for it basically."

Ralf Schumacher 
Position: DNF 
Chassis: FW23 07
Fastest lap: 1:14.706 - 5th fastest on lap 22
"Over the entire weekend we didn't manage to get the car's setup right. After 
my pit stop the handling became even worse. Juan Pablo and myself were on 
different strategies as we were not sure what the tyre wear would be. It 
became clear Juan Pablo had the better strategy. The spin was my mistake, I 
lost the rear under braking for the corner. I had many great weekends and for 
me this was not so great."

Patrick Head (Technical Director WilliamsF1)
"We had mixed fortunes, although mostly fairly negative. Juan Pablo was on a 
one-stop strategy, was definitely very fast and I am confident he was going 
to be in a position to challenge for the victory. Ralf was on a two-stop 
strategy. It didn't really work for him, but the car just was not quick 
enough and on the second set of tyres the handling appeared to be very poor, 
until eventually it got away from him. Juan Pablo set the fastest lap of the 
race just before his pit stop and it looks as though there was a failure in 
the hydraulic system."

Dr. Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director)
"After a strong qualifying performance we didn't do well on race day. In the 
morning's warm-up session the engine of the t-car blew, and we will have to 
wait until we get back to Munich to find the reason. Juan Pablo was very 
strong in the race until we suffered a pressure drop in the hydraulic support 
system and this caused him to park the car. We realise our performance is not 
consistent yet, especially as we are not always able to do as well as we did 
in Monza two weeks ago."

Testing - Barcelona 3/4/5/6-10-01 - Marc Gené all days - Antonio Pizzonia 
3/5/6 - Ralf Schumacher 4 only.