Japanese GP race - BMW WilliamsF1 Team

JAPANESE GP - RACE 14 October 2001

Weather:. Dry and overcast. Air temperature 23°C. Track temperature 25°C.
The BMW WilliamsF1 Team has finished the final race of the season with both 
cars in the points - Juan Pablo Montoya finished second and Ralf Schumacher 
sixth. However, for Ralf a ten-second stop-and-go for straight-lining the 
chicane and gaining a time advantage robbed him of a possible podium finish.

Juan Pablo Montoya 
Position: 2nd
Chassis: FW23 08
Fastest lap: 1:37.017 - Third fastest on lap 29
"I am happy with the result as we had to be realistic about what we could do 
against the new Ferrari that Michael had. He got away on new tyres and I 
think that is where he won the race. I had a battle with Rubens in the first 
few laps and I had a good race up to then. As you could see, Rubens was on 
new tyres and I was on old tyres and on the first few laps Michael got away 
and pulled out a big gap. I have enjoyed my first season and want to thank 
the team for everything and now it is up to us to work hard for next year."

Ralf Schumacher 
Position: 6th 
Chassis: FW23 07
Fastest lap: 1:36.944 - Fastest on lap 46 - New Lap Record
"Unfortunately the stop-and-go penalty has cost me third place, but I have to 
accept the penalty as this is the rule, although my advantage was only a 
couple of tenths of a second. After the first pit stop it seemed the speed 
limiter on Rubens' Ferrari got stuck so this is why I had to swerve at the 
end of the pit lane to avoid hitting him. All in all I am looking back on a 
season which was better than expected. Therefore, I would like to thank the 
whole team. I am confident we are going to make another step forward in 2002."

Patrick Head (Technical Director WilliamsF1)
"This is a good result for both BMW and WilliamsF1 with both cars in the 
points at the season finale. This is something we have only achieved twice 
before this season in Nurburgring and Monza. It's quite an achievement for 
the three top teams, Ferrari, McLaren and ourselves, to finish here with all 
their cars in the points. It's also pleasing the tyres proved so good , which 
shows the Michelin technicians and our engineers have worked well to get the 
best out of them."

Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director)
"Today's result underlines we have made a constant progress during the 
season. We finished with both cars, they were both in the points and Ralf set 
the fastest race lap. Even in qualifying, it was foreseeable Michael was 
going to be unbeatable here. However, Juan Pablo with a near-perfect, 
mistake-free race proved again he just might cause Michael problems in 2002. 
Juan Pablo has gained a lot of experience this season. Ralf missed his chance 
of a podium finish because of the incident in the chicane and the resulting 
stop-and-go penalty, but we have to accept that. All in all, it has been a 
great season with an encouraging finish."