BMW WilliamsF1 Team-U.S. GP-Race
United States Grand Prix - RACE
28th September 2003
Weather: changeable, showers, air 11-13°C, track 15-20°C
Indianapolis (USA). The changeable weather and track conditions didnıt help
the BMW WilliamsF1 Team today. Juan Pablo Montoya finished in 6th position
whilst team-mate Ralf Schumacher spun off on the wet track. The BMW
WilliamsF1 Team now lies three points behind Ferrari in the Constructorsı
Championsihp, whereas Juan Pablo Montoya has now lost any chance of winning
the Driversı title.
Juan Pablo Montoya: 6
Chassis: FW25 06
Best time: 1:11,595 min (lap 9, 3rd overall)
"A very disappointing race, basically decided by the penalty I was given
for the accident with Rubens and the moment I had to pay it. Due to the
changeable weather conditions, in fact, it started to rain hard just when I
was given my drive throughı penalty, which forced me to delay by one lap my
pit-stop to change onto wet tyres. It is sad to lose my Driversı
Championship chances in this way, especially knowing that I just needed to
finish 5th today, to keep my hopes open."
Ralf Schumacher: DNF
Chassis: FW25 07
Best time: 1:11,655 min (lap 13, 5th overall)
"When it started to rain quite heavily around lap 20 I stayed out on the
track one lap too much which was unfortunately due to a misunderstanding
with my engineers on the pit-wall. It was obviously not the right decision
and I spun on the track which had become very slippery, hit the barriers and
had to retire from the race. The conditions out there were very difficult,
very challenging. It was a very disappointing end, especially because I was
right up there amongst the leaders and ahead of Michael and Kimi."
Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):
"It was obviously a bad day for both championships from our point of view.
We have made quite a lot of mistakes as a team today which we have to
address for the next race in Japan."
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
"Our race has actually been decided by the weather conditions. When the rain
came, the order got mixed up and changed again when the track dried out.
Due to this Ralf spun and damaged the rear suspension. Juan Pablo dropped
far behind when he served his drive through penalty and had a fuel rig
problem and especially for him the result is disappointing as he is now out
of the fight for the Driver's title. The Constructors Championship is not
decided yet, and we just hope weather will not be the crucial factor again
in Suzuka. Congratulations to Michael and Ferrari, they made the most out of
it today."