United Kingdom: The Race Seen from the Pits

Mercedes

**Nico Rosberg** – Winner

Lewis Hamilton – 4th

Ross Brawn, Team Principal: « It’s a very special feeling to win here at Silverstone and especially after such a complicated afternoon. Nico [Rosberg] made no mistakes today; he drove brilliantly, managed his tires well when needed, and was perfectly positioned to take advantage of others’ issues. It was really tense in the final laps after the second intervention of the safety car, but Nico showed he had the speed to compete and the composure to bring the car to the finish. It’s his second win in three races and he truly deserves it. As for Lewis [Hamilton], he showed what he’s made of today. He drove magnificently when he was leading and slowed down after his tire issue. Then he came from last on lap 9 to finish in 4th position – he was doing incredible laps with a damaged car in the final laps. I am certain he will take a lot of hope for the rest of the season from the pace demonstrated today. But the highest praise must go to our entire team. They have worked day and night this year to improve this car, solve our tire management issues, and put us in a position to fight against our rivals. Today, we have taken another step in the right direction. It’s very special to have done this here at Silverstone, in front of our colleagues, families, and friends. Congratulations to the whole team. »

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Red Bull

Mark Webber – 2nd

Sebastian Vettel – Retirement

Christian Horner, Team Principal: « Going up to 12 laps from the finish in a position to win and having to retire due to a transmission problem leaves us very bitter, especially at that point in the race, but Sebastian [Vettel] did everything he needed to do and we will have to deal with it. As for Mark [Webber], after a difficult start and being hit at the first corner, he made an amazing comeback, notably thanks to a great wing change in the pits by the guys. His driving was also remarkable. He managed to keep his head down to achieve his goal and was very close to victory, but nonetheless, second place is a very good performance for him and for the team! »

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Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – 3rd

Felipe Massa – 6th

Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal: « We arrived at Silverstone with very different expectations in terms of performance than what we were able to show this weekend, and now our main objective is to understand as quickly as possible why we are in this situation. If we want to continue fighting for the championship, it is vital to improve our car, because in terms of performance, our rivals have taken a step forward. Today, the standings reflect the goal set, which was to close the gap before the summer break. Fernando and Felipe had incredible races, and the team managed the tire issues in the best way. Now, there is little time to react, and we can expect several busy days leading up to the German Grand Prix, and we need to use these days to move forward, working calmly to find answers to the questions that arose this weekend. »

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Lotus

Kimi Räikkönen – 5th

Romain Grosjean – 19th

Eric Boullier, Team Director: The outcome of the race is not really advantageous given the amount of work the team has put in recently. Most of the updates brought here have worked well, which is positive, even though we struggled a bit during qualifying to find grip. Our strategy was good today until the last safety car intervention where we should have brought Kimi [Räikkönen] in to save at least one position and be on the podium. Unfortunately, we made the wrong choice and we apologize to Kimi and the team. These are things that happen and it’s not easy to manage when you have so many safety car interventions. We will be in Germany in a few days where we are confident of being competitive and we hope to make amends.

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Force India

Adrian Sutil – 7th

Paul di Resta – 9th

Vijay Mallya, Team Principal: Before the race, we set the goal of getting both our cars in the points, so I am delighted to see we achieved that. This means we have scored points in the last six Grand Prix. Adrian [Sutil]’s race was very strong and for a while, it even looked like he could fight for a podium. However, the two safety car interventions closed up the pack and limited the benefits of his two-stop strategy. Paul [di Resta]’s race was very busy, but once again, he fought his way back into the points and demonstrated the car’s speed. With 8 points scored today, we continue to strengthen our 5th place in the [constructors’] championship and we look towards Germany where we hope to carry on our momentum.

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Toro Rosso

Daniel Ricciardo – 8th

Jean-Eric Vergne – Retirement

Franz Tost, Team Principal: We hoped for better this afternoon. Both our cars had poor starts and we need to look into that. Then Jean-Eric had his tire issue, fortunately not too far from the pit entrance, but as a result, his car was heavily damaged and we eventually decided to retire him because of it. As for Daniel, we had three problems: he lost time during his first stop when we struggled to remove one of the wheels, which cost him places, then at the second stop, we had to delay his release because another car was incoming, losing him another 3 seconds. Lastly, with the final safety car intervention, we faced a tough choice, as his tires were worn and we didn’t have any new ones to fit, but the guys behind pitted for fresh rubber and eventually passed. On the positive side, we can be pleased in terms of performance, the car is clearly continuing to improve and now we have just a few days to wait before we try to turn this improvement into a larger number of points at the Nürburgring.

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Sauber

Nico Hülkenberg – 10th

Esteban Gutiérrez – 14th

Tom McCullough, Track Engineering Manager: « This has been one of the busiest days on the pit wall in a while. We had a slow puncture with Nico [Hülkenberg]’s car and then a front-left issue on Esteban [Gutiérrez]’s car, and these two incidents compromised our strategy. Esteban had to stop two laps later because his front wing was damaged. However, from a very difficult situation, Nico managed to finish 10th, which gives us a very important point for the championship. »

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Williams

Pastor Maldonado – 11th

Valtteri Bottas – 12th

Mike Coughlan – Technical Director: « It was a complicated race, but both drivers did a good job today and deserved some points. Valtteri [Bottas] managed to overtake Jenson Button on the final lap to take 12th place, and Pastor [Maldonado] nearly finished in the top 10 but lost two positions during the third start, after the Safety Car period. Both our drivers managed to handle tire degradation while gaining places from their starting positions. Thanks to all the team’s employees, our partners, and the fans who came to support us at our home race. »

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McLaren

Jenson Button – 13th

**Sergio Pérez** – 20th

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Director: « It was a character-defining weekend for Checo [Sergio Pérez], who, through no fault of his own, had to deal with several setbacks on Saturday and Sunday. He drove beautifully today, showcasing the skills that have made him such a popular attacker.

He drove very well all afternoon and was on track to earn deserved points. Ending his afternoon with a new tire problem was very cruel. Nevertheless, I am thrilled with how quickly he dealt with this issue; his weekend will make him even stronger.

Jenson was not lucky either. We decided to keep him on track during the last safety car deployment. We knew it would be difficult to stay ahead of all the cars with fresh tires, but we were confident that we could still achieve a good result.

However, our confidence proved to be misplaced; he was unable to get his tires up to temperature in the last stint and, as a result, could not defend himself, gradually slipping down the ranks to finish out of the points.

I want to thank the tens of thousands of fans who supported F1 throughout the weekend in all weather conditions. It goes without saying that the British fans are the best supporters we have, and their support for the team, even during a difficult weekend like that one, was extremely rewarding. The fans were absolutely fantastic.

Overall, it was a tough weekend for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team. However, we learned some useful lessons and we will take them into account for the next race weekend in Germany, where we will aim for a better result.

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Caterham

Charles Pic – 15th

Giedo van der Garde – 18th

Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal: « I am really happier leaving tonight our second home race of the season than I was in Montreal, but we must continue to work hard. Seeing Charles [Pic] well ahead of the Marussia and trying to fight with Bottas’s Williams is a sign that we are regaining performance, a bit like at the beginning of the season. However, it is a bit frustrating that in such a disrupted race we couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities to achieve an even better result…

After several particularly frustrating races and repeated retirements, we reached a very low point in Canada. This weekend is somewhat of a fresh start in our season. The team is now fully operational between the track team and the factory team, as well as between the drivers and engineers and our partners. This will allow us to get the best out of the car. We all feel that there is still a lot to be gained from this car, and we must now switch to “attack” mode and see what we can deliver on the track.

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Marussia

Jules Bianchi – 16th

Max Chilton – 17th

John Booth, Team Principal: « We arrived today with wonderful weather for our home race, which was good news for the fans. The strategy for this race was expected to be challenging, as just like in Canada, we saw a significant evolution in track conditions between the long runs on Friday and the race. Overall, I think we managed both types of tires well. The engineers and the pit wall team worked very well together today to generally execute the plan set out at the start of the race, but unfortunately, we lacked the pace to allow Jules [Bianchi] to fight with Pic. Max had some good battles with Giedo [van der Garde] during the race but ultimately stayed ahead, which is good for him after being disappointed with his qualifying yesterday. We are slightly disappointed in the end as we took a small step back, but we already have some good ideas on how to make improvements to our setup for Germany to get ourselves back in a strong position. »

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