Frank Williams Q&A
At first glance a second place at the Nurburgring might seem to be a disappointing outcome for Williams when a win was there for the taking, but a delighted Frank Williams could see the bigger picture. He knew that a 10s penalty, rather than any fault of his team, had cost Ralf his shot at victory. Most importantly the car was competitive on a track that, unlike Imola and Montreal, was not all about chicane and straights, while the day was made even better by a sensible drive from Juan Pablo Montoya that netted the Colombian his second podium finish
"It's nice to think of winning every time you go out, but beating Michael at home... We know we gave him a bit of a push, but we're very happy with the result."
"That's a question between two brothers, and we'll leave it like that rather than the team start going on about what they think."
"The rule is clear. I don't think Charlie [Whiting] had too much choice. Maybe he got a little reminder of an e-mail from another team, I don't know. I wouldn't know, but that's what generally happens amongst ourselves when it gets tight at the top."
"I didn't notice at the time, but when they showed the replay yes, he was over, so we can't criticise that."
"Well the evidence today is that we were today and in Montreal. But at the sharp end it's normally between two teams, and we're pleased to be a third team interfering with the established order. But we're not good enough to beat Ferrari yet, or McLaren consistently. That's our internal opinion. But we know we're close."
"On the first set of tyres of tyres the car was very sharp. Juan was the other way round. His first set wasn't perfect, the balance was a bit too oversteery, but it was a little more settled on the third set, it was very strong."
"This is Ralf's fourth and a half season. It's Juan's ninth Grand Prix. The difference is what's in their brain box, the data, is enormous. I said just don't try and be a hero in the first half of the season, just learn, learn, learn. Watch what Michael does, because he's damn clever, and watch what Ralf does, because he knows the car and the team."
"I'm the first to tell you I have bugger all to do with the strategy, and I try not to whinge about it when it goes wrong. I think I'm right in saying that our strategies are pretty damn good nearly all the time now. And that was a good strategy, yes."
"No. A lot of it is coloured by the tyre of course. Whether that's good or bad is not for me to pontificate about. But I repeat you know what we're like, we don't beat our chests. We think we've got more work to do."
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