Juan Pablo's Hungarian GP


By Andrew Hooper
August 25 2003

 

 

 
Juan Pablo's Hungarian GP
 
For BMW WilliamsF1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya any chance of victory in last Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix disappeared at the start when both he and team-mate Ralf Schumacher had extremely poor starts which saw them drop down the order. For Juan Pablo this meant eighth place on the opening lap of the race.

Juan Pablo explained what exactly happened at the start and the opening lap by saying: "I was eighth into turn one. I couldn’t believe it. I let the button go, and everybody went past like we were not even accelerating. Came round the first corner in eighth. I actually gained a place, I actually was behind Ralf first ninth or tenth when I went into turn one. I managed to get to eighth and then…

Montoya celebrates 3rd.Passing was quite difficult so I just really waited for the pit stops, then people pitted and I had a clear track and I pushed. We clearly had probably the fastest car again, I did the fastest lap of the race but apart from that everything went pretty well. I made a mistake with ten laps to go. I spun; I just backed off too much. I lifted and just lost the rear.

He later added: "I think at the start of the race I was joking, you know, that if I have a bad start I would lose a place or two at worst and I was like ninth out of turn one, I couldn’t believe it. Everybody out-dragged off into turn one. After that we had a really good pace. I set the fastest lap of the race, I got two fastest sectors and Ralf got the other one so that would show we have probably got the quickest car out there. But when you are eighth and the other guy has got a clear track you cannot do anything about it."

Juan Pablo explained how he was concerned about starting on the right side of the track, a part that is rarely used. He pointed his concerns out to the FIA

Juan Pablo said: "I think just the wrong line. Generally people on the right had a slower start than people on the left. I did mention to Charlie (Whiting) yesterday that it was very difficult because last year we had a warm-up and people starting on the right would go there and clear it up a bit. This year you don’t know where you start until after qualifying and the next time you go through there is the start of the race. I said to Charlie that you are going to see people on the right lose a lot of places and I think something is going to have to be done about that because it is just horrendous."

His predictions for the start of the race proved to be totally correct.

While running third Juan Pablo would have a moment that would see him spin off the track allowing team-mate Ralf Schumacher to close in on him.

Juan Pablo explained the circumstances of his spin by saying: "I just went into the corner and as soon as I turned in it swapped ends on me and the first thing that I did was go full throttle so it wouldn’t go backwards into the gravel. Then into first gear and go again."

As for the fact that his spin allowed Ralf to be in a position to attempt to close in onto his car Juan Pablo added: "He came a little bit close and I asked the team are we racing and they said yes, Ralf is about to pass, and I just pushed a little bit and pulled a little bit away from him. I was always a bit quicker than him and I was miles quicker than Jarno so I knew I had as good a pace as him and I knew it was going to be okay."

As for his championship hopes, now that he is only one point behind Michael Schumacher in the drivers championship Juan Pablo previously allowed a degree of caution to enter into his comments. But after the race in Hungary his views seemed to reflect the need for him to match his main rival Michael Schumacher.

Juan Pablo explained his position towards the last three races of the season by saying: "Well, you’ve gotta push. You have got to make sure you push. Michael has been pretty aggressive in racing. On the first lap I was going round the outside of him in turn two and he just threw his car at me completely. I was a bit shocked by that but if that’s the way he’s racing, that’s the way he’s racing. But that doesn’t really help him at the moment. He needed to score points today and he took one point."

As for passing Michael in the drivers championship points table Juan Pablo is not concerned but that he is going to have to work for the championship lead.

Juan Pablo said: "I don’t care where I pass him. He has to win the championship; we have to work for it. We are only one point away and if we can finish ahead of him in the next race then we are going to be leading the championship but we have to wait to see where Kimi ends up and everything. I think it is going to be quite an exciting end to the season."

 
 
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