2008 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX MELBOURNE
RACE
Rubens Barrichello delivered a strong, determined drive at
Albert Park today in the opening race of the 2008 season,
but the delight at a sixth place finish was replaced with
disappointment as he was excluded from the points after a
pitlane infringement.
The season-opener was a race of high attrition, with only
seven cars making it to the finish, and Jenson was one of
the unfortunate retirees. He made a good start, passing Fernando
Alonso away from the line, but in the first corner melee he
suffered an impact with Sebastian Vettel which broke the left
rear suspension of Jenson's car, leaving the rear wheel askew
and ending his race there and then.
RESULTS
Drivers Car No. Chassis No. Race Result
Jenson Button 16 RA108-02 DNF
Rubens Barrichello 17 RA108-04 Crossed the line in 6th but
excluded
Weather Very hot and sunny
Temperatures Air: 36-38°C Track: 46-51°C
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
Q. You drove such a hard race, only to then be excluded.
Can you sum up your feelings for us?
A. "Although the final result of today's race is so disappointing,
I'm really pleased with my performance and that we were able
to get the best out of the car. It was a crazy race today
and I lost control of the front damper after the first pit
stop, so my race was more difficult from there. It's tough
to finish the day like this."
Q. On the positive side, you were looking good for much of
the race and the car seemed to be performing well. Were you
happy with the performance of the RA108?
A. "The signs from the weekend show that this car has
great potential and the guys back at the factory have done
a fantastic job over the last few weeks on its development.
It was good to complete a full race distance to increase our
understanding of the car. We'll now look forward to Malaysia
and optimising the performance of the car there."
JENSON BUTTON
Q. What happened at the start to bring your race to an early
conclusion?
A. "I got a good start off the line, getting past Alonso
and running alongside Vettel. Unfortunately it was just a
racing incident that caused the damage as we were going three
or four cars abreast down to the very narrow and quick first
corner. I tapped Vettel in the sidepod which seemed to spin
him and then he turned in and hit my rear wheel as I was going
past. I thought that I could get back to the garage and see
if the car could be fixed, but the damage was too bad to continue
as the rear left corner trackrod was broken."
Q. What positives can you take away from this weekend?
A. "It's been a good opening weekend for us. We're encouraged
by our performance and I'm now looking ahead to Malaysia next
week and getting back in the car there."
ROSS BRAWN
Team Principal
Q. After such a gutsy drive by Rubens, can you explain the
events surrounding his second pitstop?
A. "Shortly after we called Rubens in for the second
of two planned pitstops, Timo Glock had a crash and the safety
car was deployed. We had no alternative but to continue to
bring him in because he was out of fuel, although we realised
that the pitlane was going to be closed due to the safety
car and that this would result in a 10-second stop-go penalty.
During the pitstop the lollipop was lifted just a fraction
early while the fuel hose was just coming off the car. After
the pitstop Rubens exited the pitlane when the lights were
still red and obviously this is in breach of the regulations.
A tough set of circumstances after an otherwise very committed
drive by Rubens. He got a good start and was able to keep
Kimi Raikkonen behind him for 19 laps, so it is the positives
that we take away from this weekend."
Q. Disappointment aside, can you sum up the performance of
the RA108 in its debut race weekend?
A. "In qualifying we saw that the pace of the car was
in the midfield and today's race confirmed that we have the
potential to fight for points, which is our target. The aerodynamic
package for Melbourne has worked well but a further step is
required to move us up the grid and enable us to be a regular
contender in Q3."
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