2006 German Grand Prix - Race Report
MF1 Racing overcame the reliability and handling problems
it encountered throughout the weekend to claim a respectable
two-car finish at the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim.
Despite starting from the back of the grid and persevering
with throttle issues that developed toward the closing stages,
Christijan Albers battled with his rivals throughout the race
and crossed the finish line in 13th position. Tiago Monteiro
brought home his M16 in 14th position.
The team now hopes to build on this momentum as it heads
to the Hungaroring for Round 13 of the FIA Formula 1 World
Championship, the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Tiago Monteiro (POR), Car #18 (Chassis: M16-03)
Starting Position: 18th
Classification: 14th, 65 laps completed (+2 laps)
Fastest Lap: 1:18.718 at 15:05:53, 16th overall (+2.361 from
fastest lap of the race)
Quote: "This has been another tough
weekend for me. Christijan and I were on different tyres,
which we knew could be a risk, and it ended up being the wrong
choice, unfortunately. That was the main issue for me in the
race. I'd get two or three good laps out of each new set,
and then the performance would just fall away. The balance
was quite decent, actually; it was just a general lack of
grip. But that's the way it goes some weekends - you gamble
and take your chances. But the boys did a good job to give
me a well-balanced car that brought me to the finish, so they
deserve credit for that. This was definitely not a great track
for us, because it requires hard braking and acceleration,
which is a weak point for us at this time. Tracks like Hungary
should be a lot better for our car, so I'm looking forward
to that."
Christijan Albers (NED), Car #19 (Chassis: M16-02)
Starting Position: 22nd
Classification: 13th, 66 laps completed (+1 lap)
Fastest Lap: 1:18.247 at 14:50:21, 15th overall (+1.890 from
fastest lap of the race)
Quote: "I think we had a reasonably
good race result. We were competitive against Toro Rosso,
and it was nice to fight with Speed. Sometimes he would close
the door on me and I had to lift to avoid an accident, but
when I passed him I was quite happy because it's nice to see
that we've gained some ground against them - it's nice to
be in competition. It's just a shame that about nine or ten
laps from the end I began to lose power. So we have to analyse
this problem and make sure it doesn't happen again, because
it cost us a position."
Colin Kolles, Managing Director: "This
was a reasonable result, considering all the problems we had
this weekend. Our race pace was quite good and we were able
to fight with the teams ahead. But we have to keep pushing
as hard as we can to take the next step."
James Key, Technical Director: "It
was obviously good to get both cars home. Tiago and Christijan
did well to complete the race. But we had mixed fortunes in
many ways: Tiago had a few problems during the race and got
stuck behind one of the Aguris, which cost him a lot time
as a result. Christijan, on the other hand, drove a very aggressive
race and was up with the cars around him, and we had similar
pace to both Red Bull teams. Obviously, starting from the
back of the grid meant that we weren't with them from the
start and had to catch up to them, but we were able to do
that. And then we had an issue at the end of the race where
we lost some power. It's a throttle problem, but we're investigating
why that occurred. We're not sure whether it's an engine issue
or a chassis issue at the moment. In any event, that's why
he lost his place back to Speed toward the end, which was
unfortunate, because he had it in the bag. But the race performance
was a lot better than our qualifying performance; it's where
we thought we should be. We need to understand why our qualifying
performance was not quite so good on Saturday, but it's positive
that we had the pace we thought we should have and we can
take that to the next race."
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