2006 United States Grand Prix - Race Report
What began as an encouraging weekend for MF1 Racing at the
U.S. Grand Prix ended with retirements for both Tiago Monteiro
and Christijan Albers, marking the first time this season
that both drivers were eliminated from the same race.
Tiago Monteiro's M16 suffered extensive sidepod damage as
the result of a shunt, while Christijan Albers' car suffered
a terminal transmission problem.
The team now returns home to Silverstone for a test on Friday,
July 7th, in preparation for the French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours
in two weeks' time.
Tiago Monteiro (POR)
Chassis: M16-04, Car #18
Starting Position: 15th
Classification: RET, 9 laps completed (+64 laps)
Fastest Lap: 1:22.036 at 13:19:41, 13th overall (+9.317 from
fastest lap of the race)
Quote: "It was a very short day, but
that's racing sometimes. It's definitely frustrating, especially
after such a competitive weekend and a great result for us
here last here. We really wanted a good result here today
and I think it was achievable, given our pace. The start of
the race was very messy, with lots of cars getting tangled
up, and I thought I was very lucky to get through that. I
saw a gap, I dove for it, and fortunately, no one touched
me, so I found myself running in P9 during the safety car
period. It was still early in the race and, obviously, I knew
there were some quick cars behind me, but we were still in
a good position. We adapted our strategy to match the safety
car situation and it was looking very good for us. So I was
really confident and excited about finishing well at that
point, actually. Unfortunately, at the re-start, Sato (Super
Aguri) made an unrealistic move on me heading into the corner,
locking his wheels and ramming into me. It's a shame for everyone.
We were looking for points today and in these circumstances,
it was possible to get them. So I'm really sad for the guys
on the team - they didn't deserve that - but we can't allow
it to affect us. We have to keep pushing hard and do our best
in Magny-Cours."
Christijan Albers (NED)
Chassis: M16-02, Car #19
Starting Position: 14th
Classification: RET, 37 laps completed (+36 laps)
Fastest Lap: 1:14.731 at 13:51:31, 12th overall (+2.012 from
fastest lap of the race)
Quote: "It's a shame that we weren't
able to finish the race, because we had a chance to get into
the points if we were able to run a good race. I collided
at the start and lost my front wing, which is why I had to
come in early. I also sustained some damage to my bargeboard
and sidepod wing, so I lost a lot of performance, and then
later on my transmission gave up. There's nothing else to
say, it's just really a shame."
Colin Kolles, Managing Director: "One
day, the luck will be on our side and we will score some much-deserved
points. Unfortunately, it didn't happen today because of race
incidents."
Dominic Harlow, Chief Race and Test Engineer: "It
was a thoroughly disappointing afternoon. Obviously, with
the number of cars that were eliminated during the race, we
could have perhaps hoped for something to come out of it.
All in all, we've just got a lot of damage and possibly a
transmission-related issue with Christijan's car, which led
to his eventual retirement. Tiago, uncharacteristically, found
himself caught up in a racing incident that prevented him
from continuing. That's all there is to say about this afternoon.
Now, we have look forward to testing next week and pressing
on with our developments."
Johnny Herbert, Sporting Relations Manager:
"It was very disappointing to have that situation on
the first lap. From what we've seen, it just looked like a
racing incident, with lots of cars squeezed together and it
was just unlucky that Christijan sustained some damage in
the fray. And then, on the re-start, Sato clobbered into the
side of Tiago, so that put paid to his race. It was a very
messy, unfortunate result for us, because we had a good start
to the weekend but, disappointingly, we didn't finish that
way."
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