2007 Canadian Grand Prix Race Report
Adrian Sutil (car 20, F8-VII/03):
RET: 21 laps Accident
Fastest lap: 1:19.452
Christijan Albers (car 21, F8-VII/02):
RET: 47 laps Accident
Fastest lap: 1:19.254
Weather: 26 C ambient, 40 C track. Hot and sultry.
10 June 2007 - The Etihad Aldar Spyker Formula One Team had
its most competitive outing of the season at today's dramatic
Canadian Grand Prix, but it was a case of what might have
been as both cars retired before the close of the race.
Christijan Albers started from the pit lane but kept in touch
with the group in front with a string of competitive lap times.
The Dutchman was well-placed to take advantage of the numerous
safety car periods throughout the race and, with some good
strategy calls from the team, found himself as high as ninth
by lap 40. Lapping a second a lap quicker than the pursuing
Alex Wurz, who later finished on the podium, Christijan was
able to move up the order following accidents, disqualifications
and mechanical problems for other cars. The dream result did
not materialise, however, as he ran wide into the wall on
lap 48. When he returned to the garage for a nosecone change,
technicians found the brake line had been damaged in the impact
and the Dutchman was unable to continue.
Adrian Sutil was similarly putting in very competitive lap
times in the first part of the race, but ran wide at turn
eight on lap 22, impacting with the wall.
Adrian Sutil (car 20)
'Obviously I am very disappointed not to have finished the
race. I just want to say sorry to the team as they have worked
so hard all weekend and it would have been easy to have a
points finish if I had not made a mistake.'
Christijan Albers (car 21)
'We have to hope that Kubica is OK as it was a huge crash.
At the beginning of the race when I was fighting in the back
I touched the wall a little bit, but I thought it was going
to be OK and not a big issue, but then the car got more and
more unbalanced as the race went on, especially the left front.
Then at one moment I arrived at T8 and the car just went straight
ahead into the wall. It seemed there was a problem with the
wing, but obviously I am disappointed as we could have had
a good finish.'
Mike Gascoyne, chief technical officer
'First of all we have to be grateful that Kubica is safe after
the terrible accident. It was an action-packed race, and a
big disappointment as we could have easily picked up some
points. Adrian once again went off on his own accord - he
really has to stop making this kind of mistake now if he wants
to compete at this level. Christijan was running very well,
but his wing came off through turn eight, which was more than
likely due to damage sustained when he clipped the wall earlier
on. The wing coming off then damaged the brake line, which
meant he couldn't continue. Again another mistake has meant
we missed out on an opportunity of a points finish, but you
have to move forward and make sure that we're ready for Indy.'
Colin Kolles, team principal and managing director
'First and foremost, we all have to hope that Robert Kubica
is safe and well following his crash. For us, we really missed
an opportunity here. We had a reasonable pace and could actually
race other cars. We also got all our strategy calls right,
but again small mistakes meant we could not capitalise on
our position. Both Adrian and Christijan really need to focus
on this now, learn from it and move on. We cannot let this
situation happen again.'
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