25.08.2003 HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX: REACTION TO THE DISASTEROUS RESULT FROM FERRARI
Ferrari reached a season low point in Hungary. Michael Schumacher quualified poorly and was outclassed during the race, only managing to finish in eighth to claim a solitary point, and lapped by the race winner Fernando Alonso. Meanwhile Rubens Barrichello suffered a rear suspension failure at speed, but fortunately came out of the resulting accident unscathed.
JEAN TODT
"Yesterday, I said that the result of qualifying had been disappointing and today, the race result is even more so. We need to find out what happened on Rubens' car when he had his accident. Michael picked up just one point, which is at least enough to see him maintain his lead in the Drivers' classification, where the battle is now very close with three drivers within two points. However, we have lost the lead in the Constructors' championship and are now eight points behind the leader."
"We were not competitive today. In a race where pit-stop strategy played a key role, Michael was never able to make the most of running new tyres as he always found himself with a slower car ahead of him."
"The titles will now be decided in the final three races. We must work with our technical partners to try and turn around the situation which has characterised this part of the season. Today is very disappointing, but we know we have the capability to react and return to being competitive at the highest level."
MICHAEL SCHUMACHER
"Obviously not a great race for me. I spent a lot of time stuck behind a slower car and so could not run at my maximum pace. Then we had a problem with the second pit stop as we were running out of fuel. Basically a lot of things did not go the way we wanted. The championship is now really close and at least I am still leading."
"Now we have an important test session coming up at Monza, where I am confident we can improve our total package. All we can do now is work hard, with a team which I know is capable of doing exactly that and look forward to the final three races of the year."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"I was running a good race when, for reasons I don't know, I lost the left rear wheel and ended up in the crash barriers. Fortunately, I did not hurt myself at all and physically, I am fine. However, I am not at all happy with the fact that I received no medical attention immediately after the accident and shortly afterwards when I was back in the pits."
"It was a shame for Michael that he was always stuck behind slower cars. In any case, today we were not really competitive, even though I think I could have got a good result."
ROSS BRAWN
"We don't know what caused Rubens' accident. We could see nothing unusual on the telemetry data or from the sensors. It is not something we have experienced before, so now we must wait to get the car back so that we can thoroughly investigate what happened. The race ran badly for us, as we seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
As for Michael, when he made his second stop he was out of fuel and that robbed him of the opportunity of passing Trulli, who was quite slow running ahead of him every time we came out of the pits. I feel the that three stops was the right strategy, but obviously it was a disappointing race for us. I am sure we have what it takes to fight back again."
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