Sebastian Vettel, 2nd: “I was struggling a little in the first stint on the intermediate tyres. Lewis was a bit faster and then I went into Turn 2 too deep, it was quite tricky – he was pushing quite hard and I tried to be on the edge. At some stage I realised it would be too late, so I opened the car because I know the white lines and the green paint afterwards is very slippery, so it’s easy to have a spin, and I lost the lead. After that the track surface was drying. I think we could have maybe come in a lap earlier and then I was on the super-softs – I was feeling quite good initially, but there was quite a lot of drop off, I think it was the same for all of us. In the last stint, I did feel I had more speed in the car, but with 20 laps to go it was difficult to know how hard it was going to be at the end, so I couldn’t push as hard as I would have liked, but still, second today is an important step. The McLarens are strong in all sorts of conditions and it’s clear that for two races now they have made a step forward; we need to make sure we come back strong for the next race.”
Mark Webber, 5th: “It was a good race – quite enjoyable; I made the right call to go for the slicks at the right time, but when the rain came I thought it was going to be heavier – so I went for the intermediate tyres, but it didn’t come. The team didn’t say too much about the rain, so I thought it was a bit of a surprise shower, but I made the decision to go for the intermediates. It didn’t work out for Lewis and I with this gamble – and it looks stupid in hindsight when the track dries out, but if it had rained strong enough for another few minutes, then it would have been the right tyre. So, it’s a fine line and to get yourself back in the game sometimes you have to role a dice. I’m fine with the decision I made, it’s on my head and the team did a good job this weekend.”
Christian Horner, Team Principal: “I think it was a really tricky race today, especially with the conditions. Initially we led, then Lewis became very quick and we dropped a couple of places to the McLarens, we then started to recover pace to them and completed some good pit stops. The decisive point was opting to use the prime tyres at the final stop to get to the end, which put Sebastian in really good shape. Then the rain arrived and for a couple of laps it was marginal whether to stay out or to pit. Arguably, for a couple of laps, inters was the right call and Mark decided to pit for them – we decided to take the brave decision to leave Sebastian out and in the end it came right, the rain held off and P2 is a positive result for him. Unfortunately for Mark, he lost some places with the penultimate pit stop for the intermediate tyres – without that, he would have been on the podium today, which is a shame. But, there’s no crystal ball in those conditions and it could have been a decision that won him the race. It was frustrating to lose a position to Lewis in the closing stages, with back markers not really assisting matters, but Mark came back at him pretty strong in the final seven laps. The team now head into the summer break with an opportunity for a very well-earned rest, before returning, fully revitalized, for Spa at the end of August.”
Cyril Dumont, Renault: “It’s a good result today and it could have been a lot worse with all the changing conditions. With Seb’s car we had a small problem on the engine during the race, it was not there for a long period but we will have to investigate what was going on during this phase, as there was definitely an issue – so sorry to the team for this. Mark’s car had no issues engine wise, but unfortunately he lost places with the pitstop for intermediates tyres. Still, it was a positive weekend and we got important points in both Championships.”
