MELBOURNE, Australia - What the drivers said after the season-opening Australian Formula One Grand Prix here on Sunday:
Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault 1st): "This was a fantastic weekend, and a great way to mark my debut with Renault. The car performed well and was consistent and easy to drive. That meant I could manage the gap to the cars behind and look after the tyres without being troubled."
Fernando Alonso (Renault 3rd): "I didn't think I could finish on the podium today. I was lucky during the race to have some laps without traffic at the end of each stint, which meant I could push really hard to gain positions."
Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari 2nd): "I enjoyed every second of the race. We proved today that this (2004) car is still competitive, even though the new one will be faster."
Michael Schumacher (Ferrari did not finish): "It is impossible to blame either of us (incident with Heidfeld). I made it clear I was defending my position. I can't blame him for trying to overtake me."
David Coulthard (Red Bull 4th): "A podium finish was achievable today -- at one stage I was beginning to dream a little -- but I can't complain about fourth place. It is much more than we expected."
Christian Klien (Red Bull 7th): "The car was consistent and the pit stops were okay, so it was a very positive race for us all."
Mark Webber (Williams 5th): "We got done in the pits and it should have been a better result. Reliability was strong today so that was a good thing, but once you get going you always want more, so that was the frustrating thing."
Nick Heidfeld (Williams DNF): "With regards to the accident with Michael (Schumacher), I think that I made a good move. I went alongside him and could have out-braked him, but he didn't leave me any space and pushed me on to the grass."
Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren 6th): "I would have been able to finish higher up had things gone our way. I lost some valuable time during my second stint and got the rear tyre on the grass at turn eight."
Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren 8th): "My race was really over when I stalled the car at the start and I had to begin my race from pit lane."
Jarno Trulli (Toyota 9th): "After my pit stop I had a problem with the rear tyre which dropped me down the field and unfortunately out of contention for points."
Ralf Schumacher (Toyota 12th): "I had a problem with the seat belt which forced me to visit the pit once more. By then, the race was over for me."
Jenson Button (BAR-Honda 11th): "The car ran reliably but clearly this wasn't the way we wanted to start the season and we have a lot of work to do to get back up to where we need to be."
Takuma Sato (BAR-Honda 14th): "It was a difficult weekend, particularly in the race with me starting at the back of the grid. Generally we were off the pace and we will work hard to turn this around."
Felipe Massa (Sauber 10th): "I just did what I could do and finishing 10th wasn't so bad when you look where I started."
Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber 13th): "That was a very disappointing race. We were a lot slower than I thought we would be. The car was very difficult to drive."
Narain Kathikeyan (Jordan 15th): "I had a very bad start. After the first pit stop, I pushed a lot and it was a trouble-free race."
Tiago Monteiro (Jordan 16th): "I had a great start but then I lost a lot of time when people were overtaking me so I have to work on that."
Patrick Friesacher (Minardi 17th): "It was a difficult race, but I'm happy to have finished my first grand prix."
Christijan Albers (Minardi DNF): "I lost second gear on the formation lap and that caused me a bit of a problem at the start. As a result, the race was difficult as there are several corners here that require second gear."
03/06/2005 08:29 GMT