Sun: Renault, Honda, Toro Rosso

Sunday 16th March 2008

There were points in Australia for Fernando Alonso, Rubens Barrichello and STR debutant Sebastien Bourdais.

Renault
Fernando Alonso: That was a very strange race with lots of overtaking, incidents and mechanical problems for lots of drivers. We were able to make the most of the opportunities that came our way today and finished the first Grand Prix with a good result, which will give the team a boost and give us confidence for the rest of the season. However, we must continue working to improve our level of performance in qualifying and our pace in the race, but the result today is very important for us."

Nelson Piquet Jr: I made a good start and I was able to make up some places during the first lap, which was pretty hectic. Unfortunately I was hit at the start, which damaged my car and so I did not manage to reach the end of my first Grand Prix. Of course, I am disappointed, but I learned a lot this weekend and I cannot wait to go to Malaysia to continue my apprenticeship and hopefully get a better result. I already know the Sepang circuit, so it should be easier."

Honda:
Rubens Barrichello: Although the final result of today's race is so disappointing, I'm really pleased with my performance and that we were able to get the best out of the car. It was a crazy race today and I lost control of the front damper after the first pit stop, so my race was more difficult from there. It's tough to finish the day like this. The signs from the weekend show that this car has great potential and the guys back at the factory have done a fantastic job over the last few weeks on its development. It was good to complete a full race distance to increase our understanding of the car. We'll now look forward to Malaysia and optimising the performance of the car there."

Jenson Button: I got a good start off the line, getting past Alonso and running alongside Vettel. Unfortunately it was just a racing incident that caused the damage as we were going three or four cars abreast down to the very narrow and quick first corner. I tapped Vettel in the sidepod which seemed to spin him and then he turned in and hit my rear wheel as I was going past. I thought that I could get back to the garage and see if the car could be fixed, but the damage was too bad to continue as the rear left corner trackrod was broken. It's been a good opening weekend for us. We're encouraged by our performance and I'm now looking ahead to Malaysia next week and getting back in the car there."

Toro Rosso:
Sebastien Bourdais: It's not the first time I've experienced disappointment in racing and it won't be the last, but what is important is that the team has worked really well, reacting very quickly, getting me into pit lane as soon as the lights went off for the second safety car. It was a great call. From then on I was good to go in terms of fuel and others ahead still had to stop. It was very tough as I was under a lot of pressure from behind, first from a BMW and then it was Fernando and Kovalainen. At one stage, I decided to back off a bit, but I found I was making a few mistakes, so I pushed harder and pulled out a bit of a gap. I hardly dared look at the pit board, but I knew it was nearly the end of the race. At the start I was down the order and running quite heavy and I was struggling a bit. But then I got the hang of things and after the re- start my radio did not work for a moment, so I was caught out by the green light. But to come from almost last to fourth was an excellent start. I hope we get two points and in a first grand prix, that's not too bad."

Sebastian Vettel: My problems began at the start when I stalled. There was nothing I could do about it as that problem was not actually my fault. That meant I dropped down the order and going into the first corner I had Kimi on the left and Jenson on the right. I tried to stay as close as possible to Kimi to give enough room to the car on the right. Then, as I turned into the corner, I felt that I had been hit on my rear right side. That spun me round and I was in the middle of a collision. Very disappointing."