A disappointed Ralf Schumacher said after the Hungarian Grand Prix that he needed a miracle to win the title after a difficult start saw him finish in fourth place.
A disappointed Ralf Schumacher said after the Hungarian Grand Prix that he needed a miracle to win the title after a difficult start saw him finish in fourth place.
The Williams driver spun on the first lap and dropped to the back of the field. He drove well to finish fourth, but feared that the world title was out of his reach now.
“I have no idea of what happened at the start. I just had no traction. Two corners later I had to be careful not to crash into the rear of Juan’s car. That was when I spun. Then I had a pretty good recovery from the far end of the field,” said the German.
“It’s easy to imagine how things could have gone if I’d had a better start. Whatever happened, I would not have caught Alonso. Of course things are not looking too good for me in the Championship. If I wanted a chance to win the title now, I would need a miracle.”
His team-mate Juan-Pablo Montoya had a better race after also recovering from a bad start. He finished third and is only one point behind Michael Schumacher in the drivers’ title.
“My start on the dirty side of the track was very bad, it was almost like throwing out an anchor! After the first lap I was in eighth position and it was really hard to pass the cars in front of me and make up for the places I had lost,” said Montoya.
“I was trying for quite a while to overtake Michael but he just closed the door. That’s racing. So I preferred waiting for the pit-stops and to see how things would go. I pushed as hard as I could and could get into third place but then, with 10 laps to go I made a mistake and spun. I was lucky enough to keep my position in front of Ralf.
“I am very happy about the points I scored today, especially because Michael got just one. Our team is now leading the championship, this is great!”