Italian GP - Red Bull Renault - RaceStarting 20th after a gearbox issue in qualifying, it was always going to be a tough race for David Coulthard. Having gained five positions on the opening lap, Coulthard's RB3 made slight contact with the back of
Giancarlo Fisichella’s
Renault at the first turn on lap two. Seconds later the front wing failed and Coulthard bounced across the gravel trap and made contact with the barriers at Curve Grande.
Mark Webber started 11th and would take the chequered flag in ninth, taking advantage of problems at the start for
Jarno Trulli and soon after Felipe Massa's retirement.
David Coulthard
“I touched the back of Fisichella’s car in the middle of the first chicane and broke my front wing. When I accelerated, the downforce pushed the wing underneath the front of the car and broke the steering. I went straight off the track and into the tyres, that was the end of the weekend.”
Mark Webber
“I had a pretty good start and a good scrap with
Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg over the first few laps. I tried to be as consistent as possible on the heavy load fuel I was running, and to keep the best rhythm I could, but it wasn’t easy as the car wasn’t that easy to drive. It was one of the most difficult races I’ve done in terms of inconsistent balance, so we need to improve that and sort out some of the reliability issues that are still affecting us. It’s disappointing to only finish ninth after the effort we’ve put in over the last few weeks.
”
Christian Horner
“David had what looked to be a nasty accident after making contact with Fisichella at the chicane. The impact damaged his front wing, which caused it to collapse through the next fast right hander. Effectively, he was a passenger for the rest of his journey across the grass into the tyre barrier. Thankfully he’s totally uninjured. Looking to Mark, ninth is always the most frustrating place to finish and we’ve finished there what seems too many times this season. Mark extracted the most he could from the car, so we need to find more pace going to Spa next weekend.”
Fabrice Lom, Renault
“We were quite pleased to see both our cars have a good start, Mark had Jarno at the start and David overtook several competitors in the first laps, which was quite promising. Unfortunately, David damaged his car when he hit Fisichella and crashed into the tyre barrier. Hopefully he is fine, which is obviously the main thing after such a crash! For Mark, it’s a little bit frustrating, as he was not able to take benefit from Massa’s retirement to score points. Williams and Honda were quicker today, we hope to reverse the trend next weekend in Belgium for the last European round of the 2007 Championship.”
Source Red Bull Renault
