Zoom Webber eighth in the championship standings

Starting the French Grand Prix from sixth and seventh positions on the grid, Mark Webber and David Coulthard went on to finish the race in sixth and ninth positions respectively. Webber's three points for sixth position extends Red Bull Renault’s points streak to seven straight races and the ream remain fourth in the championship standings.

Mark Webber
“My start wasn’t great, but my first stint wasn’t too bad in terms of pace. I was trying to keep up with Fernando (Alonso) as I knew he was short and I put in some laps that were right on the edge before the first stop. On my out lap I knew I was still under pressure from others who were going a bit longer and jumped the kerbs a bit hard when I was on fresh tyres with heavy fuel. I had a big moment, although I managed to save it. I then settled in behind Fernando again, but his strategy didn’t work out as well, which was good for us. It’s good for the team to get some more points today."

"It was a tough week in the build up to this race, in terms of effort from the factory and the boys at the track, and three points is not to be sniffed at. Toyota had a strong race today, but we’ll have more in the future.”

David Coulthard
“I’m disappointed that from a good grid position I lost three places at the start, two off the line and one when Kovalainen passed me round the outside into Turn five. I found the balance on the prime tyres wasn’t as good as expected in the cooler conditions and the option was performing better than we thought. That was different from what we found the other day in practice, but some races go for you and some don’t.”

Christian Horner
“Unfortunately both drivers got poor starts, which gave away quite a lot on the first lap, but thereafter Mark’s strategy worked well. He had good pace throughout the race to finish a solid sixth. He had one moment in front of Fernando which cost him a bit of time, but a good solid points finish. David had similar pace and it was a very good last stint for him. Unfortunately, he finished a frustrating ninth, but we retain fourth in the Constructors’ and look forward to the British Grand Prix.”

Fabrice Lom, Renault Principal Engineer
“We have to be happy with a result like this as we got points, but unfortunately one of our guys was out of the points and Toyota scored a lot, although congratulations to Jarno (Trulli), who had a fantastic race. So, a mixed result. We’re still in front of Toyota, but they’re closing the gap. We’re happy that the engines finished the race; we’d been a bit worried, but they did it. Let’s hope we find some more pace at the Silverstone test this week to stay in front of Toyota.”

E.A. © CAPSIS International