1993 Season Formula One World Championship Monaco Grand Prix - Sunday Quotes

Williams

Damon Hill: I lost a lot of time in traffic and this gave Gerhard the opportunity to close up in the closing stages. He saw an opportunity to go past me at the Loews hairpin and I had no choice there but to close the door. This produced a pretty farcical scene really with us both stopped on the track, but I managed to get away and hang on for second. It is 30 years since my father's first victory here and I am sure he would have been the first to have congratulated Ayrton on breaking his record of five wins. Myself, I am thankful to Williams for giving me a car capable of finishing second. I had not finished the last two races and I was determined to finish today. I drove a conservative race and it paid off.

Alain Prost: I feel very disappointed as I'm not sure whether I really jumped the start. I felt it was one of the best starts of my career. Michael may not have made such a good start and that made mine look worse, but I am not really complaining. I have to accept what happened and I shall have a close look at it on television. I think a 10-second penalty is severe in Monaco where overtaking is so limited. On top of that, of course, my engine stalled twice so altogether I was delayed by more than one minute. I think it was probably a clutch problem which caused the trouble when I came in for my penalty stop.

Tyrrell

Ukyo Katayama: I'm very pleased for Andrea but disappointed that I didn't finish in my first race here. I touched Brundle at St Devote on the first lap and lost a lot of downforce. The balance of the car was changing all the time with understeer in the slow corners and oversteer everywhere else! Then I saw smoke coming from the back and Rupert called me in. They gave me new tyres and I was ready to go out again, but then the engine stopped and wouldn't restart. So, disappointment for me, but good for the team that Andrea finished. Next time will be my turn as well.

Andrea de Cesaris: This was a difficult race for me because I touched the wall on lap 10 and thought that I might have damaged the rear suspension because the left rear did not feel right. I came in for tyres but the problem was still there, and so I was trying really hard all the time to catch the cars in front, and I managed to hold Andretti off for 30 laps, but I was scared that I would not finish. I'm really pleased for the team and sponsors that we got this result, the mechanics who have worked so hard and for Yamaha who gave me this good engine this weekend!

Benetton

Michael Schumacher: For sure, this weekend puts our effort and ability into perspective. In one way we can be happy, even though we were unfortunate not to finish the race. However, during this Grand Prix we showed we could keep up with the Williams and stay in front of the McLarens. This reflects the increased performance level. Now we know that in the next few races we will be competitive. I'm not saying that we will be winning races but we should be keeping up our pace set here this weekend and stay ahead of the McLarens. The reason for my retirement was due to an active failure, I believe, which means the oil pressure in the system dropped down and I couldn't shift gears anymore. The car stopped and went up in smoke. A disappointing result.

Riccardo Patrese: I had an engine failure and there was very little warning. Going through Casino Square I felt something was wrong and when I got to Mirabeau the rear wheels had locked and that was it. The car had not felt particularly good since this morning and was jumping around a lot. It had become harder to drive so I decided to stop for tyres. Then I stalled in the pits and that cost me even more time. The car was better on the fresh set, but it continued to jump around.

McLaren

Ayrton Senna: I simply don't have words. It is not just the six victories, but the results achieved here, throughout the years, with different cars and different engines, under different conditions. There was my first podium in Formula 1, here, with Toleman, in tremendously bad weather. It speaks for itself: Monte Carlo is special, and always has been for me, from my very first race and throughout my career. And it continues to be special.
After my accident on Thursday I knew I had lost the edge around here, because the difference between going flat out and going 99 per cent here is big. And in that shunt I lost the 100 per cent possibility. So... we still tried to come back on Saturday - and again I touched the armco. I was thinking hard, before going to bed, throughout the night - and then when I got up this morning I really was thinking positive about it. I didn't think I would be able to take the lead on the first corner, but I would try to be pushing the people ahead of me - even though I might not be able to cope with their speed.
As far as I understand, Alain jumped the start. Perhaps it was in desesperation to get first place in the first corner! I don't know what happened with Michael. He was quick. But in the early laps I didn't want to go too hard because I knew the tyres would be worn at the other end of the race. I just wanted to keep a good pace. And after some laps I started to push, which stopped the gap growing and allowed me to maintain the pressure on him and hope for him to make a pit stop because I knew Benetton had worse tyre wear. I got what I was looking for. It is tremendous.

Footwork

Lotus

Alessandro Zanardi: Basically the car was much better than yesterday - for sure I could have scored some points if I hadn't started 20th! We made a very big jump and landed not quite in the centre of our target but very near to it. I think I had a very good race, probably overtaking more cars than anyone. It is a difficult circuit and I am pleased to have finished. I knew I was quicker than Johnny - I have respect for my team-mate, but also knew it was only a question of time before I overtook him and I am sure that he would think the same. We were very close and touched at Loews - I went over the dirt, there was a lot of wheelspin and I touched the railing - I am very lucky today! When the marshal was waving the blue flag for Hill to overtake me Brundle slipped by as well - this was very disappointing as I could have scored a point.

Johnny Herbert: Up to lap 30 the car felt quite good, but then the tyres went off quite dramatically. Shortly after that second gear began jumping out of engagement, and I had to keep holding it in. A little while later fourth began to do the same thing, and then I came through the last corner and suddenly had no gears at all. There was nothing Martin could have done and he spun me round. That was it. It was no problem racing with Alessandro. That was quite a good little battle.

Jordan

Rubens Barrichello: We knew that it was going to be a bit close on tyres, so I left some space between myself and Brundle up ahead of me in the early stages of the race to save them as much as possible. Herbert was close behind for a long time, but I managed to open and then when Brundle, Comas and Patrese had their problems I was up to 6th place. I thought I was looking good, but when Christian started pushing me the tyres started to go. I thought at one point that I would crash because I could hardly hold the car at all , so I came in to change them. We should have stopped ten laps earlier.

Thierry Boutsen: My race had hardly started when the rear suspension broke quite suddenly - I hadn't touched anything. I was going up the hill to the casino but I didn't make it! I had to stop half way up.

Larrousse

Lola

Minardi

Ligier

Martin Brundle: I didn't want to attack Derek in the early part of the race, and I was following the train without problem until I found myself behind Comas. I was patient for a number of laps until those behind me were getting too close. Then I said to myself :"now you must go for it - it's make or break". Therefore I went to attack Erik on the descent to Mirabeau, but apparently he hadn't seen me, and we touched. The mechanics did incredibly well to change my nose and four wheels in 19 seconds which allowed me to go flat out for the last 26 laps, and get a point for 6th place. On the last lap I was right behind Fittipaldi, and tried to attack him at Mirabeau, but he fought well to keep his 5th place. It's great for the team to score here, because we knew the weekend will be difficult. I'm happy everything turned out well, but sorry for Mark who had all the bad luck here. I'm sure that we will both score soon.

Mark Blundell: Someone hit me, going into Sainte Dévote, and I went straight on. I got back on the track, but on the 3rd lap, arriving at the chicane the left rear suspension broke, because of the initial impact. The important thing is that we got a point !

Ferrari

Sauber

Karl Wendlinger: In the early stages of the race everything went pretty well. The handling of the car was fine and I found a good pace. But then I was caught behind some slower cars and couldn't pass for a while, and suddenly, at the Loews corner, JJ attacked on the inside. There wasn't enough room for both of us, so he drove with his right rear wheel over my left front wheel. I just didn't expect him to attack me in this place. Some laps later the engine started to hesitate which forced me to go to the pits. I lost two laps so there was no reason to push. All I could do was finish the race.

JJ Lehto: I had a very good start, made up two positions and was just behind Karl. In the beginning we set about the same lap times, but then I started to close up. At the Loews corner, Karl was on the outside and I wanted to pass on the inside. I thought he had seen me, but then suddenly he turned in and hit my car. The rear suspension was damaged, therefore I had to stop. It's very frustrating to finish a race like this.