Ralf upbeat despite another Williams setback

14 April 2012

Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya have vowed to bounce back from suffering another damaging body blow to their increasingly fragile season.

The Williams duo were disqualified from yesterday's Canadian Grand Prix after initially finishing second and fifth behind Ralf's brother Michael after 70 laps of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a result which, for four hours at least, was the team's best this year.

But they, along with the Toyotas of Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis, were excluded from the results after the air ducts on their cars were found not to comply with technical regulations.

FIA technical director Jo Bauer inspected all the cars in parc ferme at the end of the race and after finding fault with the guilty quartet, informed the race stewards, Tony Scott Andrews, Katsutoshi Tamura and Roger Peart.

A series of frantic meetings followed with the technical directors of both Williams and Toyota, Sam Michael and Mike Gascoyne respectively, resulting in all four drivers being thrown out.

Schumacher has conceded to being "hurt" by the incident, but is adamant he will not let it affect him at next Sunday's United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis.

"What has happened is a pity because it has spoiled what was a good race," explained a bitterly dejected Schumacher.

"It all happened very quickly. I received a phone call from Sam telling me he had just heard from the FIA that both cars were under investigation due to a breach of the rules.

"My first thought was 'oh my God'. After that there were a few minutes of anxiety and then we heard both cars had been disqualified because of a fault with the air ducts.

"I'm now thinking 'what have I done to deserve this'. It's cold comfort that Sir Frank Williams called me immediately to tell me he was sorry.

"But breaking a rule is breaking a rule and somebody must be punished for that. I have to accept it, even if it really hurts.

"But I will not bury my head in the sand and I will continue to work hard and remain motivated. The good thing is we quickly have a chance to ease the pain."

First, however, Schumacher is to drown his sorrows, adding: "At least the people in my hotel were really nice.

"They had prepared some champagne for me to help me celebrate my second place, but I will now drink a couple of bottles with my friends to forget about what has happened."

Montoya is also determined to put the incident behind him, with the Colombian stating: "Unfortunately, there was an unintentional mistake from the team. It happened and there is nothing we can do about it now.

"But we will keep working and we hope to make up for this next week in Indianapolis."

Neither Williams nor Toyota are to appeal against the decision, with Michael confirming what occurred "was a mistake and unintentional."

He added: "There was no performance gain and no gain for brake cooling because the inlet area was not bigger.

"However, the duct is not in compliance with the technical regulations, therefore we accept the FIA decision."

It was a decision that also robbed da Matta of a point as he finished eighth, while Panis was 10th, with the revised result handing Ferrari a one-two finish for the fifth time this season.

Michael Schumacher was ultimately in seventh heaven as he broke yet another record with victory in this race.

The seemingly unstoppable Ferrari star became the first driver to win a race seven times as he was previously a winner at this track in 1994, '97, '98, 2000, '02 and '03.

And if you believe in omens, it was Schumacher's 77th win of his career and seventh this season as he chases down what will be his seventh world title.

It also meant Jenson Button was again in the top three for the fifth time in six races in his BAR, while Giancarlo Fisichella was fourth in his Sauber.

The McLarens of Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard were fifth and sixth, while somewhat remarkably, the Jordans of debutant Timo Glock and Nick Heidfeld were seventh and eighth.

In the drivers' championship, Schumacher now leads Barrichello by 16 points, with Button 10 points adrift of the Brazilian in third.

While in the constructors' championship, Ferrari's advantage over Renault is now a staggering 63 points, with BAR just nine off the French marque, while Jordan are up to seventh with five points.

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