Sunday: d’Ambrosio betrayed by the brakes of his Virgin
Jérôme d'Ambrosio did not manage to finish the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Belgian driver had a problem with his front brakes on his MVR-02, which forced him to retire early. His teammate, Timo Glock, managed to get ahead of the two HRT cars but still finished behind the two Team Lotus cars, resulting in a rather mixed outcome for the Marussia Virgin Racing team.
Timo Glock – 19th
Overall, it was a good race today. I had a good start, my speed was not too bad, and I was ahead of faster drivers, even though they eventually managed to catch up to us. I drove my race, and my engineer kept me informed of the gaps with the drivers behind, and it was easy to manage. During my second stop, I think Ricciardo pushed a bit more, but I still managed to stay ahead of him while keeping an eye on my rear tires. In the end, I got the best out of the car, although I must say it was difficult on the last set of tires because the mediums combined with a lot of blue flags made it hard to get them up to temperature. But I had a good race and the team did a great job.
Jérome d’Ambrosio – Retirement
What a shame! I had a good start and was battling with the HRT, but I had an issue with the brakes and my race was over as a result. But we will work very hard and remain motivated to finish the season on a high note in Brazil.
John Booth – Director of Marussia Virgin Racing team
«After a good start, Timo was at one point in 16th position during the first laps. Unfortunately, Jérome was behind both HRTs, but he was battling with them in the early laps. Then, on lap 17, Jérome reported having difficulties with the brakes, and there were also some debris coming out of the front left wheel. We immediately told him to come into the pits to inspect the front braking system. It was clear that it wasn’t possible for him to continue, so he had to retire. »
Meanwhile, Timo had a good stint, creating a significant gap on Liuzzi and Ricciardo, who pitted quickly. A small issue during his first stop cost him some time, but he managed to stay ahead of Ricciardo. In the second stint, Timo successfully managed his tires to go as far as possible. It was a bit like in India because by staying on the soft tires, he could be faster than the HRTs, which had already pitted and were on mediums. But he was in a fight with Trulli – also on mediums – so we had to refuel earlier than planned. At that moment, the HRTs were clearly behind, so we decided to conserve the engine and gearbox in the last five laps.
« Considering our reliability, it’s a shame not to have been able to bring both our cars to the finish in the last two races, but that will be our goal in Brazil. »
