#1 ·
July 9, 2003 5:00 PM
RON DENNIS ON THE MOBIL 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX
“The Mobil 1 United States Grand Prix was a total mess—honestly, it was incredibly hard for the marshals to keep track of who was on which lap. Because of that, the blue flag signaling wasn't nearly as organized as it should have been, and during that final round of pit stops, we ended up bleeding a massive amount of time—about four and a half seconds, to be exact.
“It was a chaotic scene—we had two Saubers battling it out while being a lap down, alongside an struggling Alonso and Trulli. In this sport, things either click or they don't. We actually had the fuel advantage to stay ahead of Michael (Schumacher), but hitting that heavy traffic forced our hand and we had to pit early. Then the two Renaults that we effectively stopped early for had engine blow outs, and Michael had a reasonably clear run.
“To make matters worse, right after those initial setbacks, we dealt with a fueling rig malfunction on David’s car—we had to switch over to the backup system. The refueller hadn't fully cleared the nozzle before the chief mechanic released the car. Thankfully, nobody was injured—David reacted instantly to pull away safely—but it definitely cost us time. Then, with just three laps left, a rear disc exploded on Kimi’s car, leaving him to finish the race without any rear brakes at all.
“On Kimi's car, we actually used the engine to help assist the braking, and we were all a bit baffled because he was still pulling 1:18 laps. The telemetry showed he had zero rear brakes, and Kimi confirmed it, yet his lap times told a completely different story—it was a truly remarkable performance. So at the end of the day I see the race as a damage limitation exercise. We gave up a single point to Michael, and Kimi still lies second in the Drivers' World Championship.”
RON DENNIS ON THE MOBIL 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX
“The Mobil 1 United States Grand Prix was a total mess—honestly, it was incredibly hard for the marshals to keep track of who was on which lap. Because of that, the blue flag signaling wasn't nearly as organized as it should have been, and during that final round of pit stops, we ended up bleeding a massive amount of time—about four and a half seconds, to be exact.
“It was a chaotic scene—we had two Saubers battling it out while being a lap down, alongside an struggling Alonso and Trulli. In this sport, things either click or they don't. We actually had the fuel advantage to stay ahead of Michael (Schumacher), but hitting that heavy traffic forced our hand and we had to pit early. Then the two Renaults that we effectively stopped early for had engine blow outs, and Michael had a reasonably clear run.
“To make matters worse, right after those initial setbacks, we dealt with a fueling rig malfunction on David’s car—we had to switch over to the backup system. The refueller hadn't fully cleared the nozzle before the chief mechanic released the car. Thankfully, nobody was injured—David reacted instantly to pull away safely—but it definitely cost us time. Then, with just three laps left, a rear disc exploded on Kimi’s car, leaving him to finish the race without any rear brakes at all.
“On Kimi's car, we actually used the engine to help assist the braking, and we were all a bit baffled because he was still pulling 1:18 laps. The telemetry showed he had zero rear brakes, and Kimi confirmed it, yet his lap times told a completely different story—it was a truly remarkable performance. So at the end of the day I see the race as a damage limitation exercise. We gave up a single point to Michael, and Kimi still lies second in the Drivers' World Championship.”