Sunday August 29th, 1999

McLaren

David Coulthard: "This is my first time victory at Spa and it is a circuit at which I have always wanted to win, so today's result is great. I managed to get a better start than Mika and although we came very close at La Source, I pulled away from him as we went round the corner before getting the power down and pulling away into the lead. We touched briefly at the first corner but fortunately it was nothing to worry about for either of us. This is always a great circuit and the car was feeling better than it had done in warm-up this morning, so I was able to push throughout the race, which gave me a buffer to the competition."

Mika Hakkinen: "I made a mistake at the start and it resulted in David getting away from the grid more strongly than I could. We were very close round the first corner and obviously it was disappointing not to get ahead. But you have to look at the bigger picture and as David and I have equal machinery, it would have been very difficult to pass. So, after running for about five or six laps, I decided that it was better to concentrate on the race and collect six valuable points. Today's result makes the championship very interesting and there is everything still to play for."

Ron Dennis: "Both David and Mika are extremely tough competitors which was demonstrated by their competition at the first corner. We were all thoroughly relieved that their cars survived the incident and thereafter they drove a faultless race. This result clearly positions us to achieve our goal in the forthcoming races."

Jordan

Heinz-Harald Frentzen: "I am very happy with today's result. It was a great race for us, although not so exciting for the spectator. The team did a great job and our points today help Jordan in our aim to finish third in the championship. Unfortunately, I lost a place in the Drivers' Championship to David. In the race, I tried to keep up with Mika or at least not to lose too much ground to him and I was able to push much harder on new tyres after the pit stop, but the McLarens were unbeatable today. I think we will be very strong in Monza so I am looking forward to that race and to trying to beat the McLarens there."

Damon Hill: "I made a bad start - I had too many revs and got too much wheelspin - and from then on I was just hoping I could get a point for the team. Naturally you have high hopes when you start on the second row but it did not work out today. Once you lose places it is very difficult to gain them back as you have to have such a big advantage to be able to pass here. It is a bit like Barcelona in that the cars are very difficult to race when you have high speed. You rely on your car's aerodynamics to give you all your grip and the moment you get a car in front that grip level goes down and you can't make an impression. I had a puncture on my first set of tyres so I had no traction out of the slow corners and then at the end of the straight I was on the rev limiter which meant I couldn't pass. The main thing is we got both cars in the points."

Eddie Jordan: "Both drivers did a good job today and although the race was a lot less eventful or exciting than last year we did what we came here to do - collect another podium, put both cars in the top six and pull further ahead of our rivals in the Constructors Championship. I think it has been a very satisfying day."

Ferrari

Eddie Irvine: "Considering our situation today, I am happy that I am only one point behind the new leader in the championship, as I thought it could be a bigger gap. We have not been fast enough all weekend and it was very hard to do good lap times in the race. We have to continue to fight for points and not give up until the end of the season. This was actually a good result for me. Thanks to a good start and a good strategy, we managed to keep the position and pick up a few points. I think we should be more competitive at Monza than we were here, but our main rivals will also be very strong."

Mika Salo: "It took a long time to set up the car this weekend but we improved it for the race, although it felt slow on the straights. I could not pass Hill as he was very quick in a straight line and that cost me a lot of time. I had a bit too much downforce on the car, which cost me some speed although of course the car was fine in the corners. Next week, I will be in Monza for the test, in case I am needed after Michael has tested."

Jean Todt: "The result is unsatisfactory because of the small number of points we picked up. Eddie's car has been unstable and lacking a good balance all weekend. Mika ran his own race, starting ninth and finishing seventh, without any cars dropping out ahead of him. The championships are still open. Next week we will be testing for three days at Monza, with both Michael and Eddie. This session will be very important if we want to stay in the running for the titles."

Williams

Ralf Schumacher: "I have been happy with the balance of my car over the week-end and I am pleased that we showed an improved performance. We were on a one-stop strategy which, at the end, I think would have been the right choice, but due to some circumstances that we couldn't predict I was prevented from getting a better result. Anyway, I scored another two points and now let's look forward to our test and to the race in Monza."

Alex Zanardi: "It's a real pity what happened today, as I was in a comfortable sixth position and at the pit stop we did not get all the fuel into the car, therefore we had to pit again. In fact we were on a one-stop strategy. Anyway, at least we were competitive, we were there. The car was responding really well and I could have been in the points. Well, at least I finished the race."

Patrick Head: "Unfortunately Ralf fell foul of Ferrari's cynical approach running a one-car team with a blocking tactic to protect Irvine's position and I am very surprised that Mika Salo was prepared to accept such orders from the pits. Ferrari has been doing this for the last number of years and I have to say that I very much appreciate the more sporting approach of McLaren in running a two-car team. They will thoroughly deserve the Drivers and the Manufacturer's Championship which I hope they will achieve this year."

Stewart

Rubens Barrichello: "I have suffered from lack of mechanical grip all weekend. I managed to nail one lap in qualifying and that was my weekend's moment of glory. I was having a real problem with grip during the race. All I could do was to keep it on the road and go as fast as I could."

Johnny Herbert: "I went off on the grass at Pouhon because of a brake problem. I pumped the pedal and it all seemed fine but at the next corner Fagnes I lost the brakes and went straight on into the gravel trap and hit the barrier backwards. Before that I was bothered by understeer and a general lack of grip."

Paul Stewart: "Not a race we can be proud of. We had hoped for a better performance in Spa but we were never really competitive at any point during the weekend. We must find the reason on our return to the factory and remedy the situation before Monza."

Benetton

Giancarlo Fisichella: "I expected a much better result after posting the third fastest time in free practice yesterday. Unfortunately the set-up problems we thought we had solved re-emerged. In the first and last sector the car was quite good, but in the intermediate one there was so little grip that I couldn't hit the power without the car sliding away. We hope to find a solution before the race."

Alexander Wurz: "I used the T-car for qualifying as I had had a recurring problem with understeer on my race car that we could not solve. So I had to work on the set-up throughout the session, which was frustrating but I am happy the car improved."

Pat Symonds: "I am very disappointed with our qualifying positions today. We felt that we were getting the car quite close, but the final step proved much more difficult than we had anticipated. The time we lost due to the problems in this morning's sessions has cost us quite dearly."

BAR

Jacques Villeneuve: "It's difficult to get real satisfaction from a finish in 15th but at least it's finally a finish. My first set of tyres did not work at all and I was running with a heavy fuel load which was perhaps not the best solution, as the car was not going well. I tried to attack during the race and have some fun, but it was not easy as the car was slower than on Saturday. Eight laps before the end I was told to take it easy and make the finish - and that's what I did. The guys have worked really hard and I'm pleased for them that we finally made it."

Ricardo Zonta: "My mechanics worked really hard last night and I'm sorry for my crash on Saturday, but pleased that they were able to get me into the race. I stopped finally because I lost third gear."

Craig Pollock: "It's good that Jacques finished after such a hard weekend for him. I think our one-stop race strategy was probably not the way to go, but we thought it was the best solution starting from midfield. It would have been good to have both cars at the finish, but after Saturday's accidents, I am extremely happy that both drivers are safe, and that's the most important thing. Throughout the weekend, they showed a tremendous ability to stick together and to keep up morale. I want to say well done to all of them."