GERMANY: MCLAREN DRIVERS MIKA HAKKINEN AND DAVID COULTHARD REFUSE TO CONFIRM OR DENY IF THERE WILL BE TEAM ORDERS FOR THE EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX

Record ID: 990463

  • Title: GERMANY: MCLAREN DRIVERS MIKA HAKKINEN AND DAVID COULTHARD REFUSE TO CONFIRM OR DENY IF THERE WILL BE TEAM ORDERS FOR THE EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX
  • Date: 23rd September 1999
  • Summary: NUERBURGRING, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 23, 1999) 1. MIKA HAKKINEN, ANSWERING THE QUESTION AS TO WHETHER HE HAS BEEN CONFIRMED AS MCLAREN NUMBER ONE FOR REST OF THE SEASON (Soundbite) (English) : "It's not so easy to give you an answer. In fact I have been asked this type of question ever since I joined the team. You know what the rule is at McLaren: the two drivers and we both fight to the maximum. But it depends on the situation, because things can change. 2. QUESTION: HAVE THET CHANGED SINCE MONZA ? : "I won't tell you now. But let's see how the weekend goes, then maybe we can discuss the subject in more detail (after qualifying) on Saturday." 3. QUESTION TO DAVID COULTHARD, WHAT DO YOU FEEL ABOUT TEAM ORDERS ? (Soundbite) (English): " It's not a concern for me when I get in the car, even though it's going to be the main topic of conversation (in the paddock). The truth is that you will all get the answer at the same time. In any case there isn't a clear answer at the moment. I will just go out in the car to do a good job in qualifying. I will still be trying to beat Mika in the battle for pole position. He has made (pole) his own a lot this year, but that is still my quest and my desire." 4. COULTHARD: " You don't need to be a rocket scientist to work out the mathmatical possibilities. I am 12 points behind Mika and Eddie, and I would say that Mika has a better chance because he is a better driver than Eddie, um sorry, I mean he has a better car than Eddie's." 5. HEINZ-HARALD FRENTZEN : "The Nurburgring requires a lot of downforce and we have been a little bit worse this year on the high downforce tracks, compared with the low downforce tracks. Ferrari will be very strong here and I don't expect Eddie to have the difficulties in setting up his car for this track that he had at Monza. Our chances of being on the front row are a lot less than they were in Monza. But we have been working on the car too, and after trying the new bits at Magny-Cours the car seems to be a bit better here than it was in high downforce configuration at other circuits." 6. EDDIE IRVINE : "Not a lot has changed, it is just down to us to start performing well again. And I think we can do that this weekend. We are away from the low downforce circuits again and even if we hadn't made any changes to the car I think we could have performed well here. So I think our competitiveness would have come back even without making any changes to the car." 7. MIKKA HAKKINEN TALKS ABOUT EMOTION OF DROPPING OUT AT IMOLA 8. RALPH SCHUMACHER SAYS THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH SHOWING EMOTION Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 7th October 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Access Restrictions:This media cannot be downloaded as there may be copyright restrictions. Please contact us for more information
  • Location: NUERBURGRING, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Reuters ID: LVA3N42RB33RHISNLU5TP8A5IEZF
  • Story Text:
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS - SOURCE TO BE VERIFIED
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register