Robert: Finishing third in Monaco is a super result for us after an excellent weekend. Nobody was expecting us to finish on the podium here, but we were up at the front all weekend and the whole team really deserves this result. It’s also a great performance by Renault engines to fill the top three steps of the podium. At the start of the race I lost a place to Sebastian, but I knew it was always going to be difficult starting from the dirty side of the track. Normally I would have defended the position, but Mark got quite a slow pull-away from the line and I thought I might have a chance to overtake him. Unfortunately I got some wheelspin and it was too late to close the door to Sebastian, and I also had to defend from Felipe. In the race we had excellent pace and I think I was a bit quicker than Sebastian on the prime tyres, especially after the restarts, which shows the progress we continue to make as a team and is very encouraging for the next few races.
Eric Boullier, Team Principal
To get a podium here in Monaco is a great result for Robert and the team. Starting on the front row we certainly had high expectations and we are all very happy with this third place. Robert drove a fantastic race and the performance of the car was very strong, which allowed us to keep the pressure on Red Bull and stay ahead of the other teams. I’d like to say a big well done to the whole team who can be very proud of their hard work recently, which has contributed to this result. And of course, it’s great to see three Renault engines on the podium. As for Vitaly, his race was made difficult after his accident in qualifying yesterday, but things became even tougher when he got a puncture, which ended his hopes of points. Looking ahead to Turkey, we will keep pushing hard with our development, which is really starting to pay off. The car has shown its’ strengths on slow, bumpy tracks and we need to work hard to be as quick on the upcoming circuits. Overall I’m very happy with how things are progressing.
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