“The most important thing about this result is that we have won the Constructors’ Championship,” said Rubens. ”Today was a fantastic feeling with a great car, great pit stops and great everything! I couldn’t believe how good my start was. I just tried to stay cool and not brake too late. In the early stages, I tried to save the rear tyres in case we might have a problem later, but they were perfect throughout the race. After both my pit stops, which were good and safe, Michael was very close and there is always pressure with a champion behind you, especially as it is easy to make a mistake and go off at this track. I made sure I kept my concentration as it was quite a tough race physically.”

”When Michael put in his quick lap, I was very surprised to see him there behind me again. I guess he was having some fun because we had eased off by that point and were just bringing the cars home safely. Now I am looking forward to doing a good job again at Spa.”

2002 world champion Michael Schumacher followed Barrichello for the full 77 laps, sometimes he would drop back only to once again be on the tail of his team mate. Schumacher set a new lap record in the closing laps of the race, in a moment of fun claimed the German! But he admitted it went a bit further than that and that is was a friendly bit of fun between the drivers.

“I did not have a pleasant start, It felt like driving on ice being on the dirty side,” commented Michael. “So of course, Ralf tried to squeeze me from the outside. It was a fair move and I went late on the brakes and was able to maintain my position and tuck in behind Rubens. In the later stages we were cruising safely to bring the cars home as it is easy to make a mistake here.”

”The reason I did that very quick lap dates back to Silverstone, when Rubens was behind me in a similar situation when we were also supposed to be going slowly and he suddenly did a quick lap. So today, I asked Ross what was the quickest race lap time and did that lap to pay Rubens back for Silverstone! Our priority is still to get him into second place in the championship. Hopefully, that will come soon and then the two of us can have some fun together.”

Sporting Director Jean Todt was delighted with today’s result, even though he appeared to take a hefty knock to the face by Barrichello’s champagne bottle on the podium it was not enough to dampen the Frenchman’s delight.

“A dream race with a dream result,” said Todt. “Never before has Ferrari won four consecutive Constructors’ titles and this is the result of all the hard work from everyone in the Scuderia. Today, the chassis-engine-tyre package was dominant from start to finish. One can only use superlatives to describe this day. We have achieved our main aim of winning the Constructors’ Championship and now we will do our best to allow Rubens to maintain second place in the Drivers’ classification. Eleven wins, including five one-two finishes, out of thirteen races contested is a record for Ferrari.”

”However, this will not affect our focus and our desire to press forward for the final part of the season and for the future. I am very proud to be able to head up Scuderia Ferrari. Taking the Constructors’ Championship two races after winning the Drivers’ title makes me particularly happy for our president, Luca di Montezemolo, our shareholders and all our partners, who even through the difficult times, have always had faith in us.”