Downton FV Team Principal Bradley Downton has tonight celebrated his teams third Constructors Championship, but heaped praise on rivals and former technical partners Mathershaw following a title battle he claimed, "slipped away from them through no fault of their own." The Amesbury based team became the first since Franklin in 2015 to successfully defend a Constructors' Championship, while also tying the record for most titles held by Franklin after picking up a 1-3 finish in today's Mexican V-Prix.
"It's... astounding," Downton commented. "I'm utterly gobsmacked with this one. Obviously for the last few races the chances have been growing and it's been looking more likely, but we refused to allow those thoughts to creep in. We were up against arguably the best team in the history of this series, and knew we couldn't slip up. However, going into this season we were questioning whether we could actually even pick up a race win such was the pace the Mathershaw Porsche combo showed in pre-season, so for this, I'm speechless. It's easily the most unexpected title we've had." Downton went on to praise the efforts of his teams former technical partners. "Firstly, we have to say hats off to Mathershaw, and to Porsche. Their effort this year has been phenomenal. That car out of the box was utterly rapid. We know the guys and girls in the team really well, having worked closely with them for so long, and me and Rob are genuinely really good mates away from the paddock, and we know this one will hurt. But there's an awful lot for them to be proud of. It was the first year of a new partnership for them, and they came so incredibly close to the top prize - that's mega." "Realistically, yeah - this title should have been Mathershaw's. It absolutely slipped away from them through no real fault of their own. The bad luck they've endured has been ridiculous at times, and while we've suffered some ourselves, our season has been near flawless in comparison. I don't want to be quoted as saying that was the only reason though. This team put in an utterly almighty effort to firstly reduce and then overturn significantly the pace advantage Mathershaw had on us. I've never seen them work so relentlessly and tirelessly to find a solution, I'm immensely proud of every single one of them." The team looked set for a 1-2 finish in Mexico with Klaas van Snelheid taking the win to set up a tense finale to the Drivers' Championship in Brazil, however a late incident forced the Dutchman into an additional stop, where he slipped to third, putting team mate Nathaniel Powers now on the brink of a fourth title. "Klaas was once again left deflated at the end of the race," Downton commented on the matter, "which is completely understandable. But once he realised he'd been part - once again - of helping the team to a Constructors Championship, he was just so chuffed for the team. He knows what this means, he's a proper team player. As for the Drivers' title, we're ignoring that for now. We're going to celebrate this tonight, then re-focus for Brazil and try and end this season on a high."
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