09/06/2002

Canadian Grand Prix - Race Round-Up

The Canadian Grand produced a double retirement for Panasonic Toyota Racing in an eventful Montreal Grand Prix.

The race was always going to be a tough one for Mika Salo and Allan McNish after the TF102s qualified 18th and 20th in a qualifying session that saw the drivers affected by difficult handling over the kerbs.

Salo explained that the problem was not as serious in race trim and went to the grid relatively confident. Starting so far back though he elected to run a two pit stop strategy in order to make rapid progress through the field.

The strategy was working well and he gained four places on the opening lap crossing the line in 14th place. He then passed Takuma Sato Olivier Panis Jacques Villeneuve and Jenson Button before starting to push Jarno Trulli for 9th spot.

Salo was then troubled by a puncture that turned into a bigger drama for the team.

"Mika radioed in and said he had a rear puncture " explained Panasonic Toyota Racing president Ove Andersson "but we only changed the rears and it turned out that the problem was at the front. So he had to come back again."

Salo eventually retired after 41 laps with a braking problem caused he suspected by the vibrations created by the puncture.

"It was a real shame " the Finn said. "Everything was going really well but the front tyre was damaged by some debris on the track. Then I got a Drive Through penalty for speeding in the pit lane!"

McNish also gained a couple of places at the start but running a heavier one-stop fuel load was not in a position to match his team mate's early charge. He then suffered a long pit stop when the electronic systems controlled by the steering wheel malfunctioned and he was unable to select a gear. The car went into fifth gear instead of first and he had to be restarted. Gear selection continued to give him problems and he eventually spun off on lap 45 at the exit of Turn 4.

"I had contact with Pedro de la Rosa on the first lap which damaged the car set-up and made it very difficult to drive " McNish explained. "It hasn't been a good weekend for us and we can only hope for better things next time out at Nurburgring."

Ferrari achieved its 150th Grand Prix victory when Michael Schumacher scored his fifth Canadian Grand Prix win and his sixth victory of the season. David Coulthard's second place for West McLaren Mercedes narrowly prevented a Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1-2 as Rubens Barrichello finished third. Kimi Raikkonen was fourth with the second McLaren-Mercedes while Giancarlo Fisichella scored two more points for DHL Jordan-Honda and Jarno Trulli was sixth for the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team.