04/05/2003

Spanish Grand Prix Race Report

Panasonic Toyota Racing is today celebrating its first world championship points of the season in the Spanish Grand Prix when Cristiano da Matta scored a solid sixth place in only his fifth F1 start.

Da Matta who started 13th on the grid survived a dramatic opening lap with cars stalled on the grid and off at the first corner which brought out the Safety Car. The Brazilian then drove a determined race finishing right on the tail of Ralf Schumacher's fifth-placed BMW-Williams. Olivier Panis also ran very strongly in the points but was forced to retire on lap 42 with a suspected gearbox failure.

"I'm delighted with the result for myself and the whole team Da Matta said. It was the first clean race we have really had this season we were competitive throughout the weekend and I hope it will be the first points finish of many. The result was deserved and I might have had more points but I just couldn't get past Ralf at the end. My brake pedal went a bit long from the middle of the race he was quick on the straight and it would have been really risky to have a go at him."

Panis meanwhile was frustrated.

"I think the full extent of how competitive we were was hidden by the fact that few people realised that although my first stop was relatively early we were actually on a two-stop not a three-stop strategy he said. I could have had a really strong finish and we need to stop losing points like this. Obviously though I'm very pleased for Cristiano and the team about his sixth place."

The race saw a debut victory for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro's new F2003-GA chassis in the hands of Michael Schumacher but the five times champion was pushed hard by home hero Fernando Alonso who was just 5.7s behind for the Mild Seven Renault F1 team when the chequered flag fell. The 21-year-old Spaniard actually managed to split the Ferraris with Rubens Barrichello finishing third.

The BMW Williams F1 Team cars of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher finished fourth and fifth with Mark Webber and Ralph Firman claiming their first points of the year for Jaguar Racing and Jordan Ford in 7th and 8th places respectively.

Panasonic Toyota Racing's first points of the year coincided with the visit of Toyota Motor Corporation honorary chairman Dr. Toyoda and chairman Mr. Okuda who hosted an informal Japanese press meeting in the team motorhome. They also met with team chairman Tsutomu Tomita team principal Ove Andersson and FOA president Bernie Ecclestone as well as visiting the pits to see the cars and team in action. Having also met both drivers Olivier Panis and Cristiano da Matta Okuda and Toyoda then cheered the team on its way to the debut points of the season from the Paddock Club

Tomita himself summed up the race like this: "I am very very happy to get the first points of the season. This is the real start of our season. We can certainly get more points I hope at most races let's start at the next round in Austria."