20/04/2004

Cristiano da Matta looks ahead to San Marino

For me it's been very disappointing to see where we stand so far this season. We'll keep working hard and keep trying to make it better and hopefully we can find the solutions as soon as we can because right now we're still not where we want to be.

We have nevertheless managed to improve since the opening race of the year. We made steps ahead in Malaysia and Bahrain due to a combination of both increased performance and track characteristics that helped us. We made a few modifications to the car and that helped us improve between Australia and Malaysia. In Bahrain we had exactly the same car as in Malaysia and the improvements just came from setting up the car better. Also we suffered a bit with the tyres in Australia but Michelin did a great job at the other two tracks so in Malaysia and Bahrain we were very competitive as far as the tyres were concerned.h

In Bahrain we had a very aggressive strategy in qualifying when it came to fuel and tyre selection. So I wouldn't say that was the true performance of our car and where we belong yet - we don't yet have the overall package to be regularly running that high. It's certainly where we ought to be but we have to make sure we get there for real.

I don't think it's bad luck that's kept us out of the points. So far we've done a very good job on the reliability of the car and the only reason we couldn't get to the points is simply a lack of performance but we are working hard on that.

We have a couple of new things to try for Imola. We ran some of new aerodynamic parts at the Barcelona test including a front and rear wing and we have continued with that programme at Paul Ricard this week. What we're counting on is that everything together as a package should make a reasonable difference.

I have to admit that the Imola track is not one of my favourites. The chicanes are actually quite fun but the circuit as a whole is just a bit too bumpy. Last year's San Marino Grand Prix was quite a difficult weekend for us. We had a car that was actually pretty competitive at the time but we struggled at Imola so it was a bit frustrating.

I like the area itself very much and I especially enjoy being in Italy. I have many friends in Italy and sometimes I can see them in the course of the race weekend. The town of Imola is always a nice place to go out at night for a good pizza!

It makes a big difference when I visit a track for the second time. I don't have to learn all the nuances of the circuit so I can start setting up the car right from the beginning of the session on Friday.

The San Marino Grand Prix will mark the tenth anniversary of the tragic death of Ayrton Senna. I was in Brazil when I saw Ayrton's crash and my only thought at the time was that he would miss the next grand prix because of some injury. I never thought anything else could have happened to him.

My main memory of Senna was his qualifying speed - that was the biggest thing for him. Of course I admire his human side as well but when I looked at him I just thought his speed was his natural talent. Everything seemed so easy for him and every driver since has wanted to know just how he did it!

Of course there will be a lot of sad memories around Imola next weekend for this reason but our focus at Panasonic Toyota Racing will again be to do the best job we can and hope for another improvement.

Thanks for your continued support.

Cristiano