28/04/2004

Olivier Panis reflects on Imola

We had a busy time before Imola. I tested in Barcelona the week after Bahrain and then at Paul Ricard the week after that. I think we did well in these two tests. I think the team is making progress and getting quite a lot from everyone's combined experience. I think we have good stability and are using our resources 100%. Every Grand Prix we have some development parts and the whole package is getting better. There is a big difference between where we were in Melbourne and where we are now. We still have a lot to do but everyone is very focused.

There was actually not a lot of time to relax between Bahrain and Imola because we were testing at Paul Ricard and my children had some school holidays I took the whole family there for a week. They travelled over to Bandol a couple of times and had a good time. We stayed in a friendly hotel near Le Castellet which was good for the children. A nice part of the world!

To be honest I think that so many people associate Imola with the events of 1994 and the tragic accidents to Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger that I don't like the race weekend so much. And since the changes to the track the circuit is not as fun anymore. Of course I understand and agree with the reasons they were made but it was certainly better to drive beforehand.

That weekend in 1994 was a mess. Rubens Barrichello had an accident on Friday then poor Roland then the startline crash involving JJ Lehto with the wheel flying into the spectators then Ayrton Senna's accidentc When I left the circuit I almost thought that soon I was going to wake up and it would all have been a nightmare. I think that before that everyone was thinking that Formula 1 was safe. It was strange actually. It was a big shock for everybody but I just accepted that it had happened and I never even considered not racing anymore.

Actually I met Ayrton for the first time the previous race at Aida in Japan. I bumped into him when we both went to the toilet before the race! As we stood there he sort of welcomed me to F1. He knew that I had been winning in F3000 and just told me to take my time in F1 and said that he was sure I would do a good job and have some success. He just spoke very nicely to me. Actually when I was younger I was a big fan. He was Ayrton Senna! He had a kind of special aura.

For this year's race we knew from our previous experiences that we weren't good on the kerbs but it's always a bit of a compromise and you also need strong downforce and grip. We asked Paul Ricard to make a special chicane for us to simulate the Imola and Canada kerbs and tested suspension details things like bump rubbers and packers. Everybody then worked hard with the seven-poster testing rig at the factory in Cologne and we definitely made progress. Last year it was a big issue for us at Imola but this year we were better I think we matched everyone except maybe one or two cars. Last year the car was flying in the air too much and not absorbing the kerbs. The result is that we were off the throttle for too long and lost too much time.

I had a slight problem on my out lap in qualifying but Cristiano qualified just a couple of tenths behind the Renault which was very good. I had a shift issue on the warm-up lap and I had to let the speed drop below a certain point to re-engage the gear. Luckily it worked out okay and I was able to start my flying lap but it's not the best thing for the concentration. Also backing off I lost heat in the tyres and brakes which meant that I had more understeer than before when I arrived at the first chicane.

You would certainly prefer these problems happening in free practice rather than qualiying! We sometimes have these little issues and we are working hard at trying to eliminate them.

I finished 11th in the race itself and of course I'm not going to get hugely excited about that. But look at it another way. Both Ferraris finished both Williams both Renaults Kimi Raikkonen and BAR Honda has made a good performance jump. If you had told me last year that I would spend a lot of the San Marino Grand Prix racing with a McLaren I would have been quite excited. I pushed all afternoon I beat a McLaren and I'm still not quite in the top 10. It just demonstrates how tough this sport is. We did not have a lot of luck but Cristiano qualified within a couple of tenths of a driver who finished fourth at a circuit we knew would not be one of our better ones. So now we look ahead to Barcelona where we usually go better.