25/05/2004

Olivier Panis reflects on Monaco

For the team to score four championship points at Monaco is definitely a satisfying result. For me personally I was pleased to finish in eighth place especially after stalling at the start of the race and then having to begin from the pitlane. Cristiano and I both had our dramas during the race but it is great for the team to score points with both cars. It will keep up everyone's spirits and motivation after what has not been a good start to the season.

Monaco is a high downforce circuit and the downforce we have right now is not enough for this type of track. Our car does not like so much the low speed corners and the traction is not fantastic. I'm not saying that it is bad but it is all related to the lack of downforce. If you have a lot of downforce you have more grip more traction you can run the kerbs better everything.

What I like about the Toyota team is that nobody gives up. All we can do is to get the best out of what we have and keep pushing. At Monaco you never know what can happen and the race proved that. You couldn't say that 6th and 8th positions from 13th and 15th on the grid were expected!

I won the Monaco Grand Prix in 1996 which was definitely one of my best memories. I think every F1 driver dreams of winning at Monaco and I have done it. It is one of my favourite races and that year was good obviously but 1997 when I also had a good car -- that was enjoyable too. I was third in the championship that year before my accident. I had a big battle with Giancarlo Fisichella in the wet and finished fourth. This year's race was actually the first time that I have scored a point at Monaco since 1997.

There was not really one specific thing that we looked closely at or prepared in more detail for Monaco. In Saturday morning practice I was struggling a little bit and didn't feel too confident with the car - and at Monaco you have to feel 100% confident if you consider that even a small mistake can end your race. I just sat down with Mike Gascoyne and my engineers and went back to the basics we know and tried to do my best. Ultimately everyone did a good job and I was pleased with what we subsequently achieved in qualifying.

I again did a very good qualifying lap and I think we are getting 100% out of the car that we have. The engineers and mechanics did their job well but the car is just not quick enough for anything better. I know it is a bit frustrating for everyone and a shame but we have to keep up strong enthusiasm.

I think that if we look ahead to when the TF104B will be ready around Hockenheim in July a significant step could be made with the downforce levels definitely. I hope that it will be a big step which is why maybe we have the car a little bit late compared with what we expected but I think it is better to wait a bit longer to have a bigger step than to have the car earlier with not enough progress. For now we must do what we did in Monaco get on with the job we have to do and pick up points if they come our way.

I love the atmosphere in Monaco. It is one of the races where you are closest to the spectators. Everyone enjoys it you can hear people calling your name and there is a whole intimate feeling.

The feeling is different when you are inside the car because you are so low and you have these barriers all around you. You feel that you are in the city and you notice all the people - obviously not when you are attacking on your qualifying lap but when you are on your out lap or your in lap you see all the people with flags and all that kind of thing.

It's a very unique place but it can be a little bit frustrating because it is so difficult to overtake. In 1996 after a lot of problems I overtook seven cars in the wet and then pit-stopped before everybody. When I was third I knew I still needed to push like hell and in that situation you take maximum risk. But if you are in the middle of the grid and you have a car to finish the race but not really to fight for a podium you need to concentrate on making no mistakes and keeping going to get all the points you can. Look at Sunday I had big brake problems and worked on simply getting to the chequered flag because we knew there was a chance of scoring a point and we did!