25/07/2004

Grand Prix of Germany - Race Report

The updated Toyota TF104B had a difficult debut in the German Grand Prix. Problems for both Olivier Panis and Cristiano da Matta meant that the car's potential could not be realised and the team came away from Hockenheim with just a 14th place to show for its efforts.

After effectively treating the opening day of the meeting as a test session the car being fitted for the first time with its new aerodynamic parts the team was highly encouraged by a strong qualifying lap which put Panis ninth on the grid. Unfortunately he stalled the car after the formation lap and had to start the race from the back of the grid.

"You can't appreciate how frustrating that was after the efforts that everyone has put in the Frenchman said. I was looking forward to driving a car which had shown to be consistent on longer runs and I really thought I could score points. Whenever I was out of traffic the car demonstrated strong pace and that at least is something positive that I can take away from this race."

The improvements on the team's TF104B race car were evident through Panis setting the fourth quickest lap of the race (1m14.247s) within half a second of Kimi Raikkonen's race best (1m13.780s).

Da Matta meanwhile was faced with a difficult race after a problematic qualifying hour that resulted in 15th place on the grid. He made a good start and came around 11th on the opening lap. The team also attempted to get him into clear air with two short opening stints but to no avail. Da Matta's race was ended abruptly by the punctured left rear tyre that saw the car snap out of control on the run down to the Turn 6 hairpin after 37 laps.

"I had felt an increasing vibration at the back and then suddenly I was a passenger Da Matta explained. We don't know the cause of the failure and we will have to speak to Michelin and also consult our data. Our race pace was a definite improvement it's just that we weren't able to show it."

Michael Schumacher claimed his 81st Grand Prix victory in front of his home fans while Jenson Button turned in a fine drive to finish second for Lucky Strike BAR Honda after starting 10 places further back on the grid after an engine change. Fernando Alonso claimed a podium position for the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team ahead of West McLaren Mercedes driver David Coulthard. Juan Pablo Montoya (fifth) and Antonio Pizzonia (seventh) both scored points for the BMW Williams F1 Team while Mark Webber finished sixth for Jaguar Racing and Takuma Sato took the final point in the second BAR Honda.

Panasonic Toyota Racing's Technical Director Chassis Mike Gascoyne confirmed: "I think overall we are satisfied with the performance gain but obviously very disappointed in the end result of this race. Overall we've got quite a lot out of the car. The improvement we saw was exactly what we expected but it was just disappointing the way that the race worked out. Whenever both drivers were in clean air we could lap at the same pace as the points-scorers it's just that circumstances meant that we were just doing it too far back. We've got some performance now and we've got another package due for Monza so I'm confident that we can score some points. It's just very frustrating because we should have been able to do that here."