Australian GP Sauber race report

Jean Alesi:

"I don't know exactly what happened, but I put the car into first gear and when I accelerated away at the start something broke. Until we strip it down we won't be sure whether it was a shaft, a gear or something else that was at fault."

Pedro Diniz:

"My car was going well to begin with, and the handling was good. In the first restart I moved from 10th to sixth, but shortly after that I began to have a problem with the gearbox. First I lost fourth gear, then later third and second, until just after the second restart the transmission broke completely."

Peter Sauber:

"This was a disappointing day for us. Nevertheless, until his retirement Pedro drove a very polished race. There is a lot of hard work and much effort to come for the whole team so we can be more successful in Brazil."

Weather:

Sunny.

-- Stephen M Baines http://www.motorsport.org.uk