Australian GP Williams race report

PODIUM FOR RALF SCHUMACHER IN FIRST WINFIELD WILLIAMS F1 RACE

Ralf Schumacher brought a smile to the Winfield Williams F1 team today when he finished a strong third in the opening Grand Prix of the 1999 season. Alex Zanardi did not finish the race, crashing out on the 20th lap. In warm-up practice session, Alex's race car had a problem with the clutch so he started the race in the t-car.

Ralf Schumacher

Chassis:FW21 03 T-Car Chassis: Best Time:1:33.407 Position:3rd

"Looking at Friday and Saturdays practice sessions, I am really pleased to have finished on the podium in my first race for the Winfield Williams F1 team. The car was well balanced and I was quite happy with its performance. I lost one of the barge boards towards the end of the race but this did not influence the handling of the car. We are looking forward to our next test in Barcelona so that we can prepare well for Brazil. "

Alex Zanardi

Chassis: FW21 01 T-Car Chassis: FW21 02 Best Time:1:37.146 Position:13th

"At the start it was quite difficult to get around all those cars, but unfortunately when it cleared up and I was all by myself, I lost the car. I don't really know what happened. I was having quite a few problems, I was quite a few seconds off the pace, I just turned into a corner and lost the back. I am very disappointed not to have done better, I certainly had more problems this weekend than I thought I would have. All I can do is gather my thoughts in preparation for the next race."

Patrick Head, Technical Director

"A great drive from Ralf. He didn't put a foot wrong and we are very pleased to get points under our belt for the first race. Now we have to go back and sort out a few of the problems we have and find some more performance. Alex said that he lost the car but basically he had a very troubled weekend and I am sure it will be a lot better in Brazil."

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