British GP Benetton race notes

The team raced for the first time today with launch control, traction control and power steering.

Giancarlo Fisichella
"I made a fantastic start and overtook about five of my rivals. On the fourth lap I ran wide at Copse Corner when one of the Jaguars squeezed me a little bit. That cost me several places, unfortunately. I made another mistake when I was running at the tail end of the field, too, but things picked up later on. After the first pit stop I was just concentrating on lapping faster than the drivers immediately behind. My second pit stop was excellent and enabled me to get ahead of both Jenson and Bernoldi."

Jenson Button
"My start wasn't great because I was stuck between two other cars, although I gained a few places while the first lap was settling down. >From lap 10 I had to make do without power steering, because the system failed, which made it a pretty physical afternoon O especially s the car developed more and more oversteer as the race wore on."

Mike Gascoyne, Technical Director
"The race provided a reliable end to our weekend. Both drivers made excellent starts, but Jenson was obstructed on the run to the first corner and so was unable to gain ground. He drove a very strong first lap and was able to pick up some places. Giancarlo had an early off that dropped him to the back, but he drove strongly for the balance of his first stint. We maintained our positions after the first pit stops, but Giancarlo was able to gain a couple of positions at his second stop thanks to the teamTs excellent pitwork. Jenson was unlucky in traffic with some blue flags just after his second stop, which meant that he lost out to Giancarlo. Overall we probably made the wrong tyre choice for the weekend, but our reliability was a plus point. We will carry on working flat out to find more performance in our whole package."

-Benetton