Canadian GP Williams race notes

Weather: Overcast at the start, hard rain in the last third of the race. Average temperature 15ºC.

A disappointing race put an end to a difficult weekend for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team. Ralf Schumacher's race ended in retirement due to Jacques Villeneuve's daring manoeuvre, which sent both cars off the track at the hairpin on lap 65. After starting from 18th position and struggling at the back of the field, Jenson Button finished in 11th place.

Jenson Button
Final Position: 11th
Best Time: 1:20.781
Chassis: FW22 04
"I had a terrible start and things did not improve as I simply wasn't fast enough. Only a few laps after my pit stop I had to come into the pit again as at the third corner I damaged the front wing of my car. I was running better on wet tyres, but this wasn't enough to recover from the back of the field."

Ralf Schumacher
Final Position: DNF
Best Time: 1:20.520
Chassis: FW22 03
"My start was ok and I was happy with my car's behaviour as long as it stayed dry. In the wet it was another story, my car was sliding everywhere and it was almost out of my control. My race was over when Villeneuve crashed into the right side of my car. He apologised immediately, and the matter is closed for me. We have to work hard now. I have the feeling that we are quite behind in respect to other teams, mostly Benetton."

Patrick Head (WilliamsF1 Technical Director)
"The race was an end to a weekend where we were never really competitive. We have quite a lot of work to do in order to raise the performance level of the package. After his nose was changed and he switched to wet tyres, Jenson's lap times were excellent. Disappointing for Ralf to end his race because of an accident with four laps to go."

Gerhard Berger (BMW Motorsport Director)
"In the last weeks we concentrated on improving the reliability and in this race we didn't suffer any problems. Nevertheless we didn't manage to gather any points this weekend. For the third consecutive time Ralf has gone out due to an accident and once again it wasn't his fault. Anyway, given his injured leg and the terrible conditions, he drove a good race. Jenson has gone the race distance and has gained a lot of useful experience."