European GP Arrows race notes

Orange Arrows had a promising warm-up session this morning which put Jos Verstappen and Pedro de la Rosa in good spirits for this afternoon's race. The success continued, with both Jos and Pedro driving a superb race in very wet conditions towards the end. Pedro de la Rosa finished in 6th position, scoring his and the team's first point for the season, but unfortunately Jos Verstappen was unable to finish the race following a minor collision on lap 30 with Jaguar's Eddie Irvine.

Pedro de la Rosa (Car 18)
Final Position 6th
Grid position 12th
Chassis No 3
"I am obviously very happy and pleased for the team. We made the right decisions at the right time and didn't make a wrong move the whole race. I had some very good first laps and was always with the group but not because of drivers going out - this was just a deserved point. I worked very well with my engineer and did struggle a little in the rain, but I think there is more time to be gained in pit stops than in the race. The Team have had a bad start to the season so this result is very good for the team. The mechanics and engineers have worked night and day for me and this is a good way for me to say thank you"

Jos Verstappen (Car 19)
Final Position Retired (lap 30)
Grid position 13th
Chassis No 4
"I had a very good start to the race and it was going well. I was on the harder of the 2 tyres which wasn't ideal as the other cars just had more traction than I did so I lost a bit of time because of this, but it was also very difficult to overtake. It started to rain so I came in early as I lost a lot of grip, which was the right move as I picked up a few seconds after that. In the rain the car was handling very well and I had to get past Irvine as I was quicker, but it was just difficult to get past because of the rain and it was also hard to see. I got the opportunity to pass and he obviously braked very late and we touched each other. Luckily I could continue but for the next four corners the steering was quite heavy, I'm not sure why, and the rear of the car went out and I spun off. It's great that the team scored a point though and it takes a bit of pressure off now".

Tom Walkinshaw
"In the race we were right there fighting with the top teams, and Pedro did a good job to bring the car home without making any mistakes. It now lays a good foundation for the team to aspire to do better".