French GP BAR race notes

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Olivier Panis

"I had a very difficult race today. I did the best job I could and so did the team. Everyone worked very hard and both pit stops were very good. We were really struggling for grip and it was difficult to attack the race because the car was sliding around so much. I'm disappointed that I wasn't able to score points in front of my home crowd but I look forward to testing next week and making some progress ready for the British Grand Prix."

Jacques Villeneuve

"We were doing really well - the car was working OK and our strategy was just to keep attacking because we had nothing to lose. Whatever went wrong, it happenedvery suddenly and took me by surprise - the engine cut and the car just stopped. I don't know the cause of the problem yet - we'll need to take a look at the data but it seems to be some sort of electrical problem. It's a great shame because it felt like we had a really good car today and I thought we could finish well."

James Robinson, Chief Engineer

"Obviously we're disappointed with our race today. We managed to get one car home but unfortunately out of the points. Jacques made a very good start and was working his way steadily up the field. We've got to look very carefully at what put him out of the race. Next week we have a very heavy testing schedule and a lot of homework to do before Silverstone in two weeks' time."

Craig Pollock, Team Principal and Managing Director

"Another difficult day for the team and very disappointing for Jacques not to finish. Olivier drove a good race but was unable to get anything more from the car. The team has to take stock now - we need to focus all our efforts on resolving our problems and making significant testing progress for the next race and the rest of the season."

-BAR