German GP Arrows race notes

This morning's practice session proved to be quite eventful all round. This was the case for both Orange Arrows drivers, as Jos Verstappen spun on his installation lap and collided with Jacques Villeneuve (BAR), causing both cars to stop on the circuit. Jos suffered a slightly grazed hand and forearm, but this did not affect his racing this afternoon. Jos managed to make it back onto the track in the spare car for the last few minutes of the practice session, enabling him to achieve a lap time of 1:45.668 and 11th position. Pedro de la Rosa was running in the top 5 for the majority of the warm-up and took the 3rd quickest position on his last timed lap with 1:44.636, however, on his in lap after this, Pedro ran over a Prost engine cover that had come off onto the track, causing his A21 car to sustain a front right wheel puncture and damaged front wing.

The race proved to be possibly even more incident filled than the morning warm-up, but for the Orange Arrows team it was a mixture of excitement, disappointment and anticipation. Jos Verstappen drove the spare car for the race due an earlier accident in this race car, and moved up to 6th by the end of the first lap after starting from 11th on the grid. Despite facing some incidents which hindered his race, Jos continued with a very strong performance until lap 39, when he unfortunately spun out of the race. Staring from 5th on the grid, Pedro de la Rosa drove another incredible race and fought very hard as he moved up and down varying race position throughout, but crossed the finish line in 6th place to score his second point of the season, and put the Orange Arrows team in 8th place in the Constructors' Championship.

Pedro de la Rosa
"It was a really strange race generally, and then also things like a spectator on the track! I was very strong in the dry conditions but then as the safety car kept coming out things just got worse and worse but I think to get a point out of this race was a good result for the team anyway. Just before I came in for wet tyres I made a mistake as I came into the stadium by missing my braking point and had a big off and also I couldn't see anything. I was in third before that point but I lost 2 positions and I should have finished higher up. Nevertheless, it was a good effort by the team and I'm happy for them".

Jos Verstappen:
"I made a mistake at the end of the race. I was in 7th and I was going for 6th because 7th means nothing to me. I braked too late and spun off. I did have some car problems during the race though as I lost some bodywork and had to change the nose in the first pit stop to get the balance back which we did a bit but it wasn't ideal. I also lost top speed because of the bodywork and the car was very different than normal to drive so it was quite a tough race for me. One of the Williams also spun in front of me after the safety car so I had to go around him and lost about 7 places. I did come in at the right moment though to change onto wet tyres and we definitely chose the right tyres. I was in 6th position behind Pedro (de la Rosa) and fighting for a point, but I made a mistake and that's how it is".

Tom Walkinshaw:
"The team continues to progress and we've been strong all weekend. It was unfortunate that Pedro had his off as we had a podium within our grasp, but he drove a fantastic race the rest of the time. Jos also drove very strongly in the beginning and could have been in the points but we'll just keep working at it".