German GP: BAR race notes

The Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda team went into today's German Grand Prix full of optimism that the race would bring a weekend of such promise to a successful conclusion. It wasn't to be however and, instead, the race was short-lived for both drivers. Olivier Panis had attacked the race from the beginning and was in a points-scoring position when he retired with an engine problem. Jacques Villeneuve suffered with oversteer in the early part of his race but when fresh tyres had helped him get his race back on track, it was cut short by a gearbox problem.

Olivier Panis

"Obviously I'm very disappointed not to finish after such a good weekend. I lost a couple of places at the start but then I worked hard to regain them. My race was a great fight from beginning to end and, after making my way through the traffic, I was improving all the time. The car felt fine until my first pitstop but then I felt something wrong and we now know it was the engine. It's a real shame because we've been very competitive here."

"I was very happy to qualify 7th and today, sitting in our best grid position of the season, I had a good feeling. I was in the points when my race ended so we'll never know how well things could have turned out. Most importantly, we've seen a good step forward from Honda here. The car has been quick all weekend and I'm sure we can look forward to five good races ahead. As usual, the team have done a great job and I hope they enjoy the break. I'm looking forward to a relaxing holiday and some time with my family before preparing for the Hungarian Grand Prix in three weeks."

Jacques Villeneuve

"As a team we've been very competitive but it's a disappointing end to a difficult weekend here for me. The car had a lot of oversteer until the first pitstop but after we changed the tyres it felt a lot better. My race really got going then and I could start to attack. We were relatively quick compared to the people we were racing and I started to make up places, but then I had a gearbox problem and my race was over."

"We've seen some good signs this weekend though. The engine was working well here so let's hope we can continue to improve during the rest of the season. The team have been working hard all year so they deserve a break now. There's still some work to be done to prepare for the next race but it gives everyone a bit of down-time. Hungary is a very physical race so, as well as enjoying a holiday with Elly, there's a lot of preparation ahead for me with my trainer Erwin."

David Richards, Team Principal

"This has been a weekend full of promise and it's a great shame that we were unable to bring it to a more successful conclusion. The indication from the outset was that we would be quite competitive here and, despite having to get to grips with a new circuit, we went on to achieve our best qualifying position of the season. We went into the race with great optimism that points were within our grasp and Olivier was running in 6th position at just over half distance when he suffered an engine problem."

"Equally, Jacques had just started to turn his race around when it was suddenly cut short. Nevertheless, we take great encouragement from the progress we have made this weekend, particularly the significant step forward we have seen with the Honda engine. The team can now enjoy a good break before the hard work starts again for Hungary."

Jacques Villeneuve
BAR004/06
Position: DNF (39 laps)
Best lap time: 1:18.405

Olivier Panis
BAR004/08
Position: DNF (39 laps)
Best lap time: 1:18.405
T-Car: BAR004/09

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