German GP Minardi race notes

Gaston Mazzacane:
"All things considered I feel satisfied with my race. I did a bad start and felt the effect of this; however I was able to display the same rhythm of those in front of me and, without the pouring rain, I could have pushed harder in the second part of the race. I was on a dry set-up and my car was going very well until it started to rain. Before getting back into the pits for the second stop, to put on wet tyres, I spun off and lost three positions, as a result. The track was dry in certain areas and this affected my wet tyres. I believe that the one who was driving on dry tyres was at an advantage, in the end."

Marc Gene:
"I am disappointed for not finishing a race where I was having a good wrestle. I did a good start passing my team mate Gastón and Jean Alesi and reaching the group ahead. When the safety car was on track I did a good and quick pit stop and I took a further advantage gaining almost two positions. On the second set of tyres I felt my car was even better and I started to battle with Jenson Button and Mika Salo. It is sad everything was over so early for me because just when it started to rain I heard a crack and soon afterwards the engine caught fire. It is a shame, today I could be closer to the points."

Cesare Fiorio:
"Generally both our car’s reliability allows us to complete many races. Today the failure of one of the engines, our weak point in terms of performance and reliability as it is the case today, prevented us from scoring a possible sixth place. In fact, Marc was in the wake of Mika Salo and Jenson Button. We went for a good strategy choosing the right moment to stop and the right tyres and Marc was doing an excellent race. Unfortunately the engine failure deprived us from an opportunity that would have given us a possible chance to make a step-up in quality in the constructors championship."