Italian GP Prost race notes

OLIVIER PANIS: 11th "I did the warm-up with a heavy fuel load in my race car and I decided with the team to make two stops taking into the account the difficulty of making a good start with a lot of fuel. I thought this was a good strategy, even if our rivals were only doing one stop, but I had a hard time trying to pass the cars in front of me. I did not take a bad start, but I was slowed down by other cars. Before my first pit stop I sensed a loss of power from the engine, which did not force me to retire until just before the last lap when it failed. We have to remain concentrated for the final races of the season and not to drop our chins."

JARNO TRULLI: Retired Lap 29 "The week-end had well begun. I started the race without the new high exhaust sytem, but still convinced to do well. At the start, I lost some places because Olivier made a bad start in front of me and some others pushed me across to the right. I could not pass. Later, the car was not bad, I was able to pass four times and, after my first pit stop, I began to have problems with my gearbox caused by high temperatures which in the end forced me to retire. It was a pity as with the new engine developments and the exhausts, we had the potential to do well."

ALAIN PROST "We performed only until Saturday midday. Following our average grid positions in qualifying, we decided to adopt a strategy of two stops for the drivers. Unfortunately, the effect of this was diminished by our poor starting positions and our bad starts. Jarno was forced to retire because of the generally high temperatures of his car. Our objective is to improve our performances in qualifying and at the start, as it is only going to be possible for us to score points if we can do this."

CORRADO PROVERA "Certainly, we wasted here today an excellent opportunity to score points. This track, and the times in the race demonstrated this, was favourable to our cars. The audacious strategy of two stops chosen by the team depended on good starts and reliability if it was to be a success. Unfortunately, we were not irreproachable on either of these scores and it is a great pity."