Malaysian GP Arrows race notes

The OrangeArrows team finished the 17th and final Grand Prix of the season at Sepang, with a race that, although a mixed bag of events, continued the strong performance that the Team have demonstrated throughout the season. Jos Verstappen made another fantastic start, to overtake 3 cars by the first corner, and although hampered by a spin on the first lap and a hydraulic problem at the end of the race, brought the care home in 10th position. Pedro de la Rosa also made a strong start, but his race came to an unfortunate and disappointing premature end on the first lap, when his A21 car was hit and damaged in an accident at the second corner.

Pedro de la Rosa:
"The race was very short for me, and I will have to check it on the video, but apparently the guy who caused all the mess in the second corner was Diniz - I'm not sure. It was really disappointing and also the car went on 2 wheels and I nearly rolled from being hit, either from the side or the rear I am not totally sure. I had to retire which is very disappointing because we were on a good strategy, a one stop, and we had the entire race ahead of us and I was hoping to finish the season well. This hasn't been the case but anyway, things happen. Generally I am very happy with the season and we have shown to be the most improved team and for me, personally, I have had a good year and enjoyed racing very hard with lots of competitive teams, often up near the front"

Jos Verstappen:
"I had a good start and moved up some places, but then I braked for a corner a bit too late and lost the car on turn in, so had a spin. I did a U-turn and kept going, and I was only 50 metres behind the Minardi's so I didn't lose that much time. When the safety car went in, I had a good race and enjoyed myself, passing people, and the car was very quick on the straight line. In the first stint the car felt very good and I could do very good lap times. After the stop we had a little too much front grip and I had more and more oversteer which made it very hard to drive. On the last few laps I suffered with a high hydraulic temperature problem and was stuck in 5th gear. I couldn't shift anymore so finished in 10th place. It was good to finish the race though, and I feel happy for myself and the team for the season overall"

Steve Nielsen, Race Team Manager:
"I would like to start by thanking Supertec, the race team and all the Arrows staff back at Leafield for their tremendous hard work and for being such an important part in the Team's development and success this season. We couldn't have achieved what we have without their efforts and commitment. I know we didn't get any points today but it was nice that we were competing with some real racing for a while, even if we did have to tell Jos to short-shift and leave the car in 5th gear at the end to make it to the finish line. We've had some pretty good races this year and we've been racing for points which is motivating for the team and everyone else, so it's been a reasonably good year. It's a shame we didn't get more points - we had a car that was capable of more points but we've got to work hard over the winter and really make sure that we don't make the same mistakes next year as we did this year. The FIA will look at all the videos regarding Pedro's accident so we will wait for the outcome of that, and Jos had high hydraulic fluid temperatures and the car's temperature was going up and up. The last 4 laps he had to short shift and the last 2 laps I think he did in 5th gear the whole way, but at least we got the car home"