Malaysian GP: Jordan race notes

THE MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX Sunday 17th March

DHL Jordan Honda enjoyed good reliability at the Malaysian Grand Prix, both Jordan Honda EJ12s crossing the finish line in a race which saw nine retirements. Takuma Sato finished his first Formula One race, taking P9, Fisichella finished P13. Chances of points were, however, unfortunately dashed on lap two when Sato drove into the back of Fisichella. Both drivers had to come in for repairs: Sato for a relatively quick front wing change, Fisichella for a more lengthy stop to replace his damaged rear wing.

TAKUMA SATO 9th

"I am really sorry about what happened with Giancarlo, I apologise very much as it shouldn't have happened. I saw a Toyota pushing him going into the first corner and then into turn two they were side by side with me right behind them, Then, most unfortunately, I moved across and went into the back of Giancarlo. I damaged my steering and front wing in that incident but the mechanics were able to change the wing in the pit stop, and I coped with the steering problem. The car and tyres became better during the race, and my lap times improved. Obviously I am very happy to have finished the race in the top ten, but this is marred by the fact that I damaged my team mate's chances of scoring points. I apologised to him immediately after the race and he took it very well, which I think says a lot of good things about his character."

GIANCARLO FISICHELLA 13th

"It was good to see both cars finishing the race without any problems, but there is no denying that Takuma made a mistake by hitting me and that this damaged our chances of scoring points. He was right behind me and suddenly I felt him hit me - perhaps he braked too late, I'm not sure. Anyway, he clearly feels pretty bad about it and he came to apologise immediately after the race. There is no point dwelling on it, I think he has learnt his lesson. Otherwise, the race went without any incidents. The car was a bit tricky to handle but I am really encouraged by the reliability, especially under such testing circumstances."

EDDIE JORDAN CHIEF EXECUTIVE

"It was encouraging to see both cars running without a hitch, but clearly upsetting to see our two drivers have an incident. There's no doubt today was a lesson learnt for Takuma and that he cost Giancarlo possible points. But the way both drivers dealt with a difficult situation says a lot about them; Taku not only apologised to Giancarlo, but also went round the entire team to say sorry. Giancarlo took it all extremely well, a clear sign of his maturity."

-jordan-