Monaco GP: Jaguar race notes

There were two formation laps, two safety cars, and one less diamond on the front of the R5 Jaguar Racing Car by the end of today's 51st Monaco Grand Prix. It was one of the most action-filled races of the season so far which saw Mark Webber (27) and Christian Klien (21) start the race in 11th and 14th positions. Both got off to good starts but after a minor incident at the Mirabeau corner Christian lost his steering and hit the barriers forcing him to retire.

His car returned to the garage minus his flawless diamond, it has yet to be found! Mark raced on and found himself in a points scoring eighth position before he had a loss of drive and had to retire. Both cars were racing with good strategies and should have finished in the points. Monaco, however, is one of the most challenging tracks on the racing calendar and the team now travels direct to the Nurburgring hungry for points.

Mark Webber:

"I was pleased with where we had qualified for the race as I knew that our strategy was going to allow us to chase for points. I managed to get away well at the start and we were going well when on lap 11 I suffered from a loss of drive and the car came to a stop. The team are going to look into this as we go directly to Germany this week. We have had a tough weekend here but it not through a lack of trying. The guys have done an amazing job to change engines round and re-build my car after the fire on Wednesday. We should have been up there with the best of them thanks to our strategy but there you go, that's motor-racing for you.

Christian Klien:

"I have had a good weekend here and I am annoyed that I was unable to race for points. I miscalculated the build-up of traffic at the Mirabeau corner and as everyone pushed together I ran into the back of the Jordan of Nick Heidfeld. This caused me to lose my front wing that in turn disappeared under my front tyres and caused me to lose my steering. My strategy for the race was brilliant and there is no doubt that I should have been up there in the points given the amount of attition and different strategies that there were out there today. The R5 has been well-balanced around this street circuit and I would have liked to have put it through its paces.

Dr Mark Gillan -- Head of Vehicle Performance:

The race today was disappointing for us given the amount of hard work and preparation that has gone into this weekend. Christian had done a really good job learning the track and had driven an error-free weekend up until the race. As the cars bunched up in the Mirabeau corner he touched the back of Heidfeld and his front wing went under the tyres and he lost the ability to steer, causing him to hit the barrier."

"Mark has had a slightly more frustrating weekend and this culminated in what appears to have been a loss of drive on his R5 that we are currently investigating. Until we get the car back into the garage we are not able to confirm the cause behind this loss of power. Given our strategy for the race it is disappointing not to have been given the opportunity to compete for points. We leave this weekend focused on what we have to do between now and next weekend when we will be competing at the European Grand Prix.

-jaguar-