Monaco GP Prost Thursday notes

Jean Alesi:
"I am very happy for the whole team. It means a lot to us all to see the car in a better position and our work finally showing some reward. We had a good free practice session today and tested many set-ups all of which gave us some satisfaction. Now we have to continue in this way to improve the car again for Saturday morning and to improve our qualifying position for a race in which the grid position is decisive."

Nick Heidfeld:
"I am sorry for the team because they have quite a lot of work to do now but it should be okay for Saturday. We changed the car during the break and we definitely improved it and then I began to push a lot more. By then, my lap time was improving when I was going too quickly at the Rascasse and went into a four-wheel slide. I thought maybe I could catch it, but unfortunately I found that it is so narrow here that you cannot make any small mistakes like that and get away with it. It won't happen again."

Alain Prost:
"We are certainly very satisfied with the provisional position of Jean today. It is a visible sign of the progress we have made in testing in the last few weeks, but also at the European Grand Prix even if unfortunately we have not been able to produce a definite result. On a circuit that suits us well, Jean has been able to benefit from his experience and this result confirms the motivation and the capacity for hard work shown by the whole team. As for Nick, his accident this afternoon interrupted his progress just as his performance was improving progressively. It is one of those things that can happen here and it is not a serious worry."