Spanish GP Stewart notes

Barcelona, Sunday 30th May, 1999

STEWART-FORD NOTES & QUOTES Spanish Grand Prix: Race (65 laps)

Weather: Hazy sunshine, humid, 26 degrees Celsius

Rubens Barrichello finished eighth. Johnny Herbert failed to finish after transmission problems. He completed 40 laps.

RUBENS BARRICHELLO Car No.16 (SF3-04) Eighth position

'I had one real chance for sixth place towards the end but overall the performance of the car during the whole weekend did not measure up to what we have achieved in the previous races. With the second set of tyres I was able to push and regain the time I lost with the backmarkers and the blue flags. But with the third set the car became very unstable. I was pushing hard and was able to catch Trulli but I lost downforce as often happens here and I wasn't able to overtake.'

JOHNNY HERBERT  Car No.17 (SF3-05)
DNF                Transmission 

'It's frustrating to notch up my fifth straight non-finish. As I was coming in for my first pit stop I felt the gear shifting was a little strange. Just before my second pit stop I felt something break and attempted to crawl back to the pits but I just couldn't make it. We decided to change our pit strategy from three stops to two because I found myself mixing it with the pack early in the race and it was the only way I was going to be able to stay in touch. It's been another tough weekend - even my change of helmet design didn't bring me much luck!'

PAUL STEWART, SGP Deputy Chairman

'We expected a better result today but a points finish looked unlikely after Rubens got a poor start. Even when the chance arose towards the end of the race it was always going to be difficult to get by Trulli. What we have to do now is get together at the post race debrief, regroup and identify the areas in which we can improve the car to regain our early season performance.'

MARTIN WHITAKER, Director, Ford Racing, Europe

'This weekend has been difficult and the team's first real test of the year given our performances to date. Nevertheless, everyone has taken to the task throughout which will serve us well in the future. The engines ran reliably at the higher revs all weekend and we are now looking forward to next week's test at Silverstone.'