US GP Arrows race notes

Lining up in 13th and 18th positions respectively, Jos Verstappen and Pedro de la Rosa both made very good race starts from the grid on the 926 meter start/finish straight, as the crowds roared as load as the cars from the packed out extensive grandstands. By the end of the first lap, Pedro had overtaken his was up to 14th place, with team-mate Jos a few cars ahead. Both drivers were showing to be very strong contenders for a points finish, but the inaugural Indianapolis Grand Prix unfortunately didn't turn into the successful race that it was appearing to be for the OrangeArrows team, with neither cars finishing the race.

Pedro de la Rosa
"The gearbox broke in fifth gear on the last corner and that was that! The race was okay - we were doing well until I got caught behind Diniz. He was very fast on the straight and I couldn't overtake him, although I think I was faster than him so I should have. Then we had a second pit stop which was very slow and cost me another position, and then was the problem with the gearbox. I am not very happy at the moment as it seems that on the races where we are no-where, the car holds on and we finish without any problems, and then there are races where we have good performance and are possibly likely to be in the points and the car breaks down, so it's disappointing. There are still a few races to go and I think we really need to and are capable of scoring more points".

Jos Verstappen
"The car really was very good during the race until the moment I went off. Looking at the lap times it was nearly as good as in qualifying so I am happy with the car's handling. I think we had a problem with the brake balance knob - there is a knob to change the brake balance between the front and the rear. I changed the brake balance during the race but when I came to a stop I looked at the knob and it was out of position and very loose and maybe moved things more towards the rear. I think that's why I had oversteer on the brakes. I locked the rears when I braked and I went off in a straight line into the tyre wall. Everything was going well and warm up this morning was good too. We tried a lot of tyres and I think we made the right choice at the beginning of the race and then we changed to grooves, but things just didn't happen for us today".

Tom Walkinshaw
"It's obviously disappointing with the reliability of the car and that we were unable to bring either car home, especially as both Jos and Pedro were displaying strong performances in the race. We had the chance of having at least one car finish in the points and it's a great shame that that didn't materialise".