By Huw Alban (01/06/03)
June 12 2003

Toyota's Monaco Grand Prix was one of mixed fortunes, with Cristiano da Matta securing 9th behind the 2 Ferraris, Williams, McLarens and Renaults. Olivier Panis opted for a 1 stop strategy, and struggled all afternoon for grip but still managed to cap a 2 car finish in the principality. Cristiano da Matta:

"We had a good strategy today and I had a clean race with a lot of clear track. I was out there pretty much on my own for the 78 laps with no traffic, which meant I didn't lose too much time. Finishing ninth behind the top four teams is a reasonable result and I think this was all we had in the car today. I didn't have any specific mechanical problems; just oversteer for most of the race and some lack of grip. Overall, things only started to come together for me from a driving point of view yesterday, and I think the team has done a good job. We need to work on our performance, but we are testing a lot and I am sure it's all going to come together soon."

Olivier Panis:

"The result today was extremely disappointing for me and for the whole team. We couldn't find a cure to the grip level problem we have been suffering from all weekend, so we decided to run a different strategy, stopping just once in the race, but the car was really difficult to drive. There must have been something wrong, but we don't know what. We really need to improve a lot of things in order to get better."

Ove Andersson - Team Principal:

"Cristiano's result today reflected where we are in terms of competitiveness at the moment. I can't say that I am happy, but I am not entirely unhappy - ninth is a representative result for us this weekend. Olivier must have had a problem of some kind, because his car was not good at all, but this has to be checked. I have to say that the drivers performed faultlessly all weekend and I appreciate their full efforts in spite of the difficult circumstances."