Commenting on Ecclestone's point of view, Michael Schumacher stated, "Basically, he said it is much too long a thing for television and I agree."
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| The top placing rookie of the weekend was Christian Klien (shown) in his 11th place Jaguar, ahead of a visibly disappointed Cristiano da Matta. (Photo: Planet-F1.com) |
It seems now, a week or so later, the teams are looking at a more methodical approach to change, but if Malaysia turns out to be a repeat of the season's inaugural event, then modifications should come quickly.
There were some bright spots to the weekend however. As previously mentioned BAR looked very sporting, which much be a sour pill to swallow for Jacques Villeneuve who undoubtedly watched the race from some remote location with much chagrin. There was more expected from Japanese rival Toyota though, that in the case of Olivier Panis saw the hind end of a Minardi for much of the race - nothing to boast about. Panis did manage to make his way to 13th place, just behind a visibly disappointed Cristiano da Matta in 12th who couldn't even manage to get past the top placing rookie Christian Klien in his 11th place Jaguar.
After his reality check, former CART champion da Matta commented, "It was a difficult race for us today. The car's performance was not good at all, but at least we are under no illusions now. We know where we are and we have to work really hard to make progress up the field. There are few positive things to take away from this first race of the season, but at least we showed that the car was reliable in the race and we will be able to benefit from that as the season goes on."