"I'm very disappointed with our performance this weekend, but hopefully we can do better in the next race," commented the Finnish driver. "I stalled at the start and lost a few places but managed to regain most of them during the first couple of corners. The car felt good, but unfortunately it didn't last very long, and I retired with an engine failure? Definitely not the best way to start the season."
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| Jordan's Nick Heidfeld had a frustrating weekend, being easily passed by rival Giancarlo Fisichella, who stole his seat at team Sauber. (Photo: Planet-F1.com) |
Teammate David Coulthard was equally upset despite scoring a single point toward his championship run. "It has really been an unsatisfying weekend for us and the one point we achieved today is a very small consolation."
It must have also been extremely frustrating for Jordan's Nick Heidfeld, a Sauber expatriate new to Eddie Jordan's team this year, to watch rival Giancarlo Fisichella, who stole his seat at Sauber, zip by him after being held up for the initial stages of the event. While Heidfeld was able to hold him up by keeping to his line, Fisichella left him like an afterthought once past.
Nevertheless the Italian wasn't happy with the final result of his weekend, stating, "I'm disappointed because we had an opportunity to do well today. I lost a lot of time early in the race behind Heidfeld, who was driving very defensively, and I knew I was much quicker. Once I got by I was immediately able to prove this. The balance of the car was really good and my lap times were very encouraging for the future."