Monaco Grand Prix

Monte Carlo

Comments
Sunday race
Jean Alesi:
I was held up behind Salo until I passed him on lap 34 at Loews, and after that I got into a rhythm. But when I tried to push hard the rear wheels kept locking up because of the gearbox's slow downshifts, and the car was difficult to drive on the limit.
I made my pit stop on lap 49, but then I made a mistake and hit the barrier just before Casino Square. I came in again to have the rear suspension checked, but after I restarted I only got as far as Casino Square again before I knew my race was over.

Pedro Diniz:
My car felt competitive today, and after I passed Mika Salo on lap 38 I caught up again with Jean. But the brakes were a problem all the way through, and as the rear tyres were out I kept locking the rear brakes. I wound the brake bias forward as much as I could, but when I locked up the fronts at Ste Devote on the lap that I was due to make my pit stop, I slid into the wall.

Peter Sauber:
Jean was running eighth, with Pedro close behind, and this solid improvement on our qualifying form shows what the C18 is capable of. I am mystified why we are unable to realise this potential on Saturday afternoons. Pedro did good lap times, but unfortunately he overshot his braking point for Ste Devote

Comments
Saturday Qualifying

Jean Alesi:
I didn't have any real problems today - but my car just wasn't quick enough! The track conditions changed but we still lacked grip, and my last run was spoiled by another drivers accident.

Pedro Diniz:
The balance wasn't great again today, but overall things weren't too bad and I am confident that I have the right tyre choice for tomorrow.

Peter Sauber:
Unfortunately Jean did not have a chance to improve on his final run, due to Marc Gene's second accident. We are satisfied that we improved the cars since free practice this morning, but are disappointed to start so far back.

Comments
Thursday free practice

Jean Alesi:
My biggest problems today were the brakes, and understeer. Whenever I ried to brake really hard the car became very nervous and began to dart about, and the later I tried to brake the worse the understeer was in the slow-speed corners. We did, however, improve the traction this afternoon.

Pedro Diniz:
All through the morning I had far, far too much understeer, and no matter what we tried we never really got rid of it this afternoon. The only time the car didn't understeer was on the first lap on new tyres, when the extra grip made it oversteer; but by th esecond lap the understeer was back again.

Peter Sauber:
Today we accumulated 90 laps. I hope this gives us the scope to improve for Saturday.