San Marino Grand Prix

Imola
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari

Sunday race!

Jean Alesi:
When you are 13th on the grid in a race like this it's worth trying a three-stop strategy. I pushed for that, and though it wasn't the right thing in retrospect sixth place is a welcome result, especially after I went briefly off the road. I wasn't quick enough on the track, so I thought Id try the grass!
The car was good today, and this result proves that it is also reliable.

Pedro Diniz:
My car was going well until the filler flap stayed shut in the pit stop. Then I began to have problems with the electronics in the gearshift mechanism, which caused that big slide right in front of Michael. I came into the pits and was able to continue after we had changed the steering wheel.
Later on I lost control, and went off in the second corner, probably on somebody's oil.

Peter Sauber:
Scoring points this year is harder than finding strawberries at the North Pole. In our 100th GP we are happy to take one point, even if luck played a significant part in achieving it, but for the future we will make renewed efforts to rely less on good fortune.

Saturday

Jean Alesi:
The balance was fine today, but not one of my sets of tyres felt the same. We did nothing to the set-up all through qualifying, but on each run the car felt completely different, one time understeering, another oversteering. I just don't understand why.
We always say that 10th is a good position, and 15th bad, so I guess we are in the middle.

Pedro Diniz:
We improved the traction today, but I still couldn't find the perfect set-up and my car was oversteering too much, possibly in part because of the higher track temperature. Unfortunately, I just couldn't put a good lap together.

Peter Sauber:
We started here with the same car we had in Brazil, and Jean has improved his position on the grid by one place. But as soon as possible we must equip the car with the next components in our ongoing development programme, to achieve our aim of a Top 10 position.

Friday
Jean Alesi:
Rear-end grip was the main problem today. The traction was poor and I had too much wheelspin. In the end I spun at Rivazza when the downshift was too slow. We need to do more work on our set-up before qualifying.

Pedro Diniz:
At one stage today we managed to improve the traction, but I think a combination of a different set-up and I increase in ambient temperature this afternoon took the edge off the handling again and we lost a little bit. I had an otherwise troublefree day but the track generally felt slower this afternoon, and that didn't help.

Peter Sauber:
We are disappointed with our performance today, and have much work to do on the set-up before qualifying tomorrow. Even though it will be difficult, we believe we can qualify in the top 10. The fact that the San Marino GP is our 100th race will give us wings.