Jordan out paced in Monaco

Not fast enough
By Phil Giles
June 1 2003

Jordan's Monaco Grand Prix weekend ended with both Jordan's crossing the finishing line with Fisi in 10th and Ralph directly behind him in 12th.

While the team made progress through the field from their final qualifying positions, Giancarlo admitted that he was disappointed with his race finish.  “I am not happy with my result. I expected to score some points but we were not quick for most of the race and hardly anyone ahead of me retired.  Our pace wasn’t so good in the first and second stint but during the last stint, the car was much better and more consistent. I had good pace and was quick at the end but it wasn’t enough.” He said.

New Monaco resident Ralph Firman was also unhappy with his and the teams performance. “The car was good on new tyres but when we had old tyres, grip was low on entry and I had mid corner understeer. I lost loads of time with the blue flags as well.  Looking at where we finished, it was difficult to score points, which is a bit disappointing. I had a reasonable qualifying session and race, and I’m glad I had no accidents in my first Monaco Grand Prix. It’s positive to finish but we need to try and go a bit quicker.”

Gary Anderson said that Jordan's performance was up to the plan set out for the day, however the car's speed wasn't up to the plan. “Everything unfolded to plan for us today and our pit stops were very good but unfortunately our plan was not sufficient to score any points, we just weren’t quick enough.  I think the fact that almost everybody did two stops showed we were on the right strategy, but unfortunately if the speed’s not there, there is not much you can do about it in the race. I suppose it’s good that we are not taking any debris home, but I would rather be taking debris and a few points!”

"Everybody in the team worked hard and did a good job in Monaco." Said Eddie Jordan.  "We had good reliability all weekend and the drivers didn't put a wheel wrong at this unforgiving circuit, but sadly at the moment we need to be quicker, in qualifying especially. We need to work even harder now to improve the car's performance."

The team moves on to the Canadian Grand Prix in two weeks time.