25/07/2004
NEWS STORY
Olivier Panis: "I am very disappointed with the problem that I encountered at the start of the race when I stalled on the grid and was forced to start in last place. This year, between Cristiano and me, we have experienced this type of problem on different occasions. Sometimes, drivers make mistakes but because the problem has recurred, we should really check carefully to see if there is a related technical problem. The performance of the car actually looked competitive today and we were able to do some very quick laptimes. Now, we need to focus on developing the TF104B further and to make further improvements for the upcoming races."
Cristiano da Matta: "My retirement from today's grand prix was pretty sudden, although I had felt an increasing vibration in the rear of the car occasionally during the race. The right-rear tyre suddenly went, but it is difficult to know what caused it to blow until we study the data. My start was okay, but I soon got stuck in traffic which slowed me down quite a bit. On a positive note, the speed of the TF104B seemed quite good in race conditions, and generally I am encouraged by the weekend. I think I showed clearly that on full tanks, when I wasn't being held up that I could set some highly respectable lap times."
Tsutomu Tomita - Team Principal: "It was a problematic and extremely disappointing race result for Toyota today, but I think we can take a lot of positive things away after the first race weekend with our revised TF104B car. We had the pace to score some points today, as we can see from setting the fourth fastest lap of the race. Unfortunately, our race was over at the beginning when Olivier stalled on the grid. He then lost a lot of time stuck behind backmarkers and was unable to make up enough positions. Cristiano also had a lot of traffic but was forced to retire with a rear tyre puncture, the exact cause of which we have to ascertain with Michelin. The TF104B showed a really encouraging pace and both drivers set competitive lap times when they had a clear track. All in all, we are disappointed that we could not score the points we deserved, but at the same time we should be pleased with the car's performance at this weekend's German Grand Prix."