03/07/2005
NEWS STORY
Sauber driver Jacques Villeneuve scored a point after finishing eighth in today's French Grand Prix at Magny-Cours, but unfortunately Felipe Massa had to retire with a loss of hydraulic pressure.
Jacques Villeneuve: "That was not bad at all. The car was good from start to finish, quite driveable, and I was able to push hard all the way. My only concern was when it was running with the fuel load after my second stop as it began bottoming in Turn 1 and I ran out of road there. That corner was flat for me all weekend but from then on I was having to lift off a little after that.
"It was good to score another point today, but what was even more enjoyable was the fact that we were more competitive than I expected we would be. That was very encouraging."
Felipe Massa: "To begin with everything was going well. The car was running strongly until I began to experience a loss of hydraulic pressure around lap 25. First of all the steering started to become very heavy, then I couldn't select the gears. After a couple of laps I had to come into the pits and the team tried to fix the problem. I went out again, but it was still there so I had to retire. What is most frustrating is that our race pace was very good. I was faster than several of the top five cars and the Michelin tyres were getting better every lap. I'm sure I could have scored well today. Points would have been easy."
Peter Sauber (Team Principal): "This was a championship point that we were able to fight for, so congratulations to Jacques. It was an important point, because it was only the third time we have scored here at Magny-Cours. There are always two perspectives after a race: points and performance. Besides scoring again, we also demonstrated a step forward in performance. I hope that continues at Silverstone next week, where hopefully Felipe will enjoy better fortune after his strong race this afternoon."