Jordan Ford’s remarkable Brazilian victory has given the team a welcome boost, in spite of the delay in confirming the final result at Jordan’s 200th Grand Prix.  Eddie Jordan said, “It’s good to have achieved our fourth win and I am hoping that success will breed success.  In my experience something like this lifts morale and although it’s difficult to say exactly why, more points do follow.  We know that we have a lot of work to do on the performance on the EJ13, but the buzz from a result like this is the best motivation to push ahead.  Giancarlo’s first win will unquestionably go down in history, and you can be sure that this is not his last.”

With the San Marino Grand Prix marking the start of the European leg of the F1 season, the race at Imola signals the return of the team trucks and motorhomes.  No more living out of packing cases and entertaining VIP guests in cardboard offices!

Giancarlo Fisichella will receive the trophy for winning last week's Brazilian Grand Prix at a special ceremony to be held in Imola tomorrow (Friday).  The first Italian driver to win a Grand Prix for 11 years, Fisichella will join team boss Eddie Jordan on the start-finish line at 10.45am when McLaren team principal Ron Dennis and driver Kimi Raikkonen will make the presentation.

Giancarlo Fisichella was finally able to celebrate his Brazilian Grand Prix victory today when he was presented with the winning trophy by McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen in an unprecedented ceremony held on the start-finish line in Imola.  With their team bosses Eddie Jordan and Ron Dennis present, Raikkonen passed the trophy to Fisichella in front of a crowd of enthusiast supporters and the massed ranks of Formula One's photographers.

Williams headed first practice for this weekend's San Marino Grand Prix, Ralf Schumacher pipping team mate Juan Pablo Montoya and the Jaguar of Mark Webber once again showing well by finishing third quickest.  David Coulthard was a solid fourth fastest for McLaren in spite of a minor off, while Renault's Spanish ace Fernando Alonso was a good fifth.

Ferrari dominated today's first qualifying session in Imola, Michael Schumacher putting the disappointments of the first three races behind him to set the fastest time in front of team mate Rubens Barrichello.  Williams were next, Ralf Schumacher heading Juan Pablo Montoya, while Mark Webber was a strong fifth for Jaguar Racing. 

Testing, free practice and Friday qualifying were mechanically trouble-free for Jordan Ford.  The morning sessions were productive and offered valuable data, and driver errors were the only setbacks in an otherwise straightforward qualifying.

Jordan Ford is hopeful of qualifying inside the top ten after a promising practice session on Saturday morning which saw Brazilian GP hero Giancarlo Fisichella 11th fastest ahead of team mate Ralph Firman in 16th spot.  Both drivers are aiming to improve in this afternoon's all-important qualifying run.

Michael Schumacher stormed around the Imola track to claim pole position for tomorrow's San Marino Grand Prix, his brother Ralf only 0.014s adrift to take second spot and make it a Schumacher family front row.  Rubens Barrichello was third in spite of crashing his race car during warm-up just prior to qualifying starting, while Juan Pablo Montoya was a strong fourth ahead of a very impressive Mark Webber in the Jaguar.

News has broken in Imola that Michael and Ralf Schumacher’s 55 year old mother Elizabeth is seriously ill in a Cologne hospital, where she has been since Thursday of last week. Immediately after securing an all-Schumacher front row on the grid, the first since last year’s German GP, the two brothers left the track to be with their mother. As the new F1 timetable introduced this year does not include a Sunday morning warm-up session, they intend to be back in time to take part in tomorrow’s 62 lap San Marino Grand Prix.

Qualifying did not permit Jordan Ford to fulfil the promise of positive practice and warm-up sessions, with Giancarlo Fisichella’s and Ralph Firman’s lap times placing them 17th and 19th on the grid for tomorrow’s race.  Firman made a driving error at the beginning of his flying lap and Fisichella is hopeful that his position is a reflection of strategy.

As the teams arrived in the Imola paddock, they were met with the sad news that Michael and Ralf Schumacher’s mother, Elizabeth, died last night in a Cologne hospital.  Her two sons had flown to be with her immediately after yesterday’s qualifying session, returning to Italy overnight.

Michael Schumacher won the fourth round of this year's Formula One World Championship in style at Imola today, the World Champion fending off tough challenges from brother Ralf and McLaren ace Kimi Raikkonen.  His 65th career win came in spite of the personal anguish of his mother's death in a Cologne hospital last night, and his celebrations were suitably sombre in mood.