The Jordan Ford team left Magny-Cours with little to smile about, a retirement for Giancarlo Fisichella and a 15th place for Ralph Firman. Lack of grip was the story of the weekend, as indeed it seemed to be for many.

Following on from Nurburgring a week ago, the BMW-Williams team scored another one-two finish, again with Ralf Schumacher leading home Juan Pablo Montoya. On points, the Williams squad poses the biggest threat to Ferrari for the championship, but on the track, it is evident that Sir Frank’s crew have got the upper hand, as it was an easy cruise to the flag for the blue and whites.

Michael Schumacher finished where he started, in third place, but the Ferrari man had to work hard for it, passed at the start by Kimi Raikkonen and in the first of three pit stops by the other McLaren-Mercedes of David Coulthard. The reigning world champion recovered the situation, pushing hard before his last of three pit stops and helped by a problem with Coulthard’s final refuelling.

Behind the fourth and fifth placed McLarens came Mark Webber sixth for Jaguar, Barrichello, who switched to a two stop strategy after his spin, finishing seventh and the final point going to the Toyota of Olivier Panis.

Giancarlo’s race ended on lap 46 with an engine failure and Ralph had to make an additional unscheduled stop so the team could check the cause of a vibration problem.

Hard work is on the cards at a major test in Barcelona, prior to Jordan Ford’s home event, the British GP in a fortnight’s time.

RALPH FIRMAN 15th 
CHASSIS NUMBER EJ13-03
“The car started off quite good on the first set of tyres but I gradually had more and more oversteer as the circuit got more grip.  There was a slight hesitation with the engine after the first stop and I also had to come in for an extra stop so the team could investigate a vibration after my second stop.  I’m looking forward to testing in Barcelona next week and then my home Grand Prix at Silverstone.”

GIANCARLO FISICHELLA DNF (engine, lap 46)
CHASSIS NUMBER EJ13-04
“I’m very disappointed.  The car had a lot of oversteer and virtually no grip, we are struggling with the whole package.  Our pace is not good enough compared to everyone else. Fighting with the Minardis for the last few positions is not my target.  I need a better car and hope it will come soon - we need a big step.”

GARY ANDERSON
DIRECTOR OF RACE AND TEST ENGINEERING
“This Grand Prix was tough for us.  We struggled with grip all weekend and it was the same story in the race.  Giancarlo had an engine failure but our pace was not good so if he’d finished it wouldn’t have been in the points anyway.  We had to bring Ralph in for an extra stop because he experienced a vibration and we wanted to check everything was okay.  Clearly our result is disappointing for all but we are all working hard to improve the whole package – chassis, engine and tyres.”