Giorgio Pantano made a good start to the San Marino Grand Prix however he and team mate Nick Heidfeld had to retire from the race with respective hydraulic and transmission problems, a frustrating conclusion to Jordan Ford’s weekend in Imola. The drivers both reported performance improvements in the car, but ultimately reliability issues prevented them from realising the car’s potential in the race, so the team looks to the next opportunity with the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

 

NICK HEIDFELD (EJ14/03) DNF (lap 50)

"My start was not good as I was on the dirty side and then I had a bit of a problem getting the tyres up to temperature. After that the car was definitely better than it has been in the first three races and we have improved the set-up in terms of understanding the tyres over a race distance. I had a high-speed spin at Piratella but managed to get back on the circuit and luckily there was no damage to the car. Overall the car wasn’t that bad and I think if I had been able to finish I could have been in front of both Jaguars which would have been good."

GIORGIO PANTANO (EJ14/02) DNF (lap 7)

"I got a very good start and was in a good position so I’m not happy about retiring, especially racing in Italy as I was looking to get a good result here. I had to stop because of a problem with the hydraulics. Although obviously it didn’t finish well, the weekend as a whole has been encouraging because the car has been much better and in the race it felt good. I was keeping Fisichella and Raikkonen behind me and I’m hopeful that we can keep improving and improving. I was always very lucky in Barcelona in F3000 so I’m hoping the Spanish Grand Prix in two weeks will bring me the chance for a better result."

JAMES ROBINSON

HEAD OF RACE AND TEST ENGINEERING

"It was disappointment for us in the race with technical problems preventing us from finishing. Giorgio made an excellent start and was up to 13th, driving strongly and racing with the faster cars behind him. Our strategy looked to be solid so it’s a shame that he didn’t have the car to see it through to the finish. We need to investigate what Nick’s problem was exactly though – it seems to be driveshaft failure. Giorgio’s problem was loss of hydraulic fluid which affected the steering and forced his retirement. It was good to see once again very solid pit work adding to the improving car performance we saw this weekend."

 

TEST SCHEDULE

Jordan Ford will test at Vairano on 27 – 29 April with Timo Glock