Ralph Firman in 2003
Ralph Firman in 2003Qualifying - 15th
"That was possibly one of my best laps all year. This is the only circuit where I feel I am on equal terms with Giancarlo and everyone else because I know it well. We also know the car really well by the end of the season and we found a good balance today. I'm really happy with it and it's worked well although obviously we'd like to be quicker. Hopefully if it rains tomorrow it could be a good weekend for us. I like this circuit because it's challenging and you have to have confidence at every corner to be fast. It's great to be racing here again."
Race - 14th
"That was an unfortunate end to the season. I had a fuel rig problem in the pit stop and a pick-up problem in the fuel tank, which meant in my second stint I had to carry a lot more fuel than planned. Nevertheless, the team have done a good job all year and I've really enjoyed working with them - hopefully I can look forward to a long future with them ."
Qualifying - 18th
"It feels really good to be driving here in Indianapolis after five weeks out of the car and it's quite exciting as there are only two more Grands Prix to go. We have been struggling for the ultimate lap time today but that's just where we are with the car, we have problems with grip, and we're struggling with balance and the lower downforce set-up. There is a lot of oversteer on turn-in and understeer through the long corners, it's a bit of everything really. I had a pretty good lap with no mistakes, and did the best I could under the circumstances. Unless it rains I think we might struggle to score any points, but it's been pretty showery the last few days so we may get lucky."
Race - Retired
"The conditions were wet and slippery and unfortunately at the beginning I touched with another car and lost my front wing. Later I had to change to wet then dry tyres and when I wanted to pit for wets again Giancarlo was going into the box so I had to do another lap and come back. I retired when I touched one of those plastic kerbs and the car spun round. We're not used to racing with them but it was my mistake. All round it's been a tough day."
Ralph Firman was forced to sit out the Italian GP due to continuing effects from the big accident in Hungary
"Although I feel extremely well and absolutely fit physically, I have an inner ear imbalance which prevents me from racing this weekend but Professor Watkins said it should be fine in time for testing and the last two races. I have returned to training and passed all the normal tests but I knew in myself this week that I had not recovered 100%. I think honesty is the best policy so I volunteered this to Professor Watkins and I accept missing a second race because it is vital to me that I finish the season as strongly as possible. Naturally I am very disappointed, but I am focusing solely on the remainder of this year and on having a stronger season in 2004."
Race
Ralph Firman had a big crash in Saturday practice and did not take part in qualifying or the race, being replaced by test driver Baumgartner. This is what he had to say about the accident.
"I was going fine, had done a couple of laps and all I remember is suddenly I could tell something had happened - the car sped up and felt different but I didn’t know why and then almost instantly I was spearing off the track. I can’t really remember anything between that and then being in the ambulance but more of it is starting to come back to me. I feel absolutely great in the circumstances and I’m just disappointed for the team and for myself that I’m missing this race, I was really enjoying the weekend. I’m keen to get back out there and see everybody tomorrow and concentrate on being fit for the Monza test. I have to thank the FIA and the team for their hard work on safety and also the circuit and hospital medical teams for looking after me so well."
Qualifying - 17th
"Today was very disappointing. I had a good day yesterday but I couldn’t capitalise on it, and ended up with a lot of oversteer in qualifying, although the car had understeer in warm-up. Let’s see how we go in the race."
Race - Retired
"It’s very disappointing to go out of the race. I went into the first corner and didn’t see anything that was going on but suddenly everyone slowed and I ended up tapping the back of Frentzen and damaging my front wing. I thought it might be okay but then I was off the circuit on the outside when Justin came into the side of me, and there was just too much damage."
Brit-F1 Star Rating 
(5 star max)
Qualifying - 17th
"It was a productive morning, although the car had a little bit of oversteer. We made some changes before warm-up and ended up with massive understeer which we didn’t cure before qualifying. I didn’t really want to change the car too much because I want to keep a good race car, but that compromised our qualifying performance. I’m quite disappointed with my lap time but have a good car for tomorrow so let’s see how we fare in the race."
Race - 13th
"The team made a really good call with the first pit stop and we’re were up there in points positions for a while. Obviously it was a shame not to score any at the end but we need to be a bit quicker. The car had oversteer during the second stint but it was much better and very consistent for the last stint. All in all, it was quite a good first British Grand Prix so I’m pretty happy."
Brit-F1 Star Rating
(5 star max)
Qualifying - 18th
"As the circuit picks up grip we’ve had a lot more
oversteer. I made a slight mistake in the last sector but I don’t think
it affected my position. It’s difficult to know what strategies other
people are on, maybe ours will help us. We’ll have to wait and see how
we go tomorrow."
Race - 15th
"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."
Brit-F1 Star Rating
(5 star max)
Qualifying - 14th
"It was disappointing that I lost a lot of track time in
practice this morning as I think it may have cost me in qualifying. We haven’t
had any other problems and it’s worked out really well all weekend apart
from that. I’m quite happy with how qualifying went although I did made
a small mistake on the lap. You can never get it absolutely perfect but you
can always aim to get it better and I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow.
It will be interesting to see how we end up."
Race - 11th
"I had a good start and first couple of corners, but straight away the circuit was very different from yesterday. The car had oversteer and I struggled with that through the whole race - even when the circuit picked up grip we didn’t make up any lap time, which is obviously quite disappointing. It was a very difficult race so I’m looking ahead to the next one."
Brit-F1 Star Rating
(5
star max)
Qualifying - 19th
"That was disappointing. I had a good day yesterday but clearly
today was not so good. I locked up the wheels at the first corner and then had
a flat spot on the tyre all the way round the circuit. We’ll have to try
our best in the race and wait and see what happens."
Race - Retired
"We decided to change the strategy to one stop and it seemed to be working out really well. I’m not quite sure what caused the failure but the engineers are looking into it. I’m disappointed as it looks like we would have been able to score points today and it’s a real shame for the team that I wasn’t able to finish."
Brit-F1 Star Rating
(5 star max)
Qualifying - 16th
"I had a bit too much understeer towards the end of the lap
but things were looking relatively good until then. I’m looking forward
to the race as I’ve really taken to the circuit here and am quite happy
with how it's going. I’ll push hard tomorrow, try not to touch the walls
and hope to score some points."
Race - 12th
"The car was good on new tyres but when we had old tyres, grip was low on entry and I had mid corner understeer. I lost loads of time with the blue flags as well,” he said. “Looking at where we finished, it was difficult to score points, which is a bit disappointing. I had a reasonable qualifying session and race, and I'm glad I had no accidents in my first Monaco Grand Prix. It's positive to finish but we need to try and go a bit quicker."
Brit-F1 Star Rating
(5
star max)
Qualifying - 16th
"I had a good first sector but after that there was too much understeer so I lost time over the rest of the lap. I think the circuit changed a bit in the fifteen minutes between warm-up and qualifying. We’ve got a good race car and there’s no reason why we can’t score some points."
Race - 11th
"We were a bit worried about the temperature build up with the two aborted starts, as the clutch can get too hot, but it was all ok with no problems. The car was quite good in the race and I managed to get past Coulthard at the safety car restart, although my out laps after the stops were not good. It rained on my first one and on cold tyres the car locked the rears when I downshifted and I nearly spun. On the second out-lap Da Matta got on the inside of me and pushed me wide, but the car was not too bad after that. It's a shame we weren't able to score points."
Brit-F1 Star Rating
(5 star max)
Qualifying - 15th
Race - 8th
"It was brilliant. When the Satefty Car came out my engineer Dominic called me in for a pit stop, which obviously worked out well. I had a really good middle stint to the third pit stop but when I came back out Ralf Schumacher had been off and damaged his car and was weaving all over the circuit. I couldn't get past him which is ironic as he's usually complaining that people don't move over for him when it's not for position! Anyway, once the tyres had worn there was no chance of overtaking him but I managed to hold off Button and keep my position which is great."
Brit-F1 Star Rating
(5
star max)
Qualifying - 19th
“It was a promising day before qualifying. But you only get one lap and I made a mistake at the first corner, locking up the front wheel and then had a big flat spot on the tyre. From that point on the rest of the lap was very difficult. It should be okay tomorrow.”
Race - Retired
"I got held up by the Minardis at the start, but once I got clear of them I was able to push on quite hard although the car had a little bit of oversteer on the turn in to corners. Later I had a clutch problem and after a couple of laps the engine packed up. I am looking forward to the Silverstone test next week as the time in the car will be a great help to me. I think I need to improve myself in qualifying but in the race I always seem to do a reasonably good lap time."
Brit-F1 Star Rating
(5 star max)
Qualifying - 16th
“We made some changes to the car between practice and qualifying which improved the car a lot so I’m pretty happy. I made a small mistake but I would been in the same position anyway I think. We’ve got a good car for the race and I’m looking forward to it.”
Race - Retired
"Fisi did a really good job finishing second and getting the team some points, so I am very pleased for the team. I had another suspension failure. It’s a shame and of course I’m disappointed."
Brit-F1 Star Rating
(5 star max)
Qualifying - 20th
“The circuit has changed a lot from this morning with the temperature going up, and as a result I experienced a lot of oversteer in the last sector. But I’m reasonably satisfied with that and hopefully tomorrow will be good.”
Race - Finished 10th
"It was a good race with the car showing reliability. It was very very hard work but I had some good battles and it's great to finish. In the pit stop the car wouldn't pull away with the normal system, I don't know why, but we did a manual start and that was okay, but I lost a bit of time and it is a shame I ran out of fuel on the last lap. The team has done an excellent job this weekend and I'm looking forward to Brazil.."
Brit-F1 Star Rating
(5 star max)
Qualifying - 17th
Race - Retired
“I was not pushing one hundred percent when the accident happened. I was well within myself but then suddenly had major oversteer, lost the car and hit the barrier. Rubens went off there and I understand there was a possibility of some oil on the track but I honestly don’t know. It was going well before then, I was cautious over the first few laps and this is an unfortunate outcome. The team did a very good job to make the right call on tyre choice, so it’s naturally very disappointing not to finish.”
Brit-F1 Star Rating
(5 star max)
On Signing for Jordan
"I am thrilled to have this chance to race in Formula One especially as it is with Jordan, one of the few teams to have won Grands Prix in recent years. It’s also a team that has brought many notable names into Formula One and I can see that it’s an extremely friendly and professional operation. Although this will be my first season, I have worked hard to build up my experience whilst racing in Japan, so although F1 will be something new I feel ready and quite comfortable with it. I am really looking forward to going to Melbourne next month"
