By Huw Alban (21/05/03)
May 21 2003

In the pre-season build up, boosted by competitive and reliable testing, Toyota driver Olivier Panis stated that the team could spring a surprise this year. Six races into the Grand Prix schedule, team mate Cristiano da Matta is not so sure. "I think we have a lot of work to do to get into this stage," the 29-year-old Brazilian has been quoted as saying on F1i.com.

He continued, "We are definitely looking to be more and more competitive every day, but if we stay the way we are right now I don't think we are going to be the surprise of the season.

"We still have a lot of work to do to get there."

It would be fair to say that Toyota have not been the most reliable team this year so far, with Olivier Panis getting the larger share of the technical problems. "I've been a little bit more fortunate than Olivier in this matter," Cristiano explained. "He's had a couple more issues happening on his car than I did, but I think it's just bad luck for him rather than anything more sinister than that."