By Phil Giles
June 29 2003

We aren't quick enough was the conclusion of Giancarlo Fisichella after a European Grand Prix where Jordan finished in 11th and 12th positions. The race didn't start well for the Silverstone based team as Giancarlo lost places at the start with launch control problems.

Both cars were on light fuel loads as a three stop strategy was thought by the team  to be the best on the day.  Giancarlo however made four stops after the right rear tyre not only punctured but totally disintegrated.  All was not lost however as the team have been able to gain more data from the Ford Cosworth engine.  Reliability held and both cars finished the race.

Both cars however still struggled from oversteer.  The aerodynamic package having been a bugbear all the way through the season.  It is understood that Jordan have a new aero package in development but it's not known when it will be introduced.  We can assume that it won't be until the British Grand Prix towards the end of next month.

Ralph said “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.”

Giancarlo commented  “My launch control didn’t work very well at the start and the engine nearly stalled so I lost a few places.  I had understeer for a couple of laps and then huge oversteer for the rest of the race which made it very difficult to make up time.  Three stops maybe wasn’t the best strategy, we didn’t get the best car balance and we were not quick enough.”

“That was a tough race." admitted Gary Anderson.  "Three stops here penalised us - all the cars that did three stops ended up together in the results so that proves something about the strategy.  We thought it was worth a shot to see if we could pull anything out of it, but it didn’t work.  I’m impressed with our reliability, but the reality is we need to be faster to score points.”

“Obviously it’s disappointing to work so hard and not get anything in return," said Eddie.  "But it was positive to have two reliable cars get to the finish.  We are doing everything in our power to get ourselves into a better position.”

It is encouraging to see that both cars were able to get to the end of the Grand Prix.  However, Jordan must improve on their early season promises.  Not only to keep hold of the sponsors but ultimately, the fans who support the team and the sponsors.  We do look forward to the improvements for the second half of the season.  Hopefully the new aerodynamics package will cure the oversteer problems and perhaps there is an engine upgrade due from Ford.  I know I would much rather see Jordan fighting for points than fighting for survival.

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