FORMULA ONE: Olivier drives to points finish

Olivier drives to points finish - Jordan Honda experience double
disappointment


Olivier Panis collected two championship points for Lucky Strike BAR Honda
and continued Honda-powered teams' points-scoring run today when he
finished fifth in the Austrian Grand Prix at the A1-Ring, Spielberg, in a
race of attrition which saw half the field retire and David Coulthard
narrow Michael Schumacher's lead in the drivers' world championship. 
Panis' BAR Honda team-mate Jacques Villeneuve finished eighth, although
Benson and Hedges Jordan Honda ended its impressive run of points-scoring
finishes as the team endured the frustration of seeing both Heinz-Harald
Frentzen and Jarno Trulli retire from the race.

When the lights extinguished at the start, the two yellow Jordan Hondas,
together with McLaren's Mika Hakkinen and Sauber's Nick Heidfeld were left
sitting on the grid, Frentzen when his gearbox seized and Trulli when his
launch control system failed.  Both the Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya and
Ralf Schumacher passed the Ferrari of polesitter Michael Schumacher who
had a surprisingly slow getaway.  Meanwhile Coulthard had taken full
advantage of his team-mate's and the Jordan Honda pair's lack of motion to
move up to fifth.

With so many cars stranded on the grid, the safety car was put out for two
laps while they were recovered and Frentzen was retired while Trulli
restarted from the pitlane.  It was here that he passed the red light at
the exit, a misdemenour that was to result in his disqualification.  Panis
by now was running ninth with Villeneuve behind him in 10th, both held up
by the slower Jaguar of Eddie Irvine.  While Panis swept by on lap 7 to
take eighth position his team-mate found it more difficult to get past and
a few laps later spun while trying a move down the inside, dropping to
11th as a result.

On the same lap Ralf Schumacher retired with brake problems leaving
Montoya to fend off his elder brother's Ferrari, which was clearly
quicker.  The lead six cars were beginning to queue up behind when Montoya
and Schumacher tangled as the latter made an attempt to overtake under
braking on the outside, dropping both down the order and behind Panis, who
moved up to fourth when Arrows' Jos Verstappen made the first of his
pitstops.  Coulthard was now second and eyed his chance when the
race-leading Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello made his one and only pitstop
on lap 45.  By staying out longer the McLaren stole the advantage and from
rejoining the race in the lead after his stop, Coulthard controlled the
gap to take victory.

While Montoya retired before the pitstops with hydraulic problems,
Schumacher had fought his way back to third behind his team-mate, where he
stayed until the last few metres of the race, when Barrichello pulled over
under team orders to promote him to second.  Olivier Panis, after a strong
first half of the race, couldn't make an impression on the Sauber of Kimi
Raikkonen for fourth place and drove a steady, experienced race to cross
the line in fifth place.


Olivier Panis	5th
"I am very happy for the team and myself with the result today.  The two
points are very important to us as we look to close the gap in the
championship.  Jacques had a podium in the last race and I collected
points today so I am happy with the progress we are making.  Next week we
will be in Valencia testing and we will be looking to make some
improvements as we prepare for the next round in Monaco."


Kazutoshi Nishizawa - Technical Director, Honda Racing Development
"Overall it was a disappointing day but we are pleased for Olivier, who
drove well and made the most of his race, particularly in the first half. 
Jordan Honda's problems were a shame as they had good race potential but
we look ahead now and continue to push forward."


Craig Pollock, Team Principal and Managing Director, BAR Honda
"It was a good result for us.  Olivier drove an absolutely fantastic race
and he deserved the two points, if not more, by the way he was racing. 
The whole weekend has been exceptional and it gives us confidence going
into the next race."


Eddie Jordan, Chief Executive, Jordan Honda
"After warm-up I really felt that we were in good shape for the race as
both cars ran well with good balance.  Unfortunately it wasn't to be as
Heinz had a gearbox problem that jammed the gears at the start so his car
couldn't move, and Jarno's engine stalled after launch control failed.  It
would appear that the revs were possibly too low for the launch control to
activate, which is a fault by the team and not Honda.  Jarno had to retire
after being shown a black flag for leaving the pitlane to join the race
when the pit exit light was red.  It's very disappointing for both drivers
and the team and we will be having a thorough de-brief to establish the
reasons for our lack of performance today."