Cristiano da Matta

At the end of last year Jenson Button got himself into the lead at both Indianapolis and Suzuka, and while pitstops and circumstances played a part, it was the first clear indication that BAR was making forward progress. Meanwhile Toyota had at least one car onto the second row of the grid at both those events. Indeed, if you had to put money on which team would have made the bigger step for 2004, it would have gone on Toyota.

Of course it hasn't worked out like that, and the Cologne-based team has had a disappointing start to the season. Although reliability has been good, and the team has recorded seven finishes in eight starts, the pace has not been there on race day. Qualifying positions have been respectable, although almost without exception the red and white cars have been among the first to pit.

Fortune does not seem to be favouring the team, and specifically Cristiano da Matta. A couple of times he's found himself shuffled out of the pack on the first lap, losing a lot of ground in the process, while in Imola he was eliminated by a bizarre chain of events.

First he received a drive through penalty for blocking race leader Michael Schumacher - something the usually immaculately behaved driver disputes. Then in his frustration 'finger trouble' in the cockpit caused him to skate off the road straight after the penalty, thus spoiling the team's finishing record.

"Of course we were light, and we had an aggressive strategy," he explains. "We knew that the possibility for it to work was not big, but if it would have worked we might have got something out of it. I didn't make a good start, I didn't make a bad start, and I just kept my position. I stayed with the Renaults and Mark Webber for a couple of laps, but they started to pull away after that, and I started to drop back.

"I was just doing my race. I was able to get ahead of Mark after my second stop. Then I got the penalty. They said it took me too long to get out of Michael's way. From my point of view, the first couple of times I saw the flag, Olivier was still behind me. I cannot move away for Michael to pass, because Olivier's going to pass me too! So I had to keep going until Olivier moved out of his way, and in Tosa he was behind me, although not that close. Into Rivazza I let him by. I was very, very pissed off when they told me."

What happened next has to be one of the most bizarre explanations ever for an accident in a grand prix.

"In the pit stop I made a mistake, which was just the force of habit. When we go into pitlane we have to press two buttons. One of them switches off the traction control, but it's just to help us get out of the pit box quicker. Usually you stop and come out of the pits and it switches itself on automatically, and you have traction control again.

"Every time you go into the pitlane in practice, every single situation, you press the two buttons, because that's what you're going to be doing in the race. It's a habit. So I braked, and on the 80kmph [speed limit] line, I pressed the two buttons. But this time I didn't stop, because it was a drive through! I went out, and at the first corner I had no traction control, basically! I just touched the barrier, very, very lightly, but enough to damage the front suspension..."

It was a frustrating end to the day, and another race crossed off the list with no result. Inevitably the pressure is starting to build on both Cristiano and his team-mate, as stories continue to circulate about who might drive for Toyota next year. Of course, there's little either man can do if the car is not up to it. The good finishing record throughout the field means that points are like gold dust.

"This is one thing. Another thing is that in the qualifying you can play with the fuel a little bit here and there, while in the race you see the true performance of the car. And we still have to improve that. This year I feel that we are stronger in qualifying trim, with new tyres and so on. We still have a bit to gain in our old tyres performance."

The indications are that the TF104 is very poor aerodynamically. Of course there are mods in the pipeline, but they are for the middle of the year, and still might not be enough.

BAR and Honda's progress is compounding Toyota's embarrassment, and the only positive aspect is that their performance proves that, if you get everything right, it is possible to break into the leading pack.

"Well, it obviously is encouraging," agrees Cristiano. "But on the other hand, if you look at the last 10 years of F1, how many times have you seen a team make a big step forward like BAR has done? For racing it's nice to see another team up there apart from the usual four we see normally. I know they've done a very, very good job.

"There's us, Jaguar and Sauber and other teams that are aiming to be there one day. Last year we were all competing with BAR to see who was fifth at the end of the championship. This year they are really in good shape. Of course it's a dream that this can happen to us too."

So can things turn around in Spain? Da Matta is at least hopeful that the track will be more suitable for the car.

"In theory Barcelona is a better track for us. It suits our car better than Imola did, because of the fast corners, and it's not as bumpy. The ride height control we have on bumpy tracks is quite difficult, so Barcelona being a smoother, more flowing type of track, is nicer for our car. It suits our car's characteristics a little bit more. So I hope to do better."