Da Matta Frustrated by Early Exit

Brazilian Cristiano da Matta was left frustrated after an early exit from the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

The Toyota driver was the innocent victim of a clash between Williams drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher at the start of the race. The German driver first hit his Colombian teammate and then damaged da Matta's car as his car headed towards the gravel trap.

"I didn't really see what happened, only a Williams locking its wheels quite badly approaching the first corner," said da Matta. "After that, there was not a great deal I could do about the situation. I tried to carry on to the left to make my way around, but there was nowhere for me to go.

"Obviously it is not nice to retire from a race through no fault of my own, but it was a racing incident and these things occur from time to time."

French teammate Olivier Panis was also disappointed after finishing down in 11th position.

"Everything was going well and I was retaining eighth place, but it became rather difficult to hold onto the group in front of me," said Panis. "The tyres dropped off quite quickly and it was clear that the race was going to be tough.

"I am very disappointed for myself and the whole team, but at least we finished the race, so from here we will continue to keep pushing to produce a quicker racing car."