Delighted Panis Praises Honda

Frenchman Olivier Panis praised engine suppliers Honda after a strong start to the Spanish Grand Prix for the British American Racing driver.

Panis, in his second season with the Brackley-based squad, is hoping to finish his first race of the year at the Barcelona track this weekend after a torrid start of 2002.

The veteran driver was a happy man after setting the fifth quickest time of the day in today's practice, and he praised Japanese manufacturer Honda for their efforts to improve.

"I'm very pleased with how practice went for me today; fifth position is a big improvement after the last few races," said Panis. "Honda have been working very hard to improve the engine race by race and we can see that beginning to show here.

"Fifth place is a great way to start the weekend and a good boost for the team. I'm happy with the tyre options so far but we still have a lot of work to do because qualifying is another day."

Teammate Jacques Villeneuve, who scored BAR's first ever podium in last year's race at Barcelona, was not as lucky as Panis and finished the day down in 16th position.