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Olivier Panis Q&A

Olivier Panis had a terrible first half of the season as he logged a series of retirements, but fifth place at Silverstone put him back on track. In Germany he was heading for another point, having beaten everyone bar the drivers from the top three teams, when he was stopped by an engine problem. The timing was unfortunate as it came so soon after BAR's signing of Jenson Button for 2003 and at a stage where a good result for Olivier would have done his future prospects a lot of good. Adam Cooper talked to the Frenchman



"Yes, it was a very positive weekend, because I fought with the good cars in front of me, and I fought in qualifying with Jordan and McLaren. This is a good point for us. I made a good start, I followed the best cars, and I overtook Fisichella and Trulli, and after that I closed the gap with David Coulthard. But at the end of the day we had a mechanical problem and it was not possible to finish the race. It was a little bit of a shame, but I think the team is going in a good direction."



"I don't know exactly, but it was an engine problem. It locked the rear wheels."



"I think Bridgestone was quite good, but also we made a step with the engine. I worked very, very well with the engineers, and we made a very good set-up. I was very confident about the new circuit when I started on Friday morning. This I think helped a lot."



"It's the biggest step we made so far this year. We can wait for another evolution at Spa, and also at the end of the season. Honda is going in a good direction and they're working very, very well."



"Maybe it's a little bit different. Monaco is a similar low-speed circuit and we were not very, very fast, but you never know. But Hungary is a very special track, so maybe we'll go well there."



"I continue to speak with David Richards, because he wants to keep me, and also [my managers] Keke Rosberg and Didier Cotton are looking at different options, and now we need to wait and see and try the best one."



"Oh yeah, we have two or three teams that we talk with. I want to continue in F1. I'm quite fit, and performing well. If I can sign a two-year contract I'll be very happy with that. If I change team we'll need two years to develop the car well."



"I don't think so, because everybody knows with an experienced driver like me, when we have a car, we do the job. We have some good young drivers, but they make so many mistakes. When teams need points they also need drivers with experience to develop the car."

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