Prost talk up disappointing race

"I was quite happy with the car during the race," said an upbeat Nick Heidfeld. "During the first lap I was able to overtake several cars, and to keep the pace of those in front of me. So I was confident, considering I was going on a one stop strategy."

Jean Alesi, who had performed well in most of the practice sessions, was equally positive.

"I am not worried at all, since I have proved I could fight on the track and overtake several cars until reaching ninth position. The team did a very good job this weekend and I am sure we will improve further very soon," he said.

Unfortunately, Alesi suffered from an electronic failure, showing that the recurrent problems in the cars' electronic systems have not been fully eradicated. However, the cars appeared reliable up until the race, so the team's progress is apparent.

Team boss Alain Prost admitted to being disappointed by the early retirement of the cars, though he remained confident in the team's ability to improve.

"It is really a shame that we lack that much reliability," he said, "whereas we have clearly a strong potential. The positive element is the fact that the two drivers have been satisfied with the chassis behaviour during the race."

Prost will test at Silverstone again this week in order to work on the cars' reliability before the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola in two weeks.