Toyota Boss Encouraged Despite No Points

Toyota team boss Ove Andersson was encouraged by the Japanese squad's performance despite not scoring points in today's San Marino Grand Prix.

The Cologne-based outfit have endured a troubled start of their second year in Formula One, with several retirements in the first three races of the season. They are, together with Minardi and Jaguar, the only team yet to score points.

Today, both Frenchman Olivier Panis and Brazilian teammate Cristiano da Matta made it to the end of the race, albeit outside the points, in ninth and 12th positions respectively.

"First of all I must say that I am extremely pleased that we have seen both cars complete today's race," said Andersson. "This is a big step forward for the whole team. We struggled here on Friday, so in the end, I think we have the best result we could expect from this weekend.

"The team has worked very well and the cars have been reliable. I am particularly encouraged to see how well the pit stops worked today. Now we have to improve the overall speed of the car and look ahead to the next race in Spain."