Barrichello finishes third in French Grand Prix
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French Grand Prix: Race (72 laps)
- The race started in dry conditions but torrential rain brought out the safety car on lap
24 for 11 laps. The rain began again with eight laps remaining.
- Rubens Barrichello finished third in the French Grand Prix equalling the Stewart-Ford
team's best performance this year. The Brazilian led the race for a total of 45 laps out
of 72 after starting from the team's first ever pole position.
- Johnny Herbert retired after only four laps with gearbox problems.
- Rubens' third place puts him in eighth position in the Drivers' Championship with 10
points. The Stewart-Ford team is sixth in the Constructors' Championship with 12 points.
RUBENS BARRICHELLO Car No.16 (SF3-04), 3rd place, four points
Another great performance in an incident-packed race. Pole position and
another podium finish, you must be pleased with your weekend?
"I enjoyed the race tremendously. To be leading again like I did in Brazil
was a great feeling. At one point things were working in my favour with David
[Coulthard] stopping early on and other people struggling in the conditions, I
suddenly thought 'this is going to be my day'. I knew I had to make a
second stop towards the end so I was concentrating on conserving fuel but
there was so much going on that I had to tell myself to keep pushing as well.
It was a bit of a balancing act. I had some really good, clean battles out there
with Mika [Hakkinen] and Michael [Schumacher]. In a strange way I have a
tinge of disappointment because with a little luck with the fuel I could have
been on the top step."
How bad were the conditions during the heavy downpour?
"It was very tricky. There was a lot of water lying on the track surface. I was
aquaplaning quite a bit and just trying to keep it clean and tight. I was glad
when the pace car came out. I could see the pace car driver was having real
trouble holding it on the road, so you can imagine what it was like for us. At
one point I really thought he was going to lose it. Even when it began to dry
a little there was plenty of water around."
JOHNNY HERBERT Car No.17 (SF3-05), retired lap four, gearbox
When did you realise that you had a gearbox problem? "I was halfway through the
first lap when I lost second gear. After a few more laps I lost the other gears and the
only option left was to cruise back to the pits and watch the rest of the race from
there."
PAUL STEWART, SGP Deputy Chairman
"It was an excellent drive from Rubens and a great performance from the whole
Stewart-Ford team. For us once again to have led a race is an important step and the
strategy we chose and our response to the changing conditions showed excellent team work.
We knew we had to do a second pit stop for fuel towards the end of the race and Rubens did
brilliantly to hold off Michael Schumacher claiming third when he re-joined the
race."
MARTIN WHITAKER, Director, Ford Racing, Europe
"Everybody's hard work throughout the weekend paid off when Rubens drove a fantastic
race in very difficult conditions. He led the race for more laps than anybody else --
illustrating that we were quick in both wet and dry conditions. We changed the fuel
mixture during the race to preserve fuel to allow us continue to run as the conditions
dried but when it began to rain again with eight laps left we brought Rubens in for his
second pit stop."
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