Fisi runs back to the pits to get into the spare EJ12.

The race only served to underline to massive problems facing the team as neither driver looked like getting close to a top 10 finish and only the Jaguars and Minardi now seem to be slower. Speed was irrelevant, however, as reliability ensured that neither driver was going to get even close to a finishing position.

Takuma Sato pulled over on lap six with his Jordan Honda EJ12 stuck in first gear, Giancarlo Fisichella retired on lap 20 with a loss of hydraulic pressure.

Takuma Sato's San Marino Grand Prix lasted only 5 laps thanks to a transmission problem which robbed him of gears. The Japanese driver was forced to pit his Jordan Honda EJ12 and the team reset the gearbox during a lengthy stop, but when he rejoined he could only find first gear and was instructed to pull off the circuit.
Sato had started well, overtaking Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Arrows to hold 13th position on lap 1. However any hoped he had of making further progress ended suddenly on lap 5.
"A disappointing end to the weekend," said Takuma afterwards. "I was on my fourth lap with everything working fine until then, when suddenly I felt a problem with the gear which left me stuck in first gear. I made it back to the pits and the team tried to set the electrics, but the same problem re-occurred as soon as I went out so I had to pull over and retire from the race."

Giancarlo Fisichella's race ended after 20 laps when he pulled his Jordan Honda EJ12 off the circuit. The Italian was battling with the Toyota of Mika Salo at the time, only 0.4s behind the Finn, when his car suddenly slowed and he was forced to pull off the track. Reports from the team's telemetry system showed a hydraulic pressure problem, similar to that which ruined Fisichella's qualifying. As with Sato's retirement, however, the exact reason for the retirement will not be firmly established until the cars have been retrieved after the race and examined by the team's technicians.
"I made a good start but then Heinz-Harald closed the door and I went off onto the gravel and lost a lot of places," said Giancarlo. "Then I was doing my race and had overtaken Eddie Irvine, when the car suddenly lost drive. It appears to have been due to a loss of hydraulic pressure, possibly the same problem that I had in qualifying yesterday. Naturally I am very disappointed."

Eddie Jordan summed up the weekend and stated the obvious. "A race weekend to forget. We will have a post mortem about it to get to the bottom of where our problems lie. We have a big hill to climb but we have to do it - and we will do it."

The whole event came as a big blow to Jordan Honda, ending a weekend when the cars suffered both speed and reliability problems. Next week's three-day test at Silverstone takes on an even more important role as the team aims to regroup for the Spanish Grand Prix in two weeks time.