Despite his points finish in 3 of the first 4 races of the year, he knows there is a gap to the front which must be closed.
“We can also be content with Jordan’s race, both cars in the points - this is really pleasant. Less pleasant, however, is our gap to Williams, McLaren and Ferrari. We need to improve in this regard.”

He drove a fairly solitary race on Sunday, not really able to pass anyone and not passed by anyone either but his start was not one he enjoyed. “Olivier Panis in front of me jump-started and stopped again. Both manoeuvres irritated me slightly. In spite of that, I had a normal start, but then my wheel-spin was too extreme so Räikkönen and Villeneuve profited from this mistake.”

He dropped from 9th on the grid to 11th at the first corner due to the antics of the BAR. “From then on, I drove a very lonely race. I wasn’t able to get past Villeneuve. My pit crew tried to support me when they called me in early for the first stop so that I could chase Jacques with a set of fresh tyres. Unfortunately, however, I got stuck behind Olivier Panis after my stop. This cost me exactly the two important seconds that I needed to pass Villeneuve during his pit stop.”

Montoya’s problems in the pits and Villeneuve’s blown Honda engine allowed Heinz-Harald to climb to 6th, a position he held, unchallenged, to the flag.