Toyota F1 Canadian GP Flashback

The 2003 Canadian Grand Prix saw the Panasonic Toyota Racing team add another championship point to its tally as Olivier Panis opened his points account of the season with a fine eighth place drive.

Friday morning's practice session was a rain-soaked affair, but underlined Toyota's potential. Panis set the fifth fastest time (1m17.464s) after just 16 laps whilst Cristiano da Matta was eleventh (1m18.559s), completing 24 laps. An inconsistent track made the practice session somewhat inconclusive, however the team was pleased to have a generally trouble-free session.

The persistent wet weather dictated the outcome of the first qualifying session at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Panis secured a top ten qualifying slot after a trouble-free flying lap resulted in 10th place for the Frenchman. Da Matta, on the other hand, was not content with his 16th position after the increasingly heavy rain led to poor levels of grip on the track.

After a buoyant Friday, Saturday morning practice was troublesome for the team with both drivers having incidents during the sessions. Neither Panis nor Da Matta managed any significant running in the dry second session and were 19th and 20th respectively.

The all-important grid–determining qualifying hour marked a return to initial form as the team achieved its best ever combined qualifying result. Panis and Da Matta posted the 7th and 9th fastest times, securing the team's first two-car top ten result of the year to date and a personal best for Da Matta.

Solid work paid dividends come Sunday afternoon as Frenchman Panis finished the 70-lap Canadian Grand Prix in 8th place, scoring his own debut point of the year. After challenging for points for most of the race, Da Matta retired just six laps before the end from eighth position after a suspected suspension problem.

What the drivers said:

Olivier Panis:

"I think this eighth place is a very good result for the team because everybody has done a fantastic job this weekend. I am a little bit disappointed for Cristiano because he drove a strong race, but this is my first championship point of the season and for me it is now the first step. The car went very well throughout the weekend and, from here, we need to continue to build on the car's performance for the second half of the season - starting from the next race at the Nürburgring."

Cristiano da Matta:

"I am very disappointed. I don't know what happened really. Something just wasn't right with the car's suspension at the exit of the chicane and I simply couldn't continue. Everyone did a great job and everything was running normally until the end. At least we can take one point home as a team - I think we deserved it after our combined team performance. The car was handling reasonably well in the race and I think we were running as quickly as we could have, so to miss out on certain points like that so close to the end is extremely annoying."