Jordan quietly satisfied with early performance

Although the death of a race marshal cast a pall over post-race celebrations, the Jordan team were quietly satisfied with the performance of their new EJ11, despite having only one driver finish, Heinz Harald Frentzen coming home in single-point sixth place.

The result may have been disappointing, but the blow was softened by a combination of mitigating circumstances and a late evening gift from Sauber.

Frentzen, delighted with what he called "the best Jordan I've ever driven" on Saturday, made an aggressive start to the race, banging wheels with David Coulthard and forcing the Scot and Williams' Ralf Schumacher wide as he grabbed third place ahead of Rubens Barrichello, who had started badly.

Frentzen, clearly enjoying the pace and power of his new charge, pushed to consolidate himself into his podium position, but Barrichello was fighting back. Having first forced Ralf Schumacher into a mistake to grab fourth, he began to put pressure on the Jordan.

Barrichello attempted a pass on lap three and as the pair duelled for a corner which both appeared to have a legitimate claim to, they collided. Frentzen spun off the circuit as the Ferrari trundled on.

Dropped to 16th, Frentzen used the EJ11's power and presence to stunning effect, profiting where he could from retirements but also blasting through the remaining pack to reach sixth, where he finally encountered an unpassable Nick Heidfeld. The former Prost driver is relishing the driveability of the new Sauber and refused to yield his first pointscoring position.

Frentzen took the point, but with reservations: "I was pleased with my start, although Coulthard and I touched wheels before the first corner," he said. "The car was well balanced and I was enjoying the race, but then on my racing line, Barrichello hit me from behind whilst trying to overtake me and sent me into a spin. It ruined the race for me. I feel scoring a point is good though. It demonstrates the car's reliability, which is a positive step to build on."

Good would soon turn to better, however, as a post-race protest lodged by Sauber was upheld by the stewards and fourth-placed BAR driver Olivier Panis was demoted to seventh. The ruling pushed Frentzen into a two-point position and gave Sauber a double points finish as Kimi Raikkonen moved to sixth to score a point on his debut.

While Frentzen eventually profited, his team-mate, Jarno Trulli, appears to have carried some residue of the horrendous luck that plagued him throughout 2000 into this new season. Rising to third in the opening stages, the Italian eventually dropped back as he lost power, and after pitting once for fuel and checks he came back into the pits on lap 33, retiring with a misfire.

"From the first lap there was something not right with the engine and it got more and more difficult until I had to retire on lap 33," he said. "It's disappointing, because even then I was having a good race in fifth."

While Jordan could take comfort from gifts earned under duress, Eddie Irvine left the scene of his maiden GP win in 1999 unnoticed and empty-handed, the Jaguar driver struggling through an anonymous race in an under-performing car.

"It could have been better to be honest," said the Irishman, who eventually finished 11th. "It's never a good day if you don't finish in the points. I had to use the spare car due to a power steering failure and it didn't get off the line well. Then Montoya tried to overtake me and knocked me off, and finally I had to drive around a misfire which saw me come in for an extra stop."