faster. Coulthard said that he was satisfied with the outcome of the first lap as it allowed him to drive a conservative race. He added that his strong finish would not mean that he would think about his potential to win the Drivers' Championship. Barrichello explained that his car was loose from contact with Trulli during the race's early stages which prevented him from challenging De La Rosa. Villeneuve was pleased with his fourth-place finish saying that despite making an inclement start, his strategy allowed him to run quicker when there were no back markers slowing him. After Button's fifth position at the race, the Williams team principal Frank Williams said of his performance, "Jenson really excelled himself again driving in difficult circumstances at the end of the race and under a lot of pressure". Mika Salo scored points for the third time in the season, having finished fifth at the . He said while he was happy, he struggled with excess oversteer in the track's high speed corners. De La Rosa felt he could have reached lap 37 while saving fuel by being on a lean fuel map before his retirement. He was complimentary of his car and its engine, adding: "It was a shame really, because it would have been good to finish so high." Both Heidfeld and his Prost teammate Alesi attributed their lap 43 accident to poor communication with their team. Michael Schumacher, who was involved in the first lap incident, believed that the race should have been stopped. However, he praised the work of the marshals who had assisted to recover the cars involved. He also believed that Zonta had "over-estimated his ability" and said he would have a "quiet word" with the latter. Zonta believed that the incident was not his fault and that Michael Schumacher braked harder than him, but apologised for his retirement from the race. Fisichella also agreed that the race should have been stopped, saying, "Three of the protagonists are out and it was stupid not to red flag." Benetton technical director Pat Symonds was highly critical of the driver's actions as he believed Benetton lost valuable points towards the Constructors' Championship. "The driving antics of some of our competitors at the first corner were appalling and ruined the race not only for many of the drivers but also for many of the spectators" he said. After the race, it