Ferrari

Michael Schumacher: "To take Ferrari's first win here in Imola in sixteen years and my first win of the season is of course something very special. What made it even better was seeing the enthusiasm of the tifosi here in Italy. My compliments go to the team which did a fantastic job over the last few weeks and made this victory possible. We have been on the pace all weekend, so it seems we have managed to close the gap we saw at the first two races. But we still need further development to be really quicker than the rest. We are leading both championships, which is a much better situation than last year, so I am looking forward to Monaco. Our car should perform very well there also and once again a big thank you to our great team and all our supporters."

Eddie Irvine: "I felt the engine tighten about 100 metres before it failed. It was a pity because this is the second consecutive race where I have missed out on an almost certain podium finish. In the early stages, I was having trouble with the car's handling as it was moving around a lot on the soft tyres. After that it stabilised and my lap times came down again. However, I am still second in the championship and we are looking in good shape for the next race."

Luca di Montezemolo: "Winning at Imola after sixteen years is down to having a strong team, both here at the track and back at the factory. The victory was also achieved thanks to a truly great driver."

Jean Todt: "This was a fantastic race. The only way to win was to go for a slightly risky strategy, but in the end it worked perfectly. I am very happy for the whole team, who have worked so hard both in the factory and here at the track. I am disappointed for Eddie who was looking set for a well deserved podium finish. Now we are already thinking about the next GP in Monaco. We know there is much to do, but I am sure everyone will work very hard, especially after this result."

McLaren

David Coulthard: "Of course I am happy to come away with some points from this race. But, I clearly had the performance to win today however, the back markers were particularly unhelpful in my case and I lost a lot of time in the traffic which was the difference between winning and coming second."

Mika Hakkinen: "Not a very good day for me today. I made a good start and was leading the rest of the field when I made a mistake. It's as simple as that. It was a driver error and meant that I went out of the race on lap 17 without any points. But I am now looking forward to Monaco and what I can achieve there."

Ron Dennis: "It is very unusual for either of our drivers to make mistakes. But Mika made one today - better today than at the end of last year. David's chance to win the race was taken away by the behaviour of several backmarkers and I am disappointed in the lack of sporting behaviour from their team managers."

Norbert Haug: "The speed was there, Mika pushed to the limit and made a little mistake which I certainly will not criticise. David had victory in his hands today as well but was stuck in a lot of slow cars which he could not overtake quickly enough. So, Michael and Ferrari deserve this victory today - well done to them."

Stewart

Rubens Barrichello: "First of all, I want to dedicate this podium finish to my friend Ayrton Senna, wherever he may be. I am obviously delighted, not just for me but for the mechanics and the whole Stewart-Ford team. The car ran faultlessly all weekend, and proves what progress we have made. We may not be a match for the McLarens and the Ferraris just yet, but I think we are proving ourselves the best of the rest."

Johnny Herbert: "It was a shame I was unable to finish the race. Everything had been going well until then and we had no indication that the engine was about to fall. After a disappointing qualifying session I was looking for a point finish today and was nearly there. Rubens' performance shows that we have improved our reliability and I believe things are looking good for Monaco."

Paul Stewart, Deputy Chairman: "Both Rubens and Johnny did a tremendous job. The strategy seemed to work out for both of them with Johnny on a one-stop strategy and Rubens on a two-stop strategy. Rubens held it all together at the end when Damon Hill was catching him and did an outstanding job. It's also great for Rubens that he has done so well at a circuit which before has held such unhappy memories. The result is a credit to everybody in the Stewart-Ford team."

Martin Whitaker, Director Ford Racing Europe: "Rubens drove a fantastic race and rewarded everybody at Stewart, Cosworth Racing Ford and Visteon for all the hard work put in. The hot weather and punishing nature of the circuit place a premium on engine reliability, and we're obviously delighted that Rubens' car experienced no reliability problems throughout the weekend. Johnny's engine failure was a cruel blow so close to the finish. Nonetheless, the Stewart-Ford team has again proved its competitiveness."

Jordan

Damon Hill: "This is the first race I have completed since Suzuka last year and it felt great - although exhausting in this heat. This result was very important for me, not only giving me some points but also the chance to get to know the car a lot better in race trim. I made a good start, but then got squeezed out before the first corner so lost all the places I had made up. Towards the end of the race I was closing on Barrichello, but the backmarkers were causing me problems and then I had to let Michael Schumacher go past, so I lost time and was not able to catch him. The results keep coming for the team and our race performance is very impressive."

Heinz Harald Frentzen: "What happened was really disappointing, as I had a very good chance to finish on the podium again or at least to win more points. I was about to come in for my second pit stop and had a good gap over Rubens, so if my second stop had been as good as my first I would have passed him. But I spun on the oil from Eddie's engine - these accidents happen and it was just unfortunate that the marshals did not react quickly enough and provide me with any warning."

Eddie Jordan: "I am really proud of the team, everyone did a fabulous job. The reliability is excellent, the pit stops were first class and both drivers did a very professional job. Damon has now put the worry of the first two races out of the way. He raced very well, while Heinz-Harald was unfortunate to go off on Eddie Irvine's oil, but that is something beyond our control. Overall I feel it has been a very positive day for the team."

Benetton Playlife

Giancarlo Fisichella: "Considering I started the race in 16th place, this race with this result is 100 % satisfying. We really didn't expect to earn any points at all. We definitely chose the right tyres yesterday, I made a bit of a sacrifice in qualifying as I used hard tyres, but they made up for it in the race. The beginning of the race was hard as I had so much fuel, but gritted my teeth and despite a problem with a long brake pedal. I gave it my all. The car was also vibrating a lot after the collision with Panis. These are two much-needed and deserved points, now we just need to concentrate on solving the problems we experienced."

Alex Wurz: "I had a collision with de la Rosa. Pedro was in front of me and he slipped wide and I tried to go past on the inside and we collided. It was the end of a very difficult weekend full of problems, on the other had it was great to see Giancarlo with two points for the team."

Rocco Benetton: "We are obviously very happy, this was a fantastic results considering the difficulties we had this weekend. At least we have identified some of the faults on the car that made things so difficult. We used an aggressive race strategy and we also had some luck on our side, and it is about time fortune smiled on us as it has not done so far this season. Both drivers did an extremely good job over the weekend and showed real maturity in their performance. It was very unlucky for Alexander, whilst Giancarlo was more fortunate."

Sauber Petronas

Jean Alesi: "When you are 13th on the grid in a race like this it's worth trying a three-stop strategy. I pushed for that, and though it wasn't the right thing in retrospect sixth place is a welcome result, especially after I went briefly off the road. I wasn't quick enough on the track, so I thought Id try the grass!"

Pedro Diniz: "My car was going well until the filler flap stayed shut in the pit stop. Then I began to have problems with the electronics in the gearshift mechanism, which caused that big slide right in front of Michael. I came into the pits and was able to continue after we had changed the steering wheel."

British American Racing

Mika Salo: "I had a good start and passed quite a few cars. Things went well for a while, but then the engine sound went flat and I lost a lot of power and all the gain I had at the start. That was the reason I couldn't keep up with anybody and I got passed on the straights. We did have a really good pit stop and everything went smoothly. On the last lap when I came to brake in the last corner, the engine seemed to die and I came straight into the pits and that was it. Although the car stopped on the last lap we were classified seventh so that is great. The team now has to investigate the cause of the failure."

Jacques Villeneuve: "I am not sure what really happened, there was no warning. The engine was running but there was a problem with the gearbox electronics I think, and I couldn't go forward. There was no drive so I had to switch the engine off. It's enormously frustrating especially as the car proved on Saturday that it was fast and able run well. We had a good qualifying and high hopes for the race so it's really disappointing not to be able to even start this Grand Prix. We're going to have to make sure that things like this don't happen again, and hope to finish a race soon."

Craig Pollock, Managing Director: "It's very disappointing for everybody in the team. There was a lot of work put in, and it was obvious to all that, although we showed some good potential, the reliability is still not there. This is the farthest we have gone in a race with one car but now we have to do it with both. Mika had one lap to go to finish the race and it is frustrating for him. We are not sure what the problem was for Jacques but the technicians are going to dismantle the gearbox and find out what went wrong. We think it is a gearbox control system problem, but we need to confirm this."

Williams

Alex Zanardi: "It's a real pity. I had quite a bad start but I felt that the car had a good balance. During the race I lost a lot of time because of some strange electronic problems that we hope to detect. Anyway, my week end was going to have a happy ending and I was seventh and had only two laps to go when Herbert's engine broke in front of me. I did not expect that much oil to be on the track and when I hit the oil I could not avoid spinning off. We hope for better luck in Monte Carlo."

Ralf Schumacher: "I was happy because I made a good start and the car was behaving well," recalled Ralf Schumacher. "I was fifth and keeping pace with other drivers and I thought I could score a very good result, finishing once again in the points. But on lap 29, after my first pit stop when almost at half distance, I suddenly felt a dramatic loss of power, saw smoke coming from my car and had to stop on the trackside."

Frank Williams: "We are disappointed especially for Alex who was so close to finishing the race and may perhaps have finished in the points. But we will be back, competing hard, for the next race in two weeks time at Monte Carlo."