Interlagos, 26 March
The gearbox problems returned at Interlagos and Ricardo lost time during Friday practice but improved steadily during the afternoon to finish 17th.
"I missed almost all of the morning session with a gear selection problem. It was a big blow to lose this time, but we have made some good progress this afternoon. The car gets better every time we make changes and the engine feels strong again. The biggest problem is over the bumps. They have resurfaced the track, but there are still some places where you can lose control of the car. I am slower than Jacques down the straight and we need to find a set-up that gives us more grip and allows us to run with less down force."
Friday 1st practice: 20th, 1:47.338
Friday combined practice: 17th, 1:18.789, 23 laps
In an incident filled qualifying session with lots of cars spinning and running wide, Ricardo managed to do three laps of 1:17.134, 1:16.712 and 1:15.520 to put himself temporarily in 7th position before the advertising boards started to drop creating two red flags. Ricardo then had the fortune to go out and better his time to 1:15.484 before the third advertising board fell down in front of Alesi (Prost) creating a third red flag, because soon afterwards it started to rain. So Ricardo qualified 8th, his best so far in F1, and two positions in front of his teammate.
Saturday practice: 13th, 1:16.110, 24 laps
Qualifying: 8th, 1:15.484, 10 laps
Ricardo was once again on a one-stop strategy. At the grid he put his car so far as possible to the middle of the road away from the dusty left side. As the light changed Ricardo made a decent start following Frentzen (Jordan)and passed him entering Curva do Sol but went wide and Frentzen was able to regain his position. On the next lap entering Ferra Dura Ricardo went wide again and Trulli (Jordan) also managed to get by. On lap 4 Verstappen (Arrows) pushed Ricardo down to 10th and 5 laps later Alesi was also by but Ricardo soon regained that position as Alesi retired.
Still following Frentzen Ricardo moved to 9th when Irvine (Jaguar) crashed on lap 20 but then Ricardo had trouble with the wheel nut on his right front wheel and had to make an early pit stop on lap 27. The stop was a lengthy one dropping Ricardo to the bottom of the field and when he finally got permission to continue the car was hardly moving for several seconds while Ricardo was trying to select a gear. Villeneuve had already retired with gearbox troubles. Ricardo continued in last position and only managed to pass Mazzacane (Minardi) on lap 51 before the race was over.
"I am really happy to have completed my first Brazilian Grand Prix, but it's a shame that we couldn't get a better result because the crowd was absolutely fantastic. The car felt good in the first part of the race and I felt that it might be possible to get another points finish. I came in a little early for my pit stop after I encountered a problem with what turned out to be the right front wheel nut. When I tried to leave the pits, I had difficulty selecting the right gear, but managed to get going. After a few laps the situation seemed to settle down and I was able to push harder and caught Mazzacane and then thought I might also get de la Rosa after he went into the gravel. My lap times were okay, but I was just too far back by that time to climb another place."
Warmup: 10th, 1:18.112, 17 laps
Race: 9th, -2 laps
FL: 1:16.658 on lap 61 (+1.903, 10th)
Winner: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)