A slow getaway meant Frentzen had dropped to eighth place at the end of the first lap. A battle with the Sauber of Nick Heidfeld kept him busy, Frentzen rising to sixth place before the first of two scheduled stops on lap 24. Heinz-Harald was back in sixth place again by the time of his second stop on lap 41 but a broken air deflector behind one of the front wheels meant he did not have the pace to continue the fight with Heidfeld.

"Unfortunately, I made a poor start," said Frentzen. "I enjoyed a good battle with Heidfeld (who eventually finished fifth), but then I felt a bargeboard suddenly break. That resulted in heavy understeer which was reflected in my lap times towards the end of the race, when I couldn't keep pace. I just had to do the best I could and, naturally, it's disappointing not to have been able to score points after a really encouraging and promising weekend. All we can do is to try again next time. That, of course, will be my home Grand Prix at Hockenheim, so a good result there would be very timely for me as well as the team."

Trulli made a good start from fourth on the grid to challenge David Coulthard's McLaren going into the first corner. Trulli had the inside line for the right-hander but the two cars touched. Trulli spun into the gravel trap on the outside of the corner and retired instantly. �To be out of the race at such an early stage is incredibly disappointing for me and the team," said Trulli. "The car has been running so well all weekend and, with my strong grid position, we were looking in very good shape to finish in the points today, with even a podium being possible. I had a very good start and was next to David on the inside by the first corner. I don't know whether he just didn't see me or didn't want to give up the fight but, either way, he closed the door, leaving me with no more room to brake or avoid an accident. So our cars touched. It was a racing incident and David and I will talk about it although, generally, I think the car on the outside should leave enough room for the inside car."

After 11 races, Jordan Honda continue to hold fifth place in the Constructors' Championship, but Sauber have moved further ahead in fourth, with their 3 point return from the race.

"I can't begin to say how disappointed I am," said Eddie Jordan. "Especially after the superb promise of qualifying and, of course, because we are racing at Silverstone. I'm sorry we could not give the fantastic number of Jordan supporters and our sponsors and their guests a better result than this on what is our home circuit. The thing which really hurts is that the team is capable of it; our qualifying performances proved that we have the pace - but it is just not coming together in the races. Obviously we are going to spare no effort to turn things around because, quite honestly, this is simply not good enough."