The Italian came home in fifth behind Dave Coulthard�s McLaren but he has admitted that even though the set-up was perfect for the Magny-Cours track, he did not have enough speed to gain any more places. Despite qualifying just 0.3 second behind pole, he ended the race over a minute behind the winner and was losing a second a lap consistently. Clearly more speed is needed from Honda.

Trulli explained, "The start was good for me but the problem is, we don't have the speed. We still have work to do with the engine because I was passed by Montoya and Barrichello on pure speed. I couldn't do anything. My set-up was perfect and I tried to keep close to them but they were able to open a gap.