McNish looks back - 2002 overview.

2002 Toyota F1 driver Allan McNish looks back on his debut year in the premier category and today looks back to give an overview of his rookie year in the category.

"Well now that the season is over and I've had a chance to reflect on my first year in Formula One I thought I would share with you some of my thoughts and experiences as I joined the F1 'circus'. Looking back over the year there were definite highs and lows but overall I'm pleased with my performances as an F1 rookie and I hope to continue racing single-seaters for some time. News on my 2003 season will follow shortly."

At half through the season McNish was happy with the state of play, as he explains. "From my point of view I was pleased with my performances to date in F1. I was close to Mika in qualifying, in fact we were the closest driver pairing all season, and I was matching him in the races and mostly going faster.

"A lot of people seek to compare drivers by looking at their qualifying performances relative to their team-mates. My situation at Toyota was one of rapid growth. Mika brought a wealth of experience in F1, as did his engineer. My engineer made his F1 debut in Melbourne along with yours truly. Our first few races were about finding our feet but by the time we returned to Europe at Imola there was only a thousandths of a second difference between Mika and I. Barcelona was also the first circuit I had raced on before; the first four were all new to me.

"I did everything that was asked of me and I felt my position in Formula One was justified by my performances. By the time we arrived in Montreal we all knew that at some circuits the car just wasn't going to perform well. The chassis suited some circuits better than others. We couldn't change it overnight and it was often a case of having to work with what we had. Work had already started on the 2003 chassis; the focus of attention was starting to switch towards the following season. It was looking in retrospect that our best chance of scoring points had potentially been at the start of the season. That wasn't to say I wasn't going to be giving it my all in the second half of the season."

After the second half of the season was over, McNish still felt happy with all he had achieved in 2002. "Having had a break and had time to reflect on the season I'm pleased with my performance and believe I did all that was asked of me by the team. I know for a fact that I've benefited from the year and am a more complete driver than I was coming into the season. I now have a lot more experience to draw upon in my future activities.

"I think expectations rose at the beginning of the year as we were more competitive than expected in our first three outings but those expectations were perhaps higher than they should have been. It's no surprise that the people at the front of races are at the front because they have years of experience to draw upon, we were in our first season of competitive racing. I was disappointed to end the season in the manner I did but am happy with the account I gave of myself over the course of the year.

"I have to thank my personal sponsors, Oris Watches, for their support during the year. I attended and enjoyed several events on their behalf and I hope to continue our association.

"As for my next move, I'm hoping that an announcement isn't too far off and I'll post all details on my website. Thank you for all your messages of support and I look forward to racing on in 2003."

For more on Allan McNish go to his official website - www.allanmcnish.com