The effects of Team Chief David Richards’ reform are starting to be felt at British American Racing, as seen by the team’s upturn in performance in recent times.

The team had a more promising weekend in Austria even though poor reliability again hit, with Olivier Panis who qualified ninth retiring with an engine failure, and Jacques Villeneuve driving an enthralling race in which he passed numerous cars before also having a hydraulic-related engine problem on the final lap.

‘We took a lot of comfort from our overall performance in Austria,’ said Richards. ‘Prior to our engine problems, Olivier had a very positive weekend and even Jacques, who had struggled to improve the set-up in every session, was able to turn things around for himself come Sunday.

‘Despite all of that, we have yet to score points and we are only too aware of that. We have to harness the potential we have demonstrated in recent races and find a way to make everything stick when it counts.’

Monaco is not the location to exploit performance advancements and while the team also suffered mechanical problems during testing last week, it is still optimistic about doing well.

‘The Austrian Grand Prix was fun to drive; the car ended up being quick in the race. I enjoyed myself so it was a shame we didn’t get any points again,’ said Villeneuve.

‘In terms of qualifying, Monaco has to be better for us than Austria and we’re very focused on doing a better job there. We did some good set-up work at the test in Valencia, despite a few minor mechanical problems limiting my running time.

‘Qualifying is very important here as it is extremely difficult to overtake during the race. If you are further down the grid at the start, the pitstops play an important part in making up positions. It’s a very exciting track but there is no room for error.’

Panis has had a horror run with luck this year – the Frenchman has failed to finish even a race but believes good times will soon be here, possibly at Monaco. It was there he took a first-class win in 1996 driving for Ligier Mugen.

‘Austria was a very positive weekend for me and I had a real chance of scoring some points in the race, so I was disappointed that the car didn’t make it to the finish again,’ said the 35-year-old Frenchman. ‘I am much more at home in the car now so reliability is the main concern for me.

‘We are putting a lot of hard work into developing the car and we have to expect some problems along the way. This was the case in testing last week and it was reflected in the amount of running we did and my lap times. It is frustrating but we have to work through those problems in order to move forward and we are making much more progress at the races because of the hard work we are doing in testing.

‘Monaco is extremely challenging because it is so unique. I have very good memories of winning here and I’m really looking forward to Sunday.

‘I just hope we can stay reliable so that I can finish one of my favourite races.’