The Portuguese Grand Prix is always a big technical test for all the teams because of the tyre wear, and it was exactly the same this year. In the end, I think everyone at the Red Bull Sauber Ford team should feel reasonably satisfied because we both finished, but it was a shame that neither Heinz-Harald or myself managed to score any points. That would have topped off the weekend nicely, but it was not to be even though at times I felt we had the speed to do it.

I must say that after Friday's practice, if you had told me I would finish the race in the top 10 - Heinz-Harald was seventh and I was eighth - I would have been reasonably happy. That first day was a bit of a disaster really because I had a problem with the differential, which meant I lost a lot of time with wheelspin at the chicane, and quite often everywhere else, and I just could not really perform properly.

To say it was frustrating would be to put it mildly. I knew there was something wrong and during the day we tried one or two changes on the car, but they did not do the trick. If anything, they made it seem worse. I told the team we had to check the transmission or something in the gearbox, but in fact it was the diff. I am glad we found it because it made all the difference on Saturday for qualifying and the car was a lot more driveable.

The results were obvious. On Friday, in practice I was 19th and struggling badly. On Saturday I was up to 12th, right behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen and much happier. The car was better balanced and felt much more manageable. I decided as well that it would be better to run with more downforce and this gave me more speed in the corners, obviously, but hampered me a little bit down the straights. But overall, I felt the car was much better, and of course, I had rid of all that wheelspin.

We also had a new specification Ford Engine in use on Saturday with improved top-end power and I think that may have been a bit of a help. I certainly felt we were a lot more competitive and back where we expected to be - if not quite as high up as we would have liked.

Grid positions are more important at Estoril than a lot of other places, too, because it is so difficult to overtake here. And everyone knows the track well from winter testing so you really need to get as far up as you can and then make sure you hold your place and make as few mistakes as possible. I tried for a really good "flying" start, but it did not quite come off and I got held up behind Martin Brundle's Jordan Peugeot. I felt I could run quicker than him and I was losing time behind him. I just could not run at the sort of pace I wanted to and, as well, I found I was having quite a lot of tyre problems with the high wear.

My second set of tyres was even worse than my first and I had no grip at all. It was very difficult and I was sliding around everywhere. Things improved with the third set, but, unfortunately, I was again held up behind Brundle unti1 his pit stop. At least that gave me a chance to run in some clear air for a while and I lapped quite quickly in the closing stages. I think I might have caught up with Heinz-Harald if I had not instead come upon Michael Schumacher who was cruising round in his Ferrari for third place. That more or less ended my hopes. But I think to finish eighth out of 16 finishers in that kind of race is reasonably satisfying.

At least I had gone the distance. It was not the only good news of the weekend, as I was happy to announce on Saturday morning that I am staying on with Sauber for 1997. For me, it is a good move because I am happy and comfortable with the team and, after having a long chat with Peter, I am confident for the future. He has very good sponsorship structures in place already and I believe people will understand my decision very well when he reveals his other plans for the future.

It is nice to have some continuity too. I have been on the move for a while now, from year to year, since leaving Lotus and I think I can make a really good contribution to the future of the Sauber team. That of course, starts really with the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka where, again, it is difficult to overtake. But the track has a great mix of corners and is fun to drive and, together with the unique atmosphere of the whole place, helps make the race one of the most memorable of the year.

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