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FERRARI: TESTS FOR BADOER AND BARRICHELLO -(1st-170 points) Ferrari ran this week at Barcelona, initially with Luca Badoer after which Rubens Barrichello took over for two days while Badoer returned to Fiorano. In Spain, the team concentrated on evaluating tires while in Fiorano Badoer focused on electronic and mechanical work. "The new car will differ from the F2000," said Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo, "partly because of us, partly for the new regulations." The type 050 is beginning its endurance test on the dyno while the next major function for the team is the press meeting with the drivers at Madonna di Campiglio on January 13.
McLAREN: ROUTINE TESTS AT BARCELONA - (2nd-152 points) David Coulthard and Alexander Wurz continued the McLaren-Mercedes team's structured program of development testing at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya this week. Coulthard continued to concentrate his work on evaluation of Bridgestone compounds for the 2001 season, starting the week with a 1m 20.66s best on Monday after a total of 64 laps. On Tuesday the Scot improved to a 1m 20.31s, 0.1sec slower than Nick Heidfeld's pace-setting Sauber, although the McLaren was running in race configuration with a representative fuel load. On Wednesday he managed a 1m 20.47s, being quicker on all three days than Wurz who continued engine testing with the McLaren MP4/15K development chassis. Wurz posted his best lap on Tuesday when he managed a 1m 20.83s and completed a total of over 150 laps' running over the three days.
WILLIAMS: THREE CARS AT ESTORIL - (3rd-36 points) Ralf Schumacher again had to abandon this week's testing with the BMW Williams team at Estoril this week following a recurrence of the flu which had sidelined him from the previous week's program at Barcelona. He managed an initial 1m 31.095s best time before calling it a day after 18 laps on Tuesday before strong winds and heavy, intermittent rain doused the circuit near Lisbon. In an effort to make the circuit consistently wet in order to continue evaluating Michelin's rain tires, the team artificially wet the circuit before a succession of red flags interrupted the program and then it started to rain heavily anyway. Juan Montoya managed a second fastest 1m 31.901s in the 2000 spec FW22 while Marc Gene managed a 1m 33.042s continuing development work on the new BMW engine for next season. "It was my first time here on this circuit with an F1 car," said Montoya. "I was here in '97 testing with an F3000 car, but that was quite different." On Wednesday Montoya was able to try the circuit in dry conditions for the first time, switching between two FW22s after Schumacher's departure. His best was a 1m 22.171s, 0.1sec slower than Button, while Gene did long runs with the new engine in the FW22B and posted a 1m 22.031s best. Poor conditions prevented any planned testing on Thursday and any continued work had to be shelved as the circuit safety helicopter could not operate. Williams will test next from January 8 at Jerez.
BENETTON: WEBBER TRIES B200B - (4th-20 points) The Benetton Playlife squad arrived at Estoril on Monday for a four day test session with Jenson Button initially running alone in a B200 as regular team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella was undergoing a successful knee operation in Rome that same day. Button's initial objective was to complete a Michelin tire development program but intermittent rain meant he could not better am 29.58s on the first day. The bad weather meant that Button did not start running on Tuesday until 15.00 after which he made considerable progress with the tire program, managing a 1m 31.97s. In dry conditions on Wednesday afternoon Button got down to a 1m 21.54s, fastest of the day, while Mark Webber took over the B200B and managed a 1m 23.59s before an oil pressure problem with the new 111-degree Renault V10 engine halted further progress. No testing took place on Thursday due to bad weather and Benetton will be back testing at Jerez from January 7.
BAR: PROGRAM ON SCHEDULE - (5th-20 points) British American Racing was testing in Barcelona for three days this week where Olivier Panis set the ball rolling on Monday with the fastest time on 1m 20.60s. Jacques Villeneuve took over on Tuesday and managed 1m 20.50s. "It is the same car as last season," he said, "but we are running with the new aerodynamic regulations which gives less downforce, but does not seem to have a negative effect on the balance of the car, and the new tires from Bridgestone are working well, so I am happy." Both men ran together on Wednesday when Panis was a shade quicker than the Canadian. At the same time the team was testing two young candidates in its driver development program, Takuma Sato and Marc Hynes. Both ran without making any errors.
JORDAN: REGULAR DRIVERS AT BARCELONA - (6th-17 points) Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jarno Trulli appeared at Barcelona together from Monday for the first time since the final race of the season in Malaysia. Frentzen worked on set-up and low downforce aero trim, recording a 1m 21.35s and also worked on brake and tire testing. Trulli finished the first day 0.1sec quicker after also trying a low downforce set-up and carrying out Honda software development. On Tuesday Trulli set second fastest time on 1m 20.20s after 43 laps focusing on tire programs together with more brake and software work. Due to what was described as a "minor engine related problem" in the afternoon Trulli was unable to continue running for the entire day. Frentzen managed a 1m 20.65s best after a routine engine change during the course of the day. On Thursday both drivers completed back-to-back runs with news suspension set-ups, Trulli setting the pace on 1m 19.58s while Frentzen got down to 1m 20.98s running more fuel. Commented chief mechanic Phil Spencer; "I think we have made some good progress during the winter tests so far. We are all now looking forward to working on the new EJ11."
ARROWS: PIZZONIA HAS TEST RUN - (7th-7 points) British F3 champion Antonio Pizzonia tested for the Arrows team at Barcelona, posting a best time of 1m 22.51s on Tuesday but then admitting that he was probably not yet ready for F1. "To come to F1 is very difficult," said the 20-year old Brazilian. "The pressure on your neck is great, and they say the Barcelona circuit is tough on the neck. I need to improve my fitness because you have to be ready for the demands. I really enjoyed my time in the car, but I could have done a lot of things better."
SAUBER: GOOD PERFORMANCE AT BARCELONA - (8th-6 points) The Sauber Petronas team left Barcelona happy after a three day test with two cars for Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen, the main priority having been Bridgestone tire testing. In addition, the team tested a few new brake components and tried running with downforce levels simulating those required by the 2001 regulations. Both drivers worked on different aerodynamic and mechanical settings, in particular dampers. Heidfeld did 216 laps over three days, ending fourth on the first day (1m 21.15s), first on the second day (1m 20.12s) and second on the third day (1m 19.96s). The German was very happy with the way he is fitting into the team. "It all went very well," he said. "The car ran competitively through all three days. We
didn't take any weight off and the lap times came easily as the car was very well balanced. I feel very confident and just hope that we can carry the momentum through to next year when we start working on the new car." Raikkonen concentrated on learning the circuit and monitoring his own physical fitness. "It is a very difficult track to learn," he said. Only on the last day after 172 laps did he break into the 1m 20s barrier with a 1m 20.59s. "Every day I feel more confident and the lap times show that I am learning every day." Despite a single off-track excursion into the gravel and turn eight, the newcomer again had a trouble-free test.
JAGUAR: IRVINE AND BURTI AT ESTORIL - (9th-4 points) Luciano Burti got Jaguar's final test of the 2000 season off to a promising start at Estoril on Monday when he posted a 1m 26.55s in the dry to finish the day 0.3sec ahead of team-mate Eddie Irvine, although this time for the Brazilian was not recorded by the rival Benetton squad "The conditions overall were not very good for testing as the rain kept stopping and starting," said the Brazilian who again concentrated on running the R1B development car. On Tuesday the team was unsettled, like Benetton and Williams, by the changing conditions and did not settle down to do any consistent runs in the wet conditions. Irvine managed a 1m 32.11s in the standard spec R1 while Burti was 0.4sec slower in the R1B. On Wednesday Burti was third fastest on 1m 22.310s, a fraction ahead of Irvine on 1m 22.328s. As with Williams and Benetton, testing could not continue on Thursday due to poor weather.
MINARDI: OPTIMISTIC AS USUAL - (10th-0 points) "Things are progressing favourably," said Giancarlo Minardi this week. "The prospects are quite good and I hope the 2001 season will be more serene, quiet and faster than the previous one!"
PROST: NEW SPONSOR - (11th-0 points) Prost Grand Prix has announced a marketing and sponsorship agreement with PSN, the television network covering all South America except Brazil. The French aerodynamicist, who will join the team on January 2, paid a visit to the factory this week. The new AP04 is scheduled for a shakedown in the first half of January although prior to that the identity of Jean Alesi's teammate will be announced.
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