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Geneva,
Switzerland — Here is the weekly Formula 1 news round-up as provided by the teams to the FIA.
Ferrari
Luca Badoer has been running this week with two cars at Jerez. The only problem experienced was a hydraulic defect which affected the engine, apart from which everything went well and Badoer posted fastest time. He will be running at Barcelona next Sunday and Monday, again with two F2000 chassis, which Michael Schumacher will take over on Tuesday and Wednesday. Also at Barcelona, Rubens Barrichello will be running Feb. 1-3 with an F2000 even though the team's new car will be unveiled at Fiorano on Jan. 29.
McLaren
Mika Hakkinen had his first outing for the McLaren/Mercedes team since last year's Malaysian Grand Prix when he took over one of the MP4/15-K development cars for the test at Valencia starting on Monday. Both he and Alexander Wurz were running with last year's front wing positioned in the raised position required by the 2001 regulations and Hakkinen, who was fastest on both Tuesday and Wednesday, reported that the car felt fine although he admitted it would have been interesting had he been able to do a back-to-back comparison with one of the full 2000-spec MP4/15s. The team is now expected to reveal its new MP4/16 challenger sometime during the week starting Feb. 5.
Williams
The BMW Williams team moved on from Jerez to Valencia this week for a three-day program starting on Monday. All three of the team's contracted drivers were on duty with the now-customary programs being pursued, Ralf Schumacher and Juan Montoya concentrating mainly on tire testing with the FW22s while Marc Gene worked on the new BMW engine in the FW22B development chassis. On Monday Montoya, who had never driven at Valencia, managed fourth-fastest in track conditions which never fully dried out due to intermittent showers. Marc Gene was sixth with Schumacher eighth, the German driver commenting, "The day began wet, and although it looked as though it might dry, the unpredictability didn't really allow for any definitive tire testing." On Tuesday the track was again wet in the morning, but dried out in the afternoon, Montoya again being the quickest of the three Williams drivers, third overall. Schumacher had engine problems after switching from the FW22 to the 'B'-spec car while Gene had an opportunity to do some tire testing in the 2000 car. On Wednesday Montoya was second fastest with Ralf Schumacher fifth after starting in the FW22B on a damp track and then swapping it with Gene as the circuit dried out. Commented test team manager Tim Newton; "Apart from a frustrating first day with changing weather, it's been a good test program. We have worked very hard with Michelin on various compounds and the drivers' feedback is positive."
Benetton
The Benetton Renault Sport team arrived at Valencia on Monday with two B200s and a single B200B to be shared between Giancarlo Fisichella and Jenson Button during the planned three-day test. Unfortunately technical problems with the two available new 111deg Renault V10 engines early on Monday meant that the B200B program had to be shelved. "It was a question of a hiccup rather than a failure," said technical director Mike Gascoyne. "The engines had to be sent back to France and will be used in the B200B instead at next week's two-day test at Silverstone." That left both drivers concentrating on the B200s. On Monday they both had small off-track excursions on the wet circuit, Fisichella concentrating on electronics development in the morning before managing a single dry run in the afternoon for second-fastest. Button worked briefly on set-up and starts, managing only four laps due to his off-track moment. On Tuesday there was another delayed start due to overnight rain, Fisichella's electronic development work halted mid-afternoon due to a problem with his 2000-spec Supertec engine. On Wednesday Fisichella’s program was interrupted by a gearbox change at midday. Button’s day was spent concentrating on general set-up work and some tire development.
British American Racing
The BAR/Honda team ran for three days this week at Jerez with Jacques Villeneuve and Olivier Panis, while on the first day Takuma Sato also drove, testing a traction control system on the early BAR 02. Panis started in the BAR 03 which he had shaken down at Silverstone, but when Villeneuve took over the new car on Tuesday he expressed disappointment. "We are quite a bit slower than last year's car," he said, "and we are not yet sure why. Once we have found out what the problem is, hopefully the car will be a lot quicker. It is slow and difficult to drive at the moment." Worse was to come on Wednesday when Villeneuve crashed due to a rear suspension failure. The BAR 02 was driven by Panis. Malcolm Oastler explained, "Despite the incident with Jacques' car, it has been a positive test and we have been able to carry out some good baseline work with the 2001 car."
Jordan
After the official unveiling of the new Jordan/Honda EJ-11 at the team's Silverstone factory on Tuesday, Heinz-Harald Frentzen started the first day of serious testing for 2001 the following day, although cold and frosty conditions at the British circuit prevented the team from starting its program until 11:30 a.m. Frentzen completed a total of 27 laps, focusing on engine mapping as well as simply getting a feel of the new machine. "After the hype of yesterday's launch, it was good to get the car back on the track, making use of valuable development time," he said. The EJ-11 had previously been given a preliminary shakedown at Silverstone prior to the launch. Meanwhile, Ricardo Zonta worked on developing engine management systems (traction control), which will be permissible after the Spanish Grand Prix, using one of the earlier EJ-10Bs for this purpose.
Arrows
Jos Verstappen set the pace in the Arrows-AMT A21B test car on the first day of the Valencia test on Monday. The team made best use of the changeable conditions to test wet, dry and intermediate rubber while the Asiatech mechanics concentrated on engine mapping work. On Tuesday Verstappen lost track time while an hydraulic problem was diagnosed and rectified, and on Wednesday he made up for lost time by covering 108 laps. The team will now remain in Spain in preparation for next week's test at Barcelona.
Sauber
After the shakedown at Fiorano, the Sauber/Petronas team began its proper testing with one new C20 at Jerez this week. On the first day Nick Heidfeld's program was hampered by a problem with the front wing and nose; he damaged it running over a curb and had to call it a day as the team needed to fly a new nose section down to Spain for the following day. Up to that point he managed 20 laps. On Tuesday things improved and Heidfeld covered 49 laps. On Wednesday Kimi Raikkonen took over and completed 53 laps interrupted by a routine engine change. Raikkonen also started to experiment with set-ups and also did some tire testing, red flags twice interrupting runs on new rubber. Raikkonen commented, "The C20 is much better than the C19 in every respect; better under braking, better handling, more
drivable." Meanwhile the team also announced a new major sponsor in the form of Credit Banque Suisse.
Jaguar
A sticking throttle was blamed for a high-speed testing accident on the third day at Valencia which saw Eddie Irvine's first run in the new Jaguar R2 end with a crash against the tire barrier, quite badly damaging the front end of the car. The team immediately returned the damaged car to its race headquarters at Milton Keynes and it is hoped that it will be repairable in time for the car to run at Silverstone next week. Apart from a slightly bruised arm, Irvine was unhurt. The wet conditions which prevailed on Monday precluded any serious testing and Burti in the R2 only managed slightly tentative laps on rain tires. Irvine concentrated on Michelin tire tests with the R1B, posting a third-fastest time. On Tuesday Burti covered a total of 80 laps while Irvine, again in the R1B, posted the fourth-fastest time after the circuit dried out. Following his accident in the R2 on Wednesday, Irvine continued his work in the R1B once again.
Minardi
Yet again Giancarlo Minardi was unable to make any announcement, but said, "You will see us again on the tracks."
Prost
Prost Grand Prix shook down its new AP04 this week at Magny-Cours in front of the whole staff of the company. Jean Alesi was driving and was very impressed by the behavior of his new mount. It is now being stripped for examination at the factory to be ready for serious tests at Barcelona (Jan. 23-24) with Alesi driving while Gaston Mazzacane will take over Jan. 28-31 before Alesi has another outing on Feb. 1.
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