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SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO
(1st-40 points) : TESTING AT TWO TRACKS
The Ferrari team was testing on two circuits this week.
Luciano Burti ran three days with an F2002 at Monza on a
circuit modified by extra chicanes, testing tires and
completed 1400km over those three days. Meanwhile Luca Badoer
was in Mugello with an F2002 also testing tires, managing the
quickest time of 1m 22.390s on Thursday without any problems.
Michael Schumacher will take over today (Friday) and tomorrow
when he is expected to attempt a race simulation. Ferrari has
completed a fifth F2002 chassis which will appear at
Barcelona.
BMW WILLIAMSF1 TEAM (2nd-37 points) : BIG SHUNT FOR GENE
BMW Williams test driver Marc Gene survived a major accident
during the first day of the Silverstone test on Tuesday after
he crashed heavily in an FW24 chassis coming out of Bridge
corner and was fortunate to escape without injury. The car was
repaired overnight. On Tuesday Antonio Pizzonia carried out
some worthwhile tire development work and he was replaced by
Ralf Schumacher on Wednesday, the German driver setting second
fastest time on 1m22.257s, 0.3sec slower than Jenson Button's
pace-setting Renault R202. Gene, who felt no serious
after-effects to the accident, did a 1m23.515s. The team is
hopeful about a new rear tire construction which might give
them a boost at Barcelona. Ralf managed a 1m 22.142s on
Thursday.
WEST McLAREN MERCEDES (3rd-9 points) : ALESI AND WURZ AT
MUGELLO
Jean Alesi joined Alexander Wurz testing for the
McLaren-Mercedes team at Mugello on Tuesday where both drivers
were running MP4/17s prior to the regular drivers taking over
on Wednesday. "Sometimes we feel it is better to give the race
drivers an extra day's break before they start testing after a
Grand Prix," said Ron Dennis, "to prevent them getting a bit
over-worked." Alesi managed a 1m23.968s after 78 laps, Wurz
0.7sec quicker after 92 laps. "I really love this circuit,"
said Alesi who was having his second McLaren Formula One test
of the season. "I know every inch of it from the times I drove
for Ferrari and Sauber." The two drivers were concentrating on
durability and tire testing and were replaced by Kimi
Raikkonen and David Coulthard on Wednesday. Raikkonen set
fastest time on 1m22.086s ahead of Luca Badoer's Ferrari and
Coulthard who managed 1m 22.997s. On Thursday Raikkonen posted
a 1m23.055s with Coulthard on 1m23.423s.
MILD SEVEN RENAULT F1 TEAM (4th-8 points) : FIFTH CHASSIS
AT SILVERSTONE
The Renault team ran its fifth R202 chassis to be built for
the first time at Silverstone on Tuesday at the start of a
three day test. Jenson Button was at the wheel and set fastest
time of the day in 1m22.930s, concentrating on engine
development work and chassis set-up for the Spanish Grand
Prix. A routine engine change took place in the lunch break
after which an engine failure brought his running to a halt
prematurely. On Thursday the team continued a tire program and
set-up work with Button managing a 1m22.305s for second
fastest before wet weather disrupted proceedings in the
afternoon.
JAGUAR RACING (5th-3 points) : NEW ENGINE TRIED AT
SILVERSTONE
A new version of the Cosworth CR3 V10 engine was tested by the
Jaguar team for the first time at Silverstone on Tuesday where
Eddie Irvine set second fastest time on 1m22.957s. There were
also some minor aerodynamic modifications fitted to the car
and team principal Niki Lauda is now looking forward to some
worthwhile progress within the next couple of months now that
the newly commissioned wind tunnel in Bicester is up and
running. "We are obviously under pressure," said Lauda, "but I
can now see light at the end of the tunnel now that we have
the right people in the right place within the team." Irvine
was third fastest on Wednesday with a 1m22.456s, concentrating
on working on the balance of the Jaguar R3 and on making minor
alterations to the car's aero set-up. Pedro de la Rosa took
over the program on Thursday, concentrating on putting more
miles on the revised engine and managing a 1m23.678s best.
SAUBER PETRONAS (6th-3 points) : HEIDFELD STARTS AT
SILVERSTONE
Nick Heidfeld started the Sauber team's three day test at
Silverstone, setting a 1m22.990s for third fastest time on
Tuesday while carrying aerodynamic tests while Felipe Massa
carried out straight line tests at the Vairano airfield in
Italy, validating data from the team's Swiss-based wind
tunnel. On Wednesday Heidfeld managed a 1m23.209s as he
continued the program which also included Bridgestone tire
development work. "We had another good run today," said
Heidfeld. "The only problems were when the sessions had to be
stopped twice because of red flags brought out by other
drivers who had trouble on the circuit. I am looking forward
to Barcelona which should suit the characteristics of our
cars." Massa took over at Silverstone on Thursday for the
final day of the test and managed a 1m23.375s on what was a
new circuit for him which he really liked.
KL MINARDI ASIATECH (7th-2 points) : YOONG AND WEBBER AT
SILVERSTONE
The KL Minardi Asiatech team ran with a single car at
Silverstone on Wednesday and Thursday with Alex Yoong at the
wheel on the first day when he had a slight off-course
incident while testing the power steering system amongst other
developments. Webber took over on Thursday but was stopped by
an engine problem after which showers prevented the team from
completing the test once the problem was rectified.
PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING (8th-2 points) : TESTING AT MUGELLO
Mika Salo and Allan McNish started a three day test at Mugello
on Tuesday working on different programs in preparation for
the Spanish Grand Prix. Salo completed 58 laps for a 1m25.453s
best concentrating on aerodynamic developments and lost time
when he had to stop running early due to an engine problem
McNish completed 66 laps for a best of 1m26.833s. "I
concentrated purely on the mechanical aspects of the car," he
said, "trying a number of combinations to improve the
mechanical grip which was quite successful." On Wednesday Salo
did a 1m24.765s after 84 laps and completed the aerodynamic
work before switching to traction control testing. He also
helped check out some of the mechanical changes which McNish
had achieved, the Scot posting a 1m25.335s after 61 laps. On
Thursday McNish continued the test while test drivers Stephane
Sarrazan and Ryan Briscoe shared the second car.
LUCKY STRIKE BAR HONDA (9th-0 points) : COMPREHENSIVE TEST
AT SILVERSTONE
The Lucky Strike BAR Honda team ran a comprehensive three car,
three day test program at Silverstone this week. Anthony
Davidson drove on Tuesday and Wednesday concentrating on
gearbox, engine and brakes testing, after which Jacques
Villeneuve and Olivier Panis concentrated on the engine test
program on Wednesday. Jacques's Wednesday morning session was
cut short by a gearbox related problems, but this was resolved
in time for the afternoon when he was able to complete a
Bridgestone tire test. Davidson spent the day in a 2001 car
while Panis managed a 1m23.204s. The same program continued on
Thursday and the rain showers gave them the chance to evaluate
Bridgestone rain tires. At the end of Thursday Panis
commented; "We've worked our way through a number of items in
order to give us the best possible chance for the Spanish
Grand Prix. We continue to see step-by-step improvements and I
hope we can see the benefit of those in the next race. The
team is working hard to resolve our problems and if we
maintain this focus I am sure we can look forward to better
things later in the season."
DHL JORDAN HONDA (10th-0 points) : SATO STARTS AT
SILVERSTONE
Takuma Sato began the Jordan Honda team's three day
Silverstone test on Tuesday by completing 48 laps in EJ-12
chassis 05 working on engine mapping, front suspension
geometry, brake systems and general set-up work. A minor
engine problem halted his program early on after he had
managed a 1m 24.03s best, fifth fastest on the day. On
Wednesday Giancarlo Fisichella joined the test and Sato
switched to chassis 02, making 05 available to the Italian.
Both drivers did a lot of tire development work for the
Spanish and Austrian Grands Prix as well as traction control
development. "We had a pretty good day," said senior race
engineer David Brown. "Despite a long interruption we sill
managed to complete a fair amount of work with Taku completing
58 laps and Giancarlo 49." On Thursday Fisichella managed a 1m
22.524s, 0.3sec quicker than Sato.
ORANGE ARROWS (11th-0 points) : FRENTZEN AT SILVERSTONE
Heinz-Harald Frentzen undertook the Arrows team's first
Formula One test since the start of the season, the German
driver having three days at Silverstone with an A23
concentrating on tire and aerodynamic development work. On
Tuesday Frentzen managed 29 laps for a 1m 24.430s best and
then 79 laps for a 1m 23.106s on Wednesday, confident that the
team was making progress with the A23. "I think we have still
to unlock the car's full potential," said Frentzen, "but we
are getting there and it feels basically pretty good."
Frentzen completed 32 laps on Thursday for a 1m 24.630s.
FIA
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Enrique Bernoldi
