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McLaren duo tops
charts in France
July 19, 2002
1
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MAGNY-COURS, France, Friday, July 19, 2002 – West
McLaren-Mercedes teammates David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen
were the quickest in practice July 19 for the French Grand
Prix.
Coulthard averaged 128.459 mph (206.735 km/h) for a time of 1
minute, 14.025 seconds around the 16-turn, 2.641-mile (4.251
km) Magny-Cours circuit.
“The Michelin tires have proved to be strong in the hot
weather conditions,” Coulthard said, “and I hope that this
will help us achieve a good result this weekend.”
Of the top 11 cars, the Ferraris in the third and fourth
positions were on Bridgestones, while the rest were on
Michelin tires.
Raikkonen was second quickest at 1:14.097.
“If the hot and dry conditions continue I think we can do
well,” Raikkonen said, “but it is too early to say. So let’s
wait and see what happens tomorrow.”
Ferrari teammates Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello
were third and fourth fastest with times of 1:14.240 and
1:14.750, respectively.
“When it gets hot here, unlike other circuits, the track
surface gets more slippery and so you end up sliding around a
lot,” Schumacher said. “It will be close with our main
competitors in qualifying, but I believe that we are in with a
chance of pole position.”
Barrichello spent the day experimenting with a new aero
package and tires.
Ralf Schumacher posted the fifth quickest time – 1:14.970 – in
his HP Williams-BMW.
“All in all the car is not so bad,” he said, “but there is
work ahead of us.”
Eddie Irvine ended up sixth in the Jaguar-Cosworth.
“The R3 feels much better around here than it did around
Silverstone at the British Grand Prix,” Irvine said. “Our
three-day Monza test helped us a lot.
But there is still more in the car that we haven’t yet
extracted.”
Mika Salo’s Panasonic Toyota, Pedro de la Rosa’s
Jaguar-Cosworth, Jenson Button’s Mild Seven Renault and Juan
Pablo Montoya’s HP Williams-BMW rounded out the top 10.
“It’s been quite a difficult day,” Montoya said. “At present,
I am still struggling with the balance of my car almost
everywhere on the track. Due to the slippery nature of this
circuit, I spun and went off in the gravel during the
afternoon session, which caused me to lose some track time. We
are now concentrating on the job of improving the car for
qualifying.”
Qualifying will take place Saturday for the French Grand Prix,
the 11th race in the 17-race FIA Formula One World
Championship that includes the SAP United States Grand Prix on
Sept. 29 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
FORMULA ONE NOTEBOOK
Where to watch: Qualifying will be shown live at 7 a.m. (EDT)
July 20 on Speed Channel. The race will be telecast live at
7:30 a.m. (EDT) July 21 on Speed Channel.
On the radio: F1 races are broadcast on various radio
stations throughout the United States. Check www.usf1radio.com
for the details of the station nearest you.
Arrows wait: The Orange Arrows-Cosworth cars remained in
the garages Friday while team director Tom Walkinshaw
continued to try and solve the team’s financial problems. Race
officials also refused to accept the entry of Arrows driver
Enrique Bernoldi until the team paid a $4,500 pit lane
speeding fine that was still outstanding from the Canadian
Grand Prix.
Walkinshaw said that negotiations are ongoing with three
potential investors in the team.
“There are still negations going on in London,” Walkinshaw
said. “We were advised that the best to do was to do very
little today so the consequences of anything happening on the
track that would not interfere with the negotiations.
“The cars will go out tomorrow, definitely. We are up to date
with (payments to) Cosworth, and the reason we are not running
is that the management is taking a conscious decision on the
advice we were given by the people we are negotiating with.”
Villeneuve’s day: Jacques Villeneuve set the 17th quickest
time in his Lucky Strike British American Racing-Honda.
“We have a hard time to make our tires work,” he said. “We
maybe can make them work for a lap, but it is very hard to get
a balance on them, so it will be tough for us.
“It looks like they (Michelin) have a good tire, but I have
not driven on that tire, so it is hard for me (to know). All I
know is that our tire is hard to make work, and our car
doesn’t like them. I am not happy with the chassis setup yet,
but we still have to find our way around the tires.”
Villeneuve to stay at BAR: Jacques Villeneuve says he will
stay at Lucky Strike British American Racing-Honda in 2003,
the final year of his contract.
“I don’t see any reason for me not being back with BAR next
year,” 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner Villeneuve said. “It would
take something really, really extreme, so I feel at the moment
I am definitely with the team next year.”
Charity game: Michael Schumacher, Giancarlo Fisichella,
Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso will join other sporting and
soccer stars in an annual charity soccer game before next
weekend’s German Grand Prix.
“I have always enjoyed that one, specifically, because there
are professional players around,” said Schumacher, who
sometimes plays on a minor-league team, “and to play with
professionals is great fun because it’s more serious.
“It’s good fun, but the level of playing is much higher. You
get the ball in such a nice way, my standard comes up too, so
I quite like these sort of games.”
Enge’s pole: Tomas Enge won the pole position for
Saturday’s FIA International Formula 3000 race. Sebastien
Bourdais, Giorgio Pantano and Mario Haberfeld fill out the
first two rows of the grid.
PM Results
|
|
Driver |
Team (Tires) |
Time |
Gap |
Laps |
|
01. |
D Coulthard |
McLaren-Mercedes (M) |
1:14.025 |
|
37 |
|
02. |
K Raikkonen |
McLaren-Mercedes (M) |
1:14.097 |
0.072 |
39 |
|
03. |
M Schumacher |
Ferrari (B) |
1:14.240 |
0.215 |
50 |
|
04. |
R Barrichello |
Ferrari (B) |
1:14.750 |
0.725 |
40 |
|
05. |
R Schumacher |
BMW.WilliamsF1 (M) |
1:14.970 |
0.945 |
37 |
|
06. |
E Irvine |
Jaguar-Cosworth (M) |
1:14.983 |
0.958 |
39 |
|
07. |
M Salo |
Toyota (M) |
1:15.161 |
1.136 |
28 |
|
08. |
P de la Rosa |
Jaguar-Cosworth (M) |
1:15.179 |
1.154 |
46 |
|
09. |
J Button |
Renault (M) |
1:15.218 |
1.193 |
42 |
|
10. |
JP Montoya |
BMW.WilliamsF1 (M) |
1:15.271 |
1.246 |
36 |
|
11. |
A McNish |
Toyota (M) |
1:15.411 |
1.386 |
44 |
|
12. |
G Fisichella |
Jordan-Honda (B) |
1:15.422 |
1.397 |
38 |
|
13. |
F Massa |
Sauber-Petronas (B) |
1:16.030 |
2.005 |
50 |
|
14. |
O Panis |
BAR-Honda (B) |
1:16.163 |
2.138 |
43 |
|
15. |
T Sato |
Jordan-Honda (B) |
1:16.167 |
2.142 |
47 |
|
16. |
N Heidfeld |
Sauber-Petronas (B) |
1:16.209 |
2.184 |
45 |
|
17. |
J Villeneuve |
BAR-Honda (B) |
1:16.457 |
2.432 |
35 |
|
18. |
M Webber |
Minardi-Asiatech (M) |
1:16.496 |
2.471 |
38 |
|
19. |
J Trulli |
Renault (M) |
1:16.763 |
2.738 |
18 |
|
20. |
A Yoong |
Minardi-Asiatech (M) |
1:19.015 |
4.990 |
43 |
|
21. |
HH Frentzen |
Arrows-Cosworth (B) |
no time |
|
|
|
22. |
E Bernoldi |
Arrows-Cosworth (B) |
no time |
|
AM results
|
|
Driver
|
Team (Tires)
|
Time
|
Gap
|
Laps
|
|
01.
|
R Barrichello
|
Ferrari (B)
|
1:15.056
|
|
13
|
|
02.
|
D Coulthard
|
McLaren-Mercedes (M)
|
1:15.099
|
0.043
|
14
|
|
03.
|
M Schumacher
|
Ferrari (B)
|
1:15.174
|
0.118
|
19
|
|
04.
|
JP Montoya
|
BMW.WilliamsF1 (M)
|
1:15.271
|
0.215
|
19
|
|
05.
|
R Schumacher
|
BMW.WilliamsF1 (M)
|
1:15.481
|
0.425
|
21
|
|
06.
|
K Raikkonen
|
McLaren-Mercedes (M)
|
1:15.525
|
0.469
|
14
|
|
07.
|
J Button
|
Renault (M)
|
1:15.869
|
0.813
|
16
|
|
08.
|
E Irvine
|
Jaguar-Cosworth (M)
|
1:16.366
|
1.310
|
19
|
|
09.
|
P de la Rosa
|
Jaguar-Cosworth (M)
|
1:16.423
|
1.367
|
19
|
|
10.
|
T Sato
|
Jordan-Honda (B)
|
1:16.493
|
1.437
|
23
|
|
11.
|
G Fisichella
|
Jordan-Honda (B)
|
1:16.506
|
1.450
|
19
|
|
12.
|
N Heidfeld
|
Sauber-Petronas (B)
|
1:16.574
|
1.518
|
25
|
|
13.
|
J Trulli
|
Renault (M)
|
1:16.763
|
1.707
|
16
|
|
14.
|
F Massa
|
Sauber-Petronas (B)
|
1:16.776
|
1.720
|
22
|
|
15.
|
O Panis
|
BAR-Honda (B)
|
1:16.814
|
1.758
|
18
|
|
16.
|
M Salo
|
Toyota (M)
|
1:17.205
|
2.149
|
09
|
|
17.
|
A McNish
|
Toyota (M)
|
1:17.219
|
2.163
|
18
|
|
18.
|
J Villeneuve
|
BAR-Honda (B)
|
1:17.415
|
2.359
|
16
|
|
19.
|
M Webber
|
Minardi-Asiatech (M)
|
1:18.203
|
3.147
|
15
|
|
20.
|
A Yoong
|
Minardi-Asiatech (M)
|
1:20.891
|
5.835
|
23
|
|
21.
|
HH Frentzen
|
Arrows-Cosworth (B)
|
no time
|
|
|
|
22.
|
E Bernoldi
|
Arrows-Cosworth (B)
|
no time
|
|
|
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