McLaren still ahead
Although the McLaren team took part in the recent Barcelona
testing with their 1998 MP4/13 chassis equipped with this year's
4-groove front tyres, it did not stop them setting the fastest
times. Hakkinen ran the car on Tuesday to set a 1m 22,55 best
during 76 laps of running and then improved on Wednesday to a
best of 1m 21,74 secs, the best time of the day.
David Coulthard set a best of 1m 23,80 secs during 66 laps the first day and then 1m 22,17 secs the second day to take the second best time of the day behind his team-mate. Having achieved what they set out to do, which was to test parts to be used on the new car, the team left on wednesday evening, not taking part in the final day's testing. The new McLaren-Mercedes is expected to be launched in Barcelona on February 8th.
The new Williams tests in Barcelona
After its presentation on Monday morning at Barcelona's Catalunya
circuit, the new Williams FW21 wasted little time to begin
testing on the same circuit, Ralf Schumacher running 10 shakedown
laps and immediately getting down to a best of 1m 23,17 secs. On
Tuesday it was Zanardi's turn to drive the new car and he got
down to 1m 23,0 secs. Schumacher took over the 1998 FW20 chassis
Tuesday and Wednesday, but had electrical problems and hardly ran
at all on Wednesday, while Zanardi set a 1m 23,08 secs with the
new car.
Schumacher got back into the new car for the final day on Thursday to a set a best of 1m 22,92 secs, the best time of the day with the absence of McLaren. He said afterwards that he was very happy with his new car ,"It goes much better than the old one and has a much bigger potential," said the German.
New B199 makes its debut in Jerez
The previous weekend the Benetton were carrying out their initial
test programme of their new B199 chassis at Spain's Jerez circuit
where both Fisichella and Wurz ran the car. Wurz was lucky to
escape unharmed from a high-speed spin due to a wing failure on
the car. The team's new test driver Laurent Redon also drove a
few laps and all three drivers were very positive about the
initial performance of their new car.
New Sauber-Petronas C18 promising
Both Alesi and Diniz ran in Barcelona with the new Sauber C18
which proved to be very promising by the end of the test. The
first day Alesi was delayed by electrical problems but the team
worked long hours to sort out the problems for Wednesday when
Alesi set a best of 1m 23,01 secs. Diniz took over on Thursday
and , despite a spin, got down to 1m 24,36 secs after some 56
laps total. The two drivers said they were delighted with their
new car and in particular the performance of the 1998 spec
Ferrari engine , more flexible and powerful than their former
engine.
Stewart happy with their Jerez test
The Stewart team said they were happy with their first serious
test session of their new SF03 chassis in Jerez.It was the first
time that the new SF03 chassis and the latest Ford CR1 engine had
run on a dry circuit. Despite a minor lubrification problem ,
both Rubens Barrichello and Johnny Herbert were enchanted with
their new car. Barrichello set the second fastest time of the day
on the Sunday and declared that ," I was very impressed by the
way the car reacted to changes. It's traction is a lot better
than last year's car and also an improvement under braking."
Track debut of the Prost AP02 delayed
With certain parts of the new Prost AP02 built in England at John
Barnard's B# Technology not delivered in time, the car was not
sent to Barcelona for testing after its unveiling at the Prost
factory in Guyancourt on Monday morning. Instead, it made its
initial testing at Magny Cours on Friday and will continue
testing in early February at the same circuit.
Zonta the fastest in Jerez
The testing of the new BAR chassis in Jerez went well with
Ricardo Zonta the fastest driver on the first two days ahead of
his team leader Jacques Villeneuve. In particular, on Tuesday ,
he set a best of 1m 24,95 secs, the best time of the week for all
the cars present. However, the prototype Honda, driven by Jos
Verstappen, which had been quickest until Monday, left the track
on Monday evening.
The Bar team announced that they have signed the Frenchman Patrick Lemarie as test driver. The team are also waiting impatiently for the verdict of the arbitration court which met on the 30th of January in London to discuss the team's project to run their cars in two different sponsor liveries. The decision should be announced on Monday or Tuesday. The next test for the team should take place in Kyalami from the 12th to the 17th of February where a single car will be driven by Villeneuve for the first three days and Zonta the final two.
Honda dominate in Jerez
The prototype RA99 chassis dominated the Jerez test while they
were running, Jos Verstappen driving for three days and setting
the fastest time each day. It was the team's first test against
other cars following their initial testing at Dallara's Varano
circuit. Verstappen's best time was a 1m 25,10 secs . Run by
former Tyrrell team manager Rupert Manwaring, the Honda test team
is based at Bracknell near London.
The new Minardi makes its debut in Mugello
The Minardi M01 ran its first test laps at the Mugello circuit
near Florence, the car being driven by Luca Badoer, loaned by
Ferrari for the test until Minardi signs their drivers for 1999.
The team is negotiating with three or four drivers , the Spaniard
Gene, the Japanese Nakano and Ferrari test driver Badoer.