August 30 - September 1, 2002

Race Notes

So near, yet so far in Spa

B.A.R were unlucky to miss out on a points scoring position in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix after a strong drive from Jacques Villeneuve saw the French-Canadian fight his way through the field.

JV was involved in a number of battles for position out on track during the race as he attempted to claw his way up from a disappointing 12th position on the grid.

However, he missed out on points after finishing in eighth place just a few seconds behind sixth and seventh placed drivers, Eddie Irvine and Mika Salo.

"As the race turned out, we had a real chance of getting 6th today but I had a terrible start and then lost time behind McNish," said JV. "It was a fair fight but that wasn’t the case with Fisichella. I spent too much time stuck behind him and because of his strategy, we could have been fighting together until the end of the race if his engine hadn’t blown.

"Generally the car was working well and I pushed as hard as I could. Monza is going to be difficult for us I think. It’s a real power circuit so we’ve got some work to do in testing next week to find a way of making us more reliable."

Olivier Panis had a less positive race after suffering an engine failure in the closing stages. He also had his fair share on on-track battles with other drivers before his retirement.

Olivier said: "I was heavier on fuel than most of those around me so I didn’t get such a good start because of that and, as everybody saw, I lost places. After that I battled as hard as I could to regain position but it was too late.

"I kept pushing throughout the race and I could have finished behind Jacques but once again I was unlucky with the engine and that was the end of my race."

Team chief David Richards is looking ahead to building on the performance at the next race at Monza in two weeks time.

"After a difficult start for Jacques and Olivier, both drivers pushed hard to try to make up the deficit after losing places into the first corner," said David. "Olivier fought back as best he could but unfortunately suffered an engine failure just 5 laps from the end of the race. We were pushing hard to get the best from the package today and we lost an engine as a consequence.

"Having said that, we saw a number of other teams lose engines so the long downhill run into Eau Rouge had its own part to play. Jacques drove a very hard race and did well to finish 8th and so close to Irvine and Salo. Monza is a tough high-speed circuit so we have some work to do next week in testing but we’re hopeful of better things there in two weeks’ time."

BAR

Race Results

Warm-Up Times

Qualifying Notes

Jacques Villeneuve
"We've managed to salvage the weekend a little bit. We had problems yesterday and then in practice this morning the aero wasn't working properly so we couldn't set the car up that well for qualifying. On my second run this afternoon, I was passing a slowing Sauber and ran wide, which caused me to spin off backwards into the gravel. Fortunately I recovered it quite well, stuck it into reverse and kept going backwards to get onto the track which minimised the amount of gravel I collected thankfully.

"After that we made steady improvement during the last two runs but then de la Rosa spun in front of me and I lost my only chance of making the top 10 today. We were the fastest Bridgestone runner after Ferrari again but in a fair race tomorrow it's going to be very difficult to get close to the points. If the weather is wet though that could count in our favour."

Olivier Panis
"What can I say? I lost my second engine in two days, which cost me all the good work I did with my engineers in practice this morning to achieve a car that was capable of qualifying in the top 10. The T-car was set up for Jacques so we lost time changing the settings but I would like to congratulate the T-car crew for turning the car around so quickly.

"If it hadn't been for that I would only have managed three runs today. To make things worse, the engine that was fitted into the T-car had a problem which caused a misfire and I wasn't able to improve my time before the end of the session. So, I'll have to focus on tomorrow now and try to make the best of things in order to get the best possible position in the race."

David Richards, Team Principal
"We've made the best of another problematic day and although we're not where we'd like to be on the grid tomorrow, things could have been much worse. It was a great shame for Olivier in particular who was running so well in practice this morning and could have achieved our top-10 qualifying target today. Once again, the mechanics demonstrated excellent teamwork in turning the T-car around and salvaging the situation. Although Jacques is the best Bridgestone runner behind the Ferraris, I'm sure he could also have got into the top 10, but now we have to concentrate on our race set-up for what is undoubtedly going to be a difficult day tomorrow."

Saturday Practice Times

Friday Practice Notes

Jacques Villeneuve
"The car feels good here. For the last two years the car hasn't been driveable at Spa but today it was very easy to drive. Unfortunately we're not quick enough but we we're still the fastest Bridgestone runner after Ferrari. The delay to the morning session affected everybody but then I lost quite a bit of time in the second session because of a hydraulic fluid leak. The car was quite well balanced though so we were able to pick up where we left off. I always enjoy driving here but it was easy to take Eau Rouge flat today; with traction control and high grip it's now the same for everybody. Hopefully we'll have a better day tomorrow and a little more set-up time."

Olivier Panis
"Obviously, it hasn't been a very good day today. As everybody saw, my engine let go at the end of the first session which cost me a lot of track time during the second session. Nevertheless, my first feeling was that the car was well-balanced before the problem occurred and I feel quite positive about tomorrow. We only have tomorrow morning to try to set up the car for qualifying so I have to work hard with the engineers this afternoon now to concentrate on that. I would like to thank my mechanics for a superb job today. They managed to change the engine in around 40 minutes but unfortunately, by that time, it was a bit late for us to do a great deal of useful set-up work."

David Richards, Team Principal
"We didn't get the best of starts to our weekend today. The revised track schedule made life difficult for all of the teams but then Olivier's engine problem and Jacques' hydraulic leak only compounded things for us. All credit to the mechanics, who turned around both cars in the minimum amount of time to allow us to achieve at least some of our set-up objectives for the day. With fog also predicted for tomorrow morning, we have to prepare ourselves for another limited free practice session ahead of qualifying."

JV's Lap of Spa

"Spa is a great race! I love the track. I've got memories of big crashes at Spa and actually I've never had a good race there but I have had good qualifying.

"It's definitely a track where you can feel stronger than the rest if you go through the corners flat. It's one of the last high speed circuits that we have and it's a very long lap but you really feel like you're going somewhere. It's got a good rhythm and it follows the layout of the land.

"You turn because there's a mountain so there's a reason for the layout. It's not like most modern tracks, which are like parking lots that you put cones around to create as many corners as you can with no logic or rhythm. This one has both. It's like you're driving to your house in the mountains!

"You start with short acceleration into heavy braking for the La Source hairpin. There's a good overtaking opportunity here but it's not a very important corner otherwise. Strong acceleration downhill and you get into Eau Rouge, which is probably the most exciting corner in modern F1.

"It's a corner that has a little kink to the left and then you start turning right as the track starts going up. You pull a lot of Gs through there and really get pulled down to the ground. The car bottoms and hits the ground, you get a little bit sideways because the bottom of the car is touching the ground and at the same time you don't see the exit of the corner so you're just turning right as the track goes up.

"You don't see where you're going and suddenly you're turning left and the track has stopped going up. At that point the car suddenly gets very light. And all that was flat out! Or in qualifying it's flat out: Not every year but some years, and there have often been some big crashes there. It's a really exciting corner to do. Going flat out doesn't really make your overall lap faster but it does make you feel proud. Pride is stupid, but it is important!

"Eau Rouge is also important because you have a very long straight after it with an overtaking opportunity at the end. Then it's heavy breaking into Les Combes, a right-left combination that's not really a chicane. Really it's just a right-left 3rd gear corner taken at about 140 kph. Both parts are 90 degrees and both are long corners. Straight after, it's slow acceleration before another 90 degree right-hand corner that starts going downhill as you turn in. Then there's a short piece of straight, not very long and taken in 4th or 5th gear into Rivage, which is quite tight with short, heavy braking.

"Then it's another short acceleration and a quick tap on the brakes for the second part of Rivage, a mid speed left- hander. It's a very difficult corner to do because you're not actually braking - just tapping the brakes as you turn in. It's hard to keep the balance of the car here as the rear often gets light as you go downhill. Then there's a mid-speed straight in 6th gear still going downhill into Pouhon, a high speed left hander taken at about 200 kph or a little bit faster. It's just a quick tap on the brakes as you just turn in so it's very fast and not really a corner. Or, it's a corner in the wet but not in the dry basically.

"Then it's a medium speed straight, up to 5th gear and into Fagnes, another right- left combination but a little bit faster than the previous one. Actually, the right hand part is faster than the left-hander so you go into the corner faster than you come out, which makes it interesting. Following this there's a short straight, at the end of which, just before you hit the brakes, the track starts going downhill. Then there's Stavelot, a 90 degree right-hander that's quite fast at about 170 kph.

"Stavelot is also a corner that's difficult to do properly because the track is going downhill and you're going fast enough to slide easily. Just when you're coming out of the corner there's a kink, which since traction control is flat in 4th or 5th gear. It wasn't flat when we didn't have traction control though and if you get out of the previous corner too wide it's very easy to make a mistake in this corner.

"Finally, you get onto the highest bit of the track. A very long straight that's got a few kinks which means that you can't be side by side, but it's just flat out right through Blanchimont and into the Bus-Stop chicane. This is the annoying part of the track that every track has - it's just a 2nd/1st gear chicane with bad curbs. Depending on how much you touch those curbs, or how you take that chicane, you'll do a good lap time."

BAR Race Preview

Spa-Francorchamps is a circuit that most drivers relish and Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda's Jacques Villeneuve and Olivier Panis are no exception. So they're upbeat and optimistic as they head to Belgium this week for Round 14 of the FIA Formula One World Championship at what is probably the most visually inspiring stop on the Grand Prix tour.

Widely regarded as one of the last real drivers' circuits, the legendary Spa is also the second fastest track on the F1 calendar and certainly one of the most challenging. It demands 100% driver focus at every stage of the lap and its fantastic high-speed corners calls for skill and bravery in no small measure.

With testing set to resume after the Belgian Grand Prix, the team's pre-race preparation has been mostly confined to B.A.R's HQ in Brackley, UK. Together with their race engineers, Jacques and Olivier have been analysing a disappointing performance at the Hungaroring two weeks ago and working hard on improvements for this weekend. Jacques also took part in a 50km shakedown at the team's home circuit, Silverstone, to put the Spa specification through its paces.

With four Grands Prix remaining, B.A.R are redoubling their efforts to maintain the development of the 004 package and regain the momentum they had found prior to Hungary. Points are still to be had and the team are hopeful of a more consistent weekend in Spa to make the most of every opportunity, including the typically unpredictable weather. It is not uncommon to experience a variety of conditions during the course of the Grand Prix weekend and this makes for some serious head-scratching for the engineers - especially when it can be dry at one end of the track and raining at the other!

Jacques on the Belgian Grand Prix
"I love this track. I've got memories of big crashes at Spa and actually I've never had a good race there, but I have had good qualifying. It's one of the last high-speed circuits that we have and it's a very long lap, but you really feel like you're going somewhere. It's got a good rhythm and it follows the layout of the land. You turn because there's a mountain so there's a reason for the layout. It's not like most modern tracks, which are like parking lots that you put cones around to create as many corners as you can with no logic or rhythm. This one has both. It's like you're driving to your house in the mountains."

"Eau Rouge is one of the most awesome corners of any circuit. It's fast - very fast. You're going downhill, it turns just a little bit left, and as soon as you want to change direction the track starts going up. It's completely blind, you see a wall in front of you, and you turn again. It's too tight for the speed you're going actually and you shouldn't be able to go that fast through it. It's just fantastic."

Olivier Panis on the Belgian Grand Prix
"Spa is one of the best circuits in the world. It's a real racing circuit and has some fantastic high-speed corners. This track has the tightest first corner in Formula One, La Source, and it can make for a very interesting start as 22 cars fight for position into a 2nd gear, 40-mph, right-hand hairpin."

"There are a couple of long straights that lead into slow corners so Spa offers more overtaking possibilities than the last race in Hungary. Braking is very important, particularly when we slow down from Blanchimont into the Bus Stop. We go from 300km/h down to 70km/h in a matter of metres."

"I'm looking forward to the Belgian Grand Prix. I've done a lot of work with my engineers after a disappointing result in Hungary and, generally, I think we're in much better shape going into this weekend."

David Richards, Team Principal
"The last race in Hungary was something of a procession but it should be quite a different story in Spa this weekend. We can all look forward to some fantastic racing and I hope to see Jacques and Olivier in the thick of it. The Hungarian Grand Prix wasn't the smoothest of race weekends for us and we didn't get the best from the car. We only have four races remaining though so we have to maintain the momentum. Spa is a track that both drivers enjoy enormously so we are optimistic that the Belgian Grand Prix should yield a more positive result."

The Circuit

Race Distance - 44 Laps. 189.942 miles (305.668 km)
Circuit Length - 4.316 miles (6.947 km)

Nestling deep inside the Ardennes forest near Liege to the north of Belgium, Spa-Francorchamps is one of the most famous and evocative circuits in Formula One history. With a 4.316-mile lap length, Spa is the longest circuit on the GP calendar and its fantastic corners, wonderful scenery and adrenaline-pumping elevation changes make it a place where driver skill becomes an even more significant factor than normal.

In many ways, Spa is a throwback to a bygone era, and although changes have been made to the track to comply with modern Formula One requirements, the alterations have been carried out sympathetically and the home of the Belgian Grand Prix retains its special magic with drivers and fans alike.

Chassis set-up involves the all-important compromise between reducing drag to aid straight-line speed and generating downforce to help cornering. Braking stability is also an important consideration, particularly when slowing down from flat-out Blanchimont for the 'Bus Stop' chicane, which has been reprofiled this year to allow better access to the pit lane. Spectators can look forward to plenty of action at Spa since there are a couple of long straights leading into slow corners, while the extremely fickle Belgian weather often adds its own excitement.