July 26 - 28, 2002

Race Notes

Promise but no reward in Germany

B.A.R had a doubly disappointing German Grand Prix after the promise of Saturday's qualifying session failed to translate to race day success.

Olivier Panis started Sunday's race at Hockenheim from a season's-best seventh place on the grid but engine problems halted the Frenchman after a strong run.

"Obviously I'm very disappointed not to finish after such a good weekend," said Olivier. "I lost a couple of places at the start but then I worked hard to regain them. My race was a great fight from beginning to end and, after making my way through the traffic, I was improving all the time.

"The car felt fine until my first pitstop but then I felt something wrong and we now know it was the engine. It's a real shame because we've been very competitive here. I was very happy to qualify 7th and today, sitting in our best grid position of the season, I had a good feeling. I was in the points when my race ended so we'll never know how well things could have turned out."

But despite the retirement Panis is happy at the progress that the team is making. He is especially encouraged with the steps Honda are making on the engine front.

He added: "We've seen a good step forward from Honda here. The car has been quick all weekend and I'm sure we can look forward to five good races ahead."

Jacques Villeneuve had an even harder day at the office than Olivier. JV was eventually struck down with gearbox problems.

He said: "As a team we've been very competitive but it's a disappointing end to a difficult weekend here for me. The car had a lot of oversteer until the first pitstop but after we changed the tyres it felt a lot better. My race really got going then and I could start to attack.

"We were relatively quick compared to the people we were racing and I started to make up places, but then I had a gearbox problem and my race was over."

However, like Olivier, Jacques is full of optimism at the steps the team has made in recent weeks. He also singled out Honda for praise ahead of the three-week break before August's Hungarian GP.

"We've seen some good signs this weekend though," said Jacques. "The engine was working well here so let's hope we can continue to improve during the rest of the season. The team have been working hard all year so they deserve a break now. There's still some work to be done to prepare for the next race but it gives everyone a bit of down-time. Hungary is a very physical race so, as well as enjoying a holiday with Elly, there's a lot of preparation ahead for me with my trainer Erwin."

BAR

Race Results

Warm-Up Times

Qualifying Notes

Jacques Villeneuve
"The car wasn't bad at all today. Our tyre combination worked well and I'm pleased with the improvement that we saw with the engine in qualifying. Honda have been working very hard and we're starting to see real progress now. The problem today was with the traffic on my last run. The lap was quicker in the first two sectors but then I caught up with Coulthard for the last two corners and, instead of letting me by, he blocked me, which was very annoying as he was on his in-lap. As soon as I got so close to him I lost front aero which made me run wide and then spin the car. It's frustrating because it looks like we could see some very close racing tomorrow. I'm at the wrong end of the tenth today when I could have been inside the top ten had it not been for the problem on my last run."

Olivier Panis
"I'm delighted with 7th place today. I'm also very pleased for the team because they have worked very hard to make another step forward. I'm particularly happy for Honda because again we've seen the results of their efforts and signs that they have made another step in the right direction. We used the latest engine for the qualifying session and it was a big improvement on free practice this morning. I aborted my first qualifying run because it was clear we needed to fine-tune the driveability but, after that, I was able to continue to push throughout the next three runs. We will be using the same engine tomorrow so I'm really optimistic that we can have a good race from where we are on the grid. We're in a good position now to fight for some points and I intend to make the most of that opportunity."

David Richards, Team Principal
"A very satisfactory qualifying session which provides a good indication of our potential for tomorrow as we've usually performed better in the race. Olivier's 7th place is the team's best qualifying performance of the season and Jacques was in fact only two tenths behind, albeit in 11th place. I am also pleased that all the hard work Honda have put into development over the past few months is now beginning to pay off. I'm hopeful for tomorrow and one thing we can be sure of is that the pit crew will maximise our chances of success as they have continually proven to gain an extra advantage on race day."

Saturday Practice Times

Friday Practice Notes

Jacques Villeneuve
"Like all of the drivers, we've spent most of the day adjusting to the new circuit and trying to get a good balance. I did plenty of laps and changed something with each run to improve the car. We're not there yet in terms of set-up but I've tried both of the tyres now and we should have a better session tomorrow morning once we've had the chance to look at the data.

"My first impressions of the new circuit were just as I anticipated. The old layout was very different but it's just like any other track now. There's one section that really concerns me - the short straight before the entrance to the stadium section where the wall comes back towards the track. Generally, it's a typical modern circuit and not as interesting to drive, but there should be a couple of good overtaking opportunities."

Olivier Panis
"I'm very pleased with the way things went for me this morning. The balance was good and I was happy with the car from the first lap, so I was able to post consistently quick times. It was a real shame that we had a gearbox problem in the second session because I was quite confident that I could have continued to improve.

"I had only done 3 laps so I lost most of the afternoon and didn't get the chance to do a back-to-back with the second tyre. Of course, we have Jacques' data to look at but every driver prefers to do his own back-to-back. Despite this problem though, I was still 12th at the end of the session so I'm feeling quite optimistic for tomorrow.

"Like many of the drivers I was very fond of the old track and this year, it feels just like a 'normal' circuit. However, I don't have too many complaints because I've adjusted to it well and have a very good base car to take forward into qualifying tomorrow."

David Richards, Team Principal
"Well, what can you say about Fridays? You can rarely judge your true performance based on a day where everyone is carrying out such different programmes. For our part we lost half of Olivier's track time with a gearbox fault but looking at the way he started the day, I don't think that's going to hinder him this weekend.

"Tomorrow, both drivers will benefit from a more powerful Honda engine and, on this occasion, there are enough units for both drivers to run them in qualifying and the race on Sunday. Overall, today has been a good start to our weekend."

BAR Race Preview

Round 12 of the 2002 Formula 1 World Championship takes place at the legendary Hockenheimring in the woodlands of western Germany this weekend. Thanks to a radical new track layout, this year's German Grand Prix is expected to throw up one of the most interesting races of the 2002 season as the teams struggle to come to terms with their foray into the unknown.

Last year, Hockenheim saw Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda's second podium finish in the team's brief history, so the old circuit holds fond memories. This year's race brings a whole new set of challenges, not least of which will be extracting the optimum set-up from a combination of last year's track data and software simulations of the new circuit.

Despite the fact that the team haven't run at the new circuit, the engineers have been pre-empting and debating its revised characteristics for some time in preparation for this weekend. Amongst their conclusions, they predict that tyres will probably an important factor as the manufacturers have not tested on this circuit yet. Now that the long straights have been lost there will be less heat in the tyres so a much softer compound will be required. There will also be fewer overtaking opportunities. Where previously there were three or four good spots, this has now been reduced to two.

The new Hockenheim will also be quite a high downforce circuit while in previous years it was the lowest downforce track. The removal of the long straights will mean that the stadium section should be much faster because of the high wing levels the car is carrying. B.A.R expect the new characteristics to be reasonably demanding on power. With its mix of slow and fast corners, it will be challenging on the car's performance but not particularly demanding on aerodynamic efficiency.

Jacques Villeneuve
"We had a podium in Hockenheim last year so we go back to the track with good memories. That always sets a positive mood going into the weekend. This year, however, we have a new layout to contend with so it will be like starting from scratch.

"I don't know what I make of the new layout. I've just seen it on a piece of paper at the moment. It looks like there are some good braking zones but then you can see that some corners have been added in the section that's just before the stadium. That seems to be because someone decided that there aren't enough corners and that's always a shame. It's not a low downforce track anymore and it's like many of the circuits we race at. It had a unique character and it's lost it now.

"The French Grand Prix last weekend was a tough race for us and, realistically, we have to expect the same for this weekend. We'll have our work cut out for us getting to know the circuit and working with the tyres, so first practice on Friday will be a critical day in determining the rest of the weekend."

Olivier Panis
"We had a disappointing French Grand Prix last weekend. I was very angry at the way I was taken out of the race but with only a week between races, I've had to put it behind me and move on to the next one.

"A disappointing race only motivates me to work harder and that will be the case in Hockenheim this weekend where we have to get to grips with a new circuit. I thought the old circuit was fantastic. I finished on the podium here in 1994 - my first season in Formula One. I had a points finish again in 1999 and narrowly missed out last year. This year, I'm sure it's going to be a tough challenge but it's the same for everyone so we have to be optimistic.

"The tyres will be a major factor here. It used to be a fast circuit and tyre wear was high but this year, the manufacturers have only been able to simulate tyre requirements so Free Practice on Friday should be very interesting."

David Richards, Team Principal
"With only a week between these two races, we've put a disappointing French Grand Prix behind us and focused all our attention on doing a better job in Hockenheim this weekend. Teamwork will once again be critical here and with the new circuit representing something of an unknown quantity, we expect a tougher challenge than usual for the drivers, the engineers and our partners Honda and Bridgestone.

"The same is true for all of the teams however so we'll be doing the best job we can and keeping a close eye on any opportunity to get a step ahead of our competitors. I see no reason why a positive Friday shouldn't lead us to top 10 grid places for both cars on Sunday."

The Circuit

Race Distance - 67 Laps. 190.433 miles (306.458 km)
Circuit Length - 2.842 miles (4.574 km)

Re-opened in 1966 after the original oval was cut in two by the construction of an autobahn, Hockenheim has been radically changed again for 2002. The legendary sweeping forest straights have been removed in place of a tighter, more modern layout which boasts a much larger spectator capacity. The result is a track that is almost unrecognisable from its predecessor with dramatic reductions in both speed and length, but improvements in safety.
As the new layout will be an unknown factor for all of the teams, opening practice will provide the first opportunity to research their set-up and the emphasis will be on gathering as much data as possible for the race itself.