May 23, 25 - 26, 2002

Race Notes

No Monaco magic for BAR

BAR's Monaco Grand Prix began in a difficult fashion and failed to get much better despite Jacques Villeneuve showing some promising race pace around the unique street circuit.

JV's race was badly compromised before it had even begun when a clutch problem left him stranded at the start. He charged back into the race and set some quick lap times but he was always playing catch-up after losing nearly a lap.

"We had a problem with the clutch at the start and lost everything because of that," said Jacques. "By the time we started the car I was obviously a lap down, but only half the cars finished the race today so you have to be there and keep pushing.

"It was a shame because we had a strategy to pit very late and even with all the fuel we had on board we were doing very competitive lap times. The tyres were also holding up very well so we could have had a good race, but the car suddenly developed a problem and I had to pull over. Good luck hasn't been on our side again here so we have to hope for better things in Canada."

The luck was not on the side of team-mate Olivier Panis either. The Frenchman loves Monaco but a collision with Renault's Jenson Button ended his race prematurely as he was looking to move up the field.

He said: "I had a good start and managed to move up to 16th at the end of the first lap. We had a one-stop strategy and this could have worked out for us. The car was running well and I didn't have any problems, so everything was on target until Button hit me while I was braking and turning into St Devote.

"I didn't see him coming and you don't expect someone to overtake there. It was a racing incident though so we need to forget about it and focus on preparing for Canada."

Team boss David Richards is also looking forward to Montreal. The team and engine partner Honda have improvements in the pipeline which should see BAR take a step forward.

Speaking about Sunday's race in Monaco, David said: "We were running a very long strategy which would have seen us pitting late in the race but unfortunately, with neither car going much past the half way mark, we'll never know what would have been."

"Our aero update kit, revised gearbox and new Honda engine will be available for Canada, albeit with only a very short amount of testing this coming week. So, we're looking forward to Jacques' home event with a certain amount of optimism."

BAR

Race Results

Warm-Up Times

Qualifying Notes

Jacques Villeneuve
"The balance of the car wasn't too bad considering we've been working mainly with the tyres so far this weekend. On my first two runs I had traffic so I knew there was a better lap to be done than the first two. It was just a question of attack, attack! I've started further back than 14th before and managed to finish in the points so anything is possible here. It's a long race; you have to be fast and not make any mistakes. That's the key to Monaco."

Olivier Panis
"I'm really disappointed with 18th today because qualifying has been much better for me over the last few races. The team have done a good job throughout the weekend and we took the right direction with the tyres. My third run was definitely the quickest and I was four tenths up in my first two sectors, but then I was blocked by Yoong in the last sector and it ruined a good time for me. I wasn't able to improve on the last run and 18th is where I have to start the race. Qualifying is critical here but, unfortunately, the car we have at present isn't good enough. It will be a tough race for us now but we have to make the best of it and look for every opportunity tomorrow."

David Richards, Team Principal
"Monaco presents many unique challenges and we seem to have experienced most of them this weekend. Olivier missed his best lap due to traffic but that's the same for everybody here. Overall, we just couldn't get enough grip to challenge the top 10. Just as qualifying is very important here, so the race delivers some extraordinary results. The task now must be to get both cars to the finish."

Saturday Practice Times

Thursday Practice Notes

Jacques Villeneuve
"Today hasn't been too bad for a first day in Monaco. It was a typical first practice in terms of working with the tyres and looking for a good race set-up. We did a lot of laps but we didn't manage to get the car running well enough yet. The car feels good generally but the track was very dirty this morning and there is generally a lack of grip here at the start of the weekend until it has been rubbered in. We still have some work to do in terms of tyre choice but we'll have to see what the weather has in store for us because it's so important here."

Olivier Panis
"We've done a good first day's work today. We tried many things to steadily improve the set-up and prepare us for different conditions. I did 61 laps and the car was very reliable so that's a good first step for the weekend. We did some long runs to understand the car here and also the tyres were improving as we put more laps on them. We don't have the best set-up yet and we need to make the engine a little more responsive but generally we seem to be making good progress so far. We still have a lot of work ahead to make sure we are in the best shape for qualifying because this is absolutely critical here."

Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director
"As was the case in Austria, we have made good progress throughout both practice sessions today which will stand us in good stead when we return to the track on Saturday morning. Both drivers put in plenty of laps so we have some good data to pore over tomorrow and a little more time than usual to understand the tyres and consider our options for the race."

David Richards, Team Principal
"We've made another good start to the weekend today and it is encouraging that both cars stayed reliable throughout. We will now be looking to make the same steady progress in Saturday's sessions in pursuit of a solid, competitive performance and hopefully our first points."

JV at Wednesday's Press Conference

Q: Jacques, I don't know what happened between qualifying and practice and the race in Austria, but either you were transformed or the car was transformed or both...
JV: For the last few years we've always concentrated on a race set-up and in Austria, as in past years, there were ten cars within half a second so the position on the grid made a bigger difference. Then we had a different strategy than most people on the track which allowed me to drive aggressively and I just had to go for it and have a little bit of fun. The problem nowadays is when you do that you end up getting penalties anyway, so there's not much point doing it. It was fun, it was exciting, that's why I started racing years ago, to have fun like that on the track and to play, and that's how it was last race.

Q: And yet sadly the team still doesn't have any points, Olivier has yet to finish; what's still missing?
JV: Well, we're close to where we were in '99, which is not very good. The car's not very reliable and on top of that we're not very competitive, so it's not looking very good for us. But we're working hard and we just need to get points to get a good weekend.

Q: What about these next two races, here and Canada, your home race?
JV: We did have a good race here last year. Our car seems to be better off on the slow corners than on the high speed ones compared to the past, so it should work well in Monaco, I'm looking forward to it.

Q: And they've moved the wall away from the final corner (in Canada) apparently.
JV: I've hit it enough times anyway, so I'll stay far away from that one.

Q: How do you feel when you drive at Monaco. What is your favourite part, and how does it feel to drive so close to the fans?
JV: When you drive you don't see the fans. When you are actually racing you are looking more at the racetrack and the guard-rails and the other racers, but on the slowdown laps you do see the people, there is a lot of energy and that is very special. Most new tracks, the grandstands and everybody are so far away that you could be on the moon and it would be the same. Here at least you are very close to the public which is a nice thing and also when you crash there are a lot of people to make you feel good. My favourite parts...I guess the Casino section is interesting and Tabac and the swimming pool, these are the two main areas, but the whole track is fun because you never have time to breathe. You just finish a corner and you are into the next one and there are bumps and you are bouncing along and you just go around and around and you don't think about it.

Q: How important is physical fitness in Formula One?
JV: You definitely need a physical training, but you also need to be mentally fit because races are long, there is a lot of pressure, and when you get tired that is when you mentally have to go beyond what your body can do so also that side of things is important. But F1, since we got away from slicks, has become less physical, as you can see with all the youngsters who come in and they can all do a Grand Prix without really getting tired. F1 has become a lot easier and at the end of the day it doesn't matter how fit you are, if you get out of the car at the end of the race and you are not tired it means you didn't drive hard enough. So even the fittest guy will look tired when he gets out of the car if he really gave it everything he had, and what I have noticed is when you are in a winning car you don't have to be that fit but when you are at the back it is a lot more difficult.

Q: Jacques, last year you finished fourth and it was your best result. Do you feel that you have conquered the track?
JV: I have never had a problem with the track. The one year when we weren't quick here we started on slicks in the wet, so I don't think that was a problem with the track. But the last few years we have had good results starting quite back on the grid. It is a very different race to other ones because to overtake here you have to take chances that probably mean you are both going to end up in the guard-rail. So the key is not to get frustrated, to be there at the end and to be fast all the time. In most years that is what we did and we ended up at the front.

Q: Jacques, have you ever had team orders in your career?
JV: No, actually, never. But it depends what contract you sign. You might sign a contract where you don't have to follow team orders and even if there are some then you don't need to follow them. If you can get into a great team that Rubens did, then you accept different conditions. Of course it is very sad for everybody when you watch a race and see the result of the last race mainly because it is so early in the season and there is no fair fight basically. Even if it was Rubens' race at the end of the day it is Michael that won and that is what goes down in the book and that is what people remember, what is written in the book and that is all that matters.

People shouldn't have been surprised. Everybody knew a situation like that would happen. I think it would have been wiser for the team to have said before the start of the season that that is what is going to happen. That way nobody would have got that angry, instead of acting as if it was a big surprise for everybody even within the team. That is a little bit difficult to then listen to comments saying it happened two laps from the end and I was very surprised when I was told that when it has been clear for a few years. So I don't really have a problem with team orders on the race track. The only thing that I felt was unacceptable was the podium situation. If you win a race, even if it is in a way that you didn't like, be a man and step on the top step and take your trophy. Even if you are embarrassed because everybody is booing at you, step up there. You accepted taking the win, you didn't slow down, you felt good about it, you raised your hand on the last lap until you heard people booing at you. Step up there, take your trophy, and be a man.

Q: Jacques, would you have followed team orders as Michael did in that situation, and also do you think that if Michael wins the championship will this tarnish his reputation?
JV: You would be stupid not to take anything you are given, so if you are given a win then you might as well take it but then stick with it, don't fake embarrassment and wrongness and feeling bad about it and stuff like that, that's all.

Q: And do you think it has tarnished his image?
JV: Not the win, but everything that happened afterwards, yep.

Jacques' Lap of Monte-Carlo

"Monaco is the most difficult and the easiest race to win," Jacques explains. "It's a little bit like the Indy 500. It's difficult to win because it's so easy to make a mistake and it's not always the quickest driver that prevails.

"So it's a weird race; a difficult weekend, then a great party on Sunday! I remember Monaco when I wasn't driving, just on holiday during the race weekend, and it was amazing. It's a great weekend for the people that don't work, but for the teams and drivers it's probably the worst weekend. You're on top of each other, there's no room, and you can't actually work properly.

"It has been quite a bad race for me year after year! The one year when we were really competitive, I started the race on slicks, and the track was completely drenched. So it will be very easy to do better than I've done in the past. I enjoy it, it's fun to drive on, but in general you feel great when you go to a track where you've had good results. And in Monaco there haven't been a lot of them yet. However I've lived there for 20 years and I went to school there, and wherever you've grown up, or spent part of your youth, you feel good about it because you put some roots down.

"When you do a very good lap on a street course, you are just millimetres away from the wall. Sometimes you just get sideways and the tyres just clip the wall, so you put a little bit of the weight on the wall to keep you straight, and you get a big rush out of that.

"Monaco is not easy, because you can't make a single mistake. You always have to stay a little bit within the limits. Normal circuits are usually nice and flat and when you have a corner coming up, you brake, you start turning in, and it's all flowing easily. A street course, in a way, is more like rallying. You're always imagining what a corner is going to be like. You never get that ultimate line, because the track changes slightly from year to year and the grip levels differ because it's usually a public road. And you never test there, and so you don't do many laps on a track like that. You're can't get to know Monaco as well as you might know a normal circuit.

"Ste Devote is always quicker than you think, and the only problem is that you're braking from right to left, because of the way the barriers are. That's why you can't overtake, because you're using all of the road. The first lap of the race is always very close! The hill is actually quite steep, and what's annoying is that it's a straight line that's not straight! You have to go left-right-left-right.

"Massanet is very interesting. You just get over a hump, you start lifting, and around the whole corner you are just slowing down and downshifting. You don't really brake, turn and accelerate like normal; you're just slowing down all the way in, for the next corner. It's blind, and you're relying on the marshals to tell you if something's happened up ahead.

"Casino Square is really strange. Just as you turn in it's banked, and the inside wheel goes up in the air a little bit, and the exit is very wide. Then as the car comes off the banking and goes down again, you end up sliding. Visually, it's very difficult to know where you are. You're on the edge quite a lot, because you have good grip on the apex, where it loads the car. That makes the car goes light, and that's when you go sideways. It's fun!

"Mirabeau is a very difficult corner. There's a lot of crowning on the asphalt and when you start to turn in there's not a lot of grip. But just as you turn in, the track is banked, and the front suddenly decides to turn. You always think you're going too quickly, so you try to brake harder. You have no grip, you turn in, and it's very grippy. So that's very strange. And the inside wheel is 10cms up in the air!

"The hairpin is an ugly bit. It's one of the stupidest corners that exist, as you go to full lock. The first time I raced there I noticed that the Benettons could exit in the middle of the corner and accelerate out. That got me so jealous because I didn't have enough lock, and every time I went in there I had to think, 'OK, let's make sure we don't go in there too quickly, because we're going to run out of road.' You lose so much time because of that, and it's very annoying. And if you don't have enough lock you can't close the door if someone tries to overtake you.

"The two right-handers after the hairpin are visually very strange, because of the guardrail. There's an opening and you could almost hit it head on.

"The tunnel is easy to take flat out and the corner in the middle is really nothing. People talk about mechanical failures, but if something breaks there, the angle you're going to hit the wall at is minimal, so it shouldn't be too bad. The change from the sunlight is not a problem, it's just the noise - it sounds weird in there!
"The chicane is very slow, and not very interesting. It's a possible passing place if the other driver doesn't expect it.

"Tabac is a beautiful corner. You get there and just lift, maybe touch the brakes, and then turn in. It's got a very nice flow to it. You just kiss the barrier on the inside and then go out again. The thing is once you're out there, you are on all the white paint for the parking lot, so it's very slippery. It's an amazing corner, and to go quick around it gives you a lot of satisfaction.

"The Swimming Pool section used to be one of the best corners on any track - those two together were just amazing. You'd get there, no braking, just lift off and start turning in, accelerate, get a little bit sideways, and just miss the wall by inches. It was blind, and it was marvelous, but now there's a line of sight.

"At the left-hand kink before Rascasse you're braking while you're turning. It's a very difficult corner, and it's slippery because of the paint on the track. That catches out a lot of people. Rascasse itself is just a hairpin. Without traction control you'd get a lot of wheelspin coming out because the road has got a lot of camber, and there's a lot of paint as well - a zebra crossing - so you just go nowhere.

"At the apex of the last corner there's a tip, and you either miss it or clip it. You can't get close to it nicely. It's very, very wide in the entrance, so you have to shoot for a small hole. As soon as you're at the apex it goes off camber, and you run up on the kerb on the exit.

"The pit straight is not really straight, and you're on the inside where the pit exit is, so it's a little bit dangerous. It's a good place for passing traffic, as long as they see you, but the problem is that if you overtake someone on the inside someone might be coming out of the pits just in front of you. You'd be doing 280kph, they'd be doing 100kph, and that would hurt!

"I wouldn't say it sorts the men from the boys, because the speeds aren't that high, but I think you can see how close to the margin you can be. And set-up is very important as well, so it's more difficult to get it right. It's the only race like that in F1, between walls and all that, so it is very special, probably the most important race. It's the race where you can race the least - but it's the most important one."

BAR Race Preview

On face value, the Austrian Grand Prix gave Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda little reason to be cheerful. However, the team's disappointment at missing out on another potential points-scoring opportunity was tinged with optimism following an otherwise reliable weekend's running. Olivier Panis' ninth place qualifying position, a barnstorming drive from Jacques Villeneuve and two different but very feasible race strategies bore all the hallmarks of a team very clear on its mission.

The Austrian crowd had a grandstand view of Olivier's engine blowing in dramatic style on the start/finish straight two weeks ago. Despite the fact that this signaled his sixth DNF of the season, his patience is still remarkably intact for someone who has committed every ounce of energy to notching up the team's first points this season but has yet to be rewarded with a visit to the parc fermé. Olivier had managed to extract the best from the car in every session at the A1-Ring but the team struggled to make the same progress on Jacques' side of the garage. Armed with a less than perfect set-up and gambling everything on a two-stop strategy, he set about making the best of a bad weekend and delivered an assault very much reminiscent of Jacques Villeneuve - 1997 World Champion.

Determination is only a very small part of the overall Monaco 'mix' however so Jacques and Olivier embarked on a comprehensive test programme in Valencia last week, exploring all the elements that will be called into play at the challenging street circuit. It wasn't all plain sailing for either driver but as Olivier concluded, "that's what testing is for" and the team have been better off over the last few race weekends because a more prescriptive approach has confined most problems to the test track.

Looking ahead to the weekend, the team will be running with the same level of package as Austria but with the necessary aero refinements required to optimise downforce and low-speed handling. The emphasis is very much on steady progress, an approach which should open the team's points account sooner rather than later.

Jacques Villeneuve
"The Austrian Grand Prix was fun to drive; the car ended up being quick in the race. I enjoyed myself so it was a shame we didn't get any points again.

"In terms of qualifying, Monaco has to be better for us than Austria and we're very focused on doing a better job there. We did some good set-up work at the test in Valencia, despite a few minor mechanical problems limiting my running time. Qualifying is very important here as it is extremely difficult to overtake during the race. If you are further down the grid at the start, the pitstops play an important part in making up positions. It's a very exciting track but there is no room for error.

"This is also an extremely glamorous race and the fans have a great time. I think it's important for F1 to have a race in Monaco."

Olivier Panis
"Austria was a very positive weekend for me and I had a real chance of scoring some points in the race, so I was disappointed that the car didn't make it to the finish again. I am much more at home in the car now so reliability is the main concern for me.

"We are putting a lot of hard work into developing the car and we have to expect some problems along the way. This was the case in testing last week and it was reflected in the amount of running we did and my lap times. It is frustrating but we have to work through those problems in order to move forward and we are making much more progress at the races because of the hard work we are doing in testing.

"Monaco is extremely challenging because it is so unique. I have very good memories of winning here and I'm really looking forward to Sunday. I just hope we can stay reliable so that I can finish one of my favourite races."

David Richards, Team Principal
"We took a lot of comfort from our overall performance in Austria. Prior to our engine problems, Olivier had a very positive weekend and even Jacques, who had struggled to improve the set-up in every session, was able to turn things around for himself come Sunday.

"Despite all of that, we have yet to score points and we are only too aware of that. We have to harness the potential we have demonstrated in recent races and find a way to make everything stick when it counts."

The Circuit

Race Distance - 78 Laps. 163.332 miles (262.860km)
Circuit Length - 2.094 miles (3.370 km)

Conceived by Antony Noghés, and always held on the weekend following Ascension Day, the Monaco GP is the most famous race on the Grand Prix calendar. The legendary street circuit is tight, twisty, bumpy, slow and totally unforgiving - seemingly incongruous with the awesome power of a modern F1 car but then the Monaco Grand Prix is more about driver skill and car set-up than raw speed. The cachet attached to lifting the spoils in Monte Carlo is immense and this remains the race that every driver dreams of winning.

In terms of chassis set-up, there is one overriding concern at Monaco - downforce. Overall speeds are low - cars may reach a maximum of 290km/h through the famous tunnel, but the average speed for a lap is less than half that. The result is that engineers throw everything they can at their cars to generate downforce and optimise low-speed handling. Securing a good grid position is vital since overtaking is truly problematic, and with fuel consumption and tyre wear not significant issues, most teams will favour just one pit stop. It's a weekend which requires maximum concentration and consistency from drivers and team members alike.