July 4 - 6, 2003

Race Notes

Lucky Strike B*A*R Honda's Jacques Villeneuve just missed out on a points-finish in today's French Grand Prix, driving a faultless race to take the chequered flag in ninth place. Jenson Button's race came to an abrupt end after 21 laps following a fuel delivery problem at his first pit stop.

Jacques Villeneuve:
"The balance of the car was good today and the Honda engine worked well. Of course I am happy to have finished a race without any technical problems but ending up ninth is pretty frustrating. I am pleased with how the car has been working but the limiting factor was the tyres today and there's nothing more that we could do. I'm looking forward to Silverstone, where we hope to be more competitive."

Jenson Button:
"It's obviously very disappointing to retire from a race because of a problem like this. It's been a tough weekend but the team put the problems behind them and made the best of things. The race was going well; we were slow but the balance was good. I got a bit of oversteer after four or five laps but then the balance seemed to come back soon after. I was made aware by the team that there was a fuel delivery problem but then the car stopped out on track before I had time to make another pitstop. I'm looking forward to our home race in two weeks' time when I hope the development work we've been doing with the engine and aerodynamics will see us improving for the rest of the season."

David Richards, Team Principal:
"The best aspect of today's race for the team has been the reconfirmation of the strength of the B*A*R chassis and Honda engine relative to the other Bridgestone runners. The past few Grands Prix have not favoured our package, but I have no doubt that the pendulum will swing in the other direction in the coming races. For Silverstone we have another evolution of the Honda engine and a set of aero developments that should raise our performance."

Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director:
"Jacques drove an excellent race today pushing hard at every stage, and despite jumping ahead of Pizzonia at the last stop, unfortunately finished just out of the points. At Jenson's first stop the crew had a problem getting the fuel nozzle on to his car and had to revert to the other rig. However, due to an error, only a fraction of the fuel was delivered by this second rig, and during the time it took to reconcile the conflicting data, we were unable to pit Jenson in time to avoid him stopping out on the circuit."

"I would like to thank the crew for their performance all year, as pit-stops are one of our strengths, and this was an uncharacteristic problem which we will review in the calm light of day. Given the performance of our competitors' tyres it was always going to be difficult to score points here, but we look forward to our imminent Honda engine and aero upgrades, along with future tyre developments, to renew our battle for points."

Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development:
"Jacques did well to finish ninth having started 12th on the grid, but it's clearly frustrating to just miss out on points. It was obviously an exasperating afternoon for Jenson. We're all looking forward to a productive test in Barcelona next week and of course the team's home race at Silverstone, where we'll be working hard to give the local fans and all our staff a good result."

BAR

Race Results

Saturday Qualifying Notes

Lucky Strike B*A*R Honda's Jacques Villeneuve will start tomorrow's French Grand Prix from the sixth row of the grid after posting the 12th fastest time in this afternoon's final qualifying session in Magny-Cours. His team-mate Jenson Button was disappointed to end the session 14th, which puts him on the seventh row for Sunday's race.

The weather remained cool and overcast throughout the day's running, Jacques Villeneuve completing 41 laps in free practice this morning and making up for lost track time yesterday. An engine failure stopped Jenson Button out on track at the end of the second session, confining him to the garage for most of the third session while the engine was changed and further frustrating his set-up work for final qualifying and the race. He rejoined the track with less than three minutes remaining and completed only two timed laps before the decisive session.

Button was second in the running order for today's qualifying session as a result of his misfortune yesterday, when he fell foul of the changing weather conditions. Jacques Villeneuve emerged from the pitlane in 15th place.

Jacques Villeneuve
"I'm quite pleased with the lap because it was better than I had anticipated. I had good balance and everything worked fine but we got as much grip as we could from the tyres and 12th is where we are today. There were a couple of tenths to be had maybe, because it was a good lap but not a crazy lap, but nothing that would have put us any further up the grid. It's going to be another tough race tomorrow."

Jenson Button
"We haven't really had any running time in which to set the car up properly, so the lap was OK considering. I've only done about 40 minutes work out of an available two and a half hours of free practice time as a result of us having to withdraw from yesterday's first session and then an engine problem which put me out for most of the third session this morning."

"Most of the work I have done has been for the race so 14th was the best I could hope for in qualifying. It's never a good thing to be one of the first on track in qualifying, then on my lap I got a bit too much understeer in the first of the three new corners and lost a couple of tenths there, which is quite disappointing. The car generally feels quite good though and I'm confident about our strategy, so we'll just have to wait and see what the race brings now."

David Richards, Team Principal
"After yesterday's heavily compromised running, the team made a good recovery today, although this was further hampered by Jenson's engine failure, which effectively ruled him out of the second session. As has become the norm recently, we strengthened our position as the number two Bridgestone team after Ferrari. I was pleased to see Jacques back on form, and I think that it is perfectly reasonable to hope for some further points tomorrow from both of our drivers."

Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director
"The car is working well at this track so we were able to focus on the evaluation of both of our tyre choices here and are confident in the tyre we have chosen for the race. The team did a good job to get Jenson out for a few laps at the end of the second session today after it failed right at the end of the first session. Although Jenson was hampered by his lack of running this morning we qualified more or less as we expected and are happy to be the second Bridgestone team since we knew it was going to be difficult at what is, in effect, Michelin's home track."

Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development
"Although our starting position isn't great I think we did okay today. Jenson didn't have much time on track this morning due to the engine change, which obviously put him at a bit of a disadvantage. We have to push to get a good start tomorrow and fight for points."

Warm-Up Times

Saturday Practice Times

First Session

Second Session

Friday Qualifying Notes

Jacques Villeneuve:
"I'm quite happy with my lap under the circumstances. It's been a frustrating day but there wasn't anything I could do so I just had to work with what I had in a single lap. We started with a good set-up so that was a bonus and all the work we've done at other tracks in the wet certainly helped us today."

"It's very hard to produce a great lap when you have no knowledge of how the car is going to react, how it will be under braking and, actually, where is the optimum braking point. There were also some really greasy parts of the track which I was discovering for the first time today. You're never going to be on the limit when you're still finding your way and have three new corners to get to grips with. Hopefully we can settle down to do some proper set-up work tomorrow to prepare for final qualifying."

Jenson Button:
"Today has obviously been quite difficult for us; the track was drying, we hadn't been able to evaluate the tyre options this morning and there is a whole new section of the track to familiarise ourselves with, all of which would be challenging even without us having missed the whole of the morning session because of the legal situation. We didn't know how much grip there was going to be on the track generally but specifically in the three new corners, so we decided to be quite conservative with the tyre choice and opted for the extreme wet."

"In hindsight that was obviously the wrong choice but we had nothing to base our decision on and we felt that tyre would get up to temperature much more quickly. There is nothing we could have done about today though so we just have to put it behind us now and make the most of the remaining running in preparation for a better final qualifying session tomorrow."

David Richards, Team Principal:
"Jacques made the very best of a difficult situation to record an excellent lap time, especially when you consider that he had not seen the new part of the track before. The fact that he ended up seventh was obviously a reflection of the track getting faster, but nonetheless it was a great performance. On the other hand, Jenson was on the track earlier and in hindsight on the wrong tyres. We opted for the extreme wets given that he also had not had any running time this morning but unfortunately this proved to be the wrong call."

Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director:
"Unfortunately we didn't get any running this morning so qualifying was always going to be a challenge for the drivers, this being their first timed lap on the modified circuit. The track was steadily drying and after some debate we decided to send Jenson out on extreme wet tyres, whereas in fact it was probably just ready for normal wet tyres. Clearly our choice was compromised by not being able to run this morning."

"We did not have a good balance with his car and unfortunately he was unable to get a representative time. By contrast, Jacques rose to the challenge well to post the provisional fastest time on wet tyres on a drying track and was only beaten by six of the following runners who benefited from the rapidly drying track. The rest of the weekend promises to be dry which will help us to minimize the effect of the loss of running time this morning, when the track was mainly wet."

Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development
"We've got one driver going out right at the start of the session and one in the final third, so hopefully we'll be able to take advantage of whatever the weather throws at us tomorrow. We have to put this morning behind us and make sure we get the most out of the cars for the remainder of the weekend."

Friday Practice Times

B*A*R Race Preview

Less than a week since the teams raced at the Nürburgring they will be back on track at Magny-Cours for the French Grand Prix, round 10 of the 2003 World Championship. Lucky Strike B*A*R Honda has been busy stripping down and rebuilding the cars at the French circuit as there is no time to send them back to its Operations Centre. Any spare parts required for the rebuild are transported direct to Magny-Cours from the UK.

The Circuit de Nevers is well known for its unusually smooth surface, which causes grip levels to change throughout the day as temperatures rise and fall. This causes headaches for the drivers and engineers who have to chase the set-up as conditions change. The track itself is made up of a combination of slow hairpins, medium-speed turns and fast chicanes so set-up has to be a compromise. Overtaking is notoriously difficult at Magny-Cours with the best opportunity being under braking for the Adelaide Hairpin.

Last year's race, whilst a joy for Michael Schumacher as he notched up his fifth World Championship, was a disappointment for B*A*R as both Villeneuve and Panis were forced to retire. Jacques scored fourth place at Magny-Cours for B*A*R in 2000. He came fourth there twice before in 1997 and 1998 and took the second step of the podium in his first year of F1 in 1996. Jenson Button secured a sixth place finish in last year's French Grand Prix.

Jacques Villeneuve:
"We don't test at Magny-Cours so I'm not really sure what to expect this year. The last few corners of the track have been changed and we have not had the chance to drive on the new bit, so I'm not sure whether it is an improvement or whether we will have the chance to overtake there. From what I have seen on TV, watching other cars drive on the new part of the track, it doesn't look like its offers any more overtaking opportunities, but we will have to wait and see."

"We expect a hot race and we will be fighting the tyre war in Michelin's own backyard, so I am a little concerned as to how competitive we will be in Magny-Cours. To be honest, I am not really looking forward to driving there. The race should still be exciting though. There is heavy breaking at the Adelaide Hairpin so there should be some good overtaking there."

Jenson Button:
"After a difficult weekend at the Nürburgring, I was pleased that we managed to come away with two valuable points at the end of it. It looks like Magny-Cours will be another challenging race for us, but it's a track I enjoy so I'm looking forward to it."

"Qualifying is very important at Magny-Cours as it's very difficult to overtake here. We start with the cars set-up low as there are no bumps on the track, but you need to have a good amount of grip for the tight corners and good traction for exiting the hairpins. Grip will be a key factor again but hopefully we'll fare slightly better than at the Nürburgring. It's a smoother track and there are more quick corners, which should suit the car more."

David Richards, Team Principal:
"Despite a difficult weekend at the Nürburgring, we emerged with two much-welcomed points and moved up to fifth place in the Championship, which has given the team a boost. We now head directly to Magny-Cours where we will be looking to ensure a stronger weekend for both drivers."

"Jacques will understandably have been disappointed with his performance last weekend but with only a week between these two races, a quick return to the track should provide him with the momentum he needs. We expect this circuit to provide the strongest tyre challenge so far this season but we are confident that a points-finish for both cars is a possibility."

Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director:
"Given the team's relatively poor form at the last two races, we will be working hard to improve the performance of the cars with the Bridgestone tyres at Magny-Cours, another low-grip circuit. The track layout has been modified since last year, with a reprofiled downhill approach to the last corner and pit entrance, but it has kept its main characteristics."

"It is a smooth circuit with a mixture of high-speed corners and chicanes together with low-speed sections. The track puts a premium on car stability and aerodynamic efficiency, and once again tyres will be a decisive factor, particularly given the likelihood of very high track temperatures here."

"It's a quick turnaround for this race coming just a week after last weekend's race, so there's very little opportunity for changing anything on the car. We will of course be reacting to the gearbox problem we experienced on Jacques' car having investigated its cause."

Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development:
"I was encouraged that we scored some more points at the Nürburgring and feel it's important that we keep this momentum going and collect even more points at Magny-Cours."

Track Notes

The French Grand Prix is among the most historic races on the Formula One racing calendar, having been staged every year bar one (1955) since the inception of the world championship in 1950.

Magny-Cours in the Nevers region has been the event's home since 1991, but prior to that six other venues hosted the race - Reims, Rouen, Clermont-Ferrand, Le Mans, Paul Ricard and Dijon.

The move to Magny-Cours was part of a project backed by former President Francois Mitterrand to bring much-needed income to the rural area. The rebuilt club circuit boasted an ultra-smooth surface and excellent facilities, even if drivers felt the track itself was a little unexciting.

However, the first French Grand Prix there was anything but dull, with Williams' Nigel Mansell taking victory after a tense battle with the Ferrari of Alain Prost. In more recent times Michael Schumacher has made Magny-Cours his own, racking up six wins since 1994. Of the other current drivers, Heinz-Harald Frentzen triumphed for Jordan in 1999 and David Coulthard for McLaren in 2000.

Revisions to the circuit for this year's race should increase the amount of overtaking and make for another exciting Grand Prix. The Chateau d'Eau corner has been re-profiled, making the entry much sharper. The cars must brake hard down to second gear and then maximise their exit speed for a new longer straight down to Lycee, the old chicane having been removed.

Lycee sees the drivers go from sixth gear and 290 km/h right down to first gear and a little over 70 km/h, presenting another passing chance for those particularly brave on the brakes. There then follows a short straight, before a new chicane leads the cars back on to the start/finish straight and the original track layout.

The modified Magny-Cours circuit remains a technical one, with its mixture of long, fast straights, medium-speed corners and hairpin bends. Its ultra-smooth surface allows for extra-low ride heights are possible, but also means that tyre wear is particularly high, making strategy for Sunday's race a very tough call to make. In summary, a good all-round test of team, car and driver.

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