September 26 - 28, 2003

Saturday Qualifying Notes

Warm-Up Times

Saturday Practice Times

First Session

Second Session

Friday Qualifying Notes

Lucky Strike B*A*R Honda drivers Jenson Button and Jacques Villeneuve ended the day 10th and 16th respectively in today's first qualifying for the US Grand Prix. Their times were split by a sudden shower which forced Jacques to tiptoe round the high-speed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where cool, wet and cloudy conditions look set to shape the rest of the weekend.

Track temperature dipped to 16°C during the qualifying hour, matching the maximum ambient temperature. Jenson was the 10th driver to join the track for his single-lap run, in respect of his position in the drivers' championship, whilst his team-mate Jacques left the pitlane 15th in line. The same temperamental conditions are forecast for tomorrow's session, for which Jacques will leave the garage fifth in line for his one-lap final qualifying, while Jenson will be the 11th driver out on track.

Jacques Villeneuve:
"For the second time this year I went out just as the rain started to fall and in those conditions there's nothing you can do. You still drive as hard as you can but you know you're going to be slow and way down the timesheet. The car is quite good in the wet and we did some laps in the rain this morning, but there's no way you can get close to the times set by those who were running on a dry track. Wet weather makes qualifying a bit of a lottery and if it continues tomorrow then it only takes a few seconds to make the difference between a good or bad grid position. If it's wet for everyone then I think we have reason to be optimistic."

Jenson Button:
"Not a great first qualifying for me. I didn't really make any mistakes and the car balance is good, but there was very little grip and we just seemed to be slow today. We worked through our tyre options this morning but I think we made the wrong choice for qualifying. There's definitely room for improvement during the rest of the weekend but it looks likely that the weather is going to play a big part."

David Richards, Team Principal:
"After a promising start to the day our qualifying positions are somewhat disappointing. There is certainly room for improvement but the weather looks certain to have a hand in the outcome this weekend."

Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director:
"This is a disappointing first qualifying session for us, despite a stronger first session. The car was reasonably competitive this morning, particularly when the rain started to fall and we were able to use our wet tyres. This afternoon, Jenson's car wasn't working well and was suffering from very low grip. We considered using the other tyre with Jacques but unfortunately just prior to his run, it rained very heavily forcing him out on wets. We're confident that we can improve the car overnight and qualify in a stronger position tomorrow."

Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development:
"The on-off rain played a big part in the times today. Who knows what will happen tomorrow - it might be our turn to benefit from the conditions."

Friday Practice Times

JV's Lap of Indy

"The F1 circuit in Indianapolis is a fun track to drive on, but not overly exciting. Having said that, there is still good racing because of the long straight line and heavy braking at the end of it, which allows for good overtaking opportunities. It's fun to use one of the banked corners of the oval as part of the F1 track. It's nice to go to Indianapolis after Europe. It's enjoyable to race there - mostly because of all the American fans. The atmosphere outside the paddock is great.

"You start with a very long straight line where you reach 340 kph, with heavy braking and you are next to a wall, so it's different to other tracks, also it's bumpy and difficult. You don't see the corner ahead as visually all you see is the oval going on ahead of you and the inside kerb is on the asphalt, the straight line is very wide and there is no grass, that makes it difficult when you are overtaking as there are no reference points. There is nothing special about turns 1 and 2, it's just a right, left section. Turn 1 is slower than you think every time and you carry the brakes very long into the corner and then for turn 2 it is just a question of accelerating through. It isn't really a problem.

"Three is not a corner, four is very difficult. Visually you don't have any reference points, you are turning and you have to hit the brakes at the same time, making sure you don't go too wide and run off the track, but at the same time you have to look where the corner is and hit the brakes. It's also a corner where you can lose a lot of time very easily and you always think you can go quicker.

"Turn 5 isn't a corner any more; with the traction control it's easy but balance here is important. You don't want to come out of the corner too wide as you then have to hit the brakes in turn 6 which makes braking more difficult. Turn six is a strange, very long corner and you hit the apex twice; you are on the brakes when you turn in, it gets wider and then you're back onto the apex because you can't exit the corner wide, you have to exit completely tight because of turn 7 right after. Here it's always very slippery, not as much downforce, quite slow but not much acceleration out of y and you just tap on the brakes into the corner. Not a very long straight line out of it but it's so easy to make a mistake and if that happens, you will see overtaking happening at the end of the straight.

"Turn 8 is just a corner where it's important to carry a lot of speed and survive at the exit because there's not a lot of acceleration; you have to try not to go too wide because you then get a crazily tight, too tight, section of hairpins and if you are wide it makes that turn 9 hairpin very difficult to negotiate. Turns 9 and 10 are not a fun section. It's just annoying and extremely slow. It serves no purpose and nobody knows why they are there, it's just no fun at all. Then you accelerate. Turn 11 is difficult and extremely important. You are still moving from the right to the left side of the track so you are not going straight yet, and you have to pay attention. There is no reference point of where the track is, there's a kerb in the middle of the asphalt so you don't see where the corner is. It's very easy to make a mistake there, yet it is very important as it's the corner that gives you the speed on the whole straight line of the start/finish, and a mistake here probably means you'll get overtaken by the end of it. Then all the way to the start/finish, even though it turns. It's only a corner in the wet; in the dry it's not a corner. We go 60 kph slower than an Indy car goes. It's not a corner, it just looks visually impressive because of the banking."

BAR Race Preview

Lucky Strike B*A*R Honda will be at the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway next weekend for the penultimate race of the 16 round 2003 FIA Formula One World Championship, the United States Grand Prix.

'The Brickyard', as it is known, is one of the oldest purpose-built circuits in the world and is home to the legendary Indy 500 oval race. The last turn on the circuit runs through Turn one on the oval track, which is the only banked corner on the F1 calendar. The track also features the longest flat-out section of all the F1 circuits, with drivers running full throttle for around 22 seconds from Turn 11 to Turn one at speeds in excess of 210mph.

In contrast to this, the specially designed infield, which was built for the inaugural race held here in 2000, is a tight and relatively slow section. This part of the track is rarely used throughout the year and as a result, offers little grip in comparison to the outer oval section.

Since returning from Italy on Sunday, the team has been testing in Spain, using three cars and its full line-up of race and test drivers. Anthony Davidson undertook two days of general set-up review testing at the Idiada circuit. Jacques Villeneuve completed two days at Jerez, with Jenson Button and Takuma Sato joining him for one day each.

B*A*R suffered mixed fortunes in the race last year. Jacques Villeneuve had a strong weekend, qualifying 7th and finishing in 6th place, but it was less positive for Olivier Panis who lost his position after a bad start and struggled behind slower cars for much of the race, eventually finishing 12th. Jenson Button finished 8th in Indianapolis in 2002, and is looking forward to competing in America at the penultimate round of the Championship.

Jacques Villeneuve:
"I was very pleased to come away from Monza with some points for the team. All year we have concentrated on race set-up, but were not able to show our hard work because the car often had mechanical failures and did not finish races. In Monza all the hard work finally paid off. It will be more difficult to achieve points at the remaining two tracks than it was in Monza. A lot will depend on the tyre war. Indy is very twisty on the infield and there is a lot of braking during directional change. On these parts of the circuit, heavier engines will be penalised more than in Monza."

"This is also the case for Suzuka, so they will be two difficult races for us. Having said that we will continue to work hard and hope to be in a position to fight for some points. The F1 circuit in Indianapolis isn't a bad track, although I feel it's not as good as it could be. There is heavy braking at the end of the main straight, which offers a good overtaking opportunity. It's nice to go to Indy after Europe and this season it will be even more exciting because of the close race for the Championship."

Jenson Button:
"I like the track, although it's quite tight and twisty on the infield section and I prefer high-speed circuits. Having said that, the banking section is fun to drive and the straight is very quick. We spend a long time, more than 20 seconds, absolutely flat-out. I have enjoyed driving at Indianapolis in the past and am looking forward to returning this year, especially as we are more competitive, and I hope to add further Championship points to our total."

"I like visiting America and we always get a great reception at Indy - the atmosphere in the town is great and the city seems to be really hooked on racing. It's a great place for Formula One to visit and certainly one of the most famous venues. In terms of my hopes for this year's US Grand Prix, I am completely focused on repeating the strong qualifying performance which saw me line up seventh in Italy, and I hope to translate it into a really positive race result. The team has worked so hard this year and I am determined to push as hard as possible for good results in America and Japan to round off the season."

David Richards, Team Principal:
"The team was very encouraged with Jacques' sixth place at Monza, which gave us the lead in the fight for fifth in the Constructors' Championship. Our top ten qualifying positions for both cars were more representative of our true potential, and Jacques was able to turn that into a very positive race result. I'm sure this would also have been the case for Jenson had he not suffered his gearbox failure. We expect Indianapolis to be tough for us, but we have been testing since Italy and working hard to maximize our performance. We are determined to get a good result and consolidate our Championship position."

Geoffrey Willis, Technical Director:
"The Indianapolis F1 circuit is a circuit of two halves. Part of the circuit consists of the famous Indy 500 oval speedway incorporating Turn one and the pit straight, but run in the reverse direction, the other part of the circuit is a series of tight infield loops with similar characteristics to Hungary, in that it is slow and difficult to overtake, but with even less grip."

"The last turn is flat-out, so exiting the previous corner well is important to avoid being caught on the long oval section, which allows a good opportunity for slipstreaming and the possibility for passing under braking at Turn one. The set-up of the cars has to be a compromise between the requirements of the two sections with a level of downforce on the low end of intermediate. This and the low-grip infield mean that the teams will have to find the right compound between high-grip soft compounds and tyre wear and blistering."

"The Indy track is reasonably easy on the chassis, suspension and brakes, with its smooth surface and shallow kerbs. However, the long straight at this track can cause particular problems for the engine, which stays on full power for a longer single period than any other track in the calendar. This, followed by the sudden heavy braking to an extended period of slow- speed running, can lead to reliability problems."

Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development:
"Overall the test at Jerez went well and we got lots of feedback and data that we can use in development for the final two races. It was a shame that Jenson's time in the car was cut short but we were glad to hear that he didn't have any major injuries. I'm sure he'll be back fighting fit at Indianapolis. Jacques had a solid race in Italy and we're all determined to carry the momentum forward and rack up some more points in the US."

Track Notes

The oldest track still in use today, Indianapolis is a true motor sport institution. Built in 1908, the original track cost $75,000 to build and was originally constructed of crushed stone and tar. Following a spate of accidents however, the decision was taken to replace the surface with bricks: 3.2 million of them to be precise. Thus the legend of 'the brickyard' was born.

The first Indianapolis 500 took place in 1911 and when Formula One was incepted in 1950, the Indy 500 was a championship round. And so it remained for 11 seasons, its final running as a Formula One event coming in 1960. Formula One teams carried on turning up to Indy for the fun of it and, following the resurfacing of the brickyard in asphalt in the early '60s, the rear-engined cars of Lotus blew the chunky American roadsters out of the water. Jim Clark scored a memorable victory in 1965 and Graham Hill took the spoils in 1966.

In 1998 Indianapolis made a deal with Formula One to host a round of the World Championship again. A brand new infield course was constructed and in 2000, almost a century after the track was built, Formula One racing returned to the world's most revered circuit. With the sport building its fan base up in America every year, this is one race that looks sure to go from strength to strength.

Formula1.com