13-July: At Fiorano, Ferrari concluding testing for the week with both Michael Schumacher
and Luca Badoer driving. The pace of both drivers was very quick lapping under
58 seconds with Michael Schumacher getting very close to bettering his lap
record set yesterday.
Michael Schumacher covered a massive 132 laps while Luca Badoer managed 50
laps.
The team concentrated on tyre and aerodynamics testing.
Weather conditions were sunny then cloudy with light rain. Air temperatures
reached 29 degrees and
track temperatures reached 49 degrees.
12-July: At Valencia, Renault's test driver Fernando Alonso set the fastest time on
the final day of testing ahead of Sebastien Bourdais and Marc Gene.
3 teams were present with 3 drivers setting lap times. Marc Gene again covered the
most number of laps with 108 followed by Sebastien Bourdais with 71 and
Fernando Alonso with 48 laps.
The teams concentrated mainly on set-up work for the upcoming French and
German Grands Prix as well as development programs for next year.
The were no on track incidents reported today.
Weather conditions were sunny with air temperatures reaching 34 degrees and
track temperatures reaching 53 degrees.
At Monza, Williams second test
driver Antonio Pizzonia set the pace again on the final day of testing
ahead of Eddie Irvine and Mika Salo.
4
teams were present and 6 drivers set lap times with BAR's test driver Anthony
Davidson covering the most number of laps with 79 followed by Antonio Pizzonia with
77 and Mika Salo with 65 laps.
The session was interrupted several times. McNish suffered a massive engine
failure while Pizzonia stopped on the track due to a technical problem.
Weather conditions were sunny in the morning turning cloudy with light rain in
the afternoon. Air temperatures reached 33 degrees while track temperatures
reached 44 degrees.
At Fiorano, both Michael Schumacher
and Luca Badoer continued testing at the track today. Michael Schumacher
managed to break the track record for Fiorano setting a time of 57.476 and
covering 107 laps while Luca Badoer set a best time of 58.699 and covering 57
laps.
The team concentrated on tyre, aerodynamics and engine testing.
Weather conditions were sunny then overcast with air temperatures reaching 31 degrees and
track temperatures reaching 56 degrees.
Testing concludes tomorrow again with Michael Schumacher and Luca Badoer.
11-July: At Valencia, Arrows driver Heinz Harald Frentzen set the fastest
time of the day ahead of Jordan's Heinz Harald Frentzen and Renault's test
driver Fernando Alonso.
5 teams were present with 6 drivers setting lap times. Marc Gene covered the
most number of laps with 106 followed by Felipe Massa with 104 and Giancarlo
Fisichella with 96 laps.
The teams concentrated mainly on set-up work for the upcoming French and
German Grands Prix as well as development programs for next year.
The were no on track incidents reported today.
Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais made his debut in a Formula 1 car testing for the
Arrows team in the afternoon and will continue testing tomorrow.
Weather conditions were cloudy with air temperatures reaching 29 degrees and
track temperatures reaching 45 degrees.
Sauber concluded their test today while the rest of the teams conclude their
testing tomorrow.
At Monza, Williams second test
driver Antonio Pizzonia continued to set the pace for the third day in
a row this time ahead of BAR's Olivier Panis and Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa. 4
teams were present and 7 drivers set lap times with Antonio Pizzonia covering the most number of laps with
61 ahead of Pedro de la Rosa with 55 and Olivier Panis with 54 laps.
The session was interrupted a number of times limiting the amount of running.
Most serious was when Jaguar's test driver James Courtney suffered a heavy
crash which left him with a mild concussion. Jaguar confirmed that the crash
was due to a rear suspension failure in a statement that read "On the
approach to the Ascari chicane, a rear suspension failure forced him off the
track at high speed but, thankfully, James is OK. He is undergoing some x-rays
and routine checks and all appears to be well."
Weather conditions were sunny with air temperatures reaching 33 degrees and
track temperatures reaching 48 degrees.
Testing concludes tomorrow.
At Mugello, Ferrari's test driver Luca
Badoer concluded the tyre development program he was working on. He covered a total
of 89 laps with a best time of 1:22.692.
Weather conditions were sunny with air temperatures reaching 31 degrees and
track temperatures reaching 51 degrees.
Badoer now moves to Fiorano to continue testing there.
And at Fiorano, Ferrari's second test
driver Luciano Burti continued testing for the team and concentrating
on tyre evaluation for the upcoming races.
He
covered a massive 101 laps with a best time of 59.253.
Weather conditions were sunny with air temperatures reaching 31 degrees and
track temperatures reaching 55 degrees.
Testing continues tomorrow with both Michael Schumacher and Luca Badoer.
10-July:
Michael Schumacher describing his last race at Silverstone as hard and
difficult, has indicated that he doesn't get bored from continually
winning and setting new records and said "On the contrary, I still
enjoy them a lot. Especially after races like this which are really hard
and difficult, there is a special sense of euphoria which I don’t want
to give up."
As for the possibility of winning his 5th Championship at the French Grand
Prix, Michael admitted that he'd rather win it the following race in front
of his home crowds and said “For this to happen, all the other drivers
in the running would have to retire or be very unlucky and I don’t think
they’ll do that for me. Anyway, it would be much nicer to win the title
at the next race in Hockenheim, even though I must try and win the title
as quickly as possible. The chances seem good, I know, but I also know
that anything can still happen, so I don’t want to start speculating too
much.”
Rubens Barrichello described his second place finish
at Silverstone as of of his better drives. Rubens had to start from the back
of the grid after stalling at the start of the formation lap. He said "At
the end of the race, I was proud of the way I had driven. I had to keep things
very calm and steady. It would have been very easy to lose the nose off the
car in a passing move, or generally been too aggressive. I kept moving
forward, but I never really gave any thought to what position I might finish.
I had an open mind about it and did not set myself a target. Everyone I came
to pass gave me a good battle, but in a very fair way, though of course some
cars were easier to pass than others. My chances of overtaking were increased
with the rain coming, as I had a tyre that really suited the situation.
The entire weekend had gone very well for me, apart from the problem on the
formation lap. All in all, I would say it was one of my better drives, but not
my best, because there have been races in my early career where I had to drive
very hard in inferior equipment.”
10-July: At Valencia, Williams test driver Marc Gene set the fastest time on the
second day of testing ahead of Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella and Arrows' Heinz
Harald Frentzen.
5 teams were present with the Jordan and Arrows teams joining. 5 drivers set
lap times with Fernando Alonso covering the most number of laps with 93
followed by Nick Heidfeld with 92 laps and Marc Gene with 87 laps.
The teams concentrated mainly on set-up work for the upcoming French and
German Grands Prix as well as development programs for next year.
The were no on track incidents reported today.
Weather conditions were sunny with air temperatures reaching 35 degrees and
track temperatures reaching 54 degrees.
Testing continues tomorrow.
At Monza, Williams second test
driver Antonio Pizzonia set the fastest time again ahead of
Toyota's Allan McNish and BAR's test driver Anthony Davidson.
The BAR and Jaguar team joined in the action today. 6 drivers were present
with Antonio Pizzonia covering the most number of laps with 92 ahead of Patrick Lemarie
with 72 and Allan McNish with 71.
The Jaguar teams had problems in the afternoon limiting their running while
Anthony Davidson suffered a gearbox problem.
Weather conditions were sunny with air temperatures reaching 33 degrees and
track temperatures reaching 47 degrees.
Testing continues tomorrow.
At Mugello, Ferrari's test driver Luca
Badoer continued working on a Bridgestone tyre development test. He covered a total
of 88 laps with a best time of 1:23.700.
Weather conditions were sunny with air temperatures reaching 33 degrees and
track temperatures reaching 49 degrees.
Testing continues tomorrow.
And at Fiorano, Ferrari's second test
driver Luciano Burti continued testing for the team and concentrating
on tyre evaluation for the upcoming races.
He
covered a massive 140 laps with a best time of 59.330.
Weather conditions were sunny with air temperatures reaching 33 degrees and
track temperatures reaching 56 degrees.
Testing continues tomorrow.
9-July: At Valencia, Renault's test driver Fernando Alonso set the fastest
time of the day ahead of Williams test driver Marc Gene and Sauber's Nick
Heidfeld.
Three teams were present and three drivers set lap times on this first day
with Marc Gene covering the most number of laps with 94 followed by Alonso
with 66 and Nick Heidfeld with 39 laps.
The teams concentrated mainly on set-up work for the upcoming French and
German Grands Prix.
The were no on track incidents however Nick Heidfeld suffered a number of
technical problems in the morning limiting his running and Alonso's Renault
had an engine change.
Weather conditions were sunny with air temperatures reaching 35 degrees and
track temperatures reaching 58 degrees.
Testing continues tomorrow with a number of teams joining in including Jordan.
At Monza, Williams second test
driver Antonio Pizzonia set the fastest time of the day ahead of
Toyota's Allan McNish. Only those 2 drivers were on the track today.
Antonio Pizzonia covered the most number of laps with 59 while McNish only
managed 39 as he only ran in the afternoon.
Weather conditions were sunny with air temperatures reaching 35 degrees and
track temperatures reaching 48 degrees.
Testing continues tomorrow.
At Mugello, Ferrari's test driver Luca
Badoer commenced a Bridgestone tyre development test. He covered a total
of 64 laps with a best time of 1:23.373.
Weather conditions were sunny with air temperatures reaching 33 degrees and
track temperatures reaching 46 degrees.
Testing continues tomorrow.
And at Fiorano, Ferrari's second test
driver Luciano Burti commenced work on an aerodynamic programme. He
covered 39 laps with a best time of 1:00.150.
Weather conditions were sunny with air temperatures reaching 28 degrees and
track temperatures reaching 54 degrees.
Testing continues tomorrow.
8-July: Minardi's boss Paul
Stoddart has defended Alex Yoong's failure to qualify at Silverstone and
blamed lack of power steering didn't help his Malaysian driver. He said
"Let's be very clear on this, Alex was always going to be marginal at
Silverstone. The two tracks I worried about all year were Imola and
Silverstone. He didn't make it at Imola and he hasn't made it here. I have my
own opinions on whether power steering should or should not have run but at
the end of the day I don't blame Alex for this one."
But Stoddard fired a warning at his driver hinting that he would be replaced
if he failed to qualify once more and said "If he was to miss another
one, that's a different story. There's never no question. There comes a point
where if I felt that non-qualification was due to him then I would be
seriously reviewing his position."
Following the embarrassing situation Arrows were put in
during the British Grand Prix when Cosworth refused to supply them with
engines unless they paid, team boss Tom Walkinshaw has vowed to sort
out the financial problems before the French Grand Prix on the 21st of
July.
He is rumoured to be negotiating with a number of interested parties to
acquire a stake in the team or possibly sell the team to. Red Bull are one of
the interested parties and Craig Pollock (ex BAR) is also rumoured to be interested
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