2002 Brazilian Grand Prix Free Practice
Honda F1 Press Information 29 March 2002 VILLENEUVE SETS HONDA PACE IN BRAZIL B.A.R Honda driver goes ninth fastest in free practice ------------------------------------------------ Jacques Villeneuve (Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda) finished today’s free practice ninth fastest overall to lead the Honda-powered driver line-up. B.A.R Honda team-mate Olivier Panis set the 13th fastest time while DHL Jordan Honda's Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato were 16th and 19th respectively. All four Honda-powered drivers took to the track early in the first timed session of the day. The dusty and therefore slippery conditions limited the amount of set up work that could be done in the first half of the session, but once the track began to give more grip all the drivers were able to concentrate on race set up work with heavy fuel loads in preparation for the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday. B.A.R Honda's Villeneuve completed 21 laps in the morning and recorded the 13th fastest time of 1m18.121s while team-mate Panis was 16th fastest, setting a best time of 1m18.237s and completing 18 laps. Both B.A.R Honda drivers improved on their times in the second session, Villeneuve setting the ninth fastest time overall of 1m16.183s and completing 24 laps while Panis completed 26 laps and moved up three places into 13th with a best lap of 1m16.391s. There was a small problem with Olivier's engine in the afternoon session, which affected the performance of the car. Jordan Honda's Fisichella ran well in the first session, setting the third fastest time, a 1m16.770s, and completing 20 laps. His team-mate, Sato, in his first visit to the Interlagos circuit in a Formula One car had a more torrid session, spinning a couple of times, but still managed to complete 24 laps and set the eighth quickest time of 1m17.624s. In the afternoon session Fisichella completed 26 laps and set the 16th fastest time of the day of 1m16.539s. Sato recorded the 19th fastest time and completed a further 20 laps. Unfortunately the Japanese driver went through a red light when he exited the pit lane in the morning session and the race stewards have ruled that his fastest qualifying time will be disallowed tomorrow. In hot and sunny conditions at Interlagos (31 degrees), the McLaren of David Coulthard set the pace closely followed by the Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya and the Toyota of Allan McNish. The Schumacher brothers set the fourth and fifth fastest times of the day, with Ralf just two tenths of a second ahead of Michael. McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen completes the top six positions. Shuhei Nakamoto – Race and Test Team Manager, Honda Racing Development "We are basically quite happy with the results from today's session as both Honda's partner teams were trying out different race set ups and completed a good number of laps. There was a slight problem with Olivier's engine but we have identified what it is, so it shouldn't be a problem for the rest of the weekend. We've had a very productive day in terms of seeing the results from last week's test in Barcelona, where we tested aspects of engine control such as fuel consumption and driveability. Takuma was unlucky when he exited the pit lane as it was very close, but I'm sure he will meet the challenge tomorrow." Jacques Villeneuve Position: 9th "We had a good first session today with no mechanical problems. It’s a better Friday than the first two races and the car certainly feels better than in Malaysia. The only real change we have for this race is the new Bridgestone tyres, which seem to be helping a lot at this track." Olivier Panis Position: 13th "Compared with Malaysia, this has been a better Friday for us. This morning we were running with racing fuel and we tried different set-ups. I had a small engine performance problem which took a little time away from me, but I think we have taken the right direction so far and we have a good idea which way we are going to go with the tyres." Giancarlo Fisichella Position: 16th "This morning everything went very well and I was really pleased with the balance of the car. This afternoon though, we don’t seem to have managed to make the progress other teams have made, which is disappointing. The car still felt quite good but just a bit more nervous. I think if we can work from the data we collected to find a good set up for tomorrow we should be able to qualify in the top ten." Takuma Sato Position: 19th "Overall the sessions were productive as we had no problems with the car. The second session, however, was particularly difficult as we couldn’t balance the car well and lost a lot of running time making changes in the garage I have already driven on this circuit once before, so at least I know it, but that was only in an F3 car when I came here last December. It is a whole new world of course to drive it in an F1 car and you certainly feel the bumps a lot more!" Today’s results 1 David Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 1m15.075s 2 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams BMW 1m15.345s 3 Allan McNish Toyota 1m15.450s 4 Ralf Schumacher Williams BMW 1m15.477s 5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1m15.627s 6 Kimi Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes 1m15.883s 7 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1m15.933s 8 Jenson Button Renault 1m16.054s 9 Jacques Villeneuve B.A.R Honda 1m16.183s 10 Pedro De La Rosa Jaguar Cosworth 1m16.289s 13 Olivier Panis B.A.R Honda 1m16.391s 16 Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan Honda 1m16.539s 19 Takuma Sato Jordan Honda 1m17.432s ------------------------------------------------ For further information and photos go to the Honda F1 media website www.honda-gp.com, user name: honda, password: ginther -------------------------------------------------------------- Charlie Reid, Honda F1 Press Office, Imperial House, Imperial Road, London, SW6 2AG, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7384 2133 Fax: +44 (0)20 7384 1238 Mobile: +44 (0)7780 664855