BMW WilliamsF1 Team-British GP Preview
British Grand Prix - 5/6/7 July 2002 - PREVIEW After another strong qualifying performance but ultimately unsatisfactory conclusion to the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team has redoubled its preparations for the forthcoming British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The mainstay of preparation work has been a week of testing at Circuit de Catalunya in Spain, under the stewardship of test team drivers Marc Gené and Antonio Pizzonia. Specific developments that have been under assessment include a revised aero package for the WilliamsF1 BMW FW24. The Silverstone race is another Œhome¹ event for the Anglo-German partnership, and is especially poignant as it was the venue for WilliamsF1¹s first race victory in 1979, as well as their 100th GP win in 1997 with Jacques Villeneuve. WilliamsF1 has eight race victories to its credit since Clay Regazzoni¹s maiden GP win for the team 24 years ago, giving the team a win rate of just under 50% of all races entered at the circuit. This year¹s British Grand Prix will mark the BMW WilliamsF1 Team¹s principal sponsor livery change to the Hewlett Packard (HP) brand (see further details attached). Ralf Schumacher: "I can't wait to go racing to Silverstone because we have been quite strong there over the course of many tests, as well as having good recent race performances. It would be really great if we could achieve a good result at WilliamsF1's home Grand Prix. The track is again a compromise between quick and slow parts, of which the latter may cause us some problems, but we are taking some new aerodynamic parts to the Silverstone and this should make our BMW WilliamsF1 car very competitive." Juan Pablo Montoya: "I think Silverstone is going to be a hard race and our success really depends on the tyres, which are going to be the key to the result. Hopefully it doesn't rain, then all should be well for us. We didn¹t qualify particularly strongly but performed really well on Sunday. I really feel like making up for the last three disappointing races after as many brilliant qualifying sessions, but the British Grand Prix promises to be a tough one." Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1): "This week at the Barcelona test we have been concentrating on the problems that affected our car at the Nürburgring. Silverstone is harder on tyres than the last three races and as such requires stiffer compounds to minimise degradation. "The circuit has a good mixture of low, medium and high speed corners as well as three straights which mean aero efficiency is important. Setup is usually geared towards helping high speed stability. Strategy is not clear at Silverstone with a mix of one and two stoppers last year, but overtaking is also possible as we proved in 2001." Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director): "There is no doubt that we want to record top results in races as soon as possible. Good race results are more satisfying than three pole positions in a row which are not rewarded with any points. At the Nürburgring we used the latest engine evolution for the first time in the race as opposed to only in qualifying, and we had no problems. This means after the failures in Monaco and Canada we did not go backwards but have actually take a step forward. At the same time we have worked on reliability. For Silverstone we just hope that everything works well again in every aspect of the BMW WilliamsF1 Team and enables us to claim some points." Facts and Figures … The Silverstone Circuit has been changed many times over the years since the first British Grand Prix was held at the venue in 1950. This year¹s race will be the 36th held at the Northamptonshire Circuit, with the only other tracks playing host to the British round of the World Championship being Aintree (five races) and Brands Hatch (12 races). Although Great Britain only has one Grand Prix, three European Grands Prix have been held in the UK at Brands Hatch (1983 & 1985) and Donington (1993) … In 2000, the race was not held on its traditional July date and Silverstone hosted the Grand Prix in April. Poor weather affected spectator transport in and out of the car parking areas which has led to substantial remedial work including extensive resurfacing of parking areas and the development of new arterial routes to the circuit … The circuit is 3.194 miles (5.141 km) long and the 60 lap race will be 191.604 miles (308.356 km) … The lap record was set in 2001 by race winner Mika Häkkinen in a McLaren Mercedes with a time of 1m 23.405s (221.900km/h. Michael Schumacher¹s pole lap from 2001 was 1m 20.447s (230.059 km/h) … In 1985, Keke Rosberg drove a WilliamsF1-Honda at Silverstone to the fastest lap ever recorded with an average speed of 160.924 mph and a stunning lap time of 1m5.591s. A turbocharged engine, impressive slick tyres and a different circuit layout helped him to achieve this impressive record … The BMW WilliamsF1 Team left the British Grand Prix last year with mixed feelings. Juan Pablo Montoya managed to convert eighth place on the grid into a fourth-placed finish. When the start lights went out he squeezed through the gap between his fellow drivers and the crash barrier, ending the first lap in third position. Ralf Schumacher was tenth on the grid and applied similarly skilful moves to gain five places on the first lap. Both were helped by a contact between Jarno Trulli and David Coulthard that sent the two drivers spinning off the track. Two pit stops were scheduled for Juan, while Ralf was on a one-stopper. Though both of them selected the harder of the two Michelin compounds, Ralf chose slightly run-in front tyres while Juan favoured fresh tyres all round. Ralf¹s pit stop was extended to 12.5 seconds due to a stuck fuel nozzle and two laps later while in sixth position, the German was forced to retire due to an engine failure … The historical pit stop windows for a one-stop-strategy is between laps 30 and 42. In the case of a two-stop-strategy, the windows would be between laps 19 and 25 for the first stop and between laps 39 and 43 for the second stop. Tyre degradation is classified medium to high for Silverstone … The 2002 race will start at 13.00 local time (14.00 CET) on Sunday, 7th July. Unveiling of the new HP livery The newly branded FW24 will be available for photographic requests in the pit lane outside the BMW WilliamsF1 Team's garage at 18.15 on Thursday, 4th July. This brief photo shoot will be attended by both drivers. Photographs of the cars and drivers featuring the new HP branding for press use only will also be available for download on the 4th of July from: www.sutton-images.com/hpinvent username: hpinvent password: williamsf1 For all F1 broadcasters there will be a six minute video news release featuring rights free footage of the newly branded FW24 available at the HP Motor Home in the Silverstone Paddock HP would like to invite all members of the press to their new motor home in the F1 Paddock at Silverstone. Drinks and snacks will be served from 17.00 to 19.00 on Saturday. Ralf Schumacher #5 Juan Pablo Montoya #6 DOB 30/06/75 - Hürth (DEU) 20/09/75 - Bogota (COL) Nationality German Colombian Residence Salzburg (AUT) Monte Carlo (MCO) Marital status Married to Cora, one son (David) Engaged to Connie Freydell Height 1.78 m 1.68 m Weight 73 kg 72 kg F1 debut 1997, Melbourne 2001, Melbourne Poles 1 7 Wins 4 1 Points (total) 165 58 Points 2002 30 27 Fastest laps 6 6 2002 Qualifying Race Qualifying Race GP Australia 3rd accident 6th 2nd GP Malaysia 4th 1st 2nd 2nd GP Brazil 3rd 2nd 1st 5th GP San Marino 3rd 3rd 4th 4th GP Spain 3rd 11th 4th 2nd GP Austria 2nd 4th 4th 3rd GP Monaco 4th 3rd 1st Dnf GP Canada 4th 7th 1st Dnf GP Europe 2nd 4th 1st Dnf Reuters provides the BMW WilliamsF1 Team with graphics that are supplied copyright free for editorial use. These graphics are available for viewing at www.bmw.williamsf1.com. If you wish to use these graphics contact Stephanie Jordan at Reuters who will provide you with high resolution copies. E-mail: stephanie.jordan@reuters.com