Formula One: Reliabiity and teamwork, but BAR Honda just misses out on points
28 August 2000
Lucky Strike Reynard BAR Honda delivered a second consecutive two-car finish in this afternoon's Belgian Grand Prix, after an excellent display of reliability and team work. The Honda engines ran without problem all weekend, but further world championship points just proved elusive as Jacques Villeneuve came home in seventh position with team mate Ricardo Zonta in 12th place. The race started behind the safety car after heavy rain throughout the morning had left the track very wet and all but one car elected to begin on wet tyres. The rolling start was particularly disappointing for BAR Honda as it robbed Villeneuve of the opportunity to make one of his excellent starts with which he has gained a number of places this year. The track quickly dried, however, and by the third lap a clear dry line began to emerge and both Villeneuve and Zonta elected to stop for dry tyres on the sixth lap. Learning the lessons from Canada in June, slick work from the pit crew enabled Villeneuve to leave the box just as his team mate arrived and both were back on the track in the shortest possible time. Villeneuve passed the Ferrari of Barrichello in the pits and the Canadian was able to hold off the advances of the Brazilian driver. The power of the Honda RA000E engine was particularly useful up the hill after the famous Eau Rouge corner and the Ferrari was never able to get close enough to make a passing manoeuvre. The second round of stops brought Zonta to the pits on lap 22, with Villeneuve following two laps later. The Brazilian rejoined 14th and kept a consistent pace, making up two further places before the end of the race. Jacques moved up to seventh place, but was unable to make up the final position that would have increased his world championship points total. Jacques Villeneuve Position: 7th "It was a very boring race and I had a lot of understeer which I couldn't understand as we had had had oversteer all weekend. The car really only became good to drive after about 25 laps of the race. It was a very disappointing race and it was not a very useful day. We raced hard but just missed out on points. I was able to stay ahead of Barrichello pretty easily and our straight line speed was enough to make sure that he was never close enough to get past." Ricardo Zonta Position: 12th "I had to fight the car for the whole race. Even when my engineer told me to push hard, I could only find a couple of tenths, so we just concentrated on consistency and getting to the finish. Maybe we put too much downforce on the car today. Of course I am pleased to finish the race, but I had hoped for a better race today." Takefumi Hosaka - Managing Director, Honda R&D "Everyone tried their best but it was a very disappointing result. We couldn't find any time improvement after changing from wet to dry tyres and both Jacques and Ricardo struggled with the balance of their cars. This was a little surprising as earlier in the weekend it seemed like we had a good race set-up. The pit stops and communications were very good today, especially with the first stops when both drivers came in together. "We wanted to put on a better show today as President Yoshino and 500 Honda salesmen are here in Belgium this weekend. We have to use today's race to recognise where our level is, clarify where our problems lie and work hard to show improvements in the remaining races." Jordan Mugen Honda claimed a world championship point in this afternoon's race, courtesy of Heinz-Harald Frentzen's strong drive to sixth place. However, the Mugen-Honda powered team had been hoping for much more from today's activity. Jarno Trulli started from the front row of the grid and was running second for the early laps until Jenson Button tried to overtake him at the La Source hairpin. The Williams hit Trulli from behind, spinning the Italian out of the race and ending Jordan's hopes of a podium finish. Round 14 of the season takes place at Monza on Sunday 10 September. The Italian Grand Prix is the 200th of Honda's illustrious Formula One career. In three generations of competition, Honda power has claimed 71 race wins, 74 pole positions, six constructors' championships and five drivers' titles. Championship Standings after 13 of 17 rounds DRIVERS 1 Hakkinen McLaren 74 2 M Schumacher Ferrari 68 3 Coulthard McLaren 61 4 Barrichello Ferrari 49 5 R Schumacher Williams 20 6 Fisichella Benetton 18 7 Villeneuve BAR Honda 11 9 Frentzen Jordan-Mugen Honda 7 10 Trulli Jordan-Mugen Honda 6 CONSTRUCTORS 1 McLaren-Mercedes 125 2 Ferrari 117 3 Williams-BMW 30 4 Benetton-Playlife 18 5 Jordan Mugen-Honda 13 6 BAR Honda 12 7 Sauber 6 8 Arrows 4 9 Jaguar 3