Formula One: Honda makes strong start to Malaysian GP weekend
21 October 2000
FIA Formula 1 World Championship - Round 17 Malaysian Grand Prix, Sepang - Friday Free Practice BAR HONDA MAKES STRONG START TO MALAYSIAN GP WEEKEND Friday 20 October 2000 The final Formula One race meeting of the season got underway today, with free practice for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix. Lucky Strike Reynard BAR Honda made an excellent start to proceedings, achieving a good set-up for the demanding Sepang circuit early in the day. Ricardo Zonta finished the day in an encouraging seventh place to boost his hopes of a strong result in his last outing for the team. The Brazilian was among the leading drivers from the start and continued to make good progress with both chassis balance and tyre evaluation. Jacques Villeneuve also had a very productive morning session, recording the fastest speed across the start-finish line en route to sixth position after the first hour. He reported that the car felt well-balanced around the 5.543km circuit which augurs well for the final weekend of the year. Unfortunately, Villeneuve's car encountered a problem with its fuel supply at the start of the second hour and as the team investigated the issue, the Canadian was unable to make it onto the track before the session ended. Tomorrow, both drivers will benefit from the additional horsepower of the latest specification Honda RA000E engine that made its debut in Suzuka two weeks ago. Ricardo Zonta Position: 7th 1min 41.497sec "The car looks good here and I am very pleased with today's result. The set-up was quite good and we did some modifications that made the car go faster and faster all the time. It's extremely hot here and inside the car you get very sweaty. The track has many bends and changes of direction, and it is difficult to get good traction out of the slower corners. I think we should be able to do a good job in qualifying tomorrow." Jacques Villeneuve Position: 17th 1min 42.649sec "We're not sure what the problem was in the second session, but the car was very good in the morning. Without doing any set-up work and after only a few laps the car was quick. There is clearly still room for improvement so it's annoying not to have run this afternoon. I hope that the time we have lost today does not stop us from maximising the potential of the car this weekend." Takefumi Hosaka - Managing Director, Honda R&D "We have had quite a good day and we were able to arrive at a good setting, perhaps earlier than we had anticipated. But it was a shame that Jacques could not drive this afternoon. When we have found the cause, we will have to do a good job to catch up the teams ahead of us." Jordan Mugen-Honda also enjoyed a productive first day in Malaysia. Jarno Trulli ended the day fifth fastest with team mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen tenth, less than half a second behind.