F1 fans have been starved of action for 11 weeks, but no more. Today marks the beginning of the first official Formula testing session of the year, and all teams – with the exception of Arrows, Prost and Minardi – will have a run in Barcelona.
F1 fans have been starved of action for 11 weeks, but no more. Today marks the beginning of the first official Formula testing session of the year, and all teams – with the exception of Arrows, Prost and Minardi – will have a run in Barcelona.
McLaren Mercedes, Williams BMW, Jaguar and BAR Honda are expected to kick off the five-day test session, with Renault, Toyota, Ferrari, Sauber Petronas and Jordan Honda joining the fray later in the week.
As legacy of the unusually long FIA-enforced winter testing ban, Jaguar, BAR and Toyota will be the only teams testing brand new cars. The other teams, including Ferrari, McLaren, Jordan, Williams, Sauber and Renault will all be running hybrid versions of their 2001 challengers.
The testing session will also present the first opportunity for F1 observers to see the Toyota team pitted directly against its rival teams, and Finnish star Kimi Raikkonen behind the wheel of a McLaren, shod with Michelin tyres, for the very first time. Luciano Burti will be in a Ferrari, his third car in just over 12 months. He started with Jaguar before going to Prost for the 2001 season.
Ferrari
Burti will shake down an updated Ferrari F2001 alongside Luca Badoer in Barcelona. The Brazilian has been in Maranello for the past few days for a seat fitting in the F2001, which he will drive in next week’s test.
The Brazilian commented: "I’m really keen to drive a Ferrari for the first time. So I can’t wait for next week in Barcelona."
Sauber
Nick Heidfeld and Brazilian debutant Felipe Massa will carry out three days of testing each from Tuesday, F1-live.com reported on Monday. The team will use two of last year’s C20 chassis equipped with some new developments. The all-new Sauber C21 should carry out its first run on January 15 at Fiorano, more than one week before its official presentation on January 25 in Switzerland.
Jordan
The Jordan Honda team will also bring two cars from last year, the EJ11, to Barcelona from Wednesday and then do further testing at Valencia from January 15. New recruit Takuma Sato, the 2001 British F3 Champion, and Italian Giancarlo Fisichella will test Jordan’s updated 2001-car at the Catalan circuit.
BAR
BAR Honda presented its 2002 contender on December 18. Olivier Panis drove the 004 for the first time on the day of the launch at the factory, and will be present at Barcelona. It is not known yet if the team’s new test driver, Ryo Fukuda, will be taking part in the test or whether the second 004 has been completed.
Renault
The French works team will be in Barcelona from Tuesday with two B201s, updated versions of last year’s car. However, the cars will be equipped with various electronic elements that the team intends to use in 2002. The Renault R202, which will feature the traditional yellow and white racing colours of the French marque, will only be unveiled on January 27 in Paris. Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button will test for Renault.
Jaguar
Jaguar will test its new R3 as well as the R2B, which is a development car based on last year’s R2, at Barcelona. Eddie Irvine should be in charge of the first tests behind the wheel of the R3 on Tuesday whereas Pedro de la Rosa will be behind the wheel of the R2B. De la Rosa is scheduled will be R3 on Thursday and Friday.
McLaren
McLaren will have built three of its new MP4-17 chassis by the time it launches its 2002 campaign at Barcelona. "Number one will have been used for the FIA crash test programme, number two will be on hand for the unveiling and the third chassis will be being finished off in the factory," Autosport on Tuesday quoted McLaren’s managing director Martin Whitmarsh as saying.
Williams
All four contracted Williams-BMW drivers will be on hand at Barcelona next week to drive interim FW23C cars. Race drivers Ralf Schumacher and Juan-Pablo Montoya will share duties with testers Marc Gene and Antonio Pizzonia. The launch date for this year’s FW24 chassis is January 25 at Silverstone.
Minardi
Open Telefonica Nissan racers Antonio Garcia, Franck Montagny and Matteo Bobbi will test for Minardi at Valencia from January 15 alongside confirmed race driver Alex Yoong.