Silverstone 11th July
BAR had a new motorhome for Silverstone but that did not help the performance of the cars in any way.During Friday there were no major mechanical problems and the drivers tried to find a fitting set-up for qualifying and race. Zonta had some catching up to do, as he had tested less than Villeneuve, and he struggled during the first sessionbut was able to close up to 0.6 s to his teammate during the second session.
"We struggled with our set-ups, but then we went back to one which we tried last week at the test and that was a lot better. Then this afternoon I had problems with my first set of tyres which gave me big understeer and I wasn't able to find a good balance for the car. It was very difficult to drive and nothing seemed to improve it. When we changed the tyres for my last run, things improved dramatically. The car was handling much better and that's when I was able to improve my time, right at the end of the day."
Friday 1st practice:
17th, 1:29.929 +2.870
Friday combined practice:
11th, 1:28.238 +1.257, 34 laps
During all Saturday Ricardo struggled with bad understeer problems.
At qualifying he went out and did a 1:27.973, bettering to a 1:27.699, but then went too hard over a curb and the fuel tank started to leak. Ricardo was forced into the spare car and failed to better his time. The track proved also slower late in the session as temperatures rose.
"I found it difficult to get a good set-up today. The car was understeering a lot and we just didn't seem to get the right combination to cure the problem. My first run was not too bad, but I hit the kerbs on my second run and the first I knew there was damage to the car was when we started to lose fuel while I was waiting to go out for my final run. I had to take the spare car out, which at this race is set up for Jacques, so the pedals were much too long for me. There was no chance to go quicker by then and the track was slowing anyway."
Saturday practice:
13th, 1:27.157 +2.668, 29 laps
Qualifying:
16th, 1:27.699 +2.895, 11 laps
During warm up Ricardo could only do 9 laps before the hydraulics failed on the car. When the race started he did a reasonable start but the race was red flagged as Villeneuve's and Zanardi's cars remained on the grid. Moments later M Schumacher crashed his Ferrari at Stowe, breaking his right leg and delaying the restart. In the restart Ricardo again came away reasonably but immediately the safety car was out as de la Rosa (Arrows) had stalled on the grid. After the restart Ricado passed Wurz (Benetton) for 15th and held that position until the pit stops started on lap 20. Ricardo himself made his stop on lap 25 falling from 12th to 17th. However, all was not well and Ricardo was back in on lap 31. He was back in again ten laps later where after he pulled off after the pit exit.
Warmup:
16th, 1:29.645 +2.857, 9 laps
Race:
DNF 41 laps Suspension/Brakes
FL: 1:30.611 on lap 27 (13th +2.302)
Winner: David Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes)