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29th April 2004 silverstone
test. Jarno Trulli, R24-05, 1 lap, 5 km Bad weather seems to be following the test team around
and the rain clouds got stuck over Northamptonshire for these last two days! Neither Renault driver was able to do any
significant running owing to a waterlogged circuit and constant rain.
Williams and McLaren did a few more laps, with Pizzonia fastest for Williams.
Montagny did 11 laps and was 5th fastest. Jarno only did an
installation lap. Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: Silverstone Testing, Day 3, 29/04/04 - 29 APR 2004 28th April 2004 silverstone
test. Jarno Trulli, R24-05, 7 laps, 36 km,
1:34.409 Constant rain
disrupted the second day of testing at Silverstone, with cars completing very
limited mileage. apart from
Williams. McLaren ran three cars: Coulthard, Raikkonen and Wurz, all slower
than Jarno. The Renault team were in action with both
Jarno Trulli and Franck Montagny, but the Italian completed only seven laps
(amazingly finishing 3rd) and the Frenchman spent the day
practicing starts and did not set a time. Williams did some proper testing
and were fastest with Ralf Schumacher. Jarno Trulli, R24-05, 7 laps, 36 km, 1:34.409 Chassis programme: Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: 27th April 2004 silverstone
test. There were two Renaults, two Williams and two
McLarens at Silverstone today. The only race drivers present were Jarno and
David Coulthard. Jarno was third quickest, with both Williams ahead of him,
Pizzonia fastest. Jarno Trulli, R24-05, 79 laps, 407km Chassis programme: Tyre programme: Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: 25th April 2004 san
marino gp. race. Michael Schumacher made it 4 wins out of 4
races this season but at least he had competition for…erm….9 laps, or as long
as it took Jenson Button to make his first pit stop. Michael was able to stay
out for another couple of laps which was enough for him to take the lead and
keep it. Michael had already fended off the challenge of Juan Pablo Montoya in
the first lap, in such a way as to cause JPM to sulk and complain about it in
the press conference, conveniently forgetting immediately after that incident
when he moved across the track and forced his own team mate onto the grass,
even if Ralf did over-dramatise the situation. In the melee of the first
chicane, Coulthard managed to drive into the back of Alonso’s Renault, taking
off his McLaren front wing in the process. Jarno got past Fernando to be in
seventh place to the Spaniard’s ninth when it all settled down. Sato,
meanwhile, had moved up to 4th. Jordan’s Pantano was first to
retire in the gravel on lap 6 with a car problem. Jarno moved up to fourth
after the first set of stops, with Ralf, Barrichello, Alonso and Sato behind.
Through the second stops, Ralf got fourth place back, but Jarno still came
out ahead of Barrichello. Bruni had to retire his Minardi in the garage when
it couldn’t be fixed. Toyota’s da
Matta was given a drive through penalty for allegedly ignoring blue flags for
Michael’s Ferrari, and probably in disgust, then went across a gravel trap
into retirement. In the third set of stops Jarno stopped first, out of
sequence, which worked in keeping Barrichello behind, but due to traffic in
the next couple of outlaps, Fernando was able to jump both of them after his
stop, by the smallest of margins. Fernando then had a tangle with Ralf
Schumacher in a virtual re-run of the Sato/Ralf incident in the last race.
The Williams spun and re-joined in seventh place, pushing Fernando up to 4th
and Jarno up to 5th, which is where they finished. Jarno had a
ding-dong battle with Barrichello, to keep the Ferrari behind in the last few
laps. Heidfeld retired his Jordan, leaving the track on lap 51. Five laps
from the end, Sato’s Honda exploded (how we’ve missed that!), putting the
wind up Button fans (including ITV!), but Jenson had no problems reaching the
end in second place. Raikkonen, who started from the back due to an engine
change, hung in there to get the final point. Where was DC? Twelfth! The Saubers
both finished, ninth and tenth and a lap down with no dramas. It was not
Jaguar’s weekend as Webber was even behind Coulthard, and Klien behind
Webber. Panis did finish, in 11th place. And Baumgartner finished
…..4 laps down. Top 8: M.Schumacher, Button, Montoya, Alonso, Trulli,
Barrichello, R. Schumacher, Raikkonen. Renault F1 Team Press Release The Renault F1 Team reinforced its second position in the
constructors’ championship this afternoon following a solid result in the San
Marino Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso finished fourth and Jarno Trulli fifth,
and the team now has a total score of 31 points, four ahead of Williams and
BAR. ITV watch: What a joke!
It’s the Jenson Button Show! Message to JB, when it comes to presenting,
don’t give up the day job! When they played fiancée Louise’s song over the opening
credits, we knew what we were in for. Steady on ITV! Did they utter a sentence
in the first half hour that didn’t contain the words ‘Jenson Button’? It took
that long to mention Senna, whose death is being commemorated this weekend.
They must have also regretted having committed to their Minardi
weekend…..devoted all of 3 minutes to that today in the first part of the
show. Then, just to finish us off, they gave us Grim Rosenthal interviewing
Bernie Ecclestone, who told them they’d done a ‘darned good job’ of the TV
coverage! He’s obviously never seen it. Jenson’s dad worked nearly as hard as JB during the race, with
ITV’s constant interviews. JB’s surrogate father David Richards also got
attention before and after the race, naturally. James Allen sounded funereal
when they realised that Button’s BAR lacked the pace of the Ferrari and
obviously wasn’t going to beat it. One more irritating thing…..for no real reason, Allen started
it and Brundle joined in….once again they questioned Jarno’s race pace. While
he was keeping a Ferrari behind him, for goodness sake! They decided that as
his physical fitness wasn’t to blame (he runs marathons, they said), it must
be a mental thing. One question for you boyos….why, when Jenson’s pace was
dropping back it was the car to blame, but when Jarno’s pace is queried it
must be the driver? Huh? Huh? Maybe some other drivers……Barrichello, Montoya,
Ralf and, pardon me for laughing, DC…… were suffering from a ‘mental thing’
as well… As it was, Jarno had loads of car problems (see above), and did
a fantastic job in the circumstances so maybe we should ask for an apology! 24th April 2004 san
marino gp. qualifying. The Williams team managed a P1 and P2 in
first qualifying, ahead of Michael Schumacher in third. Even DC took 4th
place and Fisichella did a stunning lap in the Sauber for P6. It didn’t do
him any good though…..see Q2. The Renault boys were 12th (JT) and
14th (FA). Top 6: Montoya, Ralf Schumacher, Michael Schumacher,
Coulthard, Button, Fisichella. Second qualifying was a different story. The
Renaults actually improved their positions, with Fernando 6th and
Jarno 9th. Despite their close time, two drivers Sato and Webber,
managed to split them. Michael Schumacher made a mistake on his lap, allowing
Jenson Button to take pole position. Montoya in third was very smug in the
press conference, so maybe he has a lot of fuel. Baumgartner had an engine
change before qualifying but was at the back anyway. Joining him there will
be Kimi Raikkonen, yet again, whose engine was detected as about to explode
after Q1: he did one warm up lap to scrub the tyres but that was all the
dodgy engine would take before it had to be changed. Fisichella’s car was
still in pieces when he was due to do his lap, so he will be with the McLaren
at the back as well. Top 6: Button, M. Schumacher, Montoya, Barrichello, R. Schumacher,
Alonso. Renault F1 Team Press Release Free Practice 3 JT 1:22.462,
P10, 13 laps
Anyway, to other matters. The first question
was going to be how ITV got over the problem of starting their programme
while first qualifying was still going on? It must have been recorded, or Paul
Stoddart was being interviewed while one of his cars was out on track! Then
you muffle the sound of cars on track and then say “first qualifying just
happened”. As if by magic! Paul was interviewed as part of ITV’s having
adopted Minardi for the weekend (guess BARf1 was a bit obvious!). Grim takes
the prize for stupid question of the week when he asked Stoddart what
difference does the difference in budget between his team and Ferrari make.
Doh! And we’ve got 6 more years of this to put up with???? God, give me
strength! 24th April 2004 san
marino gp. saturday practice. Michael Schumacher was fastest again in this
session, with Button the closest driver, ahead of the second Ferrari driver
Barrichello. Fernando was 6th fastest, Jarno 10th. Ohristian
Klien failed to set a time after crashing his Jaguar into the barriers at
turn 12 early on. Top 6: M.Schumacher, Button, Barrichello, Montoya, R.
Schumacher, Alonso. Same first two in the second session, with
Fernando taking third spot. Jarno was 8th. Pantano had technical
problems with his Jordan in the middle of the session, having to stop after
only 7 laps. Klien got back onto the track for 8 laps in the spare chassis
after the team could not repair his original chassis in time; he keeps the same
engine though, so no penalty. It was Baumgartners turn to crash, ploughing
into the barriers at turn 11. Top 6: M. Schumacher, Button, Alonso, Coulthard,
Montoya, Barrichello. 23rd April 2004 san
marino gp. friday practice. In first practice at Imola, Michael
Schumacher somehow managed to finish a full 1.3 seconds ahead of his own team
mate to top the time sheets. Ralf Schumacher’s third place time was more than
two seconds slower than Michael’s. Jarno and Fernando had a reasonable first
session, finishing 7th (JT) and 9th. The biggest
incident was Jordan test driver, Timo Glock, spinning into the barriers at
turn 12 towards the end of the session. Top 6: M. Schumacher, Barrichello, R.
Schumacher, Davidson, Button, Montoya. BAR took over at the top in the second
session, Button fastest, Sato second, beating Michael Schumacher into third
place. A McLaren popped up into 4th place, in the hands of
Raikkonen. Jarno was 5th, ahead of the third BAR; then came
Montoya and Alonso, with Coulthard and Ralf completing the top ten. Top 6:
Button, Sato, M. Schumacher, Raikonnen, Trulli, Davidson. Jarno Trulli R24-03 Spare R24-01 Free Practice 1: Trulli, 11 laps,
1:22.927 P7 Alonso, 11 laps, 1:23.083 P9 Free Practice 2: Trulli, 25 laps,
1:21.604 P5 Alonso, 25 laps, 1:21.788 P8 Jarno Trulli, 36 laps: "A trouble-free day for me, and quite
a positive one too," said Trulli. "The start this morning was
difficult, because the circuit was very green and the car was sliding a lot,
but we made progress with the set-up and things improved. The B-spec engine
is very good, and the new aero package is definitely doing its job. For
tomorrow, we will try and improve the car's overall level of grip and also
the driveability: to get 100% out of it, we need to make it a bit easier to
drive. We know what our main tasks will be tomorrow." Fernando Alonso, 38
laps: "A standard Friday: we concentrated on choosing our tyres, and did the normal comparisons between the two types, which gave us some good results. In terms of the set-up, we still have some room to improve, as we are lacking grip and stability under braking. Taking that into account, I think we are in good shape for the rest of the weekend." 22nd April 2004 : Transcript of Imola Press
Conference on Members Page 19th April 2004 san
marino gp. driver preview. Jarno Trulli: What are the keys for car set-up at Imola? You have tested the new engine step since Bahrain:
what are your impressions? The team comes into this race second in the
championship: can you look to build on that position? See Members Page for Jarno’s participation in
the Florence Half Marathon. 15th April 2004 paul ricard test. Jenson Button broke
the lap record at Paul Ricard to top the time sheets. Second placed
Raikkonen’s McLaren was a second slower. For Renault, Alonso was fifth and
Montagny sixth. Renault
F1 Team Press Release Tyre testing
and set-up work for both drivers; Alonso exceeds weekend mileage with new
engine specification. Fernando Alonso, R24-05, 98 laps Chassis programme Engine programme Comment: Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer 14th April 2004 paul ricard test. A good first day
for the Renault F1 Team, completing a huge number of kilometres. A good first day for Renault F1 at Ricard,
completing a huge number of kilometres. Button was fastest, ahead of two
McLarens and a Williams before the Renault boys came in fifth (Alonso) and
sixth. Webber for Jaguar, and Briscoe and da Matta for Toyota were also
there. Renault F1 Team Press Release Over 1000km in a single day, and Franck Montagny
gets his first taste of the R24. Fernando Alonso, R24-05, 95 laps,
391 km Chassis programme: Engine programme: Comment: Christian Silk, Chief Test Engineer: 8th April 2004 barcelona
test. Michael Schumacher turned
up today to show everyone how to do it in the rain. Barrichello was third, as
they were either side of Fernando Alonso. Jarno was eighth quickest. Williams
continued with Ralf and Scott Dixon. Gene in the third Williams only managed
3 laps and failed to set a time. Renault F1 Team Press Release Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso had limited
running time on the circuit due to the weather conditions. Jarno Trulli, R24-04, 23 laps, 107km Wet all day. Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso had limited
running time on the circuit due to the weather conditions. The Renault F1 Team will be testing next week at the Paul Ricard Circuit from the 14th - 16th April. 7th April 2004 barcelona
test. Sato replaced
Davidson for BAR today and was the fastest driver of the day. Jarno was
second quickest. Both Renault drivers had the new spec engine today and
Fernando was 4th quickest, sandwiching the third placed Ferrari of
Badoer. Jaguar and Sauber joined in today and were second from last (Wirdheim
in the R5) and last (Massa, who had an engine problem at the start of the
day). Scott Dixon was testing for Williams and was ninth quickest, behind
Coulthard. Renault F1 Team Press Release A disrupted day for Jarno and Fernando at
Barcelona, but feedback on the new engine spec remains positive. Jarno Trulli, R24-05, 78 laps, 361km Chassis programme Engine programme Comment: Pat Symonds, Executive Director of
Engineering 6th April 2004 barcelona
test. No respite for the Renault F1 drivers with
both Jarno and Fernando in action in Barcelona…. along with Olivier Panis,
the only race drivers today……. as BAR McLaren, Ferrari and Toyota test
alongside Renault this week at the Circuit de Catalunya. Alonso was fastest
and Jarno third quickest with Davidson in between for BAR. Renault F1 Press Release Trulli and Alonso in action at Barcelona with the
R24; the first verdict on the new engine and chassis developments. Jarno Trulli, R24-05, 55 laps, 255
km Chassis programme: Tyre programme: Engine programme: Comment: Pat Symonds, Executive Director of
Engineering: 4th April 2004 bahrain gp. race. Michael
Schumacher’s race: he drove, he had a pit stop, he drove, he had a pit stop,
he drove, he had a pit stop, he won. A trouble free afternoon for the WDC. He
was followed home by his trusty lap dog, Barrichello, and Button made it to
the podium for the second race running. A rain and sandstorm before the start
made uncertain conditions for the start of the race, but ultimately, none of
the natural phenomena seemed to make a difference to the race. Reliability
was also exceptional again, the only cars not to finish were two McLarens and
a Minardi (Baumgartner). Raikkonen’s marvellous strategy from the back of the
grid proved completely pointless when his engine grenaded 8 laps in, for the
third race in a row. Remarkably, McLaren denied it was an engine failure,
despite the huge flames. Coulthard stopped on lap 51, after an unscheduled
visit to the pits, probably for a word with Ron about the state of his car.
Ralf Schumacher had an interesting race, attempting to overtake Sato while forgetting
to give the other car room to continue without colliding with the Williams’
car belly. Ralf got a bit spooked after that, going into the pits so Patrick
Head could have a look at the car. Unfortunately for Ralf, there was nothing
at all wrong with the car and he’d lost a whole lot of time. Later in the
race, Ralf had an altercation with Fisichella’s Sauber, touching the back of
the Italian’s car and causing him to spin. Luckily for Ralf, his team mate’s
bad fortune at the end of the race, when he slipped back through the field
with a gearbox problem from running third, meant Ralf won two points for 7th
place. Jarno had gained 2 places at the start, then lost out to Ralf, so ran
6th for the first part of the race. After a fast and steady race,
Jarno was ahead of Button before the final pit stop, but a fast turn around
by the BAR pit crew, got Jenson out just ahead of Jarno, who finished 4th.
Fernando had to come from the back end of the grid and had a coming together
with someone or other (no one seems to know who); this required a new
nosecone for the Renault. Then Fernando had an eventful afternoon, battling
to overtake Massa and Webber. With Montoya dropping out of the points,
Fernando took 6th place. A good result for Renault with both
drivers earning points. The BAR drivers were often running together in the
middle part of the race. After Sato’s escapade with Ralf, he ran wide under
pressure from Button, damaging his front wing and having to pit for a new
one. That was the most eventful part of Jenson’s race, as it took the final
pit stop for him to get past Jarno. The Toyotas finished next to each other
in ninth (Panis) and tenth, and so did the Saubers in eleventh(Fisichella)
and twelfth. And so did the Jordans in fifteenth (Heidfeld) and sixteenth. At
least the Jordans finished, which is a new concept for the team. Bruni also
finished, after problems off the startline in the parade lap. Who’s left? Oh
yes, the Jags. Klien had some fun fighting with Kimi Raikkonen in the first few laps of the race and also visiting the
oases off the track more than anyone else. Webber picked up the final
championship point, having worked to no avail to keep Alonso behind him
during the race. Top 8: M. Schumacher, Barrichello, Button, Trulli, Sato,
Alonso, R. Schumacher, Webber. Renault F1 Press Release
The Renault F1 Team leaves Bahrain second in the
Constructors' Championship, with a total of 22 points divided equally between
the team's two drivers, Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso. Jarno Trulli drove a perfect race to fourth position this
afternoon, but cannot shake off the disappointment of seeing a podium finish
escape him around the time of his third and final pit-stop. Starting from
seventh, Jarno made up a place on the first lap, but a consistent, fast pace
saw him gradually catching the Williams of Montoya. However, he encountered
traffic on his out-lap after every stop; on the final occasion, the several
seconds lost were enough to allow Jenson Button to pass him. Jarno subsequently
overtook Montoya, but was unable to catch the Briton ahead of him. Fernando Alonso's race was incident-filled. Starting
sixteenth, he was squeezed out at the start by one the of Jaguars;
subsequently running in the midfield, he lost his front wing in a first-lap
collision and rejoined the circuit thirty seconds behind the pack. After
that, his race pace was among the fastest of any car and he gradually climbed
through the field with a dynamic, attacking drive. However, he was unable to
overtake the BAR of Sato and had to settle for sixth position in the final
order. Jarno Trulli, 4th position: Fernando Alonso, 6th position: Flavio Briatore, Managing Director: Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: ITV Watch : we were treated to half of yesterday’s programme once again for
the first part of the show as ITV don’t seem to realise the same people watch
two days running. Sadly, they had a few technical problems and found
themselves re-running their Bahrain tourist video yet again, during the first
interview with superhero Jenson Button. For some reason, Prince Andrew is
schmoozing in Bahrain this weekend, so ITV made sure they got an interview
with him. Keeping the royal connection going, most of Martin Brundle’s grid
walk was taken up by MB’s sycophantic attempts to cosy up to the Kings of
Spain and Jordan, who just happened to be on the grid. So much for the
people’s sport. Martin was actually searching for the Crown Prince of
Bahrain, but when he eventually found him, after practically snogging together(Martin
let us know they’d met before), we didn’t learn much from the 10 second
interview. Martin did achieve his
traditional interview with ‘friend of ITV’ Rubens Barrichello, the only F1
person he had time to speak to. ITV were a bit more dignified over Jenson’s
podium this time. Maybe they want to borrow his trophy to use in their office
as a waste paper bin. Post Script: I was trying to ignore it earlier, but as emphasised in the
‘highlights’ programme on Sunday night, Mark Blundell and Grim Rosenthal
actually shared a villa with Jenson this weekend. Maybe this led to them
trying to share their job with him after the race: JB joined Mark and Grim
for an interview cum boy’s bonding session with JB still hot and in his race
suit. They’ll be going on holiday together soon. And don’t be surprised to
see Grim applying to officially adopt Jense……. 3rd April 2004 bahrain
gp. saturday qualifying. A straightforward first qualifying on the
beach, with Ralf Schumacher taking provisional pole from team mate Montoya.
Klien was quicker than Webber for Jaguar. Coulthard was his usual midfield 13th,
while his team mate was 3rd. Barrichello was a surprising 11th,
as Michael Schumacher took 4th. Panis was a surprising 5th.
The Renault boys were 6th (Alonso) and 7th (Trulli).
Top 6: R. Schumacher, Montoya, Raikkonen, M. Schumacher , Panis, Alonso. A little bit more incident in the second
session, with Alonso making a complete mess of his qualifying lap (again)
with a multitude of mistakes and finishing 17th. Jarno was 7th.
Sato outqualified Button, and Klien outqualified Webber. Coulthard’s usual 10th
looked good compared to Raikkonen’s nought….he will be at the back after
aborting his qualifying lap. He already had an engine change so hard to guess
why…..ask Ron. It looked like the Williams drivers could take pole for a
while during their laps, but through their various mistakes, we ended up with
an all Ferrari front row……again. Getting boring now. Top 6: M. Schumacher,
Barrichello, Montoya, R. Schumacher, Sato, Button. Renault F1 Press Release Free Practice 3 JT 18 laps 1:31.644, P10
Jarno Trulli's lap met pre-qualifying expectations, and
he finished among the group of closely-matched cars behind Michael
Schumacher. He drove a clean lap and now expects to drive a strong, attacking
race tomorrow. Fernando Alonso missed the apex of the first corner of
his qualifying lap, owing to a currently-unidentified brake problem. In spite
of a relatively competitive second sector, he had already lost almost a
second, and the lap was definitively spoiled when he ran wide in turn 14. He
will start from seventeenth position. Jarno Trulli, 7th position: Fernando Alonso, 17th position: Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: Denis Chevrier, Engine Operations Manager: ITV Watch: Probably the most annoying thing of this afternoon’s show was
Martin Brundle continually referring to what he saw in Qualifying 1, a
session that ITV failed to screen, so WE didn’t see it! We did hear it
behind Jim Rosenthal, but that’s as close as we got. They preferred to teach
us the history of Bahrain, before we got the Adoration of BAR. Followers of
this column will know that ITV were beside themselves when Jenson Button got
his podium at Sepang. This was a continuation of that love fest…..there’s no
stopping them now. Today ITV were obsessed with Jenson and his team:
there was the track walk with Jenson, the Jenson interview, the revisit of
the podium scene in Malaysia, the BAR engineer interview, the David Richards
interview……no mention of their second driver though. Is he still employed? Oh
yes, he is…..he outqualified Jenson…..that wasn’t in the script! Well done
Takuma Sato! The ITV boys thought Jenson was going to be on pole, so they were
distraught. I wonder if Jenson wants a housemate? I’m sure Jim would like to
move in with him. He could do the cooking and cleaning. One gold star for
ITV….a Trulli interview about the track, among a few other driver interviews.
Bahrain looks like a seaside. The crowd could sit on deckchairs. Didn’t see
the pier, but hope they do camel rides and have ice-cream vans. Do miss the
grass though. 3rd April 2004 bahrain
gp. saturday practice. The first practice of the day on the surface
of the moon….oops, I mean in Bahrain….. saw Jenson Button top the timesheets.
Overnight, the organisers had made some repairs to the track after raised
drainage hatches had been found to be the cause of yesterday’s punctures.
Plenty of spinning and running wide by a variety of drivers was the order of
the day. Massa had a technical problem and stopped on track after a few
minutes, failing to set a time. Late in the session Coulthard spun and helped
the marshals push the car out of the gravel. The Renault drivers were ninth
(Alonso) and tenth. Jarno managed 17 laps this session, making up for
yesterday. Top 6: Button, Montoya, M. Schumacher, Barrichello, R. Schumacher,
Raikkonen. More repairs to the one of the kerbs led to the second session being delayed by a few minutes. Jarno led the second session for quite some time before being outpaced towards the end, while he stayed in the garage. He finished sixth, with Alonso in ninth. Fastest again, was Button, closely followed by the Williams boys, the Ferraris down in fifth (MS) and eighth. After his escapade earlier, Coulthard failed to set a time. Team mate Raikkonen was 11th, only coming out on track near the end of the session. Top 6: Button, R. Schumacher, Montoya, Sato, M. Schumacher, Trulli. 2nd April 2004 bahrain gp. friday practice. First time out for F1 in a place which looks
like Clacton beach with roads and a part of the venue that looks suspiciously
like the White Cliffs of Dover. Things did not go well for Renault in this
desolate looking place. In the first session, Timo Glock was the first F1
driver to do a lap at Sakhir in a 2004 car…. his claim to fame in years to
come. In a bizarre session where drivers were learning the track and
searching out its limits, not to mention the racing line, there were a few
spins on the dusty track. But Ferrari dominated the timesheets, closely
followed by ...erm…Ant Davidson in the BAR. Jarno was only able to complete 6
laps before a water leak put paid to any more running and Fernando managed 10
laps. Jarno was 12th and Fernando 13th fastest. Top 6:
M. Schumacher, Barrichello, Davidson, Montoya, Button, Coulthard. The second session was quite eventful with
three punctures (Coulthard, Alonso and Davidson). Kimi Raikkonen had a fire
in the fuel pipes at the back of his engine, which will require an engine
change. It’s not his season so far. Jarno also had a bad day, also with a
small fire in the fuel system, but he can continue with the same engine.
Phew! Heidfeld’s Jordan also stopped on track 12 minutes into the session. Barrichello
was fastest with Michael Schumacher only 4th. Jaguar’s Christian
Klien finished fifth fastest , ahead of team mate Webber in 8th.
As a result of his car problems Jarno was 18th, Fernando was
ninth. Top 6: Barrichello, Montoya, Davidson, M. Schumacher, Klien, R.
Schumacher. Renault F1 Press Release Jarno Trulli R24-03
JT FA The first day of the Grand Prix of Bahrain proved
eventful for the Mild Seven Renault F1 Team, with the team's plans to learn
about the circuit disrupted by several technical incidents. However, the team
remains optimistic overall for the rest of the weekend. Jarno Trulli suffered
a water leak during the first practice session, which limited his mileage,
and his car then stopped on the circuit with a problem within the engine's
fuel system, which will not require the unit to be changed. As for Fernando
Alonso, he completed 33 laps, close to the planned objective. He concentrated
on learning the new circuit and evaluating tyres, with the intention of
building on this solid start to improve the set-up of the R24 tomorrow. Jarno Trulli, 18 laps: Fernando Alonso, 33 laps: Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: Denis Chevrier, Head of Engine Operations: From a
further interview, Flavio Briatore: "Jarno was really, really
quick in S1 and S2 same as Michael, and then he has fire. It looks like
engine, maybe it was only electrical, because the engine has been in very
good form.. and Fernandos time was good, as the track improving. Let’s see
what happens, today is Friday, we are happy and in good shape." 1st April 2004 bahrain
gp. first impressions. ….don’t much like it, says Jarno. Bahrain has created an oasis in the middle of the desert,
spending over $150 million into the state-of-the-art Sakhir circuit. Even
before turning a wheel at the track, Italian driver Jarno Trulli said he was
disappointed with the circuit ahead of this weekend's first ever Middle East
race. "For a driver, a new track is always exciting. However, I admit that I'm a bit disappointed: it could have been better," Trulli told Gazzetta dello Sport. "There are too many slow, first gear curves. You don't need guts to drive here. Honestly, I expected something more technical. They have created an exceptional, ultramodern venue, but with all the space at their disposal they could have done better. Instead they created a track that I'd define slow, where we'll probably use Montreal-like aerodynamic loads: it's true that there are very long straights, but at the end of those there's a tight corner that will require heavy braking. So, we'll either have the gas fully open, or we'll be almost still. There are at least three first gear curves, and I fear four. Too many. It's a shame." |
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