Button Break Lap Records, Again!

[Jordi]

I think it's only Richards trying to annoy Jacques, but I don't think Jacques cares.

Still, it's only testing. When they get their first pole, then we can start talking. (Best starting position: JV, 4th, Monza 2000)

[neilap]

DR trying to annoy JV? Who the heck is JV, is he some has been or something? I see his name pop up a lot but dont see it on the current list of F1 drivers... strange!

BAR wants to see how fast the car is among other things. They are doing something that none of the other teams are doing; they are showing their hand. Good for them. They want to be able to compare the outright speed of the cars.

[Nizmo32_josh]

Originally posted by NiceGuyEddie
Will Villeneuve have any hairs left?

This HAS to be the worst case scenario for poor old jacques...

[Speed]

OK Neil, I got it.

Now talking about testing..., yes, right ! its testing season, but heyyyyyy, breaking records !?!?!, that´s a different story. This BAR is hottttttttttttt.

PS: I think Honda will deliver better than Toyota, this year...

[Wrex]

Originally posted by DavidStHubbins
There are no rules about teams running illegal in testing...

Actually, there are. The rules were changed a couple of years back.

Originally posted by Jordi
I think it's only Richards trying to annoy Jacques, but I don't think Jacques cares.

What on earth makes you think DR cares?

[Rennen]

How come no one here's made a fuss about Takuma Sato beating Button's time today?!...At least we now know the cars hot!...Nice one Geoff.

[enemy-ace]

I remember when the Prost's flew in pre-season testing !
Let's see what happens in Melbourne

[Kicking-back]

I think this is a different situation to Prost - the BAR team isn't facing a massive funding shortfall.

I expect to see BAR about the same level as Renault this year but not as reliable.

[Raglanparade]

It's amazing how much quicker the BAR is now that Sato is there. Makes me wonder whether Honda is pumping more money into engine development or even the team now that they have a Japanese Driver. It wouldnt suprise me given Japanese business mentality.....

-jason

[Mr V]

Originally posted by jasonhill9884
It's amazing how much quicker the BAR is now that Sato is there. Makes me wonder whether Honda is pumping more money into engine development or even the team now that they have a Japanese Driver. It wouldnt suprise me given Japanese business mentality.....

-jason

Wouldn't have thought that this was the case. After all, Honda, are in it to try and win. I don't think they would suddenly become more "serious" just because they had a Japanese driver.

[GTV27]

Originally posted by Mr V
Wouldn't have thought that this was the case. After all, Honda, are in it to try and win. I don't think they would suddenly become more "serious" just because they had a Japanese driver.

Actually, I expect that the domestic pressure will increasingly be on Honda now, so I would expect that they would up the level of intensity of their program to meet expectations.

Don't know whether that is necessarily the reason the BAR seem to be showing a bit of form at the moment, but you can not under estimate the impact of national pride on corporate decision making (esp in Japan).

Shame it hasn't worked that way for Jaguar though - maybe Ford would be more committed if it was F O R D on the side of the car (maybe not).

[Arneal]

Originally posted by jasonhill9884
It's amazing how much quicker the BAR is now that Sato is there. Makes me wonder whether Honda is pumping more money into engine development or even the team now that they have a Japanese Driver. It wouldnt suprise me given Japanese business mentality.....

-jason

If that were true than why did they let Sato rot at Jordan a couple of years ago? I think that after some years of honest struggle Honda has finally got their engine up near the top of the field.

[twig]

Since this is one of the only testing threads open at the moment, has anyone got any opinions about the speed (or lack of) of the McLarens for the past two days?

[enemy-ace]

The Macs have been running heavy fuel. Developing their car. The BAR's have been running low-fuel qualifiers and grabbing headlines.

[Glen]

I'm quite sure BAR have been developing their cas as well - you can't be saying that they have only been running qualifying set-up! In fact they seem to be developing it quite well!

When McLaren grab a headline lap time no-one poo-poos it.

[enemy-ace]

Didn't say they weren't developing their car! However I am a little sceptical when a team that has lacked credibilty for so long starts running light to set quick times. Really what's the point, other than to grab headlines. The days of the light fuel qualifying lap is gone. Why the need to do this for days on end?

[twig]

ah, headlines (=Support and team coverage and possibly increases popularity), see how quickly the car can run when light compared to the old car, increasing team moral and confidence?

Im sure there is no loss in seeing how quickly the car can go flat out.

[enemy-ace]

Would be interested in seeing their lap times during standard testing and not just the low fuel record breakers.

[Glen]

McLaren and Williams have both also had lap records recently - do you think they are wasting time too? Low fuel qualifying might be a thing of the past, but fuel levels for qualifying are frequently not far off empty (a three stop race with a short first stint being commonplace) and the car is run on low fuel four times during a normal race in a three stop race.

[Kirk]

Originally posted by Glen
McLaren and Williams have both also had lap records recently - do you think they are wasting time too? Low fuel qualifying might be a thing of the past, but fuel levels for qualifying are frequently not far off empty (a three stop race with a short first stint being commonplace) and the car is run on low fuel four times during a normal race in a three stop race.

Legitimate testing? Yah right, in the real world, how would the tires be at that point? Certainly not fresh. If it were legitimate, they would be testing on at least semi-worn tires or logically on fully-worn tires. I would submit that in race conditions a car with fresh tires and a light fuel load would be fast but its highly unlikely that it would be in contention. Now Sato has done the same publicity stunt. Anything to do with DR the spin doctor, I wonder?

[enemy-ace]

Originally posted by Glen
McLaren and Williams have both also had lap records recently - do you think they are wasting time too?

Again it's the cynic in me, but Mac and Williams are legitimate competitive teams. I doubt they set fast times for publicity alone. BAR I can't help but think are looking for headlines as ONE of their motivations.

[Glen]

McLaren and Williams both admitted that they were trading quick times in a head to head on light fuel when they were breaking lap records a couple of weeks ago.

Michelin tyres are reputed to be worth about a full second per lap, and the latest BAR seems like a genuinely well worked out car - whilst I do not at all expect BAR to be getting any race wins, I do think it is feasible that they have made a very strong improvement and they can hope for podiums.

[Webslinger]

A lot of you have spoken about headline grabbing and that is just what BAR have been receiving. If headline grabbing was their intention then they have just scored 100% for their efforts!

[climb]

Unquestionably

[Wrex]

To all the Anti-BAR people (read pro-JV and not getting over it), whats the problem?

They are doing one, repeat 1 low fuel qualifying run per day. Cant find the lap times at the moment, but the rest of the day they are running heavy.

We still have a ,low fuel run in Quals (the first half of the session), so its not a waste at all. I dont think BAR are self promoting either, I think the other teams are just afraid to show their hands.

Why is BAR doing the odd speed run? Wrong question, Why is'nt everyone else?