By Jamie Makin (27/11/03)
November 27 2003

With the post-season test ban finally lifted, team Sauber-Petronas resumed testing at the Circuito de Catalunya this week. It was also Giancarlo Fisichella's first chance to become acclimated to his new team. The three day test was a successful one for the team, with a total of 148 laps covered by Giancarlo Fisichella. It was Fisichella's first chance to drive for his new team and he seems to be settling in very quickly. "Giancarlo proved to be a real professional and adapted very quickly to his new environment," commented Jacky Eeckelaert, Sauber's Chief Race Engineer.

Monday's test focused on damper work and getting Fisichella familiar with the car. Despite some setup problems, and seat adjustment problems early in the day, more work was able to be carried out in the afternoon. Tuesday saw Sauber focusing on validating wind tunnel data, testing new brake material and doing tyre testing for Bridgestone. Wednesday's session started out wet, and provided a chance to get in some testing on intermediate tyres. The afternoon session saw a continuation of the dry weather tyre test and also allowed the team to test a new power steering unit for use in 2004.

Overall, it was a successful week for the team, and earned them praise from Bridgestone for their efforts. “We had a large tyre test programme to get through this week with Ferrari and Sauber and, thanks to their hard work, we managed to achieve most of it despite this morning's damp conditions," commented Bridgestone technical manager Hisao Suganuma. "This is only the first test of the winter period and I am encouraged by the amount and quality of the information we have come away with. There have been some interesting results this week relating to both development compounds and constructions and we are looking forward to utilising this data so we can move forward to the next stage of development.” During test sessions like these, the team will fit extra sensors on the car to provide more feedback to Bridgestone than they would be able to do during race weekends.

Fellow Bridgestone teams Ferrari and BAR were also present at Barcelona this week. Both teams faced some mechanical breakdowns throughout the week, while the Sauber ran without any troubles.

Another Bridgestone team, Jordan, did not participate in this week's testing, but will be in action at the Jerez circuit next week from the 3/12 to 5/12. It was announced today that 2003 Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld will be at the wheel of the EJ13 for the three day test. Heidfeld has still not landed a drive for next year, but looks to be headed towards a deal with Jordan.

"Nick is the main candidate to revitalise Jordan Grand Prix in 2004," said Eddie Jordan. "We believe that it is important for him to know the team as soon as possible. It will be a very important test because we have a lot of new elements to sample and it is crucial for us to test the new Bridgestone products."

There are still rumors as well that former Sauber driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen is another favorite to go to Jordan next year, but Jordan has not announced their new lineup yet.