By Ole Benny Østby
May 21 2002

In 2001 the OrangeArrows F1 team had prepared some radical new wings for their cars at Monaco. The wing was, as most of you probably remember, mounted on top of the nose cone. Sadly for Arrows the wing was banned almost immediately for safety reasons... ... and it was not used in either the qualifying hour or the race itself. But even if Arrows weren’t allowed to use the wings, they should be given credit for the originality of their design. Not since Tyrrell launched the X-wings in 1997 had F1 seen such a radical design. Another funny fact is that the Arrows 2001 car, the A22, was driven by Jos Verstappen the same man who drove the Tyrrell in 1997! Will the OrangeArrows F1 team bring something special out of the hat this year too ?

One of the reasons this author is expecting some new pieces on the car is the fact that Arrows tested at two places last week. Heinz-Harald tested at the Paul Ricard circuit while Enrique was testing at a secret location in the UK. Mike Coughlan, OrangeArrows’ Technical Director, said after the test, “You need a high downforce balance, which must always take into account the very low levels of grip in Monaco.”

“We also carried out some straight-line tests in the UK, which is crucial to see how the aerodynamic package works under various conditions. I think we have a better idea of how we measure up to some of the cars further up the tables now, so we want to continue to show the progress we are making.”

Could the team also have tested some new parts they didn’t want to show the opposition? It is quite possible because a lot of the teams have some special parts/winglets at the twisty Monaco circuit.