WilliamsF1 struggles in 1st Saturday practice

By Andrew Hooper
May 11 2002

   
Austrian GP Saturday 1st Practice
 
If the BMW WilliamsF1 team is going to challenge Ferrari in Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix they will have to quickly determine what is causing their cars to be so slow. Even with the known problems with the FW24 and its lack of front end grip, as seen by the WilliamsF1 teams introduction of a new curved front wing, the gap to the times been set by those cars at the top of the time sheets is over two seconds.

After the first Saturday practice the BMW WilliamsF1 pair of Montoya and Ralf Schumacher could only manage twelfth and seventeenth fastest times, with Juan Pablo the faster of the two. Based on these times the WilliamsF1 team has a lot of work to do but making judgements without knowing the configuration that the cars were running under.

Once again it would be Ferrari's Michael Schumacher who would show his domination by setting a time of showed that he would be the one to beat with a scorching 1m:09.001 in the forty five minute stint.

Team-mate Rubens Barrichello finished second, sixth tenths slower but the only other man to finish in the one minute nine time bracket. Ferrari, it is clear, is already stamping its authority.

McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen continued to show that he was making improvements with his car by setting the third fastest time. Arrows’ Heinz-Harald Frentzen also showed that his form in the last race in Spain was no fluke came home in fourth, followed by Sauber’s Felipe Massa, and David Coulthard.

Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld was seventh fastest, ahead of BAR’s Olivier Panis, Jenson Button, and Enrique Bernoldi. The Jordan driver Giancarlo Fisichella was tenth. His team-mate Sato was three places further back in thirteenth.
Driver Team (Tyres) Time Gap Laps

01. M Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:09.001 24
02. R Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:09.607 0.606 15
03. K Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:10.593 1.592 11
04. Heinz H. Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth (B) 1:10.764 1.763 14
05. F Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:10.765 1.764 11
06. D Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:10.795 1.794 11
07. N Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:10.818 1.817 14
08. O Panis BAR-Honda (B) 1:10.830 1.829 24
09. J Button Renault (M) 1:10.872 1.871 13
10. E Bernoldi Arrows-Cosworth (B) 1:10.942 1.941 14
11. G Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) 1:11.248 2.247 17
12. JP Montoya BMW.WilliamsF1 (M) 1:11.250 2.249 19
13. T Sato Jordan-Honda (B) 1:11.355 2.354 16
14. J Trulli Renault (M) 1:11.401 2.400 13
15. M Salo Toyota (M) 1:11.422 2.421 14
16. A McNish Toyota (M) 1:11.430 2.429 14
17. R Schumacher BMW.WilliamsF1 (M) 1:11.663 2.662 20
18. J Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 1:11.795 2.794 17
19. E Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:11.879 2.878 15
20. P de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:12.274 3.273 13
21. M Webber Minardi-Asiatech (M) 1:13.744 4.743 17
22. A Yoong Minardi-Asiatech (M) 1:13.955 4.954 19
 
 
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