BULLETIN No 1

FRIDAY 01/03/02 - FREE PRACTICE

WEATHER CONDITIONS: DAMP TRACK, DRYING OUT THEN SUNNY (TRACK 15-18�C /AIR 14-18�C)

2001 POLE POSITION: Michael SCHUMACHER (FERRARI), 1m 26.892s

2001 RACE FASTEST LAP: Michael SCHUMACHER (FERRARI), 1m 28.241s.

SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO (1^st M. Schumacher/2^nd R. Barrichello)

Technical: Three F2001s to broadly a similar specification as the car used by Schumacher at Suzuka last year. Powered by type 050 V10s updated with components from new type 051. Revised front wing evolution for this race.

Sporting: Routine first day for the team with no significant problems. Barrichello tried rain tyres in the wet while Schumacher only switched to intermediates. Barrichello also had harmless spin.

Quotes: Michael Schumacher: "We had a pretty good day with no problems. Every run was quicker, as we had expected."

BMW WILLIAMSF1 TEAM (R. Schumacher 3^rd/J. Montoya 4^th)

Technical: Three FW24-BMWs to the specification finalised at the final pre-season tests.

Sporting: Ralf Schumacher tried a few chassis set-up developments but perhaps not as many as he had hoped for due to the changing weather conditions. Montoya had too much oversteer in the first session, changed the aero set-up only to have too much understeer in the second session which caused him to lose time in the final sector. He also had slight braking problems.

Quotes: Ralf Schumacher: "Ferrari is still well ahead, but we hope to close the gap to them tomorrow."

SAUBER PETRONAS (Heidfeld 5^th/Massa 8^th)

Technical: Trio of Sauber C21s all ready to run after a spate of testing accidents caused a lot of work at the Hinwil team's headquarters.

Sporting: Heidfeld made a lot of progress on chassis set-up despite stopping on the circuit at one point when a warning light came on. Massa was quite happy with his F1 debut.

Quotes: Massa: "The car feels a bit critical in the wet but very easy to drive in the dry. I am aiming to qualify in the top ten."

PANASONIC TOYOTA RACING (Salo 6^th/McNish 16^th)

Technical: Trio of TF102s as tested prior to the start of the season.

Sporting: A promising first day acclimatising both drivers and cars to the circuit for their first race. Both drivers trying not to over-do things particularly when the circuit was slippery and wet.

Quotes: Salo: "Only Saturday counts. I don't think the car felt particularly nice here today and I think that we had to try with less fuel to make our mark as a new team."

WEST McLAREN MERCEDES (Raikkonen 7^th/Coulthard 11th)

Technical: Three MP4/17s as tested extensively prior to the start of the season.

Sporting: Coulthard lost time during the dry spell with a damaged wheel which caused the speed sensor to stop working. Much of his lapping done either in wet or with heavy fuel load, but happy with balance of car. Raikkonen working to prepare for tomorrow's qualifying.

Quotes: Ron Dennis: "We had a pretty satisfactory day, but in these changeable conditions one is always working towards the next session."

DHL JORDAN HONDA (Fisichella 9^th/T. Sato 13^th)

Technical: Three Jordan-Honda EJ-12s as exhaustively tested prior to the start of the season.

Sporting: Fisichella lost time after stopping out on the circuit with an engine replated problem while Takuma Sato enjoyed his F1 debut despite a slight problem with his steering column.

Quotes: Gary Anderson: "I think we can be relatively content with how things wet today. We managed to complete a fair amount of work with both drivers, though we need to look into what caused Giancarlo to come to a stop seven minutes before the end of the session."

MILD SEVEN RENAULT SPORT (Trulli 10^th/Button 15^th)

Technical: Trio of Renault R202s as tested prior to the season.

Sporting: Productive day's preparation at first race of the season with Trulli reporting good progress on improving the balance of the car during both sessions. Button also had no problems apart from the weather.

Quotes: Mike Gascyone: "Despite the weather we completed our race preparations without any problems."

LUCKY STRIKE BAR HONDA (Villeneuve 12^th/Panis 18^th)

Technical: Three BAR-Honda 004s to same specification as in pre-season testing.

Sporting: Two good sessions with long runs achieved by both drivers, each using both sets of allocated tyres. Panis lost time with brake fluid leak, but otherwise no problems.

Quotes: Villeneuve: "I am confident about our tyre choice for tomorrow and the car went quite well."

JAGUAR RACING (De La Rosa 14^th/Irvine 17^th)

Technical: Three R3s equipped to latest specification, including latest floor/diffuser which was tried on one car at final Valencia test.

Sporting: De La Rosa lost time with gearbox oil pump failure while Irvine reported good handling balance but poor grip levels.

Quotes: Niki Lauda: "We've still got a lot of work to do but we are absolutely determined to improve."

ORANGE ARROWS (Frentzen 19^th/Bernoldi 21^st)

Technical: Three A23s as completed for final test prior to start of season.

Sporting: No major problems apart from Bernoldi lost time with a broken gear after which Frentzen had to concentrate on full tank running in a bid to check out brake wear rates.

Quotes: Tom Walkinshaw: "Today's session went pretty much as we planned. The car felt good on a wet and intermediate set-up so I'm pleased about that."

KL MINARDI ASIATECH(Webber 20^th/Yoong 22^nd)

Technical: Asiatech V10 engined Minardi PS02 chassis making their first appearance.

Sporting: Alex Yoong lost time with an electrical sensor and spun off in the rain following an engine change. Mark Webber had a slight gearbox problem and a spin.

Quotes: Webber: "I'm really delighted to be here for my first race in front of my home crowd."