BULLETIN No 3
WEATHER CONDITIONS: VERY HOT AND SUNNY
(TRACK 25-30C/AIR 28-30C)
2001 POLE POSITION: Michael SCHUMACHER
(FERRARI), 1m13.780s
2001 RACE FASTEST LAP: Ralf SCHUMAHER
(WILLIAMS), 1m15.693s.
Another torrid morning at Interlagos
with Michael Schumacher just setting fastest time in his Bridgestone-shod Ferrari in a
session red flagged after a bizarre accident after Enrique Bernoldi crashed his Arrows and
Nick Heidfeld's Sauber hit the medical car in avoidance.
SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO (1st
M. Schumacher/6th Barrichello)
Technical: No changes to the cars for
today.
Sporting: Schumacher tries both race
car and spare F2001 on intermediate rubber before switching back to F2002 on dry tyres.
Reports no problems and very satisfied with the feel of the car, satisfied that the old
car was 1sec a lap slower. Barrichello reported his car feeling not too bad, but still
needs to make some little chassis adjustments.
Quotes: Schumacher: "The race will be
very hard indeed in these conditions."
JAGUAR RACING (2nd de la
Rosa/15 th
Technical: No changes to the cars for
today.
Sporting: Concentrated on honing the
race set-up and made some small improvements to the damping which improved grip on the
slower corners.
Quotes: Niki Lauda: "I am hoping we can
score some championship points assuming we get through the first corner without any
problems."
WEST McLAREN MERCEDES (3rd
Raikkonen/7th Coulthard)
Technical: No changes to the cars for
today.
Sporting: Coulthard ran spare MP4/17
just for one lap but otherwise both he and Raikkonen concentrated on polishing race
set-up. Cars both good on full tanks.
Quotes: Ron Dennis: "I feel we could be
very competitive over a race distance here this afternoon."
BMW WILLIAMSF1 TEAM (4th R.
Schumacher/5th Montoya)
Technical: No changes to the cars for
today.
Sporting: Both drivers limited
mileage on their engines, Schumacher covering just five laps while Montoya managed four in
his race car and eight in the spare FW24 which was briefly delayed by a fuel leak.
Quotes: Schumacher: "The car felt very
almost perfect apart from slight nervousness under hard braking."
ORANGE ARROWS (8th
Frentzen/10th Bernoldi)
Technical: No changes to the cars for today.
Sporting: Frentzen pretty satisfied
with the feel of his A23, but Bernoldi crashed exiting the first corner, possibly due to a
problem. As he climbed from the car the medical car pulled to a halt just in front of him,
Heidfeld's Sauber squeezed past the Arrows to the left, hitting the guard rail and the
opening drivers' door on the medical car.
Quotes: Bernoldi: ""Heidfeld went
down the inside of me and hit the medical car. At that point it was dangerous as U was
just getting out of my car."
PANASONIC
Technical: No changes to the cars for
today.
Sporting: Salo's race car developed
an electronic problem with its traction control and the Finn had to take over the spare
car. McNish had some problems with the chassis set-up
Quotes: McNish: "This race is going to be
very hard indeed on cars and drivers."
MILD SEVEN RENAULT F1 TEAM (11th
Button/17th Trulli)
Technical: No changes to the cars for
today.
Sporting: Both drivers had
trouble-free sessions and both were very happy with the set-up of the cars.
Quotes: Trulli: "I am very optimistic
about the race and we have adjusted the set-up of the cars to that which we used on
Friday."
SAUBER PETRONAS(12th
Technical: No changes to the cars for
today.
Sporting:
Quotes: Heidfeld: "I was slightly
unsighted by a Ferrari going through the first corner just as the session was red flagged
due to the accident. I braked hard, but the car started to slide and the only way I could
pass the Arrows was on the left."
LUCKY STRIKE BAR HONDA (14th
Panis/16th Villeneuve)
Technical: No changes to the cars for
today.
Sporting: Both drivers working on
race set-up and scrubbing tyres for a race which both are expecting to be extremely
gruelling.
Quotes: Panis: "It is very difficult to
decide the best race strategy for the race."
DHL
Technical: No changes to the cars for today.
Sporting: Team tried Fisichella on a
full fuel load to assess the possibility of running a one stop strategy for the race. Sato
suffered an oil leak from the differential.
Quotes: Fisichella: "It will be hard work
for us from our starting positions so far back."
KL MINARDI ASIATECH (20th
Yoong/21st Webber)
Technical: No changes to the cars for
today.
Sporting: Both drivers still trying
to work out their best fuel strategy for the race. Yoong had a quick spin.
Quotes: Yoong: "We had a trouble-free
time and my spin was quite harmless."