BULLETIN No 1

FRIDAY 26/04/02 - FREE PRACTICE

WEATHER CONDITIONS: BRIGHT AND SUNNY. TRACK 20-24�C/AIR 19-23�C

2001 POLE POSITION: Michael SCHUMACHER (FERRARI), 1min18.201sec.

2001 RACE FASTEST LAP: Michael SCHUMACHER (FERRARI)), 1min21.151sec.

Michael Schumacher dominated the first free practice session here at the Circuit de Catalunya after a trouble-free session in the Ferrari F2002. Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jenson Button were next up in Arrows A23 and Renault R202 respectively.

SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO (1^ST M. Schumacher/4^nd Barrichello)

Technical: Distinctive new design of bargeboard for this race.

Sporting: Both drivers had a positive day, each running three sets of tyres and carrying out their comparisons of the compound/constructions available.

Quotes: Schumacher: "It is a very close call between the two tyre topes, but we had a good day with no dramas."

ORANGE ARROWS (2^nd Frentzen/6^th Bernoldi)

Technical: New front wing and undertray available as tested successfully at Silverstone last week.

Sporting: Frentzen cautiously optimistic after recent test results. Made several changes to set-up which progressively improved the car. Bernoldi switched to Frentzen's set-up during the session.

Quotes: Frentzen: "I think we've now made some worthwhile progress which should be realised tomorrow."

MILD SEVEN BENETTON RENAULT F1 TEAM (3^rd Button/10^th Trulli)

Technical: No major changes to the cars for this race.

Sporting: Troubled slightly in the morning with understeer on the dirty track surface and made his best time on a new set of tyres. Trulli had slight problem with some engine-related systems in the first session than had balance problems before changes were made and the set-up was better in the afternoon.

Quotes: Button: "I feel quite happy but we still have more work to do."

LUCKY STRIKE BAR HONDA (5^th Panis/16^th Villeneuve)

Technical: No major changes to the cars for this race.

Sporting: Panis very happy indeed with the feel of his car and found the right set-up straight away. Villeneuve admitted that he did not feel comfortable with his BAR 004.

Quotes: Villeneuve: "Olivier is in better shape than me, so I will have to take a look at his data."

WEST McLAREN MERCEDES (7^th Raikkonen/12^th Coulthard)

Technical: No major changes to the cars for this race.

Sporting: Coulthard struggled to find a decent balance while Raikkonen felt a little more confident with the feel of his car. The team had a productive test at Mugello last week.

Quotes: Raikkonen: "It was difficult to set up the car at the start of the session, but we made a big improvement in the afternoon."

DHL JORDAN HONDA (8^th Fisichella/14^th Sato)

Technical: No major changes to the cars for today.

Sporting: Fisichella experienced problems with grip and concentrated in working on set-up, but he felt that a top ten grid position is a reasonable possibility. Sato was stopped early in the first session due to an electrical connection to an engine sensor becoming disconnected.

Quotes: Sato: "I lost the whole morning session and this afternoon had problems with the handling balance."

SAUBER PETRONAS (9^th Massa/13^th Heidfeld)

Technical: New rear wing fitted to the car for this weekend.

Sporting: Neither driver totally happy with chassis set-up. Heidfeld lost time while a broken radiator was replaced. Massa said he was pretty happy with the feel of his car and set a good time early on before the track temperatures went up.

Quotes: Heidfeld: "It's been frustrating losing that track time, but at least we are moving in the right direction on set-up."

JAGUAR RACING (11^th Irvine/19^th de la Rosa)

Technical: No changes to car specification for this race.

Sporting: Both drivers plagued by consistent lack of grip, a continuing problem stemming from the cars' lack of aero dowforce. Irvine lost time with an hydraulic problem late in the session. De la Rosa also confirmed that the handling was very poor and reckoned there was a cross-weighting problem on his chassis.

Quotes: Niki Lauda: "It was exactly as we expected. Until the new aero pacjage arrives we will face a tough few races."

BMW WILLIAMSF1 TEAM (15^th R. Schumacher/17^th Montoya)

Technical: No major changes to car specification for this race.

Sporting: Neither driver particularly happy with the set-up and handling and both agreed that they had a lot of work to do tomorrow. Ralf Schumacher in particular fighting to work out a decent balance.

Quotes: Gerhard Berger: "This was a typical Friday practice where it is rather difficult to say under which conditions everybody has been running. We are not happy even though we knew this track would not suit out car."

PANASONIC TOYORA RACING (18^th Salo/21^st McNish)

Technical: Minor rear wing changes for this race.

Sporting: Salo had a problem with the power steering during the morning and later suffered an oil leak which called for a new gearbox and rear suspension to be fitted, a task which took ten minutes. McNish made steady progress despite a minor pit lane collision with Bernoldi.

Quotes: McNish: "We had a good test of springs and shock absorbers at Mugello last week and are hoping to benefit here."

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

Technical: No major changes for this race.

Sporting: Yoong had two spins and spent time assessing the revised power steering system.

Quotes: Webber: "Within the terms of our potential I think we made good progress."