Ferrari
Michael Schumacher spent four days in Silverstone for pre-race testing before next weekend's British Grand Prix, the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver concentrating on chassis set-up and a race simulation with the latest 048B engine which he qualified with in Magny Cours. He was the only Ferrari driver to run on Tuesday which was spoiled by wet conditions for most of the day, setting the fastest time in the wet. His race simulation was stopped after 54 laps by the chequered flag after setting the fastest time of the day at 1:26.956.
On Wednesday, with dry but cloudy conditions, Schumacher was joined by Irvine who did 61 laps and his best time of the week at 1:27.189. Schumacher continued with the older heavier engine and completed 53 laps, his 048B engine being rushed back to Italy by air for inspection.
On Thursday Schumacher tried new bodywork and concentrated on aerodynamic testing, Irvine running another race simulation with the other 048B engine from Magny Cours to complete 60 laps with no problem. The team concluded the test on Friday with Schumacher setting his best time of the week in a qualifying run of 1:26.443 secs after running 64 laps, third fastest overall for the week. Irvine ran 25 laps in the morning, but only four in the afternoon. His best time on Wednesday put him sixth fastest for the week.
McLaren
The McLaren team continued to test the longer wheelbase version of their car, but the team were reluctant to disclose any details. Hakkinen set his best time of the week and the best time of the test on Wednesday with a 1:25.883, the team not saying which car he set his time in. The following day David Coulthard set his best time for the week with a 1:26.546 secs, fourth fastest time of the test.
On the prospect of rain in the race as we had last year, Hakkinen was not so worried. "I would prefer a dry, but I am not too worried if it's wet because the car is almost as easy to drive on wet tyres and the set-up does not need changing much," commented Hakkinen.
Jordan
The Jordan team took advantage of having their factory at the front gate of the Silverstone circuit to run three cars throughout the four day test. Jos Verstappen and test driver Shinji Nakano started off the test on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nakano quickest the first day in the mixed conditions with Verstappen quickest the second day after Nakano stopped for a routine engine change in the afternoon.
Verstappen is hoping to drive the Jordan following the announcement by the team that Damon Hill has decided to retire prematurely after the British GP and not at the end of the season as originally announced.
The team were testing a new lighter gearbox and revised rear aerodynamics on one car which proved to work well. Heinz Harald Frentzen drove the car on Thursday and Hill on Friday. Frentzen was due to run two days, but stopped on Thursday evening because of more pain in his injured right knee following his Canadian GP crash. "I had a good run in the new car which seems to be a positive step forward. Damon was due to test the car on Friday and I didn't want to risk aggravating my knee injury before the race, so I thought it wiser to stop and rest up another full week," said Frentzen. His best lap of 1:27.623 secs set on old tyres and a heavy fuel load put him back in 11th spot in the overall standings for the week.
Hill set was to be fifth fastest time of the week with the revised car and was delighted with it. "It felt fantastic," he commented, "I am very happy with the set-up of the car, in fact the happiest I have been all year. I have had a difficult time with the car this season and poor results. I don't want that to continue, but as we stand at the moment the British GP will be my last race,"added Hill.
Nakano remained in the third car for the full four days, his best time of 1:28.504 secs on Wednesday putting him in 19th spot.
Williams
The Williams team only ran the last three days of the test, Ralf Schumacher setting his best time of test on Wednesday while working on tyre assessment and chassis set-up for the upcoming race. After running 41 laps his best time was 1:27.805. Williams' test driver Max Wilson also had a brief run in the car setting a best of 1:29.235 on Thursday, while Alex Zanardi did not better 1:28.879 for the week.
The team were also trying some new aerodynamic mods destined to be raced in Austria, but they were not saying a lot about their performance. Ralf Schumacher admitted that he would like rain for the race in Silverstone. "It's a bit like Barcelona here, a power circuit where we will struggle. We would be better off if it rains," he said.
Benetton
The Benetton team ran all four days with their usual drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Alexander Wurz, the team not running their front torque transfer system during the test as it is currently undergoing more development according to engineer Tim Wright. The team worked on tyre assessment and chassis set-up throughout the three days, Fisichella recording a disappointing best of 1:27.985 on Wednesday while Wurz's best was a 1:27.782 the same day.
Stewart
As expected the Stewart-Ford was going well in Silverstone, Rubens Barrichello setting the second fastest time of the teat on Thursday with a 1:26.304 secs during 65 laps of running. "It's nice to have improved the car for the mid-point of the season," said Barrichello. "We have improved a lot on braking and traction and we have also managed to get the car going consistently quicker in race trim as compared with the early past of the season," he pointed out.
Johnny Herbert had a lot of technical problems including an oil leak and hydraulic failure on Thursday completing only 45 laps. He had a better time on Friday, which was delayed in the morning by oil on the track, and set his best lap of 1:27.289 for the fourth fastest time of the day and seventh overall.
Prost
The Prost team ran all four days of the test with Jarno Trulli and Olivier Panis, each of the drivers taking a day off when test driver Stefan Sarrazin took over from Trulli on Thursday and Panis on Friday. Panis and Trulli spent the first two days evaluating tyre and chassis set-ups for the race, each driver having no problems and a routine engine change. On Wednesday Sarrazin evaluated a new lateral exhaust system as well as other future developments on the Prost AP02. He set a best of 1:30.569 secs the first day and improved to 1:29.90 on Friday.
Trulli set his best time of the test on Friday with a 1:27.47 secs, just a fraction faster than Panis' best the previous day of 1:27.65.
Sauber
The Sauber team had its first visit to Silverstone this year and concentrated on finding a good set-up for the race as well as the right tyre combination. Jean Alesi ran their single car on the first two days with a best of 1:27.77 the second day. Pedro Diniz ran the final two days with a best of 1:28.34 on Friday.
Arrows
Both Pedro de la Rosa and Tora Takagi were testing at Silverstone this week, de la Rosa opening the test on Tuesday with an engine mapping and wet set-up work during which time he completed 39 laps. On Wednesday Takagi also drove to test engine modifications, but came to a halt after 17 laps when the engine died after a best time of 1:29.759, de la Rosa setting a best of 1:27.457 on the following day, his best time for the week although he only ran 19 laps in the morning. Takagi got down to a 1:29.26 while testing revised aerodynamics on Thursday and did not better that on the final day when de la Rosa and he carried out race testing sharing the same car for the day.
BAR
After a strong first day of three day's testing for BAR, Jacques Villeneuve set his best time of the week with a 1:27.403. "The first day was the best. We did some good work and my speed was good. The last two days we had a few problems, mainly clutch related and I did not run as much as i had hoped. Even so, the car is definitely better than it was in France and I am reasonably optimistic for the race," said Jacques.
Ricardo Zonta was happy with his set-up work during the test although he did not run as much as he had hoped either because of pit stop practice and some engine problems on Thursday before which he set his best time of 1:29.031 secs.
Minardi
Minardi had two cars running for three days at Silverstone, Luca Badoer running the first two days and Marc Gene the last two. Gene set his best time of the week on Thursday with a 1:29.2 secs, the same time as Badoer had set the previous day. Gene was supposed to try a modified version of the Ford Zetec R10 engine on Friday, but only ran 13 laps all day with a best time of 1:31.36.
Silverstone Testing, June 29th-July 2nd; Best Times
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.883 (Wednesday)
2. Barrichello Stewart-Ford 1:26.304 (Thursday)
3. M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:26.443 (Friday)
4. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.546 (Thursday)
5. Hill Jordan-Mugen Honda 1:26.965 (Friday)
6. Irvine Ferrari 1:27.189 (Wednesday)
7. Herbert Stewart-Ford 1:27.289 (Friday)
8. Villeneuve BAR-Supertec 1:27.403 (Wednesday)
9. de la Rosa Arrows TWR 1:27.457 (Thursday)
10. Trulli Prost-Peugeot 1:27.474 (Friday)
11. Frentzen Jordan-Mugen Honda 1:27.623 (Thursday)
12. Panis Prost-Peugeot 1:27.646 (Thursday)
13. Alesi Sauber-Petronas 1:27.773 (Thursday)
14. Wurz Benetton-Playlife 1:27.782 (Wednesday)
15. R. Schumacher Williams-Supertec 1:27.805 (Wednesday)
16. Fisichella Benetton-Playlife 1:27.985 (Wednesday)
17. Verstappen Jordan-Mugen Honda 1:28.280 (Wednesday)
18. Diniz Sauber-Petronas 1:28.344 (Friday)
19. Nakano Jordan-Mugen Honda 1:28.504 (Wednesday)
20. Zanardi Williams-Supertec 1:28.879 (Tursday)
21. Zonta BAR-Supertec 1:29.031 (Thursday)
22. Badoer Minardi-Ford 1:29.220 (Wednesday)
23. Wilson Williams-Supertec 1:29.235 (Thursday)
24. Gene Minardi-Ford 1:29.271 (Thursday)
25. Takagi Arrows-TWR 1:29.264 (Thursday)
26. Sarazzin Prost-Peugeot 1:29.901 (Friday)