FERRARI FLOODS MUGELLO

Ferrari has been running since Tuesday at Fiorano with its regular driver.
Goodyear also brought a considerable number of new tyres but they also
tried different mechanical components and made several simulated starts.

The weather was warm and sunny on Tuesday when Michael Schumacher did 105
laps (fastest 1m 27.586s) while Eddie Irvine attempted a long run but had
to abandon it with transmission problems after 20 laps. He was also using
different seats in an attempt to cure his back problem.

It was colder on Wednesday morning and Irvine successfully completed his
race simulation with two runs of 26 laps. In doing so, he achieved the
quickest lap of the whole test session on 1m 26.270s. Meanwhile Schumacher
did 47 laps in the morning and in the afternoon the track was flooded by
700,000 litres of water from 25 road tankers for Schumacher to test rain
tyres. He did 44 laps (fastest 1m 39.112s).

On Thursday the start of the test was delayed by fog. Irvine's car by this
time had been converted to long wheelbase trim and he did 46 laps for a
best of 1m 28.291s while Schumacher covered 35 laps with a quickest of 1m
27.685s. Ferrari's final tests will take place over three days next week
starting next Tuesday, either at Fiorano or Mugello. It will then be
decided whether the cars to be shipped to Suzuka will be long or short
chassis specification.


McLAREN AT BARCELONA

The McLaren-Mercedes team began a test programme at Barcelona's Circuit de
Catalunya on Wednesday with two MP4/13s on hand for Mika Hakkinen and David
Coulthard while preparations continued back at the factory to ready the
race chassis for Japan. Hakkinen finished the day fastest on 1m 21.21s with
Coulthard 0.4s slower. Mika suffered an engine problem at one point during
the day and both cars were also plagued by slight misfiring problems.

On Thursday Coulthard did 132 laps for a best of 1m 20.17s while Hakkinen
covered 109 laps for a quickest of 1m 21.20s. Both drivers worked through
an extensive Bridgestone tyre development programme for Suzuka and are now
close to selecting their final choices for the last race of the season.

The team plans to be at Silverstone next Monday with both drivers to shake
down the Suzuka race cars and may stay on into Tuesday if this is judged
necessary.


WILLIAMS HAVE PRIVATE TEST AT MAGNY-COURS

The Williams team had a three day private test at Magny-Cours this week
working on set-up and tyre development in preparation for the final race at
Magny-Cours. Although no times were issued a Williams insider commented;
"we are throwing everything at it to finish third in the Constructors'
Championship ahead of Benetton and Jordan." Heinz-Harald Frentzen
drove the FW20 on Monday and up to Tuesday lunchtime after which Juan Pablo
Montoya continued through to the end of Wednesday. The team will be at
Silverstone next week for final pre-Suzuka shakedown work with Max Wilson
provisionally scheduled to drive on Monday and Jacques Villeneuve on
Tuesday.


TWO JORDANS AT SILVERSTONE The Jordan Mugen-Honda team completed its first
day of testing at Silverstone on Wednesday with Ralf Schumacher and Pedro
de la Rosa doing the driving. Schumacher completed 60 laps setting a
fastest time of 1m 25.95s and the team concentrated on the general set-up
of the car in preparation for the final race of the season in Japan. Work
particularly concentrated on tyres, brakes and aerodynmics. De la Rosa did
not complete a flying lap as he worked only on data analysis.

On Thursday Schumacher completed 72 laps, setting a fastest time of 1m
26.05s while de la Rosa did 48 laps for a best of 1m 25.40s which proved to
be quickest of the day. The test team concentrated its efforts on
maximising car settings, tyres and aerodynamics with both drivers. The team
will return to Silverstone on 19/20 October for testing with Damon Hill.


BENETTON AT BARCELONA

The Benetton-Playlife team began testing at Barcelona on Wednesday where
Giancarlo Fisichella and Alexander Wurz concentrated on set-up and tyre
test work in preparation for Suzuka. Fisichella completed 66 laps for a
best time of 1m 23.416s while Wurz virtually equalled the time on 1m
23.418s after 41 laps.

On Thursday the team continued aerodynamic work and tyre testing.
Fisichella did 67 laps for 1m 22.567s and Wurz 36 laps for 1m 22.686s.


ARROWS TEST NEW ENGINE FOR SUZUKA

Hopes that the Arrows team could use its spec-D engine in a Grand Prix for
the first time at Suzuka have improved after Pedro Diniz completed 80
trouble-free laps at Silverstone on Wednesday where he clocked a best time
of 1m 28.28s, second fastest of the day behind Ralf Schumacher.

Diniz did three runs of 20 laps and the team registered no problems during
these runs. Mika Salo, running a C-spec engine was on a different programme
and suffered an early morning gearbox seizure while the track was still
wet.

Later the Finn completed 49 laps to evaluate new aerodynamic modifications,
having set his best time of 1m 28.40s. On Thursday both drivers used the
C-spec engines, Salon clocking 1m 27.03s while carrying out brake mapping
and evaluating dampers in addition to set-up work for Suzuka. Diniz, who
also used the latest aerodynamic package and a new front wing, completed 76
laps for a best of 1m 29.83s testing new brake and clutch material. The
Brazilian is expected to fly to Brazil this weekend to make his official
announcement concerning his transfer to Sauber next year. Arrows test
driver Steve Watson will shakedown the three cars to be sent to Japan next
Tuesday at Silverstone.


STEWART AT SILVERSTONE

Stewart Grand Prix have been testing at Silverstone this week with Jos
Verstappen and Luciano Burti sharing the work. On Tuesday the Brazilian
completed 36 laps to continue developments of electronic systems for the
forthcoming SF3 and managed 1m 29.83s. On the same day Verstappen did 38
laps with a best of 1m 31.43s running a heavy fuel load. On Thursday the
Dutchman carried out more reliability tests on Ford's Series 6 V10,
completing 40 trouble-free laps for a best of 1m 27.02s. Rubens Barrichello
is expected to shakedown the three cars for Suzuka at Silverstone on 19/20
October. The Stewart-Ford team, in conjunction with Lear, has developed an
extractable set which will be launched on the eve of the Japanese GP.


BAR CONTINUES WITH DEVELOPMENT CAR

Jean-Christophe Boullion resumed testing with the interim Tyrrell/BAR test
car on Tuesday at Silverstone in order to be close to the team's base at
Brackley. He suffered a brake problem on Tuesday and then slid into a
gravel trap on Thursday due to an hydraulic pressure failure, but the team
is still happy with the results of the test. They will resume again on
Monday at Silverstone where Boullion expects to use a higher-revving
Mecachrome engine.


PROST TRIES COMPARISONS

The Prost-Peugeot team has been running since Wednesday at Barcelona where
it made a back-to-back test between the interim AP01B, fitted with the new
A18 engine, and the current AP01. The former proved to be quicker on
Wednesday when Jarno Trulli drove and again on Thursday when tried by both
the Italian and Olivier Panis. However the Evo4 engine in the AP01 had to
be replaced by an Evo2 because of a failure.

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