British GP 1998 - Preview, Comments

Drivers

Rubens Barrichello

"We learned quite a bit from the test. I would have liked to finish
higher up the time sheet, but I guess we now know we will have to work
harder to make the top 10 in qualifying. Because it's not easy to overtake
here, qualifying is very important. The car is working well in the fast
corners but we are losing time through the slower sections like the
complex. Silverstone is an open race because it's tough on engines, brakes
and tyres. If we qualify well and get a good start, a finish in the points
is a possibility."


David Coulthard

"It is a reasonably high speed circuit because there are four points
at which we reach 170mph or more, with five corners fast enough for
aerodynamics to play a big role - Copse, Maggotts, Becketts, Chapel and
Bridge. A good chassis balance is crucial in those five fast corners and
you have to work hard everywhere to exploit the car."


Pedro Diniz

"Silverstone of course is our home track and I like the circuit very
much. We need a good set-up to be competitive, but hopefully the use of our
new spec engine will prove a positive step into the future."


Mika Hakkinen

"I enjoy the Silverstone circuit. It provides an interesting challenge
which seems to suit both the McLaren and my driving style. We have
completed a considerable amount of testing here last week, so naturally we
are hoping that this will pay off over the Grand Prix weekend."


Eddie Irvine

"This track has changed a lot over the years but it is still very
quick and very demanding physically. I think several teams will be
competitive here and I hope to be up near the front. This is not really my
home race, as I have not driven so much here. However, a lot of fans come
over from both the North and South of Ireland and it will be good to have
their support. To be honest, this track has always been a disaster for me,
even back in F3000. If things go wrong this year, when our car is so good,
then it will mean this is my unlucky circuit!"


Olivier Panis

"Last week we worked a great deal here at Silverstone, managing to
improve the car since the French Grand Prix. This is a difficult track for
tyres and car reliability, since it is a fast circuit. The right tyre
choice is essential."


Mika Salo

"Silverstone is the fastest of all the Championship circuits. I have
been driving this track for ten years now and this one has the best layout
so far. Our test with the new C-spec engine was encouraging and I view it
as a big improvement for the team and its chances to be competitive at next
weekend's race."


Michael Schumacher

"I love the challenge of the high-speed corners like Copse, Beckett
and Stowe. We had a quite satisfying test in Silverstone last week, so I
hope we can do well here again. The atmosphere in the race weekend is
unique. The fans are just great. It is pity that the weather is often cold
and wet. Despite the weather England's countryside is just too
beautiful."


Jarno Trulli

"I love the Silverstone circuit because it's very technical and quick.
It is very challenging and its long corners suit my style fo driving. I am
satisfied with the changes the team made during last week's test and the
set-up I found. The atmosphere is great at Silverstone, because England has
a strong motorsport culture and the Grand Prix attracts huge crowds of
enthusiastic fans."


Jos Verstappen

"Obviously the more I drive the car, the more comfortable I feel with
it. I got through quite a lot of work during the test despite not having a
long run. The race is important for the English based teams and it's a
Grand Prix Ialways look forward to because it's a nice circuit. The feeling
in the team is good and if we qualify well, anything can happen in the
race."


Teams

Benetton

Pat Symonds, Technical Director
"Silverstone is one of our home Grand Prix, being Benetton we have
more than one, but it is not the circuit we do most of our testing on.
These days we tend to test more in Europe so it is not a foregone
conclusion that we will do well in Britain. Having said that, the testing
we are doing this week has been very productive and I am happy with the way
the car is running after the disappointment of Magny Cours. Our only real
problem this week has been with the weather as the temperature has been
abnormally low for this time of year. There is still a week until the Grand
Prix and the weather can get a good deal hotter, which will negate some of
our tyre testing."

"There are a few small modifications to the car in terms of
aerodynamics and suspension and minor evolution in the engine."

"Silverstone is a very different type of circuit to Magny Cours. It is
one of the classic Grand Prix circuits with a good mixture of some very
fast corners which our car seems to like. There are also quite a lot of
bumps on the track which present us with fewer problems than some of the
other teams. It is a circuit that is quite hard on tyres, but the work we
have been doing with Bridgestone this week looks to be quite
productive."

"Overall I am hoping for a strong qualifying performance and a good
race, so we can put the disappointment of Magny Cours behind us."


Bridgestone

Hirohide Hamashima, Technical Director
"This has traditionally been a tough race for tyres, and it is always
a challenge to provide our teams with equipment which can perform
consistently well over many laps without degrading. Throughout the recent
tests at Silverstone a great deal of attention has been paid to individual
lap times. On a track surface as abrasive as this, however, the quality
which our drivers and teams will want to find from the 1832 tyres being
taken to this race is durability.

The considerable data which we have acquired here in testing suggests that
we can reasonably hope to offer our drivers tyres that will remain
competitive all the way through Sunday's race.

Mr. Hamashima points out that the three days of hard testing last week,
together with the work done on setups by all six Bridgestone teams,
contributed to the final choice of the two compounds which will be
available in practice.

In the process of evaluating new products for future races we also tested a
wider front tyre at Silverstone. This was a normal part of our basic test
programme, and we intend to continue the assessment in future.

Now we look forward to enjoying a closely contested GP here at the home of
British motor racing. We believe that we have the right compound to perform
just as well in race as in qualifying, and we are confident that we will
see good performances from our teams throughout the weekend."


Ferrari

Jean Todt, Sporting Director
"This race takes place in our main competitors' back yard. The
Silverstone circuit always holds a special fascination as it is one of the
historic tracks, for Formula One and motor sport in general. We have always
had difficult races here at Silverstone. Last year we missed out on a win
just a few laps from the end, because of a reliability problem which cost
us dear at the end of the Championship. At this time, having gone past the
halfway point of the season, every single race will be very important and
decisive. Our objective remains the same; to get the maximum number of
points possible."


McLaren

Ron Dennis, Team Chief
"Mika and David made good progress at the Silverstone Test last week.
The close lap times merely reflect some of the teams setting up of their
cars with fresh tyres and low fuel loads. Our principle competition is
still one red car."


Stewart

Paul Stewart, Managing Director
"Although our three-day test was not rewarding from the perspective of
tangible times, we made progress in terms of the direction we want to take
to continue the development of the chassis and engine package. Part of that
progress was the successful debut of the Ford Zetec Series Five engine.
Because Silverstone is our 'local circuit' there is a tendency to place a
heavier emphasis on this race than others on the calendar. We'll be
entertaining a far greater number of guests than usual and our drivers will
make no fewer than 25 scheduled hospitality appearances over the weekend.
Last year Silverstone was a disappointing race for us but I am confident
that we are in a much better position to make our mark this time
round."

Martin Whitaker, Ford European Director of Motorsport
"The Series Five version of the Ford Zetec-R V10 engine made its debut
at the Silverstone test last week and Rubens was impressed with its
improved top-end power and driveability. We will take two Series Five
engines to Silverstone for the race and a decision when they will be used
will be made later in the week. Always a notable event for Ford, the 1998
British Grand Prix is doubly significant with the UK public debut of the
Ford Cougar, which is a further demonstration of the links between
motorsport and Ford's market leading products."


Tyrrell

Dr Harvey Postlethwaite, Managing Director
"Whereas Magny Cours is a relatively tight circuit with a
preponderance of slow and medium speed corners, Silverstone is much more
wide open with a challenging mix of high and low-speed turns. It also
deserves full marks for having a smooth surface, which is capable of
generating high levels of grip. It's a place where a Formula One car really
can be unleashed."

"The layout has changed considerably over recent years, but whereas
modifications to other Grand Prix circuits have usually resulted in corners
being slowed, at Silverstone, to the credit of those responsible for the
track's configuration, a number of corners are now actually faster than
they used to be."

"There are several particularly quick sections of the circuit,
specifically: through Copse, the first corner after the pit straight, and
down the following straight; from Chapel down the Hangar straight; from
Vale down to Club, and through Bridge Corner before braking for Priory.
Many of the Formula One teams, including Tyrrell, test at Silverstone quite
frequently and have acquired a useful amount of data about the circuit. As
a result, they have a pretty clear idea about chassis and engine
set-up."

"You would tend to run quite high levels of downforce in order to
ensure a high exit speed onto the following straights. In that respect,
there is an important trade-off that has to be arrived at between cornering
speeds and straight-line performance."

"From Tyrrell's point of view, the British Grand Prix is our home
event, so we'd like to go well and put in a strong performance for the
fans. The cars will be in the same basic configuration they have been for
the last two races and, once again, will be fitted with P10 specification
Ford V10s. We've spent considerable time with Cosworth, and we're hopeful
we've got to the bottom of the spate of mechanical problems that have
blighted Tyrrell's performances recently."

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