This week's Grapevine brings you information fresh from the paddock on: All Change at BAR The Toyota Concept

All Change at BAR

Practically since BAR launched, there has been a power struggle at the top, with numerous attempts - normally by Adrian Reynard - to wrest control of the team from Craig Pollock. Having beaten off each coup attempt, Pollock made it clear that his position in charge was guaranteed by the very structure of the company's charter. So, all told, Pollock's departure in favour of David Richards has come as a genuine surprise to most of the team, as well as rivals.

However, it does make a lot of sense.

The last season has not been a good one for BAR. Being outqualified by a Minardi, especially without the excuse of a drying track, is never a positive indicator of progress, and this season saw just that, when Jacques Villeneuve lined up behind Alonso at Indy. Scoring fewer points - even if they did include two podiums - to finish further away from the front in the Championship has also been a source of pain to the team, and their sponsors.

With rumours that Honda were expected to decide between Jordan and BAR before the end of next year, it was clear that something had to be done as soon as possible to stem the tide. Approaches to Honda with plans to extend the deal proved futile, without a commitment to show that the problems in the team were being resolved. As the team was at a clear disadvantage to Jordan, who at least qualified well last year, even if the race results did not come, left BAR with little option except to pursue change.

Since September, and the abysmal demonstration BAR put in at Indy, there has been a lot of time spent working late at Brackley to establish precisely what was going wrong, and discover why the team was not making the progress they looked for. The results were surprisingly obvious.

BAR has a solid design team. They believe themselves capable of delivering a winning package; mistakes have been made, but that's all part of the learning curve as the team evolves year on year. The important thing, technically, is being able to identify the mistakes and design them out of the next car; this is happening.

On another tack, the engineering has been, by Formula One standards, pretty average. Nine non-finishes due to technical problems from thirty four entries is a failure rate of around one in four; which is around expectations for a mid ranked team. However, the performance consistency of individual components is not up to scratch at all. This has had the result that different chassis can have considerably different characteristics, and often react unpredictably to setup changes. This is a recognised issue, which has already resulted in tolerances being tightened and changes being made to testing procedures.

The drivers, whilst not always beyond reproach, are recognised as the best available for the team at this time. Villeneuve is a proven talent, whilst Olivier Panis has both shown pace, and brought solid testing experience to the team. The crews have generally operated well at race weekends, and kept working well together when things have been going badly.

One of the most important factors, however, has been the constant atmosphere of conflict coming from above, which has been an unsettling influence in all departments. The constant rumours of conflict over who should run the company, and how, has, at times, distracted almost every member of the team, impacting their performance.

Even though it's too late for Richards to make an immediate impact on the BAR004, he will be able to bring his talents to bear over the next six to nine months. Through the course of 2002, he is expected to smooth the management structure at BAR, and bring in new procedures to help move quality control forward. Before the 2003 car is beyond concept stage, the team will be able to demonstrate exactly what's being done to move forward. Just his appointment was sufficient to convince Honda of the developing potential of the team.

David Richards is someone who knows how to manage: what's more, he already has a pretty good idea of what it takes to make a Formula One team tick. Appointing him is a clear indication that BAR are prepared to do whatever is necessary to move through the field.

The Toyota Concept

The other team to launch this week is Toyota, who is looking certain to confound their critics by, at least, bringing a car to the grid that looks like it belongs there.

Gustav Brunner has been helping Toyota tell the world about the 2002 challenger. Nominally, the concept is being sold as "keep it simple," working on the basis that racing miles is the most important thing a new team can work on. And of course, even with a year of testing behind them, that is the case. Accordingly, expectations for the season have been set fairly low: a year of playing nicely with the big boys, not rocking the boat, whilst watching how everyone else does it.

Of course, a self depreciating public image is precisely what a prudent newcomer to the series needs - there's no point in following BAR's footsteps, alienating the paddock, and making a spectacle. Indeed, by playing things down now, any results which come are going to carry all the greater impact.

Getting those results to come has not been left entirely to chance, either, though. The new car, whilst kept relatively simple, is not expected to be a slouch. The simplicity has allowed Brunner to keep a realistic target for reliability: he will be unhappy if there are more than ten mechanical failures in races, and is aiming for a finishing record of better than 80 percent.

The engine is a looking like a good one - not quite up with the front runners, but expected to be at 840 bhp for the start of the season, which is very respectable. The aerodynamics have been completely revised: Brunner's design offering a staggering 20 percent less drag than last year's test chassis. With the weight redistributed and a revised suspension geometry to improve balance, turn-in should be far sharper, and the speed carried through corners raised.

As much to the point, Brunner believes that this year's car is not only arguably better than the Minardi he penned last year, it has the funding and development potential to move forward strongly as the year progresses, which is where the other benefit of simple design kicks in.

Over the season, the team will have good races, and bad races. The simpler the car, the easier it will be to pinpoint the problems, and resolve them for future events.

In fairness, expectations in Toyota are uncertain: they really do not know how the new car will stack up against the rest of the grid next year. On the other hand, what they are sure of, thanks, in no small part, to the pen of Brunner, is that the car will not look out of place at all.