Ferrari was a class act in 2001, a season in which they had two strong drivers, more than adequate reliability and just enough speed. But it was also a season of tyres. Karl Ludvigsen reviews the events of the campaign that just went by

Not long after September 11th Dan Rather, anchorman of America's CBS Evening News, defended his outfit as being a "class organization." CBS News, he said, wouldn't be stopped in its tracks by anthrax spores or threats. That wasn't the style of a class operation, said Rather. CBS would press ahead and call them as it saw them, terrorists be damned.

On the following weekend at Monza, Ferrari was given the same accolade, and by a well-informed rival. "Ferrari are a class act," said Patrick Head of Williams. "They're the class team at the moment." In Formula One my definition of a "class team" is one that is able to look forward, not backward. Of course they're aware of what their rivals are doing, but their position is so strong that their main focus is on what they need to do to get even better, to go faster and to strategize more shrewdly. That was certainly Ferrari in 2001, a season in which they had two strong drivers, more than adequate reliability and just enough speed.

Apart from the Ferrari story, 2001 was a season of tyres. It was big news that Michelin was back and the impact of the new competition showed immediately in plummeting lap times. In one sense, I suppose, it was most remarkable that the results achieved by the two tyre makers were not all that different. Racing-tyre know-how is obviously at a high and consistent level no matter where you are in the world. Of course, those who banked on Michelin were doing so with an eye to the future, not on the 2001 results. That made it all the more peculiar that Jaguar chose the Michelin route. Of all the teams that didn't need a big variable to cope with in 2001, Jaguar must rank near the top.

The performances of the teams in both practice and the races showed clearly how important tyre technology has become, now that aerodynamics have been legislated into a very narrow range of options. tyre performance, and the ability of the teams to exploit their tyres with chassis and aero setups, dominated many results during the year. One of the most troubling variables has been the refusal of most track surfaces to affect the tyres on race day the same way they do during practice. This is the wild card that accounts for many of the sharp differences we've seen between results in qualifying and racing.

That tyre advances are pushing the perimeter of technology was shown by Michelin's comments about Bridgestone's tyres at the end of the season. Bridgestone was using some performance chemicals, said Michelin. What are the Frenchmen on about? All tyres are made largely from chemicals, as they well know. Is their opposition exploiting some chemicals that they felt were off limits? Are we in danger of getting into the same murky territory with tyres that we did with Formula One fuels several decades ago? Perhaps the chemical compounds of tyres will have to be monitored in future by the FIA - although I for one hope not.

Of the two Honda-engined teams I picked BAR to make real progress this year. I thought that Jacques Villeneuve and Adrian Reynard had too much pride to soldier through another so-so season. How wrong could I be! As for the other Honda runner, I thought Jordan would benefit from having its budget freed up by not having to pay for its engines. If so, it didn't have much impact in 2001. Come to think of it, this should really take effect in 2002, with Jordan having had more time and money to develop its car for next year under respected aerodynamicist Egbhal Hamidy. But is the completely new driver cadre of Fisichella and Sato the answer to Eddie Jordan's prayers? We'll see.

It was a season for driver swapping, even among some of the better teams. I lost track at times. I for one miss Luciano Burti from the field; his was a helmet that was easily spotted. He's a likeable and talented racer as well. I hope we see him back again. On the driver front Messrs. Montoya and Raikkonen were the obvious stars of the season, the first because he lived up to expectations and the second because he exceeded them. I was surprised too that my Atlas F1 colleagues rated Rubens Barrichello only eighth for the season, behind such stars as Fernando Alonso and Nick Heidfeld. In fact only three out of the 17 of us gave Rubens any points! I guess that fellow Michael casts a pretty big shadow. My view is that Rubens had a darn good year.

A final theme for 2001 was secrecy. Teams were covering up all the gubbins on their cars and putting big barriers in front of their garages to keep the fans from spotting their latest tweaks. Frank Williams justified this by saying that you can spend half a million on a new development and have it stolen the moment people see it. To be sure, this must be true of aerodynamic developments, most of which have to be in plain view or they wouldn't work. We've painted ourselves into a corner with a Grand Prix Formula that relies so heavily on aerodynamics for success that all the latest ideas are presented to rivals on a platter. But we can't get so paranoid about this that the fans aren't allowed to see the cars at rest as well as in motion.

We like to see them moving, of course, and it looks so far as if we may be denied that for the rest of the year. I say "so far" because there's been some talk about relaxing the testing ban. I think it makes sense to relax it, because we need to keep interest in Formula One alive over the first part of the winter. And if Bernie and company don't do it, we at Atlas F1 at least will do our best to keep you glued to your computer!