This is the fourth in a series of five articles that assesses how well prepared the various Formula One teams were when the showed up for the last five grands prix of the season, and how well the teams set-up their cars after their arrival at the race venues (for Parts 1, 2, and 3 see vol. 1, nos. 5, 9, and 13). In the way of a reminder to those of you who have been following this series, and as an introduction to first-time readers, this is an evaluation of each team's factory and pit crews. The premise is that each factory is responsible for delivering two cars to each race, and the traveling mechanics have the responsibility of fine-tuning them for the specific track conditions. In this case, evaluation is based on how well the teams did for the Portuguese, European, Pacific, Japanese, and Australian races.
The methodology employed, although not perfect, is quite simple and straightforward. In order to determine how well each factory did its job, relative to its competitors, the teams were ranked on the basis of the average position in which they finished the Friday morning practice session of each event. For example, at the Grand Prix of Europe the McLaren's of Mika Hakkinen and Mark Blundell completed the test round in 6th and 7th places, respectively, for an average position of 6.5, which was 3rd best of the teams. For the same event the Minardi drivers of Pedro Lamy and Luca Badoer finished free practice in 15th and 18th places, for an average position of 16.5, which was 8th best. To determine the quarterly rankings, the average positions of each team for the five initial practice rounds were averaged.
To determine how well the traveling mechanics did their job, the starting grid positions of each team's cars were averaged, ranked, and the differences from the initial practice sessions were calculated. To illustrate, at the Portuguese Grand Prix, the Ligier cars of Olivier Panis and Martin Brundle finished the Friday practice in 11th and 15th places, respectively, for an average position of 13th, which was 7th best. Brundle started the race from the 9th position and Panis from the 11th, for a team average on the starting grid of 10th, which was 6th best. Clearly, the Ligier traveling mechanics had a hand in improving their car and getting it up further on the starting grid. The same cannot be said of Sauber's pit crew at the Grand Prix of the Pacific. There, Heinz-Harold Frentzen finished the opening practice round 8th fastest and Jules Boullion finished 9th, for a team average of 8.5, and fourth best. When the race started Sunday afternoon, Frentzen was still 8th on the grid, but Boullion qualified no higher than 15th, for a team average of 11.5, or 7th best of the teams. The Sauber traveling mechanics played a role in costing the team three positions. As with the practice rounds, the team's starting grid positions for the last five races of the season were averaged and ranked, and differences from the practice sessions calculated and ranked. The only thing different in this round than others, was that McLaren only started one car in Australia, and, therefore, that team's compositeaverage was based on four rather than five races.
Below is the rankings of how well the factories did their jobs.
1. Williams, 2.8 (avg. pos.); 2. Ferrari, 4.9; 3. Benetton, 5.8; 4. McLaren, 7.5;
5. Jordan, 9.5; 6. Sauber, 11.2; 7. Ligier, 12.9; 8. Tyrrell, 15.2;
9. Minardi, 18.0; 10. Arrows, 18.1; 11. Pacific, 22.0; 12. Forti, 22.4.
On one hand, there are no real surprises here, are there? There are,
however, some interesting changes from the previous quarter. Williams regained the top
position, and the Prancing Red Horse slipped a notch. Benetton has a solid grip on being the
third best factory in F1. McLaren improved a position at Eddie Jordan's expense, as did
Tyrrell at Minardi's, and Pacific at Forti's.Now, in order to understand how well the traveling mechanics did their job we first need to see the composite average of the starting grid for the quarter. It is as follows:
1. Williams, 2.2 (avg. pos.); 2. Ferrari, 4.6; 3. Benetton, 5.0; 4. Jordan, 8.4;
5. Sauber 11.1; 6. Ligier, 11.4; 7. McLaren, 11.5; 8. Tyrrell, 15.6;
9. Minardi, 16.6; 10. Arrows, 18.2; 11. Forti, 21.7; 12. Pacific, 22.4.
Boy, are there some surprises here! No, Williams being on top is not one.
Neither is Jordan, Ligier, and Sauber each improving a position. All of these teams has a pit
crew capable of setting up cars in what might be called and above average manner. That any
one, or all three gained a position should not be seen as unusual. What is unusual, is that
they all did it at McLaren's expenses.As for the five-race composite differences between initial practice sessions and starting grid positions, or the true indicator or pit crew performance, it looks like the following.
1. Ligier, +1.5 (avg. pos. changed); 2. Minardi, +1.4; 3. Jordan, +1.1;
4. Benetton, +.8; 5. Forti, +.7; 6. Williams, +.6; 7. Ferrari, +.3; 8. Sauber, +.1;
9. Arrows, -.1; 10. Tyrrell, -.4; 11. Pacific, -.4; 12. McLaren, .4.0.
Big changes since last quarter. Hats off to Tom Walkinshaw and his boys at
Ligier. They've done pretty well all year, and seeing them on top of the heap is most
fitting. I told you last time to look for good things from this team, and here they are. Benetton
improved, but what's new in that? They have proven all year long they are the fastest in tire
changes and refueling, so it stands to reason they are a competent bunch. Minardi made the biggest
improvement, up from the cellar. And, Sauber came from 11th to 8th. But, how about the
crew for the bright yellow taxis, I mean Fortis? Perennial backmarkers, this crew
brought itself up from10th to an impressive 5th best pit crew.For all the improvers, however, there are some teams whose traveling mechanics did not perform up to par during this final quarter. The Williams team dropped from 2nd to 6th. Arrows and Pacific dropped from 4th and 5th to 9th and 1lth, respectively. That Williams dropped is more than a mild surprise. The big shock, however, is McLaren. Ron Dennis' boys went from the top to the bottom--from first to worst--from number 1 last quarter to number 12 this quarter. Clearly, they fell down on the job (No pun intended....What the hell, I fully intended this pun!). The wheels that I said fell off in the second quarter and were put on in the third, fell off again. This time they did so big time, and in the wrong place. If you should see some homeless guys in red pants and white shirts with Marlboro logos wandering around aimlessly in Adelaide, they are undoubtedly McLaren mechanics who got their plane tickets home revoked.
That's it for now. Look for the season wrap-up in three weeks.