Saturday October 2nd, 1999

McLaren Test at Monza

Nick Heidfeld carried out private testing for the McLaren-Mercedes team at Monza on Monday and Tuesday where the team concentrated exclusively on developing components for next year's MP4/15 challenger. "We had one or two new things we wanted to try out," said technical director Adrian Newey, "but we will be out at Barcelona next week with Mika and David." It is not certain whether this will be the final McLaren-Mercedes test prior to the November break when FIA rules do not permit any F1 testing. "We could theoretically squeeze another test in between Malaysia and Japan," continued Newey, "but deciding which driver would do it could be a problem. We wouldn't want to bring Mika or David back from the Far East and with Nick switching to another team next year we might not want him to know too much about what we are doing!"

Ferrari at Fiorano

Ferrari has been testing at Fiorano with Luca Badoer (Tuesday) and Mika Salo (Wednesday and Thursday) and between the two of them they covered nearly 500 miles testing mechanical developments and brakes. Yesterday (Friday) and today, Eddie Irvine will be running in Mugello and, if these tests are successful, it is expected that the team will race with the 048B engine in both Malaysia and Japan, plus aerodynamic and brake developments.Irvine is scheduled to test at Fiorano next Tuesday and Wednesday where he may be joined by Michael Schumacher. Claudio Berro, the Ferrari press spokesman, explained that Schumacher will be examined on Sunday in Paris by specialist Dr Gérard Saillant and, if this is conclusively positive, Ferrari will announce when he will be able to resume driving.

Jordan Test at Lurcy Levis

The Jordan Mugen-Honda squad confined its testing this week to straight line aerodynamic runs on the Lurcy Levis aerodrome near Magny-Cours. Test driver Shinji Nakano was entrusted with this work. "We have some aerodynamic developments for the last couple of races and we're checking that they work," said a Jordan insider. Mugen is also making a big effort developing a new specification engine which will be used in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

Williams Stays at Base

The Williams team stayed at base this week in preparation for Barcelona testing from 6-8 October. "We have a couple of new bits straight out of the wind tunnel which we hope will give us an edge over the last couple of races," said operations engineer James Robinson.

Stewart Celebrate

After scoring its maiden F1 win the Stewart-Ford organised a major get-together at its Milton Keynes factory to celebrate this historic achievement. According to the team's spokesman, "Everyone from our workforce was there to toast the return of our cars and drivers from Nurburgring." Johnny Herbert will be the sole team driver at next week's Barcelona test, when new aerodynamic and suspension components will be evaluated as the team's prepares its challenge to catch and overtake Williams for fourth place at the Constructors Championship. There is still some discussion going on regarding when Eddie Irvine and Rubens Barrichello can start testing for their new teams and next week Jackie Stewart plans to announce the Jaguar Racing team's test driver for 2000.

Benetton Working on New Car

The Benetton-Playlife team also stayed at its British factory this week where routine developments on the current car are being carried out in preparation for next week's Barcelona test and the final two races of the season. "Most of the wind tunnel development work is now being concentrated flat-out on the new car for next season," said the team's media spokesperson.

Prost: No Early Debut for Heidfeld

The plan to give F3000 Champion Nick Heidfeld his F1 debut at the Malaysian GP in a Prost-Peugeot seem to have been shelved. It has turned out to be too complicated to get the contractual obligations of Damon Hill, Jarno Trulli and Heidfeld satisfactorily integrated. Meanwhile, Alan Jenkins, John Barnard and Loic Bigois are working flat-out on finalising the design of next year's AP03. Heidfeld will test the AP02 at Barcelona next week where it will incorporate some components intended for the new car.

Diniz Fine After Sauber Accident

Three days after his spectacular first corner accident at the Nurburgring, Pedro Diniz resumed physical training at his Monte Carlo base on a race simulator. Sauber physiotherapist Jo Leberer worked to massage the bruises which Diniz had sustained to his shoulder and left knee. The Brazilian driver will test at Barcelona next week where he will assess a new front wing. Meanwhile, back at the factory the Sauber engineers were analysing why and how the roll hoop broke. The engine kill-switch was activated automatically when the Sauber C18 was hit by Alexander Wurz's Benetton at an estimated speed of 95kph.Sauber had to refer to the data from the FIA accident data recorder, TV footage and photographs of the incident. After it turned over, it appears that the car first hit the tarmac with the rollover structure, but that this only broke away when the car was sliding across the grass. Initial calculations show that the roll hoop was cracked by massive lateral forces. The matter will be considered fully at the next meeting of the Formula One Technical Working Group.

No Testing for Arrows Prior to Malaysia

The Arrows team is not testing before the Malaysian GP. Early next week Pedro de la Rosa will shake down the three cars which will be shipped to the Far East races, where a fourth tub will also be available.The three cars will feature some modifications to the rear suspension and part of the undertray.In connection with rumours that Frenchman Olivier Panis and Dutchman Jos Verstappen could join the team for next season, a spokesperson said that Tom Walkinshaw has made quite clear that no announcement regarding drivers will be made prior to the end of the season. On the other hand, technical director Mike Coughlan confirmed that work on the A-21 chassis, which will be powered by a Supertec engine, is running satisfactorily and the team anticipates that track testing will start by early January.

Minardi at Mugello

The Minardi team will be running today (Friday) and tomorrow at Mugello with test driver Gaston Mezzacane. Discussions are still taking place regarding the possible takeover of the team.

BAR to Barcelona

British American Racing will be running for one day at Barcelona next week with test driver Patrick Lemarie attempting a race simulation with a new clutch following the failure of this component on Jacques Villeneuve's car at Nurburgring. New appointments in the team include Ian Ross becoming Chief Operating Officer and Les Olsen Commercial Director.