NewsOnF1 - 2001 United States GP - What the teams and drivers said

Norbert Haug: "A good beginning to the weekend for us and a very good performance by Mika on his birthday. David is in good shape too – 15 cars within one second promises an exciting close race."

Mika Hakkinen: "Today has been a great day – and not only because it’s my birthday. Things didn’t start too well when I had a problem with the pneumatic control system on my installation lap. However the mechanics did a great job and managed to fit a new engine in 45 minutes. In the second session we found a good balance and it was quite easy to find the racing line. I’m coming here to win – that is what motivates me. I feel good and confident with the car and we have done a good job so far. I like this race and the organisation and facilities are excellent."

David Coulthard: "We are reasonable happy with the behaviour of the car on the fuel levels we are running and I believe we are at the right end, but as always we will only know for sure after tomorrow’s qualifying. The circuit is quite straight forward with the banking and low speed corners and we have been trying to find a good balance, but we have a bit of oversteer at the moment. You have to concentrate when you go around the banking but it doesn’t really require any special set-up – it only gets tricky if it’s damp. Its nice to be back in America and in order to have a World Championship, we need a race in the USA. We have arrived in the aftermath of some terrible events which have taken some of the edge but we are here to race and win."

Ferrari ( Michael Schumacher - 2nd, Rubens Barrichello - 3rd )

Jean Todt: "Ferrari is running here in Indianapolis with the Stars and Stripes flag on the cars and the drivers have chosen to run with it on their helmets, as we all wanted to show our support for the American people. We would be happy if we can lighten their mood a little in these difficult times.
From a purely sporting point of view, this was the usual sort of Friday, during which we worked mainly on tyre choice. Neither car had any technical problems. I am sure we will be on the pace in tomorrow’s battle for pole position. The times will be clearly quicker than last year, mainly because of the competition between the two tyre companies and the fact the compounds are softer than at this race last year."

Ross Brawn: "We spent time, as usual on a Friday, working towards making a decision about which tyre to use. From what we have seen, the harder one probably gives a more consistent performance, but the softer one is quicker over a single lap. Now we will have to see if we can work on the chassis balance to make the softer one perform more consistently, or try and get the harder one to work quicker on a single lap. It is very close between the two options. The tyres are much softer than last year’s at this track. The car seems okay on this track."

Michael Schumacher: "It was a pretty normal Friday today. We just did our usual work of adapting the car to the circuit. There were no particular problems. Aside from that, I am happy to be racing here in the USA and I hope that this weekend’s grand prix will entertain the crowd and bring some happiness and relief after the terrible events of a fortnight ago."

Rubens Barrichello: “I am happy to be here in Indianapolis. I like it here and would have been disappointed if the race had been cancelled. We did a lot of laps today and that has given us a lot of data. From what I can see, the car seems to work pretty well. Tomorrow’s qualifying will be all about being on the track at the right time."

Jaguar ( Eddie Irvine - 5th, Pedro de la Rosa - 8th )

Niki Lauda: "We had two trouble-free sessions and we are in good shape for tomorrow. It's too early to make predications about where we will end-up. Both drivers report a slippery track and apart from a curable understeer problem, there isn't too much troubling us at this stage."

Eddie Irvine: "We had a long job list to complete over the two free practice sessions because this track poses so many new challenges relative to other conventional F1 tracks. We got through everything successfully and we'll now spend the day analysing the data in preparation for tomorrow's qualifying session. The Jaguar R2 performed quite well and while there's no problem with the tyres, I'm sure we could get more out of them if the track temperature was higher. The car is performing a lot better than it was last year but most of that is down to more grip being generated through the Michelin tyres. I'm reasonably happy with how our weekend has begun and we'll now focus our efforts into learning from this morning's sessions."

Pedro de la Rosa: "We found a very slippery track out there today which got better and better over the course of the two sessions. We did a lot of set-up work and some tyre comparison tests. We experienced some understeer, but I don't think it will cause us too many headaches because it's mainly down to the dirty track. We need more grip on the in-field section and getting the tyres up to an optimum temperature is proving a little hard because of the cold weather. The car feels reasonably well balanced, but there's still a fair amount of work ahead of us if we are to maximise upon what we have. A hotter day tomorrow would help us a lot, especially when you consider how much the tyres cool down at the end of the main straight into Turn One."

Sauber ( Nick Heidfeld - 6th, Kimi Raikkonen - 11th )

Peter Sauber: "For us this was a normal Friday. We covered a lot of laps with both cars, which were entirely troublefree, so we were able to do plenty of race preparation work which has given us a good datum for Sunday, and will also help us with our set-ups for qualifying tomorrow."

Nick Heidfeld: "I'm happy with sixth place, especially since we were able to run near the front all day. We made a lot of changes to the car during the two sessions, and most of them made it better. With the car running so reliably today we were able to get a lot of race preparation work done."

Kimi Raikkonen: "We did everything that we had planned in the two hours that we ran today, and worked on little things in the set-up. I'm satisfied with what we achieved. It's an interesting track, but the banked final corner is really just part of the straight because it's flat out all the way."

Prost ( Heinz Harald Frentzen - 7th, Tomas Enge - 16th )

Joan Villadelprat: "This was a very positive first day for us. We were able to complete a lot of work in view of the race itself, we tried the two compounds proposed by Michelin and we now have a clear picture of what suits our car best on this track. Our cars proved to be competitive today despite the second session was shortened for both our drivers : Tomas spun off and stalled the engine which cost him the last 15 minutes of practice. We also had a couple of mechanical problems on Heinz-Harald’s car : he came back because of a throttle link failure, and ten minutes before the end of the session, we decided not to restart because of a problem related to the gearbox. But we are overall very satisfied with this first day. Our competitiveness today is very promising, and it will be a key in tomorrow’s qualifying as the gaps will be very close."

Heinz Harald Frentzen: "It is good to be back on the Indianapolis track. It is a very special circuit, very enjoyable with its banking and the long straight. I am really looking forward to the race. Everything ran smoothly today and we worked well until we had a problem with the gearbox. It was not too serious but we chose to stop in order not to take any risk. Therefore we have some work left over for the second practice session, especially some understeer that we need to cure, but we made some improvements today and it looks promising for tomorrow."

Tomas Enge: "I had quite a good practice today, for my first time here in Indianapolis. I kept on improving my times and position and quickly felt comfortable. This morning I found the track quite slippery but the overall grip was much better in the afternoon. We were able to improve my car significantly and it looks like we can be very competitive here. Unfortunately I spun in the exit of turn 8 because my car suddenly had more oversteer than I expected, and the traction control was not exactly working as I wanted at that moment. It was a simple spinning but unfortunately I stalled the engine and could not restart. It is a pity because I know there was still room for improvement. But I feel satisfied with the job we have done today."

Williams ( Ralf Schumacher - 9th, Juan Pablo Montoya - 10th )

Patrick Head: "We have had a normal Friday in terms of evaluating tyres and the car set-up for race conditions and both cars were reliable. From the work we have done we think we will be able to chose the race tyre, and now we will focus on a set up for qualifying."

Mario Theissen: "This circuit is extremely challenging for engines. On one hand because of being on full throttle for more than 20 seconds - the longest of any track we race on - and on the other because of the centrifugal force in the oval section. Because of this it is very positive we had no engine problems today so we are happy after day one. This Grand Prix has a special meaning for the BMW as the United States is the most important market for us outside Germany."

Ralf Schumacher: "We had some problems finding the right set-up today. The car was oversteering at the entrance to the corners and didn't have enough grip in the infield. It seems the low temperatures don't suite our tyres very well. Even though we did some useful homework for qualifying, completing 42 laps, I think we have already made our tyre choice for the race."

Juan Pablo Montoya: "It has been a pretty hard day for us working on the set-up of the car has been quite difficult. It is fun to be here but we are struggling a bit with the balance of the car and hopefully tomorrow we will do much better. I think the track has too many slow corners so think they should consider doing something about this."

Jordan ( Jean Alesi - 12th, Jarno Trulli - 14th )

Trevor Foster: "Jarno spent the two sessions working through a normal race set-up program which was trouble free, although Jean was hindered by a software problem which cost him valuable track time. There's a lot of work to do for tomorrow but we have gained some good data as we productively worked through today's program."

Jean Alesi: "It was quite a difficult day. I had some problems this morning, and also at the start of the afternoon session, with the electronics. It meant I couldn't get the laps in and the work done that I needed. We have to get together now and decide which direction to go with the set-up for tomorrow."

Jarno Trulli: "It was a routine day as usual for Friday. We tried different set-ups, looking particularly at the race. It's difficult to say how much progress we are making because the balance of the car is not quite right yet. I had a few problems with the tyres this morning and that caused me to spin once or twice. We changed the tyres and everything was much better after that. The track was very slippery in the beginning but, as usual, it got better as more rubber went down."

Benetton ( Jenson Button - 13th, Giancarlo Fisichella - 17th )

Mike Gascoyne: "Overall we had a reasonably productive day with both our cars, although Giancarlo's day was cut short when he spun into the gravel trap. He did not run with new tyres and was happy with the balance of the car before he made his mistake. Jenson ended up fairly happy with the balance of his car. We are optimistic for tomorrow and I believe we can maintain our recent run of improved qualifying form."

Jenson Button: "Generally we have worked on race set-up and focused on long-distance runs, which seems to have been positive. We had a bit of understeer this morning in the low and mid-speed corners. We got around that problem, although that left us with a little bit of oversteer at corner exits. The later you put new tyres on in a session, the quicker you tend to be. I put mine on quite early and I think that explains why we are only 13th. Overall it has been a good day and we have got through our full programme of work, which is the main thing. We have done some good work in preparation for the race and I like this circuit a lot it has a good mixture of corners and it's fun to drive."

Giancarlo Fisichella: "During this morning's session, the set-up was good and the car felt very well balanced, which made me feel encouraged for the afternoon. Before the start of that session we made some alterations to the car, which improved the set-up even more. Unfortunately I lost control of the car at Turn Six and went into the gravel, so that was the end of today's free practice I'm afraid. I am, however, optimistic for tomorrow's qualifying because I only completed 21 laps and my best time does not reflect the car's potential."

BAR ( Olivier Panis - 15th, Jacques Villeneuve - 18th )

Olivier Panis: "We worked to prepare for the race on Sunday. We used some fuel and tested some different set-ups. For me, it's the first time here on the circuit, but it's quite good, to be honest. We need to look forward to tomorrow. I think it is quite positive for Formula One, because, everybody in the world knows the Indianapolis name. It is a very special city for motor racing, and I'm very pleased to drive here."

Jacques Villeneuve: "Not very good. We had a lot of problems with the car in the first session, and then we had some problems that didn't let us run for the first half of the second session. So, not much work done today and quite slow. Tomorrow will definitely be better than it was today, but by how much I don't know."

Minardi ( Fernando Alonso - 19th, Alex Yoong - 22nd )

Paul Stoddart: "On a cool and quiet Indianapolis day, the European Minardi team worked steadily through its technical program for the day. Both cars ran faultlessly and the times set by the drivers were very respectable. Fernando's effort today was particularly pleasing, while Alex deserves praise for a solid performance in only his second Grand Prix weekend and at a circuit he has never seen before. The team now looks forward to tomorrow's practice and qualifying sessions which, we trust, will be without the dramas encountered at Monza!."

Fernando Alonso: "As usual, the team's Friday efforts were focused on looking for the best possible aerodynamic configuration for the car, while also comparing the two types of tyres at our disposal for this weekend. Both sessions were trouble-free and we were able to complete our scheduled program. I think we can feel satisfied with the outcome of this first day."

Alex Yoong: "We did some useful running today. I set my best time on old rubber and, overall, I think the times were not too bad. With new rubber, the times would be quite good. We still need to do some more fine-tuning on the car to improve its performance. It is important to drive here with even greater sensitivity than normal in order to get the most out of new tyres."

Arrows ( Enrique Bernoldi - 20th, Jos Verstappen - 21st )

Graham Taylor: "Enrique had never driven at Indy before so we made sure he did a lot of laps. In hindsight we changed the car a little too much during the first session and didn't get the best out of the new tyres but all in all he did a good job today. Jos had a promising first session during which everything went to plan. At the start of the afternoon session his car had an electrical problem which cost us, and then his engine went right at the end of the day when he was doing his new tyre run. It's a shame as his split times were well up but we have enough data to make our tyre choice so it's not a big problem."

Enrique Bernoldi: "This is my first time at Indianapolis so it was good to do a lot of laps today to learn the circuit. I like the track as it has a very good mixture of corners; the infield section is a little slow but the fast parts are a lot of fun. We went the wrong way on set-up this morning which wasted a bit of time but were soon back on track. We got through our programme so I'm pretty happy at the end of Day One."

Jos Verstappen: "The first session went well for me today as we managed to get a lot of work done. The track was very slippery to start with but is a lot better now. Unfortunately my car had an electrical problem at the start of the second session which cost us a lot of time. We managed to get out again just before the end but we lost the engine on my first flying lap. We still have to do our tyre comparisons and a bit more set-up work but there is still time tomorrow. I'm enjoying being back at Indianapolis as I like the place a lot and the circuit is a good challenge."

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Session	2001			2000
First Friday Practice	Results	Report	Notes	Results
Second Friday Practice	Results	Report	Notes	Results
First Saturday Practice	Results	Report	Notes	Results
Second Saturday Practice	Results	Report	Notes	Results
Qualifying	Results	Report	Notes	Results
Warm-up	Results	Report	Notes	Results
Race	Results	Report	Notes	Results
What the teams and drivers said Friday - Saturday - Sunday
The Heretic's Review		Fan Reviews