Australian GP Benetton Friday notes
The Mild Seven Benetton Renault Sport team kicked off their 2001 F1 challenge in Melbourne on Friday with first practice for Sunday's season-opener, the Australian Grand Prix. Giancarlo Fisichella set a laptime of 1m32.475s to go 16th-fastest, ...
The Mild Seven Benetton Renault Sport team kicked off their 2001 F1 challenge in Melbourne on Friday with first practice for Sunday's season-opener, the Australian Grand Prix.
Giancarlo Fisichella set a laptime of 1m32.475s to go 16th-fastest, while his team-mate Jenson Button finished the day in 21st place with a time of 1m33.403s.
Technical Director Mike Gascoyne explained the team's day, saying: "We had a small problem on Jenson's engine which meant we had to change it between the sessions and while the boys did a very good job to get Jenson out, that and the ensuing problem with the rear tyre seriously affected his programme.
"On Giancarlo's car we got through a lot of work on tyre evaluation and set-up for the race," he added, "but we have clearly got a lot of work to do."
Giancarlo Fisichella himself was honest about his first day's running in Melbourne, saying: "We did some good work today - mainly working on set-up for the race - and made good progress with the balance. We also found what we think is the best tyre for us here, but we are far too far down the times so we have a lot of work to do to get us where we need to be."
His team-mate Jenson Button added that he was disappointed with his first day's running, but explained that the team had still managed to collect some useful data ahead of Sunday's grand prix.
"Well this was not a very satisfactory day for me," he said. "We started with some general set-up work, then at the end of the first session I had a problem with the engine and it had to be changed so I lost the first half of the second session.
"When I went out again, I then had a problem with my rear tyre, so I got very little running done," he continued. "Luckily the team completed the programme on Giancarlo's car so we have some good data to work from."
The Mild Seven Benetton Renault Sport team will next be on track at 9am local time on Saturday for the third of four practice sessions ahead of the afternoon's vital qualifying hour, which gets underway at 1pm local time.
-Benetton-
Share Or Save This Story
Jenson Button identifies key reason behind Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari resurgence
Jenson Button gives verdict on Max Verstappen Red Bull exit: "Frustrated with the situation"
Jenson Button names key figure behind Kimi Antonelli's stunning Mercedes form
Michael Schumacher's first race-winning F1 car sells at auction for seven-figure sum
Michael Schumacher's first F1 race-winning Benetton B192 hits auction for €8.5m
As Renault says farewell to F1, 21 key moments in its history
Marcin Budkowski spoke to 'over half' the F1 grid before choosing Cadillac
Josh Berry has momentum but no 2027 NASCAR contract yet
Graeme Lowdon's shock Cadillac exit wasn't a "mutual decision" - Dan Towriss
Ty Gibbs’s crew chief says practice runs proved viability of bold two-tire calls
Top 10 rookie seasons in F1
Why F1 shouldn’t be hiding its most interesting characters
100 not out: Alex Albon on Williams’s desire to atone for its 2026 struggles
Why it will “take years” for Cadillac to reach the level F1 rivals are operating at
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments