Brazilian GP Prost preview

After the Malaysian Grand Prix, the Prost Acer team headed to Barcelona for a three-day test, in order to continue the evaluation programme of young drivers, with Oriol Servia and Stephane Sarrazin. The team completed a technical programme focused on new aerodynamics and mechanical parts, and tyre comparisons. Reliability and tyre handling will indeed be key factors of the third round of the 2001 season, which will take place Sunday April 1st in Sao Paulo.

Among the drivers in Formula One, the Brazilian race envokes different feelings. They all appreciate the warmth of the Brazilian fans and the unique atmosphere around the grandstands. Many also like the track which offers an interesting mixture of tight corners and long quick straights. All serve to make Interlagos a performance circuit. On the other hand, the surface of the track being especially bumpy is always criticised, despite being resurfaced several times. The weather, which is often hot and stormy, and the anti-clockwise direction of the track provides more physical constraints for the drivers. More than many other circuit, Interlagos demands from the drivers endurance and concentration, and the cars need to be totally reliable to cover the 71 laps of the race.

Jean Alesi:
" In comparison to Melbourne and Sepang, Interlagos is a circuit which demands less downforce and which should be more favourable to us. We arrive here having made some modifications to the car, some of which being to the front wing, which I hope will bring us a satisfying result. The track has been resurfaced in places which should prevent reoccurence of last year's incidents I really like the Brazilian Grand Prix and I would be happy to score our team's first points of the season here."

Gaston Mazzacane:
"I am very confident for this Brazilian Grand Prix and I wish to improve this weekend what we have achieved until now. We are still working on the development of our car but we already have a good potential at hand for this race. I like Interlagos a lot: it is a fast track, very interesting technically, and offering real opportunities of overtaking. It allows us to attack during the race, which is not often the case on the other tracks of the Championship. I am optimistic and motivated to set a good result here, after the two first races which have been difficult. And I am very happy to know that numerous fans from Argentina will be in the grandstands this weekend."

-Prost