Hungarian GP: BAR Friday notes

After a positive first morning's running at the Hungaroring, Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Olivier Panis endured a more frustrating afternoon session to end the day 12th and 14th respectively. Jacques' problem stemmed from the damage his BAR004 sustained when he spun off into a gravel trap and he lost over half of the second session while the team carried out the necessary repairs. Olivier's track time was also compromised this afternoon following a gearbox oil leak.

Jacques Villeneuve

"Today got off to a good start and we were going well on old tyres considering the track conditions. It was quite slippery as is usually the case on a Friday here but generally we were improving throughout the morning session. We used the new tyres this afternoon and had a harder time trying to get them to work. Then, I made a mistake by braking late into turn 4 and ended up spinning off. The problem with the gravel traps here is that they're more like 'rock' traps and can cause a lot of damage to the car, as we saw. We had to replace the floor and the bargeboards and I lost over 30 minutes in the second session, so I wasn't able to work with the tyres very much at all. We haven't made enough progress today and we have a lot of work to do with the data now to prepare us for tomorrow's session."

Olivier Panis

"Today didn't go at all how we expected. Things had been looking quite good in the morning session but this afternoon I had a gearbox oil leak and a problem with the throttle. This meant that I spent more time in the garage than on the track so we were unable to make any further progress. The Hungaroring is always very dirty for the first day's running so today has been quite frustrating overall. It's difficult to know where we stand compared with the other teams but that's always the case on a Friday. All I can do now is work with the engineers to find a solution that will help us to achieve the maximum preparation for qualifying. I'm still feeling positive that we can turn things around but we have a lot of work ahead this afternoon."

David Richards, Team Principal

"Things didn't quite go according to plan for us today. We had a very good morning session and were obviously hoping to consolidate that progress during the afternoon. However, we developed a series of problems and spent most of the second session in the garage, so we have been unable to improve further today. Clearly, we have some work ahead of us this evening to make sure we are better prepared going into qualifying tomorrow because, as everyone knows, grid position here is so critical."

Driver/Chassis
Jacques Villeneuve
BAR004/06
Position: 12th
Best lap time: 1:18.388 (35 laps)

Olivier Panis
BAR004/08
Position: 14th
Best lap time: 1:18.846 (39 laps)
T-Car: BAR004/09

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