1999 Driver Profiles by Julie Gates

Team: British American Racing

by Julie Gates

The Team: For a team that promised everything, this season proved fruitless for the baby team. Getting seven race distances from a possible sixteen during the second half of the season, even Jacques Villeneuve slated their reliability as "pathetic." Hydraulic based failures have proved tiresome, and problems with engines, wheel bearings and water leaks have also intervened. Driver errors further hindered progress, leaving the team failing to score a single World Championship point this year. Qualifying performances have occasionally shown promise, posting times in the top ten on three occasions, but the race day performance has overshadowed everything. It must be mentioned the team worked impressively during the weekend of the Belgian Grand Prix, making both cars fit to race after two high-speed incidents at the death-defying Eau-Rouge corner during qualifying. Still, for a team that aimed so high, delivering so little leaves scant excuse reasons for end of season parties. Grit and determination saw them finish the year, but unless drastic measures are taken for 2000, a repeat performance is in store and the team could fold.

Driver - Jacques Villeneuve: Individually, the French-Canadian has performed brilliantly this season; his attitude, enthusiasm and on-track fighting characteristics have always been evident. Though many still slate him for the decision to join BAR, he has always stood by his team, vowing to perform to the best of his ability on every occasion. He didn't complete a race distance until the Belgian Grand Prix, and that was for a lowly fifteenth, but he still never gave up fighting. His qualifying performances have been reasonably impressive, getting into the top ten on three occasions during the last eight races. Has often retired when in contention for top eight finishes, yet has always returned enthusiastic by the next session. For a season that has delivered few chances for him, Jacques has demonstrated the fighting spirit and determination that were the trademark of his father, Gilles.

Driver - Ricardo Zonta: Even though he is undoubtedly a naturally talented driver, many feel he hasn't performed to expectations. However, this was only his first year within F1, and what with driving on some circuits for the first time and making do with the less-than-brilliant machinery he had to play with, his performances have been amicable. During the last eight races, his best qualifying yielded was thirteenth at Malaysia, and he beat Villeneuve at Luxembourg to finish eighth. On average he has qualified fifteenth, whilst both mechanical failures and driver errors cost him dearly; he completed only three races during the second half of the year. The mechanical difficulties make it tricky to be sure of a fair assessment of Zonta, however, his professionalism and calmness after his horrific crash during the qualifying at Spa and his enthusiasm all season at notable. Again, even though the car is far from brilliant, he has always tried his best in tricky situations.

Conclusion: The BAR team really has little reason to be happy. What with board room antics threatening to split the team and only completing a handful of race distances, work really must be done for next year to prove at least slightly competitive. Organised better for partying rather than working, they failed to meet their own, and our, expectations. The only things going for the team are the fact that things can only get better, and their keen drivers.

Grade: F