1999 Driver Profiles by Julie Gates

BAR - Need to Concentrate Harder

by Julie Gates

The Team: Performed poorly against pre-season expectations. The car can go well in qualifying under the watchful eye of Villeneuve, disappoints in races. Reliability issues are a problem; failures have ranged from rear-wings falling off to smoking engines and gearbox gremlins. There have only been two race distance completed - Mika Salo finished ninth at the Spanish Grand Prix, and Zonta finished in France. Setbacks and disappointment combined with lack of power from the Supertec engine and countless gearbox failures have not helped the situation. Not only that, but the team have been on the receiving end of a telling-off by Pollock, who noted that not all are working as hard as they could be. Rule one of motor racing: expect bloody hard work! The money situation also seems problematic - they are already seeking more sponsors after over-spending. Adding the highly-publicised attack in the FIA over dual branding, and it makes for a disastrous first season opening. The engine deal with Honda for 2000 might raise spirits, though.

Driver - Jacques Villeneuve: Overall, he has performed remarkably well this season. He has managed to qualify on the second row twice, though he was forced to start at the back at Brazil due to a fuel discrepancy. However, he has still shone convincingly on occasions. Imola saw his best qualifying performance so far this season when he wrangled his BAR to an impressive fifth position, though the dream halted abruptly when he stalled his car on the starting grid. He made no mistakes at Spain - jumping from sixth on the grid to third in the race by the first corner. An encouraging performance followed which bodes well for the future, if reliability issues are properly addressed.

Driver - Ricardo Zonta: Unable to make a sound judgement on this young Brazilian. Though he performed as well as his car would allow in Australia and during testing, we have seen little race-day action due to his accident and it would therefore be unfair to comment. However, Eddie Jordan has shown interest in the youngster, and that's always a good sign...

Driver - Mika Salo: Raced three times for the team, and faired reasonably well. Qualified twelfth at Monaco, but retired from the race due to an accident. Classified seventh at Imola, despite retiring after fifty eight laps. Vowed to take the first points to the team, but had to settle for delivering the first race finish of the season. The Spanish GP saw Salo finish ninth, albeit one lap down on the leaders. He didn't show exceptional speed, but handled the car well and settled in at the team easily. Never really demonstrated his claimed potential, but performed as well as what could be expected.

What next: The team finally look to be settling in to Formula One, and have made changes that could shoot them straight to the top. A three year deal with Honda, who will design and manufacture engines for the team, and assist in chassis design and development will make a difference for next year. Also, the team announced a major re-structuring which should optimise the development of the chassis and iron out reliability issues. Craig Pollock, the former Director, has been appointed President and Chief Executive of British American Racing. They clearly have potential, but with mechanical failures mounting, and money worries, the team faces a difficult period. The restructure could be just what the doctor ordered.

Conclusion: Under-performed by their expectations, yet met many of ours. Needs to work on the finer details of Formula One, and concentrate on the job in hand.

Rating: 5/10