Olivier Panis gets a new lease on life

[KC]

A year spent as test driver for McLaren has apparently done wonders for Olivier Panis as he finished up yesterday second fastest overall behind Coulthard and faster than Ferrari-second Barrichello. Perhaps British American racing Honda has made some more improvements and some reliability will go there way for a change. I certainly hope so as Villeneuve and Panis could make a potent duo, but only if the car can finish and run regularly in the points.

[Orange]

After a confidence boosting year testing for Mclaren, Panis is ready to race. As a closet BAR fan, I think that this is one of the better things to happen to the team for a long time. Now, if reliability improves, and that new aero package keeps up, look out!

[Valve Bounce]

I always liked Olivier. He was extremely lucky to get the test drive at McLaren last year and proved himself to secure the drive at BAR. I think Honda have increased their input for BAR to influence chassis reliability as well, and I think Honda are in this to win. They are trulli commited, and have stuck to a program of reliability improvement last year. This year, I reckon they will come out aiming for the front of the grid. At the risk of incurring the wrath of the Jaguar putsch again, I am predicting that BAR will do better than Jaguar this year.

[Liz]

In the Autosport that I just got (last week's issue) Pollock says that he believes Panis will do much better than Zonta because, and I quote: "He is an older guy and will not put up with the potential hackling from Jacques that he will get, because he will just tell him to get lost." [HACKLING?] But it will certainly be interesting to see if Jacques wakes up and works hard when he sees that he has a teammate who is as fast or faster than he is and who will not (perhaps) have the Team Boss working against him - and who won't put up with any 'hackling'.

I think even if their cars are not the best, this will be an interesting duo to watch next year.

[Roy2]

Yes, and Barichello was going to be as fast or faster than Schumacher wasn't he Liz? If JV was asleep and taking it easy last year it doesn't say much for baby Ricardo.

Panis is a different animal entirely and will be a good team mate for JV, which Zonta was unready to be.

[Valve Bounce]

Hey Liz,
You mentioned that you were reading last week's Autosport. Well, somebody here posted Wednesday's times taken from Autosport, so I checked it out. Autosport are now on-line (previously they wanted to charge me, which I politely declined), and it is a great site. Thought you and all the other guys here might like to know. No!! I don't know why I posted this here. But if people think that Jaguars are going to be winners this year, then I don't really need an excuse to be silly, do I??

[Orange]

No, obviously not.
I think that if JV has been "asleep", not only will Olly not hesitate to embarrass him, but Honda is also not going to tolerate a lack of results, especially if it (Honda) increases its role in BAR. (which it seems to be)

In all frankness though, what are the odds that JV has been "snoozing" the last what, 2 years? I mean really!

[Valve Bounce]

Hi Orange, you probably dont know that I am a great fan of Jacques, since I mistook his Uncle for him when I was watching snowmobile races on TV in Canada. Nevertheless, I had predicted that he would win the WDC first up, and he almost did. However, when he went to BAR, and things started to go bang, I felt that his efforts were somewhat distracted, and his driving became erratic. Last year was different, and if it were not for a couple of minor contretemps, his achievements would have been more indicative of the advance of BAR. Japanese technicians are very methodical, and I am convinced that they have the Honda engine and parts of the chassis ready to pounce (like where a certain cat isn't). Many here were surprised that Honda also took on Jordan, but here lies the key to their intent: Honda want to succed, and if they cannot with BAR, then the best privateer and winner of races will take up the cudgels for them. Honda now have 4 drivers who can win races next year, three of whom have won races, and the fourth certainly has the ability to. Last year Jordan lacked reliability when it counted most, and I hope EJ will have done more homework and less playing in the band. First time round, Honda hired the best driver for their car in John Surtees, their intention very clearly being to win. This time they have much greater knowledge and experience, including that from Mugen, and they intend to win. Olivier will be very thankful that he went to test for McLaren last year instead of being lumped in with the Jaguar team. OK Billy, you can start firing rocks now!!

[Liz]

I'm willing to wait and see.

[Orange]

I swear, if I had a dollar (or better yet, a "quid") for every team that did ok one year, and then rushed to trumpet themselves as "the team that will beat McFerrari", Uncle Bernie would call me asking for a couple of bucks. Really.

Case in point, Jordan. wins a race in '98, and can't get stop talking about how its gonna "dominate the midfield" and "give McFerrari a good scare", and now what? Special 10th aniversary gala yadda yadda and 6th in the constructors championship.

This is probably all in the wrong thread, but oh well. Unless Jordan really pulls through this season, (which looking at the Jerez results....), Honda would be crazy not to stick with BAR.

[Orange]

Um, i meant in '99 when HHF won two races. Either way, the result is the same. Lost momentum after a disappointing 2000 season.

[Valve Bounce]

I am still surprised that Honda did not buy Minardi. I can only surmise that they did not want to set up a team from scratch, but with Minardi, they would have started with a good chassis, and they would have been able to call teh shots with development and drivers. Still, I cannot say that Jordan is a bad team, and they often qualified in a position to get on the podium only to get shunted or blew up. The guy is Irish, so his luck must change this year.
Getting back to Panis, I reckon he is a better driver than his drives were able to show. Also he speaks the proper language, not some rural dialect. (I know I am going to incur the wrath of one Canadian young lass here).

[Valve Bounce]

I am still surprised that Honda did not buy Minardi. I can only surmise that they did not want to set up a team from scratch, but with Minardi, they would have started with a good chassis, and they would have been able to call teh shots with development and drivers. Still, I cannot say that Jordan is a bad team, and they often qualified in a position to get on the podium only to get shunted or blew up. The guy is Irish, so his luck must change this year.
Getting back to Panis, I reckon he is a better driver than his drives were able to show. Also he speaks the proper language, not some rural dialect. (I know I am going to incur the wrath of one Canadian young lass here).

[Orange]

Take a look at this!!!

Pos Driver Car Time
1 Olivier Panis (B) BAR-Honda 1m23.549s
2 Rubens Barrichello (B) Ferrari 1m23.590s
3 David Coulthard (B) McLaren-Mercedes 1m23.689s
4 Jarno Trulli (B) Jordan-Honda 1m24.025s
5 Nick Heidfeld (B) Sauber-Petronas 1m24.036s
6 Kimi Raikkonen (B) Sauber-Petronas 1m24.175s
7 Alex Wurz (B) McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.576s
8 Darren Manning (B) BAR-Honda 1m24.909s
9 Ralf Schumacher (M) Williams-BMW 1m25.051s
10 Jenson Button (M) Benetton-Renault/Supertec 1m25.198s
11 Pedro de la Rosa (B) Arrows-AMT 1m25.477s
12 Juan Pablo Montoya (M) Williams-BMW 1m25.927s
13 Luciano Burti (M) Jaguar 1m25.96s
14 Takuma Sato (B) Jordan-Honda 1m26.22s
15 Eddie Irvine (M) Jaguar 1m26.40s
16 Marc Gene (M) Williams-BMW 1m27.40s

Now, I know it doesn't mean anything , but still, Way to go Ollie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh, and Juan, Eat your heart out!!!

[Jay]

Don't even bother looking at those times. The teams are just testing parts, tires, setups, etc. They don't care about times at all.

Jacques has never been asleep, just ask Patrick Head. He is one of the hardest working drivers in F1. And that is one of the things that helped to put him as many as 10 grid places ahead of Ricardo last.

I hear Olivier is hardworking too. Maybe Jacques will again have a teammate who can compete with him. He hasn't had onse since Damon Hill!

[enemy-ace]

things to watch out for in BAR! Not only the Honda engine but Honda chassis developments, remember Honda spent the '99 season preparing to enter F1 as a full works team until they decided to hook up with BAR. And i also recall BAR testing some Honda engineered suspension bits last season, Codenamed:ATHENA.
They also now have an experienced Racer in Panis, who just happens to know what a topflight F1 car should feel like, that can't hurt! And if i remember correctly Panis was starting to recover his form (after the leg braking thing in Montréal) at the end of '98 and impressing some observers with his pace. No wonder McLaren picked him up.
As for Jordan, i must agree with mr.bounce. Honda doesn't compete to lose, they are covering all of their bases. Jordan and BAR will be trying to outdo each other just as hard as Ralf and Juan will be trying at Williams F1.

And finally if JV was sleeping the last two seasons then somebody better prepare the casket because i think Zonta's must be dead then.

[RussianFriend]

JV wasn't sleeping at all. He made the real break-through last two years. His drive for Williams was quite immature. Just remember some of his starts of his WDC's year, fortunatelly for JV his rivals had worse cars or made more serious mistakes.(Ferrary in 97 was still weak, Merc-engines had been fired like Christmas fireworks) Not having a best car of the grid he had to work harder and learn more. But before JV gained enouth experience after Hill, Head and Williams.

How could Zonta learn something in weak unexperied team? He hasnt any driving experience in top-grid team like JV and Olivie have.