NEW CARS AND OWNERS
- 20 May 2013
Valencia’s Ricardo Torno circuit was the venue for the unveiling of the second and third new cars for 2005. Both BAR and Sauber showed up with their new cars and of the two the BAR was generally the quicker. The BAR 007 in the hands of Button and Davidson completed three days of running and set quite good times, but they did have two engine failures so Honda seems to have some work to do.
The test was dominated by McLaren with Montoya being quickest on day one and Alexander Wurz topping the sheets for the remaining two days. Wurz was in fact, over a second faster than anyone else during the test with a time of 1’09.510.
Renault were also there, still with last years cars and ended up with second and third best overall times to Alonso and Montagny respectively. They continue to rack up plenty of miles for Michelin.
Sauber turned up with their new C24 model with Jacques Villeneuve at the wheel for the first two days doing set-up and long distance work and Felipe Massa, who took over on the final day to record the forth best time of the test.
Meanwhile, at Jordan a deal has been struck for Russian born Alex Shnaider to take control of the team. The team will continue, for 2005 at least, to be called Jordan Grand Prix but may change its name to Midland in the future. This means that Shnaider’s Midland F1 team that was to use Dallara designed chassis next year will now no longer have to pay the $48 million entry deposit and will have immediate access to Jordan’s F.O.M. funding.
Eddie Jordan confirmed that he will continue to play a role in the team, taking on the role of commercial director while Shnaider will be the team principal. “I will remain involved with the team throughout the 2005 season and will be working with Jordan in a variety of capacities as we move forward.
“I have devoted 35 years of my life to motor racing and have had some really fantastic times. The last fourteen years when I have been lucky enough to be involved in Formula 1 have been a highlight, naturally, and winning our first Grand Prix in 1988, which broke the grip that the top teams of the time had on the sport, is for me a personal triumph.”
One hopes that Eddie will continue with the team in the longer term, it really would be a shame to lose his flamboyant style for ever.
BEST TIMES DRIVER CAR TIME 1 Alexander Wurz McLaren MP4/19C 1'09.510 (2,3) 2 Fernando Alonso Renault R24 1'10.688 3 Franck Montagny Renault R24 1'11.179 4 Felipe Massa Sauber C24 1'11.215 5 Jenson Button BAR 007 1'11.255 6 Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren MP4/19C 1'11.336 (1) 7 Takuma Sato BAR 006C 1'11.388 8 Anthony Davidson BAR 007 1'11.499 9 Enrique Bernoldi BAR 006C 1'11.724 10 Jacques Villeneuve Sauber C24 1'12.217
(-) fastest on day
Sam Snape
23-1-05