BARCELONA, 8 May 2004 — BAR’s Jenson Button turned the heat on Michael Schumacher in Spanish Grand Prix practice yesterday as Ferrari’s world champion geared up to equal Formula One’s best start to a season.
Schumacher, chasing his fifth win in a row tomorrow to equal Nigel Mansell’s 1992 record run for Williams, finished the day with the fastest time at the Circuit de Catalunya. But it was his young British rival who stood out after blitzing the field in the afternoon’s second session to increase his hopes of a fourth podium in a row and possible first victory.
Schumacher’s best time of 1:15.658 seconds in the first session was more than two seconds quicker than his 2003 pole position performance at the Circuit de Catalunya. Button, who started the last San Marino Grand Prix on pole and finished second, was the only other driver to lap in under one minute 16 seconds and his time of 1:15.935 came during an afternoon punctuated by occasional light rain. Despite his time, the 24-year-old was dissatisfied with his car’s performance.
Schumacher’s Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello was second quickest in the morning but Button and BAR teammate Anthony Davidson, the test driver who will not race tomorrow, dominated the second stint.
Schumacher has won five times in Spain including the last three grands prix and is favorite to win again on Sunday. But his 200th grand prix is unlikely to be a cakewalk.
Local favorite Fernando Alonso, second in front of his home crowd last year, was seventh quickest for Renault in the morning and fifth in the afternoon. Williams had Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya fourth fastest in the second session and he said they too still had some work to do to get on the pace.
There was little to raise the spirits of McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen, overall runner-up to Schumacher in last year’s championship, whose second practice session was cut short when he pulled over with an electrical failure.
The Finn, who last year arrived in Barcelona with twice as many points as the German, has just one point from four starts marred by repeated technical problems.
Try Heidfeld, Jordan Urges Williams
In Barcelona, team boss Eddie Jordan has urged Williams to consider his driver Nick Heidfeld for next season. “I think Nick would be a brilliant choice. If Williams lose both its drivers, which now looks likely, Nick would be a perfect guy,” Jordan said.
BMW-powered Williams, last season’s runners-up to Ferrari, have a list of candidates to replace Montoya after the Colombian signed a contract to join McLaren in 2005. Germany’s Ralf Schumacher — who started his career with Jordan before moving to Williams — could also be leaving at the end of the year with speculation linking him to Toyota. Jaguar’s Australian Mark Webber is seen as the frontrunner but plenty of drivers — including former champion Jacques Villeneuve — could be in the frame for the most desirable vacancy in Formula One. Heidfeld joined Jordan from Sauber at the start of the year.
Michelin Wants to Keep F1 Tire War Alive
Formula One’s plans to have just one tire supplier from 2006 came under fire from Michelin yesterday.
The French company said in a statement at the Spanish Grand Prix that they were surprised by the planned course of action and had yet to be consulted officially by the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA).
“Michelin is of course very much in favor of the objective to reduce costs in F1, costs which have increased greatly in recent years,” it said.
“Faced with this objective, Michelin believes the single tire manufacturer option is not a satisfactory solution.
On the other hand, Michelin would like to propose a number of solutions to reduce costs while maintaining the spirit of competition.”
