Pre-Australian GP testing update: team by team.

All the Formula One teams completed their pre-season testing last week. Find out what each team was up to in the build up to the opening grand prix of 2002 - the Australian GP:

Ferrari - Old car for Melbourne:

Ferrari will definitely be running their type F2001s in the Australian Grand Prix but there is no word yet as to whether they will debut their new car in Malaysia on March 17 or defer its first race until the start of the European season.

Ferrari will take the old F2001 to Melbourne after Sporting Director Jean Todt explained that the team had lacked testing miles with the new F2002 which also suffered mechanical problems in the area of the gearbox during recent tests at Mugello. Despite the bad weather and these technical problems, Michael Schumacher did a respectable lap time of 1m 22.551s and he is not worried about starting the year with the old car.

"It is a wise decision", he said. "We know that we have a quick and reliable package in the F2001". The team went to Imola after Mugello where Michael drove the old car and Luca Badoer the new machine. Michael managed a 1m 23.459s best after 111 laps, only 0.4sec away from David Coulthard's pole position for last year's San Marino Grand Prix. The team has built three new F2001s which Badoer shook down on Thursday in the rain at Fiorano. They are chassis 214, the car which Schumacher raced at Suzuka last year which will be the T-car. 215 for Schumacher to race and 216 for Barrichello. They are lighter than the earlier F2001s and have passed the necessary crash tests as if they were totally new cars. The engines will be type 050s to the qualifying specification used at Suzuka, but also containing some components of the new 051.

Friday the team will deliver their cargo to Milan's Malpensa airport for shipment to Melbourne and last [Saturday] night the remainder of the equipment, some 30 tons including a spare monocoque (211) plus ten engines and 70 personnel, also left for Oz.

McLaren-Mercedes - Spanish shakedown:

The McLaren-Mercedes squad undertook its pre-season shakedown at Valencia ;ast week with two MP4/17s on hand, Alexander Wurz setting fastest time on Wednesday with a 1m12.569s ahead of David Coulthard's 1m13.416s. The team will have three MP4/16s on hand in Melbourne for the first race of the season.

Williams-BMW - Back at Valencia:

The BMW WilliamsF1 team began its three-day shakedown at Valencia on Wednesday with Juan Pablo Montoya ending up third fastest on 1m 13.468s, achieved despite a minor off-track moment. Marc Gene managed a 1m13.904s best. "The objective of today was to run the FW24 to evaluate brake and aerodynamic components", said Race Engineer Tim Preston. "It looks like we have made a positive step forward, but the test was delayed after Juan Pablo had that minor off. We are intending to undertake endurance runs on Thursday and Friday".

The team has confirmed that Ralf Schumacher is recovering from a major accident during testing at Estoril last week in which he hurt his neck. The accident, due to a brake problem, quite badly damaged the car and Schumacher later complained of a sore neck. Up to then he had completed 104 laps for a best time of 1m 18.409s. Antonio Pizzonia also tested there with an FW23C.

Sauber-Petronas - Eventful last test:

The Sauber Petronas team completed its pre-season test programme with three days at Mugello which turned out to be a somewhat eventful occasion in partly wet conditions. Nick Heidfeld and Felipe Massa were tyre testing, assessing the final aero developments and setting up the cars for Melbourne. Due to the fact that they were running in Melbourne aero specification the lap times did not reflect their normal Mugello form as the Italian track normally requires a different down force level. Heidfeld's best time was 1m24.733s after 66 laps on Saturday with Massa completing 69 laps. Heidfeld's Saturday test ended with an accident on turn six and the car had to be returned to Switzerland for repairs. Heidfeld explained: "The car over steered, I couldn't catch it and spun off". Even worse, Massa crashed the second chassis quite heavily after 22 laps on the final day. Technical Director Willy Rampf explained: "Felipe lost the car in turn 11 and hit the barrier sideways. We had to rebuild the car at the factory". The work was completed in time for the team to get three C21 chassis on Friday night's flight from Milan to Melbourne. The drivers meanwhile went with their trainer Jo Leberer to Seefeld in Austria to continue their fitness programmes.

Jordan-Honda - Official unveiling of EJ12:

The new DHL Jordan-Honda EJ-12 was officially unveiled in a Lufthansa hangar at Brussels airport on Friday although the new car has been testing for some weeks now. The team's official name will be DHL Jordan Honda as from the start of this season. Prior to the launch Giancarlo Fisichella was at Silverstone shaking down another EJ-12 in preparation for the first race, concentrating on a race simulation with his Melbourne-specification engine although his run was disrupted by minor technical problems. Takuma Sato completing 73 laps for a race simulation on Tuesday morning before rain forced him to abort an aerodynamic programme during the afternoon. His best time was 1m24.64s. Sato remained testing at Silverstone on Wednesday and Thursday after Fisichella returned to his home in Monaco to rest prior to the Australian Grand Prix. Sato experienced showery conditions at Silverstone on Wednesday and lost time due to a scheduled gearbox change on the new car, while he continued with an EJ-11 on Thursday running electronic software tests. Both men attended the official unveiling in Brussels.

BAR-Honda - New engine spec at Ricard:

The BAR Honda team concluded its pre-season tests with three days at Paul Ricard with Olivier Panis starting on Monday with an engine and suspension programme. He continued this work together with a Bridgestone tyre test through Tuesday before handing over the reins to Jacques Villeneuve on Wednesday who completed a full race distance. "It was fun to drive at Paul Ricard", said Villeneuve. "We were running the Melbourne spec engine and completed a full race distance. We didn't have any problems and the car feels good". Panis added: "I have had two good days of testing here and we put plenty of laps on the new engine. We've had no real problems and our reliability has been good so we're feeling quite positive. We still have a few days before we leave for Melbourne so we have time to look at the data and continue to improve right up until the race weekend. Obviously only the qualifying will show us where we are but we've done as much as we can to prepare for this first race".

Renault F1 - Trulli starts at Silverstone:

Jarno Trulli began the Renault team's pre-season shakedown at Silverstone on Monday, completing over 60 laps with the new chassis R202-2 which was running for the first time. He completed 63 laps for a best time of 1m24.40s and on Tuesday was joined by Jenson Button who completed over 50 laps in R202-1 for a best time of 1m24.95s, 0.8sec slower than Trulli. "We concentrated on long runs today," said Button, "and managed almost 50 laps in a number of long stints". Technical Director Mike Gascoyne confirmed that it was another good day for the team during which steady progress was made. On Wednesday the team completed its final day of pre-season testing with chassis R202-3 running for the first time with Jenson Button. Trulli continued in chassis 02 and chassis 01 was used for pit stop practice. Button managed a 1m34.0s with Trulli turning a 1m34.2s best that day.

Jaguar-Cosworth - Shakedown at Silverstone:

The Jaguar team began its final pre-season shakedown at Silverstone on Tuesday where Pedro de la Rosa covered 38 laps for a best time of 1m 25.748s, continuing the evaluation process of the revised R3 which had originally been tested in Valencia. The shakedown was concluded in wet and windy conditions on Wednesday with Eddie Irvine taking over behind the wheel, setting a 1m27.42s best despite stopping on the circuit briefly with unspecified mechanical problems.

Arrows-Cosworth - Shaking down three cars:

The Arrows team began its pre-Australian Grand Prix shakedown at Silverstone on Monday when Heinz-Harald Frentzen completed 15 laps for a best time of 1m25.106s while his teammate Enrique Bernoldi joined the test on Tuesday. Frentzen managed a 1m24,133s with Bernoldi on 1m25.075s as the team continued working on set-up and getting to know the new A23 chassis. Frentzen managed a 1m24.9s on Wednesday wth Bernoldi on 1m26.2s.

Minardi-Asiatech - On their way:

Team KL Minardi left with its three cars for Australia on Thursday in order to stop off in Malaysia en route to Melbourne for the team's official launch. An agreement has also been signed with Italian driver Matteo Bobbi who will be in charge of all straight-line tests this season.

Toyota - Final test at Paul Ricard:

The Toyota team undertook its final pre-season test at the Paul Ricard circuit from 15 -17 February with Mika Salo driving on the first day and Allan McNish on the second and third days. The first two days were marred by cloud and heavy rain, but things were better on the final day. "We did some small tuning work in preparation for our first ever Grand Prix in Melbourne and we additionally worked on launch and traction control," said McNish. Between the two drivers, Toyota has completed in excess of 6000km during the course of seven separate test sessions since the beginning of January.