Australian Grand Prix 2000
Melbourne, 10th-12th March

TV Screenshots

Race

Bad start to the season for Johnny and Jaguar

Both Jaguar drivers failed to finish the team's first grand prix in Melbourne, Australia, today. Johnny Herbert was the first to retire from the race. After a troubled practice and qualifying session, Herbert lasted less than one lap of the race when his clutch failed.

"It's been a difficult weekend for everybody," said Herbert. "I had a great start, got into a good position then the clutch started to slip on the exit of turn two and gradually got worse. It's very frustrating as I haven't done many laps since I've been here.

"When the car runs we have shown that we are competitive. We are still moving forward. Everyone will get their heads together and get on with the job. These are still early stages for the team and I believe we can push ahead quickly."

Eddie Irvine had started the race from seventh place on the grid, but slipped down the order after the start. He spun out on lap 8 after backing off to avoid debris from an accident involving Pedro de la Rosa's Arrows.

"I was following De la Rosa when he hit the wall," said Irvine. "I lifted off to avoid him and spun to a halt. I would have like to have finished the race but not in the manner it turned out for me. As you can see from the make-up of the final results, it was a day to finish. I'm not too disheartened but we do have a lot of problems to address. We know what we have to do - we all need to get on and sort things out."

The team will now focus its efforts on the Brazilian Grand Prix in two weeks time.

Race results

1. Michael Schumacher, Ferrari - 1:34:01.987
2. Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari +11.415
3. Ralf Schumacher, Williams-BMW +20.009
4. Jacques Villeneuve, BAR-Honda +44.447
5. Giancarlo Fisichella, Benetton-Playlife +45.165
6. Mika Salo, Sauber-Petronas +45.624
7. Ricardo Zonta, BAR-Honda +46.468
8. Alexander Wurz, Benetton-Playlife +46.915
9. Marc Gene, Minardi-Fondmetal - 1 lap
10. Nick Heidfeld,  Prost-Peugeot - 2 laps
11. Jenson Button, Williams-BMW - 12 laps
12. Pedro Diniz, Sauber-Petronas - 17 laps
13. Gaston Mazzacane, Minardi-Fondmetal - 18 laps
14. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jordan-Mugen Honda - 19 laps
15. Jarno Trulli, Jordan-Mugen Honda - 23 laps
16. Jean Alesi, Prost-Peugeot - 31 laps
17. Mika Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes - 40 laps
18. Jos Verstappen, Arrows-Supertec - 42 laps
19. David Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes - 47 laps
20. Pedro de la Rosa, Arrows-Supertec - 52 laps
21. Eddie Irvine, Jaguar - 52 laps
22. Johnny Herbert, Jaguar - 57 laps

Qualifying

Disappointment for Johnny; Eddie 7th

Jaguar Racing press release, 11th March:

Johnny's comments:

"The is the worst pre-race buildup I can remember. I went out on my first lap, took it easy with the plan to push on the second and, as I started, the engine cut out on turn two. I got back to the pits jumped in the spare car and as left the garage I lost the power steering and had all sorts of handling problems with the front end. The car was pulling really badly to the right and was pretty much undriveable. I struggled to get it round to start my quick lap and had the same problem in exactly the same place. The whole thing is very frustrating. It meant that I didn’t have any chance whatsoever of setting a time."

Eddie's comments:

I am pleasantly surprised. I honestly didn’t think we could qualify that high up. We changed the engine after morning practice and it made a huge difference to the performance which amounted to about four tenths of second. My strategy was to pit two laps together on each run because I felt the car became a lot lighter on the second lap on fresh tyres. I perhaps could have made up one more place if I had been able to get a final lap in at the end but the chaos you normally get right at the end of qualifying materialised.

Paul Stewart's comments:

"It’s fair to say that we got off lightly today. Eddie did an excellent job and maybe, if everything had gone to plan, he might have been able to move up one more place. I‘m disappointed for Johnny. He’s worked so hard, he’s mentally committed to it, right behind the team but both cars failed him today. The only thing Johnny can hope for is to have a reliable car tomorrow. If all the rumours are true about others having reliability difficulties then he might be in luck but we haven’t shown that we are capable of it yet. It’s going to be a race of attrition tomorrow but, despite our problems, I don’t think it’s all doom and gloom for us."

Jackie Stewart's comments (from Jaguar-Racing.com):

"I think Eddie did a very good job, considering the difficulties we've had over the two days," said Jackie. "It might have been nice to get sixth, and I think he might have done it, but there were an awful lot of people going off the road.

"I'm very disappointed for Johnny. He doesn't deserve that at all. He's been up to the same speed as Eddie all weekend when he's been out there. We've just not been able to give him any reliability that's allowed him to get on with the job. But his car is actually quite well balanced, so jumping into the spare car doesn't help him."

"I think we've got more to come in our car, potentially. I'm relatively comfortable with the fact that we've got a chassis that's going to get better when we get more running on it, because we haven't got it balanced correctly yet. And I think we've got an engine that's actually good and has got good power.

"The complications that we're having just now are plaguing us both from a power point of view and handling point of view - the problem that we have is affecting horsepower performance, as well as the unreliability issue. When we get the problem solved, we're going to show good horsepower, and I think we're going to get the chassis sorted out.

Qualifying times

1  Mika Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes - 1:30.556
2. David Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes - 1:30.910 (+0.354)
3. Michael Schumacher, Ferrari - 1:31.075 (+0.519)
4. Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari - 1:31.102 (+0.546)
5. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jordan-Mugen Honda - 1:31.359 (+0.803)
6. Jarno Trulli, Jordan Mugen-Honda - 1:31.504 (+0.948)
7. Eddie Irvine, Jaguar - 1:31.514 (+0.958)
8. Jacques Villeneuve, BAR-Honda - 1:31.968 (+1.412)
9. Giancarlo Fisichella, Benetton Playlife - 1:31.992  (+1.436)
10. Mika Salo, Sauber-Petronas - 1:32.018  (+1.462)
11. Ralf Schumacher, Williams-BMW - 1:32.220  (+1.664)
12. Pedro de la Rosa, Arrows-Supertec - 1:32.323  (+1.767)
13. Jos Verstappen, Arrows-Supertec - 1:32.477 (+1.921)
14. Alexander Wurz, Benetton-Playlife - 1:32.775 (+2.219)
15. Nick Heidfeld, Prost-Peugeot - 1:33.024 (+2.468)
16. Ricardo Zonta, BAR-Honda - 1:33.117 (+2.561)
17. Jean Alesi, Prost-Peugeot - 1:33.197 (+2.641)
18. Marc Gene, Minardi-Fondmetal - 1:33.261 (+2.705)
19. Pedro Diniz, Sauber-Petronas - 1:33.378 (+2.822)
20. Johnny Herbert, Jaguar - 1:33.638 (+3.082)
21. Jenson Button, Williams-BMW - 1:33.828 (+3.272)
22. Gaston Mazzacane, Minardi-Fondmetal - 1:34.705 (+4.149)

Friday Practice

Johnny aims for Top 6 in qualifying

Jaguar-Racing, 10th March: Jaguar Racing driver Johnny Herbert believes he can qualify in the top six for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. The Briton made the claim despite ending up only 17th fastest in Friday afternoon's second free practice session.

"As long as we have a trouble-free run on Saturday morning, I don't see why we shouldn't qualify on one of the first three rows, or at least in that region," said Herbert. "We basically lost the whole of Friday with lots of little problems. 

"I ended up doing 11 laps, which adds up to only five or six flying laps. That means I haven't even started to do any set-up work yet. But as long as I can get some laps in tomorrow, we'll be okay. We've got our problems, but we aren't the only ones."

Herbert's Jaguar R1 suffered gearbox gremlins early in the one-hour morning session. The complete rear end from the spare chassis was then fitted to his race car, but difficulties engaging the clutch further restricted his running over the course of the day.  

Jaguar report on qualifying

Jaguar-Racing, 10th March: Jaguar Racing made its eagerly awaited official debut when Eddie Irvine and Johnny Herbert headed out of the pits at the start of the first practice session for Sunday's Australian GP. But Friday proved to be a day of mixed fortunes for the team. Both drivers suffered mechanical gremlins and completed fewer laps than planned. However, the general feeling is that the R1 has pace and potential, and should be at the sharp end of the closely fought battle behind the two leading teams.

Irvine finished the day in 10th place, but was an encouraging fifth behind the Ferraris and McLarens when he stopped on the circuit with 19 minutes of the afternoon session to go. He slipped down the order as other drivers ran quick laps with their cars in qualifying trim.

"We've got lots of different problems in different areas," said Irvine. "There are clutch problems, there are handling problems, and a couple of engine problems. We just need more time.

"The top four is what you'd expect to see. It's going to be very close and very competitive behind them. It's not going to be so easy to finished third, fourth or fifth this year."

Herbert was 17th, but completed only 11 laps. The car stopped out on the circuit in the morning, and the team changed the engine and gearbox during the interval. In the afternoon session he continued to suffer problems with the clutch, despite swapping back and forwards between steering wheels.

"It's frustrating," said Herbert. "But the laps I've done have been good. The very first run was on a dirty track, but on the only run I did this afternoon the car wasn't bad at all, although I had to ease off because Michael (Schumacher) was in the barriers. I'm actually quite pleased with it from that point of view. So I'm happy in one way, but damn frustrated that we didn't get to do many laps."

Paul Stewart admitted that the team still has a lot of homework to do. 

"The difficulties we are encountering today are consistent with what we've seen in testing,” he said. “It's not overly surprising, but I think there's a basic pace in the car. We've just got to make sure we get it right for tomorrow's session."

Unhappy Herbert

Autosport, 10th March: A furious Johnny Herbert stomped back to the pits after his first day as a Jaguar driver was plagued by mechanical problems. He completed just 11 laps in two hour-long sessions and his car broke down twice leaving him 17th.

Herbert had been determined to start the season on a high note after the trials and tribulations of reliability that haunted him for most of last year.

"The day was a complete disaster," he said. "I don’t ever want to have a day like this again. I had engine problems and electronic problems. It didn’t need to happen."

He wound up 17th, seven-tenths of a second slower than new teammate Eddie Irvine who was 10th.

"It doesn’t help when you get only 11 laps - not many of them timed - and everyone else has done 24 or 25. Lets hope I have got all of the bad luck I am going to have this year out of the way now."

Lap times from Friday practice:

Race preview

Jaguar-Racing, 7th March: The new grand prix cars are all in their pit garages and the last of the drivers have arrived as the final countdown to the start of the 2000 season continues in Melbourne, Australia. 

Bright sunshine greeted arrivals in the Victorian state capital and good weather is forecast until Friday. Jaguar Racing drivers Eddie Irvine and Johnny Herbert were among the last of the 22 competitors to set foot in the city after a brief trip to Sydney on PR duty. 

As well as hosting a press conference yesterday (Tuesday), the pair blasted around Sydney harbour on Yamaha jet-skis, each mounted with a Jaguar flag. 

"We are fully prepared coming here," said Irvine. "But if you looked around at the last tests, every team could probably do with another month of testing before they would come here and feel 100 per cent. We've got to be realistic because the team is new, and there are areas that need to be improved. It's going to take time.

Jaguar Racing's Jackie Stewart said that he hoped to improve on last year's fourth place for Stewart GP. 

"If either Ferrari or McLaren slip on a banana skin it's not impossible for us to interrupt their domination at the top - as long as we get reliability."

The Jaguar drivers were not the only contenders in action on the water on Tuesday - Sauber's Pedro Diniz had a go at a rather more sedate sport and rowed on Albert Lake. Jordan's Jarno Trulli was spotted playing squash. 

Before heading to Melbourne, Michael and Ralf Schumacher spent four days training at the resort of Mount Buller, where they stayed in an exclusive five-star hotel. Horseriding and cycling was on their agenda, and they successfully managed to avoid any media attention. 

Along with Prost's Nick Heidfeld and Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frentzen, a fifth German will be joining the F1 circus this year. Bernd Maylander has taken over from Oliver Gavin as the official FIA Safety Car driver, and he got some valuable mileage in the car at the nearby Philip Island circuit yesterday (Tuesday).

Fun in the sun?

Competing in the Australian Grand Prix might sound like a fun break in the sun, but for the two Jaguar Racing drivers it's just the start of another hard week at work. 

While the cars aren't on-track until Thursday, Johnny Herbert and Eddie Irvine have been in Australia since the weekend, acclimatising to the new time zone and ensuring they are in perfect shape for the week ahead. With a busy schedule of PR and sponsor events, they are going to need all their strength. 

The action starts on Tuesday, March 7. In just three days time, Irvine and Herbert will be at the limit in the Jaguar R1 around the streets of Albert Park for the first official practice session of the season. But today, they will race around Sydney Harbour on jet skis, buzzing the pleasure boats at Farm Cove and entertaining the Australian press. 

It's more high jinks on Wednesday, although this time on dry land. At the Calder Park race circuit, just 20km outside Melbourne, the two lead drivers and tester Luciano Burti will take journalists around the track in Jaguar road cars. 

Classic D-Types and E-Types will be on hand, as will the modern range of Jaguar cars. For some journalists, it will be the ride of their life (the reality of just how quickly a grand prix driver can lap a racing circuit can often come as a shock); for others, it's a chance to get close to the Jaguar stars on the eve of the team's debut grand prix, and perhaps glean an insight into the minds of some of the best drivers in the world. 

Herbert will also have his own agenda at Calder Park. Not to be outdone by his new team-mate - who launched his new helmet design at London's K-Bar last week - Herbert will use the Calder Park event to unveil his own re-styled lid. The Jaguar Racing green won't be the only new colour on the grid this year... 

In the evening there will barely be time for a quick snack before Irvine and Herbert's entourage, now joined by Jackie and Paul Stewart, descend on the Kellow Falkiner Jaguar dealership in Melbourne for some in-house PR. There are hands to shake and messages of good luck to accept. And there will be one more dealer event to attend in the evening before the drivers can make it back to the hotel for a well-earned rest. 

On Thursday, the real business of the trip comes to the fore. The drivers need to be weighed at the Albert Park circuit – the driver is included as part of the total weight of the car, which must be at least 600kg - and the team will have the first of many briefing sessions. 

Then it’s another round of interviews and photocalls at the Jaguar Racing base in the Melbourne paddock. And later in the afternoon Eddie Irvine will meet and greet the world’s media at an official FIA press conference. Add in the final fitness training and mental relaxation a grand prix driver needs to focus his mind on the job in hand, and it’s easy to understand why for the Jaguar Racing drivers, the Australian Grand Prix is no walk in the park.

Jaguar Racing Press Release: On 12th March, 22 cars will line up on the grid in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2000 FIA Formula One World Championship. The 50th anniversary year of the championship sees the Formula One debut of Jaguar with the team's R1 lining up against the Formula One establishment.

Jaguar has been victorious in motor sport for over fifty years, winning Le Mans seven times, three World Sportscar Championships, America's toughest sportscar race at Daytona, the Monte Carlo Rally and the Coupe des Alpes. Now, for the first time, a Jaguar will contest a Formula One race.

Jackie Stewart is renewing a link with the Jaguar marque which dates back to his teenage days working in his father's Dumbarton Jaguar dealership. He and brother Jimmy also shared the experience of driving Jaguars in their formative racing years. 

"Some of my earliest racing successes were with the lightweight Jaguar E-Type and l am delighted to be associated with the Jaguar-marque once more. I share Jaguar's great sense of heritage and l look forward to helping Jaguar Racing achievements its objectives in Formula One."

The Jaguar Racing team has bed an extremely busy 'off season' as the operation steps up a gear in a continual process of improvement. Chief Operating Officer, Paul Stewart explains: ''As a, company we've moved forward compared to this time last year. We've been able to put in more test miles, we have more resources at our disposal and generally feel better equipped to take on the challenges of the season.

The Jaguar R1, the first of a breed, was officially launched on 25th January 2000. Technical Director Gary Anderson explains how the car has fared so far: 

"We've concentrated on the aerodynamic and or, technical sides of the car in order to make it efficient and we think its pretty good. We're reasonably happy with the car, sure we've had problems in testing but nothing insurmountable and no more than anyone else. It's still early days but we'll be in Melbourne with three cars, lots of spare bits and ready for the fight."

Winner of the 1999 Australian Grand Prix, Eddie Irvine, enjoys the challenges of the Albert Park track: 

"Albert Park is quite a tricky circuit - you have to get the car right because you always lose the rear on entry and obviously mid-corner so it is a difficult track. There's a couple of good sections, the fast chicane at the back is very good and the last corner is good too. From the point of view of the car it is a tough track. It's very difficult to set the car up and it s pretty hard on the brakes."

Johnny Herbert had quite the opposite result last year as he had to sit the race out after a fire in his Stewart Ford before the start. The spare car had already gone to his team-mate Barrichello: 

"Well l've got to do better than last year haven't I! I certainly don't want to be having my barbecues on the grid this year! Seriously though, this is an important season for me and I'm really keen to get started with Jaguar Racing and the new R1. Australia is always a terrific event - the weather is usually great and we get to see how much development everyone has done during the winter.

FORMULA ONE DEBUT FOR JAGUAR IN AUSTRALIA

Jaguar makes its Grand Prix debut in Melbourne at the 2000 Australian Grand Prix.

"Our debut in Formula One clearly signals Jaguar's direction fur the future," said Jaguar's Chairman Dr Wolfgang Reitzle. "There is an excitement and passion about Formula One racing which closely matches the emotional appeal of Jaguar.

"At the heart of our plans is a renewed commitment to that unique blend of emotion and technology which makes Jaguar one of the most evocative automotive marques in the world. We call it emotional engineering and the F-Type concept car which we unveiled in Detroit in January perfectly illustrates our philosophy for the future.

"We are a new team. One of the newest teams in Formula One. We have a lot to learn. The team though, is highly motivated and determined to succeed and we are, of course, able to build on the very firm foundations established by Jackie Stewart.

"Our ultimate objective is the ultimate prize in motorsport - the FIA Formula One World Championship."

The new Chairman of Jaguar Racing and Ford Motor Company Vice President and Chief Technical Officer Neil Ressler said: 

"In my capacity as Chairman of Jaguar Racing and Chief Technical Officer of Ford Motor Company I will be ensuring that Jaguar Racing has access to the full range of Ford Motor Company's technological resources - including Cosworth and PI.

"I have always advocated the closest possible links between the racing team and Jaguar's engineering team in Coventry and Jaguar engineers and designers are already contributing to the racing programme. I also believe that Jaguar's production car engineers can learn a great deal from the racing team in Milton Keynes. The need to solve problems quickly breeds a nimble and innovative culture which we will be able to transfer to the road car development programmes. I regard technology and process transfer as one of the major advantages for Jaguar and I intend to ensure that we use it for the benefit of our customers," said Mr Ressler.

Jonathan Browning, Jaguar's Managing Director said: 

"Jaguar is expanding rapidly. We have just reported record sales for last year. In Europe we grew faster than any other car manufacturer, and we have even more ambitious plans for the future. Formula One, with its massive global reach, will clearly promote a wider recognition of the Jaguar marque. Eighty percent of the cars Jaguar builds are exported. The international dimension of Formula One is a major attraction.

"We know from our previous involvement in motorsport that a successful racing programme has major commercial benefits. For example, it will give us that vital connection with the performance orientated buyers - a key factor as we introduce new performance-orientated cars in the future".

Jonathan Browning also painted out that Jaguar employees were amongst the most enthusiastic supporters of Jaguar's new racing team. 

"Racing is part of the Jaguar culture and there is already tremendous excitement and interest in our plants in the Midlands and on Merseyside. Many of our employees will be tuned into their television set for the Melbourne race," he said.

The Journey to Australia...

Thursday 2 March

Jaguar Racing's 2 1 tonnes of freight is delivered to Stanstead Airport by 1400h. This freight holds everything the team take to a European race (bar the trucks!)

Saturday 4 March

The first of the FOM-chartered freight planes leaves Stansted at 0600hrs. Two further planes will leave at 1130hrs and 1700hrs, between them carrying all the kit for the British F1 teams.

Monday 6 March

Freight arrives at the circuit in Melbourne where 10 Jaguar Racing team members will be waiting.

Tuesday 7 March

The rest of the team arrives to set up for the race weekend.

Winter Testing...

The Jaguar R1 has covered ever 6000kms during 25 days of testing this year.

Every effort is made to ensure factual accuracy but
no responsibility is accepted for this information
 Jaguar-Racing material used by kind permission
Preview pictures (and kids) by Dave Schembri
More of Dave's pics can be found here
Last updated 12th March 2000