Austrian Grand Prix 2000
A1-Ring, 14th-16th July

TV Screenshots

Race

Jaguar-Racing Press Release, 16th July: Johnny Herbert was narrowly deprived of the team’s second points finish after a superb drive in the Austrian Grand Prix today. Herbert finished seventh after a race-long tussle with Jenson Button and Mika Salo.

Team-mate, Luciano Burti, a late stand-in for Eddie Irvine, performed brilliantly on his race debut. Having had the call to replace unwell Irvine on Saturday and having completed a total of just 18 laps prior to qualifying, his problems continued today when he was forced to start the race from the spare car (earmarked for Herbert) in the pit lane after a problem with his race car on the grid minutes before the start. He took the setbacks in his stride to finish in 11th place on his Grand Prix debut.

Johnny's comments:

"We were lucky at the start with all the chaos going on but I stayed out of trouble and got up to 5th place. We were looking good before the pit stop, running in fourth but lost out to Mika (Sato) and then lost out big time to Jacques Villeneuve) and Jenson (Button) as they were able to stay out longer than us.

"I was pretty pleased with the way I drove today so it's frustrating finishing seventh when you are pushing so hard for the entire race as it means no reward. I had a great chance to bring the team more championship points. It's just a shame it didn’t turn out that way."

Luciano Burti's comments:

"I'm delighted after all the dramas this weekend. My main goal was to finish considering the problem we had on the grid. I got the spare car which was set up for Johnny so obviously the set up was not as good as on my race car and also, as I am taller than Johnny, the pedals were pretty close to me. This made it painful on my legs and the right one is pretty sore now. The first corner incident played into my hands. I saw all the dust and bits flying around and thought 'I can pick up a few places here!' I had a problem with brake wear after the halfway point but otherwise I am really pleased that I finished the race."

Neil Ressler, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jaguar Racing, comments:

"We can take great comfort from today. Our planning during the course of the weekend was measured and precise and we made considerable improvement in several strategic areas. Johnny drove a steady race and was narrowly out of the points at the finish.

"Luciano acquitted himself well under very trying conditions. For a young guy thrown into his first race at the last minute he responded with great maturity. He did not put a wheel wrong over the entire race distance despite all the drama he had to endure on Saturday and today."

Gary Anderson, Technical Director, Jaguar Racing, comments:

"I think we’ve emerged with credit from an eventful three days. Johnny made a terrific start, stayed out of the first-turn mayhem and was running at a good pace. But we were deprived of a points finish because he had to pit earlier than his close rivals. It meant we conceded time and eventually points.

"For Luciano the weekend from hell continued on the grid when we had a problem with the water pressure. But he has taken everything that has been thrown at him this weekend, shrugged it off, and produced the goods. It has been a very steep learning curve. To record a race finish on his debut, in a spare car with an alien set-up, and on a track he has never seen before Saturday, was a tremendous effort."

Race results: 

1. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 1h 28:15.818 
2. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes + 12.535 
3. Barrichello Ferrari + 30.795 
4. Villeneuve BAR Honda + 1 Lap 
5. Button Williams BMW + 1 Lap 
6. Salo Sauber Petronas + 1 Lap 
7. Herbert Jaguar Cosworth + 1 Lap 
8. Gene Minardi Fondmetal + 1 Lap 
9. Wurz Benetton Playlife + 1 Lap 
10. Diniz Sauber Petronas + 1 Lap 
11. Burti Jaguar Cosworth + 2 Laps 
12. Mazzacane Minardi Fondmetal + 3 Laps

Qualifying

Jaguar Racing Press Release, 15th July 2000: Johnny Herbert will start the Austrian Grand Prix from 16th position on the grid following today’s qualifying session at the Al-Ring. Herbert was denied the opportunity to improve on his placing when his car developed a suspension problem on the last of his flying laps. 

Luciano Burti, Jaguar Racing’s test driver who was drafted in as a late replacement for Eddie Irvine, performed admirably given that he had covered only 18 taps of the A1-ring prior to his qualifying debut. The 25-year-old Brazilian starts from 21st position. Irvine underwent further medical tests in London today after returning to England on Friday suffering from abdominal pains.

Johnny Herbert;
Chassis: R1-06; T-Car chassis: R1-05
Position: 16th;Best Time: 1:12.238

"I'm thoroughly disappointed because I think we could have popped our nose into the top 10 today but we never got the chance on the last run because of the suspension problem. It's a shame because the car felt good up until that point. We now have the usual problem of starting from way down the grid so we'll have a tough race but as long as we can get the balance right we'll be able to fight back as our pace was good when we were in race spec."

Luciano Burti
Chassis: R1-04
Position: 21st; Best Time: 1:12.822

"I'm pleased with my performance today considering that I hadn't driven on this track before this morning and even then only did a few laps. It's also the firs time I've driven the R1 in qualifying trim so I had to spend time finding the limit of the car. I think just to be close to the other drivers here is an achievement for me so I'm happy and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

Gary Anderson
Technical Director, Jaguar Racing

"We weren't able to find improvement throughout the session like some of our rivals today. Everything seemed fine this morning but Johnny was unable to repeat or better those times this afternoon. He found improvement on his last run but the lap was ended by a suspension problem. 

"For someone who was thrown in at the deep end, Luciano did a very good job considering we didn't give him the best possible opportunity after his gearbox problems this morning. He's never seen the circuit, he had just 45 minutes to prepare himself, he was using an unfamiliar set-up but lie managed to complete a solid session and qualify just six tenths of a second behind Johnny. He also had a little help from his Brazilian buddy Rubens this morning which we appreciate. As for the race, we face an uphill battle. We can only hope that attrition plays into our hands."

Qualifying times: 

1. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 1:10.410 221.184 km/h 
2. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 1:10.795 + 0.385 
3. Barrichello Ferrari 1:10.844 + 0.434 
4. M Schumacher Ferrari 1:11.046 + 0.636 
5. Trulli Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:11.640 + 1.230 
6. Zonta BAR Honda 1:11.647 + 1.237 
7. Villeneuve BAR Honda 1:11.649 + 1.239 
8. Fisichella Benetton Playlife 1:11.658 + 1.248 
9. Salo Sauber Petronas 1:11.761 + 1.351 
10. Verstappen Arrows Supertec 1:11.905 + 1.495 
11. Diniz Sauber Petronas 1:11.931 + 1.521 
12. de la Rosa Arrows Supertec 1:11.978 + 1.568 
13. Heidfeld Prost Peugeot 1:12.037 + 1.627 
14. Wurz Benetton Playlife 1:12.038 + 1.628 
15. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda 1:12.043 + 1.633 
16. Herbert Jaguar Cosworth 1:12.238 + 1.828 
17. Alesi Prost Peugeot 1:12.304 + 1.894 
18. Button Williams BMW 1:12.337 + 1.927 
19. R Schumacher Williams BMW 1:12.347 + 1.937 
20. Gene Minardi Fondmetal 1:12.722 + 2.312 
21. Burti Jaguar Cosworth 1:12.822 + 2.412 
22. Mazzacane Minardi Fondmetal 1:13.419 + 3.009

Friday News 

Irvine withdraws - Burti stands in

Jaguar Racing Press Release, 14th July 2000: Eddie Irvine has been forced to withdraw from the 2000 Austrian Grand Prix following advice from the medical team at the A1-Ring.

After feeling unwell since his arrival at the circuit on Thursday, and complaining of abdominal pains, he consulted the surgeons at the A1-Ring Medical Centre on Friday and was advised to return to England for a further opinion from Professor Williams, a prominent London surgeon. Irvine will not take part in Saturday’s qualifying session and the race on Sunday.

Neil Ressler, Jaguar Racing’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: "Having taken the advice of the surgeons here in Austria, Eddie has flown back to England to undergo further tests so a fuller diagnosis can be given. it was the opinion of the medical team. that, given the discomfort he was in, there was little point in him continuing this weekend. Our priority is to ensure that Eddie returns to lull health as quickly as possible."

Jaguar Racing’s official test Driver, Luciano Burti (25), has been drafted in to take Irvine’s place for the remainder of the race weekend.

Update, 15th July.

Friday Practice

Jaguar-Racing, 14th July 2000: Johnny Herbert was quite content with his day’s work at the A1-Ring today, despite being only 16th fastest. 

"We went through our planned programme which included tyre evaluation and we have a clear direction on tyre choice for tomorrow," said Johnny. "It looked as if some teams were taking fuel out but we kept ours in all the time so in that sense we're not looking too bad. The balance of the car is pretty good but we can find further improvement by dialing out some of the understeer. I'm generally happy with, the progress we made today but we'll have to wait and see about those fuel loads!"

Johnny is hoping that he can repeat last year’s qualifying performance, when he was sixth on the grid. 

"I normally like this track anyway, and I've gone well most of the time here. But it's so tight where we are. You can get half a second and be right up the front. So as I said I think we're OK, but I'm not 100 per cent sure."

Jaguar Racing's technical director Gary Anderson was pleased with Johnny's work.

"Johnny had a productive day," said Gary. "Running in race trim he found a reasonable balance and managed to get on top of some of the understeer which can be an issue at the A1-Ring."

Last season Eddie Irvine won the Austrian Grand Prix, but he had a troubled start to this year’s event. 

"A pretty frustrating day," said Irvine. "I was only able to complete half the programme I had set for the two sessions. I was troubled by a gearbox problem, which cost me any chance of nailing a quick lap in the first hour.

"We made a few internal tweaks to cure the problem in time for the second session, but I was then plagued by an electrical fault that shut everything down twice and brought a premature end to the session. I'm in no real position to deliver an accurate verdict on the car because of the time I lost."

Jaguar Racing’s technical director Gary Anderson said that the true performance of the car had been masked by reliability problems: 

"The scoreboard may not make attractive reading but our positions are not a fair reflection of where we actually stand relative to our rivals. We know what fuel we ran and how we used our tyres but we can't be sure about the rest of the pit lane. I guess we'll find out for certain tomorrow. 

"Certainly in Eddie's case he had such a troublesome day that he was unable to set a decent time. First he had a gearbox problem. We checked it over after the first session and found a fix but he then stopped out on the circuit near the end of the second session with an electrical fault.

Friday practice times:

1. David Coulthard, McLaren-Mercedes - 1:12.464
2. Mika Hakkinen, McLaren-Mercedes - 1:12.711
3. Mika Salo, Sauber-Petronas - 1:12.786
4. Michael Schumacher, Ferrari - 1:12.823
5. Ricardo Zonta, BAR-Honda - 1:13.052
6. Jarno Trulli, Jordan-Mugen Honda - 1:13.146
7. Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari - 1:13.359
8. Jacques Villeneuve, BAR-Honda - 1:13.463
9. Pedro Diniz, Sauber-Petronas - 1:13.548
10. Giancarlo Fisichella, Benetton-Playlife - 1:13.596
11. Jean Alesi, Prost-Peugeot - 1:13.638
12. Jos Verstappen, Arrows-Supertec - 1:13.648
13. Nick Heidfeld, Prost-Peugeot - 1:13.794
14. Marc Gene, Minardi-Fondmetal - 1:13.807
15. Pedro de la Rosa, Arrows-Supertec - 1:13.815
16. Johnny Herbert, Jaguar - 1:13.878
17. Gaston Mazzacane, Minardi-Fondmetal - 1:14.030
18. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Jordan-Mugen Honda - 1:14.042
19. Alex Wurz, Benetton-Playlife - 1:14.136
20. Jenson Button, Williams-BMW - 1:14.351
21. Eddie Irvine, Jaguar - 1:14.603
22. Ralf Schumacher, Williams-BMW - 1:15.572

Race preview

Jaguar Racing Press Release, 11th July 2000: After another difficult race in France, the Jaguar Racing team is looking for a change of fortune at the 2000 Austrian Grand Prix. The team ran an intensive three-day test at Silverstone last week in preparation for the race. All three Jaguar Racing drivers were on duty, working mainly on aerodynamic developments, at a test which saw Eddie Irvine top the timesheets on day two. 

Even though the race result at Magny Cours was unsatisfactory, the team believes the R1 does have the pace to compete for points in Austria. Gary Anderson explains...

"Last week’s Silverstone test was very encouraging. Despite the weather we were able to complete our full three-day test programme and made some gains with revised aerodynamics and general set-up work. We now have a solid baseline for Austria, we just need to put into practice what we learned at the test. 

"The circuit allows for some variation in aerodynamic set-up. For instance you can run more downforce for qualifying but run a lower aerodynamic set-up for the race because you don’t want to risk losing out in any overtaking battles at the slower turns. The big issue in qualifying will be to get the new tyres working well and finding efficiency from the brakes. The brakes are worked hard at the A-1 Ring because the layout means the cars get up to speed then brake for a very low speed turn - a process which is repeated the whole way round."

Johnny Herbert is hoping the Austrian Grand Prix will prove to be the turning point in his season...

"I'm very much looking forward to going back to Austria as I really like the circuit. It's not a particularly difficult one but I always seem to go well there so I'm hoping it will be my best race so far this year. Last year's Austrian race signalled a change of fortune for me and I'm hoping for the same this weekend. We completed some good work at the Silverstone test last week which I hope will stand us in good stead for this race."

Winner of last year’s Austrian Grand Prix, Eddie Irvine, is looking forward to returning to Austria...

"This isn't the most exciting circuit in the world, especially as everyone compares it with the old Osterreichring which was obviously a cracker. The new track has loads of second and third gear corners, but no fast ones. The pit straight is a bit on the short side. There are a couple of corners where you can overtake though. It's always good to go back to a track where you had a good result the previous year and of course I won in Austria in 1999. The weather can be very changeable here, so I hope the storms keep away. It's a good place for spectators and after a positive test at Silverstone last week, I hope we can give them something worth seeing from a Jaguar point of view."

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Last updated 14th July 2000