BAR tech boss calls for patience

Oastler told AUTOSPORT that the team would have to raise its game to beat the likes of Jaguar and Renault in 2002.

"With Jaguar and Renault to compete with it is going to be tough and I think that it will be a very small performance gap from seventh on the grid to 17th," said Oastler. "To say we will be in the top half a dozen at the start of the season is going to be a tough call but I think we will be there at the end of the year.

"We are probably not going to start that strongly because it is going to be very competitive and a lot of teams are going to have to lift their game. Last year there was a new set of rules and that made it a bit volatile in certain areas and in some ways in the early stages of last year it was easy for us to be competitive."

Despite speculation that star driver Jacques Villeneuve could walk out on the team if the 2002 machine did not meet his expectations, Oastler is delighted that the 1997 world champion gave good initial feedback following his first run in the car at Barcelona last week.

"It is great that he sat in the car yesterday as there was a bit of uncertainty getting back into a new environment without Craig. But Craig's departure only affected him on a personal level because he has exactly the same soul and attitude with everyone as he had last year. There really is no change."