Berger voices TC concerns at Williams

Gerhard Berger says he will have his fingers crossed in Austria because traction control will play a major role in the outcome of the race. The BMW motorsport boss freely admits the Williams team is still not up to speed with the new electronic driver aids reintroduced two weeks ago in Spain

May 11, 2001, 5:34 PM

Speaking ahead of his home race at the A1-Ring, Berger said: "Our engineers are sweating at the moment. Traction control is quite difficult for the car in different areas. The heat is different, as are the vibrations, so we have quite a difficult time.

"Since Barcelona, we had another test in Valencia and we have improved the systems and it now seems that we are slowly getting it under control, but it is still very critical."

Berger added that he believes the team's problems will be compounded by the nature of the Austrian track. The A1-Ring, at the base of the Styrian Alps, is a circuit with fast, long corners.

"This is a circuit that traction control will make a big difference, especially in corners one, two and three," he said. "It will be working in a big way and I think if you want to do a good lap time, it will be critical at this circuit."