Pollock: Pace at expense of BAR reliability?

After a disastrous debut year in 1999, which saw the BAR 01s of Jacques Villeneuve and Ricardo Zonta stop 16 times with mechanical failures, the Brackley-based outfit reduced that number to just one in 2000.

After such a vast improvement, however, Pollock says the extra pace the team needs this year may have to come at the expense of reliability.

"Last year we were very conservative, because we couldn't afford to have any reliability problems," Pollock exclusively told Autosport.com. "This year we're going more for performance, so maybe we're expecting to get a few extra chassis-related problems, but certainly not as many as 1999."

The British American Racing squad has, until now, largely concentrated its efforts on former F1 world champion and minor shareholder in the team Jacques Villeneuve. But with the arrival of a hungry Olivier Panis, fresh from a season as McLaren test driver, Villeneuve may have to fight for his number one status.

"Olivier has come in very hungry," said Pollock. "He knows that Jacques and myself are very close, but he's actually more in contact than Jacques is! I think it's very, very positive. The team is now so behind him that Jacques is going to have to start to make an effort."

Panis has so far matched the pace of his Canadian team mate during winter testing and the pair are set to be a considerable force this year. Pollock believes third in the constructor's is not unrealistic, but is more concerned with closing the gap to top teams McLaren and Ferrari, than just beating Jordan.

BAR shares a supply of works Honda engines with the Jordan team this year and the rivalry between the two outfits is expected to be rife. Craig Pollock's team took fifth place in the constructors' standings last year, ahead of Jordan in sixth.

"The incentive has to be McLaren, Ferrari and even Williams," he said. "If we aim at Jordan today, even though we think that Jordan is a very professionally run team, we'll never close that gap to the top."

For full Craig Pollock Q&A, (Click Here).