Villeneuve: It’s getting better all the time

BAR stated aims for 2001 - its third year in Formula 1 - are winning its first Grand Prix and finishing third behind the McLaren/Ferrari closed-shop in the constructors' points. But when Villeneuve tried the Malcolm Oastler-designed car for the first time at Barcelona, he described it as "slow and difficult to drive".

Now, after an intensive test programme at the Spanish track involving Villeneuve and team mate Olivier Panis, the 1997 World Champion says that significant progress is being made.

"It is starting to feel good and especially good in the high-speed corners," he said. "I played a little bit with the set-up and the car was very responsive to the changes."

But after noting steering problems during last Thursday's test session, the French-Canadian says that the team still has to work on the car's electronically-controlled power-steering system.

"[The steering problem] that I felt on Thursday is not there anymore," he noted. "When I changed tyre compounds it was completely gone, but the steering is still very heavy and something has to be done about that."

With one of the key factors in the 2001 World Championship set to be tyres, following the arrival in F1 of Michelin to take on Bridgestone, Villeneuve says he is confident that the BAR003 can make good use of what will undoubtedly be a rapidly changing series of compounds and constructions from the team's supplier, Bridgestone.

"The suspension and tyres seem to be working well, which I'm happy with," he said. "Tyres are going to be important this year and it's going to be very important to be on the right compound."

With two weeks of testing at Barcelona finally coming to an end this weekend, BAR is scheduled to switch its efforts to the Kyalami circuit in South Africa next week.