14/05/2004

Paul Ricard Test Round-Up

Dates: 11-14 May 2004
Location: Circuit Paul Ricard Le Castellet France
Drivers: Olivier Panis (11-14) Cristiano da Matta (13-14) Ricardo Zonta (11-12)
Track Length: 5.810km (11-12) 4.157km (13-14)

Olivier Panis
Total laps: 247
Best Lap Time: 1m11.815s (short circuit) 1m33.165s (long circuit)
Chassis: TF104/02
"This week we had a big Michelin tyre test for the next three races which all take place within the next month so I put in a full four days. Early in the week we ran on the long version of the circuit to prepare for Canada and the Nurburgring. On Wednesday and Thursday the weather hindered our progress and the results weren't entirely clear. On Friday we ran on the short circuit to prepare for Monaco and that should work out quite well. We have to be realistic though so I don't expect Monaco will be our best race of the year. But like in Barcelona I'll certainly do my best to qualify as high as possible and finish in the best place I can. If we're quick enough to get as high up the grid as we did in Spain then it will be a good job."

Cristiano da Matta
Total laps: 177
Best Lap Time: 1m11.843s (short circuit)
Chassis: TF104/06
"I put in two days at Paul Ricard all working on the short version of the circuit in preparation for next week's Monaco Grand Prix. On Thursday I worked on suspension and tyre constructions for the twisty Monaco circuit. We had a few problems in the morning but we started to get some positive results before the weather took a turn for the worse later on. On Friday the weather was kinder and we had a successful day completing the programme successfully even earlier than we expected."

Ricardo Zonta
Total laps: 150 (long circuit)
Best Lap Time: 1m32.875s (long circuit)
Chassis: TF104/06
"We had a very constructive first day working on tyres software and other small parts. I put in nearly 100 laps of the long version of the Paul Ricard circuit a total of nearly 600km before a rain shower ended our day early. On Wednesday the changeable track conditions caused by intermittent rain made it impossible to complete our planned programme. But we still put in some mileage on wet tyres and carried out some work on minor chassis details. Now we will head to Monaco and hope for an improvement in our performance."