Friday promise leaves Arrows in qualifying

Frentzen 18th
By Huw Alban
April 29 2002

The OrangeArrows cars of Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Enrique Bernoldi suffered hugely in the heat of Interlagos, and will start the Brazilian Grand Prix from 18th and 21st places. Unfortunately the promise shown in the first and second free practice sessions on Friday did not carry through to today.

The track temperature for the start of the qualifying hour is a searing 43 degrees. Alex Yoong is the first driver out on the circuit, 8.5 minutes into the session. His first flying lap is a 1.17.832, and the TV commentary expects pole position today to be in the 1 minute 13 seconds kind of time.

Enrique Bernoldi is the third driver out on the circuit, and takes third spot behind the Toyota of Allan McNish with a 1.16.227 . The ITV commentary noted that the paddock whispers were saying that the A23 could be a very quick car with some development time spent on it. ITV believe that OrangeArrows are currently suffering from a lack of track time, and that the car would be a lot more competitive if the team spent some money on it.

As Enrique finishes his flying lap, Heinz-Harald Frentzen takes to the track. The Germans first flying lap is a 1.15.776 which by now is good enough for third spot. Bernoldi has now dropped to 5th. The TV commentary noted that Frentzen had been unable to get off the line for the first two races of the season. During the practices earlier this morning he had attempted to practice a start and again he was unable to get the car away ! Martin Brundle's advice to OrangeArrows was to give Frentzen a normal clutch and let him start the old fashioned way.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen has dropped to 9th, and Enrique Bernoldi 11th 25 minutes into the session. By just over the half way mark, with the entire grid having recorded flying laps, OrangeArrows have dropped to 17th and 18th places with Frentzen ahead.

With 13 minutes of the session left to run, the OrangeArrows cars have dropped again to 20th and 21st places. News from the pit lane has emerged that both drivers have elected to use the harder of the Bridgestone tyres, suggesting that the team are intending to keep their pit stops to a minimum during the race tomorrow.

3 minutes later Heinz-Harald Frentzen has recorded another flying lap and moves up into 18th. Enrique Bernoldi is still languishing in 21st place, 2.241 seconds of the pace set by current pole position man Juan Pablo Montoya.

In the last minutes Enrique Bernoldi tries another quick lap but is unable to improve on his 21st position. Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished the qualifying hour in 18th.