SEPTEMBER 14, 1998

...as Williams builds a second test team

WILLIAMS GRAND PRIX ENGINEERING is understood to be putting together a second test team for the 1999 season. The team will be based in BMW premises in Munich and will run this year's Williams chassis in BMW colors. FormulaÊ1 teams are restricted in where and when they can test during the course of a season but running old cars in different colors is acceptable and so the BMW operation will be able to run wherever and whenever it likes, which is very important as the German engine-maker develops its V10 Formula 1 engine which will be used in the year 2000 by Williams.

Most of the work is expected to take place at Paul Ricard where Williams has considerable engine data as a result of years of engine testing at the circuit with Renault Sport.

The BMW test work is likely to be carried out by a new test driver, leaving Juan-Pablo Montoya - if he stays with the team - and Max Wilson to work on the development of the 1999 cars. The team is in the process of looking for a suitable driver for the project as it does not want to run a young driver without engine-testing experience. There are no obvious candidates for the job but logic dictates that BMW would prefer to have someone who has tested a variety of other state of the art F1 engines. The best candidate would probably be Emmanuel Collard who has worked with Williams before and has experience with both Renault and Peugeot although BMW might prefer to find someone who has had experience with the Mercedes-Benz engine. Jan Magnussen has a great deal of experience with both Mercedes and Ford engines.