FEBRUARY 10, 1997
Arrows and Stewart overshadowed
THE much-vaunted Arrows and Stewart teams have found themselves completely overshadowed in Barcelona in recent days as Ligier enjoys a moment in the F1 spotlight.
Arrows got down to some serious testing - with team boss Tom Walkinshaw flying in to see how things were going - but Damon Hill did not break out of the 1m21s. The team reported that it was not worried as it was involved in tire development work and engine-mapping and was still using the old specification Yamaha engines. The intention was to start using newer engines on Monday with Hill likely to go for some quick times on Wednesday.
The Stewart team continues to learn the F1 ropes and Rubens Barrichello and Jan Magnussen did not get out of the 1m22s on Friday. The team will continue to test in Barcelona until Wednesday and will then head to Estoril for the big test there next weekend by which time there should be two Stewart-Ford SF1 chassis finished.