In the afternoon test session Jos has ...

Published on 23 January 1997 by Verstappen Info Page

In the afternoon test session Jos has done another 26 laps in his new Tyrrell, making it a total of 35 laps which Jos drove today. The shake down test session in Silverstone is over now. Next week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the team will continue its test program in Barcelona. After that the test program will continue at Jerez, Estoril and maybe Silverstone again. Because Jos is a bit bigger than Mika Salo some adjustments had to be done to the pedals today. Changes will also be made for Jos by placing the steering wheel a bit more to the front, and by moving the steering rod a bit upwards so that Jos doesn't get stuck with his feet while braking. Afterwards Jos declared to be very satisfied with the car and praised the stability of the car.

Today Benetton presented the new Benetton-Renault B197 in Planet Hollywood in London. The new Renault RS9-engine, the last F1 engine to be build by Renault, is reliable and proved to be very fast during two weeks of testing at Jerez. For this year the team has a budget of $50 million and wants to make up for last year. Compared to last year Benetton is ahead in development and thinks to be better prepared for the new season.

Today Jos drove his first test laps in the new Tyrrell 025. On a wet circuit of Silverstone, Jos drove a total of nine laps in the morning session. Jos was very satisfied with his first test and felt very good in the new car. Although it did not rain, the circuit was very wet so the team had to use rain tyres. During these first tests, the lap times are not very important, so no times were announced. Besides Jos, Toranosuke Takagi (test driver of Tyrrell) drove a total of 10 laps.