BAR (BARF1.com)

It’s the dawn of a new era at BAR. For the first time since the teams’ inception, 1998 F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve is not with the team. The 1995 Indy 500 champion never lived up to the hype when he joined the team in 1999. As with any new team, struggles were to be expected. But BAR’s struggles were the stuff of legend. Even with Honda power plants the team failed to produce results. Last year they did manage to finish 5th in the Constructors Cup with 26 points but by then the team was imploding. Villeneuve challenged number 2 driver Jensen Button by saying he would have no respect for him if he could not drive faster than himself. Button responded by consistently outqualifying and outfinishing the Canadian. Ultimately Jacques was released, as the Brackley based team could no longer stomach his demeanor or his outrageous salary.

While BAR has rid itself of the baggage that was Villeneuve there are still issues surrounding this team. For one, BAR was the first, and with the exception of Jordan, to threaten a move to the Middle East. Claiming the laws in Europe are counterproductive to running a race team, team principals have sought friendlier environs.

BAR may also be losing Honda at the end of this year. While Honda remains committed to its F1 effort, it may well be with another team. And finally, the team has made the switch from Bridgestone tyres to Michelin. This was a rather odd move as they were a coveted by Bridgestone and rewarded for all of their testing and Michelin never actually courted them to switch.

But with all of the turmoil at BAR, practice times have been impressive. Jensen Button and new driver Takuma Sato have been at the top of the speed charts constantly so far this year. In a four day test at Jerez last week, Button was fastest on the first two days, Sato was second on day 2 and 3 and fastest on day 4. Everyone but Ferrari took place in the tests. Not everyone believed BAR to be as fast as they were, but needless to say the team was ecstatic.

BAR does have a new chassis this year. The 006 will be powered by the Honda V10 engine and run on Michelin tyres. So does BAR have a chance to improve this season? If preseason testing is any indication they certainly do. Yes, there are issues, but not having Villeneuve will be a major improvement for this team. Not having him around has to be like having that 800 pound gorilla off your back. I don’t mean to bash Jacques, but since this guy won the World Championship he has sucked, and his attitude was completely wrong for a new team. Maybe now they can get a good clean start and make something of this season and their future.