The FIA Technical Department has informed all ...

Published on 30 April 1998 by Verstappen Info Page

The FIA Technical Department has informed all teams on April 27 that the "mid-winglets fitted on certain Formula One cars", the so called X-wings, are considered dangerous. Should any car be fitted with such a device in future events, the Stewards of the Meeting will be invited to exclude it under Art.127 of the International Sporting Code and Art. 2.3 of the Formula One Technical Regulations ("Dangerous Construction").

Almost all teams are testing this week in preparation for the Spanish Grand Prix. The McLaren team is testing at Barcelona where David Coulthard has set the pace yesterday with 1:22.75 before crashing heavily after 21 laps. David escaped unharmed. Mika Hakkinen did 72 laps and set a best time of 1:22.87 and also had a minor crash. Tests continue until Friday.

Ferrari is also testing at Barcelona with Badoer, Irvine and Schumacher. Schumacher set a best time of 1:23.306, Irvine 1:24.275 and Badoer 1:24.620. Ferrari is also testing until Friday. Jordan is also present in Barcelona with Ralf Schumacher (1:24.16) and Pedro de la Rosa (1:24.70). Damon Hill joined on Wednesday and set a time of 1:24.21. Hill and Honda scholarship driver Juichi Wakisaki will continue the test today.

Williams is also working on their performance in Barcelona with Heinz-Harald Frentzen testing on Tuesday (1:24.20) and Wednesday (1:23.91). Villeneuve takes over on Thursday and Friday. For Sauber Jean Alesi (1:23.95), Jorg Muller (1:24.77) and Johnny Herbert (1:25.35) were testing at Barcelona. Stewart had a good session in Barcelona. Jan Magnussen had a good test on Wednesday, covering 68 laps and a time of 1:26.01. Rubens Barrichello did 1:25.31. The team hopes to have a new version of the engine, the P4, ready in time for qualifying in the Spanish Grand Prix.

The Barcelona circuit was further more occupied by the Prost, Tyrrell and Minardi teams. Panis and Trulli are testing for Prost from Tuesday until Friday. Toranosuke Takagi and Ricardo Rosset are testing for Tyrrell from Tuesday till Thursday and Minardi is testing for two days with Laurent Redon (1:26.82) and Shinji Nakano (1:25.86). Esteban Tuero joins the team today. Arrows has postponed it's Barcelona test until after the Spanish Grand Prix.