Spanish GP - Preview

The Circuit de Catalunya, home of the Spanish Grand Prix, presents one of the
more demanding Grand Prix venues of the 2003 season. Despite hosting a large
proportion of the season's Formula One testing activities, the vagaries of
localised weather conditions, especially the wind, makes the circuit a real
set-up challenge for race engineers and drivers alike.

The BMW WilliamsF1 Team has on occasions suffered as a consequence of the
complex set-up demands of the track. However, in recent years the team has
performed well on race day, and approaches the forthcoming race confidently,
buoyed in particular by Ralf Schumacher's unbeaten testing times set recently
on March 27 and 28 at the Barcelona circuit.

Ralf Schumacher:
Naturally, following the loss of my mother last weekend, I am having a hard
time at the moment. I therefore appreciate the support and consideration both
the fans and the media have shown myself and Michael at this difficult time.
Regarding the next Grand Prix, Barcelona is a demanding circuit with four high
speed corners and changeable wind conditions; the track is on a hill so
considerable pressure is placed on the aerodynamics of the car and the tyres.
As a result, we spend a considerable amount of time testing at Barcelona.
Finding the optimum balance of the car is one of the most difficult tasks for
us but, with the intense development of our chassis and the improvements made
on the aero side, I am fairly optimistic that our performance will be better
than in recent races.

Juan Pablo Montoya:
The Circuit de Catalunya is the track where we have completed the most amount
of testing this year. That doesn't mean it is one of my favourite tracks
though. However, in 1998, when I was racing in F3000, I won there and in the
past two years with the BMW WilliamsF1 Team I achieved two second places;
definitely a better result than we expected at the time. The track is very
demanding in terms of set-up of the car because it presents a wide variety of
situations but we are going to run the aerodynamic improvements we had in
Imola, so we should feel more confident this time. I think that, in most of the
races so far this season, we have not achieved what we should have done so I
hope our fortunes change in Barcelona.

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):
At Imola the car was quite competitive, particularly helped by recent
contributions from the aero department, however we let ourselves down with
simple driver errors and crew problems in the pit stops. The pitstop crew is
fast as they have shown regularly over the last two seasons. Even after the
problems on Sunday, Ralf had the fastest pitstop time for the race, and we have
put corrections in place for the problems we experienced.

We spent this week testing at Silverstone focusing on chassis development and
we feel we have made some progress in that department, despite Juan Pablo's
accident on day two. Fortunately he's fine and Marc ran on the last day to
finish off the test programme. Rain hampered the schedule but it enabled us to
confirm a recent improvement in the performance of the wet tyre. Barcelona is a
challenging circuit for both the engineers and drivers to find a well balanced
set up. We obviously spend a lot of time here during winter testing, but the
changeable conditions mean that you are still experimenting with the setup
during race weekend. With four high speed corners, the tyres need to be harder
than usual to cope with the high degradation and this puts a large emphasis on
aerodynamic efficiency. As at the last GP, strategy could easily be 2 or 3
stops and with overtaking so difficult here a good grid position is essential.

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
To date, Barcelona has proved a challenge for us, even though Juan Pablo has
finished second in the past two years here. The demands on the engine are
medium, and the amount of the lap at full throttle is average for the season.
The power of the BMW P83 has been clearly demonstrated on the long straights
and, so far, we have had no technical problems with the engine. Our latest test
at the Circuit de Catalunya at the end of March was encouraging; we have
achieved impressive results in terms of chassis, engine and tyre development,
all of which has been mirrored in the drivers' times in testing and our
performance at Imola. Our performance during qualifying has also improved but
we need to translate that to the races and get some podium finishes. We are
looking forward to Barcelona and hope to achieve a positive result.

Facts and Figures

- On Friday 2nd May, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team will present their latest
Merchandising Collection at the Torre de Telefonica, Montjuic ("Calatravia"),
c/Pierre de Coubertin s/nº Montaña de Montjuïc, Barcelona. The event starts at
19:00 hrs. At 20:00 hrs the presentation commences with interviews and a
fashion show, followed by a party. All Formula One journalists with permanent
accreditation are welcome to attend.

- At 18:30hrs in the BMW WilliamsF1 Team Paddock Club on Saturday May 3, Frank
Williams and Patrick Head, together with representatives from Allianz, will
present the Allianz Safety Dictionary to the media. Please see Peter Philips or
Silvia Hoffer for a credential pass.

- The city of Barcelona (population approx. 1.8 million) with its Mediterranean
seaport lies in northeast Spain. It is the economic and cultural centre of
Catalonia and boasts several universities and colleges, as well as numerous
museums and cultural monuments. Among the city's most famous sons is Art
Nouveau architect Antoni Gaudí (1852-1924), whose legacy includes the
uncompleted Sagrada Familia cathedral.

- Since the debut visit of Formula One in 1951, 32 Grands Prix have been held
in Spain at venues including the Circuit de Catalunya (12 GPs), Jarama (9),
Jerez (5), Montjuic (4) and Pedralbes (2). The first GP to be staged in Spain,
at Pedralbes on 28th October 1951, was won by Argentinian driver Juan Manuel
Fangio in an Alfa Romeo 59.

- The first race on a wet Circuit de Catalunya was on 29th September 1991. It
was won by Nigel Mansell (GBR) in a WilliamsF1-Renault. In pole position was
the BMW Motorsport Director Gerhard Berger (AUT) in a McLaren-Honda.

- WilliamsF1 have claimed a total of six victories at Spanish GPs. The first
was secured by Mansell at Jerez in 1987, and the last to date by Jacques
Villeneuve (CDN) ten years later at the Circuit de Catalunya.

- The 2002 Spanish Grand Prix proved a turbulent one for the BMW WilliamsF1
Team. Following incidents involving both drivers, Juan Pablo Montoya (starting
from fourth) crossed the finish line in second place. Ralf Schumacher drove the
first third of the race in second place before coming off the track and
dropping back to eleventh place, ultimately failing to finish the race due to
an engine fault.

- The winner of last year's Spanish GP was Michael Schumacher for Ferrari. He
also claimed pole position (1:16.364 min) and set up a lap record (1:20.355
min).

- The 2003 Spanish Grand Prix starts at 14:00 hrs local time on Sunday 4th May.
The race will comprise 65 laps of 2.940 miles (4.730 km). The race distance is
307.324 kilometres(191.003 miles).

Juan Pablo Montoya #3
DOB: 20/09/75, Bogota (COL)
Nationality: Colombian
Residence: Monte Carlo (MCO)
Marital status: Married to Connie
Height: 1.68 m
Weight: 72 kg
F1 debut: 2001, Melbourne
GP starts: 38
Poles: 10
Wins: 1
Points (total): 91
Points 2003: 10 (8th)
Fastest laps: 6

2003 GP Qualifying/Race/Points
Australia: 3./2./8
Malaysia: 8./12./-
Brazil: 9./Unfall/-
San Marino: 4./7./2

Ralf Schumacher #4
DOB: 30/06/75, Hürth (DEU)
Nationality: German
Residence: Salzburg (AUT)
Marital status: Married to Cora, one son (David)
Height: 1.78 m
Weight: 73 kg
F1 debut: 1997, Melbourne
GP starts: 104
Poles: 1
Wins: 4
Points (total): 190
Points 2002: 13 (6th)
Fastest laps: 6

2003 GP Qualifying/Race/Points
Australia: 9./8./1
Malaysia: 17./4./5
Brazil: 6./7./2
San Marino: 2./4./5

Paddock Media Briefings:

Thursday
14:00-14:30 RS (TVs followed by print media) - HP motorhome
14:30-15:00 JPM (TVs followed by print media) - HP motorhome
15:00 Patrick Head - FIA press conference - Media Centre

Friday
15:45 RS (five minutes of TV interviews) - motorhome
16:00 JPM - FIA press conference - Media Centre
19:00 Launch of the Merchandising Collection (Barcelona - Torre de Telefonica,
Montjuic ('Calatrava') - c/Pierre de Coubertin s/nº Montaña de Montjuïc
All F1 media with permanent accreditation are very welcome

Saturday
5 minutes after Qualifying: 5 minutes of TV interviews (both drivers) -
motorhome

16:30-16:45 JPM (TVs followed by print media) - HP motorhome
first 15 minutes in English, then Spanish
17:00-17:30 RS (TVs followed by print media) - BMW motorhome
17:30-18:00 Patrick Head / Mario Theissen (print media only) - BMW motorhome
18:30 Paddock Club - presentation of the Allianz Safety Dictionary with Frank
Williams & Patrick Head

Sunday
30 minutes after Race: Sam Michael available for media questions (15 minutes),
WilliamsF1 motorhome