rpm.espn.com: Olivier Panis

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Tuesday, January 15

Olivier Panis
ESPN.com

Team: British American Racing
Nationality: France

Olivier Panis
Panis

STATS

Year
Rank
Wins
Poles
Podium
Best finish

2001 15 0 0 0 4th, Brazil

Career 1 0 5 1st, Monaco (1996)

2001 Recap
The Good: Panis proved to be a solid driver for BAR in 2001, scoring five points during his first sesaon with the third-year team. In fact, the quiet Frenchman often out-performed teammate and former world champion Jacques Villeneuve.

Season Highlight: At Interlagos, Panis drove well early on and moved up the field to claim an eventual fourth-place finish in the Brazilian Grand Prix, scoring his first points for BAR.

The Bad: BAR struggled with its car last season, a problem it hopes to fix in 2002. But despite the difficulties, Panis didn't complain.

Season Lowlight: In the season finale at Suzuka, Japan, Panis struggled to keep up with Villeneuve. He qualified a disappointing 17th, then finished the race 13th.

Olivier Panis
Olivier Panis tests his new BAR car at the Montmelo circuit in Barcelona.

Key Stat: Panis ended the 2001 season on a slide. In the last five events of the year, he cracked the top-10 just once.

2002 Outlook
What needs to be done: First and foremost, BAR needs to improve its car. If they can do that, then Panis' performance will likely improve. However, early testing has been inconclusive. If the car is not improved, then Villeneuve will likely be bored and Panis may out-run him on occassion.

Prediction: BAR's new team boss David Richards promises the new car will be ready to challenge for podium finishes in 2002. We'll see. If so, Panis could sneak toward the front of the pack. But, more than likely, he'll remain in the middle of the field, just behind Villeneuve.

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