The team launched their 2001 contender (the F2001) on the 29th of January. 3 days later, Michael Schumacher was at Fiorano testing the new car. Over the 3 day test he set times that have not been achieved since 1997. On the final day he went below the 59 second mark for the first time. The car also proved reliable from day one as Schumacher covered over 230 laps.

Michael Schumacher said "The times do not mean much as a lot depends on the tyres. Bridgestone has really done a good job. The most important thing is that the car has immediately proved itself very reliable. Furthermore, the car reacts well and feels solid. I am very happy and I must compliment the engineers who have done a fantastic job."

Ferrari have also been testing at Barcelona alongside several other teams with Rubens Barrichello testing the F1 2000. Barrichello has been constantly in the top 5 and on the last day he set a new lap record.
Barrichello said on the final day "I am happy with what we have achieved over the past three days of testing. The records set by me here and Schumacher in Fiorano? It's nice but it does not mean much. There is still a lot of work to do, but it is a sign we are on the right road."
Ferrari will be conducting the next test at the Mugello track with Michael Schumacher.

 

McLaren:

 

The team will launch their 2001 contender on the 7th of February at Valencia. During the last week they have been testing privately with Mika Hakkinen, David Coulthard, Alexander Wurz and a number of development drivers including Mercedes DTM driver Darren Turner and F3 driver Giorgio Pantano. No times were available from the test.
A week before that, David Coulthard and Alexander Wurz were present at Barcelona alongside several other teams and Coulthard was consistently in the top 2 over the 4 days they spent at Barcelona.
The team will remain at Valencia following the launch of their new car.

 

Williams:

 

The team launched their car on the 27th of January and after an initial shakedown at Silverstone, Ralf Schumacher tested the FW23 for 3 days and Juan Pablo Montoya for 1 day. The best time set by the FW23 was on Ralf's third day when he ended up 3rd fastest with a time of 1:20.570.
Ralf Schumacher said at the end of his test "Because of the technical rule changes for 2001, we have tried over the past few days to adapt the set-up of the car to allow for this � something that we didn�t do too well at the beginning of this test. From driving the FW23 today, however, it feels much more stable and far closer to an optimum set-up. I�m very pleased and encouraged with what we have learned.

Juan Pablo Montoya said "Today I drove the FW23 for the first time. The car felt really good compared with the FW22B. I spent the day doing some set-up work but my running was limited as I was stopped by some engine problems. I am now looking forward to the Kyalami testing, where I am sure I will have more time to become familiar with the new car"

The team moves to Kyalami for a 6 day test from the 8th to the 13th of February.

 

Benetton:

 

The team will launch their car on the 6th of February at Venice and then move to Estoril for testing. On the 1st of February, Giancarlo Fisichella shookdown the B201 for the first time and only managed 6 laps. The team continued to struggle with the new car  with Fisichella only managing 26 laps on the following day and 27 on the last day of testing. It appears that the team are having problems with the new 110 degree V10 Renault engine.
Jenson Button continued testing the B200

 

BAR:

 

The team launched their contender on the 26th of January although they were the first team to shake their 2001 contender. Olivier Panis drove the BAR 003 on the 10th of January at Silverstone and then moved to Jerez for the first real test from the 15th. Panis continually set times that are faster than those of Jacques Villeneuve as the initial reactions from Villeneuve was that the car was difficult to setup. Furthermore, Jacques Villeneuve had a crash with the one and only BAR 003 the team had. The crash was due to a suspension failure.
Following the official launch (where the team used a replica car), the team went to Barcelona where both Panis and Villeneuve were present. The quickest time set in the BAR 003 was by Panis on the final day of testing with a time of 1:20.974 over 2 seconds off the pace.
Jacques Villeneuve was satisfied with the progress so far and said "The test has gone well, the car is still very heavy to drive at the moment, but we have been able to make progress. We seem to be getting better and better, so that's encouraging."

Olivier Panis was very pleased as well with the progress and said "The new car compared with last year's car is completely different. It's different chassis, with an evolution of the engine which is much lighter, which is a good point. And the aerodynamics are completely different because the regulations have changed a lot. But I'm very positive about the new car, to be honest. I feel that that it's going to be quick. I know we're waiting for a big package before the first GP, new aerodynamics, and I'm very, very positive and pleased."

The team moves to Kyalami for a 6 day test from the 8th to the 13th of February.

 

Jordan:

 

The team launched their contender on the 16th of January and following an initial shakedown at Silverstone, the team started testing at Barcelona from the 22nd of January with Heinz Harald Frentzen. Initially the team had problems with the clutch however that was rectified and both Heinz Harald Frentzen and Jarno Trulli covered a reasonable amount of laps. When compared head to head with BAR (as both are running identical engines), Jordan appear to be quicker at this stage.

Frentzen said at the end of his test "Everything went according to plan, apart from a small incident where the engine has "swallowed" a screw. It didn't even affect the internals of the engine, but we've opted to change it. Despite this interruption, I've managed 70 laps today. I can only confirm that mechanically, everything is simply perfect."

The team moves to Valencia to continue testing the EJ11 and expect to have the second chassis ready.

 

Arrows:

 

The team has made more surprises off the track than on it with the announcement that they have signed Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi replacing Pedro de la Rosa. Jos Verstappen stays at the team and he shookdown the new A22 at Silverstone. Prior to the shakedown, Jos Verstappen was testing the A21 at Barcelona. Enrique Bernoldi took over and he has set some quick times and on the final day he set the quickest time for the Arrows A21 during this test.
Enrique Bernoldi said after his signing with the team "Obviously I�m very happy to be a Formula One driver!  The car and the AsiaTech engine are a good package and I enjoy working with the engineers so I�m really looking forward to the season.  I will have the opportunity to learn from Jos, who has a lot of experience, which will help me develop as a driver.  I will do my best and my goal is to score points for the Orange Arrows Team."

The team moves to Estoril to continue testing the A22 while no launch date has been set yet.

 

Sauber:

 

The team launched their contender on the 24th of January and they have been surprisingly quick since. Both Nick Heidfeld and Kimi Raikkonen tested the 2001 contender and while Nick has been faster than Kimi, the difference is very small. Of the new 2001 cars, the Sauber has been very competitive setting the quickest lap times on several days at the Barcelona test.
Nick Heidfeld said on the final day of testing at Barcelona "I was pleased with the way the car has been running all day and I was able to post the 2nd fastest time. I feel the team made a step forward during this Barcelona test session. I'm going to take advantage of the coming week to go training in order to be physically fit for the beginning of the season and the first overseas Grand Prix. I will also test again in Valencia on coming February 12 to 14.
Kimi Raikkonen said "I was encouraged when I realised I have set in the middle of this morning my quickest ever time on the C20 with 1.20.442. So I have been slightly frustrated when I realised I would not get as many laps as I would. I'm satisfied with the way both the car, the team and I performed this morning, and still feel that I am making good progress and can contribute to improve the C20"

The team moves to Valencia to continue testing the C20 while Raikkonen will conduct a 2 day test at Vairano for concentrating on straight line testing.

 

Jaguar:

 

The team were the first to officially launch their 2001 car on the 9th of January. Luciano Burti shookdown the car at Silverstone on the 10th of January and the team then moved to Valencia for a full test. Luciano Burti ran for 2 days then Eddie Irvine ran for a day where he crashed the only R2 chassis they had. The team returned to testing on the 27th of January at Barcelona but they were consistently a few seconds off the pace on any given day.

Luciano Burti said on the final day of testing at Barcelona "We were there to understand the car, it has been really reliable during the test, and at this stage in the season that�s very positive. I'm happy with the progress we're making. So far this month I�ve had nine full days of testing � that�s nearly 2,000 kilometres."

The team moves to Valencia to continue testing the R2.

 

Minardi:

The team appears to be saved as Australian businessman Paul Stoddart took control of the company and bought Gabrielle Rumi's stake. Giancarlo Minardi, the founder and director of the company will remain although the team's operations will be split between Italy and the UK.
The team didn't do much testing over the past month and they have yet to announce their driver lineup although it is speculated that Fernando Alonso will be one of those drivers with an announcement expected next week.
The team are busy preparing the 2001 car to be ready for the first race in Australia. No date for the launch has been set.

 

Prost:

 

The team have yet to announce a launch date although they have been testing the AP04 over the last week. Jean Alesi shookdown the car (running a customer Ferrari engine) at Magny Cours on the 15th of January and ran for 56 laps on the first day. The team then moved to Barcelona where newly signed Gaston Mazzacane drove the car for 2 days setting the slowest times of each day over 4 seconds off the pace but then Jean Alesi drove the car the following 2 days and set the quickest times of each day and setting a lap record on the first day.
Jean Alesi said after setting the new lap record " I am extremely happy with the work we did today, and with this track record. For the first time, we can see the potential of the new car and it is very encouraging for the team. Prost Grand Prix has put in place a strong structure, and secured two important partnerships with Ferrari and Michelin. Today�s times show we are on the right direction and that we might score some points right from the first races of this season. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but this is a very important first step for us"