Cheers AP04

Cheers AP04

Tomáš Enge in AP04 at the 2001 US Grand Prix
Constructor:	Cheers Grand Prix
Designer:	Henri Durand , John Barnard
Predecessor:	Cheers AP03
Technical specifications
Chassis:	Monocoque in sandwich construction : core made of aluminum in a honeycomb structure, outer layers made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic
Engine:	Acer 01A , 3 liter V10 engine
Weight:	600 kg
Tires:	Michelin
Petrol:	Shell
statistics
Driver:	22. J. Alesi 22. H. Frentzen 23. G. Mazzacane 23. L. Burti 23. T. Enge
First start:	2001 Australian Grand Prix
Last start:	2001 Japanese Grand Prix
Starts Victories Poles SR 17th - - -
World Cup points:	4th
Podiums:	-
Leadership laps:	-

The Prost AP04 was a Formula 1 racing car, the Prost Grand Prix in 2001 in the Formula 1 began World Championship. It was the team's last car that went out of business in late 2001 due to bankruptcy.

Development history and technology

In 2001, Scuderia Ferrari equipped a second team with Alain Prost's racing team, alongside Sauber Motorsport, with Formula 1 engines. For sponsorship reasons, the V10 engine was branded as Acer . The agreement was threaded by the Ferrari team boss Jean Todt , who gave Prost the engines on special terms . The AP04 had a short wheelbase, which made the car particularly suitable for routes with a high proportion of curves. All the drivers involved spoke of the good handling of the vehicle, which apparently had potential. However, due to lack of financial strength, Prost could hardly carry out test drives during the season, which caused development to stall.

Jean Alesi and Gastón Mazzacane started the season as drivers .

Livery and sponsors

As with the previous models, the basic color of the paintwork on the AP04 was dark blue. The air deflectors in front of the side pods, which were kept in red in the colors of a sponsor, the personnel service provider Adecco , provided a colored accent .

Unlike in previous years, Prost lacked a financially strong main sponsor. The corresponding areas on the side pods therefore only showed the team logo in the 2001 season. The computer company Acer as the largest sponsor advertised on the engine cover and the front wing and, as mentioned, took on title sponsorship for the Ferrari engines. Other major sponsors were the US TV station PSN and the Italian food company Parmalat .

Racing history

Jean Alesi celebrates fifth place in the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix

The AP04 made its racing debut at the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix in March 2001 at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne . Jean Alesi qualified from 14th on the grid and Gaston Mazzacane from 20th. Both drivers were more than 3 seconds behind Michael Schumacher's best qualifying time in a Ferrari F2001 . Alesi finished the race in ninth place, while Mazzacane retired on the first lap after a brake failure.

In the second race of the season, the Malaysian Grand Prix , the Prost started from 13th (Alesi) and 19th (Mazzacane). This time both cars crossed the finish line; Alesi was ninth again and Mazzacane was twelfth.

Although Gaston Mazzacane brought a sponsor to the financially troubled team with the South American media company PSN, he was replaced by Luciano Burti from the Spanish Grand Prix . Burti, in turn, had lost his driver's seat at Jaguar Racing to Pedro de la Rosa . Burti had two serious accidents with the AP04 in 2001. At the start of the German Grand Prix on the 6.789 km long high-speed track from Hockenheim, he collided with Michael Schumacher's Ferrari. Burti drove the badly started Schumacher over the left rear wheel at high speed; the cheers rose, turned over once in the air and landed on the side of Enrique Bernoldi's Arrows A22 . None of the pilots was injured and since the race was stopped after the first lap, they could switch to the replacement car (this was allowed in 2001 according to the regulations). After the restart, Burti spun and dropped out. At the Belgian Grand Prix there was an accident between Burti and his former Jaguar team-mate Eddie Irvine on the fifth lap . In a quick left turn in front of the Blanchimont section , Burti tried to position himself to the left of Irvine. Irvine had overlooked him, however, and turned into the curve, so that Burti had to drive into the green strip next to the track. However, there was a collision between the two, with Burti losing his front wing. Both drivers lost control of their vehicles and drove into the lane. While the run-off zone slowed Irvine's car well, Burti drove almost unbraked and head-on into the tire wall. The safety car was sent out immediately to secure the scene of the accident. However, since the rescue work at Burti was ongoing, the race management decided to cancel this race as well. Burti could not drive any more races in 2001 and was replaced by the Czech Tomáš Enge .

At this point, Jean Alesi had reached three races for Prost within the World Championship points (2001 there were only the first six World Championship points). He finished sixth in the Monaco Grand Prix as well as in the German Grand Prix. At the Canadian Grand Prix he finished fifth. After crossing the finish line, the Frenchman threw his silver helmet into the spectator stands in front of the start and finish line.

But Alesi did not end the season for Prost either. It switched to the Jordan Grand Prix after the race in Germany . Heinz-Harald Frentzen , who was dismissed from Jordan, joined the team for the rest of the season. He achieved a respectable success. In Spa-Francorchamps , Belgium , he started with the far inferior Prost from 4th place. Unfortunately, at the second start, first gear could not be engaged, so Frentzen had to start from the back row. In the end, he finished ninth out of 13 pilots who saw the target.

The points scored by Alesi put the team in ninth place in the constructors' championship at the end of the season.

Further use

Two AP04 were taken over at the beginning of the 2002 season by the British company Phoenix Finance , which was associated with Arrows. Phoenix tried to get two AP04s with Hart engines to start in the second race of the season in Malaysia , as well as in the subsequent Brazilian Grand Prix . The FIA rejected the report immediately before training began. The decision was later upheld by the ordinary courts.

Results

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	Points	rank
2001 Formula 1 season																			4th	9.
J. Alesi	22nd	9	9	8th	9	10	10	6th	5	15 *	12	11	6th
H. Frentzen														DNF	9	DNF	10	12
G. Mazzacane	23	DNF	12	DNF	DNF
L. Burti						11	11	DNF	8th	12	10	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	INJ	INJ	INJ
T. Narrow																12	14th	DNF

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

literature

• David Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars 1906-2001 . 2001 (Crowood Press), ISBN 1-86126-339-2 (English).

Web links

Commons : Prost AP04  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Starting grid for the 2001 Australian Grand Prix
2. ↑ Classification for the 2001 Australian Grand Prix
3. ↑ Starting grid for the 2001 Malaysian Grand Prix
4. ↑ Classification for the 2001 Malaysian Grand Prix
5. ↑ Burti's horror crash overshadows Schumacher's record victory
6. ↑ Classification for the 2001 Monaco Grand Prix
7. ↑ Classification for the Grand Prix of Germany 2001
8. ↑ Classification for the 2001 Canadian Grand Prix
9. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 13/2002, p. 4.