Reliability is the name of the game for the Prost-Peugeot Formula One team for the 2000 season, the French team's chief engineer Jean-Pierre Boudy. Frenchman Jean Alesi and German prospect Nick Heidfeld are in the driving seat for the two cars this season for a team that has struggled in recent seasons. Peugeot's Boudy admits that reliability is the key to the team being able to make an impact in the Millennium Championship. "As for the beginning of the season we are targeting reliability above all (for the engine), an objective which is shared by Prost Grand Prix, who are responsible for the chassis," said Boudy".
Officially the new Prost car weighs 109kg and is 780 horsepower while the ideal for a Formula One car is generally considered to be a weight of less than 100kg and a 800kg+ horsepower, but Boudry said the real power of the Peugeot engine was higher than 780. "If we measure the power of the Peugeot A20 at zero degrees celsius it actually gains 40 horsepower," Boudry explained. Boudry admitted that a series of problems had blighted his team's preparation, including suspension, gearbox, hydraulic and electrical niggles.
But he insisted, "I am rather confident as far as the reliability of our engine is concerned but not as confident as I would have been if we could have done 5000km on the track (in testing sessions). "He admitted that the season's opening Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne may have come to soon for his team's new A20. "We have only just begun the development work on the A20 and there are other areas of research I prefer not to speak about at the moment," said Boudry.
