The Benetton B201 was the car with which the Benetton team competed in the 2001 Formula One World Championship ; it was the last car constructed and raced by Benetton. It was driven by Italian Giancarlo Fisichella , who was in his fourth year with the team, and Briton Jenson Button , who moved from Williams after his début season in 2000 . Australian Mark Webber served as test driver whilst racing in F3000.
26-644: Parts for the B201 began testing early using a modified B200 , known as the B200B. This car was tested up until late January, with both Button and Fisichella working on the RS21 engine and electronic systems for the new car. On February 2, Fisichella completed the first shakedown of the new B201 before a private press launch. Days later, the car was officially launched in an extravagant ceremony in Piazza San Marco , Venice . The event
52-634: A double retirement in Canada , the team returned to the European Grand Prix with confidence in a new launch control system to be used for the first time on the B201. Whilst some improvements were noted during practice, both cars finished outside the top 10. Further developments were added to the B201 ahead of the next race in France, although results did not notably improve until the German Grand Prix . For
78-609: A pale blue colour. In the Grands Prix that did not allow tobacco branding, the logo was replaced with their driver names. Many of the sponsors from 2000 were retained including D2 (in place with Vodafone ), Marconi and Korean Air . PlayStation 2 joined as the team's minor sponsor. At the United States Grand Prix , an American flag was featured on the front side of the car, in response to the September 11 attacks . Following
104-579: Is a telecommunications operator in Germany owned by Vodafone Group Plc and headquartered in Düsseldorf . It provides mobile phone , LTE , 5G , cable internet , landlines , cable TV , and IPTV services. As of the third quarter of 2021, Vodafone GmbH has more than 31 million mobile customers in Germany, making it the third-largest provider of mobile phone services in Germany. The company's headquarters are in
130-561: The B200. For their backroom team, it was also announced Mike Gascoyne would join from Jordan Grand Prix for 2001. At the European Grand Prix, Fisichella finished 5th adding two more points to the B200's total. He would go on to secure back to back podiums in Monaco and later Canada , thanks to a one stop pit strategy. However, the good fortune was short lived as he retired from four of
156-641: The Benetton team from the Benetton Family. The $ 120million deal, saw Renault join as a key sponsor for the B200, and successor B201 before Renault took full ownership of the team in 2002. The B200 got off to a successful start, scoring two points with Fisichella in the first race of the season. Ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix , Rocco Benetton 's successor Flavio Briatore returned to the team having been appointed by Renault at Team Principal. He oversaw
182-552: The Constructors' Championship, tied with British American Racing on 20 points, but placed ahead due to Fisichella's three podium finishes. Following the conclusion of the season, future double Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso tested the Benetton B200. Future race winner Mark Webber was appointed 2001 test driver and also completed laps in the B200, at Estoril Circuit . Benetton used 'Mild Seven' logos, except at
208-501: The French and British Grands Prix. One of the B200 was restored in favour of the Judd swapped engine. The current location and owner is unknown. ( key ) (results in bold indicate pole position) * Denotes Supertec -built engines, badged as Playlife This Formula One –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Vodafone Germany Vodafone GmbH
234-518: The aborted Honda RA099 project. The B200 sought to return to basics, after the complex B199 from the season before often suffered poor reliability. The B200 featured a new engine, the Playlife FB02 manufactured by Supertec , which was tailor made for the B200. Prior to the season, the team took part in both the January testing at Barcelona and February testing at Jerez and Barcelona. In February,
260-477: The conclusion of the season, Renault , who were due to formally become the replacement for Benetton in the World Championship, utilised the B201 for a number of pre-season tests. These took place throughout late 2001 and early 2002 with Jenson Button , Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso driving. The cars were temporarily repainted in yellow and white with black details (based on Renault's famous livery from
286-532: The end of 2010, Vodafone had 36.676 million mobile phone or mobile internet customers and 3.945 million customers with a DSL / VDSL connection. The company in its present form resulted from Vodafone's takeover of the German engineering group Mannesmann GmbH in 2000. On 8 December 1989, the West German Federal Ministry for Posts and Telecommunications ( de ; one of several predecessors of
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#1732872777446312-450: The first time, both cars finished in the points with Fisichella in fourth, and Button fifth. However, after this success, both cars would retire from the next race and Button from the following two. The B201's best finish would come in Belgium , with Fisichella finishing third in a chaotic race that was red flagged in the opening laps, before being restarted. No further points were added to
338-476: The late 1970s and early 1980s). The cars were used to test various engine, aerodynamic and electronic improvements. ( key ) (results in bold indicate pole position) Benetton B200 The Benetton B200 was the car with which the Benetton team competed in the 2000 Formula One World Championship . It was driven by Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and Austrian Alexander Wurz , both in their third season with
364-498: The next five Grand Prix. In comparison to Fisichella, Wurz had a poor season. It took until the Italian Grand Prix to score his first points of the season, finishing 5th. During the season it was speculated that Pizzonia would replace him, and by August Jenson Button was signed for the team ahead of 2001. Wurz's efforts at Monza would be the final points scored for the B200 in the 2000 season. The team finished fourth in
390-566: The present-day Bundesnetzagentur ) awarded the second digital GSM-900 (also known as D-Netz ( de ; D-Network in Germany) network in Germany to Mannesmann, as the first private company in Germany to break the monopoly of the telecommunications services operated by Deutsche Bundespost (now Deutsche Telekom ). This licence was subsequently expanded to cover the former East Germany after German reunification in 1991. Mannesmann subsequently began operations of its mobile network on 30 June 1992. It
416-402: The season, Renault chief Jean-Jacques His [ fr ] claimed that the team's 2001 designs were 'hacked' the season prior, and a huge redesign was the reason for their lack of pace. In season testing was extensive, as they got to grips with the aerodynamic and engine challenges. A major update to the B201 at the midpoint of 2001 allowed a significant improvement for the second half of
442-423: The suburb of Heerdt in Düsseldorf , with regional offices throughout Germany. Vodafone Germany's main competitors are 1&1 Mobilfunk , Telekom Deutschland ( Deutsche Telekom 's German private customer unit) and Telefónica Germany . Vodafone Germany's network serves both prepaid and postpaid customers on GSM and LTE ( Long Term Evolution ). In July 2019, Vodafone started providing 5G services. At
468-545: The team secure a podium finish, again with Fisichella, as he finished in third place at Interlagos. Days later he would be promoted to second place after David Coulthard was disqualified. After the initial success, the following three Grand Prix were barren for the team with no points scored. Prior to the European Grand Prix, the team dropped test driver Mitsusada following underperformance in F3000 . They quickly recruited Antonio Pizzonia who began testing and development duties in
494-564: The team total after this race, and the B201 scored a total of 10 points with Benetton finishing the season in seventh place in the Constructors Championship. Overall, the team vastly improved the results in the second half of the season in contrast to the previous 1998–2000 seasons. in the 6/2001 Autozeitung they found the Benetton B201 had a performance of: The B201 was once again titled sponsored by Mild Seven and finished in
520-485: The team unveiled their new Human Performance Centre linked with driver development for the 2000 season. The B200 was primarily sponsored by the Mild Seven tobacco brand, and continued to be painted in a sky blue colour. Alongside this, the team retained sponsorship from the likes of D2 , whilst adding new partners Marconi and MTCI. Following the first Grand Prix of the season, it was announced Renault would purchase
546-605: The team's best result. The B201 finally scored a point at Brazil , when Fisichella finished in sixth place. As the season moved into Europe, reliability issues continued to hamper the B201's performance. Fisichella would retire in San Marino and Monaco , whilst neither car finished the Austrian Grand Prix . Button nearly scored points in Monaco, where the team had shown pace throughout the weekend, but would finish seventh. After
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#1732872777446572-502: The team. Japanese Hidetoshi Mitsusada was appointed the team's test driver, before being dropped in May. The B200 was launched in January 2000 in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya alongside being broadcast on their new website that launched in the same month. Tim Densham was appointed Chief Designer for the B200, replacing the outgoing Nick Wirth . Densham had previously worked on
598-427: The vehicle weight. The team had hired Mike Gascoyne from Jordan Grand Prix during 2000, and in January 2001 also brought over Gascoyne's former Jordan colleague, Mark Smith . For 2001, Benetton were one of the teams that switched from Bridgestone to the new alternative manufacturer Michelin . The B201 did not impress in testing, a schedule that included the drivers embarking on 9 days at Estoril Circuit . During
624-489: The year. The season started poorly for the B201. Fisichella qualified 17th at Albert Park , after losing time due to reliability issues. He later described the B201 as undriveable. In the race, both cars were lapped by the field and Button retired late due an exhaust problem. At the second round in Malaysia , the car was still struggling throughout practice and qualifying. In the race, only Button finished - in 11th - which marked
650-504: Was rebranded Vodafone D2 in 2002. In February 2011, Vodafone Germany started providing IPTV via DSL and VDSL connections. In April 2011, Vodafone Germany started to distribute Disney content via IPTV. Following Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone Germany started selling the Apple iPhone 4S in September 2011. As of 2014, the company owns around 75% of Kabel Deutschland and in 2019 Unitymedia
676-414: Was said to cost around $ 500,000. In early interviews, the team were very satisfied with the development of the new Renault RS21 engine. It was an unusually wide angled 112° configuration which allowed a lower centre of gravity and was notably lighter than previous engines used by Benetton from Supertec . However, due to reliability issues during the season it was strengthened significantly which added to
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