The operation planned by David Richards and Rocco Benetton in 1997, which began in 1998 with the intention of bringing the Italian-British team back to the top of Formula 1, came to a complete end at the conclusion of the disappointing 1999 season when, at the end of the championship, the cars from Enstone had scored only 16 points, earning sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship, the team’s worst result up to that point. For the design of the new Benetton B200, unveiled in January 2000 at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, at the same time as the launch of the team’s new website, Tim Densham was hired to replace the resigning Nick Wirth.
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| BENETTON B200, Alexander Wurz Hungaroring, Hungarian GP 2000 |
Densham, an English engineer with a solid background in Formula 1, had worked at Lotus alongside Colin Chapman, as well as at Brabham and Tyrrell with Harvey Postlethwaite. Alongside Postlethwaite, and with British aerodynamicist Ben Agathangelou, he had been involved in designing the Honda RA099, a project later abandoned by Honda following Postlethwaite’s death. Once at Benetton, Densham’s career took off, culminating in two world championships with Alonso’s cars in 2005 and 2006. Agathangelou was also hired by Benetton to serve as Head of Aerodynamics, replacing James Allison at the end of 1999. Under the technical direction of Pat Symonds, the new B200 was created, a simple and straightforward car after the previous season’s complex B199 had often suffered from poor reliability.
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| BENETTON B200, Giancarlo Fisichella Melbourne, Australian GP 2000 |
Although it retained much of the previous car’s shape, the B200 marked a change in philosophy, as stated by technical director Pat Symonds, featuring significant weight savings, greater chassis stiffness, and markedly improved aerodynamic stability. The most significant innovation was undoubtedly the engine, still a Playlife unit produced by Supertec, a branch of the Dutch company Super Performance Competition Engineering, which in May 1998 had signed an exclusive distribution deal with Mecachrome for the V10 GC37 (formerly Renault RS9). This season, however, it benefited from FB02 upgrades, bringing output to about 780 hp at 15,800 rpm, with Renault supplying a team of technicians to adapt the engine to the B200 chassis specifications. The longitudinal sequential semi-automatic gearbox was revised, though it remained a six-speed, and the new suspension used double carbon-fiber wishbones with internal dampers and torsion bar springs at the front, and coil springs over dampers at the rear.
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| BENETTON B200, Giancarlo Fisichella Montréal, Canadian GP 2000 |
The B200’s livery changed slightly compared to 1999, retaining sky blue as the main color but losing the blue, white, and green accents of the previous year’s car. Cigarette brand Mild Seven remained the main sponsor, with Marconi, D2, and Korean Air as secondary partners. Despite the new sponsors, almost the entire financial burden of the new season still fell on the Benetton family, which, after the first Grand Prix of the championship, closed a $120 million deal to sell part of the company’s equity to Renault. The French manufacturer thus returned to Formula 1 not only as an engine supplier but also as a team, although until the end of 2001 the team would continue to be called Benetton and Renault’s role would remain marginal. Renault’s first move was to bring back Flavio Briatore, replacing Richards and Benetton as Team Principal. As for the drivers, Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and Austrian Alexander Wurz were confirmed for the third consecutive year, while Japanese driver Hidetoshi Mitsusada was hired as a test driver. However, his lack of experience led to his dismissal as early as May, replaced by Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia.
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| BENETTON B200, Giancarlo Fisichella Catalunya-Barcelona, Spanish GP 2000 |
The car proved to be reasonably fast and, above all, reliable, allowing both drivers to finish races with consistent regularity. As in the previous season, the championship started well, particularly for Fisichella, who scored three podium finishes and two additional points finishes in the first eight races, amassing 18 points. Unfortunately, the second half of the championship brought fewer results, and the B200’s reliability also declined, forcing him to retire from five races, with two ninth places as his best finishes. Wurz, meanwhile, seemed to have lost the form he had shown in previous years, enduring a disappointing season with only one points finish, at Monza, in the Italian Grand Prix. At the end of the season, the Mild Seven Benetton Playlife team finished fourth in the Constructors’ Championship with 20 points, tied with BAR. In the off-season at the Estoril circuit in Portugal, three young drivers, Spanish Fernando Alonso, Australian Mark Webber and British Jenson Button tested the B200, with Button signing as a full-time driver for 2001 and Webber hired as a test driver.
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