g-force on the left-hand side of drivers' necks. Teams altered their cars to run at medium to high levels of downforce and the dampers, springs and suspensions were optimised to adapt to the bumpy track surface. Formula One's control tyre supplier Bridgestone brought the soft and the medium dry compound tyres to the race. After winning the preceding —the first of the 17 World Championship races—Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher led the Drivers' Championship with ten points; his teammate Rubens Barrichello was in second with six points, and Ralf Schumacher of the Williams team had four points. British American Racing's (BAR) Jacques Villeneuve was fourth with three points and Benetton driver Giancarlo Fisichella was fifth with two points. In the Constructors' Championship Ferrari led with a maximum number of 16 points. Williams and BAR tied in third with four points each and Benetton was fourth on four points. Prior to the event the majority of the 11 teams conducted sessions at various locations across Europe to test their cars and new components. McLaren, Jordan, Williams, Jaguar and Prost elected to test at the Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom from 14 to 16 March. Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer performed shakedown runs at the Fiorano Circuit in northern Italy. Olivier Panis of the McLaren test team led on the first two days of testing; on day three, Williams' Jenson Button was the fastest driver. The BAR, Arrows, Sauber and Minardi teams did not test before the Grand Prix. The press and bookmakers considered Michael Schumacher the favourite to win the race. In response to a statement by McLaren team principal Ron Dennis—who claimed Ferrari was not as competitive as McLaren—Schumacher said he was optimistic over a continuing challenge to McLaren for the rest of the season. McLaren driver David Coulthard stated he foresaw the team starting on the grid's front row and winning, after faulty seals on their pneumatic valve systems forced him and two-time world champion Mika Häkkinen to retire from the preceding Australian Grand Prix: "We weren't beaten fair and square in the race because we dropped out. You have to give Ferrari credit because they won when we dropped out and that's our mistake. But it means we come here believing we are competitive and still have a chance." Over the month of February, the Autódromo José Carlos Pace was resurfaced in an attempt to reduce its bumpiness.