All of the information in this section was obtained from a bloke down the pub, which means that while we believe all the following information to be true, we couldn't swear that it is.
What we will say however, is that usually, "there is no smoke without fire".....
Mika Hakkinen Released From Hospital
Pacific Quit
DAMS Still Uncertain
Brundle Off To Jerez To Test Jordan
DAMS In Or Out ?
FIA 1996 F1 Team List Issued
Irvine Testing Well
Coulthard Starts Testing
Prost Joins McLaren
Ligier To Announce New Sponsor
Blundell or Herbert for Sauber
Mika Hakkinen Released From Hospital
Mika Hakkinen has been released from hospital and is now at his home in Monaco. He flew back on Sunday in a specially equipped medical jet accompanied by doctors. It is expected to be at least six weeks before Hakkinen will be able to undergo tests to see if he will be fit in time for the 96 season. He also needs an operation to restore his hearing to full strength, another injury caused by his accident. It has been revealed that Mika was extremely fortunate that head injury expert Dr, Stephen Lewis was one of the first medical personell on the scene of his accident. Dr. Lewis has said "Not many people can do what he did to their head and get away with it". Mika will undergo further treatment in Europe.
The Thetford based Pacific F1 team have quit due to financial reasons. The Pacific company is not in debt or insolvent, it just can not afford to keep pouring money into its F1 project. Managing Director Keith Wiggins said that despite trying very hard to establish their position in Formula 1, their difficult financial position has hindered them. Pacific are the 17th F1 casualty since 1989. (AGS, Andrea Moda Formula, Brabham, Coloni, EuroBrun, Fondmetal, Larrousse, Life, Lotus, March, Modena, Onyx, Rial, Scuderia Italia, Simtek and Zakspeed)
The DAMS team was not on the official list of F1 competitors for the 96 season. They are still working on their car and it is unclear if they will be in F1 next year. Though it is looking more unlikely by the week. Without Simtek and Pacific the F1 list for next year only has 11 entries.
Brundle Off To Jerez To Test Jordan
Martin Brundle, Jordans replacement for Eddie Irvine is having seat fittings this week in readiness for the testing session at Jerez December 19th
It is still unclear whether or not the DAMS team will be in F1 next year. The team did fail to lodge their entry deposit in time, but it is possible they will be able to race if they get the deposit money together, and all of the current F1 teams give their unanimous approval.
The official team listings for 1996 have been issued.
| Ferrari | Schumacher | 1 | Irvine | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benetton | Alesi | 3 | Berger | 4 |
| Williams | Hill | 5 | Villeneuve | 6 |
| McLaren | Hakkinen | 7 | Coulthard | 8 |
| Ligier | 9 | 10 | ||
| Jordan | Barrichello | 11 | Brundle | 12 |
| Sauber | 14 | Frentzen | 15 | |
| Footwork | 16 | 17 | ||
| Tyrrell | 18 | Salo | 19 | |
| Minardi | 20 | 21 | ||
| Forti | 22 | 23 |
Eddie Irvine has started testing for Ferrari, he has been at Fiorino with the V12. His sessions so far have been more familiarisation than out and out testing. Running with a heavy fuel load he managed a fastest lap of 1.02.71 (Track record 1.01.87 N. Larini) and appears to be settling in. Eddie will be off to Estoril next week where he and team mate Schumacher will again be testing the new V10 engine (still not in the new chassis) and running the old V12.
David Coulthard has started testing the McLaren MP4/10B at Jerez. So far his best time has been 1.25.84 which compares well with the last GP held at Jerez (1990 fastest lap R. Patreses 1.24.513).
Alain Prost has rejoined McLaren as part of the McLaren Mercedes technical group. As part of the development programme his duties will include testing the MP4/11.
Ligier To Announce New Sponsor
It is expected that the Ligier team will announce a new sponsorship deal with Italian dairy giant Parmalat for 1996. Parmalat backed the Forti team last year.
Blundell or Herbert for Sauber
It is expected that Sauber will announce which driver will partner Frentzen next year. Both Herbert and Blundell have strong Indy Car options, and Herbert also has had talks with Tyrrell though this drive looks unlikely.