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".....
Jordan First With 96 Car
Weather Disrupts Testing
Tyrrell 024 Ready
Bouillion Keeps Williams Test Seat
Hill Crashes in Testing
Schumacher Crashes In Testing
Villeneuve Quickest
Blundell Off To Indy
F1 Drivers To Sit Exams !
Ferrari To Quit F1 !!
Jordan have had their 96 car out on the track at Silverstone.
The new 196 has a high nose like the Williams and Benetton and the cockpit sides are almost level with the drivers ears. The cars is also rumoured to have power steering (should help with parking down at the supermarket!!) and a seven speed gearbox.
The radiator inlets are also very distinctive.
From what I've seen it is a great looking car, lets just hope it handles as well as it looks.
Bad weather has disrupted the testing of McLaren and Ferrari.
McLaren were in Estoril where heavy storms meant that their test schedule was restricted. Coulthard concentrated on brake testing, while Alain Prost was there tesing electronics. Ferrari were at Paul Ricard were fog and heavy rain disrupted testing.
The new Tyrrell 024 has just finished passing its FIA crash tests, and is now ready to take to the track for testing.
Bouillion Keeps Williams Test Seat
Jean Christophe (Joules) Bouillion has had his test contract with Williams renewed for another year.
Team boss Frank Williams said that continuity at all levels is important.
Damon Hill crashed during testing at Estoril on Tuesday. He lost the car on the long fast second corner and hit the barrier with his rear wheel. Hill was unhurt and managed to walk back to the pits.
Michael Schumacher crashed on Tuesday while testing the Ferrari V10 at the teams Fiorino test track.
Michael hit the barriers on only his second lap, destroying the front suspension of his Ferrari.
Michael was unhurt and blamed himself for driving too hard on cold tyres, and on a section of the track that was still covered in frost.
The Williams drivers are testing at Estoril. Heavy rain on Monday morning meant that times were slow and Hill only completed 8 laps in the first session.
The track dried in the afternoon and both drivers managed some flying laps. Villeneuve was quickest on the day with a time of 1.21.7
Damon Hill managed a best time of 1.22.1
The knock on effect of Arrows signing Ricardo Rosset has led to Mark Blundell leaving Formula 1. The Arrows place taken by Rosset meant that Inoue went to Tyrrell, which in turn left no competitive seats for Blundell.
Mark is off to the states to join the Pac West team, who he tested for before christmas.
He joins another ex Formula 1 driver at Pac West, Mauricio Gulgelmin.
Mark said that he was in the business of winning, and without a competitive drive in F1 he felt Indy was his best option.
Yes it is true. The FIA have said that from 1997 any driver who wishes to obtain an FIA superlicence will have to sit a written exam. The exam will center around rules and safety regulations. All current F1 drivers will have to sit the exam and any that fail will not be allowed to race until they re-sit and pass.
The exam has arisen out of concerns that not all F1 drivers know and appreciate the rules and saftey legislation that govern Formula 1.
This story has grown out of an innocent remark, said in jest, and taken out of context. FIAT president Gianni Agnelli joked in the summer that with Schumacher behind the wheel there were no excuses for Ferrari not winning the title.
Once the tabloid press had reworked the story it sounded more like... "if we don't win the constructors title this year, then Ferrari will quit".
FIAT number 2 Cesare Romiti said the Ferrari fans can sleep easy. There are no plans to quit F1. Ferrari will continue as they always have.
