January 29 1996
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's no smoke without fire".....
Inoue Signs For Minardi
Mika Is Back
French GP On The Move
F1 Cars To Carry Black Boxes ?
Air Bags Out For 97
Tyrrell Ready For 96
Ligier, All Or Nothing
Williams Back Hill For Title
Substitute Drivers To Be Allowed ?
Montermini Signs For Forti
Customer Cars Rejected
Ferrari Testing Disrupted By Weather (Again)
Arrows Ready To Launch FA17
Taki Inoue has signed for Minardi for the 96 season. He will join Pedro Lamy at the Italian based team. Inoue was with Arrows last season, but his seat had been taken by Ricardo Rosset.
Taki will start testing for the team on February 14, when the new car is due to be launched at Estoril.
Mika Hakkinen has driven a GP car for the first time since his accident in Australia. Mika managed 30 laps in the McLaren at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. He was close to the times set by Rubens Barrichello on Sunday.
He was watched by Alain Prost, and his manager former World Champion Keke Rosberg.
The new McLaren car is due to be unveiled this coming Sunday (10th Feb 1996).
The French federation of sport (FFSA) have announced plans to switch the French GP from Magny Cours back to the Circuit Paul Ricard at Le Castellet from 1997. The Circuit Paul Ricard has the famous mile long "Mistral" straight. The last driver to win a GP at Paul Ricard was Alain Prost who won in 88, 89 and 90. It is proposed that Le Castellet will host the French GP until 2002 when the GP venue will again be reconsidered. The change has to be approved by the FIA before the move can be confirmed.
F1 Cars To Carry Black Boxes ?
Aircraft style "Black Boxes" are being considered for Formula 1 cars. The data collected by the boxes would be used in the event of an accident. The FIA are also said to be considering a set of standard procedures which would be followed in the event of an accident. They are hoping to get the European Commission to help standardise the way in which accidents are investigated.
It looks increasingly unlikely that F1 cars will be fitted with driver air bags for the 1997 season. Due to the combination of cockpit space and accident speeds, suitable bags are proving very difficult to implement.
The Tyrrell team are very confident that their new 024 coupled with the new Yamaha OX11A V10 will allow them to finish in the top five of this years constructors championship. Tyrrell had a poor season last year (just 5 points) and they are looking back at 95 as a learning experience. Harvey Postlethwaite (engineering MD) has said that the team looked at the GP circuits, analysed each track and designed the car accordingly. Tyrrell found that the most common corner in F1 is a 2nd gear 120kph. They have designed the car to excel on those kind of corners. The Yamaha engine is a significant step forward, very light, compact and with low rotating masses which should help acceleration.
1996 could be make or break for Ligier. The team are committed to making it work and the new Mugen engine looks promising. Tow Walkinshaw has said that he didn't think that anyone was interested in running a lame duck at the back of the field and if the team were not committed to making things work the only solution would be to shut down.Ligier have emphasised the importance of 1996 by signing two test drivers, Kenny Brack joins Kelvin Burt as the second test driver. The team have an important aerodynamic programme and a lot of engine work scheduled, which will require two drivers. The team have also agreed sponsorship with Parmalat.
Frank Williams has said that Damon Hill has his best shot yet of becoming World champion. Damon has a new trainer (Erwin Grollner) and Frank Williams has said that Hill's attitude in pre season testing has been far more positive this year. Williams have said that Hill will receive better support from the team this year; acknowledging the pit crews poor performance at some races Frank said that it was not all Damon's fault. The team made mistakes too, they can do better and this year they intend to put things right.Patrick Head has said that he expects Jacques Villeneuve to win some races this year, but talk of him winning the championship at his first attempt was "fanciful". It is commonly believed that Jacques will fare better in his first season than previous Indy drivers.
Substitute Drivers To Be Allowed ?
It looks likely that F1 teams will be able to nominate a reserve driver for a race meeting. If one of the two team drivers is injured during practice his place may be taken by the reserve driver. At Suzuka Mark Blundell should not have raced (Neck injury sustained in practice crash) but without the ability to substitute him McLaren were forced to enter him for the GP. Mark had pain killing injections in his neck so that he could compete. The substitute drivers would allow injured drivers to rest properly.
Andrea Montermini has signed for Forti. He is due to begin testing at the end of the week. Forti hope to announce their second driver soon. This means that only the second Forti seat and the Second Minardi seat remain vacant. Though Arrows have yet to confirm that they have signed Jos Verstappen.
The chance of customer teams returning to Formula 1 appeared and then disappeared within the space of a week. The FOCA meeting which discussed this issue (among others) dismissed the idea. Common opinion was that the idea, designed to increase the grid size, was a good one but that customer cars was not the way to do it.
Ferrari Testing Disrupted By Weather (Again)
Ferrari continue to be hampered by bad weather. Ferrari were supposed to be testing at Paul Ricard, but a combination of engine problems and severe weather conditions left the testing session badly disrupted.
The new Arrows FA17 is expected to be announced within the next two weeks. It is highly possible that Verstappen and Rosset will be confirmed as drivers. The Arrows test driver may also be named at the same time.
