March 30 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".....
Damon Makes It Two From Two
Ligier Brazil Nightmare
Final Qualifying Times
Friday's Unofficial Times
Walkinshaw Deal To Be Announced In Brazil
Disney F1 A Step Closer
Dome F1 Team Launched
Minardi Confident
Tyrrell To Announce Test Driver
Ferrari Confirm Gearbox Swap
BMW Not Ready For 1998
Too Many Tracks ?
Damon Makes It Two From Two
Damon Hill dominated the Brazilian Gp to record his fifteenth GP victory and his second of the season.
In a race affected by the weather Hill lead all the way (bar pit stops) to win from Alesi in the Benetton. Michael Schumacher scored Ferrari's second points score of the season and Hakkinen and Salo both finished in the top six for the second race in succesion.
Olivier Panis put a smile back on the face of the troubled Ligier team when he went one better than Australia and finished sixth for their first points of the season.
| Position | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | D. Hill | Williams |
| 2 | J. Alesi | Benetton |
| 3 | M. Schumacher | Ferrari |
| 4 | M. Hakkinen | McLaren |
| 5 | M. Salo | Tyrrell |
| 6 | O. Panis | Ligier |
Ligier had a disaster in Brazil. Both Pedro Diniz and Olivier Panis were penalised for various events during Saturday's official qualifying session. Their times were scrapped and they were forced to start form the back of the grid
This comes on the same weekend when Tom Walkinshaw announced that he would be leaving to take a controlling interest in the Arrow team.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | Friday Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D. Hill | Williams | 1.18.111 | 1.20.938 |
| 2 | R. Barrichello | Jordan | 1.19.092 | 1.21.625 |
| 3 | J. Villeneuve | Williams | 1.19.254 | 1.22.040 |
| 4 | M. Schumacher | Ferrari | 1.19.474 | 1.21.165 |
| 5 | J. Alesi | Benetton | 1.19.240 | 1.19.484 |
| 6 | M. Brundle | Jordan | 1.19.519 | 1.21.311 |
| 7 | M. Hakkinen | McLaren | 1.19.607 | 1.20.696 |
| 8 | G. Berger | Benetton | 1.19.762 | 1.19.879 |
| 9 | H. H. Frentzen | Sauber | 1.19.799 | 1.21.932 |
| 10 | E. Irvine | Ferrari | 1.19.951 | ---- |
| 11 | M. Salo | Tyrrell | 1.20.000 | 1.22.144 |
| 12 | J. Herbert | Sauber | 1.20.144 | 1.21.701 |
| 13 | J. Verstappen | Arrows | 1.20.157 | 1.21.199 |
| 14 | D. Coulthard | McLaren | 1.20.167 | 1.20.852 |
| 15 | U. Katayama | Tyrrell | 1.20.427 | 1.22.162 |
| 16 | R. Rosset | Arrows | 1.20.440 | 1.21.706 |
| 17 | T. Marques | Minardi | 1.21.421 | 1.22.447 |
| 18 | P. Lamy | Minardi | 1.21.491 | 1.22.964 |
| 19 | L. Badoer | Forti | 1.23.174 | 1.26.331 |
| 20 | A. Montermini | Forti | 1.23.454 | 1.25.601 |
| 20 | O. Panis | Ligier | -- -- -- | 1.21.006 |
| 20 | P. Diniz | Ligier | -- -- -- | 122.005 |
It should be noted that the Williams team and Schumacher were all running on old tyres. Eddie Irvine crashed on his first lap and had to miss the practice session as using the spare car is not allowed.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | J. Alesi | Benetton | 1.19.240 |
| 2 | G. Berger | Benetton | 1.19.879 |
| 3 | M. Hakkinen | McLaren | 1.20.696 |
| 4 | D. Coulthard | McLaren | 1.20.852 |
| 5 | D.Hill | Williams | 1.20.938 |
| 6 | O. Panis | Ligier | 1.21.006 |
| 7 | M. Schumacher | Ferrari | 1.21.165 |
| 8 | J. Verstappen | Arrows | 1.21.199 |
| 9 | M. Brundle | Jordan | 1.21.311 |
| 10 | R. Barrichello | Jordan | 1.21.625 |
| 11 | J. Herbert | Sauber | 1.21.625 |
| 12 | R. Rosset | Arrows | 1.21.706 |
| 13 | H. H. Frentzen | Sauber | 1.21.932 |
| 14 | P. Diniz | Ligier | 1.22.005 |
| 15 | J. Villeneuve | Williams | 1.22.040 |
| 16 | M. Salo | Tyrrell | 1.22.144 |
| 17 | U. Katayama | Tyrrell | 1.22.162 |
| 18 | T. Marques | Minardi | 1.22.447 |
| 19 | P. Lamy | Minardi | 1.22.964 |
| 20 | A. Montermini | 1.25.601 | |
| 21 | L. Badoer | Minardi | 1.26.331 |
It should be noted that the Williams team and Schumacher were all running on old tyres. Eddie Irvine crashed on his first lap and had to miss the practice session as using the spare car is not allowed.
Walkinshaw Deal To Be Announced In Brazil
Tom Walkinshaw is expected to formally announce that he has a controlling stake in the Arrows F1 team. He has had talks this week with Arrows boss Jackie Oliver and a deal has been agreed.Tom Walkinshaw's TWR company has very sophisticated facilities and it is thought that they will not need to use the existing Arrows site when he takes full control at the end of the year.
The prospect of a GP being staged in Disney World took another step forward this week. It is understood that Bernie Ecclestone has been negotiating a merchandising deal which could see a chain of F1 shops springing up around the World. Disney also own ABC and the combination of high profile merchandising and top network TV coverage could help F1 break into the US for good.
The Dome team launched their F1 challenge this week. The team are expected to enter F1 next year if their testing program goes according to plan.
Minardi are confident that their new stand in driver Tarso Marques will make a great debut on his home ground. The team have been working on the clutch trouble that hampered their Australian GP while Tarso has been testing the M195/B.
Tyrrell To Announce Test Driver
Tyrrell are expected to announce that Emmanuel Collard will be their official test and reserve driver. Collard has tested for Tyrrell and impressed the team with his ability.
Ferrari have confirmed that they will revert back to last years gearbox for the two South American races in a bid to improve reliability.
Rumours that Williams would sign BMW as an engine supplier for 1998 have been scuppered this week as the German car manufacturer announced that it will not now enter F1 until after the year 2000. It is though that BMW wanted to compete with rival Mercedes, but new factories, and updating facilities combined with Mercedes currently unimpressive performance have meant that they can delay their entry by five years. BMW will still continue with their other racing commitments.
Next year we could see the GP circus return to Austria, Las Vegas or South Africa. Or go to two new venues as China and Indonesia are also bidding for F1 Grand Prix dates. If the 16 race limit is kept in place the favourite would be Kyalami to replace the European GP.
