April 07 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".....
Hill Makes It Four In A Row
Hill Grabs Pole In Argentina
Friday Times From Argentina
Renault Add To Ligier Troubles
Arrows Deal Confirmed
Williams and Renault Back Hill
GPDA Officially Formed
Lola Ready For 1997 ?
Test Drivers Confirmed
Brazil Review
Brazil Results
Argentina Preview
Hill Makes It Four In A Row
Damon Hill won in Argentina to secure his fourth GP win in succesion, his third from the first three races this season.
He led from the start in an eventful race. Team mate Jacques Villeneuve finished second to seal a perfect weekend for Williams.
| Pos | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | D. Hill | Williams |
| 2 | J. Villeneuve | Williams |
| 3 | J. Alesi | Benetton |
| 4 | R. Barrichello | Jordan |
| 5 | E. Irvine | Ferrari |
| 6 | J. Verstappen | Arrows |
| 7 | D. Coulthard | McLaren |
| 8 | O. Panis | Ligier |
| 9 | J. Herbert | Sauber |
| 10 | A. Montermini | Forti |
Damon Hill repeated his Friday tactics today in qualifying when he set a late flying lap to displace World Champion Michael Schumacher.
Schumacher had held the pole position for much of the hour long session when Hill set a time 200ths of a second inside the Champion.
Jean Alesi set a quick lap before spinning out and damaging his car. He ran back to the pits and returned in the spare eventually finishing fourth fastest behind Villeneuve.
Alesi's team mate Gerhard Berger had a slightly better time of it today as he qualified in fifth.
Barrichello was sixth.
The star performance came from Jos Verstappen in the Arrows, seventh on the grid should please new Arrows boss Tom Walkinshaw, lets hope the engine can last.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D. Hill | Williams | 1.30.346 |
| 2 | M. Schumacher | Ferrari | 1.30.598 |
| 3 | J. Villeneuve | Williams | 1.30.907 |
| 4 | J. Alesi | Benetton | 1.31.038 |
| 5 | G. Berger | Benetton | 1.31.262 |
| 6 | R. Barrichello | Jordan | 1.31.404 |
| 7 | J. Verstappen | Arrows | 1.31.615 |
| 8 | M. Hakkinen | McLaren | 1.31.801 |
| 9 | D. Coulthard | McLaren | 1.32.001 |
| 10 | E. Irvine | Ferrari | 1.32.058 |
| 11 | H. H. Frentzen | Sauber | 1.32.130 |
| 12 | O. Panis | Ligier | 1.32.177 |
| 13 | U. Katayama | Tyrrell | 1.32.407 |
| 14 | T. Marques | Minardi | 1.32.502 |
| 15 | M. Brundle | Jordan | 1.32.696 |
| 16 | M. Salo | Tyrrell | 1.32.903 |
| 17 | J. Herbert | Sauber | 1.33.256 |
| 18 | P. Diniz | Ligier | 1.33.424 |
| 19 | P. Lamy | Minardi | 1.33.727 |
| 20 | R. Rosset | Arrows | 1.33.752 |
| 21 | L. Badoer | Forti | 1.34.830 |
| 22 | A. Montermini | Forti | 1.35.651 |
Damon Hill set the fastest time on Friday late into the practice session. Schumacher had led for most of the hour, but Hill's late flyer pushed him into second. Alesi seems to have the measure of his Benetton and was third fastest just over 200ths second outside Schumacher.
The flying Finns Mika Hakkinen and Mika Salo both posted fast times follwed by Frentzen, Barrichello and Coulthard.
Berger, Brundle and Villeneuve all struggled to match their team mates times, though the new qualifying sessions have thrown up many slow times on the Friday, so I am sure these drivers will improve tomorrow.
Last week in Brazil, Alesi's Friday time would have been good enough for third on the grid, so perhaps we can expect pole position in Argentina to go under 1.29. Last year rain affected qualifying and David Coulthard sat on pole position with a time of 1.53.241.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D. Hill | Williams | 1.29.694 |
| 2 | M. Schumacher | Ferrari | 1.29.799 |
| 3 | J. Alesi | Benetton | 1.30.019 |
| 4 | M. Hakkinen | McLaren | 1.30.033 |
| 5 | M. Salo | Tyrrell | 1.30.140 |
| 6 | H. H. Frentzen | Sauber | 1.30.497 |
| 7 | R. Barrichello | Jordan | 1.30.766 |
| 8 | D. Coulthard | McLaren | 1.30.770 |
| 9 | G. Berger | Benetton | 1.30.890 |
| 10 | P. Panis | Ligier | 1.31.013 |
| 11 | J. Villeneuve | Williams | 1.31.082 |
| 12 | E. Irvine | Ferrari | 1.31.368 |
| 13 | U. Katayama | Tyrrell | 1.31.408 |
| 14 | P. Lamy | Minardi | 1.31.811 |
| 15 | J. Herbert | Sauber | 1.32.038 |
| 16 | J. Verstappen | Arrows | 1.32.084 |
| 17 | M. Brundle | Jordan | 1.32.176 |
| 18 | T. Marques | Minardi | 1.32.359 |
| 19 | P. Diniz | Ligier | 1.32.819 |
| 20 | R. Rosset | Arrows | 1.32.833 |
| 21 | A. Montermini | Forti | 1.34.103 |
| 22 | L. Badoer | Forti | 1.35.044 |
107% time 1.35.973
Renault Add To Ligier Troubles
Renault have confirmed that they will not be supplying Ligier with F1 engines next year. Renault Sport boss Patrick Faure has said that they will continue to support the two contracted teams (Williams and Benetton) until the end of 1997. Renault does not have any commitments for 1998 yet and it is thought that talks will begin in May.
Tom Walkinshaw is now officially in control at Arrows. He believes that it is possible for any team with the correct funding and attitude to mount a serious challenge for the title in three years. The Arrows team have attractive features that Walkinshaw will want to make good use of. The team have specialist facilities such as a wind tunnel and one of the most promising drivers on the track, Jos Verstappen.
Williams and Renault Back Hill
Renault and Williams have backed Damon Hill's challenge for the world title. Patrick Head said that they will do everything in their power to ensure that he has the best chance of succeeding. Last year Williams and Hill were both criticised for their attitudes and mistakes, so far this year neither has put a foot wrong. Over the past seasons Williams have always insisted that they do not issue team orders, perhaps this is about to change.
Formula1 drivers have formally set up the Grand Prix Drivers Association. They have a formal constitution, offices and elected representatives. The three elected representatives are Michael Schumacher, Gerhard Berger and Martin Brundle, the two most experienced drivers and the current World champion. The GPDA want to develop a "balanced relationship" with the FIA, GP organisers, the teams and members of the GPDA. The only current driver not in the GPDA is Jacques Villeneuve who has refused to join.
Lola are looking more likely to enter F1 next year. Pacific boss Keith Wiggins has been brought in to structure the F1 team. Lola just need to secure enough sponsorship by the British GP to enable them to commit to entering F1 next year.
Tyrrell have, as expected, confirmed their test driver as Emmanuel Collard. Jordan have also confirmed Gianni Morbidelli as their test driver.
Damon Hill secured his 15th career win when he dominated the Brazilian GP. Starting from pole Hill led all the way, set the fastest lap and won the race by over 20 seconds. Hill and Alesi both adopted what turned out to be perfect tactics when they opted for single stops in the rain soaked GP. Alesi and Barrichello provided some of the most exciting racing so far this season while battling for third place. Alesi eventually won through and finished second followed by Schumacher, Hakkinen, Salo and Panis.For the second race running Tyrrell and Ligier managed to get both cars to finish, they are now the only teams with 100% completion records this year.
| Pole | D. Hill | 1.18.111 |
|---|---|---|
| Fastest Lap | D. Hill | 1.21.547 |
| Winner | D. Hill |
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D. Hill | Williams | 1.49.52.976 |
| 2 | J. Alesi | Benetton | +17.982 |
| 3 | M. Schumacher | Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 4 | M. Hakkinen | McLaren | + 1 lap |
| 5 | M. Salo | Tyrrell | + 1 lap |
| 6 | O. Panis | Ligier | + 1 lap |
| 7 | E. Irvine | Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 8 | P. Diniz | Ligier | + 2 laps |
| 9 | U. Katayama | Tyrrell | + 2 laps |
| 10 | P. Lamy | Minardi | + 3 laps |
| 11 | L. Badoer | Forti | + 3 laps |
| Retirements | |||
| Driver | Team | Reason | |
| M. Brundle | Jordan | Spin 64 laps | |
| R. Barrichello | Jordan | Spin 59 laps | |
| H. H. Frentzen | Sauber | Engine 36 laps | |
| D. Coulthard | McLaren | Spin 29 laps | |
| J. Herbert | Sauber | Engine 28 laps | |
| J. Villeneuve | Williams | Spin 26 laps | |
| G. Berger | Jordan | Hydraulics 26 laps | |
| A. Montermini | Forti | Spin 26 laps | |
| R. Rosset | Arrows | Accident 24 laps | |
| J. Verstappen | Arrows | Engine 19 laps | |
| T. Marques | Minardi | Accident 0 laps |
This weekend it is the turn of Buenos Aires to host a GP. Race time is 14:00 local which is 17:00 GMT for those of you having trouble finding TV coverage.Using the same Number 6 variant that was used last year the Argentine GP will be over a 2.662 mile 17 turn circuit.
Those of you that remember the first corner last year will recall that two accidents on the first lap brought out the Red flag and on the restart Hakkinen and Irvine collided. Coulthard started from pole but electrical problems hampered his race, Schumacher set the fastest lap and Damon Hill won from Alesi and Schumacher (sound familiar ?).
The weather is usually Hot or Very Hot which often causes mass retirements as cooling systems give up. Once again reliability will be a key factor and Williams have to be favourites. Tyrrell and Ligier could finish in the points again if there are a few retirements. These teams have excellent reliability at the moment.
