June 21 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".....
Renault Announce Withdrawal
De Ferran for Stewart ?
New Sponsor For Australian GP
Schumacher Backs Hill For Title.
Katayama Ban (Suspended)
Qualifying Tyres Banned
New Renault For France
New Minardi Driver For Germany
Austria Tipped For GP Next Year.
Qualifying Engines, Ban Rejected.
Schumacher / Jordan Dispute Over
Alesi Tests Driver Head Protection
Canada Results
Renault Announce Withdrawal
Renault have formally announced that they will leave Formula1 at the end of the 1997 season. The news is not unexpected as it has long been believed that the French engine manufacturer had achieved all it set out to.
Williams are expected to announce their new engine supplier during the coming months.
Benetton are also expected to announce a new deal. Benetton are linked with Honda engines, Honda have involvement with Benetton in Motorcycling and Mugen Honda engines power the Ligier team which has close links with Benetton due to Briatore.
Williams have been linked with BMW, though BMW are apparently in no rush to rejoin F1.
Damon Hill has hinted that he may now rethink his F1 career in light of the decision, his contract with Williams finishes at the end of this year and another two year contract would see him swap engines half way through. "I am pretty footloose and fancy free at the end of this season.... Renault's announcement may have some bearing on my future, but it's really too early to start thinking about this. I have worked with Renault for six years and I am very saddened to hear that they will be leaving Formula One"
Perhaps David Coulthard was right when he said "Damon and I may be team mates again one day...."
From Joel Goode
Apparentley Gil De Ferran and Jackie Stewart are realy tight friends, itmay come to pass that Gil De Ferran might join the stewart Team sometimewithin the next two years. De Ferran says he is happy in Indycar andthat's where he wants to be but if the stewart team is competitive thenDe Ferran would be in the stewart car quick smart.
Joel Goode
From Jay Kells
Qantas are the new title sponsor for the Australian G.P. From 1997 they have a five year deal, with an option on a further five years.
Jay Kells
Schumacher Backs Hill For Title.
Michael Schumacher has become the latest member of the F1 world to back Damon Hill for the Drivers championship this year. "I would have to win six of the remaining races to be in with a chance" something which the German admitted was unlikely. Frank Williams has stressed that Williams will not be relaxing and Hill added that he was looking for wins in France, Britain and Germany to ensure he wins the title.
Katayama's Kamikaze move on Rosset during the Canadian GP has earned him a suspended one race ban for driving 'without due care and attention'. Katayama insists that Rosset "closed the door on him" !!??
Next year teams will not be able to use qualifying tyres, nor will the rumoured dual compound tyre be legal. The ban comes into effect from January 1997.
The next version of the RS8B will be available for the French GP. Renault will also be announcing their motorsport plans at the French GP. It is expected that they will announce their withdrawal from F1. One twist is that they may announce continued support and engine supply for the Williams team.
New Minardi Driver For Germany
Minardi may replace Fisichella for the last six races if his sponsorship deal fails to come off. The replacement will be Giovanni Lavaggi formerly of Pacific Racing F1. Giancarlo Minardi is keen to keep Fisichella who "has so much talent" as well as fellow new kid Tarso Marques for 1997.
Austria Tipped For GP Next Year.
The rumours continue to contradict each other, but then that is half the fun :-). This week it looks like Austria is the favourite to replace the Hungarian GP with the Nurburgring staging yet another European GP, though it may be labelled the 'Luxembourg' GP. China looks on course for a GP in 1998.
Qualifying Engines, Ban Rejected.
Qualifying tyres may be out, but qualifying engines are here to stay (for the moment at least). Qualifying engines usually evolve into race engines when reliability is satisfied.
Schumacher / Jordan Dispute Over
Schumacher / Jordan Dispute OverThe long running Schumacher / Jordan legal dispute looks set to be settled out of court. It centres on Schumacher signing for Jordan in 1991, then moving to Benetton after just one race. The two sides are keen to settle out of court to avoid publicity (oops) and it is expected that Jordan will relieve 100,000 UKP.
Alesi Tests Driver Head Protection
Unwittingly, Jean Alesi tested the new driver head protection when his Benetton went sideways into a tyre wall at around 60 mph. Alesi's head could be seen to be hit by a flying tyre. He said "I felt awful the morning after the crash....the side protection is very, very good because I didn't have any head or neck pain."
Canada Results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Damon Hill | Williams Renault | 1.36.03.465 | |||
| 2 | Jacques Villeneuve | Williams Renault | +4.183 | |||
| 3 | Jean Alesi | Benetton Renault | +54.656 | |||
| 4 | David Coulthard | McLaren Mercedes | +1.03.673 | |||
| 5 | Mika Hakkinen | McLaren Mercedes | + 1 lap | |||
| 6 | Martin Brundle | Jordan Peugeot | + 1 lap | |||
| 7 | Johnny Herbert | Sauber Ford | + 1 lap | |||
| 8 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Minardi Ford | + 2 laps |
| Not Classified | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedro Lamy | Minardi Ford | lap 44 Accident | |||
| Luca Badoer | Forti Ford | lap 44 Gearbox | |||
| Gerhard Berger | Benetton Renault | lap 42 | Spin | ||
| Gearbox | |||||
| Gerhard Berger | Benetton Renault | ||||
| Olivier Panis | Ligier Mugen Honda | lap 39 | Engine | ||
| Mika Salo | Tyrrell Yamaha | lap 39 Engine | |||
| Pedro Diniz | Ligier Mugen Honda | lap 38 | Engine | ||
| Rubens Barrichello | Jordan Peugeot | lap 22 | Clutch | ||
| Andrea Montermini | Forti Ford | lap 22 Loose Ballast | |||
| Heinz Harald Frentzen | Sauber Ford | lap 19 | |||
| Jos Verstappen | TWR Arrows Hart | lap 10 | Engine | ||
| Ricardo Rosset | TWR Arrows Hart | lap 6 | Accident | ||
| Ukyo Katayama | Tyrrell Yamaha | lap 6 | Accident | ||
| Eddie Irvine | Ferrari | lap 1 Suspension |
