July 4 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".....
Schumacher Defends Ferrari
Silverstone Testing
Ferrari
Arrows Deal Finalised
Peugeot Deal Extended
Elf Quitting
New Hart Engine For Arrows
Forti Short Of Funds ?
France Review
Team Rumours (latest)
Driver Rumours (latest)
Schumacher Defends Ferrari
Michael Schumacher has hit out at the recent criticism of Ferrari and the calls for Jean Todt to resign. He said that if you want to destroy Ferrari then get rid of Todt. He added that it was unfair that the team gets all the criticism when things go wrong and that he gets all the praise when things go right.
Jean Christophe Boullion set the fastest time during testing at Silverstone today. Most of the teams based in England are at Silverstone preparing for the British Grand Prix. Boullion the Williams test/reserve driver managed a best time of 1.26.90, Mika Hakkinen was second fastest with a best of 1.27.16. Championship leader Damon Hill posted a best time of 1.27.48. These were the only drivers to get below 1.28.00. Hill's pole position time last year was 1.28.214. though the circuit has been modified slightly this year (new Stowe profile) and is a bit quicker.
What can I say?
The press has been full of calls for Ferrari to quit F1, for Jean Todt to quit Ferrari, for Ferrari to stop using John Barnard etc etc. The misery of Canada was compounded by some mistakes and poor reliability in France. These things happen to teams, usually though they do not happen to both cars in successive races!!.
Irvine had his qualifying times scrapped because his turning vanes were 15mm to high and he was forced to start from the back of the grid. Testing has not been too brilliant either, Irvine suffered two suspension failures during testing at Mugello last week. Lets hope Ferrari have had all their bad luck for this year and that they get it right at Silverstone.
Tom Walkinshaw is now officially in charge at Arrows, he is now the CEO. Jackie Oliver the former team boss is now Sporting Director. The team will now be moving to Leafield and it is hoped that TWR Arrows will be able to improve their grid positions.
Peugeot have extended their exclusive deal with Jordan to the end of 1997. The Peugeot engine is the fastest in F1 at the moment. The exclusive deal will finish as Renault leave F1 and Benetton and Williams have a need for engines. Hmmmmmm.
Elf have announced that they will be leaving F1 at the end of this year. Elf fuelled cars have won 129 races.
It's all good news for Arrows this week. On top of the takeover being finalised, Brian Hart has announced that the team will have the use of the new pneumatic valved engine. Hart added "ideally, we'll get it into a car before Hockenheim".
There are strong rumours that Forti are so strapped for cash that they may not make the British GP. It is believed that a scheduled payment from their sponsors has not yet arrived.
The French GP had some unexpected events, some brief moments of racing and provided Hill with a win that has delighted statisticians, Williams 90th win, 50th with Renault, Hill has now scored more points than his Dad, is now the top scoring driver for Renault powered cars etc etc.
The start could hardly have been more dramatic, Schumacher's Ferrari giving up after half of the parade lap.
From the start to the flag Hill lead, while behind him we were treated to fleeting moments of racing. Coulthard pressing Brundle from lap 15 to lap 22, Villeneuve and Hakkinen from lap 3 until the first pit stops, Diniz, Barrichello and Panis fighting for eighth place sadly Panis came in on lap 18 and Barrichello on lap 22. Later on in the race Villeneuve and Alesi put on a show (albeit a short one) and Berger passed the ailing McLaren (no first and second gear) at the Hairpin. Finally from lap 56 until the end of the race Alesi and Berger were 'duelling' with each other, though it later turned out that they were just having fun and not really racing each other. Still, it looked good from where I was. Renault managed a 1,2,3,4 at their home GP with McLaren continuing to improve and finishing 5th and 6th. The "Man of the Match" award must surely go to Pedro Diniz, last year his best qualifying was 20th, in France he qualified 12th and ran as high as sixth place before his engine gave out on him. This was while there were still 17 cars in the race, unlike Spain where he finished sixth (out of six finishers) 2 laps adrift.
One of the best things about the second half of the season is the amount of rumours that spread around. With the teams it usually involves engines so here is a short breakdown of the team and engine tie ups that I have heard about.
Williams Honda/BMW/Peugeot/Mercedes/Renault
Benetton Honda/Peugeot
Sauber Ford/Honda/Hart
Ferrari Ferrari this one is JUST a rumour :-)
Minardi Ford/Ferrari
Arrows Hart/Honda
If you are bored one evening, you too can play Fantasy F1 Teams. All you need are two pots and 21 pieces of paper. Write out the 11 teams and put them in pot 1, now write out the eight engine suppliers (Ford, Ferrari, Renault, Tyrrell, Mugen Honda, Peugeot, Mercedes and Hart) add BMW and Honda and put those in pot 2. Now pull out one piece from each pot and you have your new team, run around the next GP whispering your "inside info" and hey presto you have created an F1 rumour.
Bored with playing Fantasy F1 Teams? why not have a go at Fantasy F1 Drivers? You just need a third pot!
Team line ups for 1997
Williams Hill secure Villeneuve/Frentzen
McLaren Coulthard secure Hakkinen/R.Schumacher
Benetton Frentzen/Verstappen/Hakkinen/Panis
Jordan Alesi/Villeneuve/Frentzen/Verstappen/Hakkinen/
R.Schumacher
Just a brief note, Alesi and Berger both have two year contracts at Benetton, Coulthard has a two year contract at McLaren. It is now believed that Williams will keep Hill because he has proven himself, Renault want a car with '1' on it for their last season and Williams want a car with '1' on it.
Hakkinen, Frentzen, Verstappen ? and Ralf Schumacher are all free at the end of this year.
