July 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".....
Ferrari
Korean GP?
Changes For Next Year
Lavaggi To Race At Hockenheim
Rosset To Race All Season
New Hart Engine Does Well
McLaren May Stick WITH MP4/11B
Forti
Silverstone Review
Driver Rumours (latest)
Ferrari
We all saw the unthinkable happen at Silverstone, Ferrari failing to get both cars to the first pit stop again. This time Schumacher suffered hydraulic failure which left him stuck in 6th gear and Irvine lost his differential bearing.The team are testing heavily at Monza and should race the F310 with all the new modifications at Hockenheim. Morale is surprisingly good and both Schumacher and Irvine look like they will be at Maranello next year.
The prospect of a Korean GP emerged this week. The Korean track has been designed with help from Harvey Postlethwaite. The circuit is scheduled to be built in the Chollabuck-do area. This pitches Korea in with China and Indonesia as other nations hoping to host a second Pacific race (alongside Japan).
Changes may be introduced next year to make overtaking easier. Revisions to aerodynamics are rumoured in order to lessen the negative effect of being too close to the car in front. Also brakes may be altered in an attempt to increase braking distances and improve the chances of out braking manoeuvres. F1 cars currently use carbon fibre brakes which can take the car from 190 mph to standstill in around 100 metres!! pulling about 5G in the process.
Giancarlo Minardi has announced that Fisichella will be replaced by Lavaggi at the German GP. The two drivers, along with Marques, will be retained under contract.
Riccardo Rosset will race on until the end of this season. His contract with Arrows was for the first 12 races but it has been extended to cover the whole of this season.
Arrows were allowed the new pneumatic valve Hart engine for qualifying at the British GP. The engine was not tested in full race form, but still managed to pull 1000 revs more than the engine used in the race. The chances of the engine racing in Germany look good.
McLaren May Stick WITH MP4/11B
It is believed that McLaren may stick with the short wheelbase MP4/11 for the rest of the season.
Forti did make it to the British GP, but unpaid engine bills meant that they could not race or practice. The cars did turn out for official qualifying but without any set up work from the free practice sessions they were never likely to make it to the grid. Forti are hoping that they can sort out their finances in time for the German GP.
Jacques Villeneuve won the second GP of his short F1 career, getting ahead of Hill at the start and leading into the first corner Jacques never looked back.Behind him Alesi, Hakkinen and Schumacher all managed to pass Hill who was relegated to fifth place.Ferrari's recent run of bad luck continued with Schumacher retiring on lap 3 while stuck in 6th gear and Irvine retiring on lap 5 with smoke pouring from the back of his car. Hill spun off on lap 26 due to a loose wheel nut and Alesi was also to retire through his brakes overheating.Gerhard Berger and Mika Hakkinen completed the podium line up while Barrichello, Coulthard and Brundle completed the top six. Brundle scoring another sixth place despite suffering a puncture.
Eddie Irvine looks set to stay at Ferrari for another year.
Frentzen's hopes of a Williams drive look less likely following Villeneuve's performance in Britain and his insistence that he is not leaving Williams.
