August 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".....
New McLaren Livery ?
Schumacher For Jordan
Ligier Keep Mugen
Old Mugens For Dome
Irvine Confirmed
Russian To Test For Minardi
Forti
New Sponsor For Stewart GP
McLaren Mercedes Speed Record
New McLaren Livery ?
McLaren look set to have their sponsorship from Marlboro reduced in the near future. This has left open the possibility of Mercedes supplying extra funding for the team along with a change to the distinctive McLaren livery. If Mercedes played a major role in the team sponsorship the cars could have German racing silver added to their colour scheme.
Ralf Schumacher is being linked to a full time Jordan seat next year. He has a test session lined up with McLaren but it is not thought that he will get a race drive with the team. Jordan are rumoured to be looking for two drivers for next year.
Ligier have secured exclusive use of the Mugen Honda engine for 1997. What happens after that, when Renault pull out will be a different story. For the time being the stability should help Ligier plan their improvements.
Dome F1 may get reworked Mugen Honda engines if it enters F1 as hoped next year. The Dome team are struggling with sponsorship at the moment and may have to delay their entry.
Eddie Irvine will be racing for Ferrari next year. It was confirmed at Hockenheim when Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said "....he has done a good job, and stability is very important for us at the moment"
Giancarlo Minardi continues his one man crusade to blood new drivers when he gives a test session to Russian driver Alan Berkov.
Their failure to come out to play at the German GP has lead to rumours that the team is on the verge of collapse. The future of Forti could well be decided this week. They have differing opinions with their new sponsor Shannon and until these are resolved and the money sorted out Forti will not race. It would be another blow for F1 if the grid was reduced to 20 cars.
They may not have entered a race yet, but Stewart GP are set to sign a lucrative five year 125 million USD deal with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank
Mika Hakkinen set the fastest ever race speed recorded for a Formula1 car at Hockenheim during Sunday's race. He was clocked at 214.7 Mph (345.6 Kph) as he went through the speed trap. The Mercedes engine has improved greatly this year and now it is up to McLaren to improve the chassis.
