F1: German GP report

• Stephen M Baines
• Sun Jul 28 23:32:15 EDT 1996

Race Report

At the start, it looked like Hill had blown it. Both the Benetton's of
Berger, and - after an even more impressive start - Alesi were ahead of
him. Coulthard, a little further back, was also ahead of Villeneuve. A bad
start to the Williams teams race. Verstappen had an even worse race, and
became the first retirement. It later transpired that he had attacked the
rear of Herbert's car, and the consequence was retirement. Bad luck was
also to hit Herbert later on in the race.

For the first quarter of the race it looked like we were in for a torid
time. No overtaking, and certainly no major efforts to overtake. Between
laps 1 & 9 the only mover was Olivier Panis, who dropped from 12th to last
after a pit stop on lap 7 to replace flat spotted tyres. Berger, Alesi and
Hill all set fastest laps during the early stages, and non appeared to have
the upper hand on the other. Then, on lap 11, just as sleep was setting in
Coulthard almost had a go at Schumacher. Surely not. But yes, Coulthard
then had a few actual goes at the Ferrari. Further back, Diniz had also
woken up and was attacking Frentzen. The race was starting to get underway.

On lap 14, Hakkinen pitted from 8th place and had an 8.3 second stop. Then
just as he started to pull away, then car had better ideas and had to be
pushed away. It later transpired to be a transmission problem. This became
academic, as the car was pulling onto the grassy verges as soon as it had
escaped the pit lane. Ferrari were ready for that rarest of things in
recent races, a pit stop. Irvine was the first to come in, and managed it
in a steady 9.9 seconds. Clearly the team had become a little rusty.....

McLaren were now also ready for a stop from Coulthard, who came in from 6th
and was out again in 7.6 seconds. Frentzen was next to pit in 7.1 seconds,
with Herbert not long behind, with a very long stop. Herbert's transmission
had been playing up from the start, and the car didn't much fancy going
anywhere. Herbert, however, said that he didn't believe the prang with
Verstappen was to blame.

By lap 17 the order was Berger, Alesi, Hill, Schumacher, Villeneuve,
Barrichello, Brundle, Coulthard, Irvine, Diniz, Frentzen and Panis (who had
rapidly made up the places lost earlier in the race).

The Williams team were now ready for Hill's stop. Coulthard, a little
further back, had a bit of a moment locking his wheels and wobbling around,
allowing Barrichello into his place. All of the top 3 came up behind the
Minardi of Lamy in formation, and took him without any difficulty. Hill
soon pitted, and took 8.1 seconds in the pit - clearly a first of two pit
stops. Katayama was next to recieve instructions from Radio Ecclestone to
liven up the show, and he did it in admirable style. At Turn 1, the Tyrrell
lept all over the place, and into the tyres at the other side of the track.
Williams were now ready for Villeneuves stop, whilst Diniz was next to
retire.

 Berger  Alesi  Schumacher  Villeneuve  Hill   Coulthard
 21 laps 1.513   20878.000      21.805  23.812    44.213

On lap 22, Barrichello pitted in 10.4 seconds - could this be the first of
the one stoppers. Schumacher's pit was also ready for his one and only
stop, whilst Alesi pitted in 10.3 seconds. Schumacher and Villeneuve pitted
in formation, and left with the Ferrari only just nosing its way out of its
pit before the Williams roared past. Schumacher, therefore, only just kept
his place.

Brundle was in trouble. The right-rear wheel had thrown it's Goodyear, and
he was limping back towards the pit. Villeneuve, meanwhile, on the track
made short work of Schumacher and was up a place. Rosset was in the pits,
and out in 11.8 seconds. Damon Hill after this flurry of activity found
himself in the lead, and busily extending it with a string of fastest laps,
starting with a 1m47.047 on lap 23, and whole string in the 1m46's over the
next few laps. All the time he was extending his lead over Berger ready for
his second stop. The stop the Benettons would not be making. By lap 26,
Hill had 7 seconds over Berger, this was extended to 9 seconds by lap 28.
Herbert was now struggling into the pits. A bad weekend for the Briton.

Irvine was next into the pits, with Lamy close behind. With Irvines 36
second lead over Barrichello he wouldn't have to worry about the length of
the stop. Hill had now extended his lead to 11.7 seconds, and 12.9 seconds
on lap 31, with the "L2" board out for him. Coulthard pitted from 4th, and
was out in 7 seconds. Hill was working hard on his lead, and had it to 14.7
seconds, then 16.377. Not likely to be enough to keep his lead. A battle
looked to be shaping up. By the time he pitted it was 17 seconds. The
Benettons came into view, and crossed the line as he was leaving his pit.
He rejoined the race between the two Benettons.

Irvine's awful run of luck in the Ferrari continued, with his engine
expiring in a big cloud of smoke. Progress is clearly been made at Ferrari.
Hill, meanwhile, was attacking Berger with gusto, and was clearly the
faster of the two with the benefit of fresher tyres. With 8 laps to go,
Hill was all over the gearbox of the Benetton. At the 1st Chicane, Hill was
on top of the Benetton and looked set to lunge. He dived from side to side
to find a way past the Austrian. Hill's pit put out a board with "Pump On"
for him. Hill was harrying the Benetton for all it was worth, and he was
clearly determined to get it. Next time around the pit had the "Mixt 4"
board out for Hill. 5 laps to go, and the two were up to lap Lamy. Got past
with no problems. Hill had the "Pump Off" next time around. Coulthard was
also making a battle of it with Schumacher, as Berger and Hill take
Frentzen. Hill dived this way and that trying to get by - without much
look. It really was a battle and a half. On lap 43, in the most cruel way,
Hill took the lead. The Renault engine in Bergers car let go in the biggest
way without any warning. Hill took the lead, but even the most hard hearted
couldn't help but feel sorry for the Austrian in his best race of the
season. Coulthard wasn't happy to settle for 5th place and was charging
after the Ferrari of Schumacher, and trying for all it was worth. Utimately
it didn't pay off, but it did make for a cracking battle.

And so to the line, where Hill took his 20th win of his career, and after
what looked set to be a turgid race at first came one of the best races of
the season.

            1. Hill
            2. Alesi
            3. Villeneuve
            4. Schumacher
            5. Coulthard
            6. Barrichello
            7. Panis
            8. Frentzen
            9. Salo
           10. Brundle
           11. Rosset
           12. Lamy
           13. Berger


-- 
Stephen M Baines

 "[The Autosport sticker] started to peel off in the middle of Eau Rouge
 and it distracted me. In fact it was the first thing to hit the barrier"
    Tiff Needell - Jaguar XJR-15 Challenge - Interview with Autosport

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