This week's Grapevine brings you information fresh from the paddock on: Irvine Making Waves Honda Struggling Silly Season Rumbles On

Irvine Making Waves

With the Formula One circus facing a dry spell, thanks to back to back Grands Prix followed by an all teams intensive test session, there has been very little worthy of mention in the paddock for some time. As usual, when this happens, the Silly Season rumbles take over; a hint of speculation is considered better than no news. Ever one to oblige the media on slow days, Eddie Irvine has stepped into the breach, to be quoted – and misquoted – by the news starved press.

The Irishman has made it known that had he, Montoya or Villeneuve been on the front of the grid in France, Schumacher senior would not have applied bullying start line tactics – as none of these drivers would have any qualms over being involved in an accident. Irvine believes beating Schumacher to the first corner is his only route to beating him, whilst Villeneuve and Montoya, essentially, would relish the opportunity to prove a very physical point… namely, that they are not intimidated.

Normally, most of what Irvine says is taken with a pinch of salt or totally ignored: on the odd occasions he limits himself to considered comments, the press have a tendency to invent the conversation to spice things up. And because they are "what Eddie said," they get away with it. However, this time, there is some danger of backlash from the FIA.

Irvine's comments, essentially, slated the FIA for being ineffectual at dealing with start-line incidents. Schumacher has often been criticised by teams and drivers for potentially lethal get-aways which compel his competition to take evasive action. Irvine believes that a major coming together is brewing, and has essentially set up the FIA: if they do not act, and disaster strikes, then their "safety drive" looks like a sham, and the governing body is revealed as ineffective. On the other hand, by acting now, the FIA would appear to be reacting to, and driven by, Irvine.

The powers that be are considering censuring Irvine for the words which put them in this position, but appear reluctant to carry it through. And the cause of this unlikely scenario, is Irvine's backing – unusually, the Irishman has spoken for the majority, and more than half the drivers on the grid actually agree with him.

Honda Struggling

Since Olivier Panis claimed that Honda cannot compete at the front of the grid without a whole new engine, it seems the dam of silence has broken on the reservoir of woes Jordan and BAR have faced this season.

Despite early season announcements that neither team was a particular rival to the other, it is clear that both teams are struggling to secure what appears set to become the sole works supply of engines. Both teams have solid contracts to the end of 2002, and each is determined to be the first to bring success to Honda, and both teams are struggling to live up to their pre-season promises and expectations.

At Jordan, in contrast to previous years, the development pipeline holds few surprises. The team is convinced that the car is essentially very quick, and most of the speed to be gained over the rest of this year will be from better understanding of how to set it up, and increased power from the engines. Otherwise, aerodynamic tweaks, and refinements to the electronics, account for most of the research effort. There are a couple of significant revisions to come, but that's about it.

BAR, meanwhile, are working to close the gap with Jordan. The Irish outfit is clearly a fraction quicker in qualifying, though both Villeneuve and Panis believe that BAR holds the edge in race trim; however, they are not getting the results. They do have developments in the pipeline, but are being held up badly by much needed work on improving reliability.

More to the point, both teams are struggling to match the pace of Sauber with their year-old Ferrari engines, and the blame for that is falling quietly – until Panis's statement – on Honda's shoulders.

The Honda powered teams are both looking askance at Williams, and their BMW units. These are, it appears, producing something close to 50bhp more power, which is inherently worth nearly half a second a lap of advantage. Some of that can certainly be made up in the chassis, but most of it will be purely dependant on getting more grunt from Honda.

This year's Honda engine is pretty useful, there is no denying it, and normally, any engine which is only in its second year has plenty of development potential remaining; however, as Panis has pointed out, if the gap to the front is to be closed, then a major step forward is required. Almost certainly, that means a change in concept, and that, naturally, would mean a whole new engine.

Silly Season Rumbles On

As Mika Hakkinen's dismal run of luck continues, his position at McLaren is coming under increasing scrutiny by the media. Barring a dominating Spanish Grand Prix, Hakkinen's form this year has looked decided off the boil against his teammate. Ensuring his woes are complete, the Finn has picked up Coulthard's infamous luck, ensuring that whether or not his form is there, his car breaks down more often than it runs.

Typically, when a driver appears to go off the boil, whether it is their fault or not, their position is in some jeopardy with the team. Bonaparte looked for lucky generals to win his battles, and Formula One teams are generally cut from the same cloth. However, due to McLaren's history of not penalising drivers for problems with machinery, and Ron Dennis's well publicised affection for the driver his car nearly killed, the current Silly Season rumours concerning Hakkinen are that he will retire at the end of the season.

Adding fuel to the retirement fire is McLaren's failure to announce the Finn as teammate to Coulthard when they announced the renewal of the Scotsman's contract. Fanning the flames further, Hakkinen appears increasingly family orientated, and has earned enough from the last four years alone to ensure he and his remain comfortably off for the remainder of their days. Unless and until McLaren confirm Hakkinen for 2002, no amount of denial will prevent the media from speculating that his days with the team are over.

Should Hakkinen depart, then there suddenly appears a large gap at BAR – for Olivier Panis is expected to be top of McLaren's shopping list as a replacement, and depending who you talk to, his BAR contract is apparently written with that potential move in mind. One thing is for sure: Panis had a sensational year testing for the team in 2000, and is clearly showing the 1997 World Champion the way at BAR this year, making him one of the hottest properties around.

Eyeing up the BAR spot, test driver Patrick Lemarie is hoping for the nod; however, there is an undercurrent that either Arrows driver Enrique Bernoldi, or BAR's other test driver, Takumo Sato, are in the frame. Apparently, Tom Walkinshaw wishes Red Bull to pay twice as much in order to run Bernoldi in his cars. Whilst Bernoldi has not proven top dog, his defiance of Coulthard and McLaren at Monaco have given him a certain infamy: combined with Red Bull dollars, that potentially adds up to a Zonta-style role at BAR. On the other hand, Sato is having a field day in British F3, and shows arguably more talent than that which sufficed to give Jenson Button his debut at Williams. Given Button and Raikkonen's debut years, and the ever pressing desire to sweeten Honda, there is plenty of reason to believe another Japanese driver will be in Formula One next season.