The combined genius of Bernie Ecclestone and Rupert Murdoch has left F1 fans from the Arabian peninsula, through the Indian subcontinent, into Hong Kong and down through Southeast Asia WITHOUT F1 ON TV. STAR TV dropped the coverage without so much as an explanation and FOCA has not commented as well. I live in Thailand, and if it wasn't for the Internet, I wouldn't have a clue as to what's going on. Unfortunately, not everyone is online. It reminds me of the early 70s when we'd drive from close to Watkins Glen, NY to the Canadian border to watch GPs on TV. For all the alleged advancements that FOCA has done for F1 on TV, they sure blew this one.
Upset racefan in Bangkok
If Damon Hill keeps going like he did in Brazil, it is not hard to see him take the World Championship and dispose of the runner-up syndrome. Who knows, 40 out of 40 points isn't bad at all. Life isn't all bad for Alesi either. He won himself a nice piece of silver with his second placing. He really deserved it. Jean was very fast during the race and it is very good for the moral at Benetton to be placed second in the constructors championship.
Brazil also saw the returning of Forti! They made the 107% demands and went on to race. It's always nice to see the yellow cars run as you know they aren't there for the win, they are there for the fun of the race. I always liked their nose with the supporters of the front wing looking like the old Bugatti logo.
See you in Argentina at the 7th of April.
Arne Hulstein
ghulst@mail.HZeeland.nl
The Netherlands
Damon Hill drove a perfect race, but he had no real challenger: Villeneuve couldn't handle the rain during the starting laps. Alesi and Barrichello slowed each other down with their fantastic battle (Schumacher and Hill made me believe that fair and exciting racing got impossible in GP-racing) and in the wet being first is always 'easier'. As Hill said himself, he took profit from this gap until the end of the race. But, I still wonder what happend to Alesi in the middle of the race, when he suddenly dropped behind Barichello with a 17 sec. gap. Jean made a 1:47 I believe in that lap, while the normal times were around 1:26. Did he spin off? Schumacher only has his bank account to be pleased about. His 3rd place was very lucky and being slower than Barrichello in the Jordan can't be too motivating. At least the Ferraris finished the race.
Yves Siweck
jean-louis.siweck@ci.educ.lu
Luxembourg
Damon Hill was impressive in Brazil, specially during the first wet laps. He made us remember Suzuka in 1994 and to forget his mistakes last year. He really drove above the level of the other drivers. Barrichello also did a very good race. He seems to be much more mature this year. Brundle also had good times also showed on the warm-up that Jordan is reaching the level of a big team. But all of them are still a step behind Williams.
P.S.: I was in Interlagos during the whole week-end!
Marko Petek
petek@voyager.com.br
Brazil
You could tell by the way Villeneuve sat in the car after the spin, with both hands on the wheel. He was absorbing the lesson. He'll still be a force to be reckoned with for the championship. He may not have the experience on the specific circuits, but he has the capability to out-charge anybody. I think Alesi squeezed him out just a bit. Villeneuve will learn what to expect from the other drivers as he progresses.
James C. Hawkins
jhawkins@direct.ca
Canada
It is evident Sunday that third place was conquered by Schumacher and not by Ferrari. I think that the circuit was very bad for Ferrari: there was a long straight and many bumps; in Argentina, it will be better because the cicuit is very slow. Schumi is not used to such a gap from the leader. I suppose that, if one lap from the winner is too much, one lap from Hill is even more catastrophic for him.
Anyway, yesterday we noticed that, if it is easy to get close to Schumi when his car is not so fast, it is more difficult to overtake him; ask Frentzen and Barrichello about this...
Ottonelli Cristiano
ottonell@odino.unipv.it
Italia
By most accounts Damon Hill is to be the next F1 champ. This may be so, but this is by no means a done deal. Once again, Hill has to keep a careful watch on his own teammate - Villneuve. This current situation is quite reminiscient of last year's Williams team rivalry between Hill and Coulthard. Villneuve has continually proven that he can race with the big boys. In fact, Villneuve seems to be the only one on the grid capable of beating Hill. If Villneuve continues to perform as he has, and if he can stay in each race, the question then is how much longer can Hill keep winning? If last year's results count for anything then the answer is not long. The situation last year between Hill, Coulthard, and Schumacher just seemed to much for Hill to handle.
Erich L. Markert
1e6244@sunams.usma.army.mil
U.S.A.
Having written a letter to FOCA concerning the lack of F1 on TV in Thailand, I received an immediate reponse from the Gatekeeper himself, Bernie Ecclestone. It seems satellite footprints overlap contracted areas making deal-doing in Asia difficult. Mr. Ecclestone promissed me live coverage of Brazil as well as a re-run of Australia. True to his word, Thailand got both.
Happy racefan in Thailand
Has anyone been able to figure out what is the point of Doolittle's article on Bernie and Madonna??? If yes, please, let me know.
Fabio Balenzano
Atlas: Fabio, we are still scratching our heads :)
It was disapointing to see Villeneuve going off the track. I hope he gets more experience under rain. I still remember the '81 Canadian GP and the spectacle given by Gilles Villeneuve!
I count on Jacques to give us some great moments of real competition for first place.
Harerton Dourado
harerton@tropical.com.br
Brazil
Finally we seemed to have had a race, and quite a fantastic race at that. Damon Hill has proved to be the seasons favourite, by completely dominating the qualifying and the race. Villeneuve in qualifying was 1.1 seconds slower than Hill after he had come to terms with the track, and inexperience in the wet certainly let him down. Brillant race from Alesi's point of view, with the Benetton team finally getting their act together with at least one driver. Although Micheal Schumacher was lapped, his car seemed extremely difficult to drive, and this race was more to the charecter of the Ferrari team of 95. We will definately be seeing some good racing between Hill, Villeneuve, Alesi and Hakkinen. Hopefully Barrichello and Frentzen will also join them.
Mustafa Hashmi
mhashmi@bayou.uh.edu
U.S.A.
According to the TV commentators, Schumacher was a full 40 km/h slower than Hill on straight lines during the Brazilian Grand Prix! 40 km/h, imagine! No wonder he had so much trouble keeping Barrichello in his mirrors! Was that a specific failure of the Ferrari V10 for this race, or does that reveal a more deeper and complex power problem for the Ferrari engine? We should see in the Argentinian Grand Prix...
Villeneuve made a rookie mistake but that's justified: he only drove once on a wet race track in his career (that is in 1992, when he was running in Formula 3000 or something like that in Japan)! They never race when it is raining in Indy Car because on ovals it's too dangerous. Still, he is a future F1 World Champion, no doubt about that. He has a remarkable learning capacity.
Ugo Marsolais
ugo@odyssee.net
Quebec
Lets face reality before we put the Williams boys on a pedistal. These machines will win no matter who is behind the wheel.
Art Winter
awinter@miworld.net
U.S.A.
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