Olivier Pannis did a very good job at Monaco. He had already impressed me last year in Australia when he finished the race with the engine almost blowing. It is good to see the guys in Ligier winning again, even if in a abnormal situation. They deserve some happiness after their long period without success.

Monaco was unique as usual. That is what makes it so special.

Schummy looks to be closing the gap between Ferrari and Williams. Letīs wait and see how it will be on the fast tracks.

To all Formula One fans, 96 looks to be a very good year. We are having some very emotional races. Letīs hope that it continues until the end.

Marko Petek
petek@voyager.com.br
Brazil

Schumacher is sure driving the wheels off his Ferrari this year. Unlike at Imola where he timed it just right, he was a bit off at Monaco--two hours off! Now I could well understand 'Kamikaze Jean' Alesi bouncing off curbs and crashing on the first lap of a race begun in treacherous conditions, but Schumacher? I think yet another bad start was clearly the cause of his impatience. The way that Hill flew past him must have been infuriating. But for a two-time World Champion and the recent "king" of Monaco to commit such a blatant driver error is hard to swallow.

Which brings me back to Alesi. The fact that he retired from this tumultuous race with a mechanical failure is equally hard to believe and gives me some renewed respect for the Frenchman.

Talk about Frenchmen, Olivier Panis really deserved this win. Sure he benefited from an unprecedentedly high attrition rate, but the fact that during the middle of the race, when the track was still decidedly tricky, he was setting fastest laps that were 2 seconds a lap faster than anyone in the field shows that this really was his day. And what a great pleasure it was to see a back-marker team like Ligier return to the winner's circle after a 15 year rut. I couldn't help but grin as Panis made his victory lap, French flag in hand.

It was also nice to see Coulthard come in second after driving so brilliantly in the previous few races. Ron Dennis wasn't exactly jumping for joy, but maybe he'll be able to keep the Marlboro boys from breathing down his neck for a little while.

At the very least, it was a suspenseful race. When ESPN returned from one of the broadcast's countless commercials, you could never guess who would still be in the race. Now that doesn't make for great racing, but it sure was exciting to watch.

Eric Gustafson
egustafson@wvs.com
U.S.A.

Monte Carlo, the race of every season. Not for the speed, not for the circuit and certainly not for the safety. No, the most important factor for this race is the history behind it and the setting. Monaco is different from any other race as it is held right in the middle of a city which streets are very, very narrow and very twisty. Monaco, as Prost once said, is like riding a bike through your living room. No real high speeds, but just throwing the car around and barely making the next turn -- that's the spirit of Monaco.

However, the Monaco race of 1996 was a total disaster for most teams. The race finished before the scheduled 78 laps were run and only three cars went over the finish line. The fourth car of Heinz Harald Frentzen was already parked in the pits one lap before the race ended. This all makes it sound like a particular awful Grand Prix, but in fact it was just the opposite...

It all started from the grid. The Arrows team decided not to have their drivers run a few test laps in the morning before the race as they needed to restrict any further loss of machinery. When the cars were rolled onto the grid, it was decided that, although the track was wet, Jos Verstappen would be the only driver to start on slicks. He tried to overtake Hakkinen in the first turn. As he was the third car in that row, he found the track ending where he wanted to go. One out, many more to go.

The big names weren't spared either. Schumacher went into the chicane at Loews a bit too fast and his car offered him some armco sightseeing. No finish for the man who went .5 secs below Hill's very good qualification time.

Hill took the lead extending it by three seconds every lap. It all looked like Hill was going for one of those wins again when suddenly his engine thought it had enough for the day and he went out with a big bang in the 41st lap.

Alesi was running second and was granted the lead. Olivier Panis had changed slicks sometime before all this and casually ran a lap which was 10 seconds below the fastest lap time for that moment. Panis had found his throttle and, apart from a few slower laps, wouldn't let go of it. The Ligier people went onto the wall as their driver got closer and closer to the number one man Alesi.

Then the biggest blunder in the history of Benetton happened. Alesi went into the pits and the crew saw him coming... from the TV monitors. None of the crew were ready -- Alesi just drove onto an empty spot. Panis gracefully accepted the lead, and, one lap later Alesi retired with problems. Panis didn't let go anymore, but neither did David Coulthard.

The exciting parts of the race were the constant strings of cars that followed each other very closely waiting for one to make a mistake. And then it happened. Eddie Irvine spinned in the same bend where Schumacher went out. Ferrari might want to study their brakes as it seemed he also went out due to excessive speed. As it is a blind chicane Mika Salo smashed into the red car. Soon after, Mika Hakkinen decided to join the two men by launching his McLaren into the Tyrell. Hakkinen jumped out of the car and seemd to bolt torwards Eddie to give a big whacking. A marshal that wanted to stop him got pushed aside and then it became obvious that Mika Hakkinen only wanted to get away as soon as possible.

In the meantime, Panis was still fighting off David. Then, the two hour curfew came for the 29 year old Frenchman. He crossed the line of the royal circuit as a winner in his first Formula One victory ever. The Monte Carlo race was once again a race of surprises. Nobody would have guessed that Panis would win this race and get the trophy for the Ligier team which hadn't had a trophy since 1981.

A weekend of surprises. Who knows what Barcelona will have in stock for us on the 2nd of June. I will be there to watch, will you?

Arne Hulstein
ghulst@mail.HZeeland.nl
The Netherlands

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