First, let me congratulate you on this "out of this world" Formula One coverage and presentation. Truly your page is the best (not even FIA can match).

I am a F1 fan in a country that only have Karting and Rally races. I never had the chance to see, hear or even smell a F1 car and that makes it more mystical to me. Since eight years i think i never missed a GP race. My favorite driver is Jean Alesi, wich results do not meet his talent and courage. Hope with the Sauber team he will finally have more success.

My question relate to the qualification session of the last Austrian GP. I have never seen such a bizarre session. We had to wait for more than 30 minutes to see any top team driver on the track, and it seems that they were doing hot laps after another without coming in to the pits to change tyres or settings. I suspected Track temperature was not favorable or were there anything else keeping the drivers from going out.

I would appreciate if you explain this session for me.

Patrick Aznzvourian
aznavour@dm.net.lb

Patrick,

You are partly right about the qualifying session. There are two main reasons why the front-runners waited a while before coming out to start their laps:

1) As you correctly thought, with the sun out at the A-1 Ring, a lot of teams were waiting until the track warmed up so that they could get their tyres up to the correct operating temperature as quicky as possible. There were reports that the hard tyres were taking up to 3 laps to get hot enough for a fast run and obviously hotter track temperatures reduce this time allowing for more runs. As you commented, most drivers were able to run 2 or 3 "hot laps" before having to stop for exactly this reason.

2) With the track having relatively little use during a year, each car will lay down more rubber on the track giving more grip. Therefore, theoretically, the later in the session a car runs, the faster it will be able to go. Of course this doesn't take into account the grip lost by cars dumping oil or dirt onto the circuit.

I hope this answers your question.

Regards,

Max Galvin
galvin@atlasf1.com

We all saw M. Schumacher overtake Frentzen during Sunday's Austrian GP. Unfortunately, this manoeuvre took place during a yellow flag situation and M. Schumacher had to suffer the consequences, which fortunately were just the 10 second penalty. Thankfully, it wasn't a faster, blind bend with a car stationary in the middle of the circuit. For the sake of safety, it should be ascertained that enough flags are made visible to the drivers. Schumacher claims that he did not see any, and seeing footage from Frentzen's car, only one yellow flag is "visible" on the left side, and the right side.

We have already had situations where drivers couldn't see flags, (Mansell, Portugal 1989) and may I ask, what is anyone doing to improve the situation? Can't there be more flags present before bends?

Robert Vassallo-Agius
are9531@tokyo-u-fish.ac.jp

Dear Atlas,

I just think it needs to be said that the TV producers of the Austrian GP did a darn fine job. Of course, their task was made a hell of a lot easier by an exciting and entertaining race, but they maximised this by the range of shots they used from lap to lap, large amounts of on-board camera, quick and accurate replays, and of course that wonderful moving camera which did a great job of conveying the deceleration and acceleration of modern F1 cars. It was certainly a big improvement over some of the crappy and/or lazy coverage to which we've been subjected over the years. Keep it coming!

Cheers,

Simon Haddy
simhaddy@camtech.net.au

Dear Atlas,

Britons like to say they love the underdog, but when the FIA British marshal decided to disqualify Hakkinen (thus giving one more point to Villeneuve) and punish Schumacher with a ten-second stop-go penalty in Austria; they hit the wrong contender. Missing the target, they kicked the bad leg of the lame. Along this season, the Williams car was ever much superior in relation to the Ferrari. And, the temporary leadership Schumacher maintained so far, was due only to some fortuitous factors (rain, accidents with Villeneuve, etc.), and to his extraordinary talent.

But now it's all over. The Williams car is much better suited for the three remaining circuits - Nurburgring, Suzuka and Jerez - and it's all over. For the remaining three GPs I bet we are going to see the pathetic, desperate, struggle of a brave man (Schumacher) against a fantastic machine (the Williams car). But I think it is unfortunately useless, even "The Red Baron" can't perform miracles.

The dream is over.

Best regards,

Nuno Ferreira Becker
engine@portoweb.com.br

Dear Atlas,

I would like to take a second to congratulate all you Atlas F1 guys for the really nice Austrian GP coverage, thanks. By the way, this past GP more than made up for the complete lack of emotions of the Italian GP. I mean, that's what F1 should be! Isnt'it? Passing, real on-track racing, new drivers and teams in the front rows... it was really nice to see! Maybe the A-1 track wasn't so bad after all.

I specially enjoyed the first part of the race, with Barrichelo and Trulli up front and showing they are gutsy enough to be up there, even with inferior machinery. And, talking about passing, poor Damon! He had one certain championship point stolen from his wallet and still doesn't know what hit him! I mean, that pass by Shummy reminded me of the great late 'you know who', who thrived on odd passes like that.

Regards,

Marcio Oliveira
molive@PO-Box.McGill.CA

Dear Atlas,

While I do appreciate the commentary and news of your news editor Michael Viveen, I think I have over the last year detected some, mostly understandable, bias in his interests. We often (in fact always) do learn the where- abouts of dutch Verstappen and his finnish team-mate Salo, but surely Mika Hakkinen deserves some interest too? At Austrian GP, Mika was well on his way to his first victory (I firmly believe that bar the engine failure, no one could have challenged him at A-1), yet again his rotten luck showed up. Viveen duly reports troubles of Trulli, Marques, Barrichello etc, yet fails to mention anything about the misfortune of a man who was leading the race?

Yours,

Seppo Koponen
box24060@megabaud.fi

Seppo:

The only bias that may inflict our news coverage is that of geography. Michael Viveen is based in the Netherlands and keeps appraised of happingings there as well as the rest of the world. If he were based in Japan, I'm sure Atlas F1 News Service readers would notice a great deal more of Japanese-F1 related news. I can assure you, however, that there is no driver or team favoritisim on his part of the Atlas F1 News Service. Everyone at Atlas does have their favorite (and we argue quite often about "who's better" and "who's not"), but it rarely ever creeps into Atlas. If it did, we would be the first to complain because of our own intra-team rivalries. Furthermore, I can tell you didn't even come close in guessing who Viveen secretly cheers for on GP weekends.

Regards,

Paul Kaizar
kaizar@atlasf1.com

Dear Atlas:

Having intensely watched all of the Grands Prix so far this year, there are several conclusions, to which I will bear the criticism of loyal fans no doubt, that have become apparent:

1) If a team does not commit "equally" to being a "team", then surely the Constructors Championship will be in jeapordy. (Ferrari, more so than Williams)

2) Competition amongst tire manufacturers is a beautiful thing.

3) Jean Alesi still exhibits "momentary lapses of reasoning" (Austria)

4) Gerhard Berger should retire! The sport does not deserve him.

5) Someone should speak to RALPH Schumacher about his driving style of "ALL or nothing." If not, someone will address it on the track. Hmmmm... I seem to remember other drivers being reminded.

6) When will people stop making excuses for other people's successes; the best car, Bridgestone Tires, etc.. A good drive is not an automatic... even in F1!

7) John Watson (ESPN) cannot possibly replace Bob Varsha's geniune and imaginative commentary. Having two drivers commentate does not work (I mean no disrespect to either John or Derek Bell).

8) Damon Hill will win Jordan's first Grand Prix!

9) Frank Williams not only lost a talented, "winning" driver, but a talented designer as well. Sorry ole' boy.

10) The Austrian television coverage was the best of the year so far.

Well, I've tried to give a mixed bag of issues for people to chew on. Hopefully, it will spark a few comments from some of your, obviously, well educated readers.

Best Regards,

Joe Johnston
joej@ncmi.com