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| Updated: 29 January 1997 | Winter Testing Issue |
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As non-British I can't understand all the joy and pride that take over
England after Damon Hill's winning of the 1996 world championship.
After all, it's a title he was unable to achieve in 1994 even driving a
car far better than the others, and with "a little help from his friends"
Max Mosley, Bernie Eclestone, The FIA Guys & Co. (all brits), afflicting
doubtful punishments on Schumacher. In the next year again Hill was inept
to get it by himself. Finally, last year the "big bosses" found a way to
put Schumacher in the lousy Ferrari, leaving the path free for Hill
(nevertheless he was almost beaten by the novice Villeneuve, a guy that's
never been in F1 before). But the achievement wasn't due to Hill's superior
driving skills but to the overwhelming technical superiority of the Williams
car. Schumacher was the best again, followed closely by Villeneuve.
But Hill was only the fifth or sixth. At least that seems to be the
opinion of such guys like Lauda, Prost, Piquet or Jones.
Nuno Ferreira Becker I agree with Rob on the Williams criminal trial. But now, to a less unnerving subject, this year. It should be a goody, but a couple teams are in trouble. Tyrrell: Drivers Larini and Salo are capable, however, they only have the Ford works engine (hooray) and their chassis for the past five years have only been average. What's worse is that Tyrrell's sponsorship is still in trouble. I congratulate PIAA, but there's no one else. Mild Seven and Korean Air left. I would like to see another color or two from some sponsor decals on Tyrrell. Ligier: Although being taken over by Prost should bring sponsorship, until then, there's trouble. Parmalat left with Diniz, of course. Sponsorship is rarely solid with this team but Prost could help. They're still troubled though because they are (still) only an average team who need more funding, which could be solved soon. Minardi: This team never gets much real sponsorship because it never does anything to warrant it. Briatore's presence will help here. But Katayama and Trulli won't pilot the car above 20th in qualifying. The Hart engine, is, as we know, underfunded. Hart is an engineering genius in my opinion. The car is rarely worth crap, and well, my favorite team is in trouble. I wish McLaren luck this season and would enjoy to see Hakkinen in victory lane along with Coulthard. They've looked fast in testing so far. Arrows should move up to a decently competitive team, but I agree with Villenueve a lot here. Also, Eddie Irvine is due and Jackie Stewart is already bluffing. They'll be decently competitive. Much more than Stewart has led us to believe.
terrywey@comic.net "A Uniquely Italian Problem" The Italian justice system will be heavily scrutinized in the next few months from their current charges brought against Williams. It's more than likely that no member of the Williams team will recieve anything more than a slap on the wrist, but the indictments themselves have sent a shockwave through F1. Currently, Ken Tyrell, Flavio Briatore, and even Max Mosley have expressed concerns regarding racing in Italy. It's hard to imagine the FIA imposing fines for teams skipping a GP in Italy when the head of the orginization itself expresses concerns about racing there. The most ludicrous charge was brought against Adrian Newey. Newey was only guilty of designing a car that went extremely fast. Yet, because he redesigned the front wing of the car before Imola he faces these unjustified charges. If the reports of a faulty weld are to be believed, then why is Newey culpable? The Italian prosecusion's shotgun approach to charging as many people as possible for this tragedy leaves this writer both bewildered, and disappointed. Personally, I don't buy the faulty weld theory. Many people are quick to forget that that chassis was shunted at Aida. The car got the once over after that crash and the steering colomn was checked and passed for the race at Imola. Of all the teams in F1, Williams is the least likely to miss something like a sloppy welding job on a component as important as the steering shaft. Secondly, Williams has stated that they have tellemetry that will back up their side of the story. Finally, the storing of the evidence also left alot to be desired. Williams technical director Patrick Head stated in Autosport some months ago that the car has been left exposed to the elements, with little more than a tarp covering it. Hardly the kind of treatment that the major piece of evidence in what will undoubtedly be a highly technical trial should be afforded.
Rob Paterson |