Testing news from
Monza
Unhappy Schumacher
crashes
Fisichella sets
early pace with a new body
Berger back on form
suffers from too much gas
14th July - There was a mass scuttle by
most of the teams to Monza after the British
Grand Prix and no doubt a great many questions
needed to be answered after a race of high attrition
in which only half the field finished.
After its unlucky
showing at Silverstone, Ferrari were
there at the crack of dawn, Monday for four days
working in preparation for the German Grand Prix
on 27th July at Hockenheim. Eddie Irvine
kicked off testing but only managed 16 laps before
rain brought an early end to the test. The Irishman
began work on the set-up of the F310B on the
Monza track, setting a best time of 1m 26.411s.
New Benetton
protégée Alex Wurz covered just eight laps
to shake down a gearbox in preparation for the
German Grand Prix on 27 July.
15th July
- Ferrari was
visited by Fiat's Honorary President, Gianni
Agnelli, who spoke to the engineers and
mechanics, taking an interest in the outcome of the
testing and the way data passes from the car to the
pits via telemetry. Asked to comment on the race at
Silverstone, Agnelli said he was satisfied with the
performance and described Ferrari's unfortunate
retirement as "one of those things that
happens in racing."
Michael Schumacher,
working on different suspension settings on his F 310
B, suffered an exploded left rear tyre after he ran
over a piece of metal debris at 300kph as he
approached the Parabolica right-hander. The
German was testing new suspension components and
completed 56 laps for a best time of 1m 24.93s After
the test, Schumacher said, "The opposition
was very fast. Our car is well balanced and we still
have other things to try. "
Giancarlo
Fisichella set the early pace for Jordan-Peugeot.
The team had a good day completing a total of 79 laps
with a best time of 1m 23.85s. Fisichella tried low
downforce specification bodywork and concentrated on
a Goodyear tyre test programme. At the end of
the day, he did a practice start and then a slow lap
during which he went off lightly, damaging the car's
front wing.
Both Jean Alesi
and Alex Wurz made progress for Benetton, on
mechanical set-ups and concentrated on engine
development and aerodynamic work. Throughout the
afternoon they practised pit approaches and stops on
most of their 'in' laps. Alesi covered 23 timed laps
for a best time of 1m 25.46s with Wurz covering 33
laps with a best of 1m 26.07s.
Mika Hakkinen
and David Coulthard began their testing for McLaren
where Coulthard had a high speed accident after three
laps in the morning, damaging the back end of his MP4/12,
bodywork and the underfloor. The car was repaired and
he managed 1m 24.42s best. Mika Hakkinen also
left the circuit, damaging his car's left front
corner, and managed a 1m 25.63s best. The team used a
mixture of E and F spec-Mercedes
engines on Tuesday and Wednesday after which the
latest F-spec engine was flown out overnight
for Hakkinen to sample later in the week.
Jacques Villeneuve
and Heinz-Harald Frentzen commenced testing
low downforce aerodynamic set-ups for Williams,
in preparation for both the German and Italian
Grands Prix - specifically, wing settings for Hockenheim
and an assessment of whether or not the FW19s
will run with their deflectors on the rear bodywork.
Frentzen completed a total of 37 laps for a best time
of 1m 24.13s with Silverstone winner, Villeneuve,
covering 43 laps to record a best of 1m 24.33s.
16th July - A long run was
planned for Ferrari on Wednesday afternoon, but it
was not completed due to strange rear-end vibrations
which turned out to be a suspected gearbox problem.
His best time on his second day, was 1m 25.44s. The
car was closely examined in the pits and the team
decided to postpone the scheduled run until Thursday.
Schumacher covered a total of 33 laps, all of them in
race trim, with a best time of 1m 25.4s
Ralf Schumacher
in the Jordan-Peugeot, did a 1m 24.35s, spinning once
on the exit of the first chicane which caused minor
suspension damage. New body work developed after
aerodynamic testing for the area around the front of
the rear wheels, proved hugely successful and will
run on the car for the German Grand Prix.
Composite manager Tom
Anderson explained, "The new body work
gives us aerodynamic performance gain which was shown
by the wind tunnel and has now been confirmed by the
Monza test. It will help the straight line speed of
the car and it will now be current for all races and
all circuits, making the old bodywork obsolete."
He continued, "The three piece body kit will
enable mechanics to take away the centre section
leaving the side parts on and adjust the dampers and
roll-bar area far faster." It is understood
that Jordan have also upgraded their front wing
packages especially for the high speed circuits of Hockenheim.
Monza and possibly Spa.
A newly fit Gerhard
Berger returned to his duties with Benetton on
Wednesday after a six weeks' absence. Back into good
form and feeling comfortable with the car, he spent
much of the day working on mechanical set up,
concentrating in the afternoon on rear suspension
geometry. A stuck throttle however gave him an
unwelcome homecoming moment. "I was
approaching the Roggia chicane, braking from 300kph
when the throttle stayed open," he said.
"It was the scariest moment of my life as there
is not enough run-off at that corner. Probably, I
went on the clutch a bit too late and I was lucky to
get the left front wheel on the grass. That made the
car spin five or six times and I ended up at the exit
of the chicane, the car pointing in the race
direction and the throttle wide open."
Berger, who’s
enforced absence from the last three Grands Prix due
to a sinus infection, said he had no intention of
retiring when his contract expires at the end of the
season. "I'm a driver and I want to keep on
racing," he said. Berger also stated that he
had been having talks with Williams and expected to
race for at least another couple of years.
He covered 31 timed
laps for a best time of 1m 24.55s and is confident
that he can be competitive in Hockenheim.
Alesi managed a 1m 24.39s after trying a low
downforce aerodynamic programme in the afternoon.
Frentzen covered 45
laps for a 1m 24.86s with Villeneuve completing 63
laps for a 1m 23.84s.
After 83 laps the
previous day, Johnny Herbert managed to
produce the best time of Wednesday's Monza test times
with the Sauber-Petronas with a 1m 23.73s.
Team director Max Welti described it as a very
positive test, but added; "You cannot carry
over completely the experience gained at Monza for
Hockenheim as the German track is much more
bumpy."
Herbert drove 75 laps
then suffered an engine failure, the first
experienced this season. The team was concentrating
on high-speed aerodynamic configurations and Norberto
Fontana continued the test on Thursday.
17th July - This was the fourth and
final day of Monza testing for Ferrari, with
Schumacher driving. In the morning, the German did 14
laps, working on various front suspension settings.
In the afternoon he tackled the postponed race
distance simulation. With the F 310 B (chassis 172)
fitted with a new engine, He was still unable to
complete the run. Having done 46 of the 53 laps that
constitute an Italian Grand Prix distance, the engine
began to lose power and the test was curtailed. His
best lap time was 1m 24.958s. "I am
unhappy," said Michael. "If we
cannot complete a full simulation, it means we have
relaxed a little bit and must work even harder to
examine the components which have failed."
Schumacher Junior
improved to 1m 23.20s after only five laps and three
laps later, the Peugeot V10 failing. He later
had another minor off-track moment when he went over
a kerb and the team decided to finish running for the
day.
Alesi completed his
testing at Monza with a suspension and aerodynamic
programme, producing a best time of 1m 23.74s after
37 timed laps. Berger concentrated on brake
development and general set-up work and managed 1m
24.53s after 55 timed laps.
Hakkinen tested alone
today, successfully completing a race distance run in
the hot conditions using an F-spec Mercedes engine.
Frentzen got down to
1m 23.69s Thursday afternoon, Villeneuve setting a
best time of 1m 25.46s both in FW19’s.
Also at Monza..
With seven engine
failures over the British Grand Prix weekend,
four of which took out all Cosworth powered cars in
the race, the Tyrrell team reported successful
testing on Wednesday and Thursday with Mika Salo driving.
Using an ED5 Cosworth engine his best time was
1m 25.8s. On the last day he tried the team's narrow
track development car on grooved tyres for a best
time of 1m 30.2s, saying that he found the car "much
improved" since he last tried it.
The Prost team was at Monza
from Monday until Thursday working on a low downforce
aerodynamic configuration as well as testing tyres. A
much improved Shinji Nakano ran the first two
days then Olivier Panis replacement Jarno
Trulli took over till Thursday lunchtime. In the
afternoon Nakano returned, but driving a narrow track
'98 development car with grooved tyres, suffered a
broken gearbox.
At Fiorano, Eddie
Irvine carried out a series of tests in
preparation for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The
Irish driver did 41 laps of Ferrari's private track
suffering some minor hydraulic problems and set a
best time of 1m 00.525s. Irvine will test at Fiorano
until Saturday.
Grooved testing at
Silverstone
Further improvement
for Tyrrell-Ford
Hill cools it
Meanwhile, at Silverstone
Jean-Christophe Boullion was out testing
‘Skinny Lizzy’ the narrow-track Williams
1998 test car, on grooved dry weather rubber. He
completed around 30 laps on Tuesday and 40 laps on
Wednesday.
New test signing, Nick
Heidfeld began testing with the 1998 spec test
chassis, a revised McLaren MP4/11.
In a less publicised
showing than the British Grand Prix, Rubens
Barrichello continued the development work on
Ford's P7 spec version of the Zetec-R V10
engine in order to help prepare the Stewart
team to field both cars using these engines, at the
forthcoming German Grand Prix. Barrichello
completed 58 laps with a best time of 1m 24.7s which
encouraged the team to use the latest spec engine at
Hockenheim. Jan Magnussen ran on Tuesday and
asked for changes to his P6 spec-engined car with a
low downforce specification. Magnussen was quite
happy to have equalled his British GP fastest lap of
1m 25.5s.
Fresh from his first
points score of the season, Damon Hill
approved a new cooling system for the Yamaha
D-spec V10 engine at Silverstone on
Wednesday when he assessed the system installed in
the Arrows A18 test car. He ran the car
equipped with '97 spec tyres in the morning and
’98 spec grooved tyres in the afternoon. With
the grooved tyres Hill's best lap was a 1m 28.30s
with 50kg of fuel aboard. After some further
modifications to the cooling system overnight, Hill
managed a 1m 24.46s on a '97 set-up.
Arrows also continued
its test programme with Pedro Diniz and
official test driver Jorg Muller. The
Brazilian drove the team's spare car powered by a
C-spec Yamaha engine. His best time came on Wednesday
when he clocked 1m 23.78s during the 27 laps he
completed during the afternoon after a lunchtime
engine change. Muller completed 58 laps for a best of
1m 25.73s during which he carried out the preliminary
tests on the revised cooling system which employs two
similar water radiators and a heat exchanger system
for the engine oil. Preliminary evaluation suggests
that it slight decreases the oil temperature but has
an opposite effect on the water.
Prost to move
‘or quit’
Alain Prost,
frustrated by delays in the transferral of his team
from their old ‘Ligier’ headquarters at Magny
Cours to Versailles near Paris, has threatened to
quit the Formula 1 team if he is forced to yield to
Political pressure.
"All I care
for is to win." He told a French newspaper
last week "If I'm prevented from winning, I
will draw all the necessary consequences." The
Magny-Cours area is dominated by the ruling Socialist
party, while the right wing supported Versailles
area, is a traditional stronghold of French president
Jacques Chirac.
"It was a
businessman's decision to leave," Said
Prost. "Looking back, you'll realise Ligier
were not efficient enough. It was due to their
isolation,"
His claim that his
move from Magny Cours to Versailles was
blocked by a resettlement committee helping firms
establish themselves in the French provinces, seems
to be valid as it was Guy Ligier’s
friendship with former President Francois
Mitterrand that decided on their original
location in the Socialist hot-bed around Nevers.
Prost made an
announcement that his team was moving back in June
and coincidentally, prior to the French General
Election and has been regarded in some quarters as a
political decision.
Berger’s
father dies in aircrash
Gerhard Berger’s
62 year old father Johann, was killed in an aircrash
in Austria last week. He apparently became
disorientated in foggy conditions and crashed the
private plane into a hill shortly after taking off.
Benetton boss Flavio Briatore said, "We
know how close Gerhard was to his father. Our
thoughts are with him." Whilst considerably
distraught, it is understood that Berger will
continue his commitments with team Benetton and he
rejoined them at the Monza testing session last week
after his enforced absence due to sinus infections.
Flavio signs
Fisichella
Benetton Team
boss Flavio Briatore is rumoured to have
signed 24-year-old Giancarlo Fisichella to
drive for the team in 1988. Current Jordan Peugeot
driver, Fisichella, has been impressive in his first
full year in Formula 1and it has long been suspected
that Briatore, who also manages the Italian, would
take up his option on the driver. It is expected that
he will replace Jean Alesi who is rumoured to
be in talks with the Prost team.
Once again the uncanny
knack of Team boss Eddie Jordan to spot rising
talent has given others the opportunity to capitalise
on their talents. Jordan was first to sign the likes
of Eddie Irvine, Jean Alesi and Michael
Schumacher. Speculation is rife that he may also
lose Ralf Schumacher to McLaren
possibly in an exchange deal that will fund a seat
for Damon Hill.
Jordan grab
Mugen-Honda deal
Jordan have finally
confirmed what everyone has expected, that they have
signed a deal with Mugen-Honda for an engine
supply for the next two years. It is not expected
that Honda will supply any other team. A delighted Eddie
Jordan flew in from Japan on the eve of the British
Grand Prix and announced the signing. He would
not confirm that he had to use a Japanese driver as
part of the package. With Fisichella expected to be
on his way to Benetton at the end of the year, a
place would exist, but with the current crop of
average Oriental drivers available, it would negate
the advantage of a quick engine.
TWR nowhere to go
but down?
With the final engine
deal going to Jordan, it now looks almost impossible
for Tom Walkinshaw’s Arrows team
to secure a competitive engine for next year. Mecachrome/Renault,
it seems, are content to let sleeping dogs lie and
keep both Williams and Benetton supplied for the next
couple of years at least, whilst Peugeot,
never on the cards even as a customer engine, will go
exclusively to the Prost team. Ford,
contracted to Stewart and supplying Tyrrell
with earlier evolution units, are not in the market
to supply a second customer team. The under-funded Hart
would need considerable development to get their
V10 competitive and a large cash injection and
would probably offer no greater benefit than the
engine they currently use. With rumours of Yamaha
quitting for a two year sabbatical to regroup and let
the laughing die down, Walkinshaw has little choice
but to go it alone with his own development engine.
Newly signed technical
director John Barnard has apparently ‘known
for at least six weeks’ what engine they
will be using next year. If it is to be Yamaha, it
will continue to be prepared by TWR partners Judd
and will not be badged with the team name.
Maybe Barnard could
let Damon Hill in on the secret so that he can
pack his bags early. Whatever options Walkinshaw has
left, is not likely to appeal to Hill who needs a car
to challenge for the championship again.
Bridgestone renew
tyre contracts
Bridgestone
tyre supplier announced last week that it will
continue to supply tyres to the same four teams in
1998. The remaining teams have contracts with
Goodyear until the end of next season and it is
understood that should any teams wish to change to
the Japanese company’s tyres there would be
severe penalties to pay before their contracts
expire.
And finally... more
driver rumours
It seems the whole of
the Formula 1 paddock is waiting to see where Damon
Hill sits down in the annual game of musical
chairs. His name so far has been linked with
practically every team except Arrows and even
old boss Frank Williams, seriously
disappointed with the performance of Heinz Harald
Frentzen this year, could actually admit to
making a judgement error in signing the German and
make amends by bringing back the Englishman. This
would generate higher TV viewing figures with the
prospect of Hill battling old adversary Michael
Schumacher again. It is understood that Renault
technical director Bernard Dudot said that
‘Williams would be leading the
championship’ by now if Hill had remained
with the Grove based team.
Both Sauber and
Prost have expressed an interest in his
services but it is now expected that Jean Alesi
will take the seat at Prost, powered by Peugeot
next year, alongside Olivier Panis.
Sauber, whilst fairly reliable, has this year, been a
disappointment and could not be considered by Hill,
to be a car to win races despite its Petronas-badged
Ferrari powerplant.
A move to Benetton
now seems unlikely with the expected signing of
Fisichella to replace Alesi and the likelihood of
Berger a): retiring or b): moving on, would only
motivate boss Briatore to employ the talents of far
cheaper drivers such as Jarno Trulli or
current hotshot and test driver Alex Wurz.
McLaren has
always been his best option. With Mika Hakkinen,
despite recent fine performances, yet to score a
victory for the team, it is likely that the Finn
could find his way to Sauber leaving Hill to
Join forces once again with David Coulthard,
who last week hinted that it would be ‘great
to have him as a team mate again.‘ The
sticking point within McLaren however, is Mercedes,
who are desperate for a German driver. This could be
Frentzen if Williams do not take up their option on
him for next year or, more likely, Ralf Schumacher.
This would make Eddie Jordan’s
humiliation complete, being also expected to lose
star protégée Giancarlo Fisichella to Benetton
next year. Hill could however, grab the
German’s seat at Jordan, as it is well known
that Jordan was disappointed that he could not afford
him last year. Hill will be aware of the fact that
had he signed with the Silverstone based team,
he could conceivably have been in contention for the
Championship at this stage.
Apart from Williams,
the latter two teams seem to be the only options
worth considering and it would be a wise team boss to
make the offer before Walkinshaw has another go at
holding on to him for another inglorious year.
Chris Richardson
