Villeneuve abhors
it (F1, that is),
Frentzen floors it
(the Williams, that is) and...
Alesi goes off the
road (round the bend, that is)
Expectations were high for the Tifosi
for qualifying at Imola today. With a
favourable showing by the Ferrari’s in
the first timed session yesterday and notably Eddie
Irvine finding that his excellent showing in Argentina
was more than just a flash in the pan. However, with
all the teams dressed for speed and carrying mere
droplets of fuel to carry them little more than three
laps at a time, again it turned into the ‘Williams
show’. But, the fourth consecutive Pole
position by the French Canadian Jacques Villeneuve
was not as easily gained as it has been in the
past. Team mate Heinz Harald Frentzen
suffering the slings and arrows not only from the
motoring press but from within his own team for his
lack of speed and driving ‘commitment’
performed his allotted task with aplomb, yet
finishing the day three tenths of a second down. A
country mile in Formula One, light years between two
competing Williams’. It was obvious that he was
trying hard to find a way round the track and shave
tenths of a second from his lap time. A vapor of
smoke from his tyres, a miniscule flick of the rear,
a haze of dirt from the edge of the track, he put
everything into it but despite finding the fastest
way round, Villeneuve came back to find an even
faster one.
After his scathing
remarks about F1 being ‘too safe’
and ‘no fun’, it would have been an
indictment of an apathetic participation in this
event had he not taken pole position.
Michael Schumacher’s
Ferrari put in the first real indication of future
lap times with an early benchmark showing of 1.24.7,
swapping the lead with Villeneuve in the first of
four outings. Teammate Irvine, not seeming to be able
to match the Ex Champion’s pace today, was doing
his best, but overdriving to the point of slowing his
car down. A realistic man not prone to over self
congratulation, said of his promising times
yesterday, "One day you’re a God, the
next day a waste of space". One
wouldn’t go quite so far as to think that, but a
final 9th placing does not seem indicative of the
Irishman’s true potential.
The surprise of the
day was the performance put in by the two Jordan
Peugeot drivers Ralf Schumacher and
Giancarlo Fisichella. In a seemingly internal
battle for position within the team as much as on the
grid, the two arch enemies (for that is what they
seem to have become after their unfortunate coming
together in Argentina) did all they could to outpace
each other. This time though, working to great effect
for the team and leaving them with a third row lock
out sitting pretty behind only the Williams’, a
Ferrari and the Prost Mugen-Honda of Olivier
Panis. "I am cross with myself for making
a mistake in the first chicane when I was on my third
run on the first set of tyres," said the
young Schumacher afterwards, "but we should
win points tomorrow and with luck, perhaps make the
podium again." Hardly humble words there and
in contrast to Fisichella, who commented, "Of
course I would love to finish in Italy on the Podium,
but winning points is the main thing." The
chances of a home win for the Italian however richly
deserved, must be zero.
We have come to expect
a great deal from Panis and it was therefore no
surprise that he finished an excellent 4th, highest
of the Bridgestone runners. With a Peugeot engine
next year and the continued development of the
chassis, Panis could find himself inside the top
three drivers by the end of next season. Unlike
fellow Frenchman Jean Alesi, who yet again
blotted his already disgustingly splattered copy book
by over-braking on the downhill bend at Rivazza
and rear-ending himself in the dirt. It will be the
greatest of surprises to see him driving for Benetton
next year, if indeed he gets a drive at all.
The luckless Damon
Hill retired half way through the session coming
to a standstill on a grass verge. Having had testing
delayed by HM Customs & Excise when they
impounded his car for a day on its return from
Argentina, he suffered throttle actuator problems in
yesterday’s timed practice session and was today
unable to use the spare as it was set up for teammate
Pedro Diniz who, with a following wind,
managed an electrifying 17th. Forever cheerful, Hill
refused to make a meal of his misfortunes. "There’s
not much to say. We did the best we could and 15th is
not a great result." Promising (as they all
do) to do better in the race, he came out with one of
those diplomatic understatements that has earned him
the respect of the pit lane and a reputation as the
sport’s most level-headed politician. "We
need more horsepower." It could have been
the modern day Shakespearean equivalent of King
Henry’s cry of desperation from the fields of
Agincourt, "A horse! A horse! My Kingdom for
a horse!" but echoed from the back of
the grid to the great engine supplier in the sky. It
could also have been a stinging condemnation of
broken promises of fulfillment by the Arrows team,
but it was neither. "We must press on!"
he said finally, like a fell-walker stopping for a
quick swig of Lucozade before striding to the summit.
In the face of adversity Hill certainly is one of the
best.
Another driver forced
to use his spare car and managing a meagre 13th place
after such a great showing in Argentina was Stewart
Ford driver Rubens Barichello. Running a
revised ‘Project 6’ version of the Ford
Cosworth, both race cars suffered high speed
misfires and consequently the older ‘Project
5’ set the time for both drivers, Jan
Magnussen slotting in 3 places behind. "This
was ...the first time I had to cope with engine
problems," said a disappointed Barichello. "It
started to show up by the end of free practice, but
we took the risk of continuing with that engine.
Obviously in the spare, both the engine and the
brakes were different and I think the time we
achieved was the maximum I could have expected."
With the session
closing, the top three were out in force all
confirming, but not changing, the final position set
earlier. Schumacher’s last mad dash was all
smoke and rear end wiggle and as the chequered flag
fell, Johnny Herbert’s Sauber Petronas
slipped by and up a place to finish 7th pushing
the McLaren Mercedes of Mika Hakkinen
down to 8th. With David Coulthard 10th behind
Irvine’s Ferrari it wasn’t a good day for
the McLarens, and it seems incredible that he drove
the same car to victory in Melbourne in the
season’s opener. Coulthard will probably say
that ‘it’s not the same car!’
but it still remains a mystery as to why the McLarens
blow hot and cold with such regularity.
Revised front
suspension for Gerhard Berger failed to keep
the front end of his Benetton Renault on the
track preventing his soft Goodyear tyres from
generating the heat required, despite an extremely
‘grippy’ track.
Jarno Trulli
-my tip for greatness in the next century- had a car
with no power. People will say, "But of course,
it’s a Minardi!" This is not the
case and the Minardi has this year so far, been
within very respectable parameters of averaged lap
times, due to a large extent, to the talents of this
young rookie.
Failure by both
Villeneuve and Frentzen to obey yellow flags
following an incident towards the end of the
qualifying session, resulted in a one race suspended
ban for both drivers.
Lets hope Villeneuve
will be pushed to the ragged edge tomorrow and, if
Frentzen can maintain his composure under pressure
situations, the ‘God’ that Irvine talked
about and, maybe currently sitting between the
Canadian’s ears, just might be rocked on his
throne.
Chris Richardson
26/04/97
