Hill suffers verbal
abuse from team boss.
Williams steal
McLaren’s thunder in final moments of qualifying
at Silverstone as Ferraris lag on high speed circuit.
With all the media focus on the
inauspicious homecoming of Damon Hill the
current World Champion, the qualifying session for
the 32nd British Grand Prix took place on a warm Silverstone
circuit with an underlying air of acrimony within
the TWR Arrows garage.
Team boss Tom
Walkinshaw’s outspoken and negative comments
regarding Hill’s motivation and lack of
performance has set the pit lane alight with opinion
as to the timing of his remarks.
Starting will a less
than veiled threat to Hill’s continued
association with the team, Walkinshaw said, "We’re
at the time when we are seriously considering our
drivers for next season and his performances speak
for themselves. It’s quite obvious to any one
who has been watching the team closely that we
aren’t satisfied." He went on,
"We’re not satisfied with his performance
and nor should he. He has had too many accidents,
particularly in the early laps and he hasn’t
been qualifying as he should. Citing recent lap
times showing that Brazilian ‘pay’ driver Pedro
Diniz has on occasion shown a faster turn of
speed than Hill, Walkinshaw continued, "We
recruited him as one of the fastest two or three
drivers around to lead the team, not for us to have
to motivate him. We have the right to expect him to
show he’s the lead driver in the team."
There was some pit
lane speculation as to whether Hill should feel
threatened by Walkinshaw’s comments or in fact
be jubilant that at last, he has an excuse to leave a
team that indeed promised him so much and gave so
little.
Walkinshaw was
obviously frustrated by the decision by Mugen-Honda
to reject his own application for their power supply
and award a two year contract to the Jordan team. Probably more than a
little embarrassed too, knowing that the Japanese
engine manufacturer, having had an eye on the
Arrows’ recent performances decided that Jordan
was by far the better bet, he made some concession to
his damnation of Hill’s talents by saying, "The
non -performance has been split 50-50 during the
course of the year by the team and the driver, but
there comes a time when you have to stop being subtle
and now it’s time to be blunt."
These comments will
have damaged Hill’s confidence in his team
though, probably remembering similar comments made
about him by former employer Frank Williams,
he says not. "Frustration is evident not only
in drivers, but also in team managers. Tom is
entitled to put a rocket up the bum of his drivers. I
have had much worse criticism from other team
managers in the past."
Treading a line
between his usual diplomacy and the determination of
the downtrodden, he suggested that because "one
of the better engine deals in the paddock went to
another team," it had not helped
Walkinshaw’s quest for more horsepower for next
year. "I am not keen to draw comparisons
between the package represented by Tom and what we
actually have. It would not be wise for a situation
to evolve where one party starts to claim that
another party is not pulling their weight. We are all
in this together."
Some observers saw
Walkinshaw’s comments as an act of ‘Sour
Grapes’ in the light of the Leafield team not
being able to live up to the promises that were made
for it at the beginning of the season. At a time when
Hill would be talking to any number of teams
regarding a drive for next year, Walkinshaw, realises
that without a competitive engine (and it seems now
that a TWR developed Yamaha or a customer Ford are his only options), his
chances of retaining the World Champion are less than
Zero. Hill offered the laurel leaf to Walkinshaw, no
doubt with a nettle in the other hand by saying, "My
goal is to get back into the hunt for the
Championship and I’d like it to be with Arrows,
if they can offer me the right package." It
now seems probable that they can’t and with some
dozen or so drivers expected to change places next
season, it would indeed be the right time for Hill to
start looking to sign the right piece of paper.
Hill’s
performance rating has indeed been poor this year but
with a few exceptions it has been entirely down to
the team. Whether one qualifies first or last, if the
engine expires one does not finish the race. The list
of incidents makes for unhappy reading.
In Melbourne, a throttle failure during the
warm up lap saved Hill from an inevitably
embarrassing finishing position. In Brazil, with a not discreditable 11th
place secure, Hill’s oil cooler caught fire.
Diniz spun out a lap later. Argentina saw his retirement with
overheating and air pressure problems. Diniz also
retired with a blown Yamaha. Imola saw Hill was forced to start
from the pit lane due to a mechanical fault in the Arrows A18 in the shape of a starter motor
shaft oil seal failure. Frustrated at being blocked
by the Prost of Nakarno, he later collided
with the Japanese novice for which he received a one
race suspended ban. Diniz also received the same for
causing a near miss with Jacques Villeneuve. Rain
caused a great many retirements in Monaco, Hill collided with Eddie
Irvine’s Ferrari, braking heavily to avoid a
collision. Hill was running in a strong 6th slot in Barcelona when the Yamaha engine
let go, maintaining his unbroken record of non
finishes for the TWR team. In a race of attrition and
cut short by Olivier Panis’ accident, Montreal gave Hill his first finish of the
season albeit 9th and last. Finally, on the first lap
at Magny Cours, squeezed from the back of the
pack funnelling in to the first right hander, he
damaged his front wing forcing lengthy repairs and a
finishing position of last. Walkinshaw’s
suggestions that Hill "went of the track in
France unaided" was uncalled for. He may not
have touched another car, but had he done so trying
to keep himself on the line he would have not only
wrecked his own chances of even a miserable finish
but someone else’s too.
Hill does have support
in the pit lane, strangely enough from his ex
employer Frank Williams. "Clearly he is
struggling with his car, but we all know he is a
World Champion." He said. "He’s
won 21 races and that’s all you need to
say." Whilst not suggesting that Hill would
find a place back in his team next year, Williams did
add, "If circumstances come together I would
re-employ him, he’s a great driver."
It’s a pity that Walkinshaw doesn’t see it
that way.
After managing a mere
20th position on the grid in untimed practice on
Friday, Hill fared a deal better today. Driving his
socks off in a late charge, he gained 5 places on
team mate Pedro Diniz to finish in 12th
position sharing the grid with 11th placed Benetton
driver Jean Alesi who in turn was three places
down on rookie replacement driver Alexander Wurz.
It seems too, that earlier pep talks from his team
boss Flavio Briatore have amounted to nothing
and that he will be looking for new pastures at the
end of the season.
In a hard fought
qualifying session, the first of the fast laps was
set by the Williams drivers of Jacques
Villeneuve and Heinz Harald Frentzen with
early quick showings by the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher
and Mclaren’s David Coulthard. A
strong run by Ralf Schumacher in the Jordan Peugeot secured him a strong fifth
position "We might have expected a little
more after all the testing sessions we have done here
but the other teams have closed up a little and I am
happy with fifth" He said. Not so happy was
team mate Giancarlo Fisichella. "I
made the best time with the first set of tyres but I
was not able to improve on this because of traffic on
my second run and then mistakes I made in the last
runs." He said afterwards.
Schumacher senior
despite some brilliant car control was barely able to
coax his Ferrari under the 1.22s mark and had to be
content with a second row 4th place.
"Overall, I am quite happy and this is the
position I expected. Starting from the second row
suits me well." He said "The car has
improved since yesterday, but it‘s not as good
as it was last week during testing. Tomorrow I shall
try to maintain a good lead over Villeneuve in the
Championship by taking as many points as possible. It
is almost impossible to pass on this track if others
do not make mistakes but I hope I can make it to the
podium."
Team mate Eddie
Irvine had earlier hit a hare that ran into his
path. Explaining his 7th place on the grid, he said, "I
got a big fright on my first quick lap when I hit a
hare. I was forced to pit to check over the car and
change tyres. We put more downforce on, but as I was
short of time I was not able to check what effect
this had before going for a quick lap. I think the
race will be very tough, as it will be difficult to
maintain a very quick pace."
Mika Hakkinen
driving beautifully set the fasted lap time for well
over half the session but had to make way to
Frentzen’s superior speed in the closing
minutes. A stunning lap by Villeneuve followed almost
immediately knocking just under two tenths of a
second from the German’s time to give the French
Canadian pole position and some indication of his
determination to make amends for his recalcitrant
behaviour of late. "I didn't really think I
could do it on the last lap as I made a few mistakes,
particularly around Becketts and thought I would miss
out by a 10th of a second or so." said
Villeneuve. "It's good to be back where we
should be."
Hakkinen was out of
the garage in his West McLaren Mercedes as Villeneuve crossed the line
but held up by Jarno Trulli’s Prost,
he was unable to better his half time position.
Coulthard’s 6th
position was a little disappointing and to add to his
day, he was fined $5000 for pit lane speeding. The
Scotsman recorded a speed of 93.2 km/h, well in
excess of the 80 km/h pit lane limit for qualifying.
Stewart Ford had a bad day also with Rubens
Barichello coasting to a halt just after exiting
the pit lane on his first run. He took the spare car
for his second run, but had to abandon it when a
brief floor-pan fire erupted on his return to the
pits. Poor Barichello’s final run was in Jan
Magnussen’s car which also suffered engine
problems and he had to abandon it on the circuit. Alan
Jenkins Stewart technical director said, "As
yet we don’t know the cause of all the problems
we met today, except that they all appear to be
engine related." He went on to say how
Galling it was as the problems "follow on
from a very successful operation of re-adjustment and
tuning of the chassis to meet changing track
conditions. A time of 1.2s seemed very much on the
cards." The Brazilian will start from the
last row of the grid in 25th place.
The equilibrium is has
now been maintained. A Williams lockout, the first in
a few races, with the threat of Schumacher’s
Ferrari just behind. Villeneuve should not harbour
any complacency tomorrow, as not only the three
Germans will be hungry for his points, but the Flying
Finn’s McLaren could well figure in the
fighting. There are indeed too many possible
conclusions these days and judging by
Villeneuve’s recent past, no one would put even
money on him to win. One of Coulthard’s
legendary starts could upset the apple cart on a
circuit that is not renowned for its overtaking
opportunities. Young Schumacher and Fisichella both
have the power to do damage and could be considerably
quicker than the Ferrari’s. Safe to say the
black and white helmet of Damon Hill will not be
contesting the lead no matter how many kicks in the
backside Walkinshaw meets out.
In a sweeping
statement, Walkinshaw said "any professional
is only as good as his last race. You should be
trying 110% to show other they should want you."
Hill always does his best and it would only be
expected of the team to give him the best tools to do
the work. He hasn’t got them this year but there
is not a team on the grid that has not noticed him
trying.
Chris Richardson
Qualifying Times
British Grand Prix
Silverstone July 12 1997
1 J.Villeneuve 1m
21.598s
2 H.Frentzen 1m
21.732s
3 M.Hakkinen 1m
21.797s
4 M.Schumacher
1m 21.977s
5 R.Schumacher 1m
22.277s
6 D.Coulthard 1m
22.279s
7 E.Irvine 1m
22.342s
8 A.Wurz 1m
22.344s
9 J.Herbert 1m
22.368s
10 G.Fisichella 1m
22.371s
11 J.Alesi 1m
22.392s
12 D.Hill 1m
23.271s
13 J.Trulli 1m
23.366s
14 N.Fontana 1m
23.790s
15 S.Nakano 1m
23.887s
16 J.Magnussen 1m
24.067s
17 P.Diniz 1m
24.239s
18 M.Salo 1m
24.478s
19 U.Katayama 1m
24.553s
20 J.Verstappen 1m
25.010s
21 T.Marques 1m
25.154s
22 R.Barrichello 1m
25.525s
The British Grand
Prix can be followed on the Web at the following URL:
http.www.grandprix97.co.uk
