The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

by **BassTrombone** » 26 Apr 2020, 19:06

1995 Canadian Grand Prix

The biggest news before the Canadian GP was Nigel Mansell's departure from McLaren. Hakkinen and Blundell will now be the ones to try to salvage some points for the British team and they still desperately need those. Earlier in the season, new British starts Herbert and Coulthard shone, but it Monaco, experienced Gerhard Berger won the race. Who will continue the momentum in Canada? More changes for the Simtek team as well, where Tom Kristensen will make his F1 debut after Noda's sponsorship problems. Kristensen is said to be a talent, can he cause a stir like Verstappen did earlier in the season?

Qualifying

Johnny Herbert took his second consecutive pole position, while Jean Alesi once again showed he is very quick with 2nd place. The Williams team proved that their lack of performance in Monaco was an incident, as they took the second row, just in front of Schumacher and the two Jordans.

Gerhard Berger once again qualified a lot worse than his team mate, only managing 9th. Let us not forget that he started in Monaco only 8th as well. The rest of the field contained no big surprises, although it has to be said that Tom Kristensen did remarkably well by putting his Simtek on the 11th row, beating both Fortis, both Pacifics and Taki Inoue's Footwork.

Results

Code: Select all: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³Pole 1 ³ ³ Johnny Herbert ³ ³ 1m 22.205s 2 ³ ³ Jean Alesi ³ ³Row 2 3 1m 22.385s ³ ³ David Coulthard ³ ³ 1m 22.447s 4 ³ ³ Damon Hill ³ ³Row 3 5 1m 22.456s ³ ³ Michael Schumacher ³ ³ 1m 22.500s 6 ³ ³ Rubens Barrichello ³ ³Row 4 7 1m 22.508s ³ ³ Eddie Irvine ³ ³ 1m 22.512s 8 ³ ³ Mika Hakkinen ³ ³Row 5 9 1m 22.600s ³ ³ Gerhard Berger ³ ³ 1m 22.610s 10 ³ ³ Olivier Panis ³ ³Row 6 11 1m 23.075s ³ ³ Heinz-Harald Frentzen ³ ³ 1m 23.102s 12 ³ ³ Mark Blundell ³ ³Row 7 13 1m 23.144s ³ ³ Martin Brundle ³ ³ 1m 23.248s 14 ³ ³ Gianni Morbidelli ³ ³Row 8 15 1m 23.569s ³ ³ Ukyo Katayama ³ ³ 1m 23.636s 16 ³ ³ Karl Wendlinger ³ ³Row 9 17 1m 24.418s ³ ³ Mika Salo ³ ³ 1m 24.988s 18 ³ ³ Luca Badoer ³ ³Row 10 19 1m 25.096s ³ ³ Jos Verstappen ³ ³ 1m 25.138s 20 ³ ³ Pierluigi Martini ³ ³Row 11 21 1m 25.469s ³ ³ Tom Kristensen ³ ³ 1m 25.771s 22 ³ ³ Taki Inoue ³ ³Row 12 23 1m 26.068s ³ ³ Nathan van Dijk ³ ³ 1m 26.816s 24 ³ ³ Roberto Moreno ³ ³Row 13 25 1m 26.881s ³ ³ Bertrand Gachot ³ ³ 1m 26.980s 26 ³ ³ Andrea Montermini ³ ³ 1m 27.045s ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Race

As the field got underway for 69 laps around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the first few corners saw not too many position changes at the front. Only Hill and Irvine were able to gain a position, both on their respective team mates. The two Dutch drivers stood out in the bottom half of the field, with Verstappen gaining three places to get 16th and Van Dijk jumping up to 19th. Irvine's good start did not get a good continuation, as Barrichello regained his position into turn 7 and Berger overtook the Ulsterman in the hairpin, L'Epingle.

More action was to follow in lap 2. Damon Hill positioned his Williams well on the main straight and managed to outbrake Jean Alesi into the first corner. Alesi immediately showed his fighting spirit and got his 2nd place back into turn 7. Just behind the two, Schumacher made his move on Coulthard in the same corner. On the run to L'Epingle, Schumacher still had a good momentum and he was able to snatch 3rd from Hill in the braking zone. Hill did not take long to respond and he regained his position in the final chicane. Schumacher's good efforts were all undone half a lap later, as Coulthard overtook the German again in turn 7. The reigning world champion would drop even further in the next lap, with Barrichello's overtake in turn 7 and Berger's passing by in L'Epingle.

Coulthard suffered the same fate as Schumacher in lap 6, when the same two drivers made the same kind of moves on the Scottish Williams driver. Schumacher once again overtook him as well. The German made his move in lap 10, outbraking Coulthard into turn 7. Coulthard's team mate, Damon Hill, was considerably quicker for once. He was still pushing hard to keep pressure on Alesi in 2nd. He probably pushed a little too hard when he spun coming out of the final chicane in lap 11. Hill dropped all the way back to 15th and now faced a long recovery drive. He started expeditously and was up to 13th by lap 15, when he had problems in the final chicane again. Once more, Hill was back in 15th position and had to start all over again.

Rubens Barrichello was the first to make a pit stop, in lap 20. The stop went according to plan, but only two corners later, everything was lost as the Brazilian crashed hard into the barriers in turn 3. Luckily, he was not injured and got out of his car by himself. It would later occur that a right rear puncture was the cause of his crash. The only other top drivers on a two stop strategy were Herbert and Berger. Both drivers made their stop in lap 24. They dropped to 3rd and 8th position respectively, promoting Alesi and Schumacher to the lead positions. Schumacher was swiftly passed by Herbert in lap 28, while Alesi lost the lead when he made his only pit stop in lap 30. He rejoined the race in 7th position.

Schumacher's stop would come in lap 35. It appeared that Alesi had driven some very strong laps on fresh tyres, as Schumacher came out of the pits further behind Alesi. The other pit stops did not cause any position changes, although Hakkinen briefly ran as high as 4th before being overtaken by Alesi and Schumacher and then making his only stop as late as lap 41. The Finn was in 7th position after his stop. In the meantime, Johnny Herbert extended his lead with some blistering laps. He did need it, as he was still due a second visit to the pits.

Herbert's second stop would take place in lap 50. A fine strategy and an excellent job by Benetton's pit crew helped the Briton keep the lead and he was able to cruise to victory after that. Gerhard Berger was the last driver to make a pit stop in lap 52. Ferrari's strategy turned out to be less effective, as the Austrian dropped to 7th position, right behind Hakkinen. Using his fresher tyres, Berger immediately raised the pressure on Hakkinen and overtook him in turn 7.

Alesi's early stop had given him 2nd position, but his tyres started to wear more and more towards the end of the race. The top 6 closed in on eachother, with Schumacher being the first one to close the gap to the Ferrari. Schumacher made his move on Alesi in lap 58. The Frenchman was also unable to defend his podium position from Coulthard's attack, as the Scot got past in lap 59. Irvine was closing in as well, but the Jordan driver had more to fear from behind, as Berger was even faster at this stage. When starting the final lap of the race, Berger was within a second of Irvine. Both drivers visibly on the limit of what their cars and especially tyres could do. The Austrian would not be able to attack anymore, as his engine failed halfway the lap. Berger tried in anguish to limp his car to the finish line, but he came to a standstill in the final chicane, where the yellow flags were already waving for Salo's spun Tyrrell.

Johnny Herbert cruises over the finish line in 1st position

This was all not of any concern for Johnny Herbert, as he steadily drove his Benetton to another victory. Schumacher completed a 1-2 for the Enstone-based team, while Coulthard completed the podium. Alesi made no mistakes on his worn tyres and nursed his Ferrari home in 4th, followed by Irvine. Mika Hakkinen finally had luck on his side as he not only recorded his first finish of the year, but was promoted into the points as well due to Berger's late retirement.

Results

Code: Select all: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³ Pos Driver Time/Speed ³ ³ ³ ³ 1st Johnny Herbert 1h 36m 27.126s ³ ³ Benetton - Renault ³ ³ 2nd Michael Schumacher +35.734s ³ ³ Benetton - Renault ³ ³ 3rd David Coulthard +38.271s ³ ³ Williams - Renault ³ ³ 4th Jean Alesi +40.814s ³ ³ Ferrari ³ ³ 5th Eddie Irvine +47.534s ³ ³ Jordan - Peugeot ³ ³ 6th Mika Hakkinen +59.699s ³ ³ McLaren - Mercedes ³ ³ 7th Damon Hill +1m 15.008s ³ ³ Williams - Renault ³ ³ 8th Gerhard Berger -1 Lap ³ ³ Ferrari ³ ³ 9th Heinz-Harald Frentzen -1 Lap ³ ³ Sauber - Ford ³ ³ 10th Olivier Panis -1 Lap ³ ³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³ ³ 11th Mark Blundell -1 Lap ³ ³ McLaren - Mercedes ³ ³ 12th Martin Brundle -1 Lap ³ ³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³ ³ 13th Ukyo Katayama -1 Lap ³ ³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³ ³ 14th Luca Badoer -2 Laps ³ ³ Minardi - Ford ³ ³ 15th Mika Salo -3 Laps ³ ³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³ ³ 16th Pierluigi Martini -3 Laps ³ ³ Minardi - Ford ³ ³ 17th Taki Inoue -3 Laps ³ ³ Footwork - Hart ³ ³ 18th Tom Kristensen -3 Laps ³ ³ Simtek - Ford ³ ³ 19th Nathan van Dijk -3 Laps ³ ³ Forti - Ford ³ ³ 20th Bertrand Gachot -3 Laps ³ ³ Pacific - Ford ³ ³ 21st Andrea Montermini -4 Laps ³ ³ Pacific - Ford ³ ³ 22nd Roberto Moreno -4 Laps ³ ³ Forti - Ford ³ ³ 23rd Gianni Morbidelli -6 Laps ³ ³ Footwork - Hart ³ ³ 24th Jos Verstappen Loose Wheel ³ ³ Simtek - Ford ³ ³ 25th Rubens Barrichello Puncture ³ ³ Jordan - Peugeot ³ ³ 26th Karl Wendlinger Engine ³ ³ Sauber - Ford ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Drivers' Championship

Code: Select all: 1. Johnny Herbert 36 2. David Coulthard 28 3. Michael Schumacher 26 4. Gerhard Berger 20 5. Damon Hill 9 6. Eddie Irvine 8 7. Jean Alesi 6 8. Nigel Mansell 5 9. Karl Wendlinger 5 10. Olivier Panis 5 11. Heinz-Harald Frentzen 3 12. Luca Badoer 2 13. Jos Verstappen 1 14. Martin Brundle 1 15. Mika Hakkinen 1

Constructors' Championship

Code: Select all: 1. Benetton-Renault 62 2. Williams-Renault 37 3. Ferrari 26 4. Jordan-Peugeot 8 5. Sauber-Ford 8 6. McLaren-Mercedes 6 7. Ligier-Mugen Honda 6 8. Minardi-Ford 2 9. Simtek-Ford 1

by **BassTrombone** » 27 Apr 2020, 14:50

Press release - Parmalat Forti Ford

Parmalat Forti Ford is happy to announce a new stakeholder in the team. Brazilian Abilio dos Santos Diniz has acquired a 70% share in the team. For that reason, the team's name will change after this season to Diniz Forti Corse, abbreviated to DFC. Guido Forti commented: "I am very happy that such a great businessman wants to invest in our team. This secures our future in Formula 1 and the investment will boost the development of our new car for 1996. The cooperation with Abilio Diniz will not only be good for the short term, but his vast business network creates opportunities for more fruitful collaborations in the future."

Not only a new team name and logo are announced, but Parmalat Forti Ford can also confirm a new driver. Pedro Diniz will be our reserve driver for the rest of this season and he will take one of the race seats in 1996. Forti Corse and Pedro Diniz worked together before in F3000, where the team got convinced of his talent.

by **BassTrombone** » 27 Apr 2020, 21:02

1995 French Grand Prix

Three weeks have passed since the Canadian Grand Prix, but the teams have not been idle in the meantime. The circuits of Silverstone, Fiorano, Brands Hatch, Paul Ricard, Brands Hatch and more have been broadly in use for testing. Many teams have brought updates for their chassis to Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. It will be interesting to see whether the tables have turned.

Qualifying

The Benetton team was not disturbed by the break of three weeks; they continued right where they left off in Canada by qualifying on the front row. With 3rd place, Jean Alesi qualified on the front two rows for the sixth race in a row, with Mika Hakkinen joining him. Eddie Jordan's team had a decent qualifying once again, with Irvine in 5th and Barrichello 8th. Both Williams cars were in between them.

Mark Blundell did well to qualify in 10th position, the best qualifying for the #8 McLaren this season. Not too many surprises popped up through the rest of the field, although Tom Kristensen made a solid impression once again. The Dane may just be doing enough to prove he is worthy of a full-time race seat next year.

Results

Code: Select all: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³ 1 Pole ³ ³ Johnny Herbert ³ ³ 2 1m 16.549s ³ ³ Michael Schumacher ³ ³ 1m 16.877s 3 Row 2 ³ ³ Jean Alesi ³ ³ 4 1m 16.885s ³ ³ Mika Hakkinen ³ ³ 1m 16.955s 5 Row 3 ³ ³ Eddie Irvine ³ ³ 6 1m 16.966s ³ ³ David Coulthard ³ ³ 1m 17.024s 7 Row 4 ³ ³ Damon Hill ³ ³ 8 1m 17.039s ³ ³ Rubens Barrichello ³ ³ 1m 17.109s 9 Row 5 ³ ³ Gerhard Berger ³ ³ 10 1m 17.171s ³ ³ Mark Blundell ³ ³ 1m 17.251s 11 Row 6 ³ ³ Olivier Panis ³ ³ 12 1m 17.492s ³ ³ Heinz-Harald Frentzen ³ ³ 1m 17.559s 13 Row 7 ³ ³ Martin Brundle ³ ³ 14 1m 17.754s ³ ³ Gianni Morbidelli ³ ³ 1m 18.002s 15 Row 8 ³ ³ Ukyo Katayama ³ ³ 16 1m 18.153s ³ ³ Karl Wendlinger ³ ³ 1m 18.685s 17 Row 9 ³ ³ Jos Verstappen ³ ³ 18 1m 19.098s ³ ³ Mika Salo ³ ³ 1m 19.226s 19 Row 10 ³ ³ Luca Badoer ³ ³ 20 1m 19.275s ³ ³ Pierluigi Martini ³ ³ 1m 19.572s 21 Row 11 ³ ³ Tom Kristensen ³ ³ 22 1m 19.749s ³ ³ Taki Inoue ³ ³ 1m 20.265s 23 Row 12 ³ ³ Nathan van Dijk ³ ³ 24 1m 21.040s ³ ³ Roberto Moreno ³ ³ 1m 21.047s 25 Row 13 ³ ³ Bertrand Gachot ³ ³ 26 1m 21.227s ³ ³ Andrea Montermini ³ ³ 1m 21.302s ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Race

The race starts good for the top 3, as Herbert, Schumacher and Alesi all keep their positions. Mika Hakkinen has a poor start; he comes out of the Estoril corner in 6th position, with Coulthard and Irvine in front of him. Irvine is very cautious under braking for the Adelaide hairpin and Coulthard and Hakkinen both benefit and gain a position.

Overtaking is difficult on the small, narrow track of Magny-Cours, as was shown by Michael Schumacher. The German applied maximum pressure on Herbert right from the start, but he could not find a way past. He did look a lot faster, however. Herbert would be out of luck in a very early stage, though, when his engine failed as soon as lap 5. Herbert had not had many mechanical issues yet this season, but this one was painful. Schumacher was free now and immediately started building a lead. The German was suddenly in a very good position to revive his title defence; he could now fully close the 10-point gap to his team mate.

As Herbert slowed down before the Adelaide hairpin, Alesi was a little more hesitant than Coulthard. The Scot took his chance and outbraked the Frenchman to take 2nd place. Two laps later, Alesi put things straight by regaining his position in the same corner. He then started to slowly catch Schumacher. A little further back, Damon Hill was stuck behind Eddie Irvine's Jordan for a long time, until he finally found a way past in lap 10. Again, the Adelaide hairpin looked to be the only corner suitable for overtaking. Lap 12 was the setting for a big crash, as Panis struggled to move his limping car to the side with failed suspension. Morbidelli could not avoid him and drove into the back of the Ligier with high speed. Both drivers escaped without injuries; a demonstration of F1's safety nowadays.

Another British driver would get into trouble before the first pit stops. Damon Hill retired with a suspension failure in lap 18. A few laps later, it was his team mate who was the first driver from the top six to make a pit stop. Alesi and Hakkinen followed a lap later, Alesi staying in front of the Williams and Hakkinen still behind. Michael Schumacher's stop followed another lap later. His stop was significantly longer than Alesi's and to the happiness of the crowed, Alesi was in front of the world champion when he got out again.

Two drivers who had not stopped yet, were now leading the race: Gerhard Berger in 1st and Mark Blundell in 2nd position. Blundell was caught quickly by the chasing pack and his Hakkinen could benefit by closing up on Alesi, Schumacher and Coulthard if his team mate would manage to hold them back. However, Jean Alesi was having none of it and overtook Blundell at his first opportunity in lap 24. Michael Schumacher was next, but he would be stuck for two more laps before he made his move to get back into 3rd. Coulthard was right on his tail at that moment, but the Scot would still be behind Blundell.

Both Berger and Blundell made their stops in lap 27, dropping to 6th and 9th respectively. Berger came out of the pits in front of Rubens Barrichello, so he had gained a position on strategy. Alesi was now in the lead and Schumacher was not able to close the gap created by the Ferrari driver when the German was stuck behind Blundell. In the subsequent laps, the good work by the Jordan team was once again undone by mechanical failures. Both Irvine's and Barrichello's gearbox failed when both drivers were in points scoring positions.

Alesi's second stop came early, in lap 41, rejoining the race in 4th position. Since it was a short stop, it could not be expected that he would be able to finish the race on this fuel load. This would mean that Schumacher would have to stay close enough to the Ferrari until his final stop and he would probably win. Alesi was not easily going to give up, though, setting some blistering fast lap times in front of his home crowd. He was within a few laps right on the tail of Hakkinen and he once again made use of the first available opportunity to overtake a McLaren, this time in lap 46.

Before Alesi had closed the gap to Coulthard, both Schumacher, the Scot and Hakkinen came into the pits for their final stop in lap 48. They all kept their positions and came back on track in 2nd, 3rd and 4th position. Hakkinen had to be grateful to Gerhard Berger for his quick reflexes: the Austrian came storming over the main straight when Hakkinen exited the pits onto the racing line. If Berger had been braking only a little later, both of them would have been out of the race. The Austrian had remained cool and even managed to overtake Hakkinen a couple of meters later into Adelaide. The Finn would regain his position a lap later.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen had been in the points for a while, but Mark Blundell had made his strategy work and gained 6th position when Frentzen made his final stop. However, Frentzen was quicker in the final stint and jumped back into the points with a clean move on Blundell in lap 52. Meanwhile, at the front, Michael Schumacher was edging closer to Alesi. The gap between the two had been 20 seconds after Schumacher's last stop, but by lap 56, he had reduced it to 16. Alesi then made his final stop and would have to use his fresher tyres to charge back to the lead.

Just a lap later, a tremendous cheering arose from the grandstands, as Schumacher's Benetton lay a smoke curtain over the main straight. Much like his engine, his title dreams took a blow as the German had to park his car. Alesi proved that Schumacher would not have had an easy task anyway, as he strung together some fastest lap times, extending the gap to Coulthard to a safe margin. While Coulthard could never extend the gap to the chasing Hakkinen enough to relax, Alesi looked able to cruise home to a well deserved win.

For a long time, the race had been pretty tense, but not too much action occured in the final stint. This would only apply until the end of lap 70, when Alesi's Ferrari started to smoke. The Frenchman desperately continued his race, trying to nurse the Ferrari through the last two laps. He would still start lap 71 in the lead, but his engine could not go any further and once again, Jean Alesi was denied his first win, this time tantalizingly close to the finish. Poor Jean could not believe his fortunes and even the fact that Blundell's McLaren did not make it into lap 71 to give Alesi the final point, would not offer him any consolation.

David Coulthard takes the win, in front of Mika Hakkinen

Coulthard was the one to inherit the lead and he kept Hakkinen behind, still on the same margin around 2 seconds. Gerhard Berger salvaged a podium finish for Ferrari in a disappointing race for the Italian team. Frentzen and Wendlinger gave Sauber its best race result of the year with a total of five points. As mentioned, Alesi and Blundell would still be classified 6th and 7th respectively. The sixth car remaining to cross the finish line was Roberto Moreno's Forti. The Brazilian was unfortunately too many laps down to score the first ever point for the small Italian team.

Results

Code: Select all: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³ Pos Driver Time/Speed ³ ³ ³ ³ 1st David Coulthard 1h 39m 09.276s ³ ³ Williams - Renault ³ ³ 2nd Mika Hakkinen +2.113s ³ ³ McLaren - Mercedes ³ ³ 3rd Gerhard Berger +10.556s ³ ³ Ferrari ³ ³ 4th Heinz-Harald Frentzen +48.546s ³ ³ Sauber - Ford ³ ³ 5th Karl Wendlinger -1 Lap ³ ³ Sauber - Ford ³ ³ 6th Jean Alesi -2 Laps ³ ³ Ferrari ³ ³ 7th Mark Blundell -3 Laps ³ ³ McLaren - Mercedes ³ ³ 8th Roberto Moreno -3 Laps ³ ³ Forti - Ford ³ ³ 9th Ukyo Katayama Transmission ³ ³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³ ³ 10th Pierluigi Martini Suspension ³ ³ Minardi - Ford ³ ³ 11th Michael Schumacher Transmission ³ ³ Benetton - Renault ³ ³ 12th Tom Kristensen Transmission ³ ³ Simtek - Ford ³ ³ 13th Bertrand Gachot Transmission ³ ³ Pacific - Ford ³ ³ 14th Rubens Barrichello Transmission ³ ³ Jordan - Peugeot ³ ³ 15th Martin Brundle Transmission ³ ³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³ ³ 16th Eddie Irvine Transmission ³ ³ Jordan - Peugeot ³ ³ 17th Nathan van Dijk Puncture ³ ³ Forti - Ford ³ ³ 18th Luca Badoer Engine ³ ³ Minardi - Ford ³ ³ 19th Andrea Montermini Transmission ³ ³ Pacific - Ford ³ ³ 20th Damon Hill Suspension ³ ³ Williams - Renault ³ ³ 21st Olivier Panis Suspension ³ ³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³ ³ 22nd Gianni Morbidelli Didn't Finish ³ ³ Footwork - Hart ³ ³ 23rd Taki Inoue Puncture ³ ³ Footwork - Hart ³ ³ 24th Jos Verstappen Engine ³ ³ Simtek - Ford ³ ³ 25th Mika Salo Loose Wheel ³ ³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³ ³ 26th Johnny Herbert Engine ³ ³ Benetton - Renault ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Drivers' Championship

Code: Select all: 1. David Coulthard 38 2. Johnny Herbert 36 3. Michael Schumacher 26 4. Gerhard Berger 24 5. Damon Hill 9 6. Eddie Irvine 8 7. Mika Hakkinen 7 8. Jean Alesi 7 9. Karl Wendlinger 7 10. Heinz-Harald Frentzen 6 11. Nigel Mansell 5 12. Olivier Panis 5 13. Luca Badoer 2 14. Jos Verstappen 1 15. Martin Brundle 1

Constructors' Championship

Code: Select all: 1. Benetton-Renault 62 2. Williams-Renault 47 3. Ferrari 31 4. Sauber-Ford 13 5. McLaren-Mercedes 12 6. Jordan-Peugeot 8 7. Ligier-Mugen Honda 6 8. Minardi-Ford 2 9. Simtek-Ford 1

by **BassTrombone** » 01 May 2020, 17:59

GRAND PRIX NEWS
Your monthly source for racing news, rumors and stories | Wednesday 5th July, 1995

Mid-season Report Cards

We are halfway through the year and, with 7 races ran, almost halfway through the 1995 Formula 1 season. In other words, it is time for the constructors' and drivers' mid-season report cards! Who were the good students and who need to step it up a notch to graduate?

Benetton-Renault | 8.5
Expectations were high after last year's successes and the acquiring of Renault engines for this year. So high indeed, that only a double world title would be enough this year. Benetton's pace has been very good, with 5 pole positions and the same number of fastest race laps. 3 race wins out of 7 is not bad, but it is far from the maximum they could have achieved. Reliability issues have prevented Benetton's drivers from dominating the drivers' championship and they are preventing Benetton from a better grade. Still some homework, lads!
#1 - Michael Schumacher | 6.5
Expectations for Benetton were high, but expectations for the first champion since the Senna/Prost/Mansell era were certainly not lower. It has to be said that his qualifying record this year is very disappointing. Herbert has beaten him 6 times so far. Schumacher did usually still show a good race pace, although his points tally does not fully reflect it. He still has a very good chance a back-to-back championship, although he will need to improve his qualifyings and he will need better car reliability.
#2 - Johnny Herbert | 9.5
Herbert would be the clear #2 driver this year, salvaging enough points for Benetton to add to Schumacher's tally and secure the constructors' championship. So, how did Johnny do? 6 pole positions, 3 race wins and only 2 points adrift of the drivers' championship lead. Herbert really exceeded all expectations and the Briton will need just a little bit more luck to secure his first world title. Who would have thought that six months ago?

Tyrrell-Yamaha | 4
Before the season, we said the innovative 023 looked promising, but the tables have turned. On pace, they seem stuck in the lower midfield and the complex chassis is not reliable. In Argentina, Katayama retired from 6th just before the end of the race. It may have been their only chance of points all season.
#3 - Ukyo Katayama | 6.5
It is difficult to assess Katayama's performance, as clearly the car lets him down. He regularly beats his less experienced team mate in qualifying. His races seem solid as long as they last, but the Japanese also did not yet punch above his weight.
#4 - Mika Salo | 6
Salo is still a rather unexperienced driver and he may not be in a too comfortable environment right now. Nevertheless, the talented Finn has shown promising race pace, but he will need to improve his single lap speed to match Katayama.

Williams-Renault | 7.5
Frank Williams' team was mentioned again as one of the title candidates before the season. Halfway through, they have collected 3 race wins and one of their drivers is leading the championship. However, Williams will need to keep developing their car, as they seem to fall behind Benetton, while Ferrari is getting very close on some tracks as well.
#5 - Damon Hill | 5.5
Hill was supposed to be Schumacher's main challenger for the championship. Although not all retirements were his fault, Hill has missed several chances to score more points by unforced errors. His younger team mate is now at least matching his speed too and he is 29 points ahead. It seems that Hill will have to settle for a #2 role for the rest of the year.
#6 - David Coulthard | 9.5
Much like Johnny Herbert, Coulthard is exceeding expectations. The Scot is one of the surprises of the 1995 season so far. He has been performing on a constant level and he has made remarkably less errors than Hill. Of course, David Coulthard has had luck on his side in the first half of the season, but if he stays a bit lucky and if he remains calm, he really has a good shot at the championship this year.

McLaren-Mercedes | 5
McLaren were the butt of many jokes due to compatibility issues of their narrow cockpit with Nigel Mansell's... well, his butt. Mansell lamented the drivability and performance of the MP4/10 and to be fair, he has a point. Hakkinen's pace has been promising, but he has hardly been able to finish races. Ron Dennis and his employees really will need to up their game, because the Woking-based team have fallen way behind not only Benetton and Williams, but also Ferrari.
#7 - Mark Blundell | 7
Blundell's entry to the 1995 season was unexpected and his preparation was limited. He deserves some appreciation for doing a decent job in those first two races, before Mansell's entry. After Mansell's departure, Blundell slowly gained some speed and although he has not scored any points yet, we could even say that his pace looks better than Mansell's did. Three years ago, that would have made him the #1 favourite for the championship!
#7 - Nigel Mansell | 4.5
The 1992 world champion scored McLaren's first points of the season. Unfortunately, that is the only positive thing we can say about Our Nige's stint at the team. Compared to Hakkinen, he lacked both qualifying and race pace, not even to mention his antics in the race in Monaco, or walking out and giving up after just three races.
#8 - Mika Hakkinen | 8.5
Hakkinen has been the only driver so far to show that the McLaren MP4/10 may be good enough to challenge the other top teams. He has driven some excellent qualifyings and when he finally started to finish races, he racked up 7 points in two races.

Footwork-Hart | 5.5
Much like Tyrrell, Footwork also seems stuck in the lower midfield. They have not scored any points so far and to be honest, it does not look to likely they will improve in the second half of the season. It has to be appreciated that the underfunded team are trying to field two equal cars, but it seems very unfortunate that it has been mainly Morbidelli's car that failed in the races. With a bit more luck, the Italian might be able to snatch a points finish for the shoestring-budgetted team.
#9 - Gianni Morbidelli | 6.5
The Italian has been able to qualify in decent positions. He has not yet finished a single race, but he seems able to at least match the speed of occasional points scorers like Wendlinger, Badoer and Verstappen. With the Footwork, that is decent or maybe even better than that.
#10 - Taki Inoue | 5
We already said it before the season: Inoue is at Footwork for his money. We can say two positive things about his performances so far: he is not beaten by all other cars and he did finish races in a Footwork. He has not even gotten close to Morbidelli's speed, though.

Simtek-Ford | 7
The little Simtek team have definitely improved from last year. Nick Wirth and his small group of engineers have managed to design a decent car on a shoestring budget. Especially Verstappen's speed has been encouraging in qualifying, but even more so in races. They managed to score a point in Argentina and if they can continue the upward trend, they may hope for more.
#11 - Domenico Schiattarella | 5.5
Due to his unfortunate practice accident in Imola, Schiattarella has only been able to drive two races so far. In those races, he did not do anything silly, but he seemed way off the pace of his team mate.
#11 - Hideki Noda | 6
Noda replaced Schiattarella, until he ran out of Japanese yens. It is not really a secret that Noda was hired for his sponsor money, but he was actually not bad. Without any significant testing, he jumped in and he did not seem any slower than the Italian had been in the previous two races.
#11 - Tom Kristensen | 7.5
Kristensen was hastily flown in after Noda's departure to drive the Simtek in the last races before Schiattarella's return. He had to jump in without any testing and he actually managed to qualify well within a second of Verstappen's times. While that is not quite a "Schumacher '91" situation, it still is impressive.
#12 - Jos Verstappen | 8.5
Verstappen makes a calmer and more mature impression than in his debut season. The Dutchman is consistently able to put his Simtek between the Minardis, Tyrrells and Footworks, seemingly punching above his weight. With 6th place in Argentina, he has also grabbed his only chance so far to score a point.

Jordan-Peugeot | 5.5
1995 has so far been a year of two faces for Jordan. Both drivers are fast and so are the cars. They definitely are able to match McLaren and Ferrari and to challenge Benetton and Williams, but so far they are 6th in the constructors' championship with only 8 points. The main reason for that is the fragility of the 195 chassis and the Peugeot A10 engine.
#14 - Rubens Barrichello | 8
Barrichello has a reputation of one of the quickest young talents in F1 and he is again living up to it this year. He has qualified on the front row several times and was competing for points or even podium finishes in almost all races. Not a single DNF was his fault so far, but he will be a happier man with some good results.
#15 - Eddie Irvine | 8
Irvine has been a good match for Barrichello throughout the first half of the season. He outqualified the Brazilian three times and the Ulsterman has actually been able to bring his Jordan to the finish twice. Both times got him points. Most notable was his performance in Barcelona, where he kept pressure on race winner Schumacher throughout the race to come home in an excellent 2nd position.

Pacific-Ford | 4
Pacific Team Lotus have done nothing so far to prove they are worthy of the legendary second part of their name. They are able to start every race, but both cars seem to be no match for the rest of the field. Even the new team of Forti are beginning to create a gap to the Thetford-based team.
#16 - Bertrand Gachot | 5.5
Gachot was supposed to be the leader of Pacific. Not only as a team owner, but also as the most experienced driver. It is difficult to judge him on his driver performance this year, as the car is not any good. He did consistently beat his rookie team mate, but we expected nothing less from a driver with several years of F1 experience.
#17 - Andrea Montermini | 6
One of this year's rookies, Montermini has done a decent job so far. He was close to Gachot from the start and during races, he has fought some nice battles with his team mate and the Fortis. He has not yet stood out, neither positively nor negatively.

Forti-Ford | 6
Forti entered F1 as one of the smallest teams this year. The Italian team did not set the world alight so far, but they seem to make a little bit of progress, now being consistently faster than the Pacifics. Because of the Diniz takeover, their now larger resources will be mainly focusing on next year. Until then, they will have to try to pick up the crumbs when the opportunity arises.
#21 - Roberto Moreno | 5.5
Moreno used to be a highly respected driver with solid performances in his Benetton days. Maybe he should not have returned to F1 to drive one of the slowest cars, while his young and unknown team mate is quite evenly matching him. There really is no credit to be gained for the Brazilian, unless the car improves or luck is on his side to snatch a surprise result.
#22- Nathan van Dijk | 7.5
Van Dijk came into F1 as a young, unknown rookie. Although he did not make it to any headlines yet, the 20-year-old has shown quite more than expected. He has outqualified Moreno numerous times and he has shown genuine racecraft with some excellent starts and some good passes. In our opinion, he deserves a seat again next year.

Minardi-Ford | 6.5
It was clear from the word go that 1995 would not be an easy year for Minardi. The customer Ford engines lack power, but the chassis seems to make up part of it. Their pace has been quite decent and Badoer even managed to score two points. If only they had managed to sign the Mugen Honda deal...
#23 - Pierluigi Martini | 5.5
Martini has stayed a bit under the radar so far. It was his team mate who took the spotlight with points in Argentina, while Martini was beaten by Verstappen's Simtek for the final point. In general, it seems he may have lost his edge.
#24 - Luca Badoer | 8
Luca Badoer was a hot topic after the Argentine Grand Prix, finishing in fifth. If we look closer to his season so far, it appears that was not a fluke result. Badoer has been consistently quick, qualifying and racing his underpowered car right in the middle of the pack.

Ligier-Mugen Honda | 7
Ligier are having a solid season so far. Both Olivier Panis and Martin Brundle have been able to score points for the French team, who ware currently on a 7th place in the constructors' championship. If Ligier can remain stable and benefit from others' mistakes, they could still gain a position or two in the championship.
#25 - Aguri Suzuki | 6
Despite having a decent speed, Suzuki did not score any points in the first four races. He surprised in Imola, where his pace was better than Panis' in the race. In the other races, Suzuki has not really stood out.
#25 - Martin Brundle | 7
Brundle looked somewhat faster than Suzuki in his first three races for Ligier. He got close to Panis' excellent pace in qualifying and he did score a point. The big question is: did the Briton make enough of an impression to keep his seat for next year?
#26 - Olivier Panis | 8
Olivier Panis is living up to his role as lead driver at Ligier in only his second season in F1. Panis has been very consistent and rather quick in the first half of the season. Several top-10 qualifyings and 7 points so far looked to be the best possible result with this team.

Ferrari | 6
The prancing horse is back at the front of the grid. Ferrari have shown some very good speed, they have won a race, got some more podium finishes and they are still in a position to at least challenge Williams for 2nd in the championship. However, it could have been so much more. They could have been still contending for both the drivers' championship and the constructors', if the 412 T2 would have been more robust.
#27 - Jean Alesi | 9
Alesi has been extremely quick this year. He consistently outqualifies his team mate and in almost every race, he has been in the mix for the podium positions. He could have racked up 2 or 3 race wins so far, if his car had not let him down. For sure, his first race win will come this year.
#28 - Gerhard Berger | 7.5
Although the championship standings do not reflect it, Berger has had trouble matching his team mate this year. Nevertheless, he maximised on all of his chances to add points to his tally and by doing so, he is still in something of a dark horse position for the drivers' championship. His race in Monaco was his highlight so far, where he impressively held off Schumacher for the win.

Sauber-Ford | 7
Sauber is on an excellent 4th place in the constructor standings, halfway through the season. The cars have been rather reliable, although they do lack some speed to really challenge the top teams. If McLaren and Jordan improve their reliability, things may look a lot less positive by the end of the year.
#29 - Karl Wendlinger | 7
Much like his compatriot at Ferrari, consistency is what characterises Wendlinger's season so far. The Austrian scored points on several occasions, when other cars failed. We are worried that he has lost his edge after his horrendous crash last year, though, as he is significantly slower than his team mate in both qualifyings and races.
#30 - Heinz-Harald Frentzen | 8
Frentzen is doing a better job than the championship standings suggest. He already finished 4th twice, and he has already beaten Ferraris and McLarens in qualifying several times. The German deserves a place in the spotlights and he will be looking to capitalize on his chances in the second half of the season.

Papis replaces Morbidelli

Just before this magazine was printed, the news came to us that Gianni Morbidelli will not drive for Footwork at the British Grand Prix. Massimilano Papis will be replacing him. His sponsors have been able to secure a deal for seven races. It shows again that Footwork is desperately looking for money, as they are now replacing their best performing driver.

Massimilano Papis is a 25 year old Italian driver, who raced in the past two years in F3000. Last year, he achieved a 6th place in the championship, winning one race in Barcelona. He was also hired as a test driver for Team Lotus in 1994.

Short but Sweet

Schumacher-Alesi swap deal almosed sealed • Ilmor power for Simtek next year? • V10 Ford engines for Sauber in 1996 • Damon Hill to McLaren? • Lola T95/30 upgrade to be tested at Oulton Park next week • Ligier keeps Mugen engines until '97

by **BassTrombone** » 02 May 2020, 20:41

1995 British Grand Prix

The British Grand Prix is the home race of a majority of teams. They will have an extra reason to prove themselves on home soil. The same applies to several drivers, with among them two title candidates this year. Will Herbert and Coulthard use their home advantage?

Qualifying

Herbert took another pole position, while Schumacher made it a good qualifying for the Benetton team by taking 3rd place on the grid. In between them was Mika Hakkinen, who was once again impressive. Hill, Coulthard and Alesi completed the top six. Papis performed decently on his debut by qualifying in 17th, while his fellow countryman Schiattarella also did well on his return to put the Simtek on 21st.

Results

Code: Select all: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³Pole 1 ³ ³ Johnny Herbert ³ ³ 1m 25.180s 2 ³ ³ Mika Hakkinen ³ ³Row 2 3 1m 25.442s ³ ³ Michael Schumacher ³ ³ 1m 25.471s 4 ³ ³ Damon Hill ³ ³Row 3 5 1m 25.523s ³ ³ David Coulthard ³ ³ 1m 25.575s 6 ³ ³ Jean Alesi ³ ³Row 4 7 1m 25.611s ³ ³ Eddie Irvine ³ ³ 1m 25.769s 8 ³ ³ Rubens Barrichello ³ ³Row 5 9 1m 25.822s ³ ³ Mark Blundell ³ ³ 1m 25.906s 10 ³ ³ Gerhard Berger ³ ³Row 6 11 1m 25.945s ³ ³ Olivier Panis ³ ³ 1m 25.966s 12 ³ ³ Heinz-Harald Frentzen ³ ³Row 7 13 1m 26.177s ³ ³ Martin Brundle ³ ³ 1m 26.304s 14 ³ ³ Ukyo Katayama ³ ³Row 8 15 1m 26.839s ³ ³ Karl Wendlinger ³ ³ 1m 27.849s 16 ³ ³ Jos Verstappen ³ ³Row 9 17 1m 27.992s ³ ³ Massimilano Papis ³ ³ 1m 28.068s 18 ³ ³ Luca Badoer ³ ³Row 10 19 1m 28.261s ³ ³ Pierluigi Martini ³ ³ 1m 28.517s 20 ³ ³ Mika Salo ³ ³Row 11 21 1m 28.596s ³ ³ Domenico Schiattarella ³ ³ 1m 29.556s 22 ³ ³ Taki Inoue ³ ³Row 12 23 1m 29.828s ³ ³ Nathan van Dijk ³ ³ 1m 30.504s 24 ³ ³ Roberto Moreno ³ ³Row 13 25 1m 30.514s ³ ³ Bertrand Gachot ³ ³ 1m 30.709s 26 ³ ³ Andrea Montermini ³ ³ 1m 30.750s ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Race

It was another good start for the Benettons and another poor start for Mika Hakkinen. The Finn was not only overtaken by Schumacher, but also by both Williams in the run to Copse corner. Gerhard Berger had probably the best start of the field, taking 6th place from 10th on the grid. However, he would be outbraked by his team mate into Vale, still on the first lap. Coulthard would do the same to his team mate into Stowe.

Hangar Straight and Stowe almost looked like a battlefield in lap 2. Schumacher passed Herbert, Hill took a place back from Coulthard and Eddie Irvine passed Jean Alesi. More battles would be fought in the following laps, as Herbert was also overtaken by both Williams and Mika Hakkinen lost places to Irvine and Alesi, although the Finn would take his place back from the Frenchman a lap later. The biggest shock of the opening stage would come in lap 8, as Johnny Herbert lost the back of his car in Stowe and spun. He dropped back to 8th, but he was able to continue his race with still a good chance of scoring points.

Damon Hill was the first driver at the front to make a pit stop in lap 16. Irvine followed two laps later, just as his team mate was overtaken by Gerhard Berger. The race leader, Michael Schumacher, made his first stop in lap 20. Crucially, he rejoined the track behind Hill, who now looked in a good position for finally a good result again. Hill lost no time behind Rubens Barrichello, who looked to be on a one stop strategy, but neither did Michael Schumacher.

In the meantime, both Ferraris had sneaked into 1st and 2nd position, both running on a one stop strategy. Passing them would be crucial for Hill and Schumacher, but Hill got stuck behind Berger, who defended his 2nd position well. Hill's team mate would be in deeper trouble. Coulthard spun in Stowe in lap 22 and got stuck in the gravel trap. It took him minutes to get out and the Scot rejoined the race 2 laps behind the leaders.

Because Damon Hill was losing time behind Berger, Michael Schumacher was able to close the gap. Schumacher was not planning on losing any time and he overtook both Hill and Berger in one lap. Hill was finally able to pass Berger one lap later, just before the Austrian would make his only pit stop. Johnny Herbert had meanwhile driven an impressive recovery race and he had even closed the gap to Damon Hill. Herbert even managed to overtake Hill just before he had to make his only stop. Hill was back in 2nd, but it would not take long. His suspension failed in lap 35, so it was another 0-result for the Briton.

It was now a race between Schumacher and Alesi. Schumacher had been building a margin before his second stop and when he came in for his second load of fuel, his lead was sufficient. He came out of the pits just in front of the Ferrari, securing his win. Schumacher's pit stop provided Eddie Irvine and Jordan a couple of minutes of fame, as the Ulsterman inherited the lead until he made his second stop. He would drop back to 7th position, but he would be on a charge in the last stint.

The audience on the grandstands in Stowe corner surely got good value for their ticket money. Another top driver made a mistake there in lap 43. Once again it was Jean Alesi who lost a podium finish in the closing stages of a race, although this time it was his own fault. The Ferrari driver would rejoin in 8th position. This left the Benettons set for a 1-2 victory, with Hakkinen behind them in 3rd. Hakkinen had once again shown his good pace, but he would not be fully rewarded. The Finn was forced to make an extra pit stop with electrical issues, dropping back to 9th place.

Michael Schumacher is back in title contention with his 2nd win of '95

In the final laps, the podium was settled. Schumacher led, followed by Herbert and Eddie Irvine, who had made great use of his fresher tyres to charge back through the field. Barrichello was in 4th, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen had inherited 5th place after Gerhard Berger retired with mechanical issues. Barrichello and Frentzen had gotten their good positions thanks to their one stop strategy, but it would backfire as they were struggling on worn tyres. Hakkinen and Alesi were quickly gaining ground again after their earlier issues and they would both overtake the duo. Mika Hakkinen was the quicker of those two, as he managed to also overtake Alesi for 4th position. The Frenchman crossed the line behind him in 5th, with Barrichello salvaging his first point of the season.

Results

Code: Select all: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³ Pos Driver Time/Speed ³ ³ ³ ³ 1st Michael Schumacher 1h 31m 43.389s ³ ³ Benetton - Renault ³ ³ 2nd Johnny Herbert +13.749s ³ ³ Benetton - Renault ³ ³ 3rd Eddie Irvine +42.203s ³ ³ Jordan - Peugeot ³ ³ 4th Mika Hakkinen +51.794s ³ ³ McLaren - Mercedes ³ ³ 5th Jean Alesi +57.857s ³ ³ Ferrari ³ ³ 6th Rubens Barrichello +1m 01.138s ³ ³ Jordan - Peugeot ³ ³ 7th Heinz-Harald Frentzen +1m 07.720s ³ ³ Sauber - Ford ³ ³ 8th Olivier Panis +1m 10.517s ³ ³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³ ³ 9th Mark Blundell +1m 13.675s ³ ³ McLaren - Mercedes ³ ³ 10th Martin Brundle -1 Lap ³ ³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³ ³ 11th David Coulthard -2 Laps ³ ³ Williams - Renault ³ ³ 12th Domenico Schiattarella -3 Laps ³ ³ Simtek - Ford ³ ³ 13th Bertrand Gachot -3 Laps ³ ³ Pacific - Ford ³ ³ 14th Gerhard Berger Suspension ³ ³ Ferrari ³ ³ 15th Ukyo Katayama Engine ³ ³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³ ³ 16th Mika Salo Puncture ³ ³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³ ³ 17th Karl Wendlinger Engine ³ ³ Sauber - Ford ³ ³ 18th Nathan van Dijk Suspension ³ ³ Forti - Ford ³ ³ 19th Damon Hill Suspension ³ ³ Williams - Renault ³ ³ 20th Roberto Moreno Engine ³ ³ Forti - Ford ³ ³ 21st Jos Verstappen Engine ³ ³ Simtek - Ford ³ ³ 22nd Andrea Montermini Water Leak ³ ³ Pacific - Ford ³ ³ 23rd Massimilano Papis Water Leak ³ ³ Footwork - Hart ³ ³ 24th Luca Badoer Transmission ³ ³ Minardi - Ford ³ ³ 25th Pierluigi Martini Engine ³ ³ Minardi - Ford ³ ³ 26th Taki Inoue Water Leak ³ ³ Footwork - Hart ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Drivers' Championship

Code: Select all: 1. Johnny Herbert 42 2. David Coulthard 38 3. Michael Schumacher 36 4. Gerhard Berger 24 5. Eddie Irvine 12 6. Mika Hakkinen 10 7. Damon Hill 9 8. Jean Alesi 9 9. Karl Wendlinger 7 10. Heinz-Harald Frentzen 6 11. Nigel Mansell 5 12. Olivier Panis 5 13. Luca Badoer 2 14. Jos Verstappen 1 15. Martin Brundle 1 16. Rubens Barrichello 1

Constructors' Championship

Code: Select all: 1. Benetton-Renault 78 2. Williams-Renault 47 3. Ferrari 33 4. McLaren-Mercedes 15 5. Jordan-Peugeot 13 6. Sauber-Ford 13 7. Ligier-Mugen Honda 6 8. Minardi-Ford 2 9. Simtek-Ford 1

by **BassTrombone** » 03 May 2020, 08:41

Press release - Pacific Team Lotus

Pacific Team Lotus is glad to announce a 4-race deal with Italian driver Giovanni Lavaggi to drive for the team. Lavaggi will take the wheel of the #16 car, replacing Bertrand Gachot. Giovanni Lavaggi is a 37 year old Italian driver, who has enjoyed many successes in various race categories over the last few years. He achieved a 2nd-in-class position at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1992, won the Daytona 24 Hours this year and has enjoyed stints in Italian F3, International F3000 and CART.

by **BassTrombone** » 03 May 2020, 13:09

1995 German Grand Prix

The momentum has swung back to Benetton and at Schumacher's home race, he will be more eager than ever to make it back-to-back victories. Further in the field, the high-speed nature of the Hockenheimring could give some more surprises. And what to think of 37-year-old rookie Giovanni Lavaggi, will he be any good? Or, maybe be more realistic... Can he somewhat keep up with the rest of the grid?

Qualifying

Michael Schumacher had been fastest in the Friday session, but his team mate set a quicker time on Saturday. Behind the two Benettons were the other Renault powered cars, with Damon Hill beating David Coulthard for 3rd. Ferrari had a disappointing qualifying with their cars in 7th and 10th. The same could be said for the Saubers, who were clearly suffering from having underpowered Ford V8 engines. Rookie Lavaggi qualified unsurprisingly in 26th. He looked out of his depth, way off the pace of his team mate.

Results

Code: Select all: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³Pole 1 ³ ³ Johnny Herbert ³ ³ 1m 44.059s 2 ³ ³ Michael Schumacher ³ ³Row 2 3 1m 44.114s ³ ³ Damon Hill ³ ³ 1m 44.239s 4 ³ ³ David Coulthard ³ ³Row 3 5 1m 44.442s ³ ³ Mika Hakkinen ³ ³ 1m 44.505s 6 ³ ³ Eddie Irvine ³ ³Row 4 7 1m 44.524s ³ ³ Jean Alesi ³ ³ 1m 44.597s 8 ³ ³ Rubens Barrichello ³ ³Row 5 9 1m 44.660s ³ ³ Olivier Panis ³ ³ 1m 44.966s 10 ³ ³ Gerhard Berger ³ ³Row 6 11 1m 44.978s ³ ³ Mark Blundell ³ ³ 1m 45.073s 12 ³ ³ Martin Brundle ³ ³Row 7 13 1m 45.190s ³ ³ Heinz-Harald Frentzen ³ ³ 1m 45.496s 14 ³ ³ Ukyo Katayama ³ ³Row 8 15 1m 46.025s ³ ³ Karl Wendlinger ³ ³ 1m 46.922s 16 ³ ³ Massimilano Papis ³ ³Row 9 17 1m 47.444s ³ ³ Mika Salo ³ ³ 1m 47.529s 18 ³ ³ Jos Verstappen ³ ³Row 10 19 1m 47.699s ³ ³ Luca Badoer ³ ³ 1m 47.810s 20 ³ ³ Pierluigi Martini ³ ³Row 11 21 1m 48.142s ³ ³ Taki Inoue ³ ³ 1m 48.918s 22 ³ ³ Domenico Schiattarella ³ ³Row 12 23 1m 49.246s ³ ³ Nathan van Dijk ³ ³ 1m 50.007s 24 ³ ³ Roberto Moreno ³ ³Row 13 25 1m 50.063s ³ ³ Andrea Montermini ³ ³ 1m 50.166s 26 ³ ³ Giovanni Lavaggi ³ ³ 1m 51.581s ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Race

The top six got underway well, without any position changes in the first corner. Right after that, the slipstreaming festival begun. Damon Hill slipstreamed his way past Schumacher, although the German regained his position in the Ostkurve. Hill's would lose another position in the first lap, as his team mate managed to get past in the Senna chicane. A little further behind, Irvine and Hakkinen fought a similar battle, with the Finn finally keeping his 5th place in the Motodrom. Their battle was soon over, as both of them retired as early as lap 2.

Gerhard Berger outbraked Barrichello at the Clark chicane, while Damon Hill outbraked nobody but himself. The Briton barely managed to keep his nose pointing in the right direction, but he did lose some time, allowing Berger, Barrichello and Alesi to catch up. Barrichello dealt with the situation brilliantly, passing both Berger and Hill on the next straight and into the Ostkurve. Berger managed to get past Hill as well and even Jean Alesi could overtake the Williams. A small mistake had cost Damon Hill no less than three positions. He looked to quickly bounce back when he passed Alesi at the Clark chicane, but the Frenchman took his 6th position back in the Ostkurve. The duo would continue their fight in the next laps and Alesi kept getting the better of Hill.

While Herbert was steadily building a gap to Schumacher, Berger had closed the gap to Barrichello again. This time, the Austrian did get past in lap 8, without giving the Brazilian a chance to regain his position. He would gain another place on the same lap, as David Coulthard retired from 3rd place with transmission issues.

It soon became clear why Herbert had been so much faster than Schumacher, since the Briton was the first one to make a pit stop, as early as lap 13. Herbert and Berger would be the only ones from the top six on a two stop strategy. Herbert rejoined the track in 5th position, right between Alesi and Hill. Hill did not hesitate and overtook the Benetton immediately on the way to the Clark chicane. Like Alesi had done several times, Herbert also found a way to instantly fight back by outbraking Hill at the Ostkurve. Herbert then continued his hunt and was soon fighting Alesi. It took him two laps, but once again the Benetton driver found a way past.

When the one-stoppers made their only visit to the pits, it was no surprise that Herbert regained the lead. Schumacher kept second and knew he just had to manage the gap in order to get back in the lead after Herbert's second stop. Damon Hill was the only one to win anything during the pit stops, as he rejoined the track in front of Alesi. The Williams driver would gain another position as he managed to get past Rubens Barrichello in lap 25.

Herbert's second stop would come in lap 30 and indeed, Michael Schumacher was back in the lead. His margin was quite small, though, and Herbert was faster. By lap 34, the battle was on. Despite some strong defending from the German, the Briton found a way to overtake him, leaving Schumacher without an answer. The top six seemed pretty settled after this crucial overtake, until Jean Alesi was forced to make another stop due to electrical issues. The Frenchman came out of the pits in 7th, behind Olivier Panis. Alesi pushed his Ferrari to the limit in the closing stages and he robbed Panis of the last point in lap 43.

Johnny Herbert takes the win in Germany

Johnny Herbert extended his lead to a safe margin and could drive quite comfortably to the finish. Michael Schumacher completed the Benetton 1-2, with Damon Hill finally back on the podium in 3rd. Hill scored his first points since San Marino and his first podium since the opening race of the season. Behind him, Rubens Barrichello got his second points finish in succession, followed by the Ferraris of Berger and Alesi. Further down, Van Dijk scored his best result of his young career by bringing home his Forti in 13th, not too far behind his compatriot Verstappen.

Results

Code: Select all: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³ Pos Driver Time/Speed ³ ³ ³ ³ 1st Johnny Herbert 1h 22m 41.915s ³ ³ Benetton - Renault ³ ³ 2nd Michael Schumacher +7.941s ³ ³ Benetton - Renault ³ ³ 3rd Damon Hill +16.517s ³ ³ Williams - Renault ³ ³ 4th Rubens Barrichello +30.082s ³ ³ Jordan - Peugeot ³ ³ 5th Gerhard Berger +38.417s ³ ³ Ferrari ³ ³ 6th Jean Alesi +1m 01.165s ³ ³ Ferrari ³ ³ 7th Olivier Panis +1m 04.374s ³ ³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³ ³ 8th Karl Wendlinger -1 Lap ³ ³ Sauber - Ford ³ ³ 9th Heinz-Harald Frentzen -1 Lap ³ ³ Sauber - Ford ³ ³ 10th Ukyo Katayama -1 Lap ³ ³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³ ³ 11th Massimilano Papis -1 Lap ³ ³ Footwork - Hart ³ ³ 12th Jos Verstappen -2 Laps ³ ³ Simtek - Ford ³ ³ 13th Nathan van Dijk -2 Laps ³ ³ Forti - Ford ³ ³ 14th Pierluigi Martini Loose Wheel ³ ³ Minardi - Ford ³ ³ 15th Domenico Schiattarella Transmission ³ ³ Simtek - Ford ³ ³ 16th Taki Inoue Suspension ³ ³ Footwork - Hart ³ ³ 17th Andrea Montermini Throttle ³ ³ Pacific - Ford ³ ³ 18th Martin Brundle Oil Leak ³ ³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³ ³ 19th Giovanni Lavaggi Electrical ³ ³ Pacific - Ford ³ ³ 20th Mika Salo Transmission ³ ³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³ ³ 21st Luca Badoer Puncture ³ ³ Minardi - Ford ³ ³ 22nd Roberto Moreno Water Leak ³ ³ Forti - Ford ³ ³ 23rd Mark Blundell Transmission ³ ³ McLaren - Mercedes ³ ³ 24th David Coulthard Transmission ³ ³ Williams - Renault ³ ³ 25th Mika Hakkinen Puncture ³ ³ McLaren - Mercedes ³ ³ 26th Eddie Irvine Electrical ³ ³ Jordan - Peugeot ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Drivers' Championship

Code: Select all: 1. Johnny Herbert 52 2. Michael Schumacher 42 3. David Coulthard 38 4. Gerhard Berger 26 5. Damon Hill 13 6. Eddie Irvine 12 7. Mika Hakkinen 10 8. Jean Alesi 10 9. Karl Wendlinger 7 10. Heinz-Harald Frentzen 6 11. Nigel Mansell 5 12. Olivier Panis 5 13. Rubens Barrichello 4 14. Luca Badoer 2 15. Jos Verstappen 1 16. Martin Brundle 1

Constructors' Championship

Code: Select all: 1. Benetton-Renault 94 2. Williams-Renault 51 3. Ferrari 36 4. Jordan-Peugeot 16 5. McLaren-Mercedes 15 6. Sauber-Ford 13 7. Ligier-Mugen Honda 6 8. Minardi-Ford 2 9. Simtek-Ford 1

by **BassTrombone** » 04 May 2020, 19:43

Press release - Mild Seven Benetton Renault

Mild Seven Benetton Renault is pleased to confirm its driver line-up for 1996. Current F1 drivers' championship leader Johnny Herbert extends his contract with the team for an extra year. Herbert has proven himself to be a very capable driver this year, winning three races and scoring another four podium finishes. The team is delighted to keep the 31-year-old Briton aboard for 1996 and will continue to support him in his hunt for the world title.

Joining Herbert will be the newly arriving Jean Alesi. The Frenchman has signed with Mild Seven Benetton Renault for two years. Alesi is one of Formula 1's most established drivers, having scored 11 podium finishes in his career so far. According to team principal Flavio Briatore, "Jean will be the perfect replacement for Michael Schumacher, who has decided to continue his racing career elsewhere. The shoes of an F1 world champion are big to fill, but I am convinced that Jean is capable of the task."

Press release - Scuderia Ferrari

Scuderia Ferrari is officially confirming its lead driver for the next three years. German driver Michael Schumacher has signed a contract with Scuderia Ferrari up to and including the 1998 season. In a first statement, Schumacher said "I am very happy to have signed for the great Scuderia Ferrari team. It will be a new challenge for me and my goal is to bring Ferrari more world championships." Scuderia Ferrari team principal Jean Todt added "Schumacher's signing is another step in our plan to get back at the top in Formula 1. Schumacher is the only F1 world champion who is still driving in F1 and we are sure there is no better driver than him. I am personally looking forward to work with him."

Press release - Minardi Scuderia Italia

Minardi Scuderia Italia announces that Pedro Lamy will join the team for the rest of the season. The 23-year-old driver from Portugal will replace Pierluigi Martini with immediate effect. Lamy has had a successful career so far. He has won the Formula Opel Lotus championship in 1991, the German F3 in 1992 and he was runner-up in International F3000 in 1993. After 8 races in Formula 1, he unfortunately got badly injured, but Lamy has proven in tests with Minardi Scuderia Italia he has lost nothing of his talent.

by **BassTrombone** » 05 May 2020, 19:43

GRAND PRIX NEWS
Your monthly source for racing news, rumors and stories | Wednesday 2nd August, 1995

Silly Season Shenanigans

After our last update, several new signings have been done for 1996 and beyond. Benetton is the first top team to have its 1996 line-up confirmed, with Johnny Herbert and Jean Alesi. They are losing their world champion Schumacher, but Herbert shows this year that he is capable of challenging for the title, while Alesi so far has the speed, but not the luck to do so. It will be interesting to see this duo together, but it may be even more interesting to see what happens at the Anglo-Italian team in the rest of this year. Now they know Schumacher is leaving, will they be favouring Herbert in the title race?

Ferrari have their desired new star, with Michael Schumacher joining the team. The biggest question is now, who will join him? Gerhard Berger would still be a sensible option for the short term. The Austrian is having a decent season, but it is not sure whether he wants to stay at the team in a #2 role. Youngsters like Eddie Irvine and Luca Badoer might be cheap, but fast, possibilities. Another option would be one of Williams' current drivers.

Meanwhile at the Didcot-based team, the rumors are getting stronger that Jacques Villeneuve will sign. Villeneuve is definitely having his breakthrough year in CART, as he is leading the championship and has won the Indy 500. Given this year's performance of both their drivers, it would make sense if Coulthard is kept, although the Scot is said to be in talks with McLaren too. Hill might be an outsider for the second Ferrari seat, which might be his only option for a top seat, since his talks with McLaren seem to have resulted in nothing. Frank Williams is also still a fan of Heinz-Harald Frentzen, but the German might have to gain more experience for a year to get a seat in his team.

McLaren has been looking like the underdog lately, but Ron Dennis kept his faith in Mika Hakkinen. The Finn has now beaten famous team mates like Andretti and Mansell and is establishing him as a top driver at a team that looks likely to become a top team again. The second McLaren seat is still something of a secret. Mercedes-Benz would like to have a German in the McLaren and with Schumacher tied at Ferrari, Heinz-Harald Frentzen is the only realistic option. If Frentzen waits for the Williams chance, Ron Dennis is still likely looking for a young driver to build the team. As mentioned before, David Coulthard is a serious candidate, but Dennis also has not forgotten about Verstappen's impressive test in 1993 with the team. Jacques Villeneuve has been considered, but the Canadian's temperamental character may not be the best match with McLaren.

For the other teams, not much is clear yet. At the risk of looking like fools by the start of the 1996 season, we are making the following predictions and educated guesses:

If Gerhard Berger does not extend his Ferrari contract, he will follow the Red Bull connection and join Sauber.
Barrichello is the most interesting youngster for Ferrari, not only based on talent, but also commercially.
Footwork will sign two pay drivers to help their dire financial situation.
Jos Verstappen's underdog performances at Simtek will earn him a seat at a higher-ranked team. If McLaren decide against hiring him, we think he will succeed either Frentzen or Barrichello.
The same applies for Badoer's performance at Minardi. Parmalat is said to be looking to sponsor a different team than Forti and a talented Italian driver could be just the thing they want to support.
Larrousse DAMS' lineup will be Emmannuel Collard and a pay driver.
As Verstappen will move from Simtek, Nathan van Dijk will be signed at Simtek to please Philips, Mexx and Bavaria.
Talented youngsters Giancarlo Fisichella, Vicenzo Sospiri and Norberto Fontana will make their F1 debut in 1996.

In Memoriam

One of the all-time greatest Formula 1 drivers, arguably even the greatest, was Juan Manuel Fangio. Fangio passed away last month, aged 84, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His numbers of wins and pole positions have been surpassed now, but it must be mentioned that in Fangio's era, the world championship consisted of less races per year. His legendary status still stands, supported by the facts that he still holds the records for most driver championships (5), highest win ratio (46%) and highest pole position (57%) and front row (92%) starts.

Fangio started his race career in South America before coming to Europe in 1948. He won the second-ever Grand Prix for the Formula 1 World Championship in an Alfa Romeo, but was beaten in the 1950 season by his team mate, Giuseppe Farina. His first title would come in 1951, but he would not defend his title in 1952. On his return in 1953, he was vice-champion again in a Maserati, while the Ferraris were dominant. Four consecutive world championships would follow, with Maserati, Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari.

Short but Sweet

Ford Brazil to secure V10 deal for DFC • Is Honda developing its own F1 chassis? • Larrousse DAMS aim for Peugeot customer deal • Dutch Zandvoort circuit planning renovations • Tyrrell dump Hydrolink suspension for rest of '95

by **BassTrombone** » 06 May 2020, 20:18

1995 Hungarian Grand Prix

Benetton managed to score back-to-back 1-2 victories in the last two races, while Williams only managed 4 points. Most teams have been testing and updating their cars before this race weekend. Can Coulthard and Hill regain the momentum, or will Williams need to be careful not to be passed by Ferrari? Further back, it will be interesting to see how Pedro Lamy is performing. Van Dijk's Forti has received some new upgrades as well. Will he be able to move further up the grid?

Qualifying

Johnny Herbert continued to dominate in qualifying, with his 6th consecutive pole position. Behind him were, surprisingly, both McLarens, just in front of Michael Schumacher. Alesi and Hill completed the top 6, while David Coulthard was disappointing. The Scot only managed an 11th time, on a track where a good starting position is very important. Good news for the small Simtek and Forti news: Verstappen had an amazing qualifying and earned a 15th start position, while Forti looked to have closed the gap to the rest of the field, as both Van Dijk and Moreno were only a couple of hundreths off Inoue's time.

Results

Code: Select all: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³Pole 1 ³ ³ Johnny Herbert ³ ³ 1m 18.480s 2 ³ ³ Mika Hakkinen ³ ³Row 2 3 1m 18.581s ³ ³ Mark Blundell ³ ³ 1m 18.758s 4 ³ ³ Michael Schumacher ³ ³Row 3 5 1m 18.908s ³ ³ Jean Alesi ³ ³ 1m 19.087s 6 ³ ³ Damon Hill ³ ³Row 4 7 1m 19.189s ³ ³ Rubens Barrichello ³ ³ 1m 19.209s 8 ³ ³ Eddie Irvine ³ ³Row 5 9 1m 19.220s ³ ³ Olivier Panis ³ ³ 1m 19.230s 10 ³ ³ Heinz-Harald Frentzen ³ ³Row 6 11 1m 19.299s ³ ³ David Coulthard ³ ³ 1m 19.303s 12 ³ ³ Martin Brundle ³ ³Row 7 13 1m 19.434s ³ ³ Gerhard Berger ³ ³ 1m 19.449s 14 ³ ³ Ukyo Katayama ³ ³Row 8 15 1m 20.063s ³ ³ Jos Verstappen ³ ³ 1m 20.884s 16 ³ ³ Luca Badoer ³ ³Row 9 17 1m 21.011s ³ ³ Pedro Lamy ³ ³ 1m 21.033s 18 ³ ³ Karl Wendlinger ³ ³Row 10 19 1m 21.038s ³ ³ Massimilano Papis ³ ³ 1m 21.491s 20 ³ ³ Mika Salo ³ ³Row 11 21 1m 21.971s ³ ³ Domenico Schiattarella ³ ³ 1m 22.830s 22 ³ ³ Taki Inoue ³ ³Row 12 23 1m 23.644s ³ ³ Nathan van Dijk ³ ³ 1m 23.649s 24 ³ ³ Roberto Moreno ³ ³Row 13 25 1m 23.655s ³ ³ Andrea Montermini ³ ³ 1m 24.264s 26 ³ ³ Giovanni Lavaggi ³ ³ 1m 25.792s ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Race

Both Benettons had a good start, with Herbert keeping the lead and Schumacher moving up to 3rd. Most attention would go to Eddie Irvine, though, as the Jordan driver had an absolute rocket start to move up to 2nd place. Hill also did well to move up to 4th place, while the McLarens dropped to 5th and 6th. Hill appeared to be the slowest top driver in the opening stages, as a gap opened up in front of him, but a train of cars followed him closely, all the way up to Martin Brundle in 12th position.

Irvine looked to be the fastest driver in the beginning. The Ulsterman kept following Johnny Herbert very closely, but he could not find a way past in the first few laps. In lap 4, Irvine got too eager and he lost control of his Jordan, spinning in turn 14. His front wing got damaged on his tour through the gravel and he had to visit the pits for repairs. When he rejoined the race, he had lost almost a full lap. He would remain the fastest driver on track until his car failed.

A little further behind, Hill was doing a terrific job to keep everybody behind while he was driving on a podium position. On the narrow Hungaroring, it took long before anybody was able to overtake, but in lap 11, Mika Hakkinen managed to gain a position on his team mate. A lap later, Jean Alesi followed suit, taking 5th position from Mark Blundell. They were clearly on the move and Hill could not keep the pair of them behind as well. Hakkinen found a way past him in lap 15, while Alesi followed again a lap later. Alesi would lose his position again in lap 18, because he had to avoid Hakkinen, who had run wide in the turn 8-9 chicane. It would take the Frenchman another four laps to get past Hill once more.

Blundell, Hakkinen, Alesi, Coulthard and Panis all made an early pit stop, showing they were on a two stop strategy. They kept their relative positions, but dropped far back into the midfield. Hill, Berger and Barrichello were the one-stoppers who gained the most position because of all the pit stops. Hakkinen was still the fastest of the two-stoppers and he managed to get back up to 3rd position before the one-stoppers would come in.

Gerhard Berger was the first driver on a one-stop strategy to visit the pits in lap 31. Herbert followed in lap 35, rejoining just behind Mika Hakkinen. Hakkinen did not defend his position too fiercely when Herbert attacked him in lap 37, the lap in which Hill made his stop. The Briton came back on the circuit behind Berger, but he would overtake him a couple of laps later. Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello made their stops in lap 39. Hakkinen's race was over in the same lap, as his transmission failed. It was another good race gone to waste for the Finn.

The French duo of Alesi and Panis had moved up to 2nd and 3rd by this time. In lap 42, Michael Schumacher did find a way past Panis before the Ligier was due its second stop, but it was still an impressive showing. After all the pit stops, the top six were Herbert, Schumacher, Alesi, Hill, Barrichello and Berger. David Coulthard had been running in front of Hill at that moment, but he saw his title challenge suffer more damage when his transmission failed.

Panis had dropped out of the points, but on his fresher tyres, he managed to quickly get past Berger, before he was forced to make an extra stop due to electrical problems. Johnny Herbert was enjoying a comfortable lead in the meantime, while his team mate was slowly losing ground to Jean Alesi's Ferrari. Herbert would have to work some more for his points, however, as he had to pit in lap 60 with a similar problem as Panis'. He came back just behind Alesi, but his fresher tyres enabled him to get past quickly. Just one lap later, Michael Schumacher decided to allow Herbert past, to focus on keeping Alesi behind.

Whether Schumacher's decision was tactics or team orders, we will probably never find out. If it was a tactical decision, it did not work out as the German would have wanted, though. He was able to defend his position for a while, but Alesi finally managed to outbrake him in lap 62 and took 2nd place. This was also the moment when the longest battle of the race was decided. Up until then, Nathan van Dijk had spent his entire afternoon stuck behind Taki Inoue. They even pitted on the same lap. Inoue ran into the back of Verstappen's failing Simtek and had to pit for a new nose, while Van DIjk was finally free.

Herbert gets himself in an excellent championship position with another win

Hill and Berger both encountered issues while the top-3 were fighting. Berger retired, but Hill was able to continue after a stop for repairs, albeit down in 6th position. Hill did not give up and passed Panis with six laps to go. The Briton would go on to chase Barrichello and in the last lap, he was right on his tail. One lap was not enough to find a gap, though. At the front, Herbert could easily rebuild his lead, while Alesi kept a steady 2-second gap to Schumacher. As said, Barrichello managed to keep Hill behind and take 4th place. Olivier Panis completed the top 6 after a good performance.

Results

Code: Select all: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³ Pos Driver Time/Speed ³ ³ ³ ³ 1st Johnny Herbert 1h 47m 50.497s ³ ³ Benetton - Renault ³ ³ 2nd Jean Alesi +36.289s ³ ³ Ferrari ³ ³ 3rd Michael Schumacher +38.127s ³ ³ Benetton - Renault ³ ³ 4th Rubens Barrichello +1m 18.225s ³ ³ Jordan - Peugeot ³ ³ 5th Damon Hill +1m 18.411s ³ ³ Williams - Renault ³ ³ 6th Olivier Panis -1 Lap ³ ³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³ ³ 7th Mark Blundell -1 Lap ³ ³ McLaren - Mercedes ³ ³ 8th Martin Brundle -2 Laps ³ ³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³ ³ 9th Mika Salo -4 Laps ³ ³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³ ³ 10th Roberto Moreno -5 Laps ³ ³ Forti - Ford ³ ³ 11th Andrea Montermini -5 Laps ³ ³ Pacific - Ford ³ ³ 12th Nathan van Dijk -5 Laps ³ ³ Forti - Ford ³ ³ 13th Luca Badoer Suspension ³ ³ Minardi - Ford ³ ³ 14th Taki Inoue Transmission ³ ³ Footwork - Hart ³ ³ 15th Gerhard Berger Engine ³ ³ Ferrari ³ ³ 16th Jos Verstappen Transmission ³ ³ Simtek - Ford ³ ³ 17th David Coulthard Transmission ³ ³ Williams - Renault ³ ³ 18th Eddie Irvine Loose Wheel ³ ³ Jordan - Peugeot ³ ³ 19th Massimilano Papis Transmission ³ ³ Footwork - Hart ³ ³ 20th Mika Hakkinen Transmission ³ ³ McLaren - Mercedes ³ ³ 21st Pedro Lamy Engine ³ ³ Minardi - Ford ³ ³ 22nd Heinz-Harald Frentzen Engine ³ ³ Sauber - Ford ³ ³ 23rd Ukyo Katayama Suspension ³ ³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³ ³ 24th Giovanni Lavaggi Loose Wheel ³ ³ Pacific - Ford ³ ³ 25th Karl Wendlinger Puncture ³ ³ Sauber - Ford ³ ³ 26th Domenico Schiattarella Engine ³ ³ Simtek - Ford ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Drivers' Championship

Code: Select all: 1. Johnny Herbert 62 2. Michael Schumacher 46 3. David Coulthard 38 4. Gerhard Berger 26 5. Jean Alesi 16 6. Damon Hill 15 7. Eddie Irvine 12 8. Mika Hakkinen 10 9. Rubens Barrichello 7 10. Karl Wendlinger 7 11. Heinz-Harald Frentzen 6 12. Olivier Panis 6 13. Nigel Mansell 5 14. Luca Badoer 2 15. Jos Verstappen 1 16. Martin Brundle 1

Constructors' Championship

Code: Select all: 1. Benetton-Renault 108 2. Williams-Renault 53 3. Ferrari 42 4. Jordan-Peugeot 19 5. McLaren-Mercedes 15 6. Sauber-Ford 13 7. Ligier-Mugen Honda 7 8. Minardi-Ford 2 9. Simtek-Ford 1

by **BassTrombone** » 07 May 2020, 13:18

Press Release - Rothmans Williams Renault

Rothmans Williams Renault is officially confirming two drivers for its future line-up. Damon Hill, who is currently in his third year with the team, has extended his contract until the end of 1996. Hill is highly regarded at Williams for his qualifying and race performances, as well as for his technical feedback. Team owner Frank Williams said "I am glad we can keep Damon's experience on board and I am sure he will further improve his performance with us."

Jacques Villeneuve will be joining the team for two years. The Canadian has signed a contract until the end of 1997. Villeneuve is the current leader in the CART championship standings and has won the prestigious Indy 500 race this year. According to Frank Williams, "Jacques is one of motorsports' most exciting talents of this era. Although he has no previous racing experience in Formula 1, we are convinced that he will be up to speed when the 1996 season starts. He will start a testing programme with us right after the CART IndyCar season has finished."

Press Release - Marlboro McLaren Mercedes

Marlboro McLaren Mercedes is pleased to announce the completion of its driver line-up for the next years. After Mika Hakkinen had already extended his contract until the end of 1997, the team can now confirm that David Coulthard will be joining him. Coulthard has signed a 3-year contract with Marlboro McLaren Mercedes, so he will be a McLaren driver in the 1996, '97 and '98 seasons.

by **BassTrombone** » 08 May 2020, 19:36

1995 Belgian Grand Prix

Benetton have won the last four races and they look almost unbeatable at this stage. Herbert extended his lead by 6 points two weeks ago. If he wins again, his margin will be at least 20 points, but Schumacher will do everything to prevent that. Talking about Schumacher, rumor has it that he was rather dissatisfied about the strategy Benetton had put him on. The battle continues on the legendary circuit of Spa-Francorchamps!

Qualifying

It was another Benetton front row, but Schumacher was the one on pole this time. Hakkinen was 3rd, in front of the Williams duo of Hill and Coulthard. Jean Alesi completed the top six. Right behind him was probably the biggest surprise of this qualifying, as Martin Brundle managed to secure a 7th position on the starting grid. The rest of the field did not really throw up any big suprises, although once again it was striking how big the gaps between Frentzen, Katayama, Verstappen and Papis, and their respective team mates were.

Results

Code: Select all: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³ 1 Pole ³ ³ Michael Schumacher ³ ³ 2 1m 51.820s ³ ³ Johnny Herbert ³ ³ 1m 51.963s 3 Row 2 ³ ³ Mika Hakkinen ³ ³ 4 1m 52.255s ³ ³ Damon Hill ³ ³ 1m 52.310s 5 Row 3 ³ ³ David Coulthard ³ ³ 6 1m 52.450s ³ ³ Jean Alesi ³ ³ 1m 52.914s 7 Row 4 ³ ³ Martin Brundle ³ ³ 8 1m 52.996s ³ ³ Gerhard Berger ³ ³ 1m 53.055s 9 Row 5 ³ ³ Rubens Barrichello ³ ³ 10 1m 53.077s ³ ³ Eddie Irvine ³ ³ 1m 53.101s 11 Row 6 ³ ³ Mark Blundell ³ ³ 12 1m 53.205s ³ ³ Olivier Panis ³ ³ 1m 53.218s 13 Row 7 ³ ³ Heinz-Harald Frentzen ³ ³ 14 1m 53.457s ³ ³ Ukyo Katayama ³ ³ 1m 54.858s 15 Row 8 ³ ³ Karl Wendlinger ³ ³ 16 1m 55.331s ³ ³ Massimilano Papis ³ ³ 1m 56.085s 17 Row 9 ³ ³ Luca Badoer ³ ³ 18 1m 56.280s ³ ³ Jos Verstappen ³ ³ 1m 56.312s 19 Row 10 ³ ³ Mika Salo ³ ³ 20 1m 56.464s ³ ³ Pedro Lamy ³ ³ 1m 56.678s 21 Row 11 ³ ³ Domenico Schiattarella ³ ³ 22 1m 58.068s ³ ³ Taki Inoue ³ ³ 1m 58.503s 23 Row 12 ³ ³ Roberto Moreno ³ ³ 24 1m 58.966s ³ ³ Nathan van Dijk ³ ³ 1m 59.098s 25 Row 13 ³ ³ Andrea Montermini ³ ³ 26 1m 59.763s ³ ³ Giovanni Lavaggi ³ ³ 2m 01.616s ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Race

The Benettons went side-by-side into La Source and neither of the two yielded when they went into Eau Rouge. Herbert was on the outside and he made the sensible decision to lift off the throttle for a fraction of a second. Behind the Benettons, Hill and Alesi had moved up to 3rd and 4th, with Hakkinen and Berger behind them. On the way to Les Combes, Damon Hill made good use of Herbert's slipstream and outbraked him into the corner. Just behind them, Gerhard Berger outdid Hill by passing two cars: both Alesi and Hakkinen lost a place.

On the next lap, Herbert would regain his position in the same corner, but Hill repeated the situation in lap 3. The two would keep fighting until lap 9, when Herbert definitively beat his compatriot by outbraking him into the Bus Stop chicane. Schumacher used the situation to build a broad lead. In the meantime, Hakkinen had already retired and Berger had lost places to Alesi and Coulthard. Alesi had again lost some places when he spun in the Bus Stop.

Johnny Herbert was the first one to make a pit stop, in lap 12. Schumacher and Hill both followed in lap 15, both making the overcut work to rejoin the circuit in front of Herbert. All other top drivers looked to be on a two-stop strategy as well, as Coulthard and Barrichello were the last ones to stop in lap 17. On the same lap, Gerhard Berger had a spectacular spin in Raidillon. He could continue without damage, but he had dropped all the way to 12th position.

Damon Hill was back on a fine 2nd position and, just like Herbert and Coulthard, he was closing the gap to Schumacher in the lead. However, he wasted his chances of his first 1995 win by spinning in Les Combes in lap 19. He did not lose too much time and rejoined in 4th, but things would get worse. Hill overcompensated and pushed too hard, causing him to lose control again two laps later. This time, he ended up in the gravel trap in Fagnes. Once again, the Briton could continue his race, albeit in 8th position.

Without Hill in the way, Johnny Herbert was able to catch his team mate rather quickly, although Schumacher defended his position fiercely for several laps. Coulthard closed in on the fighting team mates as well, so the top three were within 2 seconds of eachother halfway through the race. Herbert found a way to pass Schumacher in lap 25, outbraking him into Les Combes. Coulthard followed suit, making a brilliant move in the Bus Stop chicane in lap 26. The Scot eagerly started chasing Herbert again, fighting for what was perhaps his last chance to keep a realistic title dream. His chase would not last long, though, as he spun off the track exiting Malmédy on the next lap. Coulthard lost a lot of time and fell down all the way to 10th.

The second round of stops started with Alesi in lap 29 and ended with Irvine in lap 32. One driver did not need to stop: Michael Schumacher, who was back in the lead. It was an extraordinary strategy, but the German did have the best track position again. Herbert would make good use of his fresher tyres, though, and got swiftly past Schumacher in lap 31. Nevertheless, the German would not allow him to create a big gap thereafter. Behind the two Benettons were the two Jordans. Irvine had exited the pit just in front of Barrichello, but the Brazilian could overtake him a lap later. He would not enjoy his podium postiion for long, though, as his transmission failed on the same lap.

After those moments, the top six looked quite settled, with Herbert in the lead, followed by Schumacher, Irvine, Alesi, Hill and Frentzen. Unfortunately, Frentzen was denied a points finish yet again, as he was forced to make an extra pitstop to solve his electrical issues. He rejoined in 7th position and was not able to catch Coulthard anymore. Johnny Herbert had to keep pushing with Schumacher still quite close to him. The Briton's struggles were quite visible, as he was locking up his tyres several times, but he kept his small margin of 2 seconds intact.

Schumacher wins the race in the final meters

Herbert looked set to extend his championship lead, up to the very last corner. To the shock of his team, who were already awaiting him on the pit wall, the Briton lost control of his car exiting the Bus Stop chicane and spun onto the grass. His team mate, Michael Schumacher, took advantage and won the race. Schumacher would still criticise his team in the post-race press conference, saying his team had put him on "a ridiculous strategy, not for the first time." Herbert did still finish 2nd and keeps a lead of 12 points in the drivers' championship. It seems that the final races will be a battle between Schumacher and Herbert, with the latter probably enjoying more support from his team. Herbert was followed by Irvine in an excellent 3rd position, while Alesi, Hill and Coulthard completed the top 6.

Results

Code: Select all: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³ Pos Driver Time/Speed ³ ³ ³ ³ 1st Michael Schumacher 1h 28m 18.951s ³ ³ Benetton - Renault ³ ³ 2nd Johnny Herbert +4.273s ³ ³ Benetton - Renault ³ ³ 3rd Eddie Irvine +29.001s ³ ³ Jordan - Peugeot ³ ³ 4th Jean Alesi +36.272s ³ ³ Ferrari ³ ³ 5th Damon Hill +52.706s ³ ³ Williams - Renault ³ ³ 6th David Coulthard +1m 10.616s ³ ³ Williams - Renault ³ ³ 7th Heinz-Harald Frentzen +1m 18.127s ³ ³ Sauber - Ford ³ ³ 8th Gerhard Berger +1m 28.810s ³ ³ Ferrari ³ ³ 9th Ukyo Katayama -1 Lap ³ ³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³ ³ 10th Karl Wendlinger -1 Lap ³ ³ Sauber - Ford ³ ³ 11th Luca Badoer -2 Laps ³ ³ Minardi - Ford ³ ³ 12th Pedro Lamy -2 Laps ³ ³ Minardi - Ford ³ ³ 13th Taki Inoue -2 Laps ³ ³ Footwork - Hart ³ ³ 14th Domenico Schiattarella -2 Laps ³ ³ Simtek - Ford ³ ³ 15th Jos Verstappen Transmission ³ ³ Simtek - Ford ³ ³ 16th Martin Brundle Transmission ³ ³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³ ³ 17th Rubens Barrichello Transmission ³ ³ Jordan - Peugeot ³ ³ 18th Mark Blundell Engine ³ ³ McLaren - Mercedes ³ ³ 19th Nathan van Dijk Transmission ³ ³ Forti - Ford ³ ³ 20th Mika Salo Transmission ³ ³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³ ³ 21st Andrea Montermini Transmission ³ ³ Pacific - Ford ³ ³ 22nd Olivier Panis Transmission ³ ³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³ ³ 23rd Massimilano Papis Transmission ³ ³ Footwork - Hart ³ ³ 24th Roberto Moreno Transmission ³ ³ Forti - Ford ³ ³ 25th Giovanni Lavaggi Electrical ³ ³ Pacific - Ford ³ ³ 26th Mika Hakkinen Loose Wheel ³ ³ McLaren - Mercedes ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Drivers' championship

Code: Select all: 1. Johnny Herbert 68 2. Michael Schumacher 56 3. David Coulthard 39 4. Gerhard Berger 26 5. Jean Alesi 19 6. Damon Hill 17 7. Eddie Irvine 16 8. Mika Hakkinen 10 9. Rubens Barrichello 7 10. Karl Wendlinger 7 11. Heinz-Harald Frentzen 6 12. Olivier Panis 6 13. Nigel Mansell 5 14. Luca Badoer 2 15. Jos Verstappen 1 16. Martin Brundle 1

Constructors' championship

Code: Select all: 1. Benetton-Renault 124 2. Williams-Renault 56 3. Ferrari 45 4. Jordan-Peugeot 23 5. McLaren-Mercedes 15 6. Sauber-Ford 13 7. Ligier-Mugen Honda 7 8. Minardi-Ford 2 9. Simtek-Ford 1

by **BassTrombone** » 10 May 2020, 12:42

GRAND PRIX NEWS
Your monthly source for racing news, rumors and stories | Wednesday 6th September, 1995

The Highs And Lows So Far

Grand Prix News visited all team bosses and drivers in the paddock, to discuss their best and worst moment of the season so far. Who had happy moments, who had bad moments and when? You can read it all in this article!

Benetton-Renault
Flavio Briatore (team manager)
Hi: 4 consecutive podiums in the last 4 races.
Lo: Both cars retiring from the lead in France.
Michael Schumacher (driver)
Hi: A perfect, winning race in Great Britain.
Lo: Several technical issues and poor strategy decisions which cost me points.
Johnny Herbert (driver)
Hi: Winning my first ever race in Brazil.
Lo: Losing the win in Spa by my own mistake.

Tyrrell-Yamaha
Ken Tyrrell (team owner and team principal)
Hi: The stability in our team, enabling us to continue with our good drivers next year.
Lo: Katayama's retirement in Argentina, when he would have scored points.
Ukyo Katayama (driver)
Hi: Good race pace in Argentina and San Marino.
Lo: All the technical issues we had so far.
Mika Salo (driver)
Hi: Having the opportunity to drive a full season and learn a lot.
Lo: A bad week-end at Tyrrell's home GP at Silverstone.

Williams-Renault
Frank Williams (team owner and team principal)
Hi: David Coulthard's back-to-back wins in Argentina and San Marino.
Lo: Our week-end in Monaco, where really nothing went our way.
Damon Hill (driver)
Hi: My overtakes on Alesi and Schumacher on my way to 2nd in Brazil.
Lo: My mistakes in Canada, costing me a good podium finish.
David Coulthard (driver)
Hi: My maiden race win in Argentina.
Lo: 3 successive races without points in Great Britain, Germany and Hungary.

McLaren-Mercedes
Ron Dennis (team principal)
Hi: Hakkinen almost winning the race in France.
Lo: Nigel Mansell's unfair comments and leaving the team.
Mark Blundell (driver)
Hi: Being given the opportunity to drive for McLaren.
Lo: I have not scored any points yet.
Mika Hakkinen (driver)
Hi: Qualifying on the front row twice.
Lo: Many retirements from good positions.

Footwork-Hart
Jackie Oliver (team manager)
Hi: Morbidelli's 12th place on the grid in Brazil
Lo: Our insecure future, we are not yet sure how the team will look like next year.
Massimilano Papis (driver)
Hi: Making my F1 debut and directly feeling quite competitive.
Lo: No race finishes yet.
Taki Inoue (driver)
Hi: 7th place in Imola.
Lo: I feel like the Fortis and Simteks have caught up with us in the last few races.

Simtek-Ford
Nick Wirth (team owner and team principal)
Hi: Jos' 6th place in Argentina.
Lo: Domenico's crash in Imola immediately made us think of Roland last year.
Domenico Schiattarella (driver)
Hi: Being able to drive again after my arm injury.
Lo: The training crash in Imola.
Jos Verstappen (driver)
Hi: Scoring a point in Buenos Aires.
Lo: A bad race and early retirement in Interlagos.

Jordan-Peugeot
Eddie Jordan (team owner and team principal)
Hi: Seeing our cars fight for the win so many times.
Lo: The double retirement in France, where it could have been a 1-2.
Rubens Barrichello (driver)
Hi: Front-row qualifyings in Spain and Monaco.
Lo: Retiring from the lead in Argentina and France.
Eddie Irvine (driver)
Hi: Finishing 2nd in Spain, even almost beating Schumacher.
Lo: Retiring in San Marino, when I could have fought Coulthard for the win.

Pacific-Ford
Keith Wiggins (team principal)
Hi: Good qualifying results in the first few races.
Lo: Not being able to develop the car the way we would like to.
Bertrand Gachot (driver and co-owner)
Hi: I had a great qualifying in Argentina.
Lo: Giving up my race seat to raise money.
Giovanni Lavaggi (driver)
Hi: The moment I had been waiting for for a long time, my F1 debut in Germany.
Lo: Mechanical issues preventing me from finishing my first race.
Andrea Montermini (driver)
Hi: My race in Hungary, where I won several battles with other drivers.
Lo: Not yet being able to qualify higher than the last row.

Forti-Ford
Guido Forti (team owner and team principal)
Hi: Having both cars on the grid for the first time in Brazil.
Lo: The disappointment when Moreno was so close to points in France.
Roberto Moreno (driver)
Hi: Getting Forti's first race finish in Spain.
Lo: Our lack of pace to really challenge with midfielders.
Nathan van Dijk (driver)
Hi: Winning my race-long battle with Inoue in Hungary.
Lo: Retiring early in Argentina, where I felt I was driving a good race until then.

Forti-Ford
Guido Forti (team owner and team principal)
Hi: Having both cars on the grid for the first time in Brazil.
Lo: The disappointment when Moreno was so close to points in France.
Roberto Moreno (driver)
Hi: Getting Forti's first race finish in Spain.
Lo: Our lack of pace to really challenge with midfielders.
Nathan van Dijk (driver)
Hi: Winning my race-long battle with Inoue in Hungary.
Lo: Retiring early in Argentina, where I felt I was driving a good race until then.

Minardi-Ford
Giancarlo Minardi (team owner and team principal)
Hi: Badoer's great race in Argentina to score 2 points.
Lo: The deal with Mugen not working out.
Pedro Lamy (driver)
Hi: Qualifying very close to Luca in my first race with Minardi.
Lo: Not yet finishing a race due to mechanical failures.
Luca Badoer (driver)
Hi: 5th place in Argentina.
Lo: Bad week-end in front of my home audience in Imola.

Ligier-Mugen Honda
Tom Walkinshaw (team manager)
Hi: A double points finish in Monaco.
Lo: A very early double DNF in Argentina.
Martin Brundle (driver)
Hi: Scoring a point on my first race of this year.
Lo: Not scoring any more after that.
Olivier Panis (driver)
Hi: Back-to-back 5th places in Spain and Monaco.
Lo: Being passed by Alesi for the last point in Germany, just 2 laps from the finish.

Ferrari
Jean Todt (team manager)
Hi: Winning the Monaco Grand Prix.
Lo: Losing the win in France just before the end.
Jean Alesi (driver)
Hi: Pole position in Spain.
Lo: The engine failure in my home GP.
Gerhard Berger (driver)
Hi: Probably my best race ever: winning the Monaco Grand Prix.
Lo: A bad qualifying in Hungary.

Sauber-Ford
Peter Sauber (team owner and team principal)
Hi: A good weekend with both cars in the points in France.
Lo: Our current run of four races without points.
Karl Wendlinger (driver)
Hi: 4th in Argentina.
Lo: My struggles in qualifying.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen (driver)
Hi: My first points of the season in Monaco with a good race.
Lo: Four times retiring because of mechanical issues in the first 4 races.

Bernie Wants New Venues

This year's race calendar consists of no less than 17 races, despite protests from several teams. Indeed, the calendar will shrink back to 16 races in 1996. That does not mean that Formula 1 is not looking for new Grand Prix locations, though. Bernie Ecclestone is always looking for opportunities to broaden F1's fanbase and, of course, to make more profit.

China is very high on Ecclestone's wish list. The country in the far-east has one of the fastest growing economies, making it commercially attractive for many sponsors. China will most probably need the construction of a new circuit, but plans are being made for a new track in Zhuhai. If China hosts a Grand Prix, more interested countries could make it a full Southeast-Asia tour for F1. Malaysia looks to be a prime candidate, with the Shah Alam circuit already hosting the Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix. Indonesia's Sentul International Circuit is also still bidding for a GP, where the original target date was 1993.

Several European race tracks are still eager to join the F1 circus as well. The Dutch Circuit Park Zandvoort has gotten government approval to start big renovations and a track expansion. British Donington Park hosted a GP in 1993, but they are looking to get their spot on the calendar back too. Their main difficulty is that Great Britain is already hosing a race in Silverstone. The same applies to Spanish Jérez de la Frontera, with a Spanish Grand Prix being hosted in Barcelona. Jérez is said to be ready and is already a quite popular testing venue.

Ecclestone also still strongly desires to conquer the American market. The latest news is that Bernie is in talks with Las Vegas to host a race on a new street circuit. Other USA-based projects bidding for a GP are Brandy Station, Virginia, Miami, Florida, and Staten Island, New York. One or more American Grands Prix would surely help to gain market share over the CART IndyCar World Series.

Short but Sweet

Tyrrell keeps Yamaha engines in 1996 • Lola's F1 entry postponed to '97 • Lamborghini working on F1 return? • Walkinshaw in talks with Robby Gordon for Ligier, insiders say • Pacific unsure to survive until end of season according to rumors

by **BassTrombone** » 10 May 2020, 18:34

1995 Italian Grand Prix

It is that time of the year again: the Formula 1 circus is on the legendary circuit of Monza in Italy! Ferrari will be extra motivated to have a good result in front of the devoted tifosi, but the others have big things to fight for as well. Many engine manufacturers have brought upgraded evolutions of their power units, which might have a big influence on the performance of the cars on this high-speed track. Further down the field, Italian drivers Badoer, Lavaggi, Schiattarella, Papis and Montermini will be determined to have a good week-end too, just like the Italian Minardi and Forti teams.

Qualifying

Michael Schumacher came out on top once more, joined on the front row by his team mate. The tifosi's hopes for the race were high, because the Ferraris were on the second row. The biggest surprise of the qualifying was Martin Brundle, who put his Ligier on a 5th position, just in front of Hill. Panis did also well in the other Ligier to qualify in 8th. David Coulthard was the biggest disappointment, only managing 10th. The Forti team also had something to cheer for at their home soil, as Roberto Moreno beat Schiattarella, his team mate and both Pacifics to qualify the yellow machine on the 11th row for the first time in their existence.

Results

Code: Select all: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³Pole 1 ³ ³ Michael Schumacher ³ ³ 1m 23.847s 2 ³ ³ Johnny Herbert ³ ³Row 2 3 1m 24.035s ³ ³ Gerhard Berger ³ ³ 1m 24.294s 4 ³ ³ Jean Alesi ³ ³Row 3 5 1m 24.478s ³ ³ Martin Brundle ³ ³ 1m 24.703s 6 ³ ³ Damon Hill ³ ³Row 4 7 1m 24.707s ³ ³ Eddie Irvine ³ ³ 1m 24.736s 8 ³ ³ Olivier Panis ³ ³Row 5 9 1m 24.769s ³ ³ Mika Hakkinen ³ ³ 1m 24.814s 10 ³ ³ David Coulthard ³ ³Row 6 11 1m 24.882s ³ ³ Rubens Barrichello ³ ³ 1m 25.082s 12 ³ ³ Mark Blundell ³ ³Row 7 13 1m 25.542s ³ ³ Heinz-Harald Frentzen ³ ³ 1m 25.558s 14 ³ ³ Ukyo Katayama ³ ³Row 8 15 1m 26.113s ³ ³ Massimilano Papis ³ ³ 1m 26.885s 16 ³ ³ Karl Wendlinger ³ ³Row 9 17 1m 26.930s ³ ³ Mika Salo ³ ³ 1m 27.114s 18 ³ ³ Pedro Lamy ³ ³Row 10 19 1m 27.853s ³ ³ Jos Verstappen ³ ³ 1m 28.064s 20 ³ ³ Luca Badoer ³ ³Row 11 21 1m 28.125s ³ ³ Taki Inoue ³ ³ 1m 28.304s 22 ³ ³ Roberto Moreno ³ ³Row 12 23 1m 28.939s ³ ³ Domenico Schiattarella ³ ³ 1m 29.097s 24 ³ ³ Nathan van Dijk ³ ³Row 13 25 1m 29.167s ³ ³ Andrea Montermini ³ ³ 1m 29.782s 26 ³ ³ Giovanni Lavaggi ³ ³ 1m 31.244s ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Race

Brundle continued to surprise on race day. He started well and was incredibly late on his brakes, overtaking both Ferraris and Benettons to come out of the first chicane in the lead. Already some seconds behind the Ligier, Herbert was in 2nd, followed by Alesi, Schumacher, Berger and Irvine. Schumacher and Irvine then both gained a position into the Variante Ascari. Berger would lose another position in the beginning of lap 2, as Mika Hakkinen passed him into Variante del Rettifilo. Berger took his position back in Variante Ascari. The Austrian subsequently closed the gap to Irvine again and was able to pass the Ulsterman in lap 5, although they switched positions a couple of corners later. Their fight would continue until lap 9, when Berger was finally able to pull away a little bit.

Meanwhile, at the front, Brundle had pulled a 5-second gap in the first lap, but the Benettons edged closer lap by lap. Johnny Herbert was on his tail in lap 9 and took his chance right away, slipstreaming past the Ligier on the main straight. Brundle would keep his 2nd place until he made a very early first stop in lap 11. This was probably the explanation for his good pace in the opening stages; Brundle was carrying less fuel than the rest of the field. In fact, the only other driver in the top-10 on a two-stop strategy was Gerhard Berger, who pitted in lap 14. He dropped back into the midfield and although he looked not unlikely to still score some points, he would end the race empty-handed when his engine failed in lap 20.

Irvine had lost more ground in the meantime, as Hill had also fought a way past, although it took him some laps as well. Hakkinen was the next one to fight Irvine, but the Finn did not need to make a passing move anymore when Irvine retired in lap 16. Their fight had allowed Coulthard to close up on Hakkinen. After several attempts, Hakkinen did not have an answer to the Scot's manoeuver in lap 23.

The one-stoppers came into the pits in the following laps, with Alesi being the earliest (lap 23) and Schumacher the latest (lap 30). Schumacher's team mate, Johnny Herbert, had made his stops 3 laps before and he regained the lead, albeit by a smaller margin than before the stops. Within mere seconds, it became clear how the battle for the loead would be decided, as Herbert's Benetton started smoking just before he entered Variante del Rettifilo. The race was over for the Briton and maybe even worse for him, Schumacher was now leading the race with a vast margin, in front of Berger's and Alesi's Ferraris.

Schumacher's lead would grow even further when Gerhard Berger made his second stop, in lap 35. Berger would come out of the pits in 4th, having lost a place to Hill, but still just in front of Hakkinen. Hakkinen could not keep up with Berger; in fact, it was Berger who was steadily closing the gap to Hill. In this time, there was only one battle to enjoy on-track: Jos Verstappen had rejoined after his stop in 14th, still in front of Badoer, but just behind Nathan van Dijk. Van Dijk was clearly somewhat slower than his more experienced compatriot, but he would not easliy give way to him. Verstappen did manage to get past after several laps. Verstappen would move on to also overtake Inoue, who was just a few seconds in front of the Forti driver. Van Dijk would not be rewarded for his good race, as he had to make an unplanned extra stop due to a loose wheel and fell back to the last position.

Others had bad luck in the closing stages of the race as well. Mika Hakkinen would once again not make it to the black-and-white flag. The Finn was in a comfortable 5th position when his engine failed just 6 laps from the finish. His retirement promoted Barrichello up into the points, but the Brazilian would lose his 6th position when he had to make an extra stop due to electrical issues. Barrichello would rejoin the track in 7th, 5 seconds behind Olivier Panis with just 2 laps to go. The Brazilian drove two frantic laps, but he was 2 seconds short of regaining his points position.

Schumacher takes an important win in Monza

Michael Schumacher and Jean Alesi cruised to the finish in 1st and 2nd position. Schumacher's win ensured he closed the championship gap with his team-mate to just 2 points. Gerhard Berger did catch up with Damon Hill to overtake him in lap 49. The tifosi did have a double podium for Ferrari to celebrate. Hill brought his Williams home in 4th, in front of Coulthard and Panis.

Results

Code: Select all: ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³ Pos Driver Time/Speed ³ ³ ³ ³ 1st Michael Schumacher 1h 17m 08.284s ³ ³ Benetton - Renault ³ ³ 2nd Jean Alesi +33.006s ³ ³ Ferrari ³ ³ 3rd Gerhard Berger +47.821s ³ ³ Ferrari ³ ³ 4th Damon Hill +49.930s ³ ³ Williams - Renault ³ ³ 5th David Coulthard +1m 09.340s ³ ³ Williams - Renault ³ ³ 6th Olivier Panis -1 Lap ³ ³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³ ³ 7th Rubens Barrichello -1 Lap ³ ³ Jordan - Peugeot ³ ³ 8th Ukyo Katayama -1 Lap ³ ³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³ ³ 9th Karl Wendlinger -2 Laps ³ ³ Sauber - Ford ³ ³ 10th Mika Salo -2 Laps ³ ³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³ ³ 11th Taki Inoue -3 Laps ³ ³ Footwork - Hart ³ ³ 12th Jos Verstappen -3 Laps ³ ³ Simtek - Ford ³ ³ 13th Luca Badoer -3 Laps ³ ³ Minardi - Ford ³ ³ 14th Nathan van Dijk -3 Laps ³ ³ Forti - Ford ³ ³ 15th Mika Hakkinen Engine ³ ³ McLaren - Mercedes ³ ³ 16th Johnny Herbert Engine ³ ³ Benetton - Renault ³ ³ 17th Roberto Moreno Puncture ³ ³ Forti - Ford ³ ³ 18th Martin Brundle Engine ³ ³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³ ³ 19th Eddie Irvine Loose Wheel ³ ³ Jordan - Peugeot ³ ³ 20th Giovanni Lavaggi Transmission ³ ³ Pacific - Ford ³ ³ 21st Mark Blundell Engine ³ ³ McLaren - Mercedes ³ ³ 22nd Domenico Schiattarella Transmission ³ ³ Simtek - Ford ³ ³ 23rd Pedro Lamy Water Leak ³ ³ Minardi - Ford ³ ³ 24th Heinz-Harald Frentzen Puncture ³ ³ Sauber - Ford ³ ³ 25th Andrea Montermini Engine ³ ³ Pacific - Ford ³ ³ 26th Massimilano Papis Didn't Finish ³ ³ Footwork - Hart ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

Drivers' Championship

Code: Select all: 1. Johnny Herbert 68 2. Michael Schumacher 66 3. David Coulthard 41 4. Gerhard Berger 30 5. Jean Alesi 25 6. Damon Hill 20 7. Eddie Irvine 16 8. Mika Hakkinen 10 9. Rubens Barrichello 7 10. Karl Wendlinger 7 11. Olivier Panis 7 12. Heinz-Harald Frentzen 6 13. Nigel Mansell 5 14. Luca Badoer 2 15. Jos Verstappen 1 16. Martin Brundle 1

Constructors' Championship

Code: Select all: 1. Benetton-Renault 134 2. Williams-Renault 61 3. Ferrari 55 4. Jordan-Peugeot 23 5. McLaren-Mercedes 15 6. Sauber-Ford 13 7. Ligier-Mugen Honda 8 8. Minardi-Ford 2 9. Simtek-Ford 1

by **BassTrombone** » 11 May 2020, 18:11

Press release - Pacific Team Lotus

Pacific Team Lotus is glad to announce a 2-race deal with Swiss driver Jean-Denis Délétraz to drive for the team. Délétraz will take the wheel of the #16 car, following up Bertrand Gachot and Giovanni Lavaggi. Jean-Denis Délétraz is 31 years old and made his Formula 1 debut in last year's Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide. He has enjoyed previous successes like winning races in Formula Ford, finishing 3rd in the French Formula 3 Championship and finishing on the podium twice in International F3000.

Délétraz stated in a reaction on his new cooperation with Pacific Team Lotus: "I am very happy to be returning to Formula One and we will work hard together to make this a competitive end to the season. Although the Pacific team is quite small, they have a lot of motivation and I think everyone knows that Keith Wiggins is determined to make strong progress in Formula One. For me it is a good opportunity to gain more Formula One experience, and to develop a programme which hopefully will lead to my participation in the 1996 Formula One World Championship."

Press release - Scuderia Ferrari

Scuderia Ferrari are announcing the completion of their driver line-up for 1996 and 1997. Previously, the arrival of 1994 Formula 1 World Champion, Michael Schumacher was already announced to join the team for 3 years.. Scuderia Ferrari are now confirming that joining him in our second car will be Eddie Irvine from Northern Ireland. Irvine has signed a contract for 2 years, so he will be driving for Scuderia Ferrari in the 1996 and 1997 seasons. In a reaction, Irvine said: "I am very excited to join Scuderia Ferrari. I am looking forward to work with the team and to show what I can do in a top car and with a top team mate."

Press release - Red Bull Sauber Ford

Proudly, Red Bull Sauber Ford are able to confirm their 1996 drivers. Gerhard Berger will join the team to drive their first car. Berger, a 10-time race winner, has signed an agreement with Petronas Sauber Ford to drive for the team in 1996, with an option for 1997. Team owner, Peter Sauber, stated: "We are delighted to welcome Gerhard to our team. Gerhard is one of Formula 1's most established drivers and we are convinced his presence will be an extra boost for Sauber."

Furthermore, Heinz-Harald Frentzen has extended his contract for another year. Frentzen has proven himself over the past years with the team and Red Bull Sauber Ford are glad to keep him aboard. Heinz-Harald is, according to Peter Sauber, "One of Formula 1's biggest talents at the moment. It is great that we are able to keep him for another year and we are aiming to further improve our results together."

The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

Re: The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

Re: The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

Re: The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

Re: The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

Re: The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

Re: The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

Re: The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

Re: The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

Re: The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

Re: The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

Re: The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

Re: The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

Re: The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

Re: The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk

Re: The Virtual Racing Career of Nathan van Dijk