GRAND PRIX NEWSYour monthly source for racing news, stories and rumors | Wednesday 6th March, 19961996 Season PreviewThe wonderful world of Formula 1 will start its first race of yet another exciting season in just a few days. The 1996 season will have its overture on the new Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia. Not only that track is new; no less than 6 drivers will enter their first Grand Prix there. Many driver transfers have also taken place before this season, most notably the reigning world champion, Michael Schumacher's move to Ferrari, David Coulthard's switch to McLaren and Jean Alesi's new signing at Benetton. To prepare all of you, our readers, to the 1996 season, Grand Prix News provides an overview of all the teams and drivers and we looked into our crystal ball to see what we can expect next Sunday when the lights turn green.

Many eyes are on Ferrari this season, even more than the years before. Michael Schumacher arrives as a double world champion, bringing the number 1 back to the Italian team. Eddie Irvine is one of F1's most promising young drivers and played a big role in Jordan's impressive 1995 season. However, it does not look likely that the team will be a serious challenger for the championship yet. Pre-season testing has been very troublesome with many reliability issues, although when the car ran, it ran according to the team's expectations.

Benetton is the reigning constructors' champion and they will be looking to keep their title. There are some reasons why they may not make it, though. Their star driver Schumacher left and their star designer, Rory Byrne, has already announced that 1996 is his last year. This might decrease the motivation within the team, although the driver duo will be very eager. Jean Alesi is chasing better luck after he once again proved he can win races if his car lasts a race distance, while Johnny Herbert had his first taste of a title challenge last year. The Briton showed he can be a challenger and he just needs a slight improvement.

The Williams team is perhaps the top favourite for the championship this year. Ferrari and McLaren will not be ready yet and whether Benetton can continue their form is uncertain, so that leaves the Didcot-based team to seize the opportunity. The FW18, designed by Adrian Newey, looks very fast and the Renault V10 is still the engine to beat. Damon Hill had a difficult season last year, but he proved what he is worth in the last few races. Jacques Villeneuve is the most exciting rookie of 1996. The 1995 IndyCar champion has had an extensive preparation programme, but the pressure on him will be high to be on the pace from the word go.

Jordan enjoyed their most successful season yet last year with a fast, albeit unreliable car. The new 196 looks interesting, the Peugeot engine has been further developed and, perhaps most importantly, the team now has a strong financial partner in Benson & Hedges, enabling them to invest more in in-season development. Barrichello was unlucky on several occasions last year, but he remains very quick. Brundle brings a lot of experience to the team. The team is still chasing its first win and with the challenging circumstances at several of their competitors, 1996 may just be the year it all comes together for them.

McLaren-Mercedes was without a doubt the biggest disappointment of the 1995 season. The car was fast in some races, but due to the woeful reliability they almost never capitalized on that. Furthermore, the shenanigans over the second drive cast another shadow over their year. 1996 has to be the year of their resurgence and the MP4/11 is the tool to do it. The car has been co-developed by Alain Prost, but Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard will be the race drivers. It is a young, fresh duo and McLaren will hope to finally end the driver carrousel of the last few years.

Sauber already knows it will be their final year of their partnership as the principal customer of Ford engines. It will therefore be a crucial year to show their competences, in order to secure another competitive engine deal. If the new Zetec-R V10 engine is as good as it promises to be, the team may be an outsider for some good results this year after 1995 was their best season in F1 so far. Heinz-Harald Frentzen will try to prove once again he deserves a top seat, while Gerhard Berger will be eager to show he is still quick and he can still add value to a team.

Ligier will be one of the dark horses for this season. Their engine supplier Mugen does not work with the big budgets some of their competitors have, but the V10 was more than solid last year. Both Olivier Panis and Luca Badoer maximised their chances last year, so the French team may be the one to take some surprise results. The JS43 looked decent in pre-season testing, albeit not spectacular.

The small Italian Minardi team had a good chassis last year, but they were let down by the underpowered Ford V8 engine. Not too much has changed for 1996, as the chassis is only a B-version and the engine is just a small development too. The team's lack of financial backing is the main reason for their lack of development. The fact that rookie Giancarlo Fisichella will be flown in last minute, will also not help their performance, although the young Italian is likely to be faster than Inoue had been. Joining him is Pedro Lamy, who did a solid job last year.

Simtek looks to be in the same boat as Minardi. The team did a good job last year, but their development has also been critically underfunded. The S961 looks worryingly similar to last year's S951, but at least it performed a solid pre-season testing programme. Simtek's first driver Andrea Montermini did a solid job last year, although the Pacific was too far off the pace to truly judge the Italian's qualities. Tom Kristensen was rewarded for making a good impression in his two starts for the team last year. The drivers do not look to be a problem for Simtek, but the competitiveness of the car may be one.

Tyrrell tried to punch above their weight last year and unfortunately, they miserably failed. The car was too complex and too ambitious for the little team. The new 024 is more conservative, although the new Yamaha V10 engine does look to be innovative. The Japanese engine is remarkably light, which might contribute to some good team performances on the slower circuits. Their driver duo is the same as last year, with Katayama bringing some considerable experience and Salo wanting to fulfill more of his promise in 1996.

The Arrows team returns to F1, with Tom Walkinshaw's TWR as owner. TWR's influence on the 1996 car has not been big yet, but the A17 looks quite competitive nevertheless. Their major weakness will be the Hart V8 engine, which is light, but down on power from the V10s. Jos Verstappen is the driver who will need to get the results in for Arrows this year. He proved he is more than capable of doing so, regularly punching above his and the Simtek's weight in 1995. His team mate will be 1995 F3000 runner-up Ricardo Rosset from Brazil. Rosset brings a healthy amount of sponsor money to the team, but question marks have been raised about his speed. Perhaps Arrows' biggest issue for this year will be the question when they will shift their focus to 1997, though, as Walkinshaw has great ambitions for the future.

The team formerly known as Forti struggled in their debut season in F1. The FG01 was underpowered and lacked aerodynamic stability. However, the FG03 looks to be a big step forward, as does the Ford Zetec-R V10 engine, despite the fact that DFC will receive updates later than Sauber. Pedro Diniz made it to the podium in his third F3000 season, but in general he was not impressive. Of course, he is in the team because of the "D" in DFC, but he will need to be surprisingly quick to get any results. Nathan van Dijk is his team mate, staying at the team for another year. The Dutchman, still only 20 years old, gets an early chance to lead a team which may now be capable of scoring some points.

The Larrousse name is back in Formula 1, now merged with the DAMS racing outfit. Their Reynard-designed LD-I has undergone a long testing programme and looked at least able to challenge teams like Minardi and Simtek to get off the last row on the grid. The French team has two weaknesses: an underpowered Ford V8 engine and a rookie driver duo. Emmanuel Collard has been something of a promise for some years and is finally on the grid in 1996. His team mate, Hiro Matsushita from Japan, is the biggest mystery of F1 this year. Matsushita was quick in the lower American single-seater classes, but he never got up to speed in IndyCars. He is already 33 years old, so it seems quite uncertain that he can manage the steep learning curve to be on the pace in Formula 1.
Short but SweetMugen-Hondas for Sauber in 1997? • Keith Wiggins (Pacific) to get involved in Lola's F1 programme • FOCA awards French GP to Magny-Cours until 2001 • Former Ferrari engineer Franco Rocchi (72) passed away