Conference krakar::f1

    
    According to me Reuters monitor, a lunatic fringe in Melbourne
    dumped diesel fuel on the track, in an apparent protest about the
    site used for the race.
    
    The fuel was dumped along a 500m stretch opposite the pits, a
    fire brigade official said that the fuel might have to be 
    burned off the road surface if detergents failed to solve
    the problem, the organisers said it would not disrupt 
    preparations in any way,
    
    cheers 
    
    mark.
             

    I love it.

    Self-appointed environmentalists defiling the very environment they
    claim to value.

    Ah, politics.

    
    More verbal news and its only Tues........
    
    Australian g.p. chief Ron Walker verbally assaulted 
    mr schu senior after his alleged comments in the local
    Herald sun newspaper that the Melbourne track was 
    unsafe and there was no where to overtake and should 
    not be in the g.p. calendar.
    
    The aussie chief went on telly to seriously slate shu 
    off being such a prat and arse, he is also reporting 
    him to mr ecclestone, for what its worth,
    
    sad
    
    mark                        
    
    
    what he's good at

Hi All,
Did anyone in the UK watch ITV with Clive James and Damon Hill ????

The best bit was when a few drivers were asked what they thought about DH
Hurbert, nothing bad
Brundle, nice guy but dosn't fill the glasses quick enough when visiting
Irvine, dosn't have F1 drivers as mates....
Sch Sr,  didn't mind if DH won the world crown (filmed before DH won champ)
Coolturd,  Damons OK out front but he carn't overtake like us real drivers who
           started in carting.... what a tossa !!  Me thinks that was just 
           a problem he had when he was DH's partner at willys !!

Apart from that it was a bit average, abit disappointing for Clive James 
really....

-MARK-

    Strange, Coulthard's opinion is the most common by far amongst racing
    fans that I know.
    
    G.

    
    I saw and enjoyed the docco. I thought the things that came over most
    strongly were just what a nice, down to earth bloke Damon is and how
    above all Damon is just a family man who happens to be F1 world champion.
    
    No doubt Irvine's sexploits and the beauty of Couthard's doris will
    provide a more exciting window into the high-octane world of F1 when
    Clive gets round to them :-) 
    
    Richard.

    It left me wondering that if he has such a fairytale perfect marriage
    and family life and that the thing he loves most is to be with his
    family, why on earth if hes secured 4 million plus is he still spending
    all his time away from home on the F1 curcuit ?
    
    Ask yourself if you had 4 million would you be away from the ones you
    love ???? _AND_ risk your life doing it ????
    
    Royston

    
    re .last
    
    I imagine he enjoys the driving and the money too.... 
    
    Driving in the rush hour in Reading is a helluva lot more dangerous 
    than a couple of hours on a GP circuit and I get paid a pittance
    for that. The car's not much fun either :-(
    
    Richard.
    
    
    
    

re.8:

>    Ask yourself if you had 4 million would you be away from the ones you
>    love ???? _AND_ risk your life doing it ????
    
I don't think we should be debating this in here. Let's stick to discussing 
how well he does his job.

Dave.

    After first practice day:
    
    1. Schumacher - 32.496
    2. Frentzen - 32.910
    3. Alesi - 33.255
    4. Villeneuve - 33.371
    5. Schumacher II - 33.437
    6. Irvine - 34.157
    7. Berger - 34.271
    8. Coulthard - 34.432
    9. Herbert - 34.593
    10. Hakkinen - 34.742
    11. Fisichella
    12. Panis
    13. Hill
    14. Salo
    15. Larini
    16. Trulli
    17. Vertappen
    18. Magnussen
    19. Diniz
    20. Nakano
    21. Barichello
    22. Katayama
    23. Rosset
    24. Sospiri

	It will probably be necessary to go under 1'30" for pole
	so these times don't tell us an awful lot - except that
	the Lolas look to be in danger of not qualifying, and
	also that the Stewarts were way off the pace.

	-John

    
    Nigel, I assume these times are all +1 minute ? otherwise the
    Melbourne 'GP in the Park' must be the shortest ever GP circuit !
    
    Unless of course the cars have improved considerably form last year %^)
    
    G.

    You guessed right, I was just being lazy.
    
    The "pole" time was a little down on last year's Friday time (32.159).
    
    According to my calculations the last 5 are all over the 107% at the
    moment. I'd guess Barichello must have had trouble as I'd expect him to
    be ahead of Magnusson at this stage.

    Hi,
    	Could some kind soul enter in a race report, on who fell by the way
    side suffering from what, as although I saw some of the race, the
    commentary left much to be desired as to what had happened to whom. 
    
    	I was pleased to see the MacClaren team do so well, with a 1-3
    finish.
    		Many thanks,
    				Nick 

    During the race it was commented (by Murray Walker (ITV!)) that Pedro
    Diniz was given special dispensation to start the race even though he
    was outside the 107%. Anyone know why?
    
    		Jon
    

    >>Hi,
    >>	Could some kind soul enter in a race report, on who fell by the way
    >>  side suffering from what, as although I saw some of the race, the
    >> commentary left much to be desired as to what had happened to whom. 
    
    See the official results in topic 151. As for Diniz, he was allowed to 
    race because he had put in faster times in practice than his "technical
    problems" allowed him to achieve in qualifying.
    
    Phil Gilliland.

Good drive by Coulthard. A well deserved win. Shame no one was able to get 
close and challenge. Anyone know what happened to the pit-stop timings, 
lap timings, etc? Anyone know why Alesi didn't bother to pit?

Dave.

> lap timings, etc? Anyone know why Alesi didn't bother to pit?

I personally think he was trying to one-plus the one-stop strategy: the
zero-stop strategy. He unfortunately ran afoul of the laws of physics!

Someone in one of he f1 newsfroups claims that he used a scanner to listen in on
the conversation between Alesi and his pit crew and there appeared to be
communications problems: the pit called him in and a few laps later he called
the pits to see if they wanted him in. Perhaps he'll claim that those pit
mechanics leaning over the wall and gesticulating wildly for three laps were
gesticulating in the wrong language :-)

Antonio

	Doubtless Williams will be able to solve the braking
	problem easily enough, i.e. Bigger brakes or more 
	cooling, but it's bound to have some detrimental effect
	on the performance.

	The Bridgestones appear to be as good as, but not better
	than the Goodyears. Clearly Goodyear have been spurred
	into action by the competition. As Martin Brundle said
	that the extra load on the brakes was because of the 
	softer tyres in use this year, it could be argued that
	Bridgestone have already struck a blow by sidelining
	the Williams for at least one race.

	Benetton may have struggled in qualifying but in the
	end Berger was only 22 secs off the lead so presumably
	a big improvement was made somewhere.

	Why doesn't Flavio give Alesi the red card?

	And where are those scottish noters now that Coulthard
	has had a genuinely good race and a well deserved win?

	The McLaren does look awfully smart and effective in
	its new colours, and is clearly a really good all round
	car.

	Whereas it was brake fade at Williams is was brain
	fade at Jordan. What were those drivers doing. Time
	to calm down a bit lads and learn how to finish.

	-John

In the p[ost race interview, it was interesting to hear Schumacher claim 
he was faster than Coulthard - but did not bother to overtake for some 
reason. He never changes does he! It may be Coulthard went only as 
fast as he needed to. I notice he didn't need extra fuel stops or blow up 
his front brake disk.

Still a great race and I expect ITV are pretty pleased with themselves 
(the new UK broadcaster for F1). 

A pit HHF didn't get close enough to Schumacher to have a go at him.

Rupert

    >> Why doesn't Flavio give Alesi the red card?
    
    I wonder if a certain Mr Mansell has rung Falvio up yet?????

    A good race, well worth Staying up until 6AM for	;-(
    
    I was pleased to see Coultard win but I think that's it, the Ferrari
    looked solid (Irvine not withstanding) and if JV hadn't been knocked
    out then I think he'd have easily won.
    
    Pedro Diniz needs a good talking to, I feel that he may be shunted
    sideways and someone else given his drive.
    
    
    Alesi running out of fuel was 100% his fault, even *I* saw the pit
    board.
    
    Shame about hill, but with Pedro coming in 3 laps down I think the
    arrows are well dead this year.
    
    The Radio 5 commentry team did a good enough job but I must admit I
    missed Muddly Talker	;-)
    
    Looking forward to the next race.
    
    Kevin
    

Ref -2.

I'm a Coulthard fan - but I'm not Scottish. However I tend not to "note" 
about him when I read the over-the-top and slightly rose tinted 
reports/claims about his performance, in case I get tainted with the 
same brush.

Rupert  8^)

    I think it's the silver paint.  Remember what happened when Sauber
    painted the Group C cars silver?  They went on a two-year rampage,
    winning 85% of the races.  :-)

    Seriously, nice job by Coulthard, and Mercedes must be happy with the
    first F1 win since Fangio at Monza in '55.  The Ilmor FO110 is
    certainly developing competitive power figures and the new MP4/12
    chassis seems neat, tidy, and well-behaved.

    And may I suggest that Mr. Irvine stay locked up in his motorhome when
    the tour reaches Montreal?  :-)

    George

  I was quite looking forward to the race and ensured that I knew
  nothing about the result before I watched the rerun on Sunday
  afternoon. After watching the race I wondered why I bothered. Nothing
  but a procession which considering that the first four cars where
  still only a few seconds apart at the end of the race was a great
  shame. Did anyone see an overtaking manoeuvre? Did anyone even see an
  attempt at an overtaking manoeuvre?

  After spending a wonderful Saturday at the Ayr horse races the GP
  seemed very short on excitement. Let's hope things improve.

  Rgds, Steve.


Anyone know why Damon didn't make it to the starting grid?

/Mario

Alesi's radio conked out. He didn't know when to come in and didn't see the 
info on the boards over the pit wall. JV also complained of 
interference/failure of his radio equipment during qualifying.

I was delighted for Coulthard and Ron Dennis. It was a good race and I enjoyed 
it.

Maybe Irvine is looking to take over from Alesi as some sort of wildcard in 
the pack that occasionally appears from nowhere and takes out a couple of 
cars.

Edward

    Re -.1
    
    I didn't spot a single overtake either (as opposed to lapping). After a
    long build-up it looked like we were shaping up for an interesting last
    few laps as Schu closed on Coulthard, but even that suddenly petered out.
    
    Re a few back I thought Schu was just reporting that overtaking wasn't
    on even with a faster car, and he also said that in the same way HH in
    his faster car wouldn't have been able to pass him. Ferrari are now
    investigating why Schu was short-measured in his pitstop, it certainly
    was't intentional.
    
    I enjoyed the McLaren win, and it was good to see how much Hakkinen
    genuinely enjoyed his team-mate's win. It was also interesting that he
    said he was slower because of a lack of confidence in the car. On
    reputation, I thought it was Coulthard who was the one who needed
    confidence in the car before fully committing hisself, while Hakkinen
    would drive anything to the limit in the style of his (former?) manager
    Rosberg. Maybe his accident has made him a bit more circumspect.    
    
    I'd expect that Stewart were very happy. They outqualified Jordan and
    they can see that a points finish is achievable sooner rather than
    later.	
    
    The Benetton revolution didn't appear to have happened, but Sauber look
    promising. On the other hand, even though they had a disaster on
    Sunday, I guess the new Williams must have scared the opposition on
    Saturday. 

re .27 Hill's problem was the electronic throttle ie no acceleration
Good reaction by him- ie helped marshalls and did not throw a wobbly


Jury still out on Eddie. Some say problem originally caused by Villeneuve's
very poor start that ended with too many abreast at first corner (Eddie on
dirty line and no-where to go) nudgede Jacques and the rest history

Unfortunately Herbert was the innocent victim again

Very good controlled race by Coulthard and there was no-way Schumacher was
 as fast

Diniz should have been cautioned if the marshalls had done their job and
blue flagged him - he would then have been bought into pits for stop-go
if he had not given way. That was what Schus angry signals were for. 
No excuse for Diniz though- he should have given way

Stewart Racing had a good start to race- just need to improve reliability
to get in top 10


Alan

    Will Damon see the season through ?
    
    I can't see the Arrows doing anything apart from making up the numbers.
    
    It was quite hilarious urging him on during qualifying, not for pole
    position but just to qualify. He only just made that by 2 tenths of a
    second.
    
    Humiliating and embarassing. I agree with previous noter through. It
    showed how mature he was by not throwing a tantrum and helping the
    marshalls push the car back.
    
    Royston

    I saw a good pass by R_Schu on the first lap. He made a good cut to the
    inside on I think Barrichello, a white car anyway. Thought he was going
    to buy it there instead of the next lap ;').
    
    RE: Hill, do you think everybody is an "if at first you don't succeed
    give up" type of guy. If he does quit than he didn't see how they ran 
    last year as they were back of the pack. Does Hill really have that big 
    a head that he thinks his driving will bring them to the front ?
    
    I don't think he does, I think he's there for the long run (all year)
    and will try to improve as they go. 
    
    I can't see the press forcing him to move on as we all know the car is 
    the problem, NOT the same as other half season premo's, where the 
    car had more than what the driver could produce.
    
    I see him staying and the car in the top 10 by the end of the year.
    
    NO BETS PLEASE
    Fred
    		P.S. Lola, now that's another story

               
    Eddie's got most of the stick for the first corner incident but from
    the overhead view Villeneuve moved into Eddie and not the other way
    around. Jacques was not ahead of him either. Whether or not Edddie
    would have got around the corner unaided is open to speculation!!
    Still, I for one was glad to see HHF get ahead into the first corner
    after the commentators had told us generally how inferior he is to JV
    and DH, and having already suffered enough of JVs smug superiority
    complex to last a season !  
    
    
    	Richard

    Delayed response....
    
    Irvine - definately at fault - he was carrying far too much speed into
    the corner and didn't turn in at all - his momentum carried him into JV
    and the rest is history
    
    Arrows - Diniz apparently lost a couple of laps having a new nose and
    suspension bits after being clocked by Verstappen, if this had not
    happend he would have been close to a point. If Hill is only 1 sec a
    lap quicker that would put him in the points
    
    Benetton - what a shambled - nuff said!
    
    McLaren - great paint job, great race, great to be back
    
    ITV - pretty good - like Brundle's style a lot, ads not much of a
    problem.
    
    Paul

    
    I thought Schumacher made his comment about "being faster than Coulthard
    but not able to overtake" as another blow in his war of words over the
    suitability of the Melbourne circuit.
    
    Another note in here suggested that Diniz was ignoring blue flags - 
    I didn't see Diniz being blue flagged when he should have been. Perhaps
    that was what Schumacher was gesticulating about.
    
    Richard.

	But surely Schumacher was "faster than Coulthard but not fast 
	enough to overtake". Anyone who follows another car a constant 
	10 lengths behind for 50 laps has to be faster. But give 
	Coulthard credit for being in front.

	Schumacher doubtless hoped for a mistake, and indeed it so
	nearly came. Near the end when Frentzen is close behind 
	Schumacher the back end of Coulthards car steps out way
	wide onto the grass and it was very nearly a premature 
	exit (The TV only just picks this up).

	In the event the mistake came in the Ferrari pits.

	I don't remember seeing Diniz do anything particularly out
	of line. Indeed he managed to bring the hopelessly unreliable
	Arrows home. A good man for the FF1 perhaps.

	I thought Irvine was 100% to blame on the start accident
	and should have been disciplined.

	-John

Some bits

- Jacques Villeneuve: in a class of his own. I have played the tape several
  times, I have a very good photo of the 1st corner incident, there is 
  absolutely no doubt that Irvine has braked too late on the dirty portion of
  the track and moved sideways and hit Villeneuve who was also sandwiched by 
  Herbert. Of course had Jacques taken a good start ... things would have been
  entirely different.

- Johnny Herbert and the Sauber-Petronas: definitely the other good surprise
  of the week-end. What a pity he was involved in the 1st corner incident

- Williams: Villeneuve qualified 1.75 sec faster than team-mate Frentzen, 2
  secs faster than Schumacher, 3+ secs faster than the Benettons, ... My
  conclusion is that Villeneuve did an excellent qualifications job. Frentzen
  did not do so well. 

- Williams: During the race, Frentzen made a very good start and built a 18secs
  gap BUT that was due to having less fuel in the tank. Later on, Frentzen lost
  this advantage.

- Williams: sticky brakes. Just read an interview of the Carbone Industrie 
  engineers looking after the Williams cars. Basically they explain they had
  warned Patrick Head for a long time about 2 things: mounting thicker disks
  and mounting bigger calipers (and also mounting bigger airscoops). Apparently
  Head has always refused to change anything, with the known results on 
  Frentzen's car.

- Williams: the right rear wheel nut, once again. See above, let's hope they
  will change something before year 2000.

- Ralf Schumacher. Managed good qualifications although he has been named
  World Champion for number of spins in one race week-end: 10 spins. Ukyo
  Katayama and Jos Verstappen must be jalous.

  During the race, Ralf spun but that was due to a malfunctioning clutch ...

- Fisichella was doing well until he decided to overtake. The Melbourne track
  was so dirty that this action was bound to fail. Both Jordans did not 
  finish.

- Barrichello on the new Stewart GP out-qualified both Jordans. Rubens must
  have been very happy to do that to Eddie.

- Hill: Poor Damon ! What a beautiful last minute run in the qualifications
  when he managed to get into the 107% at the very last minute in a tremendous
  effort.

- Diniz: qualified out of the 107% but was allowed to start based on the lap
  times achieved during the free practice sessions. During the race Diniz and
  his Arrows were probably the most visible driver/car combo on TV since they
  amanged to block everyone. Some blue flags were shown ... but they should 
  have been waved very visibly. In the future I wish the race director either
  sticks to the 107% rule or shows the black flag, especially on a circuit
  like this one with ZERO overtaking opportunities.

- TWR-Arrows: seems that besides the many minor problems with hydraulics and
  electronics, the major problem is the architecture of the car. The main
  issue is that the Yamaha engine is not strong enough to cope with the stress
  imposed by the chassis. The Arrows chassis has been extended to the rear in
  order to cocoon the engine. The result is a car that is too heavy and ill
  balanced. No way to improve the performance.

- Lola: started the initial testing of the cars in Melbourne, so nothing 
  could be expected. Situation must have improved in Brazil.

    A read of a wicked remark about the Master Card Lola - something like
    "That car doesn't have a lap-time it has an expiry date!"
    

    to say that Jacque was in a clas of his own is alittle strange, given
    that he crashed out at the first corner ! True, he out-qualified
    everyone, but if his car had been running brakes up to the task of
    going the distance, with the required increase cooling duct size, would
    it still have been that quick ? I think not.
    
    The Brake duct incident reminded me of Mansell snatching pole from
    Senna at Silverstone (can't remember the year) by removeing the colling
    ducts from the front brakes for one last ditch attempt, by the end of
    the run down lap the brakes were completely shot and he finished up in
    the run-off area at Woodcote.
    
    G.   

>- Ralf Schumacher. Managed good qualifications although he has been named
>  World Champion for number of spins in one race week-end: 10 spins. Ukyo
>  Katayama and Jos Verstappen must be jalous.
>
>  During the race, Ralf spun but that was due to a malfunctioning clutch ...

Jacques father did the same thing at his debut at Silverstone in '77 (or '78?),
but it was explained in his biography as finding the limit in each corner.
I guess in Ralf's case, it all depends on where the spins happened.

Dave

    Re 140.39
    
    The real reason Mansell came off at Woodcote on that lap was because my
    dead waved a skull and crossbones flag at him as he went past at Club !
    
    Richard

    Ferrari's story re Schumacher - the fuel tank bag was partially
    collapsed, so 20 litres came straight out of the breather (which is
    supposed to catch any overspill) instead of staying in the tank when
    they fuelled it up. They didn't notice until Schu was gone.