Conference krakar::f1

    First snippet from San Marino - both Ferraris at the front, with Irvine
    pipping Schu at the last minute. Don't know if this is after the first
    or second session. I reckon there's an agreement among the teams to let
    Ferrari go fastest on the early sessions to ensure a good turn-out for
    the rest of the weekend.

    Also, weren't there rumors a few years a go that, for qualifying,
    Ferrari was allowed to use slightly larger displacement engines then
    allowed by the rules (like 1000 cc or so)?
    
    George

    
    I like the idea, but if any team really used an engine that was 1 litre
    bigger than the opposition, then you wouldn't see them for dust....
    
    .....unless it was designed and bulit in the US of course %^) 
    
	Graham

	Practice order was -

        Irvine (Ferrari) 
        M. Schumacher(Ferrari) 
        Berger (Benetton) 
        Alesi (Benetton) 
        Villeneuve (Williams) 
        Coulthard (McLaren) 
        Frentzen (Williams) 
        Barrichello (Stewart) 
        Panis (Prost) 
        Larini (Sauber) 
        Herbert (Sauber) 
        Hakkinen (McLaren) 
        Hill (Arrows) 
        Fisichella (Jordan) 
        R. Schumacher (Jordan) 
        Magnussen (Stewart)
        Nakano (Prost) 
        Salo (Tyrrell) 
        Diniz (Arrows) 
        Verstappen (Tyrrell) 
        Katayama (Minardi) 
        Trulli (Minardi) 

    I guess that was a "classic" example of a modern GP - a close race
    according to the time-sheets, but everything in reality geared to the
    pit-stop strategy. In retrospect the few seconds after HHF's first stop
    were probably the critical moments of the race. Good to see HHF
    winning, and as Schu pointed out, a German 1-2-3 wouldn't be impossible
    some time soon.
    
    Anyway, with a bit of luck this will have evened things up at Williams
    so that even if nobody else catches up at least there will be a decent
    in-house fight or two. The racing gap between those leading 3 and the
    rest is pretty surprising, Jordan have moved up a step but Benetton and
    McLaren are looking very ordinary. At the moment the only hope for some
    serious competition for Williams is that Ferrari's new engine will
    bridge the gap whem they finally race it.
    
    Funniest moment for me was when "James in the pits" was interviewing
    Hill. At that moment Irvine and Fisichella passed Panis, and Murray
    screamed so loudly in James's headphones to hand back the commentary
    that you could hear it on James's mike.  

    
    Poor old Murray makes more gaffs by the race. I lost count of them in
    this race. I love his commentary anyway though and Martin is a real
    breath of fresh air.
    
    Good finish for Fisichella, let's hope he gets a third to equal Ralf.
    
    What happened to Panis, were Bridgestone really suddenly out of answers
    ?!
    
    Giles.

	Murray used to make masses of mistakes but later he 
	seemed to get it together but now he's getting worse.
	Ralf for instance was the son of Michael!. 

	Bridgestone seemed to go over the top with their
	compound and it went off very quickly. Goodyear took
	this one. Great drive by Schumacher, Frentzen closer to
	Villeneuve than previously, and most interestingly 
	McLaren and Benetton behind Jordan. In south america
	it was said that it was the bumps which were upsetting
	them but this was a good smooth track. Apparently
	they are both suffering from traction problems which
	are worst in qualifying with low fuel weight. Indeed
	Coulthard was looking very good at one time so maybe
	they'll be back but perhaps not at Monaco where traction
	counts a lot.

	Both Williams drivers (ignoring yellow flags) and Hill
	(ramming Nakano) have received 1 race suspended bans.

	-John

    
    
    Anyone else notice M. Schu tearing out of the pits at the last 
    stop and completely ignoring the pit lane exit green light (which 
    was off at the time). 
    Maybe Ferrari play by different rules to everyone else at Imola !
    
    Mark. 

    I don't remember ever seeing anyone (at a GP at least) being stopped at
    the pitlane exit light following a fuel/tyre stop. I thought it was
    only used to indicate that the track is open/closed before the various
    sessions start or if the race is red-flagged, but not during the race.

Prost and Fioro took a gamble and set up Panis' car for a wet race. It 
didn't rain and, according to Panis, the car was "undriveable".

Edward.

    re .10   they got a 100% chances of rain from local weather stations
             which explains the wrong car setup and of course, the wrong
             tyre temperatures and pressures
    
             That explains why Panis made that many pit stops instead of
             just one.
    
    Well, you can't always do the right thing. They ought to get a better
    weather forecaster next time. Panis could easily have scored additional
    points ...