TACH EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE
THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

Australian Grand Prix: when the talking has to stop

By Andrew Frankl
TACH European Bureau Chief

The amount of hot air we've had recently from the various teams would have been sufficient to heat a small village. All the cars are running faster than ever, all the drivers are ready like never before, in fact we'll probably have l2 World Champions at the end of the season! Yeah, right. Even though Babe can fly and order dogs about, most pigs cannot.

What is true is that the forthcoming season will be the closest ever. We have Hill and Villeneuve in the new Williams. They have been at Estoril for weeks and the car has been running like a train, actually more like an express. Jacques-the best thing that could have happened to Formula One- made it crystal clear that he is not intimidated by anyone, team mate Hill and World Champion Schumacher included.

"I am not here to make up the numbers, I am here to win-said the l995 Indy 5OO winner and overall champion. I am no Michael Andretti- I've lived in Europe, I speak the languages, I am ready-" Jacques added.

Damon Hill has done something strange. From being more or less a one-man band, he got hold of a cast of thousands, well, maybe that is a slight exaggeration but for l996 he is employing a spokesman, a shrink, and two or three other people who will also be looking after him one way or another. It will be one helluva traffic jam in the William's pits, that's for sure.

The new Ferrari is having problems of all kinds at present , mainly with the new Vl0 engine. The new F310 was late as Chief Engineer John Barnard was working until the last minute on improving the aerodynamics. .Michael refuses to be upset. He points out that even before he got into the Ferrari for the first time, he made it clear that he did not expect to win more than two or three races in l996. His team-mate Eddie Irvine has been exceptionally quiet, letting Michael have the glory and now the aggravations.. Make no mistake though, Eddie is a very tough and at times arrogant competitor who has serious ambition - probably once Michael is with Mercedes.

This is not a fantasy. the World Champion made it clear that his greatest ambition is to win the title in a silver Mercedes Formula One car. Board directors of this famous automaker have confirmed that is also their dream but pointed out very sensibly that the timing has to be right. The current Mercedes engined team-McLaren have had a truly appalling year in l995, and nobody was expecting too much from Hakkinen and Coulthard this year.

Certainly not until Mika got back behind the wheel after his horrendous accident in Australia. To everyone's astonishment not only is he back but lately he has been the quickest driver in Estoril. One must not forget however that Estorial is his favorite track - he was quicker than Senna here in l993 - so it would be wrong to read too much into it.

David Coulthard was amazingly quick last year but also made lots of mistakes. If the car does hold together and is quick he will be among the top runners. For sheer out and out speed there are few drivers to match him.

A lot of people see Alesi and Berger as the dark horses of the l996 season. They are both very keen to beat Schumacher having been assisted out of Ferraris to make room for him and with Benetton's outstanding pit-crew - not forgetting the all-conquering Renault engine - their chances are truly excellent. The team used to run under the British flag but for this season boss Briatore decided to race under Italian colours. As Benetton are one of Italy's great industrial success stories, one cannot really blame him.

It would be wonderful for the sport if Jordan Peugeot were to win a race. It would be poetic justice for Martin Brundle who is one of the all time "nearly" men of Formula One. It would also be very good for the French car maker who has had little success to date, which is all the more embarrassing as deadly rival Renault have been getting all the glory. His team mate, the Brazilian Barrichello, failed to deliver to date and I can't see him doing so in the future.

On paper the Frentzen-Herbert combination seems very strong, especially with the new V10 Ford engine behind them. Whether the car will be good enough remains to be seen, so far the Sauber constructors have not been setting the world on fire.

Heinz-Harald is very highly rated and the chances are he is on Jackie Stewart's shopping list for his new Ford engined team which will enter the World Championship in l997.

The Tyrrell team is making optimistic noises but I cannot really see them near the top and the same goes for Ligier. Minardi, and Forti. Arrows will try as always and will be at the back of the grid as normal. At least they are still there, unlike Simtek and Pacific!

Our man, Nicholas Frankl of the London Bureau will be there giving you up to the minute updates as the drama unfolds.

Don't miss it!