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BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX EXCLUSIVE
Benetton Dominate Friday Session
By Nicholas Frankl TACH European Bureau
The Benettons of Jean Alesi and Gehard Berger secured the first
and second spots in this afternoons final timed session on the
Interlagos circuit in Brazil. The ex-Ferrari team mates who moved en
mass this year to the World Champion team took the circus by surprise,
lapping some 1.6 seconds ahead of the established favourites Williams.
Alesi who seems to have found the resurfaced track much to his liking
oozed confidence from the very start "I think the car is
performing much better than before, the revisions to the air in-take (
which had previously been blamed for the lack of performance in
Australia) has improved the horse power significantly and this along
with the aerodynamic changes have transformed the whole feel of the
car" commented the fiery Sicilian after setting a best of
1m19.240.
The other notable improvement came from the much maligned McLaren
team who have for the last two years sought to re-establish their
winning record of the late Eighties. Drivers Hakkinen and David
Coulthard setting the third and fourth best times respectively. That
left Championship favourite Hill scrapping around in fifth place. Hill
complained that the car had not been set-up right and consequently he
had suffered from a lack of balance and poor grip.
"I knew the others would be doing their damnest to catch up
and I'm surprised what a difference we have seen today." Said Hill. "
But it's not over yet, tomorrow is when it counts and we know where
we're loosing time."
Villeneuve who had earlier in the
week boasted of his ability to learn a track within ten laps and be on
the pace in twenty, was forced to swallow his words, as, he found the
going tough and at one stage himself behind Brazilian rookie and first
timer Tarso Marques in a Minardi. By the end of the hour long session
the Indy hero and "Angel of Australia" was "up to" 15th on the grid
some 2.6seconds behind pole. "It's been harder than I expected
today and the track is very bumpy, but I feel we made progress and I
didn't use up any of my qualifying tyres."
Schumacher in the revised Ferrari faired little better, suffering
chronic understeer in the slow corners, his F310 now using the back
half ( suspension, gearbox and under tray) of last years V12
car. Although still smiling broadly around the paddock, one cannot
help wonder how long he will continue to "enjoy the challenge" if
progress stalls on the Big Red project.
That said Irvine caused himself even greater worries by crashing
out of the earlier session and although unharmed, his car will be
spending some time in surgery if it is to be ready for Saturday
qualifying.
Overall the Euro pundits have been proved right, if only in a
small way. John Watson drove F1 in the early Eighties and now tours
the scene as a TV commentator. "I was thinking over the winter
season that this year was going to be good, but all along this feeling
that Berger was the dark horse kept creeping into my mind," he
reported to the Auto Channel last week while locked in a Karting
battle "Given that it's the points that make the Champ I can see
him and Benetton picking them up consistently throughout the year and
really challenging."
It may be a little too soon for the I told you so's, but watch
this space for some surprises.
