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Sleeping Through the Canadian GP
by Andrew Frankl,
TACH European Bureau Chief
I have been watching Formula One races off and on (actually more on than off..)
but rarely have I seen anything as boring as the Canadian Grand Prix in
Montreal.
It started badly, Schumacher's Ferrari refused to start and the whole field
went by before the Ferrari mechanics managed to put some life into the V10
engine. The rules stipulate that anyone not leaving the grid at the given moment
has to start from the back of the grid. This is what happened to Michael which
meant that the only driver/car combination capable of challenging the
Williams-Renault cars was effectively out of the race before the start.
This led to what I can only describe as a boring procession. Hill made a
great start, got away from team-mate Villeneuve and was not seen again until
the chequered flag. Jacques-who got a certain amount of stick for not being
sufficiently enthusiastic about Canada in general and the circuit in particular
shrugged his shoulders and got on with the race. It was suggested by his
uncle - also Jacques - that apart from girlfriend Sandrine and personal manager
Craig Pollock his only other interest was money! If true it would be rather a
shame as Formula One needs characters-badly. The last thing we need is yet
another boring individual who disappears after the race to count the proceeds.
The local hero - because the crowd loved him a great deal more than his uncle -
was hoping against hope that the legendary Gilles' son will be able to catch
Hill and emerge on the top of the podium. Frankly, it never looked like it.
The team was completely in control and this unfortunately meant a boring
procession. Rather it would have been a boring procession had it not been for
the fact that drivers were dropping out at such a rate that after the
half-way stage
there were only 8 of them left from the original 22!
This, not to put too fine
a point on it is scandalous. Eddie Irvine for instance was out on lap one-yet
again, just as he was spinning minutes after the start in Barcelona two weeks
earlier for yet another DNF. Not that he was much better in Monaco where not
only did he spin but managed to ram Salo and Hakkinen out of the race as
well. I know he has many followers-I am not one of them.
Gerhard Berger seems to enjoying similar success these days, he is dropping out
race after race, either with mechanical problems or through driver
error. Maybe it's time to think about retirement..Martin Brundle, another
"Oldie" has had a warning about his lack of form, he must have got the
message because he ended up in 6th place.
The two McLaren-Mercedes cars were off the pace yet again but by simply
going round and round they both managed to get some vital points in,Couthard
in 4th, Hakkinen in fifth place.
Jean Alesi seems to have matured in the last few weeks,yet again he had a
lonely race, finishing in third place. When left alone he is fine, when he gets
too close to other cars which are competing against him, as opposed to cars
he is lapping, that is when the red rag seems to descend in front of his eyes.
Johnny Herbert finished in 7th place whilst the virtually unknown Italian
Fisichella crawled in last in 8th place. All the others -14 of them!-were
already half-way home.
I can only feel sorry for the thousands of spectators
who-apart from Villeneuve's second place-had very little to cheer.
All of which left Hill at the top of the table with 53 points, well ahead of
his rivals. Villeneuve is second at present with 32 points but let us not
forget that Frank Williams decides who wins the title and not his
drivers, assuming that
Schumacher does not start winning race after race from now on.