EXCLUSIVE TACH COVERAGE

Qualification Day: It looks like Villeneuve!

03/07/97

Andrew Frankl
European Bureau Chief - reporting from the scene.

After a pretty quiet Friday afternoon the small, balding former Indy champion really got going Saturday morning. During unofficial practice he simply flew round the track in an amazing 1.28.594, nearly one and a half second quicker than his team-mate Frentzen.

To give readers of Autochannel a bit of a run-down these are the contenders in 1997.

No 1 and currently a no-hoper is 1996 champion Damon Hill. Struggling with a Yamaha engine he will need all his will-power not to walk out on his team. Hopefully things will get better later. His team-mate Diniz is an OK driver who is in the team primarily for the millions of dollars he brings.

No 3 and favourite for the title is Jacques Villeneuve in the Williams-Renault. His team-mate in the German Heinz- Harald Frentzen, rated by some and not by others.

No 5 is the former double champion Michael Schumacher who needs no introduction to regular readers. His team-mate Eddie Irvine in Ferrari No 6 did a great deal of testing during the winter and is hopeful of occaisonally beating his illustrious partner. Some people feel he spends too much time chasing ladies but that is something I am not prepared to comment on!

No 7 and 8 are the Benetton duo of Alesi and Berger who are beginning to look a bit tired. Whether it is the car or the drivers I cannot tell, right now they are not looking like a winning combination. The fact that their two top designers are now with Ferrari won't help matters either.

No 9 is Mika Hakkinen in the new, silver McLaren-Mercedes. It's not easy to get used to the new livery after 23 years of McLaren-Marlboro but I suppose by the second race of the season it will seem normal. Right now it does not !

No 10 is Scotland's David Coulthard who is very optimistic after some successful winter testing.

No 11 is the year's sensation to date-Ralf Schumacher who is only fractionally slower than his Big Brother..at 21 ! On a track he had never seen before..just amazing.

No 12 is Ralf's team mate in the Jordan-Peugeot, Italy's Fisichella who is held in very high regard in his native country.

There is of course NO Number 13 in Formula One. Superstition and all that.

No 14 is Frenchman Olivier Panis who is racing for Team Prost. Recently Alain Prost bought the team which was previously known as Ligier. No thank you he said to The Autochannel,he will`not be racing, running the team takes up all his time.

No 15 is his Japanese team-mate Nakano whose presence guaranteed the Honda-Mugen engines.

No 16 is Johnny Herbert in the Sauber-Ferrari. Nobody knows quite how much Sauber are paying for the Ferrari engines but so far it seems like a good deal, in practice he was quicker than Irvine in the Ferrari-Ferrari! Maybe his team-mate nationality has something to do with the deal, Nicola Larini was test driver at Maranello..

No 18 is Jos Verstapppen from Holland.He is struggling with the Tyrrell just as his team mate Mika Salo from Finland. Lack of sponsors and consequently testing hinders this old, fine team.

No 20 is Japan's Ukyo Katayama in the Minardi Hart.A moderate driver in a moderate team,he is in the sport because he likes it.His chances of winning are about the same as mine behind my computer..

No 21, the Italian Trulli at least got into the race, pretty good going really for a newcomer. As did newly-wed Rubens Barrichello in the Stewart-Ford. He amazed everyone by his 11th place on the provisional grid,an amazing performance in such a new and untested car! His team-mate Jan Magnussen was not quite so quick but still managed to get into the race in 19th position.

No 23 and 24-the Pennzoil boys did not quite make it this time, mainly because of lack of testing. Team owner Eric Broadley was quite realistic-they started too late and will not be competitive until later on during the season. During the one hour shoot-out 1996 world champion Damon Hill was very lucky not be queezed out. It was not until the last few minutes that he managed to scrape into the race in 20th position--a long way from the front row he became accustomed to during his championship year. Still, being five and a half seconds off the pace must be pretty devastating..

"I thought I was going to have a night on the town !" said Damon Hill after the race "we had all sorts of problems and I was very lucky to get into the race at all.."

Pole-man Villeneuve was pretty happy with his 1.7 second advantage over his team mate Frentzen. He was also very sporting when asked about Hill.

"I am glad he is in the race, he was my team-mate, he is the champion, he deserves better than 20th position on the grid".

The Williams team which is currently in the midst of financial hassles with Bernie Ecclestone so they were delighted to announce a multi-million dollar deal with Hype,who make a range of energy and alchoholic drinks. They supplement the money Williams get from Rothmans, the tobacco giant. Ferrari,who are enjoying all of Marlboro's money this year had a relatively good time with Schumacher qualifying third fastest.

"I am quite happy,third place is a bit better than I expected..I am looking forward to the race but I think Villeneuve will just disappear in the distance".

This time tomorrow we will all know whether the double champion's prediction was correct or not. In any case,if you are near a TV set-don't miss it! Apart from Villeneuve it should be a cracker!