Updated: 9 March 1998, 21:00 GMT
(c) M-WEB
21:00 GMT
Location: Maranello, Italy.
The Ferrari team started a test session at Fiorano in Italy on Monday. The team's new test driver, Luca Badoer, tested an F 310 B fitted with the 1998 grooved tyres.
The Italian completed 80 laps setting a fastest time of 1:03.792 seconds. Bodoer used the session to gain experience with the grooved tyres.
Ferrari will start an extensive test session at Monza in Italy on Wednesday. Schumacher, Irvine and Badoer will test there for the first time this season.
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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Frentzen used similar braking system as McLaren
(c) M-WEB
21:00 GMT
According to sources, Williams driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who finished alongside the McLaren drivers on the podium at the Australian Grand Prix, used a similar controversial braking system as the all conquering McLaren's at Melbourne.
Williams, Prost and Minardi were the only teams who refused to sign Ferraris' petition against the use of the stability braking systems, given to the FIA on Friday, according to sources.
Patrick Head and Frank Williams both dismissed claims that the Williams car was using a questionable high-tech braking system to gain superiority.
The controversial "third pedal" enabled the driver to control the rear brakes of the car independently, thus providing greater stability at the turn into, and acceleration out of the corner.
Arrows team boss, Tom Walkinshaw claimed that the system acts as a four-wheel steering system and is therefore illegal.
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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(c) M-WEB
21:00 GMT
According to Williams' technical director Patrick Head, Jacques Villeneuve needs to mature as a driverand learn to take less out of the car.
Head said that if Jacques could adopt a less physical way to drive, he would be stronger during the whole race and sparing of his tyres.
According to reports, Head was dismayed that Villeneuve seemed to believe that he could drive the whole race flat out, and could not understand that to do so would destroy his tyres.
Head said that Jacques knows exactly what he wants or does not want, but he has problems explaining it to them.
Head said that he is not saying Villeneuve is immature, but if he wants to become the best driver, he'll have to gain maturity in the cockpit. Head added that it's those little things that makes exceptional drivers.
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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Punters should have backed both McLaren drivers
(c) M-WEB
21:00 GMT
Anyone who bet on Coulthard to win the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday would have been sickened when he let team-mate Mika Hakkinen through to win the race. Coulthard's odds were cut from 5-1 to 9-4 before the opening race of the 1998 Formula One World Championship.
Paul Austin, head of sports betting at City Index and formerly with Ladbroke's, explained that the odds difference between Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine for Ferrari is vast, because it is clear who is the number 1 driver. He said that with McLaren, the problem bookmakers and punters face is who is number 1?
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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Coulthard expects to be repaid
(c) M-WEB
21:00 GMT
McLaren Formula One driver, David Coulthard said on Monday that he is expecting Mika Hakkinen to have to return the favour he showed him by letting him win the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Scot said that he is expecting to be repaid. He said that he could have won the opening race, but hopefully they will put this to bed after the next race. Coulthard said that by then they should be on an even keel so there won't be a disadvantage.
The Scot added that he is not giving away four points, but rather putting his trust in the team, in Mika and all the other people around.
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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McLaren drivers will deploy same tactics at Brazilian GP
(c) M-WEB
21:00 GMT
According to sources, will David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen deploy the same tactics they used to settle the Australian Grand Prixt at Brazil on the 29th of March.
McLaren team boss Ron Dennis revealed that Coulthard will still receive his win bonus, and is determined that criticism would not alter the team's strategey. He said that that the drivers drove for the team in Melbourne.
Dennis said that it is an agreement for the frist two races, and that after Brazil they can go hammer and tongs at each other.
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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Newspapers advise Schumacher to drop team
(c) M-WEB
21:00 GMT
Location : FRANKFURT, Germany
According to sources, German newspapers celebrated the victory of the McLaren-Mercedes team in the opening Formula One Grand Prix of the season in Melbourne, and advised Michael Schumacher to leave the Ferrari team.
The front-page headline of a German newspaper read :"Schumi, change the car! Get out of the red lemon and get into the great new silver arrow."
Schumacher's Ferrari is painted red, while the McLarens are silver and are popularly called "silver arrows" after the old Mercedes racing cars, seeing that the McLarens are powered by Mercedes engines.
A sports magazine said that the two McLarens had demonstrated "incredible superiority," and called them "dream cars" from "another world" that "flew away from the competition.", according to sources.
The German newspaper said that it was the beginning of a "new Formula One era and a great time for the silver arrows."
It said that the defending world champion Jacques Villeneuve was "humiliated" in his Williams after finishing fifth and being lapped by both the McLarens.
The newspaper, in a two-page spread, speculated that Schumacher may soon lose patience over "breaking down" Ferraris, according to sources. The article's headline read : "When will he have had enough."
German newspapers have often linked Schumacher to Mercedes, saying it would be a perfect combination of a German driver and a German-powered car.
Although a possible Schumacher move to Mercedes was not planned before the year 2000, the newspaper said that it was possible for Schumacher to leave the Ferrari team before his contract ends in 1999. It stated that Schumacher has a "secret" clause in his contract allowing him to leave Ferrari early if he finishes lower than third in the drivers' standings.
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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Arrows Australian GP race press release
The Danka Zepter Arrows Team ended the Australian Grand Prix feeling optimistic about its future, although both cars had retired from the race.
Pedro Diniz's car, chassis number 02, stopped during the warm-up lap due to an oil fire. He had to start in the spare car, chassis number 01, from the pitlane and his retirement came after only 2 laps with an as yet unknown failure, according to the team.
Pedro Diniz said : "It has been a very disappointing weekend for me. I had gear selection problems on Friday and Saturday. During the warm-up lap we lost hydraulic pressure on the gearbox and I had to jump out of the car, the same thing happened again in the spare car on the second lap during the race."
Mika Salo, driving chassis number 03, retired at the end of lap 23 with electronic gear change paddle problems. He made up five places at the start of the race, passed the Jordan of Damon Hill during his pit stop and was in 11th position when he retired.
Mika Salo said : "I had a problem from the start, when I could not select the first gear, but I still managed to be quick and pass several cars at the start of the race. The car felt really good during the race until my first pitstop, when it jumped out of gear and I lost the drive I decided to retire rather than do any more damage. The car is very quick when it runs right and I look forward to some more testing prior to Brazil to get reliability."
Tom Walkinshaw said : "We came here expecting to have to work hard, and I must congratulate both drivers and the entire team as that is exactly what they did. It was very disappointing to have Pedro retire so early, but I felt encouraged at the speed of Mika and know we shall have a competitive car very soon."
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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McLaren not to be punished - FIA
(c)REUTERS
18:00 GMT
Location : PARIS
The McLaren team will not be sanctioned by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) over the way race leader Dave Coulthard allowed team mate Mika Hakkinen to overtake him and win Sunday's Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
FIA's decision on Monday followed a formal complaint by organisers of the Australian race.
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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McLaren avoid sanction over 'team orders'
(c)REUTERS
18:00 GMT
Location : PARIS
The McLaren team will not be punished by motor racing chiefs over the way Mika Hakkinen was allowed to win Sunday's Australian Grand Prix by his team mate David Coulthard.
The International Automobile Federation's (FIA) decision on Monday followed a formal complaint by organisers of the Melbourne race in which Britain's Coulthard was leading when he let Finn Hakkinen overtake him.
The FIA said in a statement that 'team orders' specifying the finishing order of drivers within a team had existed in motor sport since the beginning of the century.
It would therefore not be right to criticise or sanction Mclaren for what it did at Sunday's grand prix, the statement added.
However, the World Motor Sport Council is to be asked to decide at its meeting on March 18 whether the practice of team orders deciding placings should now cease.
Coulthard said after the race he had pulled aside two laps from the finish to allow Hakkinen to win his second successive race after the season-ending European Grand Prix at Jerez last year.
McLaren boss Ron Dennis said the pair had agreed before the race that whichever of the two led at the first corner on the first lap would not be challenged by the other driver.
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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Politesse -- not pits -- concern fast McLarens
(c)REUTERS
14:00 GMT
By Robert Woodward
Location: LONDON
McLaren's polite one-two at the Australian Grand Prix sent a shudder through the other teams crowding Melbourne's pit lane wall.
From Saturday's practice onwards, the season's opener was a showcase for the McLaren drivers, Mike Hakkinen and David Coulthard, and the other 10 outfits were left looking slow and sorry for themselves.
So complete was their domination that Hakkinen could afford to make an unnecessary visit to the pits -- where teams normally worry about dropping tenths of seconds -- and still post his second successive victory.
That was made possible by Coulthard waving his Finnish teammate through in the dying stages of the race, in full view of the envious pit lane.
By this time both men were a lap ahead of their nearest rival, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, and the complete lack of pressure allowed Coulthard to make a decision dubbed sporting by some and a scandal by others.
Race organisers said they had lodged a formal complaint with FIA, the sport's ruling body. Coulthard let his teammate through in light of an agreement between the two men, who occupied the front row of the grid.
Frentzen drives for Williams, last year's top outfit and the most successful team of the 1990s, and McLaren's winning margin showed just how much ground Williams and other top teams have to make up to become competitive.
The comparisons with 1997 demonstrate how far McLaren have come. Coulthard won last year's Australian race - McLaren's first victory in 50 races - but there was little doubt Williams were going to be the team to watch after Jacques Villeneuve took pole by a huge 1.7 seconds.
McLaren improved steadily in the second half of the season and Hakkinen won the final race of the season at Jerez ahead of Villeneuve, who took the drivers' title.
Teams had to start from scratch to conform with rules covering grooved tyres, narrower chassis, better safety for drivers and brakes.
But once McLaren unveiled its MP4-13 in Barcelona in mid-February, the other teams were aware they had a fight on their hands as Hakkinen and Coulthard took it in turns to break the track's winter testing record.
The regulations were meant to make racing closer and more exciting, and increase overtaking, but if McLaren continue as they started, the 1998 calender will see a series of processions like never before.
A number of factors lie behind the change of fortunes in a team which dominated motor racing in the late 1980s but went into a deep slump in the mid-1990s.
The McLaren team now contains aerodynamics' guru Adrian Newey, lured from Williams, and his influence and reputation has had an immediate effect on the team and car.
The team's immediate decision to sever ties with Goodyear tyres at the end of last year, when the American firm announced it would quit Formula One at the end of 1998, now also appears a masterstroke.
Bridgestone tyres, launched on the circuit in 1997 and without a win last year, were pinpointed by rival drivers as making the difference in testing but they are not the main reason for McLaren's success.
Benetton, the other Big Four team carrying Bridgestones, saw Alexander Wurz finish seventh and Giancarlo Fischellas retire 15 laps before the end.
Perhaps McLaren's decisive move was to concentrate on getting the MP4-13 car right in the garage and wind tunnel before launching it in early-February.
"Having our new car on a circuit last has allowed us to see everyone else's presentations and we don't want to make some of the mistakes they made," McLaren boss Ron Dennis said at the launch.
The team also developed a new braking system which led to a protest by other teams on the eve of the Australian grand prix.
They claim the brakes may not conform with the new regulations and gives McLaren illegal traction control and power steering.
The brakes certainly passed their first major test with flying colours on an Albert Park track which is known to be very hard on brakes.
A lot of work has also been done on improving the V10 Mercedes-Benz engine which blew on a number of occasions last year.
The bad news for other outfits is that McLaren are expected to launch a new engine once the Formula One circus arrives in Europe.
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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William Hill to introduce betting on teams
(c)REUTERS
12:30 GMT
Location : LONDON
Leading English bookmakers William Hill will introduce betting on Formula One teams for the first time at the Brazilian Grand Prix on March 29.
William Hill, in common with other bookmakers, have traditionally given odds on individual drivers only.
The move follows the controversial finish to Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, the opening race of the season, when David Coulthard let his McLaren team mate Mika Hakkinen finish first.
The team had earlier agreed that whoever was first out of the first corner would be allowed to win unhindered by his team mate.
On Monday a spokesman for William Hill said the firm had received a number of complaints from people who had bet on Briton Coulthard.
"We've told them to address their complaints to McLaren," said spokesman Graham Sharpe.
Sharpe said William Hill, who had quoted Finn Hakkinen at 13-8 and Coulthard at 9-4 before the race, were in no position to know that the drivers had come to a prior agreement.
But he said punters should have taken the possibility of such an agreement in to account.
"People who are putting money on anything should know what they're betting on," he said.
Sharpe said William Hill had now decided to introduce betting on teams and had installed McLaren as 3-1 favourites for the Brazilian race.
"People can't now say that we don't even give them the option to bet on teams," he said.
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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Honda to return to F-1 as full team
(c)REUTERS
12:30 GMT
Location : TOKYO
Honda Motor Co Ltd <7267.T>* said on Monday it had decided to return to Formula One racing with a comprehensive team using its own engine, chassis and management.
Honda said in a statement it had begun a feasibility study on its return to Formula One, after withdrawing from the sport in late 1992. A spokesman for the Japanese automaker said it had already decided to set up a Honda team.
"It was the strong determination of our young engineers that prompted Honda to start its serious consideration of returning to F-1 racing," Nobuhiko Kawamoto, Honda president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
The company said its Formula One plan and the timing of its return would be finalised by the end of this year.
"The team structure, management and actual timing of the return to racing have still to be fixed," the spokesman said.
Japanese sports newspapers and magazines have for years run stories on an almost annual basis on the issue of when Honda would return to Formula One. They had forecast Honda's return in 2000 or 2001.
"We decided to return to Formula One by not only making engines, but also by developing and making car chassis and handling the management of our own racing team," the Honda spokesman said.
That meant Honda's approach would be like that of Ferrari, which manages its own team and develops and makes its own engines and chassis. Ferrari is a unit of Fiat SpA <FIA.MI>*.
Other major carmakers that currently take part in Formula One racing supply engines to independent racing teams.
"In reaching our 50th (company) anniversary this year, we consider this undertaking a new challenge for Honda's next generation," Kawamoto said.
"We hope to respond to the enthusiastic expectations of many motorsports fans through our involvement in both Formula One and CART Indy races," he said.
Honda subsidiary Twin Ring Motegi Co Ltd, a motor sports theme park company based in the town of Motegi in Tochigi Prefecture north of Tokyo, will hold a CART Indy race in Japan later this month, the first such race in Asia.
The CART World Series holds races in the United States, Canada, Australia and Brazil. Honda began supplying engines to CART racing teams in 1994 and won the engine constructor championship for the first time in 1996.
Honda took part in Formula One racing as a comprehensive team between 1964 and 1968, winning two victories out of 35 races. The company was involved in Formula One from 1983 to 1992 as an engine supplier, winning 69 times in 151 races.
Honda held the engine constructor championship for a record six straight years until 1991.
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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Australia F1 boss complains over finish
(c)REUTERS
09:00 GMT
Location: MELBOURNE
Organisers of the Australian Formula One Grand Prix motor race said on Monday they had lodged a formal complaint over Sunday's finish that saw David Coulthard let McLaren team-mate Mika Hakkinen overtake him and win the race.
"I have faxed a letter to the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) on behalf of the race -- it is an official complaint," Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairman Ron Walker told reporters.
Britain's Coulthard said after the race on Sunday he had pulled aside two laps from the finish to allow Finland's Hakkinen to win his second successive grand prix after the season-ending European Grand Prix at Jerez last year.
McLaren boss Ron Dennis said the pair had agreed before the race that whichever of the two led at the first corner of the first lap would not be challenged by the other driver. Hakkinen had led but later drove through the pit lane and out again without stopping due to what he called a "misunderstanding" with his pit crew. The delay allowed Coulthard to take the lead, which he later relinquished in keeping with the pre-race pact.
"We've always maintained Formula One drivers are in the same category as Olympic athletes in terms of their outstanding fitness," Walker said. "They use the finest technology and, as well, fans barrack for particular drivers."
"It's not the right of team owners to decide who's going to win," he said.
Walker earlier told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio that honouring a pre-race agreement was not good enough for gamblers and the 103,000 fans at the race.
"How about the patrons out there that go along and barrack for a particular driver or car, shouldn't they be told who is determined to win the race?" Walker told ABC radio.
But Walker later told reporters he did not think the finish detracted from the event.
Reports on the race in Australian media were dominated by the finishing pact between Coulthard and Hakkinen.
One betting agency, National Sportsbet, said in Melbourne's Herald-Sun newspaper that it had Coulthard and Hakkinen as equal 3-1 favourites and that more than 524 gamblers had put their money on Coulthard.
"I could understand people who backed Coulthard wouldn't be very happy, would they?" National Sportsbet book manager Ralph Woods said. "It's certainly not an ideal situation."
The newspaper also quoted a local gambler who said he and a friend had each backed Coulthard for A$500 (US$330).
"My mate and I have just done a grand," Keith Baker was quoted as saying. "If a jockey did that in the middle of a Melbourne Cup (horse race) there would be hell to pay."
Another betting agency, Centrebet, said it had taken A$100,000 (US$66,000) in bets on the race, including A$15,000 (US$9,900) on Coulthard to win.
National Sportsbet's Woods said a contrived finish was part of the risk of betting on Formula One.
"This is a team sport, it's not designed as a betting sport," Woods told the Herald-Sun. (A$1=US$0.66)
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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Rivals warn McLaren of tough battle ahead
(c)REUTERS
09:00 GMT
Location: MELBOURNE
The McLaren team can be caught and beaten in this year's Formula One championship despite their dominant opening performance in Sunday's Australian Grand Prix, rival makers Ferrari and Williams said.
Both teams, who fought out last season's championship, saw their cars lapped by McLaren's victorious Finn Mika Hakkinen and his team-mate Briton David Coulthard at Albert Park, the first race of the season.
But instead of conceding that the McLaren cars looked virtually unbeatable -- as many in the pit-lane did before the race -- Ferrari and Williams responded by predicting they would catch up before long.
"We've seen it all before, haven't we?" said Williams team chief Frank Williams after the race. "One team comes out and starts well and dominates, but it is another matter to keep it going.
"By mid-season, they will be running out of steam and it could be a completely different story. There is no doubt that they have done a very impressive job in the design of their new car and in preparing for the season.
"But we will all be doing our utmost now to catch them."
Asked how defending world champion Canadian Jacques Villeneuve had reacted to being lapped for the first time in his career, Williams grinned.
"He was fine," he said. "He was very aggressive."
McLaren's complete dominance of the 58-lap race, and the way in which Coulthard unexpectedly slowed down to let Hakkinen take the chequered flag, irked many observers.
"It is not what the punters have paid to come and see," said Jordan team owner Eddie Jordan. "A lot of people came to see a race, a genuine sporting contest, but that is not what they got. You have to question the ethics of it all."
But McLaren team boss Ron Dennis defended his decision to allow the drivers to stick to their pre-race pact to allow whoever was first at the opening corner to win the race.
Ferrari's Eddie Irvine, who finished fourth behind the two McLarens and Williams' Heinz-Harald Frentzen, predicted a much tougher future for the Anglo-German team.
"I think our car is faster than the Williams and that we can beat them this year," he said. And I think the gap to McLaren is nothing like as big as it looked in this race.
"We need to improve our driveability a bit with the engine and then I think we will be challenging them."
Dennis conceded that McLaren's dominance, which echoed their halcyon days of the late 1980s, could easily prove to be a wake-up call for rival teams as they caught up with the heavily-revised 1998 technical regulations.
"There are some giants out there and normally when you poke the giants in the eye you tend to get their attention," he said. "We are under no illusions. There are some great racing teams lined up against us -- Williams and Ferrari for example -- and they are not going to stand still."
McLaren's dominance prevented the expected re-run of Villeneuve's battle last season with former champion Michael Schumacher of Germany. The Ferrari driver retired from the race after five laps with an engine failure.
Villeneuve said of McLaren: "I was amazed. They were flying and it is going to take a big effort to catch them."
Coulthard continued to come under fire for his gentlemanly conduct in allowing Hakkinen to win when he faced the public late on Sunday night.
He said: "Our instructions were to get the cars home -- and not to race each other."
While the arguments raged over the morality of 'fixing' the result in advance, the Melbourne Herald Sun reported that hundreds of punters who had backed Coulthard to win the race were outraged at his actions.
The Herald said that more than 524 people had bet money on Coulthard to win with the National Sportsbet agency. The newspaper, in common with several others, set up a phone line for people to express their views.
Coulthard's pact with Hakkinen will be repeated in Brazil in three weeks' time, according to the drivers and Dennis. But after that they will be allowed to race freely against one another.
But Coulthard said before leaving the Albert Park track on Sunday night: "I hope my debt is repaid because I would hate to think this move had cost me the championship."
Hakkinen's win was the second of his career and his second in successive races, both courtesy of his team-mate moving across to let him through.
"I would have thought that David, at this stage of his career, was keen to win races not give them away," observed Williams technical director Patrick Head. "I have to say I was a bit surprised."
Head and Williams both dismissed claims that the McLaren car was using a questionable high-tech braking system to gain superiority. "We are all doing it -- we certainly are," said Williams.
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairman to lodge complaint
(c) M-WEB
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Ron Walker, Australian GP Corporation chairman, lodged a complaint with the FIA on Monday after the controversial finish to Sunday's race.
Walker denied the gesture by McLaren's David Coulthard, where he let Mika pass to take the win with only two laps to go. Walker said, "I have faxed a letter to the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) on behalf of the race - it is an official complaint."
"It's not my place to discuss any punitive action, that is not my area of responsibility, but we've got to seek clarification on this matter. The 103,000 fans who turned up had a great time and the day was almost faultless. I don't think this detracted from the day one bit."
Walker wanted the result to go to the line, regardless of team loyalties. He said, "We've always maintained Formula One drivers are in the same category as Olympic athletes in terms of their outstanding fitness. They use the finest technology and, as well, fans barrack for particular drivers. It's not the right of team owners to decide who's going to win. Let's also not forget that hundreds of millions of dollars were bet worldwide on this event."
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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Minister to ask questions about GP result
(c) M-WEB
Location: Canberra
The controversial result of Sunday's Australian Grand Prix sparked Australian Federal Minister Andrew Thomson on Monday to ask questions about the result.
McLaren's David Coulthard allowed his teammate Mika Hakkinen to pass him with two laps to go. Coulthard said Hakkinen was quicker during the whole session and it was only because of a mistake by the pits to call Mika in than he gained the lead. That is the reason he allowed him to pass.
Coulthard later revealed the two drivers had a pre-race agreement that whoever was in the lead at the first corner would have right of way at the finish.
The FIA could decide to investigate the pre-race agreement between the two. Thomson said, "I don't know a lot about motor sport, but I intend to ask some questions for myself today. It seems a bit of mystery."
1998 Australian channel.[ Click here ] - Race reports |
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