Takagi's F1 1996 - Brazilian Grand Prix results up!

[takagi_for_the_win]

Gonzalez, Salamander, Pi and Andrew all have until 12:00 PM on Tuesday to post whether or not they wish to continue in this series. Otherwise, I'll assume they're not active here and their teams (McLaren, Ligier, Arrows and Minardi), as well as Sauber, will be opened up to the lovely people on the waiting list.

As college has been bathplug mental busy this week, leaving me with not much in the way of time to chase people up, the deadline for Gonzalez and Andrew has been pushed back to 12pm Friday 17th November. In the meantime, as team bosses aren't essential for the running of the races, I shall start to sim the Australian Grand Prix.

[takagi_for_the_win]

Righty-o, Gonzalez got back to me so McLaren stay under his venerable leadership. As of now, Sauber and Minardi are both free teams. I've messaged the first two people on the waiting list, with Collieafc getting first choice of the two teams. Oh, and Ozzy '96 is still being done, should be finished in a few days.

[Collieafc]

I will go for a change and a real backmarker and go for Minardi please

[takagi_for_the_win]

1996 Australian Grand Prix

The season started in ominous fashion for 10 of the 11 teams, as Jean Alesi dominated the first Grand Prix around Albert Park in devastating fashion. Getting a better start than pole-sitter Hakkinen, Alesi only relinquished the lead during the pitstops, and went on to lead 55 of the 58 laps. Hakkinen's race was ruined by his start, as Damon Hill in the Ferrari followed Alesi past the Finn, and Hakkinen was unable to get past the Brit, and lost further time as he was backed into the second Ferrari of Schumacher. Following the pits, Hakkinen and Schumacher leapfrogged Hill, who saw a guaranteed 4th slip away when his suspension failed on the bumpy track.

Elsewhere, Jacques Villeneuve had a lonely debut, as his heavily fuelled Benetton was off the pace of the front runners, but quicker than Berger's equally heavy McLaren. Mika Salo was one victim of Berger's strategy, with the two stopping Finn getting caught behind the Austrian all the way through to his first stop, which killed his race. The two Tyrrell's raced well, with Fisichella and Irvine swapping position 4 times on track over the course of the race, and on another day would've got points with the unreliability on show today. Pedro Lamy had an anonymous race, tailing home a lonely last.

Special mentions go to Panis and Frentzen, who both ran solidly before their engines gave way, and Montermini who took himself and Verstappen at the first corner with a wild, and ultimately clumsy, lunge in the braking zone.


1. Jean Alesi (Williams-Renault) 1:31:26:05
2. Mika Hakkinen (Williams-Renault) +34.967
3. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) +37.782
4. Jacques Villeneuve (Benetton-Renault) +1 lap
5. Gerhard Berger (McLaren-Mercedes) +1 lap
6. Mika Salo (Benetton-Renault) +1 lap
7. Giancarlo Fisichella (Tyrrell-Ford) +2 laps
8. Eddie Irvine (Tyrrell-Ford) +2 laps
9. Pedro Lamy (Ligier-Mugen) +2 laps

DNF: Rubens Barrichello (Sauber-Peugeot) Engine
DNF: Damon Hill (Ferrari) Suspension
DNF: Jan Magnussen (Arrows-Yamaha) Spin
DNF: Heinz-Harald Frentzen (McLaren-Mercedes) Engine
DNF: Tarso Marques (Minardi-Hart) Suspension
DNF: David Coulthard (Jordan-Yamaha) Electrical
DNF: Martin Brundle (Jordan-Yamaha) Clutch
DNF: Olivier Panis (Ligier-Mugen) Engine
DNF: Ukyo Katayama (Sauber-Peugeot) Spin
DNF: Jos Verstappen (Minardi-Hart) Collision
DNF: Andrea Montermini (Arrows-Yamaha) Collision

Championship Standings

Driver's Championship
1. Jean Alesi 10 points
2. Mika Hakkinen 6 points
3. Michael Schumacher 4 points
4. Jacques Villeneuve 3 points
5. Gerhard Berger 2 points
6. Mika Salo 1 point

Constructor's Championship
1. Williams-Renault 16 points
2. Ferrari 4 points
3. Benetton-Renault 4 points
4. McLaren-Mercedes 2 points

[takagi_for_the_win]

11th March 1996
Dome to launch next week
The Dome Formula 1 team is set to be launched next week in Tokyo, with testing of the prototype F105 is set to begin next month, with Dome's F3000 driver Shinji Nakano and Katsumi Yamamoto potentially being joined by former Formula 1 driver Marco Apicella.

25th March 1996
BMW delay F1 decision
BMW will not be entering Formula 1 as an engine supplier in 1998 as previously rumoured. The German car company has decided that it needs to concentrate its investment in other areas, and will take another look at Formula 1 for the year 2000 and beyond. BMW are keen to enter the sport to win market share from competitor Mercedes-Benz, who are currently struggling in the sport, but with investment needed for the company's plant in North Carolina and to update the facilities of the newly bought Rover Group in Britain.

26th March 1996
A1 Ring completed
Austria will return to the Formula 1 calendar for the 1997 season, following the completion of the A1 Ring. The track is based on the classic Osterreichring, but stands at just 4.3km long.

29th March 1996
TWR take over Arrows
Tom Walkinshaw has completed his purchase of the Arrows Formula 1 team. The team will be registered to Walkinshaw's company TWR. Walkinshaw has stated he won't change anything for 1996, and that this takeover will not affect the team in any way.

Pi, all this takeover means is that from next year on you'll have a few TWR stickers on the Arrows. For takeovers that will have a genuine impact (eg BAT/Tyrrell, Jaguar/Stewart etc), I'll consult the team owners beforehand.

[takagi_for_the_win]

Round 2 - Brazilian Grand Prix, Interlagos, 31st March 1996

Qualifying
Once again proving to be the class of the field, the two Williams' locked out the front row of the grid for the second time this season. Behind them, there was a look of "the animals came in two by two", as the next few rows consisted of the surprisingly quick Benettons, then the Ferraris, then the McLarens. Barrichello impressed in front of his home fans by qualifying 10th, the Jordans and Tyrrells again looked quick, but the two main stories at the back were Jos Verstappen dragging the Minardi on to the 9th row, and Kenny Brack qualifying for his first ever race.

1. Jean Alesi (Williams-Renault) 1:17:767
2. Mika Hakkinen (Williams-Renault) 1:18:020
3. Jacques Villeneuve (Benetton-Renault) 1:18:681
4. Mika Salo (Benetton-Renault) 1:18:780
5. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) 1:18:969
6. Damon Hill (Ferrari) 1:19:391
7. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:19:649
8. Gerhard Berger (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:19:803
9. Olivier Panis (Ligier-Mugen) 1:20:172
10. Rubens Barrichello (Sauber-Peugeot) 1:20:311
11. David Coulthard (Jordan-Yamaha) 1:20:512
12. Pedro Lamy (Ligier-Mugen) 1:20:704
13. Eddie Irvine (Tyrrell-Ford) 1:20:874
14. Martin Brundle (Jordan-Yamaha) 1:20:885
15. Ukyo Katayama (Sauber-Peugeot) 1:21:026
16. Giancarlo Fisichella (Tyrrell-Ford) 1:21:035
17. Jan Magnussen (Arrows-Yamaha) 1:21:230
18. Jos Verstappen (Minardi-Hart) 1:21:570
19. Andrea Montermini (Arrows-Yamaha) 1:21:706
20. Tarso Marques (Minardi-Hart) 1:22:617
21. Kenny Brack (Forti-Hart) 1:23:877
107% time - 1:23:911
-- Ricardo Rosset (Forti-Hart) 1:23:932



Race
Interlagos has developed a reputation for being somewhat of a car-wrecker, and this weekend's race was no exception. With the race starting in dreadful conditions, half the grid fluffed their starts, leading to the pack shuffling up. In the early phases, the impressive Villeneuve and Alesi pulled away from the field, with Salo back in 3rd backing up Hill, Hakkinen, Schumacher and Frentzen. Villeneuve's impressive pace was explained when he pitted early, indicating he was making an extra stop, and this allowed Alesi to scamper clear. Further back, Hill was forced to retire, and Hakkinen forced his way past Salo in what would prove to be a significant move. Schumacher's car expired at half distance, and then just after his pitstop Alesi suffered a puncture that forced him out the race, handing the (somewhat considerable) lead to Villeneuve. All looked well for the Canadian until after his second stop, when his engine gave way while exiting the pits. This handed the lead to Hakkinen, who held on on the rapidly drying track for his maiden win from Salo. Barrichello recovered from a poor start to be in the hunt for 3rd place right until the death thanks to some smart strategy and luck on changing to slick tyres but was denied by Berger, with Coulthard in hot pursuit. The Tyrrells had a lonely race, and Tarso Marques spent the afternoon pootling around, miles from anyone.


1. Mika Hakkinen (Williams-Renault) 1:47:18:730
2. Mika Salo (Benetton-Renault) +30.069
3. Gerhard Berger (McLaren-Mercedes) +1 lap
4. Rubens Barrichello (Sauber-Peugeot) +1 lap
5. David Coulthard (Jordan-Yamaha) +1 lap
6. Eddie Irvine (Tyrrell-Ford) +2 laps
7. Giancarlo Fisichella (Tyrrell-Ford) +2 laps
8. Tarso Marques (Minardi-Hart) +3 laps

DNF:Jos Verstappen (Minardi-Hart) Gearbox
DNF:Jacques Villeneuve (Benetton-Renault) Engine
DNF:Martin Brundle (Jordan-Yamaha) Electrical
DNF:Jan Magnussen (Arrows-Yamaha) Spin
DNF:Jean Alesi (Williams-Renault) Puncture
DNF:Ukyo Katayama (Sauber-Peugeot) Spin
DNF:Heinz-Harald Frentzen (McLaren-Mercedes) Spin
DNF:Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) Gearbox
DNF:Olivier Panis (Ligier-Mugen) Spin
DNF:Kenny Brack (Forti-Hart) Engine
DNF:Pedro Lamy (Ligier-Mugen) Electrical
DNF:Damon Hill (Ferrari) Hydraulics
DNF:Andrea Montermini (Arrows-Yamaha) Engine

Championship Standings
Driver's Championship
1. Mika Hakkinen (Williams-Renault)16 points
2. Jean Alesi (Williams-Renault)10 points
3. Mika Salo (Benetton-Renault)7 points
4. Gerhard Berger (McLaren-Mercedes)6 points
5. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)4 points
6. Rubens Barrichello (Sauber-Peugeot)3 points
7. Jacques Villeneuve (Benetton-Renault)3 points
8. David Coulthard (Jordan-Yamaha)2 points
9. Eddie Irvine (Tyrrell-Ford)1 point

Constructor's Championship
1. Williams-Renault16 points
2. Benetton-Renault10 points
3. McLaren-Mercedes6 points
4. Ferrari4 points
5. Sauber-Peugeot3 points
6. Jordan-Yamaha2 points
7. Tyrrell-Ford1 point

[Aislabie]

A pretty good effort from Kenny Brack to get us on the grid, even if we were still six seconds off the pace on a lap as short as Interlagos...

Is there any way we can make the Forti less crap?

[takagi_for_the_win]

A pretty good effort from Kenny Brack to get us on the grid, even if we were still six seconds off the pace on a lap as short as Interlagos...

Is there any way we can make the Forti less crap?

He actually did a lot better than expected, he was able to hang onto Marques's coat-tails until about the tenth lap when he dropped off, and then obviously his engine went later on.

After the last of the fly-away races (so basically after the next round ), testing and development opportunities will be available for all teams. I'm toying with the idea of changing how upgrades are implemented into the game from my original plans, so after the Argentine Grand Prix I'll put up a post with all relevant details.