From: Jeroen Krautmeir (
[email protected])
To: Ronan Griffin (
[email protected])
Re: Other Teams and Their Development
Hi Ronan.
I'm delighted to hear of the big progress that you have made. We'll all be at The Ring tomorrow for the Reynard test, and to be honest, I could see Alex potentially writing the chassis off. Anyway, I thought I would alert you of what the others are doing.
Arrows: Okay, so they have World Champ Damon Hill, is that going to mean anything? John Barnard may have a reputation for building good cars, but I cannot see the Yamaha engine doing much to give much needed performance. Still, if Tom Walkinshaw did so much as to ignore the 1996 season and concentrate on 1997, it might spring a surprise or two. No technical innovations here, though rumours say that John is working on a "revolutionary" suspension design.
Williams: Adrian Newey has done his magic for the last time for the Williams team, and while the FW19 coupled with the Renault engine is a strong combination, the lack of Adrian's insight throughout the season could mean that Frank's team might lose ground during the latter parts of 1997. Williams have confirmed Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen as their drivers.
Ferrari: Suffice to say, the men from Maranello must be running low on ideas as the best Rory Byrne could do was to come up with an "upgraded" F310. One wonders how Jean Alesi has survived a year at the Schumacher Formula 1 Team, and the Frenchman deserves better. Their engine however seems to be the most powerful one on the grid, and it might very well blow the competition away at tracks such as Hockenheim.
Benetton: Coming third in 1996 was by no means acceptable for the Benetton team, after 2 years of success with Michael S. But the Benetton B197 looks extremely promising, boasting the same Renault V10 used by Williams and a Carbon/Epoxy composite monocoque, along with sculptured sidepods. I have to say, Pat Symonds and Nick Wirth have really done well, and with the two Austrians Gerhard Berger and Alexander Wurz at the wheel, Benetton have a good mix of experience and youth.
McLaren: Adrian Newey may be at the team now, but he'll have to settle with upgrading Neil Oatley's design. We don't know much of the MP4/12, except that it will be powered by a Mercedes engine. Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard have their seats safe for at least another season, so don't expect any changes.
Jordan: Well Gary Anderson seems to have kept it simple here. The Jordan 197 is reportedly a basic design, not really pace-setting, but ripe for upgrades over the course of the season. Eddie Jordan must have been possessed when he chose two inexperienced drivers in the form of Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella.
Prost: A lot was revealed by the Ligier team a few months ago regarding the JS45. Apparently, all the problems of braking and pitch sensitivity have been solved, while a powerful Mugen-Honda engine should do much to boost performance. Alain Prost has boasted that "his" car will be a race-winning machine from the beginning. We'll see how true that statement is in Melbourne. Olivier Panis has been retained, while Shinji Nakano is there only to please MH.
Sauber: The Swiss team had a miserable 1996 season. Other than the result in Monaco, Peter Sauber's team doesn't seem to have taken a liking to V10 engines. They have however signed a deal with Ferrari, who will supply them with identical engines. The car however, is reportedly a mere copy of the 1996 car, with a modified rear section to accommodate the new engine. Johnny Herbert and Jos Verstappen will be the two drivers for 1997.
Tyrrell: Ken Tyrrell's team is a far cry from its glory days in the 70s. Ken has gambled on using Ford V10's for the next season, which I hear are powerful. The car has been designed by Harvey Postlethwaite of Hesketh Racing fame, but will Mika Salo and Ukyo Katayama bring in the results?
Minardi: From the looks of it, Minardi have gambled on something happening at Monaco, because they have taken the crazy decision to use horrendously outdated Hart V8's, and I assume that Gustav Brunner and Gabriele Tredozi have come up with a neat design. Jarno Trulli and Tarso Marques, both rookies, will be wrestling the Minardi M197 around the tracks of the world beginning March 1997.
Stewart: Stewart are fellow newcomers, but they have years of experience, unlike us. Jackie Stewart, triple world champion, knows how a team works, and surely has the formula for success, while his son Paul also has racing experience, and he has run Paul Stewart Racing to considerable success in International Formula 3000. Their works deal with Ford is also extremely promising, and both Rubens Barrichello and Luca Badoer should have good machinery to at least fight for points.
We're actually not allowed to know all this, but Niko took care of, err,
trouble. Benetton seem to be the team to beat for 1997, and I suggest you look into their ideas, which include an inboard torsion bar and double wishbone operated by a pushboard bellcrank as the front suspension. Rumours are that Jordan are also looking into the 7-speed gearbox concept, but they seem to be having terrible reliability issues. Anyway, hope to hear from you soon. Remember the test session tomorrow, I want to see you there.
Regards,
Jeroen Krautmeir.
