June 1997

30 June 1997 The Italian press reported today that Damon Hill (who finished 12th and last in the French GP) is in talks with Prost and might be substituting Nakano already from the British GP.

29 June 1997 Another great day for Ferrari, as M. Schumacher and Irvine gained the highest and lowest place on the podium respectively, reinforcing Ferrari's lead over Williams both in the drivers and the constructors championship. M. Schumacher raced ahead from pole position and mantained first position in an race uneventful up to almost the end. Hill went off at the first bend and had to go to the pits for a new nose, rejoining the race two laps behind. Despite the promise of rain all drivers started with slick tyres and kept them as nothing more than drizzle fell on Magny Cours. With 10 laps to go the rain really started falling and M. Schumacher, who had over half a minute advantage over Frentzen (second), hit the gravel but managed to keep the car running and rejoined the race, still in first position but having lost precious seconds. Herbert immediately changed to intermediate tyres and started overtaking the other cars. Alesi, Coulthard and R. Schumacher also changed to intermediate, but both M. Schumacher and Frentzen stayed on slick. With five laps to go Irvine and Villeneuve, fighting for third place, went into the pits at the same time to change tyres, but Irvine was marginally faster and Villeneve lost two places. With three laps to go M. Schumacher and Frentzen's gamble to stay on slick tyres paid off as it stopped raining. Almost all other cars became visibly difficult to control with ruined soft tyres on dry ground. Villeneuve and R. Schumacher overtook Coulthard only for R. Schumacher to go on the gravel immediately afterwards and rejoin the race a few positions down. M. Schumacher overtook R. Schumacher (who had overtaken him while it was raining) but just seconds before M. Schumacher completed the last lap to win the race he was overtaken again by his younger brother. Staying out for another lap helped R. Schumacher, as Coulthard lost control of the car giving R. Schumacher sixth place. The battle for third place between Irvine and Villeneuve ended when Villeneuve got off the track and rejoined in fourth position. Alesi was fifth after his team mate Wurz had gear problems at the pits.

28 June 1997 M. Schumacher obtained the pole position for the French GP. Second was Frentzen and third R. Schumacher.

26 June 1997 Senna's manslaughter trial, 13th hearing. The news reported by Italia 1 that a mysterious French engineer knows all the truth about the accident which killed Senna has not been confirmed. PM Passarini refused to comment, while the Williams team said they have not seen the program. Causo, FIA's lawyer, said that the French technician only carried the box from Imola to Paris and did nothing else.

Four witnesses for Williams testified yesterday at the trial. The first and most important was Toni Pilcher, responsible of production of Williams. Pilcher was asked by Dominioni whether he took part in the production of the steering column and replied that it was part of his job to produce that part. Prof. Stortoni (Newey's lawyer) called an objection about the status of Pilcher in the trial (whether Pilcher is under investigation or not). Magistrate Passarini backed Dominioni and judge Costanzo agreed with them. Stortoni gave up. This was the first time since the trial started that Williams and the magistrates backed each other.

Dominioni then showed Pilcher two drawings of the steering. Pilcher explained that the original drawing dates from 3 February 94 and it represents the steering column of the FW15, 905 mm long. This was re-elaborated from a project of Alan Young and was given to him (Pilcher) on 10 march 94 to be produced with a steering column 917.3 mm long because of the modifications asked for by Senna, which introduced two new elements. The part consisted of nine components, each produced in separate departments in the factory. The production of the nine components took place at the same time, using the same materials and following the same procedure, to ensure reliability. The assembled part was then examined to make sure that it reproduced exactly the project in the drawing. If a part fails this examination there are two options: if possible the part is modified again, otherwise it is discarded. The same is done to test the quality of the part. If the part is OK, it is sent to the storeroom with a label saying what it is. From there it is then sent to the mechanics to be put in a car. Three specimens were produced of that steering column and the modifications were done immediately after 10 March, on time for the Brazilian GP on 26 march. Everything was done in the Williams factories.

Plicher's testimony showed that the parts were produced following the rules and not in a rush, and that Senna's steering system was the same as Hill's. Pilcher was then examined by Passarini. Pilcher said that 2-3 days are required for that type of modification and that they used two types of steel T45 and EN14, which are compatible.

Max Nightingale, responsible for the aerodynamics and the power steering, was another witness. Power steering was used in the Williams in the 94 season for the first time. Nightingale discussed the tests carried out on the suspensions and the steering system after the accident. Head had asked for the tests to be carried out. The data on the steering, based on the high peaks in the telemetry (probably connected to bumps), are not compatible with a breakage, otherwise they would have reset to zero. He then added that power steering was disabled on Hill's car after the accident as a precaution. Next was Simon Wells, responsible for hydraulic tests. He said that he did not find any signs of stress on Hill's steering system because he is not supposed to carry out that test. At this point Passarini accused him of being a technician who gets asked to carry out tests he is unable to do. This caused tension in the courtroom.

The dates of some of next hearings have been changed. The hearing of 30 June has been cancelled and the trial will restart on 3 July.

25 June 1997 Gerhard Berger will not be able to take part in the French GP because he has not completely recovered from his infection. Wurz will take his place for the second time.

25 June 1997 The trial for Senna's death restarts today. This is the 13th hearing and six witnesses for Williams defence will testify. These are technicians Pilcher, Nightingale, Wells, Wise, Scoins and O'Rourke. None of these have ever held positions of responsability at Williams and it is likely that some of these people might not be present because of Sunday's french GP. A big surprise came yesterday from a program broadcast on the Italian channel Italia 1 titled "Processo Senna: il Buco Nero" (Senna Trial: the Black Hole) and produced by Alessandro Mischi, Giorgio Teruzzi and Luca Budel. The program reviewed all the evidence presented so far and then revealed the existence of a "superwitness", a French engineer (almost certainly from Renault) whose name is known by the magistrates, but who has never testified so far. This is the person who, after the accident, downloaded the telemetry data from the black box given to him by Charlie Whiting (technical responsible for FIA) and who would still have the original data.

The black box in question is the one connected to the Renault engine which, once removed, was (strangely) immediately reused for testing. This person has never been back in Italy since 1th May 1994 and stopped following the Williams team in the GPs.

Another point raised by the program was derived from images of Damon Hill during the pit stop. A Williams technician can be seen removing something from the front of the car, perhaps a sensor. Another technician can be seens rushing to the car to check something on the front of the car. This is only allowed for someone wearing fireproof clothing, which the technician was not wearing (in fact Williams was fined 10,000 dollars for this infringiment). This fact too has never been discussed afterwards.

After today's hearing, next session will be next Monday (with the defense of Poggi and Bendinelli of Sagis) and then in July: on the 3rd (M. Schumacher might be called), on the 4th and the 9th (prof. Del Monte and ingeneer Nosetto, experts for the magistartes).

24 June 1997 it will be Jarno Trulli and not Emmanule Collard to take Panis' place in the Prost from the French GP onwards. The decision was made yesterday after Alain Prost and Giancarlo Minardi reached an agreement on transferring the Italian driver. Minardi's new driver will be Brazilian Tarso Marques.

22 June 1997 After the problems several teams had with their tyres in the last few GPs, Goodyear had produced new tyres made with a different compound. All the teams which use Goodyear will be given the new tyres before the French GP.

20 June 1997 Norberto Fontana will substitute Morbidelli in the Sauber at Magny Cours. Morbidelli is expected to be able to compete again in the Hungarian GP, in mid August.

19 June 1997 Sauber driver Morbidelli hit the kerb and lost control of his car during testing at Magny Cours. The Italian driver fractured his left arm in two points and will need to undergo surgery. Sauber has not yet nominated who will substitute him at the French GP.

18 June 1997 Benetton driver Gerhard Berger had to undergo another operation for his sinus infection. No decision has as yet been made on whether he will take part in the French GP or not.

18 June 1997 M. Schumacher avoided being punished for having used too many tyres in practice before the Canadian GP. Apparently the punishment has been lifted because of a error in paperwork.

17 June 1997 Alain Prost called Frenchman Emmanuel Collard for a test drive. Collard might be taken in by the Prost team as a substitute for Panis for the rest of the season.

16 June 1997 Panis' conditions are more serious than it appeared yesterday. He suffered from composite fractures to both his legs and will need to undergo surgery again. He will not be able to drive for the rest of the season.

15 June 1997 Panis broke his right tibia and suffered bad bruises to his left leg. He has undergone sugery and he is now resting in hospital. He is not expected to be back on his feet before 3 months. This leaves the Prost team with the problem of finding a new driver to partner Nakano.

15 June 1997 Dramatic day at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, as the Canadian GP was stopped on lap 56 after a horrific accident involving Olivier Panis. M. Schumacher raced away from pole position ahead of Jacques Villeneuve. Panis' Prost was damaged after he collided with another car and Irvine was forced out of the race as he tried to avoid the debris on the track. Panis was forced to go to the pits for a new front and lost a couple of laps, but was able to rejoin the race. Great delusion for the Canadian fans as Villeneuve lost control of his Williams and the second lap and retired. Later on R. Schumacher's front tyre exploded, causing his car to crash into the tyre barrier. The safety car came out while the Jordan was being removed. Barrichello was given a 10 seconds penalty for trying to overtake with the yellow flag out and retired soon afterwards. Wurz (who was substituting Berger on the Benetton) retired after having been in the points. Herbert was given a 10 seconds penalty for speeding in the pits. Coulthard's one-stop strategy appeared to pay off after he managed to steal the lead from M. Schumnacher, who was on a two-stop strategy, thanks also to the new Mercedes engine. After M. Schumacher's second stop the German had to go to pits again to change his badly deteriorated tyres. Coulthard suffered from the same problem and went to the pits, but he stalled his engine and M. Schumacher regained the lead. A few second later Olivier Panis hit the wall on a bend and bounced head-on in the tyre wall. The safety car got out a second time as it became apparent that Panis was unable to get out of his crashed car. He had to be removed from the cockpit and was taken away by an ambulance. Panis was conscious and could move his arms, but appeared unable to move his legs. The race was stopped and declared concluded, as 75% of it had already been run. The victory went to M. Schumacher, followed by Alesi in second position, Fisichella in third, Frentzen in fourth, Herbert in fifth and Nakano in sixth. Hill achieved his firts finish of the season, in ninth position.

14 June 1997 M. Schumacxher managed to steal pole posistion from Villeneuve at the very last lap. Practice had to be stopped with 5 minutes to go after Wurz lost a tyre.

14 june 1997 There is speculation that Berger might miss the French GP as well because of his poor health.

12 June 1997 Gerhard Berger has withdrawn from the Canadian GP due to the infection he was recently operated for. His place will be taken by test driver Alex Wurz.

12 June 1997 The owners of the Estoril racing track in Portugal are planning to take FIA to court over the removal of the GP from the 1997 calendar. The European GP was moved to Jerez in Spain after the Estoril track failed to meet the criteria set out by FIA. A GP at Estoril has been tentatively reintroduced in the calendar for the 9th of November, provided that the required changes to the circuit are carried out by the end of August. Required changes include rebuilding the pits and control tower (which were built in 1993) completely.

11 June 1997 Jacques Villeneuve was given an official warning from FIA today about his criticism of the new regulations to be introduced in F1 from 1998. This means that Villeneuve will be disqualified if he receives another warning. After the meeting, Villeneuve said that he had been warned not because of what he had said, but because of the way he had expressed his opinion.

11 June 1997 Jacques Villeneuve will stand trial today in front of FIA judges. He is accused of having used strong language to criticise the new regulation which will take effect in F1 from next year. M. Schumacher too, in a recent interview, said that he thinks that the new changes will make F1 slower and less spectacular than F3000. Villeneuve could be fined or even banned for one race.

11 June 1997 M. Schumacher said that it is unlikely that he will be able to win the WC this year.

10 June 1997 Ecclestone said that if the anti-tobacco laws are approved one of the GPs run on Italian territory (either Monza or Imola) will be cancelled.

10 June 1997 Villeneuve is to be tried by FIA judges tomorrow because of his comments on the new grooved tyres which he tried out just before the San Marino GP. FIA refused to confirm that Villeneuve is to be seeen tomorrow.

9 June 1997 The celebrations for the 50 years of Ferrari were concluded yesterday night in Modena. Some of the most importatnt Ferrari cars were shown to over 15,000 guests. The cars shown include the 375 with which Froilan Gonzalez won Ferrari's first ever GP in 1951 (driver by Gonzalez himself yesterday) and the T4 with which Scheckter won the 1979 GP.

8 June 1997 According to The Journal de Montreal Villeneuve is to appear in front of the FIA because of the comments he made about the changes to be introduced to F1 in 1998. The Williams team said they know nothing abut this and that they doubt Villeneuve will be banned or disqualified. The Canadian driver had said that F1 will turn from an extreme sport to a circus.

5 June 1997 From today until Saturday it will be possible to visit the Maranello Ferrari factory. The factory and the wind tunnel will be open to the public from 6pm to 2am.

4 June 1997 New chapter of the Senna's death trial. Yesterday the reconstruction produced by Mike Guttila was shown. Guttila is an American engineer specialist in this kind of reconstructions for racing teams (F1 and kart). The reconstraction was discussed by ingeneer Diego Milen and according to Williams, it shows that Senna's car oversteered twice forcing the driver to correct the trajectory, which eventually cause the car to go off the track and hit the wall. The conclusion is that even if Senna had tried to steer the car would have gone out at the Tamburello.
Prosecution magistrate Passarini contested teh validity of the data (such as temperature and tyre pressure) used for the reconstruction. Moreover the prosecution pointed out that the model used for the reconstruction is completely flat, while the slopes in the Imola track are of several degrees and would influence a car travelling at 310 km/h. As a last point Passarini pointed out that in Guttila's reconstruction Senna had the best time for the pole position on Saturday, while in reality Senna had had the best time on the Friday and on Saturday had not done a complete qualifying session because of Ratzenberg's death. This caused some embarassment in the Williams representatives present.
Sagis' defense also contested the validity of the data used in the reconstruction, which they defined arbitrary and not verified and, through lawyer Bendinelli, they referred to the data on the depth of the bumps, which Williams had obtained from non-official sources. The other impotant element of this hearing was the film given in April by FOCA, which is Betacam and therefore of sharper detail than the one already examined, which is VHS. The Betacam film is very important, according to the prosecution, becuase give the sharper detail it could prove whether the steering wheel was shaking in Senna's hands before the accident, or not.
Alboreto himself was allegedly shocked when he saw the Betacam film (after he testified), because he noticed the horizontal movement of the steering wheel. The trial will restart on the 25th of June, with the conclusion of Williams' demonstrations.

3 June 1997 The trial for Senna's manslaughter restarted yesterday with the testimony of current World Champion Damon Hill, who was Senna's team mate at the time of the accident. Hill's testimony was favourable to Williams, the track and, for what the video images are concerned, to FOCA as well.
Hill testified fro 3 and a half hours and denied that the steering column breaking might have caused the accident. He said that soon after the accident he and the Williams team examined all the possibilities: the steering column, the assisted steering, the suspensions, the aerodynamics, the possibility that the tyres had deflated because of the slow laps behind the safety car, the possibily of grip loss because of the bumps. Hill did not manage to get a clear idea of what might have caused te accident, but was convinced that the steering column could not have been the cause of the accident.
Hill then said that Senna's steering column was not modified before the Imola race. He said that both his own and Senna's steering columns had been modified before the beginning of the racing season. This confirms what Patrick Head said.
Hill then denied that the assisted steering could have caused the accident. He also said that the video images from Senna's car given by FOCA to the magistrates were exactly the same the Williams team had been given immediately after the accident. Hill then brought forward the theory that Senna might have had problems of oversteering, possibly caused by the cooling down of the tyres and the loss of pressure after the slow laps. Hill pointed out that Senna had appeared to run wide on bumps in a couple of occasions. He then added that the bumps were no bigger than in any other track and that they alone could not have caused the accident.
After Hill, the two consultants Alberto Bucchi and Francesco Bomparola testified on the condition of the track. They said that even using the most conservative of criteria, the track was in perfectly acceptable conditions.
Prosecution magistrate Passarini said that he had asked Alboreto more questions after his testimony. The trial will continue on 3 June with a new examination of films produced by Cineca and by the Williams team.

2 June 1997 The manifestations and shows for the 50 years of Ferrari are over. Tomorrow the cars will leave Rome and go to Fiorano following the old path of the Mille Miglia. All the cars are expected to reach Maranello by 10pm. A number of other shows are planned in Modena and Maranello until the finishing parade on June the 8th.

Last updated on 30 June 1997 by Federica Massagrande