F195 (Collieafc) - Italy quali up + 2nd round of bids!

[Klon]

Anyone who wants their driver to get some hands-on experience is welcome to contact Tyrrell. All we ask for is covering Verstappen's sacking fee.

[Hermann95]

Anyone who wants their driver to get some hands-on experience is welcome to contact Tyrrell. All we ask for is covering Verstappen's sacking fee.

Jordan would like to see Alex Wurz getting some experience.
Would you please tell me how much the sacking costs will be?

[Rated]

Sauber's bids (by respective order)

Engines :
Renault - 2 years - 11m
Mercedes - 3 years - 8m
Peugeot - 1 year - 6m

Test driver :
Emmanuel Collard - 2 years - 1m + Half of the 96 season racing with Simtek + Possible promotion to a Sauber race seat in 1997 if Wendlinger or Schumacher leave the team at the end of 96.
Giancarlo Fisichella - 2 years - 1m + same as Collard
Norberto Fontana - 1 year - 0.5m

We will not be hiring a young driver for 1996.

[Peteroli34]

William's Bids

Engine

Renault - 11M - 2 Years
Mercedes - 9M - 2 Years
Peugeot - 7M - 2 Years

Test Driver

Nicola Larini - 0.75M - 1 Year
Jan Magnussen - 0.5M - 1 Year
Christophe Buchet 0.5M - 1 Year

[Hermann95]

Jordan engine bids:
Mercedes 2 years 8.5m
Mugen Honda 1 year 6m
Peugeot 1 year 6.5m

[Klon]

Anyone who wants their driver to get some hands-on experience is welcome to contact Tyrrell. All we ask for is covering Verstappen's sacking fee.

Jordan would like to see Alex Wurz getting some experience.
Would you please tell me how much the sacking costs will be?

One million in total.

[Ataxia]

Arrows will make the following bids (one year deals unless otherwise stated):

Engines:
Mugen Honda - £6m (2 year deal)
Peugeot - £6m (2 year deal)
Customer Ferrari - £4m (2 year deal)

Driver 1:
Martin Brundle - 2m
Olivier Panis - 1.5m
Mark Blundell - 1m

Driver 2:
Shinji Nakano - ??? - (if Mugen Honda are secured, Nakano will receive the second race seat. If not, then discount this.)
Giancarlo Fisichella - 0.5m (2 years)
Jan Magnussen - 0.5m

[Samster]

We will make only our driver bids now.

Car #27
Jean Alesi - 5m
Jacques Villeneuve - 2m (Once he is avaliable)

Car #28
Giancarlo Fisichella - 1m
Luca Badoer - 1m

Test Driver
Luca Badoer - 0.5m (If he isn't a race driver)

Young Driver
Jarno Trulli

[kevinbotz]

Benetton Driver and Engine Arrangements - 1996

Engine Bids:

Mercedes - Two-year contract - 8,000,000
Peugeot - Two-year contract - 6,000,000
Ford Zetec JD - One-year contract - 5,000,000

Driver Bids:

Driver 1:

Jacques Villeneuve - Two-year contract - 3,000,000
Rubens Barrichello - Two-year contract - 3,000,000
Gerhard Berger - One-year contract - 3,000,000

Test Driver:

Nicola Larini - One-year contract - 750,000
Michele Alboreto - One-year contract - 500,000
Luca Badoer - One-year contract - 500,000

[Hermann95]

Anyone who wants their driver to get some hands-on experience is welcome to contact Tyrrell. All we ask for is covering Verstappen's sacking fee.

Jordan would like to see Alex Wurz getting some experience.
Would you please tell me how much the sacking costs will be?

One million in total.

We would also like to extend our contract with Yamaha and would like to become the two-year contract deal team (if that makes sense).

We would also offer Jean Alesi the number one status with Tyrrell, offering him 4.5 million for two years.

1 million is quite much. I'll offer you 650k.

[Klon]

1 million is quite much. I'll offer you 650k.

Make it 700 because I like round numbers and you got yourself a deal.

[FantometteBR]

Forti's bids

ENGINE
Ford Zetec ECA - 2years - 1,5m
Ford Zetec JD - 2year - 1m
Hart - 1 year - 750k

We are going to wait season's later leg to bid for drivers

[SeedStriker]

Ligier Bids

Engine:
Mugen-Honda (6M, 1 year)
Peugeot (6M, 1year)
Customer Ferrari (4M, 1 year)

Driver1:
Johnny Herbert (1M, 1 year)
Nicola Larini (0.75M, 1year)

Driver2:
Mika Salo (0.75M, 1 year)
David Brabham (0.5M, 1 year)

[Hermann95]

1 million is quite much. I'll offer you 650k.

Make it 700 because I like round numbers and you got yourself a deal.

Call it a deal.

[Klon]

1 million is quite much. I'll offer you 650k.

Make it 700 because I like round numbers and you got yourself a deal.

Call it a deal.

Neat. Collieafc, you heard the man: Jos Verstappen is sacked with direct effect, 0.7m of the fee are paid by ... whatever team Hermann95 runs ... the rest is on Tyrrell's bill. Alexander Wurz takes his spot.

[TomWazzleshaw]

Minardi would like to make the following bids for engines:

Ferrari (4.5M, 2 years)
Ford Zetec JD (4.5M, 2 years)
Ford Zetec ECA (3M, 1 year)

We'd also like to enquire about the availability and financial status of the following drivers for 1996:

Helio Castroneves
Oliver Gavin
Ralph Firman
Richie Hearn
Greg Moore
Norberto Fontana
Vincenzo Sospiri
Ricardo Rosset
Kenny Brack
Toshio Suzuki
Tora Takagi
Tom Kristensen

[Collieafc]

Make it 700 because I like round numbers and you got yourself a deal.

Call it a deal.

Neat. Collieafc, you heard the man: Jos Verstappen is sacked with direct effect, 0.7m of the fee are paid by ... whatever team Hermann95 runs ... the rest is on Tyrrell's bill. Alexander Wurz takes his spot.

Done - The FIA deems Wurz sufficiently experienced to race having participated in private testing with Jordan earlier this year to allow Wurz to get accustomed to a Formula 1 car.

We'd also like to enquire about the availability and financial status of the following drivers for 1996:
...

Funny you say that - several of these drivers were already in the hat for the second round of bidding So I will list the status for each one here

Helio Castroneves - test\young driver only, 0.25m
Oliver Gavin - In round 2 of bidding
Ralph Firman - In round 2 of bidding
Richie Hearn - Favours test\young driver, 0.25m
Greg Moore - 0.5m
Norberto Fontana - In round 3 of bidding
Vincenzo Sospiri - In round 2 of bidding
Ricardo Rosset - In round 3 of bidding
Kenny Brack - In round 2 of bidding
Toshio Suzuki - Pay driver, sponsorship of 2.5m a year, or 0.25m per race up to 1m
Tora Takagi - test\young driver only, 0.25m
Tom Kristensen - 0.5m

[TomWazzleshaw]

We'd also like to enquire about the availability and financial status of the following drivers for 1996:
...

Funny you say that - several of these drivers were already in the hat for the second round of bidding So I will list the status for each one here

Helio Castroneves - test\young driver only, 0.25m
Oliver Gavin - In round 2 of bidding
Ralph Firman - In round 2 of bidding
Richie Hearn - Favours test\young driver, 0.25m
Greg Moore - 0.5m
Norberto Fontana - In round 3 of bidding
Vincenzo Sospiri - In round 2 of bidding
Ricardo Rosset - In round 3 of bidding
Kenny Brack - In round 2 of bidding
Toshio Suzuki - Pay driver, sponsorship of 2.5m a year, or 0.25m per race up to 1m
Tora Takagi - test\young driver only, 0.25m
Tom Kristensen - 0.5m

Ah, solid

In which case, Minardi will place the following bids for drivers for the first car:

Greg Moore: $0.5 mill (1 year)
Mika Salo: $0.5 mill (1 year)
David Brabham: $0.5 mill (1 year)

The fate of the second car will be sorted at a later date.

Also, do Minardi's updated budgets include all of Lamy's paydriver money, or only a portion of it? Finally, we'd like to extend an offer to either Philippe Adams or Olivier Beretta to drive the final four races of the year if results do not improve by Monza

[Salamander]

Simtek will bid on the following engines:

Hart: Two-year contract (2 million)
Ford ED: One-year contract (750k)

We would like to also inquire about how much money Gil de Ferran will be able to bring for a one or two-year contract.

Simtek would also like to inquire to Sauber about the possibility of running Emmanuel Collard or Giancarlo Fisichella for some races in 1996, to assist in preparing them for a potential race seat with Sauber.

We are also open to similar deals from other teams, but Sauber will have priority, due to our previous dealings.

[Collieafc]

Round 9: German Grand Prix - Qualifying report

As the teams returned from the Mid-season test session and formulated their 1996 plans, change was already in the air at Hockenheim with Morbidelli dumped by Ferrari after his Silverstone shenanigans and handing their test driver, the up and coming Luca Badoer a race seat. Collard was again back at Simtek while most surprisingly, Tyrrell axing Jos Verstappen, who have done a deal with Jordan to give their young driver, the inexperienced 21 year old Alex Wurz who has done only a handful of test sessions.

It mattered little at the front though as Williams had a stranglehold on the front row, this time Damon Hill having a crushing qualifying session, almost 3 tenths quicker than team mate Coulthard and over half a second from Schumachers Sauber. Alesi kept 4th place warm as usual but substitute Badoer was an impressive 5th place in his first qualifying outing, with Wendlinger to keep him company on the 3rd row.

That was only the start of the surprises though as second drivers were on a roll today at Hockenheim. Frentzen clocked 7th place, ahead of team mate Berger who is traditionally strong at Hockenheim, and is lined up beside Zanardi, who was ½ a second quicker than Mansell Martini was also on it in 10th, over a second and a half from Hakkinen who had a shocker of qualifying and is down in 16th, behind both Panis Pacific and Blundell’s Arrows. Letho was ahead of Fittipaldi too as the Forti team had real reason to celebrate with their cars easily on the grid in 18th and 21st, Montermini breaking the top 20 and Diniz only a tenth shy. It was a terrible day for Tyrrell with their cars 22nd and 24th while Simtek lined up on the back row, just nudging out Noda. However, with Hockenheim known to be hard on cars anything could happen.

1. Damon Hill - ( Williams Renault ) 1m 44.450
2. David Coulthard - ( Williams Renault ) + 0.295
3. Michael Schumacher - ( Sauber Renault ) + 0.502
4. Jean Alesi - ( Ferrari ) + 0.583
5. Luca Badoer - ( Ferrari ) + 1.163
6. Karl Wendlinger - ( Sauber Renault ) + 1.540
7. Heinz-Harald Frentzen - ( Benetton Ford ) + 2.293
8. Alessandro Zanardi - ( Jordan Mugen-Honda ) + 2.307
9. Gerhard Berger - ( Benetton Ford ) + 2.617
10. Pierluigi Martini - ( McLaren Mercedes ) + 2.918
11. Nigel Mansell - ( Jordan Mugen-Honda ) + 2.951 Only ran on Saturday due to technical problems
12. Eddie Irvine - ( Ligier Peugeot ) + 3.166
13. Martin Brundle - ( Ligier Peugeot ) + 3.293
14. Olivier Panis - ( Pacific Yamaha ) + 3.717
15. Mark Blundell - ( Arrows Ford ) + 4.137
16. Mika Hakkinen - ( McLaren Mercedes ) + 4.595
17. JJ Letho - ( Minardi Ford ) + 4.680
18. Andrea Montermini - ( Forti Ford ) + 4.845
19. Taki Inoue - ( Larrousse Hart ) + 4.971
20. Christian Fittipaldi - ( Minardi Ford ) + 5.008
21. Pedro Diniz - ( Forti Ford ) + 5.141
22. Ukyo Katayama - ( Tyrrell Yamaha ) + 5.178
23. Jean-Marc Gounon - ( Larrousse Hart ) + 5.384
24. Alex Wurz - ( Tyrrell Yamaha ) + 5.429
25. Emmanual Collard - ( Simtek Ford ) + 5.766 Only ran on Saturday due to technical problems
26. Gil De Ferran - ( Simtek Ford ) + 5.839
DNQ Hideki Noda - ( Pacific Yamaha ) + 6.056
DNQ Massimiliano Papis - ( Arrows Ford ) + 6.814

NOTE: I have been unexpectedly busy this week - I have already run the test values and applied them but not yet emailed them. I thought it would be good to at least put qualifying results up. Remember all markets are still open!

[tristan1117]

Hi guys, I've been really pressed for time recently due to the stresses of applying for college ('tis the season!), so I'm afraid I don't have enough time to pay close attention to the PMMF at the moment. If someone wishes to take over Larrousse, he or she can do so. Thanks Collieafc, this series is fantastic!

[Rated]

Edited my bids for the test drivers.
We will offer $500k to Simtek if they run Collard or Fisichella (depending on which one signs with us) for half a season. Simtek will be able to decide which rounds the driver will compete in.

[Collieafc]

Update: Thats me mailed everybodys stats out now updated to the start of German GP qualifying

We would like to also inquire about how much money Gil de Ferran will be able to bring for a one or two-year contract.

Simtek would also like to inquire to Sauber about the possibility of running Emmanuel Collard or Giancarlo Fisichella for some races in 1996, to assist in preparing them for a potential race seat with Sauber.

We are also open to similar deals from other teams, but Sauber will have priority, due to our previous dealings.

And I just realied I ignored your question about De Ferran apologies.
De Ferran may bring sponsorship up to 2m plus salary, subject to a successful RNG test (done when signing is confirmed)

Edited my bids for the test drivers.
We will offer $500k to Simtek if they run Collard or Fisichella (depending on which one signs with us) for half a season. Simtek will be able to decide which rounds the driver will compete in.

Salamander and Rated: To help clarify for the 1996 season, you do not have to have two drivers contracted for a full year - e.g you are allowed to sign/loan a driver for 5 races then choose to sign another for 3. The only limits are finances and your driver count. So the above is totally ok.

Hi guys, I've been really pressed for time recently due to the stresses of applying for college ('tis the season!), so I'm afraid I don't have enough time to pay close attention to the PMMF at the moment. If someone wishes to take over Larrousse, he or she can do so. Thanks Collieafc, this series is fantastic!

Dont worry, real life and especially education comes first! And besides you managed a better job of managing Larrousse than your real life counterparts as you survived into 1995!

Your more than welcome to rejoin the game at a later date - there probably wont be any new teams for 1996 but there will be 2 for 1997. Speaking of which, Andrew is next on the waiting list for the Larrousse seat so I will PM

[Salamander]

Edited my bids for the test drivers.
We will offer $500k to Simtek if they run Collard or Fisichella (depending on which one signs with us) for half a season. Simtek will be able to decide which rounds the driver will compete in.

Simtek will accept this offer. I'll edit in a full list of driver offers to this post tomorrow.

Drivers:
All drivers will be asked to bring as much money as possible. These offers are for the first car only - the second car will be dealt with when/if Collard or Fisichella sign with Sauber.

1. Gil de Ferran - 750k; 2 years
2. Tom Kristensen - 500k; 1 year
3. Dario Franchitti - 500k; 1 year

[Klon]

I figured it is more convenient to have a dedicated post for my round one offers:

Engines:
Yamaha - 3m; 2 Years (this offer only applies for the two-year deal, Tyrrell won't accept a one-year contract)
Customer Ferrari - 4m; 1 Year

Drivers:
Jean Alesi - 5m; 2 Years; 1st Driver
Nigel Mansell - 5m; 2 Years; 1st Driver
Helio Castroneves - 0.5m; 2 Years; Test Driver (Tyrrell guarantees to use him at one Grand Prix during the duration of the contract)

[pi314159]

Driver 1:
Olivier Panis - 1 500 000 (2 years)


Driver 2:
will be a pay driver, to be announced later

Engines:
Peugeot - 6 000 000
Mugen Honda - 6 000 000
Ford Zetec JD - 5 000 000

[takagi_for_the_win]

Marlboro McLaren's plans for 1996

Engine
Mercedes - 8 million, 2 years
Mugen-Honda - 6 million, 2 years
Renault - 10 million, 1 year

Drivers
Jean Alesi - 4 million, 2 years (equal team leader if Hakkinen re-signs, if not will be de facto number one)

Test drivers
Giancarlo Fisichella - 1 million, 2 years (possibility of being loaned out for portion of first season, possibility of promotion to race seat for second season)
Shinji Nakano - As dictated to by Mugen

Young Driver
Seeing as I've not done this before, I've no clue what I'm meant to state therefore, apologies in advance for if/when I make a bollocks of it.

(In order of preference)
Nick Heidfeld
Jarno Trulli
Ralf Schumacher
Mark Webber

[Collieafc]

Also, do Minardi's updated budgets include all of Lamy's paydriver money, or only a portion of it? Finally, we'd like to extend an offer to either Philippe Adams or Olivier Beretta to drive the final four races of the year if results do not improve by Monza

I must be getting blind in my middle-aging as I missed this one too Apologies. Minardi's 1995 budget does include all of Lamy's pay money. He does still have contracted races to receive however.

Marlboro McLaren's plans for 1996
Seeing as I've not done this before, I've no clue what I'm meant to state therefore, apologies in advance for if/when I make a bollocks of it.

(In order of preference)
Nick Heidfeld
Jarno Trulli
Ralf Schumacher
Mark Webber

Thats ok, strictly speaking you do not need to say anything. The original post for the criteria is buried in the 1994 thread, so I have looked it out and updated it, as it would be good for reference. Unless stated otherwise, I'll assume the bids are at 0.2m for 1 year.

YOUNG DRIVERS

Due to several requests by teams, the FIA has decided to trial the idea of youth drivers for 1995, whereby teams are allowed to recruit one young driver in addition to a test driver. These drivers can be loaned out to other teams to use as a test driver as the team they are contracted to sees fit – this will also aid the driver in obtaining an FIA Super Licence if they participate in enough testing sessions (though it is not a guarantee the driver will be granted one).

The driver is not necessarily eligible to participate in an actual race – this will be addressed by the FIA on a case-by-case basis. For guidance, if they have tested enough or have a long enough history in previous motorsport categories then they will be allowed to race.

For a driver to be eligible for the young driver scheme, the following criteria must be met:
• The driver must turn 18 at some point in 1996 to be old enough and no older than 25 before signing.
• The driver is paid a minimum salary of no less than 200,000 (0.2m) but can be greater than this value. (This has been lowered from 0.25m)
• The driver does not bring sponsorship money to the team (you CAN recruit pay drivers who fit the other criteria, but they will not bring any money to the team they are contracted to.)
• The driver can only be contracted for a maximum of 2 seasons as a young driver. Similarly a young driver can only be part of the scheme for two years total, regardless of age or how many teams he has been contracted to.
• The driver has a reasonable background in motor racing (e.g previously raced a season in a Formula 3 category, F3000, won at Macau etc. This is to the discretion of the FIA as to what is allowed).

[Collieafc]

Round 9: German Grand Prix - Race Report

The cars complete their parade lap and take their grid slots…and away they go! Hill makes a brilliant start and keeps the lead as Schumacher muscles Coulthard out of 2nd place as they enter the first corner as the field gets through cleanly. Alesi has already dropped to 7th but Badoer is also on the attack as he passes Coulthard down the first straight and takes 3rd in a brilliant start to his Ferrari debut! Zanardi also passes Wendlinger to take 5th place, but somebody is off in the gravel! Its Hakkinen! Hes collided with somebody and is out after a miserable weekend. Lets take a look…

On the run down to the end of the first straight, Hakkinen is just ahead of Montermini in 17th but chops in front of the Forti, totally unaware of its presence and leaves Montermini nowhere to go but the back of the McLaren. Montermini is able to continue in what was careless driving by the Finn.

Back at the front Schumacher is harassing Hill as MAYHEM! Theres a massive pile up at Bremskurve 2 as Brundle Panis and Martini all fight for the same bit of tarmac as the McLaren and Ligier sandwich the Pacific and launch it upwards, one of the rear wheels flying off! Theres even talk of a red flag but Forti would protest as Andrea Montermini is already up to 13th with Inoue close behind! Panis however is out and Pacific are already packing up for the day.

Coming up to the stadium section and Schumacher starts to outdrag Hill on the approach and has the inside line! The crowd goes wild as the Sauber takes the lead! Both are already clear of Badoer who in turn has space between now 4th placed Wendlinger as Coulthard loses another place and has to fend off Alesi. Mansell has quietly got himself ahead of both Benettons too as further down we see that Martini is down in last place.

Starting lap 2 and Coulthard attempts to regain 4th from Wendlinger while holding back Alesi and the 2 Jordans. Hill hasn’t dropped far from Schumacher though thanks to slipstreaming and superior cornering from the Williams. Badoer’s Ferrari outing though is already over as he suffers transmission problems and is out from 3rd place. Coulthard uses this as a chance to pass Wendlinger and reassume 3rd place. Alesi also has a go at Wendlinger and makes it through on lap 3. Mansell is caught napping by Berger and is almost immediately passed by the two Benettons as Frentzen also catches him unawares.

Schumacher and Hill are already 5 seconds clear of the field on lap 4 but the grid further down has been shuffled with Blundell 12th followed by Inoue and the two Forti’s Diniz capitalising on other drivers battling to catch them unawares but is now under attack from Letho and a raging Martini. Frentzen though damages his front wing when he goes wide at turn 1 meaning an unscheduled pitstop which will drop him down the order as the field starts to stretch out, Martini aside. Theres battles at the back though as Gounon the two Tyrrells and Fittipaldi tussle for 17th.

Lap 7 and De Ferran makes what appears to be an unscheduled first stop while Wurz also suffers a premature end to his first F1 race with a puncture at bremskurve 1, possibly from debris from one of the earlier incidents while Brundle drops out of 10th place with a water leak from his car. Meanwhile Inoue is also on the move and is locked in a fierce battle with Letho for 11th place but with a hard charging Martini catching them both, while Frentzen has passed Collard, Katayama and Fittipaldi to already move up to 16th place on lap 9. No such luck for Montermini though as his brilliant weekend drive to 14th is snatched by his Ford Zetec suddenly exploding at the Bremskurve 2 as Frentzen whizzes past the sister Forti of Diniz while Ferrari are gone completely from the race when Alesi retires on lap 10 when his left rear suspension collapses after taking a kerb too fast. Just one lap later, Martini also pulls over on lap 10 when chasing Inoue for 12th when his left right tyre suffers a slow puncture in a race which already seems to be succumbing to the Hockenheim attrition

Amazingly Inoue also suffers wheel trouble on the same lap in the form of a wheel bearing and is the next to retire leaving only 17 cars left when Schumacher starts his 12th lap, 5 seconds ahead of Hill who is another 5 from teammate Coulthard. Frentzen has made full use of this and back up to 11th already as he continues to slice through the field. Irvine makes the first scheduled fuel stop of the day from 8th place, handing it over to the Arrows of Mark Blundell, who has also taken advantage of others misfortunes. Letho follows suit from 11th while Frentzen passes both pitters to take 9th place. The order up front though is unchanged with Zanardi still heading Berger and Mansell for 5th, the trio never too close as to be a danger to each other, despite lapping De Ferran. Diniz though suddenly drops down from 12th on lap 17 as his Forti develops a problem – he is able to make it to the pits though and continue, though it has further compounded Forti’s once hopeful weekend. They take advantage of this though and fuel the Brazilian until the end of the race.

Frentzen has now caught up with Blundells Arrows on lap 19 as Schumacher makes his only planned stop of the day and rejoins in 4th place. Crucially Berger also pits from 6th but Mansell appears unable to capitalise on this and stays behind his team mate Zanardi. Frentzen passes Blundell by simply driving round the Arrows car in a show of Benetton force while Wendlinger pits on lap 21 from 3rd while Zanardi does likewise from 5th. Crucially for the Jordan team their customary slick pitwork ensures the Italian stays ahead of Berger. Gounon meanwhile drops out with when an oil leak causes his Larrousse to suddenly catch fire in the stadium section as the track seems to get emptier by each lap.

Mansell pits later than Zanardi on lap 22 and even better for the Jordan team they manage to leapfrog the Brit past Berger too with some exemplary team work. Berger though doesn’t take it lying down and the pair go down the first straight side by side! Berger looks like he has the advantage but Mansell outbrakes him superbly at the bremskurve 1! They approach the second one and BERGER SLOWS! Berger drops out with transmission failure, quickly putting an end to that battle, as Hill now pits from the lead. Williams however have made a bit of a fiasco of their strategy though as Coulthard also comes in! The Scot though seems to have a problem with his car while Hill’s stop looks routine. Coulthard has to queue but only for 2 seconds, but that may cost him as he tries to come out ahead of Wendlinger!

Williams are lucky for now though and Coulthard comes out in 3rd place. Irvine inherits 7th place when Frentzen and Blundell pit but only for 1 lap as he becomes the next retiree with an engine failure. Katayama also parks it on the same lap to reduce the field to 13, or half, at just over half distance on lap 24.

This figure drops down again on lap 26 as Blundells brilliant climb to 8th ends in a gearbox failure, the Arrows driver losing out in a possible point, with the level of attrition in this race. This Allows Letho to fill the void, who is also having a noteworthy grand prix. This goes up to 7th on lap 30 when Zanardi is next to fall with his best Jordan performance to date ending with a gearbox problem. This also elevates several other backmarkers to unusual heights with Minardi 7th and 8th, Collards Simtek 9th and Diniz’s Forti in 10th, albeit of 11 runners.

Lethos weekend takes a sudden nosedive on lap 32 when the dreaded 7th place curse strikes again with yet another engine failure today, the long straights of Hockenheim really starting to take their toll on their cars, with only 10 left. What’s more, its Minardi team mate Fittipaldi who is next for 7th place, but can he make it work to his advantage like he did last year?

Collard though doesn’t see the flag as he pulls over from 8th place with a water leak to leave only 9 runners left by lap 38. All these retirements seem to have no effect on the front though with Schumacher comfortably running 11 seconds ahead of Hill woth Coulthatd a further 20 behind. It stays like this as we enter lap 41…FRENTZEN! Frentzens Benetton is pouring masses of smoke after the second Bremskurve! He pulls over and is out! Fittipaldi’s Hockenheim blessing strikes again and the Minardi team find themselves in possestion of a very rare constructors point! Can Fittipaldi hold on?

Michael Schumacher does though and wins the 1995 German Grand Prix to the delight of the home fans who go wild. Hill is 2nd in what was a competitive drive none the less and compared to the start of the year is closing in on the Sauber team. Coulthard takes 3rd in a fairly average performance while Wendlinger has a lonely race to take 4th while Mansell is 5th after good Jordan pitwork and tactics turned out to be moot, and retake 3rd place in their tight battle with Ferrari. But its Fittipaldi who takes 6th and the final points position, and going by the Minardi teams reaction you would think they have won the race! With 1995 being an extremely hard season for points, Minardi are only the 7th team this year to score any and this 1 point could make a massive difference. Diniz is a noteworthy 7th for Forti which could also prove to be very significant for countback, but lets not forget Forti have performed well all weekend and deserve something for their hard work. De Ferran rounds off the field after a weekend littered with issues though none of his making.

Classification after 45 laps

1 . Michael Schumacher - ( Sauber Renault ) 1h 23m 34.659
2 . Damon Hill - ( Williams Renault ) + 13.896
3 . David Coulthard - ( Williams Renault ) + 36.625
4 . Karl Wendlinger - ( Sauber Renault ) - 52.337
5 . Nigel Mansell - ( Jordan Mugen-Honda ) - 1:16.661
6 . Christian Fittipaldi - ( Minardi Ford ) - 2 laps
7 . Pedro Diniz - ( Forti Ford ) - 2 laps
8 . Gil De Ferran - ( Simtek Ford ) - 2 laps
9 . Heinz-Harald Frentzen - ( Benetton Ford ) - 5 laps Engine
Emmanual Collard - ( Simtek Ford ) - Water Leak
JJ Letho - ( Minardi Ford ) - Engine
Alessandro Zanardi - ( Jordan Mugen-Honda ) - Transmission
Mark Blundell - ( Arrows Ford ) - Transmission
Eddie Irvine - ( Ligier Peugeot ) - Engine
Ukyo Katayama - ( Tyrrell Yamaha ) - Electrical
Gerhard Berger - ( Benetton Ford ) - Transmission
Jean-Marc Gounon - ( Larrousse Hart ) - Oil Leak
Taki Inoue - ( Larrousse Hart ) - Wheel Bearing
Jean Alesi - ( Ferrari ) - Suspension
Pierluigi Martini - ( McLaren Mercedes ) - Puncture
Andrea Montermini - ( Forti Ford ) - Engine
Martin Brundle - ( Ligier Peugeot ) - Water Leak
Alex Wurz - ( Tyrrell Yamaha ) - Puncture
Luca Badoer - ( Ferrari ) - Transmission
Olivier Panis - ( Pacific Yamaha ) - Collision
Mika Hakkinen - ( McLaren Mercedes ) - Collision

Fastest lap: Michael Schumacher - ( Sauber Renault ) - 1:49.864

Drivers Championship - Top 6
1st : Michael Schumacher - 61
2nd : Karl Wendlinger - 39
3rd : Damon Hill - 33
4th : Jean Alesi - 28
5th : David Coulthard - 26
6th : Nigel Mansell - 24

Constructors Championship - Points scorers
1st : Sauber Renault - 100
2nd : Williams Renault - 59
3rd : Jordan Mugen-Honda - 32
4th : Ferrari - 31
5th : Benetton Ford - 9
6th : McLaren Mercedes - 2
7th : Minardi Ford - 1

Note: Before everybody rushes for a reliability upgrade, Bear in mind Hockenheim is Hockenheim.

[Peteroli34]

Williams will head to Silverstone and undertake a Race pace upgrade

[FantometteBR]

It was that close, Pedro! Too close!

[Salamander]

A DNF-fest and Simtek finishes. Huh. Didn't think I'd see that.

[andrew]

I'll be interested in Larousse

[Collieafc]

I'll be interested in Larousse

Excellent. I will post post you the details of the car and team from the latest test.

I will push the deadline for the closing of first bids until AFTER the Hungarian GP, to allow extra time for Larrousse after their management change. Although driver bids are not compulsory or even essential (yet) engine bids are recommended due to limited availability!

[andrew]

Right for engines we will go for the cheapest options

Hart (listed price)
Ford Ed (listed price)
Yamaha (listed price)

All are being offered a 2 year deal p.


Drivers will come later as the new Larrouse management would like a rundown on all current running contracts.

[Collieafc]

Right for engines we will go for the cheapest options

Hart (listed price)
Ford Ed (listed price)
Yamaha (listed price)

All are being offered a 2 year deal p.


Drivers will come later as the new Larrouse management would like a rundown on all current running contracts.

Thats me sent your car stats now. As for the contracts, all 3 of your drivers contracts expire at the end of 1995.

A quick note to all, the next RACE will not be until at least Sunday. So you have until then at least to finalise bids. It may be run even later but thats the earliest bidding will close.

[Salamander]

Okay, to confirm, these will be Simtek's offers

Engines
1. Ford Zetec ECA - 2.5m; 1 year
2. Hart - 2m; 2 years
3. Ford ED - 750k; 1 year

Drivers
1. Gil de Ferran - 750k; 2 years
2. Tom Kristensen - 500k; 1 year
3. Dario Franchitti - 500k; 1 year

[Collieafc]

Round 10: Hungarian Grand Prix - Qualifying Report

As teams were busy negotiating with drivers and engine suppliers in the paddock, on the track it was David Coulthard who netted another pole position for Williams and his 5th of the season so far. However in an unusual occurance it was a dead heat for the second slot on the front row between Hill and Schumacher, though it was an all Williams front row again as Hill had set his time first. Alesi was in is usual 4th place but behind it was Berger who had put in a stunning performance to seize 5th place alongside Badoer for the Benetton team. Indeed it was a good qualifying session all round for the Enstone outfit as Frentzen was successful in pushing out an unusually out of form Wendlinger for 7th place, the Austrian not comfortable at the Hungaroring. Zanardi again beat Mansell whilst Hakkinen also beat the Brit to the top 10.

Further down, Brundle managed to outperform one of the McLarens to bag 12th whilst FIttipaldi made use of his Hockenheim momentum to take 15th. De Ferran once more had the better of Herbert in Qualifying and squeezed into the top 20, Gounon likewise for Larrouse and Papis managed to once again make the grid. Forti were on a downer from Germany though with Montermini 24th and Diniz failed to make the grid by 3/4 of a second.

1. David Coulthard - ( Williams Renault ) 1m 17.985
2. Damon Hill - ( Williams Renault ) + 0.402
3. Michael Schumacher - ( Sauber Renault ) + 0.402
4. Jean Alesi - ( Ferrari ) + 0.837
5. Gerhard Berger - ( Benetton Ford ) + 1.683
6. Luca Badoer - ( Ferrari ) + 1.763
7. Heinz-Harald Frentzen - ( Benetton Ford ) + 2.244
8. Karl Wendlinger - ( Sauber Renault ) + 2.283
9. Alessandro Zanardi - ( Jordan Mugen-Honda ) + 2.323
10. Mika Hakkinen - ( McLaren Mercedes ) + 2.399
11. Nigel Mansell - ( Jordan Mugen-Honda ) + 2.444
12. Martin Brundle - ( Ligier Peugeot ) + 2.677
13. Pierluigi Martini - ( McLaren Mercedes ) + 2.841
14. Eddie Irvine - ( Ligier Peugeot ) + 2.878
15. Christian Fittipaldi - ( Minardi Ford ) + 3.207
16. Ukyo Katayama - ( Tyrrell Yamaha ) + 3.237
17. JJ Letho - ( Minardi Ford ) + 3.640
18. Mark Blundell - ( Arrows Ford ) + 4.039
19. Olivier Panis - ( Pacific Yamaha ) + 4.124 Only ran on Friday due to technical problems
20. Gil De Ferran - ( Simtek Ford ) + 4.243
21. Alex Wurz - ( Tyrrell Yamaha ) + 4.402
22. Jean-Marc Gounon - ( Larrousse Hart ) + 5.088
23. Taki Inoue - ( Larrousse Hart ) + 5.453
24. Andrea Montermini - ( Forti Ford ) + 5.570
25. Johnny Herbert - ( Simtek Ford ) + 5.685
26. Massimiliano Papis - ( Arrows Ford ) + 6.167
DNQ Hideki Noda - ( Pacific Yamaha ) + 6.208
DNQ Pedro Diniz - ( Forti Ford ) + 6.851

[Collieafc]

Round 10: Hungarian Grand Prix - Race Report part 1

The drivers wait as the lights go red, then…GO! Hill appears to get a good start but its nothing on Jean Alesi who out of nowhere is side by side with the two Williams towards the first corner with the inside line and takes the lead! What a start from the Ferrari as Coulthard eventually shuffles out Hill to 2nd. Frentzen has also made up a place to 6th as the Benettons hold their ground whilst Wendlinger is battling with Zanardi to hold 8th place as they go side by side on the straight past turn 3 but Wendlinger holds on! Panis is down in last place missing his rear wing, lets see what happened….

At the start, it appears the Frenchman was slow off the line while Wurz behind was too eager and has run straight into the back of the Pacific! Very amateurish and will no doubt play into Wurz critics hands who feel the Austrian is too inexperienced for F1.

At the end of lap 1 its still Alesi in the lead but Coulthard pulls right alongside into turn 1 and makes it stick as he takes the lead! Schumacher performs the same trick on Hill and manages to gain 3rd place whilst Badoer regains 6th spot with Mansell silently now up to 9th, though Wendlinger now pulling away. Coulthard is already a second aheaqd of the Ferrari as Alesi now has Schumacher and Hill to contend with. Indeed Schumachers Sauber is almost welded to the Ferrari’s gearbox before squeezing past at turn 1 on the start of lap 4. Berger is already in a race of his own as he pulls away from the Badoer-Frentzen scrap but is falling back from the leading quartet.

Papis is the first retirement on lap 5 with a water leak as he parks his Arrows at the pit wall whilst Herbert pits for a new nose after losing it trying to get past the stricken Arrows. Meanwhile Wendlinger is under a lot of pressure from Mansells Jordan but both have now caught up on Frentzen and Badoer for 6th place. Wendlinger tries an audacious pass after turn 3 but Frentzen shuts the door and is so distracted by the Sauber and Jordan that Badoer takes advantage by making a gap. Wendlinger waits until lap 7 and takes the Benetton at the first corner, with Mansell almost following suit but Frentzen sees him just in time.

Lap 8 and Hill finally gets past Alesi’s Ferrari to move up to 3rd while further down, Katayama is on the move, with the Tyrrell driver now up to 12 and catching 11th placed Zanardi, who has been bested by Hakkinens McLaren for 10th. Does the Jordan have some sort of problem? Mansell doesn’t though as he also passes Frentzen and still continues to harass Wendlinger as the pair slowly make ground on Badoer while WENDLINGER! Wendlinger is off at the back of the circuit in what looks like a huge shunt on lap 9! Lets have a look…

Wendlinger is holding off Mansell for 7th but uncharacteristically outbrakes himself into the chicane and crashes down on the kerbs, breaking his suspension but he ends up in the path of Mansell who has nowhere to go but into the stricken Sauber! Wendlinger loses a wheel and is out while Mansell is almost brought to a standstill but is able to keep going, although Frentzen regains 7th in the process. Thankfully Wendlinger is ok as he gets out of the car before the marshalls have even arrived but that was the danger of him qualifying so badly – more chance of incidents like this.

Another driver who is going backwards is Martini who has now slipped behind Fittipaldis Minardi and lies 14th as Mansell already makes up lost ground and takes Frentzen on lap 11 to retake 7th place. At the front, Coulthard, in the break from the norm, is actually pulling away from Schumachers Sauber but its unknown if he is on the same strategy, plus the pair are now hitting traffic. Badoer retires on lap 7, both his Ferrari routings ruined by transmission problems.

Coulthard is absolutely pushing his Williams to breaking point here as he desperately tries to build a gap from the Sauber but each time he does he is thwarded by traffic. Hill is in the same situation with Alesi as the pair intervene in a battle for 20th between Montermini, Gounon and Panis. No such worries for Katayama, whos 10th place becomes more secure as Brundle drops back with a sick sounding Ligier before pitting. Wurz is also out too on lap 17 with an electrical problem but is already under investigation for his first lap shunt with Panis.

Classification after 18 laps - Top 6
1 . David Coulthard - ( Williams Renault )
2 . Michael Schumacher - ( Sauber Renault )
3 . Damon Hill - ( Williams Renault )
4 . Jean Alesi - ( Ferrari )
5 . Gerhard Berger - ( Benetton Ford )
6 . Nigel Mansell - ( Jordan Mugen-Honda )

[Collieafc]

Round 10: Hungarian Grand Prix - Race report part 2

Coulthard makes the first fuel stop of the day on lap 20, handing the lead over to Schumacher and comes out in 5th, right behind Bergers Benetton. Approaching Inoue’s Larrousse Coulthard starts to make a move but Berger blocks the Williams by lapping the Japanese driver. Coulthard then laps AND COLLIDES! Inoue didn’t see Coulthard and closes the door, taking off the Williams front wing! What a disaster for the Scot and he will have to pit again, ruining his good work today so far! The escapade sees him drop to 9th, just ahead of Katayama’s Tyrrell.

Indeed, traffic is becoming an increasing problem as Hill and Alesi almost have a similar incident with Lethos Williams while Schumacher gets held up when trying to lap a brutal scrap between Blundell and De Ferran for 14th. By the time Hill and Alesi make the pair, Brundle has joined them in 16th. The traffic is so bad that Ferrari elect to pit Alesi early on lap 23, which may be a smart move considering Hill loses almost 3 seconds on that lap alone due to backmarker battles. Gounon however isn’t one of them as he pulls over with a puncture.

Alesi is now in 5th place as Coulthard takes 7th from Hakkinen on lap 25, the Williams breezing past on the start finish straight. Berger pits from 3rd on the next lap and comes out in 8th place but with the knowledge that those ahead still need to stop. Alesi doesn’t even wait that long as he blasts past Mansell on the same lap to take 3rd while Berger only waits one lap before passing Hakkinen. Schumacher is in on lap 29, handing the lead over to Hill whilst Brundles charge through the field takes him past team mate Irvine for 12th before his first stop one lap later. Indeed Irvine seems to not be paying full attention as Katayama, fresh from his stop passes the Ligier in a beautiful move on the chicane for 13th!

Hill now has some rare clear track and is pushing for his first stop as Mansell is the next frontrunner in. The Williams comes in on lap 31 buts for nothing as not just Schumacher, but Alesi gets past too, the Ferrari’s strategic gamble so far paying off, but a lot of fuel went into that Williams compared to the leading pair, suggesting a different strategy.

With the field settling down, Mansell starts catching Berger for 5th place and passes him on lap 41 with such ease that the Jordan is either on a different strategy or the Benetton has some sort of a problem.

The answer is made clear on lap 46 when Mansell makes his second stop of the day along with Frentzen and Hakkinen behind them. Alesi pits on lap 51, which then hands 2nd place back to Hill, with the 2-stop of Ferrari losing out to the Williams 1-stop. Coulthard takes 3rd too but duly pits on lap 53 as Blundell retires his Arrows with an engine failure. Schumacher also makes his stop and comfortably retains the lead whilst Berger pits on lap 54, finally surrendering 5th to Mansell for good, the Englishman quietly deploying the Jordans pace during the race to catch up.

But only for 1 lap as Berger gets 5th place back when Hill suffers a rare Renault engine failure, the car billowing smoke before erupting into flames, rendering the strategy war between Williams and Ferrari moot. It gets worse for Williams as Coulthard suffers a spin at the chicane on lap 59 and ends up the wrong way. However he quickly gathers it up and retains his 3rd place, still easily ahead of Mansells Jordan. Further down, theres a brutal battle for 14th between Panis and De Ferran that has simmered for the last 5 laps – De Ferran is the faster of the two but the Yamaha engine is just too much for the Ford down the start finish straight. In fact the battle refuses to stop, despite Frentzen intervening on lap 66 to lap the pair.

No such drama though for Michael Schumacher, who wins the Hungarian Grand Prix with another crushing performance in the Sauber and his 7th of the season, which could be shaping up to be one of breaking records. 2nd place goes to Jean Alesi who has been brilliant since the lights went green and once more puts Ferrari in 3rd place in the constructors title, as well as himself in the drivers. Coulthard is 3rd but 2nd could have been his if not for his earlier collision whilst Mansell takes a stealthy 4th place to keep the pressure on Ferrari. Berger is 5th and Frentzen 6th to cap a superb weekend for the Benetton team who deserve their points today. Further down, Katayama takes a notable 9th place while Brundles superb charge takes him to a well deserved 10th place. In the end, Panis won out against De Ferran for 14th place.

Classification after 77 Laps

1 . Michael Schumacher - ( Sauber Renault ) 1h 47m 38.484
2 . Jean Alesi - ( Ferrari ) + 59.272
3 . David Coulthard - ( Williams Renault ) + 1:03.234
4 . Nigel Mansell - ( Jordan Mugen-Honda ) - 1 lap
5 . Gerhard Berger - ( Benetton Ford ) - 1 lap
6 . Heinz-Harald Frentzen - ( Benetton Ford ) - 1 lap
7 . Mika Hakkinen - ( McLaren Mercedes ) - 1 lap
8 . Alessandro Zanardi - ( Jordan Mugen-Honda ) - 2 laps
9 . Ukyo Katayama - ( Tyrrell Yamaha ) - 2 laps
10 . Martin Brundle - ( Ligier Peugeot ) - 2 laps
11 . Pierluigi Martini - ( McLaren Mercedes ) - 3 laps
12 . Christian Fittipaldi - ( Minardi Ford ) - 3 laps
13 . Eddie Irvine - ( Ligier Peugeot ) - 3 laps
14 . Olivier Panis - ( Pacific Yamaha ) - 3 laps
15 . Gil De Ferran - ( Simtek Ford ) - 4 laps
16 . Andrea Montermini - ( Forti Ford ) - 5 laps
17 . Johnny Herbert - ( Simtek Ford ) - 5 laps
18 . Taki Inoue - ( Larrousse Hart ) - 5 laps
Damon Hill - ( Williams Renault ) - Engine
Mark Blundell - ( Arrows Ford ) - Engine
JJ Letho - ( Minardi Ford ) - Suspension
Jean-Marc Gounon - ( Larrousse Hart ) - Puncture
Alex Wurz - ( Tyrrell Yamaha ) - Electrical
Luca Badoer - ( Ferrari ) - Transmissiom
Karl Wendlinger - ( Sauber Renault ) - Crashed Out
Massimiliano Papis - ( Arrows Ford ) - Water Leak

Fastest lap: David Coulthard - ( Williams Renault ) - 1:20.903

Drivers Championship - Top 6
1st : Michael Schumacher - 71
2nd : Karl Wendlinger - 39
3rd : Jean Alesi - 34
4th : Damon Hill - 33
5th : David Coulthard - 30
6th : Nigel Mansell - 27

Constructors Championship - Points scorers
1st : Sauber Renault - 110
2nd : Williams Renault - 63
3rd : Ferrari - 37
4th : Jordan Mugen-Honda - 35
5th : Benetton Ford - 12
6th : McLaren Mercedes - 2
7th : Minardi Ford - 1