From: milt@xs4all.nl (Marco Miltenburg)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport.f1
Subject: F1 Today: Thursday familiarisation practice sessions
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 17:15:26 GMT
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The following article has been added to:

  F1 Today
  http://www.xs4all.nl/~milt/formula1

Thursday, 18-Sep-97
-------------------
Today was the first untimed free practice for the Austrian Grand Prix.
Because the track is new and the teams don't know the circuit yet they
are allowed two extra one-hour practice sessions. After their first
taste of the new circuit, the opinions of the drivers seemed to be
divided.

"I have to say that it was better than I expected," said Jos
Verstappen who put in the 18th fastest time of today by clocking a
time of 1:14.266. "It is difficult to tell how the circuit will be by
the end of the weekend. I think the second and third corners are too
slow and the circuit feels very short. It will be almost impossible to
get past anyone on Sunday so that means that Saturday's qualifying
will be vital. The car has been fine today and we have tried a few
things with some success, although I just lost it at the end of the
second session at the last right-hander and took a trip through the
gravel.".

Mika Salo was not happy with the changes they made to the old
Osterreichring: "This used to be one of the best circuit in the
world," said the Finn, "but the changes that they have introduced mean
that it is unrecognizable from the old Osterreichring. There are three
decent corners, but the rest are mainly first and second gear which
stops you getting into any kind of rhythm and the track is so narrow I
don't think anybody will be able to overtake in the race.".

"This circuit is quite interesting," said Jean Alesi, "and a lot
better than we thought before we came here. It is good to learn a new
track and today we made good progress with the car set-up. I am
confident for the weekend ahead of us.". Alesi put in the 4th fastest
time today with a time of 1:12.956.

Gerhard Berger enjoyed the fact that he could race again in front of
his home crowd: "It's nice to be racing in Austria again," said
Berger. "We used this familiarization day to look at a number of
different set-ups and now we have a direction to follow for tomorrow's
practice.".

"The track is better than I expected," said also Michael Schumacher,
"especially the middle section and the last two corners, which are
quite interesting. The two corners after the pit straight however, are
too slow and in general, I found the track very slippery. At the
moment it seems that the circuit favors the Bridgestone tyres, but I
hope that situation might change.". Michael Schumacher was 15th
overall after the two one-hour sessions with a time of 1:13.827.

"This is a fun track to drive and the setting is beautiful," said
Eddie Irvine who posted the 13th fastest time today. "It will be
difficult to overtake here but it will also be easy to make driving
errors which might allow passing maneuvers. The entry and the exit to
the pit lane are particularly tricky. As for our car, I have a bit too
much oversteer as the track is every slippery. It is similar to
Budapest but with a less grip.".

"The track today has been very dirty but it got better with every
lap," said Johnny Herbert. "The circuit doesn't give you that extra
feeling and it's not really exciting to drive. Physically it's easy
and the surface is very smooth. The fact that I tested here for half a
day last year did not give me a real advantage.".

"The track is not as bad as a lot of people said," said Gianni
Morbidelli. "At the moment it is still very slippery but that will
change when there is more rubber on the racing line. Two or three
faster corners are quite nice to drive but the slow corners are not
really fantastic for Formula 1.".

The end conclusion can be that generally all drivers seem to like the
circuit, except the Remus and Gosser Kurve which are very slow. The
Niki Lauda Kurve, Power Horse Kurve, Jochem Rindt Kurve and A1-Kurve
are the favorite corners of the drivers on the Austrian A1-Ring which
feels a little like a short circuit.

Combined results of both sessions are available at:

  http://www.xs4all.nl/~milt/formula/races/round-14.html

---

> Marco Miltenburg, Editor F1 Today
> milt@xs4all.nl