Grand Prix of Europe at Nurburgring

Analysis :
With a mature and cool headed drive Jacques Villeneuve was able to hold off a hard charging Micheal Schumacher for his first win in F1. In doing so he derailed the Damon Hill express, with Hill a distant fourth after a terrible start. A well deserved podium finish went to David Coulthard who made lots of new friends at Mercedes, with McLarens best finish of the season.
Rounding out the points were the Jordans of Rubens Barricello and Martin Brundle, both drivers having a comparatively quiet race.

The same cannot be said for Jean Alesi who crashed out on the first lap, while Benetton teammate Gerhard Berger's woes continued as he trailed home almost a lap down. Mika Hakkinen was not in the running despite good practice times, while the Saubers of Johnny Herbert and Heinz-Harald Frentzen were not a factor. Worse still the two Tyrrells were disqualified for being underweight - by about 1.5 kg ...

Finally Damon Hill's stranglehold on the championship was broken - by the other Williams.....Not a good sign for the other constructors as we get into the main part of the season

Qualifying :
Cloudy, dry
PosDriverNat.TeamTime m:ss.sss
1Damon HillGBRWilliams-Renault1:18.941
2Jacques Villeneuve CANWilliams-Renault1:19.7821
3Michael Schumacher GERFerrari1:20.149
4Jean AlesiFRABenetton-Renault1:20.711
5Rubens BarrichelloBRAJordan-Peugeot1:20.818
6David CoulthardGBRMcLaren-Mercedes1:20.888
7Eddie IrvineIRLFerrari1:20.931
8Gerhard BergerAUTBenetton-Renault1:21.054
9Mika HakkinenFINMcLaren-Mercedes1:21.078
10H-H FrentzenGER Sauber-Ford1:21.113
11Martin BrundleGBRJordan-Puegeot1:21.177
12Johnny HerbertGBRSauber-Ford1:21.210
13Jos VerstappenNEDArrows-Hart1:21.367
14Mika SaloFINTyrrell-Yamaha1:21.458
15Olivier PanisFRALigier-Mugen1:21.509
16Ukyo KatayamaJAPTyrrell-Yamaha1:21.812
17Pedro DinizBRALigier-Mugen1:22.733
18Giancarlo FisichellaITAMinardi-Ford1:22.921
19Pedro LamyPORMinardi-Ford1:23.139
20Ricardo Rosset BRAArrows-Hart1:23.620

107 % rule : DNQ
 Andrea Montermini ITA Forti-Ford 1:25.053
Luca Badoer ITA Forti-Ford 1:25.840

Race : 67 laps
Cool and dry
PosDriverNat.CarTime h:mm:ss.sss
1Jacques VilleneuveCANWilliams-Renault1:33:26.473
2Michael Schumacher GERFerrari1:33:27.235
3David CoulthardGBRMcLaren-Mercedes1:33:59.307
4Damon HillGBRWilliams-Renault1:33:59.984
5Rubens BarrichelloBRAJordan-Peugeot1:34:00.186
6Martin BrundleGBRJordan-Puegeot1:34:22.040
7Johnny HerbertGBRSauber-Ford1:34:44.500
8Mika HakkinenFINMcLaren-Mercedes1:34:44.911
9Gerhard BergerAUTBenetton-Renault1:34:47.534
10Pedro DinizBRALigier-Mugen1 lap down
11Ricardo Rosset BRAArrows-Hart2 laps down
12Pedro LamyPORMinardi-Ford2 laps down
13Giancarlo FisichellaITAMinardi-Ford2 laps down
14H-H FrentzenGER Sauber-Ford59 laps - spun off
15Jos VerstappenNEDArrows-Hart38 laps - ???
16Eddie IrvineIRLFerrari6 laps - collision
17Olivier PanisFRALigier-Mugen6 laps - collision
18Jean AlesiFRABenetton-Renault1 lap - spun off
DQMika SaloFINTyrrell-Yamahaunderweight
DQUkyo KatayamaJAPTyrrell-Yamahaunderweight

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