Portugese Grand Prix

Analysis :
In a generally pedestrian race, Jacques Villeneuve did all that was expected of him, taking the victory from soon to be ex-teammate Damon Hill and taking the Championship fight to the last race of the season.
In the races only real battle Micheal Schumacher held off the charging Benetton of Jean Alesi for the final podium position. A very happy fifth was Eddie Irvine who finished for the first time since Monaco, while Gerhard Berger took the final point.
Suprisingly just four cars failed to finish with Rubens Barrichello and Pedro Diniz spinning off, Jos Verstappen losing yet another Hart engine and most bizarre of all, Mika Hakkinen, who collided with teammate David Coulthard.

And so it comes down to Japan.
Will Damon Hill become the latest Williams driver to take the #1 with him following Nelson Piquet (to Lotus), Nigel Mansell (to IndyCar) and Alain Prost (to retirement) ?
Or will Renault get their wish and Jacques Villeneuve will carry the #1 for their last season in F1 ?
All we can ask for is a clean, fair fight in Suzuka.....

Qualifying :
Wet, then dry, then wet!
PosDriverNat.TeamTime m:ss.sss
1Damon HillGBRWilliams-Renault1:20.330
2Jacques Villeneuve CANWilliams-Renault1:20.339
3Jean AlesiFRABenetton-Renault1:21.088
4Michael SchumacherGERFerrari1:21.236
5Gerhard BergerAUTBenetton-Renault1:21.293
6Eddie IrvineIRLFerrari1:21.362
7Mika HakkinenFINMcLaren-Mercedes1:21.640
8David CoulthardGBRMcLaren-Mercedes1:22.066
9Rubens BarrichelloBRAJordan-Peugeot1:22.205
10Martin BrundleGBRJordan-Peugeot1:22.324
11H-H FrentzenGER Sauber-Ford1:22.325
12Johnny HerbertGBRSauber-Ford1:22.655
13Mika SaloFINTyrrell-Yamaha1:22.765
14Ukyo KatayamaJAPTyrrell-Yamaha1:23.013
15Olivier PanisFRALigier-Mugen1:23.055
16Jos VerstappenNEDTWR-Hart1:23.531
17Ricardo RossetBRATWR-Hart1:24.230
18Pedro DinizBRALigier-Mugen1:24.293
19Pedro LamyPORMinardi-Ford1:24.510
20 Gianni LavaggiITAMinardi-Ford1:25.612

107 % rule : 1:25.953s
Did Not Qualify :

Andrea Montermini - ITA - Forti-Ford did not enter
Luca Badoer - ITA - Forti-Ford did not enter

Race : 70 laps
Sunny, warm
PosDriverNat.CarTime h:mm:ss.sss
1Jacques VilleneuveCANWilliams-Renault1:40:22.915
2Damon HillGBRWilliams-Renault1:40:42.881
3Michael SchumacherGERFerrari1:41:16.680
4Jean AlesiFRABenetton-Renault1:41:18.024
5Eddie IrvineIRLFerrari1:41:50.304
6Gerhard BergerAUTBenetton-Renault1:41:56.056
7H-H FrentzenGERSauber-Ford1 lap down
8Johnny HerbertGBRSauber-Ford1 lap down
9Martin BrundleGBRJordan-Puegeot1 lap down
10Olivier PanisFRALigier-Mugen1 lap down
11Mika SaloFINTyrrell-Yamaha1 lap down
12Ukyo KatayamaJAPTyrrell-Yamaha2 laps down
13David CoulthardGBRMcLaren-Mercedes2 laps down
14Ricardo Rosset BRATWR-Hart3 laps down
15Gianni LavaggiITAMinardi-Ford5 laps down
16Pedro LamyPORMinardi-Ford5 laps - down
17Mika HakkinenFINMcLaren-Mercedes53 laps - collision damage
18Jos VerstappenNEDTWR-Hart48 laps - engine
19Pedro DinizBRALigier-Mugen47 laps - spun off
20Rubens BarrichelloBRAJordan-Peugeot42 laps - spun off

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