McLaren make driver choice; Panis to stay with Prost; Hill says no to McLaren; A wet Friday at Spa
© 1997 ATLAS F1

Friday August 22, 1997

McLaren have confirmed that both Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard will be retained for the 1998 season according to BBC Ceefax.

This move is likely to start the final round of driver moves as several drivers were holding out in the hope of getting one of the McLaren seats.

Of the top drivers still looking for a drive, it is thought that Jean Alesi will go to Jordan, Damon Hill to Sauber, and Gerhard Berger into retirement.


Panis signs contract extension

Olivier Panis has extended his current contract with the Prost team with two years. Panis, now replaced by Trulli, is still recovering from a race accident.

Prost said: "He is a key member of the team and has been greatly missed since his accident."

Gauloises Blondes has also extended their contract with the team for another three years.

With thanks to Carlos Lefebre Franco from the Netherlands


Hill says no to McLaren;

In the London based newspaper The Sun, it has been reported today that Damon Hill has turned down an offer from McLaren-Mercedes for 1998.

Damon was reportedly offered a 1 year contract earning him a 2 million dollar salary and 1 million dollars per race win, but allegedly dismissed this as "insulting".

Hill said "I would like to make my decision soon. It will be weeks not months", and hinted that he may have already decided. Sauber have reputedly offered him 6 million dollars to lead the team in 1998.


A wet Friday at Spa

Summary


The sky was clear and the temperature reached more than 30 °C on Thursday but it was all rain today. There was not much activity to see on the track today, compared with a dry session.

Both the Benettons topped today's rankings followed by Rubens Barrichello and Damon Hill who showed the excellence of the Bridgestone tyre.

Jacques Villeneuve couldn't get a grip on the circuit and ended 17th.

Notes


The Times

   Friday 
  1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.

Berger (Benetton-Renault) G
Alesi (Benetton-Renault) G
Barrichello (Stewart-Ford) B
Hill (Arrows-Yamaha) B
M. Schumacher (Ferrari) G
Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes) G
Herbert (Sauber-Petronas) G
Trulli (Prost-Mugen) B
Diniz (Arrows-Yamaha) B
Katayama (Minardi-Hart) B
Nakano (Prost-Mugen) B
Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) G
Frentzen (Williams-Renault) G
Irvine (Ferrari) G
Fisichella (Jordan-Peugeot) G
Morbidelli (Sauber-Petronas) G
Villeneuve (Williams-Renault) G
Marques (Minardi-Hart) B
Magnussen (Stewart-Ford) B
R. Schumacher (Jordan-Peugeot) G
Salo (Tyrrell-Ford) G
Verstappen (Tyrrell-Ford) G

107% rule

B: Bridgestone G: Goodyear

2m 06.802s
2m 07.371s
2m 08.238s
2m 08.372s
2m 09.272s
2m 09.288s
2m 09.772s
2m 09.772s
2m 10.153s
2m 10.231s
2m 10.272s
2m 10.413s
2m 10.914s
2m 10.993s
2m 11.093s
2m 11.262s
2m 11.706s
2m 12.778s
2m 12.545s
2m 12.750s
2m 13.256s
2m 14.048s

2m 15.678s

The Quotes



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