Canadian GP - 16 June 1996
Red Bull Sauber Ford Press Release

It is pretty strange that I came to of the of the most fun and exciting cities in the world and I had one of the most uneventful races of my career with the Red Bull Sauber-Ford team. But I suppose it is just one of those strange things that happens in Formula One.

I really like Montreal. It's a real party town, a bit like Adelaide, and there's something there for everyone. At the top of the scale you can go to some of the nicest restaurants in the world, whilst at the bottom you can go to some seedy strip clubs. I didn't go to one this time around, but I went to one last year for the first time and I just wish I had gone when I was with Lotus, because that would have been a riot! I'm sure I would have gone onto the stage myself and offered anyone a table dance for the right amount of money!

The other great thing about Montreal is that it is so much cheaper than Europe. Even I bought a few pairs of jeans and a few pieces of computer software to help me learn French so at least I can speak the language when I am back home in Monaco.

Before going to Montreal, I spent a few days in Detroit and visited the Indycar race, to see my old friends Mark Blundell and Alessandro Zanardi. It was great to spend some time with them, even if it was pouring down with rain and the paddock was six inches deep in mud, and it put me in a good mood before the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is one of my favourites on the calendar, but the only thing I don't like about it is that it is not really a circuit where the driver can make that much difference. With that silly chicane having been taken out of the back straight, it meant it has become more and more a track where lots of power is absolutely crucial.

Even though our Ford engine, which has made significant progress since the start of the year, is quite powerful, I think we still need to improve it for the power races if we are to challenge for more podium finishes this year.

I was disappointed with how qualifying went on Saturday - although I made myself feel better with a bit of fishing on the rowing lake behind the pits afterwards. There was nothing seriously wrong with the car, and it generally felt alright, but I had a few problems with the brakes and the gear changes were not too smooth.

If there were no dramas in qualifying though, it was nothing compared with the race. I made a reasonable start and got stuck behind Olivier Panis and Jos Verstappen, who were having an amazing battle ahead of me. I just hung back and waited for one of them to eventually go off - which didn't take too long!

Once past that nothing spectacular happened at all. I had a few more problems with the brakes, the pedal was going too long and I had difficulty stopping the car. But I kept going, had a fine pit-stop and finished seventh.

Although it was a shame to finish outside the points, I think the result has shown that the Red Bull Sauber-Ford team certainly have the reliability and I think the season is slowly getting better for us. The car is quite good now and we've got a few more improvements in the pipeline, and out-qualifying Heinz-Harald in Barcelona and getting on the podium at Monaco were great results for me personally. The team has gone forward, but it has gone forward in a small way and we need to keep pushing to get that to go forward even more.

People are always asking me about the championship as a whole, and since we have reached the half way point of the season I thought now would be as good a time as any to say something. After Canada, I agree with most people who believe that Damon Hill has all but wrapped the title. Okay, he needs only two non-finishes to get back to square one, but even if he finished second or third in a lot of races that Michael Schumacher won, the championship would still be his.

I suppose it is a pretty tall order to expect Michael to be able to challenge hard for the title but, as I have found out so many times in my career, anything can happen in motor racing. And as I also found out in Canada, sometimes nothing can happen at all.

With thanks to Johnny, Red Bull Sauber Ford and Bob Herbert
This page prepared 18 June 1996. All rights reserved.