Belgian GP - 25 August 1996.
Red Bull Sauber-Ford Press Release

Well, what next? This year's Belgian Grand Prix was one to forget for everyone at the Red Bull Sauber-Ford team and a huge personal disappointment for both me and Heinz-Harald. There is nothing worse than being knocked out of a race early on - nothing, that is, except being knocked out by your own team-mate. And this time, to make matters even worse, the shunt we had at La Source look us both out of the race before we even had a chance to go through Eau Rouge in earnest. All in all, it was pretty much a dreadful race to complete what might have been a promising weekend.

As usual, I had really looked forward to the race at Spa-Francorchamps because I think it is a brilliant circuit, one of my real favourites. It is a classic place, full of atmosphere and great for drivers. I like Eau Rouge, for example, as a corner because it is just a massive thrill to drive through it and I like the back part of the track as well. It is a good flowing section with some fast; challenging corners and I like the feeling when you get that part of the track right. On top of that, as usual, there was a good contingent of British fans over for the race and the weather was much kinder than usual this year - so I was in a good mood before we started.

I had been in action the previous week, too, in Austria, at the new A-1 Ring, at Zeltweg and I have got to say that, compared with the old Osterreichring or Spa, it was a disappointment. I would not say it was a Mickey Mouse kind of track, it's not that bad, but it is hardly the sort of adrenalin-pumping circuit that we used to have there. The old one used to have very fast flowing corners, long straights and lots of excitement guaranteed. But the new one doesn't have any of that. The quickest corner is fourth gear - and there would be another one when it is rubbered in a bit. But, for thrills, that's it.

Basically, it is like any modern circuit these days with the accent on safety not driving pleasure. It was easy to learn, a typical point-and-squirt kind of place, and not very technical. I thought it had only two overtaking spots, too; which is not too encouraging for the spectators at next year's Austrian Grand Prix, if it takes place.

Spa, of course, really is something different and it was great to see the sun shining when we arrived - and plenty of Union Jack flags. Both Heinz-Harald and I were pleased with the progress with the Ford engine at Budapest and I felt we could do something in Belgium. In practice; on Friday, the car felt fine, really pretty good, and I was happy with the balance. There were a few little things I wanted to do, mainly to cure some understeer that began to develop towards the end of the day, but I was confident I could do that with one particular change.

Unfortunately, the overnight rain on Friday night and the changing conditions made life a little more difficult for me on Saturday - then things began to get worse, too, when I was brought to a halt out on the Circuit with a problem with the engine. I was running with one of the slightly-older spec engines at the time as we were saving the very newly-uprated ones for the afternoon qualifying session and, to be honest; that cost me so much time it effectively wrecked the day.

It was encouraging to see that Heinz-Harald clocked the fifth best time in that morning session though, while I was 12th, so I just had to hope that I could get the things I wanted done on the car and that they would work. I had not really had the time or the conditions to find the balance I wanted and it had felt a bit twitchy. I hoped I could sort it out, but with the weather the way it was we lost most of the a second half of the qualifying session in the rain and that was it. It was disappointing - again! - because I really did think the car was promising and I had expected to be a little bit higher up the grid than 12th.

On Sunday, in in warm-up, I was 13th and still not sure I was where I wanted to be with the balance of the car. But I was determined to make a good start - and I did. I thought I got off the line really beautifully and had a bit of a flyer. I got away and overtook Heinz-Harald and Rubens Barrichello's Jordan and had a reasonable outside line going towards La Source.

I was pretty pleased. I expected there to be a bit of a bang with some of the other guys so I was not surprised when there was a bit of one with Eddie Irvine's Ferrari and Martin Brundle's Jordan. It did me a favour, though, and cleared the way so that basically, I had no-one ahead of me. It gave me a chance to take a quick look in my mirrors and out of the corner of my eye I could see I was ahead and in space. I was in the clear.

There was no-one beside me and I was well into the corner, in my opinion, when I felt a hefty bump and flew up in the air. I landed in the barrier and knew it was over, but had no idea who had done it. Not until I saw Heinz-Harald go by me with damaged suspension and then I knew it was him. He was really sorry, but there just isn't enough room there and it always catches someone out every year. I am just hoping for the day when I can avoid trouble all the way through. After all the bad luck we have had this year, it cannot be that far away!

With thanks to Johnny, Red Bull Sauber Ford and Bob Herbert
This page prepared 28 August 1996. All rights reserved.