San Marino 1997:
with Murray Walker.
F1 Racing June 1997.

What a dreadful race for the reputation-knockers, and what a great race for the rest of us! Heinz-Harald Frentzen has
been taking a shocking drubbing from the prophets of doom, especially in Germany, while Italy has been baying for Eddie Irvine's blood. But now, with a genuinely impressive first win for the amiable H-H and two podiums in a row for Eddie, they can both raise two fingers to their sour critics.

I thought Imola was a great race, although it was the constructors' championship that especially fascinated me. Jacques Villeneuve's retirement was the fourth Williams failure from eight starts and you certainly don't expect that from the masters of continuity and reliability at Grove. It was another distinctly unimpressive weekend for Benetton, and McLaren must be praying for that day in August when their potential saviour, Adrian Newey, moves in at Woking. It was a case of so near and yet so far for Ferrari with Schumacher's barnstorming finish, and although Jordan are still a long way from that win they need to ensure they retain their Peugeot engines for 1998, they're closer than they've ever been with the best car yet.

What I'm looking forward to now is a genuinely developing battle between Villeneuve, Frentzen and Schumacher for the championship. Heinz-Harald's tail willl be right up now and with 13 races still to go I'd hate to forecast the outcome. And, as a final thought, we still don't know how the top Bridgestone runners would have done in a wet race. Goodyear may have the top teams but they are yet to be put under pressure.

-End of Article--

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