Estoril testing notes 96-02-15

ESTORIL - Feb 15, 1996 Testing times 1. Damon Hill Williams-Renault 1:21.62. 2. Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault 1:22.24. 3. Jean Alesi Benetton-Renault 1:22.40. 4. Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.55. Engine problems with his McLaren-Mercedes MP4/11 stranded Mika Hakkinen out on the track during the test. Still, he was pleased with his first serious runs in the new car. "Mika was very pleased with how the day went and very happy to be back in the car," a team official said. "He was pleased with the performance of the car and positive about its chances for the season." In other F1 news, the Arrows team unveiled their new car with Jos Verstappen and Ricardo Rosset giving it test runs at Silverstone earlier today (Thursday).. The car features a raised nose and is powered by a develop- ment of last year's Hart V10 engine. Verstappen said he's confident he can revive his F1 career with Arrows after short stints, first with Benetton in 1994 and Simtek last year. "It's difficult to say how good the car is, because it is very cold and the circuit is very slippery, but I am very opti- mistic and very positive about this car," Verstappen said. "I already think this car is better than last year's". His team mate Rosset will be making his Grand Prix debut in the season-opening race in Melbourne after finishing runner-up in last year's International Formula 3000 Championship.

MC --- þ 1st 1.11 #8604 þ Fugaces labuntur anni.