Formula 1
Japanese GP Saturday Sauber Notes
- JEAN ALESI The Frenchman lashed out at flying Finn Mika Hakkinen saturday, by accusing the McLaren driver of ruining his Japanese GP qualification hopes ! Alesi said Hakkinen was at fault after both men tangled at the Suzuka chicane and skidded ...
Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM
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- JEAN ALESI The Frenchman lashed out at flying Finn Mika Hakkinen saturday, by accusing the McLaren driver of ruining his Japanese GP qualification hopes ! Alesi said Hakkinen was at fault after both men tangled at the Suzuka chicane and skidded off the track.
"The FIA really should look very closely at what is happening on the track. Hakkinen had already blocked me during my third run and then on the last one he kept me behind him all the way from the hairpin down to the chicane, even though I was on a quick lap and he wasn't. It was absolutely unbelievable, espcially in this championship situation when McLaren should be so careful."
Alesi said Hakkinen had braked suddenly entering the chicane, which forced him to cut a corner completely and end up skidding in front of Hakkinen. Hakkinen then had to swerve suddenly and also went into the gravel.
"My time was for sure going to be quicker, but when we got to the chicane Hakkinen suddenly slowed and to avoid going under his wing I had to miss the chicane completely. My lap was over, just the chicane to go ... I probably lost sixth place," said Alesi, who qualified 10th-fastest.
- PEDRO DINIZ "We discovered that there was a problem with the undertray fixing on my car yesterday, and certainly it was better today. But it was still very difficult for me to find a set-up, and I had too much oversteer in the fast corners, I'm disappointed, to be honest."
- PETER SAUBER "Today wasn't Pedro's day and problems with his car didn't make his life easier. Congratulations to Jean, who managed to run in the top 10 on this challenging track. If had not twice come upon a slower car he would have been able to reach sixth place, because as it was he was only nine hundredths of a second slower.
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