For me Coulthard was the man to beat today because he was going very fast and had a good tactical plan with only one stop. I was very happy when I heard that Panis injuries were not too bad, at the moment that is the most important thing."
Ferrari Team Manager: Jean Todt
"On one hand it was a fantastic victory, but on the other
there is no reason to be happy after the accident of Panis. Irvine was very unlucky at the start. Michael made a good start. The tyres of his second and third sets were blistered. On lap 51 we called him back to the pits because the tyres were damaged and would not finish the race. The race was then stopped giving us the victory."
Retired: Villeneuve
"I came into the corner a little too fast and lost
control. It was a beginner's error I know and it feels very stupid.
I was surprised by the lack of grip at that place."
7th: Coulthard
"We planned to make just one stop but the second
set of tyres blistered very quickly, so I came back into
the pits just as a precaution. Unfortunately even though the team had not seen any transmission or gearbox problems on the telemetry, the clutch
didn't work and the engine stalled. I straight away tried to restart but by the time we were back on track the Safety Car was out and the race was over."
Prost Team Manager: Alain Prost
"One possible cause of the accident was that the
car was hit in the rear at the start. And later he told
us that he had touched the rails just before his third stop on lap 43. It is probable that either of these events caused a mechanical failure in the steering 9 laps later."
On a flatout section Panis first slid then bounced off a wall, crossed the track and was stopped dead by the tyre barrier. The nose of his Prost was completely destoryed. The Saftey Car came out and soon after the race was stopped, with only 56 of the 69 laps having been completed. Olivier was later taken by helicopter to a local hospital.
No champagne was opened on the podium and the drivers' interview was full of concern for Olivier.
The race started in glorious sunshine and an expectant Canadian crowd watched as local favourite Jacques Villeneuve tucked in behind Schumacher to take the first corner of the race. Further back in the pack Irvine, Magnussen, Panis and Hakkinen suffered contact damage. Irvine pulled off onto the grass with two of the others stopping soon after. Only Panis made it back to the pits and out again. Meanwhile Canada stopped as Villeneuve slid onto the start line in full lockup mode, hit the wall and was out of the race.
Michael Schumacher was out in front followed by Fisichella, Alesi and Coulthard. On lap 6 Katayama lost control and hit the walls. He was OK but the car was left in a dangerous position and so the Saftey Car came on track. Two laps later and the race was on again. Michael was once again pulling away again, just as brother Ralph flew off the track at the end of the Start Straight.
The first round of pits stops was ignored by Coulthard which put him into a commanding 10s lead over Schumacher, Alesi and Fisichella. When he did pit he came out second behind Schumacher. And then Schumacher pitted again, after having been overtaked by Panis who was actually a lap down. David was back in front - but not for long. Coulthard pitted again probably due to tyre problems but stalled. Meanwhile the attention was turned to the car of Olivier Panis.
Panis's car was positioned nose into the tyres on a very fast straight. While marshalls removed him from the car the Safety Car made its second appearance on track. David Coulthard finally made it back onto the track but now it was just a parade for two laps before the red flags came out and the race was stopped. Panis was carefully lifted into an ambulance with suspected leg injuries as the race cars came to a stop on the grid.
Another good solid performance by Schumacher and Ferrari, bad luck to Coulthard who probably just missed his second win of the season, a fine 8th and 9th places for the Arrows, but everyone's thoughts tonight are with Olivier Panis.
Michael Schumacher was first out on the track but it was Panis who put in some serious laps to try to break the spell which had left him 10th on the grid in yesterday's qualifying.
Jacques Villeneuve did not have a good time this morning. His three trips out on track saw him 22nd, 14th and then 7th fastest overall.
World Champion Damon Hill ended up slowest of the session.
The session started in silence. The weather was sunny and none of the drivers felt the need to make an early start. 10 minutes later and to the roar of the crowd, the Stewart of Barrichello made the first tentative rubber marks on the track. He ran a 1m 20.425s before heading back to the pits. Jan Magnussen then came out to try his luck on the empty circuit. He took and kept the fastest speed trap time of the day at 320.8km/h before heading back to the pits.
Jacques Villeneuve made his first run 20 minutes into the session, a 1m 19.418s delighted the crowd with provisional pole, but any second fast lap was lost when Damon Hill spun and stalled just 100m in front of the speeding Williams.
Just on the half hour Heinz Harold broke the 1m 19s with a 1m 18.847s inching in front of then provisional pole sitter Ralph Schumacher. 3 minutes later it was Coulthard on pole with a 1m 18.746s. 10 minutes later Michael Schumacher made himself felt by taking the fastest time down to 1m 18.159s. Shortly afterwards Coulthard could be seen parking his McLaren down a side road and running back to the pits - mechanical failure.
With 10 minutes to go Villeneuve was back in front at 1m 18.108s. Both Frentzen and M.Schumacher tried, but could not catch the Canadian.
With only 5m 21s to go Alexander Wurz lost control of the Benetton and hit the wall on the start straight - Session Stopped. The three wheel car was removed whilst Wurz walked back to the pits.
8 minutes later and the action restarted with 10 cars heading out of the pits. Couthard lead them round but lost it onto the grass on his fast lap. Trulli spun out on the start straight and retired gracefully. Meanwhile Jacques Villeneuve and Michael Schumacher were flying their final laps of the day. No improvement from Villeneuve, but Schumacher took the pole by just 0.013s.
On a grey day in Canada Olivier Panis opened the first half of the session and set the early pace. Michael Schumacher was the first under 1m 23s and Jacques was a little off the pace. Ferrari kept in front with Schumacher and Irvine both faster than third man Frentzen during the first part of this first half.
15 minutes from the end Frentzen was fastest at 1m 21.661s with both Suchmacher and Villeneuve still running the same times as earlier.
Right at the end of this first half both Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve were on track together. Schumacher took the fastest time to 1m 21.201s with Jacques only 0.008s behind. A final sprint by VIlleneuve broke last year's pole with a stunning 1m 20.979s.
The second half of the session started in the wet. During the gap in track activity the heavens had opened. Several teams put cars out on wet tyres to get in some wet info before the track dried out. After 30 minutes we were back on slicks. Damon Hill ended his session just afterwards with mechanical problems. Meanwhile Jean Alesi had pushed the fastest time to 1m 20.774s.
5 minutes from the end and David Coulthard could be found impact testing his car against the start straight walls. The session was then stopped for a few minutes whilst all the bits were collected off the track.
And then the traffic really hit the track, despite this Fisichella took the lap record further with a 1m 20.416s and then in the final few seconds Heinz Harold blasted through to take best time of the day and finish top of the pile.
During this first session no fewer than 8 drivers beat last year's pole time.
His seat in the Renault powered car will be taken by fellow Austrian Alexander Wurz. The 23 year old test driver is very familiar with the car but will make his Grand Prix debut on a circuit which he has not driven before.
Flavio Briatore was full of confidence in his temporary driver, but is still hoping that Doctors will declare Berger fit for the next race in France.
A stalled engine on the warm-up lap put Michael Schumacher at the back of the grid, he crept up to 7th but finally retired on lap 42 with transmission problems.
The points winners were:
Hill
Villeneuve
Alesi
Coulthard
Hakkinen
Brundle
For full details of last years race see our 1996 Canada Archive