Villeneuve was the fastest man for a ...
Published on 26 April 1997 by Verstappen Info Page
Villeneuve was the fastest man for a change at the qualifying session of the San Marino Grand Prix. He drove a fastest lap of 1:23.303. It shows that Formula 1 has again become a whole lot quicker if this time is compared to the pole position of 1996: Michael Schumacher with 1:26.890. Second man today was Heinz-Harald Frentzen with 1:23.646, followed by Michael Schumacher and Olivier Panis who again showed that he and the Prost more and more become a combination to watch out for.
Jos Verstappen had a lot of problems with his car during the qualifying session. In his first run he eventually set a time of 1:27.828, after his he had a short outing beside the track. He could only commence his second long run five minutes before the end of the qualifying session after his car had been in the pits for a very long time with (again) problems with the new pneumatic system for the gearbox. This system is being used for the first time this Grand Prix and saves a lot of weight. Jos eventually set a time of 1:27.428, having driven only 10 of the 12 allowed laps, on a 21st spot on the grid. Salo, who used the slightly improved engine this time, suffered no difficulties with his gearbox and set a best time of 1:26.852, which puts him on position 19 on the grid, right in front of Jos.
