The start of the warm up session ...

Published on 14 July 1996 by Verstappen Info Page

The start of the warm up session for the British Grand Prix was marked by a slight drizzle. During the warm up the track dried up and lap times got better. At the end of the session Hakkinen was the fastest, followed by Villeneuve and Hill. Jos only drove two laps at the start of the session in the rain and stayed in for a long time. He got out on the track near the end of the session and in his second flying lap he set a fast lap time of 1:30.308, only 1.3 seconds slower than Hakkinen. See British Grand Prix results for the complete warm up results.

Power Horse Energy Drink and TWR Arrows have extended their partnership. Power Horse has exercised the option to extend its initial 1-year sponsorship into a 3-year agreement starting in 1997.

Hart Power has now officially introduced an air-valve engine at the British Grand Prix. On saturday a development version of the Hart 830 F1 engine incorporating a pneumatic valve system ran in the back of Jos Verstappen's Arrows FA17/1.

After a trouble-free shake-down at Enstone airfield late on Thursday the engine ran in both free practice and qualifying with the rev limit set to 14,700 rpm, which is 800 rpm higher than its predecessor. Jos reported no problems with the engine in both sessions.

Brian Hart has explained that "The pneumatic valves ar the first stage in a wholesale revamp of the 830 F1 engine which will include new cylinder heads, crankshafts, connecting rods and pistons. What we are seeing here today are the first steps towards a totally new Hart V8 engine for 1997."