We’ve solved a front suspension problem that hurt us in the last two

“We’ve solved a front suspension problem that hurt us in the last two races,” Berger said, “and I hope that we can confirm this performance tomorrow.”"A couple of people are quick today but you can’t tell on Friday exactly what the situation is,” Hill said. “You know,” he joked, “in my days in Formula Three all the sponsors wanted was television, so I had this guy follow me with a camera and keep asking me for an interview. I always gave him one even though there wasn’t any film in the camera. The sponsors wanted to see television interest, so I gave it to them. I got more money and nobody ever seemed to realise that the film never came!”Yesterday there was no need for subterfuge as the 37-year-old Austrian finished practice more than half a second faster than Mika Hakkinen’s McLaren-Mercedes and almost a second ahead of Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari. This morning the track didn’t feel quite the way I remembered it from the days it was wet when I used to race Formula Three here, but by the afternoon it was beginning to feel more familiar.”Gerhard Berger was the man in the strongest form, his good humour evident even at breakfast.

“Portugal was better for me because we had done a lot of testing at Estoril,” he said. “If it’s going to rain here all weekend it’s going to be very difficult to work on the car. I didn’t do much to the set-up today because the track conditions were changing so much. It was a useful session from two points of view: we got some wet running and close to some dry running. We got a lot of information today.”Villeneuve, too, was buoyant, though less able than he had hoped to capitalise on his experience of the track from junior racing. Although there was a dryish line the times were quite a long way from a full dry time.

So it was half and half, really.”At the end I elected to go out and do a longish run, so I’ve got a good feel what the car might be like if the race conditions are like this I’m pleased with the way things went. “It was changing every lap, and there were certain parts of the track that were wetter than others. With reluctance he said: “All I will say is that Damon has worked for Williams for four years in grand prix racing. And yes, it would be nice for him to win.”

As Hill is banished to TWR Arrows, it was reported yesterday that his partner next season will be Pedro Diniz, the 26-year-old Brazilian currently driving for Ligier who is bringing a pounds 5m budget to the Oxfordshire team.
Villeneuve, who stays on at Williams for 1997, ended a damp day in fourth place with Hill right behind, but the only times that matter are those they set in qualifying in the afternoon, which will decide the starting grid for this crucial final encounter.”I think it’s a good start, and I’m quite happy with the car,” Hill said, looking relaxed despite intermittent rain which left the track slippery throughout the day. “But we are worried about them getting tired between training sessions, so we’ve insisted they use buggies to travel around in Otherwise, it is a four-hour walk Courses without buggies are no-go areas.”.