Australian GP - Melbourne 11 March 1996
Red Bull Sauber Ford Press Release

Have you seen Top Gun, the film about American jet fighter pilots starring Tom Cruise? Well, I felt just like one of those pilots as I competed in the Australian Grand Prix!

My race lasted less than a lap, but I know what it must be like to take part in high- speed aerobatics after Martin Brundle launched himself off the back end of my Red Bull Sauber Ford. He not only flew directly over my cockpit, he flew past completely upside down. I've never seen anything like that before, and after seeing Martin land with a thump I hope I'll never see anything like that again.

You've probably seen film of the crash or pictures of it in the newspapers, so you'll know that Martin was a lucky boy to get out of that accident without harming himself. Very lucky!

I wasn't hurt. Unfortunately, the car was. I was annoyed because if qualifying had gone to plan I wouldn't have started so far back down the grid. And if I hadn't been so far down the back, I wouldn't have got caught up in Martin's accident!

Unfortunately I committed the cardinal sin of making some experimental changes to the set-up of the car before the Saturday qualifying session. Call it a tactical error if you like. Usually, for qualifying, you would stay with a set-up you were reasonably happy with in practice. But we're still getting used to a new car and the new Ford Zetec-R V10 engine and after finishing 15th fastest on Friday I thought I might have found some extra time for the Saturday session. But I didn't.

Don't forget there is just a single qualifying hour on the Saturday this year. Friday's times no longer count towards the grid positions. That is a shame because my Friday time would have put me 10th on the grid right behind my Red Bull Sauber team-mate Heinz-Harald Frentzen. We've still got a lot of work to do on the car and engine, but the package has been reliable and I had high hopes of picking up some points in the race.

The new track around the Albert Park in the middle of Melbourne was fast though not quite as demanding as I had first thought. But being as it was the opening round of the FIA Formula One World Championship I reckoned quite a few of the cars wouldn't last the pace, and that would help me.

What I hadn't considered was that I might be the first retirement - which I was!

I made a good start and as we raced down a long straight towards the third corner I was looking good to pick up a couple of places - for some reason a line of cars had stuck to the right hand side of the track, which was strange because they were off -line and running on the dust.

I saw someone hit the back of David Coulthard's McLaren - it might have been Olivier Panis or Jos Verstappen - and suddenly David was half spinning across the track in front of me. I braked hard to miss him, but felt a little nudge at the back. Considering Martin must have been going full chat it wasn't a big impact, but the next thing I saw was this shadow looming over me.

Then the car came into view totally inverted. And it flew!

Sometimes, when you get toughed by another car, you don't see the other driver go off because it all happens to the side or behind you. But I saw Martin's Jordan land, and it landed hard. Your first thought in a situation like that is for your fellow driver. When you see a big shunt you just hope the driver gets out unharmed and it was nice to find out that Martin was okay.

It didn't help me, though. As I arrived at the corner amid all this mayhem my car half spun so I knew immediately that I had sustained some suspension damage.

The race had been stopped so my first thought was to get back to the pits and take the spare Sauber. Then I noticed Heinz-Harald's car parked across the other side of the track. It turned out he had suffered an electrical failure on the parade lap just before the start and had pulled off thinking his race was over. Of course, the restart meant he could also have another go and since he was first back to the pits he got the spare car.

It was a shame to be forced out of the race like that through no fault of my own. I'll be hoping for better luck in the Brazilian Grand Prix on 31 March.

I know I'll notice a big difference between Melbourne and Sao Paulo. Considering it was their first Grand Prix, I thought Melbourne put on a great show. The city is big and bustling, and it comes alive at night when everyone heads for the bars and restaurants.

Great for them, not so good for me! I spent over one hour one night trying to find a taxi to take me to a black tie Grand Prix ball. And when I finally got there I couldn't find any food. Maybe that's why I scaled 69.5 kilos at the official drivers' weigh-in. That makes me the eighth lightest driver. Martin's team-mate, Rubens Barrichello, is the heaviest at 79 kilos and Luca Badoer, of the Forti team, is the Grand Prix lightweight at 61 kilos.

There is never any trouble getting a taxi in Sao Paulo. There is usually a mile long queue of them outside the hotel we stay in. And some of the taxi drivers would do well in the race - they're mad!

Sao Paulo itself is a huge sprawling place and you can't help but notice the poor conditions a lot of the people have to live in. But they love their motor racing and you can feel the passion of the crowds at the track.

  The Brazilian Grand Prix has been good for me. I've twice finished fourth in the race. Some points would be nice this time too.

With thanks to Johnny, Red Bull Sauber Ford and Bob Herbert
This page prepared 29 May 1996. All rights reserved.