Welcome to another week of TheJudge13 #F1 Bar Exam.
Last week’s question(s): Name the driver, team and race the photo was taken in. What position did the driver finish in and what was the significance of the race held?
The answer(s) I was looking for were: The driver in the photo is flying Fin Mika Salo driving a Tyrrell Yamaha (Tyrrell 024 – Yamaha OX11A V10). The photo was taken during the 1996 Australian Grand Prix held in Melbourne where he qualified 10th and finished 6th behind fellow countryman Mika Hakkinen.
It was the first time this race was held in Melbourne since 1984, taking over from Adelaide as the host of the Australian Grand Prix. It was also the first time the Australian World Championship round had been held at the site of a previous Australian Grand Prix venue, albeit on a vastly different circuit, with the surrounds of the Albert Park Lake having played host to the Australian Grand Prix in 1953 and 1958.
The significance of this race was that it was the second Grand Prix in a row held in Australia, the previous race being the conclusion to the 1995 season. Other significant factors also included the first use of the new race-start system, still used in Formula 1 today,[3] replacing the old red to green light system. Under the new system, five red lights would come on at one second intervals, starting after the last driver reached his grid box. There would then be a pre-determined pause, and then the five lights would go off simultaneously.
This was also the first race to have a single qualifying session on Saturday afternoon; the Friday session had been dropped for 1996 and where the 107% rule for qualifying, which said any car that qualified 107% slower than the pole time (1:38.837 in this race) would be excluded, was introduced.
The race was won by Damon Hill (his 14th win and equalling his father’s tally) after his teammate Jacques Villeneuve had to fall back due to an oil leak.
It was Mika Salo’s second year driving for Tyrrell. Tyrrell were keen to improve on their 5 points and 9th position in the constructor’s championship for 1995 and car designer Harvey Postlethwaite was positive about the car’s improved capabilities for 1996.
Salo only managed to qualify 10th on the grid at the first race of 1996 in Melbourne, Australia. He came very close to being involved in the big accident on Turn 3 where David Coulthard hit the back of Salo’s car which resulted in Coulthard loosing control of his McLaren. As Coulthard went sideways across the track he was hit by Martin Brundle, which launched Brundle’s car high into the air. Brundle’s car was demolished but amazingly he walked away unscathed, and proceeded to re-start the race in the spare car.
Despite their better start to the season Tyrrell still struggled and again only managed to acquire 5 points for the whole season, with Salo only managing two other points finishes for 5th place.
Well done to Johnny, Tony, Sid, AJ, Alan, Cassius42, Milestone11, Samppa, Emil, Taflach, Toleman Fan, TimmyJ, Mitcy, Tim, Frans, Reinis and The13thDuke!
This week’s question(s): Can you name the drivers in the photo (three in foreground), the race and circuit and how many Grand Prix were held at this circuit. Who won the race?
Please provide your answers in the field below:
