Damon Hill may already test the TWR F1 Arrows of this year after the Grand Prix of Japan this weekend. Williams will allow him to part from the team after the Grand Prix even if he is still under contract until the end of the year.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who will be replacing Hill at Williams-Renault, will also take his new car for a spin this month, on October 21st.
Italian Alessandro Nannini will make his come-back into Formula One this year. He will start testing for Benetton-Renault at the end of November.
Nannini lost his right arm in a helicopter crash six years ago. The arm was sewn back on in a hospital.
He commented: "It will be just a test. Very important but just a test(...) I have not really thought seriously about coming back to Formula One motor racing, and for the moment this test will be an end in itself"
Nicola Larini wrapped up the tests at Monza (Italy) for the Ferrari team. He completed 26 laps with a best of 1m 45.08s on a wet track. He continued his aerodynamic work of yesterday.
This weekend is the show-down between the two Williams-Renault drivers at Suzuka (Japan). Everybody already knows that Jacques Villeneuve needs to win and Damon Hill to finish outside the top six to clinch his the drivers championship of 1996. On the other hand: Hill needs just one point if Villeneuve wins to clinch a title he already wanted to have two years ago.
Villeneuve could have pressurised Hill off the track, but he did not and will not: "There are many ways to exert pressure on Damon, but I don't think off-the-track pressure is a good one to use. I don't think that is very fair, so that is not a route I will take. All we can do is be quick and see what happens to Damon. (...) If I had wanted to play psychological games, I would have started a few races ago, but it is not something to be proud of. It is not worth using a tactic that makes you happy if you win for one week, because what remains in your mind is the way that you did it. On paper it looks great, but..."
"If anything, the relationship between Damon and I has been better towards the end of the season. There has never been any problem between us. There is a good respect. There have always been good battles on the race track between us and the best battles happen when there is no hate. If you hate someone when you race against them, you will just make mistakes. Your thinking will be clouded."
Villeneuve added: "I know what I would do in his shoes. The one thing that you do not want to do is push like an idiot. But at the same time, you do not want to be fighting against other people. You do not want to be in the midst of other battles. You have to judge it once you are in the race. If you have had a bad start, you need to get clear of battles straightaway."
"I just have to try to get pole position, get away cleanly at the start and hope that there is some mayhem going on behind me. There is a lot at stake, but there is not much I can do. He (Hill) has got more to lose and I have got nothing to lose. Now that I have got so close to the title, it would be a disappointment to lose it on Sunday, but overall it has been a very positive first season for me, so I will be happy anyway."
Damon Hill is very much thinking about what strategy to take next Sunday: the points or the win, because this maybe his last chance of winning a race before he transfers to the TWR F1 team: "I could try to win and take risks or I could drive for the championship. Winning the championship is more important and that is what I have to weigh up in my mind...How to do it. Take a risk or just go for points. Right now, I haven't made up my mind what I'm going to do."
He added however: "I'm a racing driver and I want to win the race. There would be no better way of winning the championship than by winning the ace. That would be the perfect result, the perfect end. In some ways, there is more to be said for that. It would be tempting to do that. Purely from a racing satisfaction point of view, that is what I like doing best. Going for the win is the most enjoyable way to drive, but the bigger prize is the world championship. I have a greater responsibility to that than another race win. I cannot deny, though, that there is something inside me that likes to silence critics, and I do like to prove myself. I don't like anyone taking anything away from my achievements, so to win the race would mean that there was no way anyone could take anything away from my championship. It would just be nice to do it completely."
Hill didn't agree with Villeneuve on who has the most pressure: "Jacques has more pressure on him because he has to win if he is to win the championship, but he can just do what he wants. For me, it is crucial to come away from this race saying I am the world champion. That is the most important thing of all."
Hill vs. Villeneuve