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Good old Muzza.
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SEPTEMBER 21, 2006
Sauber contradicts Fontana
Peter Sauber says that F1 driver Norberto Fontana's claim that he was ordered by Ferrari to block Jacques Villeneuve at the 1997 championship finale at Jerez is not true. Sauber told the Swiss daily newspaper Blick that in the nine years that Sauber and Ferrari worked together "Ferrari never expressed the desire that we should obstruct an opponent of Schumacher on the track".
And thus we come to situation in which we must believe one or the other. Sauber is an honest man, who is held in the highest esteem in Formula 1 circles, yet at the same time there is no reason at all for Fontana to have made up such a story and indeed his actions in the race are confirmed by TV footage of the event. This coverage features the following commentary from ITV commentators Murray Walker and Martin Brundle.
"Case of champagne from Ferrari to Sauber," said Walker. "Because the Argentinian newcomer Norberto Fontana, up from Formula 3, really, really, helped Michael Schumacher on his way there."
"What engine have they got in that Sauber, Murray?" said Brundle. "Isn't it a Ferrari?"
"Well, it is, yes." said Walker. "Martin you are a cynical chap."
; from Planet F1Peter Sauber has denied claims that his drivers were told to block Ferrari's rivals in order to benefit the Italian outfit.
Earlier this week former Sauber driver Norberto Fontana told Ole magazine, that at the 1997 Jerez GP his team was approached by their engine supplier, Ferrari, and told that if they were in the position to do so, they must block Jacques Villeneuve in order to help Michael Schumacher win the World title.
However, according to Peter Sauber, who has now sold his F1 team to BMW, there is no truth in Fontana's claims.
Sauber told Swiss newspaper Blick: "In the nine years that we co-operated, Ferrari never expressed the desire that we should obstruct an opponent of Schumacher's on the track."
Peter Sauber has denied claims that his drivers were told to block Ferrari's rivals in order to benefit the Italian outfit.
Earlier this week former Sauber driver Norberto Fontana told Ole magazine, that at the 1997 Jerez GP his team was approached by their engine supplier, Ferrari, and told that if they were in the position to do so, they must block Jacques Villeneuve in order to help Michael Schumacher win the World title.
However, according to Peter Sauber, who has now sold his F1 team to BMW, there is no truth in Fontana's claims.
Sauber told Swiss newspaper Blick: "In the nine years that we co-operated, Ferrari never expressed the desire that we should obstruct an opponent of Schumacher's on the track."
Ferrari never expressed the desire that we should obstruct an opponent of Schumacher's on the track
....Peter Sauber has denied claims that his drivers were told to block Ferrari's rivals in order to benefit the Italian outfit
However, according to Peter Sauber, who has now sold his F1 team to BMW, there is no truth in Fontana's claims.
Maybe Peter Sauber wasn't there at the time.............picture the scene. The door to the Sauber motorhome darkens; standing there is Jean Todt; flanked by two large gentlemen carrying violin cases.
How could I have been so blind for so long! and all those people wearing sunglasses at the race meeting.. all Ferrari Henchpeople, of course.... hang on, I think there's one over there ----> 
Well, he did not mention the violins, but it seems to me that Peter Sauber was not around. But Fontana and Herbert, perhaps, were in towels on the tables, to add a nice touch to the scene. Do Todt smoke cigars?- What did happen at that race in 1997, when Schumacher and Villeneuve were defining the title? Did you block Jacques?
- Well... yes. Now that time has passed, I tell the story. Anyway, who remembers? We were at Peter Sauber's motorhome with the masseur and Jhony Herbert, relaxing the muscles. It was two or three hours before the race. And Jean Todt entered and went straight to the point: "By strict orders of Ferrrai, Villeneuve must be blocked if you encounter him on the track. Whoever must do it." And I have to. From that year on, Sauber was getting Ferrari engines that later were named Petronas. I stand out like a moron in the end.
- Why?
- When he was lapping me, I blocked Jacques on three or four curves, nothing more. And that was perjudicial to me. First, Schumacher never thanked me, and Todt, because they lost the championship, left the boxes upset and I never again spoke with him. And, months later, that situation was my burying factor at Tyrrell. Craig Pollock, the manager and friend of Villeneuve, bought Tyrrell. And beyond the money that Ricardo Rosset put in 1998, Pollock ended putting the thumb down on me because of that manouver. Incredible. But it is already history, and anecdote.
