Ugh! ABC is doing the live coverage of the USGP. If it’s anything like the
way they used to cover GP de Monoco they will cut away from the race for ten
laps to show a feature on the night life of Indianapolis. I may just wait
and watch the delayed coverage on Speedvision.
–
Randy Stoner
Faster Damn It.
Remove nospam to reply
>From GdS:
The Liege University Hospital confirmed that Luciano Burti is out of
danger and does not have any broken bones. The Brazilian has undergone
a series of tests, including an encephalogram. All tests were
negative, but Burti is being kept in the hospital for observation and
tomorrow he will have another encephalogram. Burti has apparently
suffered only cuts and a severe concussion as the front part of his
helmet was smashed in during the accident.
Fede
Federica Massagrande – Webmistress of FedeF1
f…@dont.spam.me.com (dont.spam.me := fedef1)
http://www.fedef1.com/ -or- http://www.fedef1.co.uk/
I’m (additionally) posting the following snippet separately from the main
report, so that interested parties who are avoiding spoilers get to see it
as soon as possible. Anybody who goes, do let us have a report of your
day. 
)
begin–>
ZANDVOORT: The OrangeArrows team will be at Zandvoort in Holland on
Saturday 8th September. Jos Verstappen will be there to demonstrate the A22
to his Dutch fans and will also join his team-mate, Enrique Bernoldi, for a
ride in the team’s three-seater F1 car – the OrangeArrows AX3. The
OrangeArrows AX3 will be running throughout the day giving it’s passengers
the ride-of-a-lifetime! For more information on this event please visit
www.circuit-zandvoort.nl.
<–end
–
Kim Andrews
k…@totternhoe.demon.co.uk
Formula One Cartoon Archive
http://www.foca.co.uk
k…@foca.co.uk
ALESI MAKES A POINT
Schumacher wins Belgian GP as Alesi scores first point for Jordan Honda
Jean Alesi scored his first point with a Honda engine today when he took
his Benson and Hedges Jordan Honda to sixth place in a dramatic Belgian
Grand Prix packed with incident. The Lucky Strike BAR Hondas of Jacques
Villeneuve and Olivier Panis finished in eighth and 11th places while
Alesi’s Jordan Honda team-mate, Jarno Trulli, was forced to retire with
engine failure while running in fifth place four laps from the end of a
race run in two parts. Michael Schumacher drove calmly through the melee
and into the record books as he scored his 52nd victory to clock up the
highest number of grand prix wins by one driver.
As the start lights came on the drama began as Heinz-Harald Frentzen,
sitting fourth on the grid, stalled his Prost, forcing the start to be
abandoned. As the field got away on the new formation lap the excitement
continued as polesitter Juan Pablo Montoya’s Williams BMW remained
stationary, demoting him to the back of the grid while his team-mate Ralf
Schumacher led away from his brother, who promptly overtook the Williams
round the outside within half a lap and began to open a lead over the
Williams, his Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello and Benetton’s
Giancarlo Fisichella and BAR Honda’s Jacques Villeneuve, both of whom had
made good starts. Villeneuve was unable to hold off the two McLarens of
Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard and finished lap one in seventh, with
his team-mate Olivier Panis in 11th and Jordan Honda’s pairing of Jean
Alesi and Jarno Trulli in 12th and 15th respectively.
By lap two Alesi was up to 10th but three laps later Luciano Burti’s Prost
and Eddie Irvine’s Jaguar made contact, the Prost hitting the barrier at
virtually unabated speed and forcing the race to be red-flagged for Burti
to be extracted from his car. With five laps already gone a two-part race
was declared with the Schumacher brothers starting from the first row for
the second race of 36 laps. However, this time it was Ralf ‘s turn to go
nowhere fast as he sat helplessly in his Williams, still on its grid
stands with its wheels in the air, as the field pulled away for the
formation lap.
With the threat of his brother consigned to the back of the grid, Michael
eased away again at the start, chased hard by Fisichella, Barrichello and
Coulthard. Montoya’s race came to an early end when his BMW engine
expired and soon after the first round of pitstops began. By the end of
the shakeout Schumacher had extended his lead over Fisichella to 21
seconds, and the race order continuing with Coulthard, Hakkinen,
Barrichello, Trulli, Alesi and Villeneuve in the top eight. Just before
the second pitstops began, Barrichello knocked his front wing off going
over the Bus-stop chicane kerbs and Trulli and Alesi slipped by into fifth
and sixth. The shuffle after the second pitstops kept the order the same
although Barrichello found a way past Alesi to take sixth and Coulthard
eventually overhauled Fisichella for second, over 30 seconds behind
Schumacher. With Trulli out four laps from the end of the race, Alesi
fought a hard battle with Ralf Schumacher to defend his sixth position and
take his first point for Jordan Honda.
Jean Alesi Position: 6th
“This is such a good result for me and the team. When I came to Jordan
Honda, I knew that the team really wanted to increase its points and I put
myself under a lot of pressure to achieve this for the team. It was really
motivating to see the pit board with my name and position on it with
drivers such as Rubens and Ralf behind me. To score points in Formula One
at the moment is very hard, but the team has made a good step forward in
terms of reliability and I hope that my first point here today for Jordan
Honda is only a starting point. It has been a positive weekend overall,
despite our disappointing qualifying positions, but now I just want to
score more points and help the team to finish higher in the championship.”
Kazutoshi Nishizawa Technical Director, Honda Racing Development
“First of all I would like to say on behalf of everybody at Honda that we
hope Luciano is OK and wish him a speedy recovery. I’m very pleased that
Jean has scored his first point with a Honda engine. We all enjoyed
watching him battle towards the end he did a good job. We don’t know
what caused Jarno’s engine failure but we will find the problem and
resolve it for the next race. The BAR Honda drivers both had a tough race
which is disappointing considering Jacques qualified in the top six.”
Eddie Jordan, Chief Executive, Jordan Honda
“To come away from this race with a point is incredible and far more than
I could have expected given our poor qualifying performance. Jean made a
brilliant start in the first part and Jarno did the same at the re-start.
We were strongly holding fifth and sixth positions overall for the
majority of the race so looking very strong for both cars to finish in the
points. For Jarno’s race to be over just four laps from the end was
frustrating but Jean drove a very commendable race to hold off Ralf to the
finish line, and both Jarno and Jean did a great job for the team today.
With the exception of Michael, who was in a league of his own, the
outstanding drivers today were Jean, Jarno and Giancarlo. It was great to
see Giancarlo on the podium, proving his true racing talent, and we hope
that he can achieve plenty more podiums next year. I’d like to say well
done to Michael as well, for making history ten years on from his debut
Grand Prix at this race.”
Craig Pollock, Team Principal and Managing Director, BAR Honda
“This was a disappointing day for the team. Everyone worked very hard all
weekend and we were encouraged by the reliability of our car in the race.
There will definitely have to be a lot of hard work and analysis back at
the factory and at the test in Mugello next week. We have to improve the
car now to get crucial championship points.”
Race results
1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1h08m05.002s
2 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes + 10.098s
3 FISICHELLA Benetton Renault + 27.700s
4 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes + 36.087s
5 BARRICHELLO Ferrari + 54.521s
6 ALESI Jordan Honda + 59.684s
7 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW + 59.986s
8 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda + 1m04.970s
11 PANIS BAR Honda + 1 lap
World Championship standings (after 14 of 17 rounds)
Drivers’
1 M Schumacher Ferrari 104
2 Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 57
3 Barrichello Ferrari 48
4 R Schumacher Williams BMW 44
5 Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 24
6 Montoya Williams BMW 15
7 Villeneuve BAR Honda 11
8 Heidfeld Sauber Petronas 11
9 Raikkonen Sauber Petronas 9
10 Trulli Jordan Honda 9
12 Panis BAR Honda 5
15 Alesi Jordan Honda 5
Constructors’
1 Ferrari 152
2 McLaren Mercedes 81
3 Williams BMW 59
4 Sauber Petronas 20
5 Jordan Honda 16
6 BAR Honda 16
7 Benetton Renault 10
8 Jaguar 5
9 Prost 4
10 Arrows 1
Round 15 of the FIA Formula One World Championship is the Italian Grand
Prix on Sunday 16 September.
–
Kim Andrews
k…@totternhoe.demon.co.uk
Formula One Cartoon Archive
http://www.foca.co.uk
k…@foca.co.uk
Martin Brundle Quotes: http://members.tripod.com/~vidcad/martin_b.htm
Murray Walker Quotes are at: http://www.worldmotorsport.com/murray/
–
+——————————————————————-+
| David A Crick <dacr…@cwcom.net> PGP: (SEP-2001 KEY) 0x15B5C0F8 |
| Damon Hill Tribute Site: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4236/ |
| M. Brundle Quotes: http://members.tripod.com/~vidcad/martin_b.htm |
+——————————————————————-+
Dull. Uninspiring. Insipid. Ordinary.
Words that are always inappropriate when talking about the Belgian Grand
Prix (unless, of course, you’re referring to another lacklustre performance
from Mika Hakkinen).
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
P
A
C
E
The excitement began during free practices, when (in a taste of things to
come) several drivers wrote off their cars, as the drivers met the natural
challenge of the Spa circuit mixed with rain.
This carried over into the qualifying session. With a drying track, the
teams were faced with a dilemma – send the drivers out now in case of more
rain, or wait until the dying seconds hoping for no rain and put in a
blistering lap? As tends to happen in these situations, the latter was the
better option and Willams timed it perfectly, sending out their drivers on
slicks at the right moment – Montoya taking a staggering 3 and three-quarter
seconds off the previous pole time on his fast lap. There was doubt that
this time would stand, as Montoya passed waved yellows on his flying lap.
There were several other suprises on the grid, as you may expect from a
lottery-style session – not least the sight of Frentzen in his new Prost,
4th on the grid ahead of both McLarens (who, admittedly, mistimed their
runs) and the "new" Benettons highly placed. Both Minardis and Arrows failed
to qualify within 107%, but would be allowed to start the race due to
"exceptional" circumstances.
The first start was aborted as Frentzen stalled during the start procedure.
The restart, scheduled for ten minutes later, would see Montoya join
Frentzen at the back of the grid after he, too, stalled (this time at the
start of the new formation lap).
The race was barely 5 laps old when we watched in horror as a major incident
unfolded. Burti in the Prost was sizing up Irvine in the Jaguar at the
corner before Blanchimont. Getting a better drive out of this corner, Burti
sat in Irvine’s blind spot, attempting to out-drag the Jaguar driver into
Blanchimont itself. Taking his normal line into the left-handed kink before
the daunting high-speed corner, Irvine removed the front wing and snapped
the front-right suspension of the Prost.
The camera followed Burti as he shot across the track and over the grass,
practically missing the gravel trap and speared straight into the 4-deep
tire wall at 150mph. The Prost probably had no front brakes and may have
been sliding on its own front wing. As the dust cleared, in the background
we saw the shattered remains of Irvine’s wheel-less Jaguar – Irvine of
course colliding with just a 1-tyre deep barrier.
The safety car came out immediately, but it became clear quite quickly that
it was going to take some time before racing would restart. After several
minutes of watching marshals dig frantically through the tyres to get to the
Prost, assisted by Irvine who was clearly in shock after his own major
shunt, the race was red-flagged. The world feed showed an image of Burti,
head slumped forward over the wheel. Murray put on his "somebody’s dead"
voice – and I could only agree with his prognosis.
The cars pulled up haphazardly on the grid, with subdued drivers talking
nervously to each other, team personnel swarming back out, and Bernie
Ecclestone talking to several drivers – perhaps over whether the race should
be abandoned.
With great relief, I knew that Burti was alive when I saw somebody run from
a recently-arrived ambulance to the crash scene carrying what looked like an
oxygen cylinder. This was confirmed later by Irvine via Niki Lauda, and
later still by the Prost team.
Three-quarters of an hour after the original start, the second start was
called. However, Williams weren’t quite ready, and the field streamed past a
stricken Ralf Schumacher, forced to sit on his jacks as everyone else
proceeded on their formation lap. He would join his team-mate at the back of
the grid. One can’t help but feel that they would have been better served
eating into the 15-second penalty period by a fraction and dropping him down
on the jacks, and have him serve a stop-go penalty.
At the start, the Benettons had a lightning start, putting Fisichella into
second place and Button high up too (fourth?). In addition to the improved
aerodynamic package, one assumes much improved traction control software,
perhaps coupled with Renault improving their revolutionary engine, as
Coulthard was later to claim that he couldn’t match the Benetton through the
corners. Indeed, with the Williams cars out of the picture, Michael romped
away at over 2 seconds per lap, never to look back and took a comfortable
win despite a scary off later in the race.
Fisichella managed the whole race distance on the same set of front tyres,
which seemed to be serving him well up until after the second stop. By then,
they were quite ragged and blistered, and Coulthard (who had never been more
than a second behind for the whole race) managed to get past along the
straight after catching him through Eau Rouge.
Several drivers fell foul of the cones at the bus-stop chicane, including
Barichello and Jenson Button, both of whom lost their front wings.
Barichello had to drive the full circuit before getting back to the pits.
Button was not so lucky; sliding on his own wing he drove straight into the
wall and retired.
The excitement at the end of the race was between Barichello, Ralf, Trulli
and Alesi for 6th place. Trulli dropped out, again, with engine failure and
seemed distraught by the edge of the track. Barichello got past, but Alesi
held 6th place to score points for the Jordan team in only his second race
for them.
Schumacher wasn’t even challenged for the win, which was disappointing. But
plenty of other action and close racing throughout the field mande Spa live
up to its reputation.
Paul
Sorry this is a little bit late, I’ve had other things to do.
Average Grid Position (AGP) – after Spa-Francorchamps, Qualifying #14
=====================================================================
2001 2001 2000 1999 F1 Career
Pos. AGP Pos. AGP Pos. AGP Pos. AGP
=====================================================================
1. M Schumacher 1.71 (+0.09) 1. 2.00 2. 2.70 3. 3.09
2. R Schumacher 3.50 (-0.12) 7. 8.47 8. 9.81 37. 7.81
3. (3) D Coulthard 4.36 (+0.36) 3. 2.71 3. 2.75 11. 4.55
(4) M Häkkinen 4.36 (+0.21) 2. 2.53 1. 2.25 33. 7.46
5. R Barrichello 4.64 (+0.02) 4. 4.82 6. 6.56 47. 8.95
6. (7) JP Montoya 6.14 (-0.50) - – - - 18. 6.14
7. (6) J Trulli 6.71 (+0.71) 5. 7.53 12. 11.25 - 10.90
8. H-H Frentzen 8.50 (-0.41) 6. 7.88 4. 5.31 39. 7.84
9. (10) J Villeneuve 9.71 (-0.29) 8. 8.71 9. 10.25 22. 6.67
10. (9) N Heidfeld 10.07 (+0.30) 20. 17.06 – - - 13.90
11. K Räikkönen 10.36 (+0.13) - – - - - 10.36
12. O Panis 10.43 (+0.05) - – 14. 12.38 - 12.39
13. E Irvine 12.71 (+0.33) 9. 9.69 5. 5.38 41. 8.30
14. R Zonta 13.50 16. 14.29 19. 16.00 - 14.90
15. P De la Rosa 13.70 (-0.41) 13. 13.82 22. 20.00 - 16.09
16. J Alesi 14.57 (-0.12) 19. 16.53 16. 12.56 48. 9.03
17. G Fisichella 16.14 (-0.63) 10. 10.29 10. 10.50 - 10.98
18. L Burti 16.93 (+0.08) 22. 21.00 – - - 17.20
19. J Verstappen 17.57 (+0.11) 14. 14.00 – - - 15.57
20. E Bernoldi 18.43 (+0.20) - – - - - 18.43
(21) J Button 18.43 (-0.26) 11. 11.82 – - - 14.81
22. F Alonso 19.64 (+0.02) - – - - - 19.64
23. G Mazzacane 20.00 23. 21.65 – - - 21.33
24. T Marques 21.79 (+0.02) - – - - - 21.29
Notes: Numbers in brackets indicate 1) the position in this table after
the last qualifying session, and 2) the gain or loss in AGP since the
last qualifying session.
Enrique Bernoldi set the 19th fastest qualifying time for the Malaysian
GP, but was relegated to last on the grid because of a front wing
irregularity. Similarly Fernando Alonso qualified 21st in Canada, but was
relegated to 22nd for a similar reason.
Average Team Grid Position – after Spa-Francorchamps
====================================================
2001 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996
Pos. AGP Pos. AGP Pos. AGP Pos. AGP Pos. AGP Pos. AGP
==========================================================================
1. Ferrari 3.18 2. 3.41 2. 5.28 2. 4.22 2. 6.50 2. 4.88
2. McLaren 4.36 1. 2.62 1. 2.50 1. 2.41 3. 6.71 4. 7.44
3. Williams 4.82 4. 10.14 6. 11.62 3. 7.06 1. 2.85 1. 2.25
4. Jordan 8.14 3. 7.70 3. 7.53 5. 8.50 4. 8.44 6. 9.62
5. BAR 10.07 5. 11.50 8. 13.00 10. 19.34* 10. 19.29* 7. 14.22*
6. Sauber 10.22 9. 15.88 9. 13.69 6. 11.12 8. 13.50 5. 8.69
7. Jaguar 13.57 6. 12.26 4. 8.81* 8. 15.50* 7. 13.41* –
8. Prost 16.11 10. 16.18 7. 11.81 7. 14.06 6. 12.88 8. 14.38*
9. Benetton 17.28 6. 11.76 5. 11.47 4. 8.00 5. 8.50 3. 5.31
10. Arrows 18.00 8. 13.91 10. 19.97 9. 16.06 9. 14.47 9. 16.53*
11. Minardi 20.72 11. 21.12 11. 20.53 11. 20.22 11. 19.85 10. 18.59
* Jaguar = Stewart (1997-99) BAR = Tyrrell (1996-98) Arrows = Footwork
(1996) Prost = Ligier (1996)
Team-mates Head-to-Head – after Spa-Francorchamps
=================================================
Ferrari M Schumacher 14-0 Barrichello
Minardi Alonso 13-1 Marques
Jordan Trulli 12-2 Frentzen (8-1)/Zonta (2-0)/Alesi (1-1)
Benetton Fisichella 12-2 Button
Williams R Schumacher 10-4 Montoya
Jaguar Irvine 9-5 Burti (4-0)/De la Rosa (5-5)
BAR Villeneuve 9-5 Panis
Prost Alesi 9-3 Mazzacane (4-0)/Burti (5-3)
Frentzen 2-0 Burti
Sauber Heidfeld 8-6 Räikkönen
McLaren Coulthard 7-7 Häkkinen
Arrows Bernoldi 7-7 Verstappen
Best Qualifying Performances – Current Drivers
==============================================
Driver Posn. (#) First - Last
==================================================
Michael Schumacher Pole (41) MON 94 – HUN 01
Mika Häkkinen Pole (26) LUX 97 – BEL 00
Jacques Villeneuve Pole (13) AUS 96 – Eur 97
David Coulthard Pole (12) ARG 95 – MON 01
Rubens Barrichello Pole (3) BEL 94 – GBR 00
Heinz-Harald Frentzen Pole (2) MON 97, Eur 99
Jean Alesi Pole (2) ITA 94, ITA 97
Giancarlo Fisichella Pole (1) AUT 98
Ralf Schumacher Pole (1) FRA 01
Juan Pablo Montoya Pole (1) GER 01 <===
Eddie Irvine 2nd (4) LUX 98, ESP/HUN/MAS 99
Jarno Trulli 2nd (2) MON/BEL 00
Olivier Panis 3rd (2) ARG 97, FRA 99
Jenson Button 3rd (1) BEL 00
Pedro de la Rosa 5th (1) GER 00
Jos Verstappen 6th (1) BEL 94
Ricardo Zonta 6th (1) AUT 00
Nick Heidfeld 6th (1) AUT 01
Kimi Räikkönen 7th (2) CDN/GBR 01
Luciano Burti 14th (2) BRA/ESP 01
Tarso Marques 14th (1) ARG 96
Enrique Bernoldi 15th (1) AUT 01
Fernando Alonso 18th (5) SMR/ESP/AUT/MON/HUN 01
Gaston Mazzacane 19th (1) MAS 01
The Recent Record of Pole Position Holders at Spa-Francorchamps
===============================================================
Year Time Driver Chassis Rslt Winner Grid
===============================================================================
1991 1:47.811 A Senna McLaren MP4/6 1st
————–
1992 1:50.545 N Mansell Williams FW14B 2nd M Schumacher/Benetton 3rd
1993 1:47.571 A Prost Williams FW15C 3rd Hill/Williams 2nd
————–
1994 2:21.163 R Barrichello Jordan 194 DNF Hill/Williams 3rd
————–
1995 1:54:392 G Berger Ferrari 412 T2 DNF M Schumacher/Benetton 16th
————–
1996 1:50:574 J Villeneuve Williams FW18 2nd M Schumacher/Ferrari 3rd
1997 1:49.450 J Villeneuve Williams FW19 5th M Schumacher/Ferrari 3rd
1998 1:48.682 M Häkkinen McLaren MP4/13 DNF Hill/Jordan 3rd
1999 1:50.329 M Häkkinen McLaren MP4/14 2nd Coulthard/McLaren 2nd
2000 1:50.646 M Häkkinen McLaren MP4/15 1st
2001 1:52.072 JP Montoya Williams FW23 DNF M Schumacher/Ferrari 3rd
————– Indicates change in track layout/length.
–
Brian Lawrence
Brian_W_Lawre…@msn.com
Wantage, Oxfordshire, UK
from autosport.com
—————————–
British voice of F1 says comments about late world champ were
distorted
Formula 1′s British television commentator Murray Walker has
criticised makers of a British documentary on James Hunt for
distorting his opinions of the late world champion.
Walker believes makers of "The Real James Hunt", which was broadcast
on the UK’s Channel 4 last week, did not accurately reflect the
comments he made for the programme.
The documentary talked about Hunt’s womanising, drinking and
drug-taking and there was even footage of him arguing with a nightclub
bouncer. But little was shown of his dramatic rehabilitation in the
years before his death from a heart attack in London in 1993.
"I was very disappointed with the programme because they said they
would be doing a programme about James, warts and all – but talking
about the good bits as well as the bad," said Walker at the Hungarian
Grand Prix.
"I said some very harsh things which were my feelings when he was
racing but by no means my feelings after 13 years in the commentary
box with him.
"Because after he stopped racing James became, in my opinion and that
of many other people too, a changed man and very much the better for
it, as I made crystal clear in a very long interview.
"It seems to me the programme showed only one side of James, the worst
side, and by no means the fact that there was also a thoroughly decent
chap inside. I did not feel it was a balanced programme.
"There was no indication whatsoever for example that he ever picked up
a microphone, despite the fact that we worked together for 13 years.
"The programme they chose to broadcast appears to me to be
intentionally contentious and interesting, but it was by no means a
complete account."
David was spot on, it would appear.
Joe
TF1 reported today that Raikonnen was on his way to McLaren next year,
replacing Hakkinen. Sauber might be getting Mercedes engines as part of the
compensation package.
The first half of that deal doesn’t make much sense to me. Raikonnen has
been shining this year, but has by no means blown away Heidfield. McLaren
know Heidfield well as he was a test driver for them a few years ago, and
they decided not to take up the options they had on him. So on that
benchmark at least, he doesn’t seem such a solid bet.
The second half of the deal is interesting. I suspect Mercedes may have
concluded that if Ferrari, Ford, and Honda have two teams, then they’d
better too. Nicking Sauber from Ferrari reduces Ferrari’s influence in the
paddock and increases theirs, so it’s a double whammy.
—
RJCT
——–
HARD DAY FOR HONDA – A PERFECT ONE FOR MICHAEL
Schumacher takes fourth world championship title at Hungarian Grand Prix
Michael Schumacher is the drivers’ world champion for the fourth time as
he secured the title with an imperious drive to victory at the Hungarian
Grand Prix today, in which Jacques Villeneuve finished ninth in his Lucky
Strike BAR Honda and Jean Alesi 10th in his first race for Benson and
Hedges Jordan Honda. Their team-mates both retired, Olivier Panis (BAR
Honda) with an engine electrical problem and Jarno Trulli (Jordan Honda)
with a hydraulic failure.
Schumacher’s commanding drive to victory at the Hungaroring emulated his
rapid and straightforward journey to the 2001 world championship. Having
led the race from start to finish, he crossed the finishing line at the
end of 77 hot and humid laps to wrap up the title with four races still in
hand, an achievement only bettered by Nigel Mansell’s record of 1992. His
team-mate Rubens Barrichello took second place to clinch the constructors’
championship for Ferrari, while Schumacher’s title rival of the season
David Coulthard finished third in his McLaren, Williams’ Ralf Schumacher
fourth and the second McLaren of Mika Hakkinen fifth. Nick Heidfeld
brought his Sauber home in sixth to complete the points-scorers.
The race started well for Trulli who held his Jordan Honda in its fifth
start position from Hakkinen, while Panis was able to overhaul his BAR
Honda team-mate Villeneuve to end the first lap in 10th with Alesi in 13th
having been passed by the Jaguar of Pedro De La Rosa. David Coulthard’s
challenge for the race effectively evaporated at the start as he was slow
to get away and watched both Ferraris sail away. He mounted a fightback
with two lap records in the first 10 laps but it was never going to be
enough. Barrichello settled into second place and protected the quickly
developing lead of his team-mate from the attentions of Coulthard, who was
unlikely to find a way past on a circuit that is notoriously difficult for
overtaking. Even so, Alesi regained 12th position from De La Rosa on lap
11 with an impressive manoeuvere as his team-mate Trulli defended from
Hakkinen and a growing group of cars in the midfield.
Such was his progress that two laps later Schumacher began lapping the
tail of the field and from then on steadily built a towering lead in an
uneventful race. The shakeout from the first of the race’s two pitstop
sessions saw Trulli drop to 10th place while Panis moved up to ninth and
Villenueuve and Alesi maintain 11th and 12th. Shortly after the second
round of stops, Trulli came to a halt by the side of the track, while
Panis returned to the pits and despite the efforts of the pit crew and a
brief return to the track, he eventually retired, leaving Villeneuve and
Alesi to race home as Schumacher took his 51st Formula One World
Championship race victory, equalling Alain Prost’s record, on a day he
made his own.
Jacques Villeneuve Position: 9th
“A disappointing race for the team today. We weren’t very quick all
weekend and we suspected a problem with the race car. For that reason we
used the T-car in the race, which I was more comfortable with. We didn’t
have the aerodynamic developments on the T-car though so we were left with
the choice of a car with less downforce or a car with a possible
mechanical problem. Obviously we had to choose the one with less
downforce so 9th was the best we could do today.”
Kazutoshi Nishizawa Technical Director, Honda Racing Development
“First of all our congratulations to Michael on winning his fourth world
championship and to Ferrari on winning the constructors’. He and the team
have performed excellently all year. From our point of view we did not
have the race we wished for. We are investigating the exact reason for
the electrical problem that caused Olivier’s retirement but there is still
a lot of work for us to do in the next four races.”
Craig Pollock, Team Principal and Managing Director, BAR Honda
“This was a difficult weekend from start to finish and we had expected to
do much better. I’m particularly disappointed for Olivier and his crew
but we have to work hard to make sure we solve the problem for the next
races. Jacques held in there and drove a good race but we weren’t fast
enough. We have a lot of work to do before the next race to make sure we
are competitive.”
Eddie Jordan, Chief Executive, Jordan Honda
“Having qualified so well, once again we under-performed in the race due
to a combination of poor car performance and the refuelling problem where
we let Jarno down. We can be pleased with Jean’s 10th place in his first
Grand Prix with the team and he drove a very solid and consistent race.
We have a lot of work to do if we are to obtain the crucial points we need
in the last four races."
Race results
1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1h41m49.675s
2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari + 0m03.300s
3 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes + 0m03.900s
4 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW + 0m49.600s
5 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes + 1m10.200s
6 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas 1 lap
9 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda 2 laps
10 ALESI Jordan Honda 2 laps
World Championship standings (after 13 of 17 rounds)
Drivers’
1 M Schumacher Ferrari 94
2 Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 51
3 Barrichello Ferrari 46
4 R Schumacher Williams BMW 44
5 Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 21
6 Montoya Williams BMW 15
7 Villeneuve BAR Honda 11
8 Heidfeld Sauber Petronas 11
9 Raikkonen Sauber Petronas 9
10 Trulli Jordan Honda 9
12 Panis BAR Honda 5
15 Alesi Jordan Honda 4
Constructors’
1 Ferrari 140
2 McLaren Mercedes 72
3 Williams BMW 59
4 Sauber Petronas 20
5 BAR Honda 16
6 Jordan Honda 15
7 Benetton Renault 6
8 Jaguar 5
9 Prost 4
10 Arrows 1
Round 14 of the FIA Formula One World Championship is the Belgian Grand
Prix on Sunday 2 September.
–
Kim Andrews
k…@totternhoe.demon.co.uk
Formula One Cartoon Archive
http://www.foca.co.uk
k…@foca.co.uk