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GRAND PRIX : Brazil : Schuey Strokes it Home
Local hero Rubens Barrichello took third place from the second McLaren of David Coulthard in similar fashion at the end of lap 1, but it took him 13 more laps to find a way past Hakkinen's McLaren to make it a Ferrari one-two on lap 15.
Schumacher's first stop had put him back to second place behind Hakkinen but any guesses as to which strategy would end up being the winning one were soon dispelled when Hakkinen headed to the pits for good on lap 30 of the 71 laps race. His McLaren-Mercedes pulled out of the race with low oil pressure leaving Schumacher with a comfortable lead that he was to keep to the flag.
He had a 26 seconds lead over Coulthard going into the last stage of the race, but that suddenly dropped dramatically by as much as four seconds on one lap with 15 laps to go. Schumacher had been warned by his pit of a possible oil pressure problem with his engine. "I slowed up a lot on certain corners in case there was a problem," said Schumacher , but he finally made it to the flag with a 4.3 secs cushion over the surviving McLaren.
It was a similar story for Jordan driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen who took fourth place just 2.5 secs behind the Benetton after a slow start and a storming finish to his race.
His teammate Jarno Trulli ran a two-stop strategy which took him through the field from 12th to fifth at the finish, but 30 seconds behind Frentzen, the last driver to remain un-lapped by Schumacher's Ferrari.
It was another good result for the Williams-BMW team with both cars at the finish. Ralf Schumacher took the final point of the day 18 seconds ahead of his young team-mate Jason Button in seventh spot.
At post-race scrutineering, however, the entire result threatened to be turned upside-down because five of the top six finishers were judged to be in contravention of the rule governing wear to the wooden under-body planks. After much debate, all the cars were re-confirmed as official finishers – except the McLaren of David Coulthard, which remained disqualified because his McLaren’s front wing end plates were 2mm outside of the official tolerance of 5mm. With Coulthard’s disqualification from second place, everyone behind moved up a slot, giving Jensen Button sixth place, making him the youngest ever driver to take a championship point.
McLaren have appealed Coulthard’s exclusion.
Jean Todt: "The team did a fantastic job on every level to give Ferrari and Michael a second win in a row. I feel sorry for Rubens who was going very well. We had adopted a very aggressive strategy, with both cars on two stops. In order for it to work, we had to make a good start to quickly get past those in front of us. It worked. Rubens, who was driving a very good race had a problem with the high pressure hydraulic system. We slowed Michael in the final stage of the race because we were not sure about his engine oil pressure. The next race is our home grand prix at Imola. We are leading the championships. We know we have a hard season ahead, but this result will encourage us to work even harder."
Michael Schumacher: "We made an obvious improvement to our starting strategy. I was able to catch Mika but I did not want to take a risk too soon and of course he was not keen to let me pass. I enjoyed our battle. It has been a long time since there was a good fight and overtaking for the lead. On my second stint a tyre moved round on the rim and that gave me some vibration problems which upset the car’s handling. We were prepared to stay out for a long second stint but we changed the strategy. Towards the end, the team was not sure if I had a problem so they told me to take it easy and I drove very slowly through some corners, but I could have responded if I had needed to. It seems that qualifying third is a lucky position! We are looking very competitive and the season could not have started better. Our development programme means we will have an improved car for Imola and I hope we can get the same result as last year for all the tifosi."
Rubens Barrichello: "I am disappointed with what happened. The car was going well and then I felt that there was a problem with the hydraulic system, which affected the steering wheel and then it spread to the throttle. Michael made a great start, better than mine, but I think I showed I could keep up with him thanks to a very competitive car. I want to thank everyone who came to Interlagos to support me. I am sure I will have the opportunity to repay them with a victory. I couldn’t do it here, but I don’t think I will have long to wait."
RACE RESULTS Brazilian Grand Prix Interlagos, Sao Paulo; 72 laps Weather: Cloudy, dry Pos Driver Team Time 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari 1h31:35.271 2. Fisichella Benetton Supertec + 39.898 3. Frentzen Jordan Mugen-Honda + 42.268 4. Trulli Jordan Mugen-Honda +1:12.780 5. R.Schumacher Williams BMW + 1 Lap 6. Button Williams BMW + 1 Lap 7. Verstappen Arrows Supertec + 1 Lap 8. de la Rosa Arrows Supertec + 1 Lap 9. Zonta BAR Honda + 2 Laps 10. Mazzacane Minardi Fondmetal + 2 Laps Fastest Lap: M.Schumacher, 1:14.755 (207.509 km/h), lap 48 Not Classified/Retirements: Driver Team On Lap Reason Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 71 DQ Herbert Jaguar Ford 51 gearbox Gene Minardi Fondmetal 31 engine Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 30 engine Barrichello Ferrari 27 hydraulic leak Irvine Jaguar Ford 20 crash Villeneuve BAR Honda 16 gearbox Alesi Prost Peugeot 11 engine Heidfeld Prost Peugeot 9 engine Wurz Benetton Supertec 6 engine World Championship Standing, Round 2: Drivers: Constructors: 1. M. Schumacher 20 1. Ferrari 26 2. Fisichella 8 2. Benetton-Playlife 8 3. Barrichello 6 3. Williams-BMW 7 = R. Schumacher 6 = Jordan-Mugen Honda 7 5. Frentzen 4 5. BAR-Honda 4 6. Villeneuve 3 = Trulli 3 8. Button 1 9. Zonta 1
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Michael Schumacher's 2000 World Championship hopes took another big leap forward at the Brazilian GP on Sunday when he drove his Ferrari to its second consecutive victory of the season. A risky, two stop, lighter fuel load race strategy paid dividends for Schumacher, who made a good start to take second place off the line and then blasted past pole winner Mika Hakkinen to lead the race at the end of the first lap.
The record crowd went wild as Barrichello took the lead for two laps when Schumacher stopped on lap 20, but Barrichello's hopes of a home victory faded for good along with his car's hydraulic pressure system which sprung a leak, leaving no way to change gears or operate the throttle.
"It would have been very close had Mika not pulled out of the race," admitted Schumacher after the race, especially as he wasn't without his own problems before the finish.
Giancarlo Fisichella proved the tactics of a one stop race could work as well when he ran 51 laps before stopping for fuel, the Italian moving through the field from eighth after starting sixth to finish on the podium.