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GRAND
PRIX: San Marino : Ferraris' Fraught Weekend
15.4.01
Having started
the build-up to the San Marino Grand Prix in promising fashion by being
quickest in all the practice sessions, the weekend for Ferrari then
deteriorated rapidly.
They were the only team to use the harder of the two Bridgestone compounds,
opting for a risky one-stop strategy on a circuit which punished heavy
fuel loads, and this landed Michael Schumacher down in fourth on the
grid with his teammate in sixth. Quickest were the two McLarens, with
a confident Coulthard just ahead of Hakkinen, whilst Ralf Schumacher
underlined the strong resurgence of the Williams team by qualifying
third alongside his elder brother. Jarno Trulli was fifth and yesterday's
hero Pablo Montoya ended up seventh.
The start was faultless for Ralf, who squeezed passed the front row McLarens and took the lead he was never to lose to the end. He and Coulthard were in a class of their own and they fought an exciting battle, albeit with DC some seconds behind. The Williams looked to be the best-handling chassis on the track and Ralf did not put a wheel wrong.
The Ferraris never featured. Schumacher got away in fifth place, with Barrichello down in eighth. A gear shift glitsch and a misjudged corner soon put Michael behind Rubens, but by lap ten the leading Williams was already more than 18 seconds ahead of the two Ferraris. On the 26th lap Michael's drive came to an end when, probably, one of the Ferrari's revolutionary new brakes overheated and distorted a front wheel rim, allowing the air to escape from the left front tyre.
Barrichello soldiered on and with some strategic pit work the team managed to haul him up into third place, where he eventually finished ahead of a lacklustre Hakkinen and the two Jordans of Trulli and Frentzen.
The significance of the result is that it opens up a third front and no longer will we see a battle just between the Ferraris and the McLarens. The Williams are back and with their strong driver pairings, a good BMW engine and Michelin tyres, they have now clearly joined the rarefied heights of the red and the silver cars. Coulthard's second place now ties him for the Championship lead with Michael Schumacher but Ferrari still lead McLaren in the Constructors' title by ten points.
Having so dominated
the first two GP's who would have thought that Schumacher would, by
round 4, have to share the lead with Coulthard?
Jean Todt: “This was a difficult race for us as we had Michael retiring after a run of nine great races, which brought us six wins and three second places. However, Rubens finished on the podium with a great third place which is important for the Constructors’ Championship. It’s clear that the battle from now on will be between three teams and two tyre manufacturers. Our choice of tyres made yesterday did not bring us the result we had expected. At first inspection, Michael’s car had a problem on the left front corner, which damaged the rim, allowing the air out of the tyre. Now, we will check all the relevant components in order to understand the problem. .”
Rubens Barrichello: “We had a great strategy, but I made a slow start with too much wheelspin. I could comfortably follow everyone and I didn’t know how often the cars in front of me would stop. I was losing time behind Hakkinen, but I stayed out for three more laps after he pitted and that meant I could push hard and do some quick times. Our strategy involved going late for the first stop and we had to gamble a bit because of my grid position. . It was actually a great race for me as I started so far back. . I was happy with the balance of my car all weekend. I think this was one of my best races in terms of being consistent and overtaking cars.”
Michael Schumacher: “ Unfortunately, I did not make a good start today. Montoya and Panis were able to pass me because I had brief problem with the gearchange system. This is definitely not one of my best weekends. It was a hard race right from the start and it ended in the worst possible way when I retired on lap 25, because of what, at first sight, seems to be a problem on the left front corner. Honestly, I have to say our rivals have made up the advantage we had over them. There is still a long way to go this season and I am sure we will be very competitive at the highest level.”
RACE RESULTS The San Marino GP Imola, Bologna, Italy; 62 laps, 305.609 km; Weather: dry, sunny. Classified: Pos Driver Team Time 1. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1h 30:44.817 2. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (B) + 4.352 3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 34.766 4. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes (B) + 36.315 5. Trulli Jordan Honda (B) + 1:25.558 6. Frentzen Jordan Honda (B) + 1 Lap 7. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) + 1 Lap 8. Panis BAR Honda (B) + 1 Lap 9. Alesi Prost Acer (M) + 1 Lap 10. Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) + 2 Laps 11. Burti Jaguar Cosworth (M) + 2 Laps 12. Button Benetton Renault (M) + 2 Laps Fastest Lap: R.Schumacher, 1:25.524, lap 27 Not Classified/Retirements: Driver Team On Lap Marques European Minardi (M) 50 Montoya Williams BMW (M) 48 Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 42 Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 29 Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 30 Mazzacane Prost Acer (M) 28 M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 24 Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) 17 Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) 6 Alonso European Minardi (M) 5 World Championship Standing, Round 4: Drivers: Constructors: 1. M.Schumacher 26 1. Ferrari 40 = Coulthard 26 2. McLaren 30 3 Barrichello 14 3. Williams 12 4. R.Schumacher 12 4. Jordan 10 5. Heidfeld 7 5. Sauber 8 6. Frentzen 6 6. BAR 3 7. Panis 3 7. Benetton 1 8. Trulli 4 = Hakkinen 4 10. Raikkonen 1 = Fisichella 1
(results
data by Atlas F1)
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