  
|
GRAND
PRIX : Austria : Coulthard's Great Win
13.5.01
The preambles to
this race were strange. The McLarens dominated all the practice sessions
but when it really mattered, in qualifying, they were completely out
of it and could only end up seventh and eighth on the grid.
Michael Schumacher sat on pole throughout the qualifying session, with Barrichello being second for much of the hour until the two Williams of Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher forced themselves in between the two Ferraris.
Schumacher's tardiness at the start, ascribed to the failure of his launch control, put the two Williams at the head of the field and indirectly led to the incident which was later undoubtedly to cost Michael the race.
In the meantime, however, the sight of four high-technology Formula One cars stranded on the grid with various failures in their new fandango electronics did not look impressive. The Safety Car controlled the field for a few laps whilst the offending cars, which included Hakkinen's McLaren, were cleared from the grid.
Montoya is undoubtedly quick and will get even better but at this race he showed a remarkable lack of thinking. He should have accepted that his Michelin tyres would not be at their best during the early part of the race and conceded Turn Two to Michael on lap 15. Instead he put himself way off the road and down into seventh position and Michael himself down into sixth. Following their contretemps at the Brazilian GP there seems to be bad blood bubbling between these two. Shame - they would make great team-mates.
From the 16th lap onwards Barrichello looked good at the front of the field just ahead of Coulthard's McLaren, whilst Schuey gradually fought his way back from sixth to join the leading two.
Coulthard, however, was in excellent form and when his team put him ahead of Barrichello during the pit stops he kept cool and level-headed despite the pressure of the two Ferraris behind to take his best Grand Prix win.
Anyone who was ever naive enough to think that Schumacher and Barrichello were equal number ones in their team would undoubtedly have been distrought as the Brazilian moved over to let his team-mate collect the extra two points for second place. In the ruthless world of Formula One, and the mega-bucks that are at stake, clear team orders are an essential ingredient. There was annoyance in the team that Rubens, who had been asked to move over for Schumacher some ten laps earlier in order to give the No 1 Ferrari a run at the McLaren, left it until the last corner before complying.
From this race onwards the Championship is effectively between Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard, what with Hakkinen again failing to score any points and Barrichello now being forced to give up his positions. The latter drove one of his best Ferrari races yet but in the team there is only one No. 1.
Jean Todt: “We knew the start would be the critical moment. However, it did not go well for us. Both drivers used the electronic system and now we have to look into what happened. Michael was stuck behind Montoya, who was slower than him, for a long time. Trying to brake right on the limit, the Colombian arrived a bit long at Turn 2 and Michael was forced to run wide to avoid making contact. This incident left us with Rubens in the lead, while Michael was down in sixth place. The second key moment came with the pit stops. Our opposition stopped three laps after us, and that meant they were then running with a lighter car. That is what cost us first place. Rubens drove a great race, running at a very fast pace. On the last lap, the team asked him to let Michael pass, as he is the best placed driver in the championship fight. It is disappointing to leave Austria with this result. We had a competitive car which was capable of winning, but we did not come away with the result we expected.”
Michael Schumacher: “I had some kind of problem at the start. The car did not get off the line the way it should. With Montoya, the fight had been fair until the incident. Then he tried to take me out at the corner and I had to go on the grass, because I could not turn in on him. He was not looking where he was going, he was looking where I was going. After that I felt I would have to wait and see what happened with the pit stops. We didn’t know how long everyone would go. But I had to push hard to get past the cars ahead of me, so I had no chance to save fuel and so came in a bit early. I was very happy that Rubens moved over for me. With Hakkinen not finishing, it is clear that McLaren will try and set David up for the championship. If I hadn’t been so close to Rubens, the team would not have asked him.”
Rubens Barrichello: “I moved over for Michael, because the team asked me to. I chose to start on used fronts and new rear tyres and at the end of the first stint I was struggling with front end grip, but it was a good choice. My start was not very good and I had a fairly hard race. I think it was one of my best races. Unfortunately, David was able to go a bit further than me before pitting and that paid off for him. Otherwise, I had a good feeling from the car and thought I could have won.”
RACE RESULTS
The Austrian Grand Prix
A1 Ring, Spielberg;
71 laps; Weather: Dry, windy.
Classified:
Pos Driver Team-Engine Time
1. Coulthard Mclaren Mercedes (B) 1h 27:45.927
2. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) + 2.191
3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 2.528
4. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) + 41.594
5. Panis BAR Honda (B) + 53.776
6. Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) + 1 Lap
7. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) + 1 Lap
8. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) + 1 Lap
9. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) + 2 Laps
10. Alesi Prost Acer (M) + 2 Laps
11. Burti Prost Acer (M) + 2 Laps
Fastest Lap: D.Coulthard, 1:10.843, lap 48
Not Classified/Retirements:
Driver Team On Lap
Button Benetton Renault (M) 60
de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 48
Montoya Williams BMW (M) 41
Alonso Minardi European (M) 38
Marques Minardi European (M) 25
Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 17
Trulli Jordan Honda (B) 15
R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 10
Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 3
Hakkinen Mclaren Mercedes (B) 1
Frentzen Jordan Honda (B) 0
World Championship Standing, Round 6:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. M.Schumacher 42 1. Ferrari 60
2. Coulthard 38 2. McLaren 42
3 Barrichello 18 3. Williams 18
4. R.Schumacher 12 4. Jordan 13
5. Heidfeld 8 5. Sauber 12
6. Trulli 7 6. BAR 9
7. Montoya 6 7. Benetton 1
= Frentzen 6 = Arrows 1
9. Panis 5
10. Raikkonen 4
= Hakkinen 4
= Villeneuve 4
13. Fisichella 1
= Verstappen 1
(results data by Atlas F1)
Click here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page.
