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GRAND
PRIX: Spain : Schumacher in Luck
29.4.01
The era of legal traction control returned at the Spanish Grand Prix, much to the chagrin of race fans who are desperate to see more drama on the track rather than less. The cars now corner even more as if on rails and the in-car cameras showed not a touch of opposite lock when exiting a corner. As we know from road cars, modern technology makes for unspectacular driving.
Michael Schumacher predicted, quite correctly as it turned out, that traction control, launch control and automatic up-shifts would make no difference to the order of things. Qualifying brought the common sight of two Ferraris and two McLarens at the front, with Hakkinen being close to Michael's pole time but Coulthard, in third slot, nearly half a second behind.
In view of their level points situation it was important that Schuey took the maximum advantage over Coulthard. This was duly accomplished when DC stalled at the beginning of the formation lap and had to start from the back of the grid.
Schumacher's launch control made a perfect start to lead Hakkinen and Barrichello into the first corner, whilst the luckless Coulthard compounded his problem by running into the back of Bernoldi, which necessitated a stop for a new nose. By the time he rejoined he was dead last.
At the front Schumacher drove faultlessly but was doggedly pursued by Hakkinen, although a small gap of a few seconds built up. After the first of the two pit stops Schumacher again narrowly led from Hakkinen but seemed to be in control of the situation. Schumacher was the first to come in for the second round of pit stops but Hakkinen set a blistering series of times as he stayed out for another eight laps. By this time Schumacher's lap times had dropped dramatically and it was clear that something was wrong. Hakkinen easily took the lead during his own pit stop and inexorably extended his lead by up to three seconds per laps until he was nearly 40 seconds ahead on the final lap.
His disintegrating clutch then handed the victory back to a disbelieving Schumacher, who thus secured the maximum ten points compared to the mere two points of David Coulthard, who rose through the field and finished fifth. Barrichello retired from a solid third place immediately after his second pit stop with rear suspension failure.
At the time of writing Schumacher's problem during the final stint has not been revealed, although excessive tyre vibrations were an explanation that was given. The Ferrari's pace, however, during the first two phases of the race was such that a win looked to be on the cards even without Hakkinen's unfortunate retirement. Was the final victory poetic justice, perhaps?
Following the somewhat poor showing at Imola we can now look forward to the Austrian Grand Prix with renewed optimism.
Jean Todt: “Today’s win was an important one. After a good start Michael held the lead for two thirds of the race. In the final third Michael felt a vibration from the wheels which meant he could not go flat out. At this time, we had two possibilities: call him back to the pits for a another set of tyres, given the considerable gap to third place, or we could get him to slow his pace. As there were very few laps left to run, we chose the second option. On the final lap, having driven a great race, Hakkinen handed him the win, which can happen in racing. I am sorry for Rubens, who was having a very good race and maintaining a consistent pace. He had to retire because of a rear suspension problem which had earlier caused him to go off the track.”
Michael Schumacher: “I have to say I feel very sorry for Mika. Until the last pit stop we had an entertaining race and then he jumped me at the last pit stop. I was shocked when I saw he had retired. This is not the way I like to win, but it has happened to me in the past and these things happen in racing. Up until the final pit stop, the car was going perfectly and after the first stop I was able to pull away from Mika. But although I had three new sets of tyres, my last set was not the same. I had a very bad vibration and I thought maybe the tyre was delaminating. So I slowed down, especially down the straight, as I was worried about a blow-out. We even talked about making a third pit stop. Then the vibration did not get any worse and I realised it was safe to go on.”
Rubens Barrichello: “I think my retirement was due to a broken right rear suspension. I came up to turn 7 and in the braking area I lost control of the car and ended up off the track. My first thought was that I had a puncture and I came into the pits for a new set of tyres. But the car was still not right after that and so I decided to pull out. I am very disappointed, because the way things were going I was sure to finish on the podium. Even though I could not match the pace of the cars ahead, I was sure of keeping the place I was in at the end of the first lap. I did not make a perfect getaway, but I made up the lost ground at the first corner.”
RACE RESULTS The Spanish GP Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona; 65 laps. Weather: dry, windy. Classified: Pos Driver Team Time 1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1h31:03.305 2. Montoya Williams BMW (M) + 0:40.700 3. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) + 0:49.600 4. Trulli Jordan Honda (B) + 0:51.200 5. Coulthard Mclaren Mercedes (B) + 0:51.600 6. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) + 1:01.800 7. Panis BAR Honda (B) + 1:04.900 8. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) + 1:19.800 9. Hakkinen Mclaren Mercedes (B) + 1 Lap 10. Alesi Prost Acer (M) + 1 Lap 11. Burti Prost Acer (M) + 1 Lap 12. Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) + 2 Lap 13. Alonso Minardi European (M) + 2 Lap 14. Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) + 2 Lap 15. Button Benetton Renault (M) + 3 Lap 16. Marques Minardi European (M) + 3 Lap Fastest Lap: M.Schumacher, 1:21.151, lap 25 Not Classified/Retirements: Driver Team On Lap Barrichello Ferrari (B) 49 Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 48 R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 20 Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 8 de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 5 Frentzen Jordan Honda (B) 5 World Championship Standing, Round 5: Drivers: Constructors: 1. M.Schumacher 36 1. Ferrari 50 2. Coulthard 28 2. McLaren 32 3 Barrichello 14 3. Williams 18 4. R.Schumacher 12 4. Jordan 13 5. Heidfeld 8 5. Sauber 9 6. Trulli 7 6. BAR 7 7. Montoya 6 7. Benetton 1 = Frentzen 6 9. Hakkinen 4 = Villeneuve 4 11. Panis 3 12. Raikkonen 1 = Fisichella 1
(results data by Atlas F1)
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