Brazilian Grand Prix Review

Friday free practice threw up a surprise when Coulthard ended up over a second faster than anyone else, and some 1.6 seconds quicker than McLaren team-mate Mika Hakkinen. Not only was it surprising because McLaren had been moaning loud and long about how they would be uncompetitive in Brazil, but it was also a turn-up to see Ron Dennis so flustered that he felt the need to drain the fuel from Coulthard's car and fire a shot at Ferrari in a session where usually a phoney war is more the order the things.

A phoney war on Friday is what Williams seem to be good at. Like in Malaysia, the Williams was nothing special on Friday, but come Saturday it was flying. Juan-Pablo Montoya became the first man to break into the 1:13 bracket at Interlagos, no doubt helped by the amazing power output of the BMW engine, and the relatively generous straights which allowed that power to be used to good effect.

The other thing it showed was that, in sheer speed, there is little to split the Ferrari, McLaren and Williams. Sepang had hinted at that, and Interlagos proved it. The question was whether or not the Williams, on Michelins, could mount a sustained race challenge. But with their current straight-line speed, it makes you wonder what on earth Ralf and Montoya will do on BMW's home patch at Hockenheim, or at Monza.

The rest of the grid was also interesting in that it's unusual for the teams to sort themselves out so neatly this early in the season. There were 5 cars between the two Prosts, 4 between the two Ferraris, 2 between the two Minardis, and one between the McLaren, Williams and Benetton pairs. But the Jordans, Saubers, BARs, Jaguars and Arrows all found themselves next to each other, Noah's ark style.

Still, that's just how the teams rank in terms of pace, but an actual Grand Prix distance still throws up enough variables to shuffle the pack. And if you thought the Malaysian monsoon was good, that was nothing compared to what Interlagos could conjure up. Like, who would have predicted that Barrichello would need to change to a spare set up for Schumacher within minutes of the race? Or that Hakkinen wouldn't even get off the line?

By the time the Mercedes engine died, all five red lights were on and it was too late to abort the start. That no-one hit the McLaren was very fortunate, but I thought it was very interesting what happened after that. Admittedly Hakkinen must have been scared out of his brains, and he wanted to bail ASAP. He took the steering wheel out, but the marshals wanted to wheel his car off, and tried to put the wheel back in with Mika still in the car.

It did seem like both Hakkinen and the marshals were so completely out of practice in dealing with such moments that they panicked. There was enough time for Hakkinen to engage neutral and for the marshals to push the car off, but all Mika wanted to do was jump out and run. It's almost as though facing such danger more often (heaven forbid) would actually help these guys think more clearly and co-operatively!

Anyway, the start itself had seen Montoya make a ripper and jump up to 2nd, while Ralf and Barrichello fell back, Rubens making his third awful start out of three this year. Once the safety car pulled off, you could predict that JPM was going to have a go. After all, this was only his third race out of Champ cars, where taking advantage of restarts is run of the mill stuff. Thank goodness someone finally had the guts to make use of a restart and attempt a move. And what a move it was.

The same couldn't be said for Barrichello running up the back of Ralf's Williams. True, both Schumacher and Jarno Trulli had veered from the left of the track across to the right, but for Barrichello to misread it and hit the Williams was silly. This was the third time out of three that Rubens has hit someone this year, and the third time that Ralf had been smashed from behind. Rubinho basically had a shocker in front of his home fans, and all the patriotic helmet-painting antics etc. only made it more embarrassing.

With his straight-line speed advantage, Montoya could hold and even extend his lead over Michael, with Coulthard ready to pounce. One big brake lock-up on lap 6 aside, Montoya's maturity and coolness in leading was quite remarkable. And he was made to look even better when Schumacher came in for the first of two stops. The symmetry of the strategy made it look as though it was planned rather than a case of Ross Brawn improvisation, in which case, for once, Ferrari had got it horribly wrong.

REJECT OF THE RACE
Jos Verstappen
(Jos the Dross smacks JPM out of the race)

Now JPM has something of a reputation for being a bit on the abrasive side, but his composure and grace in the face of such disappointment was admirable. Ironically, it was the usually calm and realistic Patrick Head who later went ballistic. Had the race stayed dry, Montoya was a sure-thing and the fairytale would have been complete. But the way Juan-Pablo handled himself only added to his growing legend.

But the race didn't stay dry, and in the end the Michelin rain tyres wouldn't have held a candle to the Bridgestone inters and wets. As it was, the heavens opened after Coulthard had made his fuel stop, and this indeed gave Schumacher his extra stop back when he fuelled up and changed onto inters. Coulthard, who was ahead before that, waited an extra lap and fell behind the Ferrari as a result.

In fact, everything was a bit of a nightmare for Maranello. Not only had they stuffed up tactically, but now Schumacher cracked under Coulthard's pressure, and unfathomably didn't go for the inside line past Tarso Marques' Minardi, thereby snookering himself while the McLaren went inside both of them, in a very Spa 2000-like move. To complete his misery, Schumacher went off again and had to settle for 2nd, but regardless, Coulthard was always going to win this one.

Third place seemed to be the spot no-one wanted. Originally, Jacques Villeneuve in the BAR had made a good start and on speed alone looked able to challenge the Jordans, but then suffered what looked like a puncture, which dropped him right back. Team-mate Olivier Panis seemed to have similar pace, but when the rain fell and BAR brought both cars in, it was Villeneuve whom they ridiculously serviced first, delaying the Frenchman, which put Olivier out of contention for BAR's first ever podium.

All credit to the German and the Swiss outfit, but really it was a result by default and good fortune. Panis probably deserved 3rd but ended up 4th, with Trulli 5th. The last point for 6th was also well and truly up for grabs, and a whole host of drivers threw away their chances for this as well. Kimi Raikkonen added to his growing reputation with another strong drive, but not unexpectedly lost control late in the race.

Eddie Irvine was in with a shout in the Jaguar, which was a good effort considering that he had endured a stop-go penalty when his mechanics had trouble getting him started on the warm-up lap and were still swarming around his car after the track should have been cleared. But the Ulsterman also ended up off the track. Then it looked as though, amazingly, Prost would score the point via the long-suffering Jean Alesi, who was showing some of that wet-weather brio we all know he has.

How Paul Stoddart must be fuming. Let's face it, Minardi have been on par with the Benetton Renaults, despite a fraction of Benetton's preparation, testing and budget. Flavio Briatore's team, and Renault in particular for being so foolhardy in introducing the revolutionary 111 degree engine straight off, ought to be mightily red-faced, whilst Minardi have every reason to be proud thus far of a car which is respectable and relatively reliable. But just like that, Benetton have a point. There is no justice.

There would also be no justice if Williams BMW, whether through Ralf or JPM, don't score a win very soon. Having said that, the next race is in Ferrari's backyard at Imola, and after what could only be described as a bit of a faux pas weekend from the Prancing Horse, expect them to bounce back. But the scene is set for a three-way battle at the top for the rest of the season, and thank heavens for that.

As a side note, seeing as we are both parochial Aussies, may we also congratulate Australian James Courtney on winning the first race of the British F3 Championship at Silverstone last weekend. James, who impressed us greatly when we heard him speak at Melbourne in March, is drivng for the Jaguar junior team and finished his debut race ahead of podium finishers Priaulx and Hayes.

That other Aussie in the F1 wings, Mark Webber, also impressed in the first F3000 race at Interlagos. He drove a barnstorming race from 10th on the grid to finish 2nd, but a penalty post dropped im down to 7th. Better luck next time, Mark.

Meanwhile, at Monza in the opening round of the Formula Renault Eurocup, new Toyota-contracted driver Ryan Briscoe impressed greatly, qualifying on the front row and leading the race from the very first chicane. Unfortunately, an oil pump failure ended his race.