British Grand Prix Review

Qualifying seemed to promise some reversals of trends we had seen in the last few races. The McLarens were on par with the Ferraris, although Rubens Barrichello was, once again, spectacularly unspectacular. Though it was no surprise to see the Jordans high up (their factory is just around the factory, after all), it was to be hoped that they could translate qualifying pace into race form, something which they have been singularly unable to do this year.

Murray Walker (whose return to the ITV commentary box for his last British GP was, frankly, a bit of a let-down Š perhaps (gasp!) it IS indeed time for the legendary tonsils to retire) is absolutely right when he says he constantly has to find new superlatives to describe Kimi Raikkonen. Yet another 7th place on the grid is simply amazing. And while we still have lingering doubts over his sheer dicing abilities, in modern F1 it appears you don't need them, and he seems to be a perfect modern F1 driver, young, fast but above all consistent.

This race was also the first for a very long time that the 107% rule has excluded someone from the field for being too slow. In this case, shock horror, it was Tarso Marques in the Minardi, but prior to this (and thanks to Andy Noax) we believe the last driver to not be allowed to start was Tyrrell's Ricardo Rosset in 1998.

Marques himself was the recipient of such dispensation in Melbourne this year, but honestly rules are rules, and without sufficient extenuating circumstances, the British stewards made the right decision in my books. It's such a shame, because Marques has been rather unimpressive this year alongside Fernando Alonso, especially for someone regarded as something of a talent when he drove for Minardi back in 1996.

It may seem strange to say this, but if Jarno had actually pressed the issue further and tried to go around Copse side-by-side with David, then alternately there would have been a bigger incident, but also possibly a side-on touch which would have allowed both to continue. As it was, it was the kind of suspension-breaking impact that sent the Jordan straight into the gravel, and which put the Scot out a few laps later.

The other incident at the first corner saw Jacques Villeneuve knock BAR team-mate Olivier Panis off into the same Copse sand-trap, after the Canadian locked up, seemingly forgot to turn, and the Frenchman had no choice but to be barged off. It capped off another unflattering weekend for the Brackley team, with Villeneuve spending most of the race sliding around so much he could give Colin McRae a few tips. Why Jacques is reputedly contemplating another season with BAR is beyond us. For their uninspiring shenanigans, BAR picks up our 'Reject of the Race' Award.

One might have been a little surprised to see Michael go conservative. It's never been in his character to do that, and, as we said at the end of the last review, surely he would have liked to have equalled Alain Prost's record here and then break it at Hockenheim. But alternately, Schumacher and Jean Todt seem to have learnt from Hakkinen's example last year (or Eddie Irvine's from 1999), that relentlessly building up points is just as important even if you don't win every race.

After the race, McLaren tried to slam Ferrari's strategy as being too conservative and purely "wrong". From our point of view, this was no more than an exceedingly lame attempt to gain an impossible psychological advantage. If anything, it shows McLaren's absolute desperation, that in a year where they hoped to wrest both titles from Ferrari they find themselves in such a poor position that Ferrari have the luxury of going conservative, something which even in their 1998 dominance McLaren never had.

REJECT OF THE RACE
British American Racing
JV takes teammate Panis off before slip sliding his way to a lowly 8th.

Patrick Head has come out for the second race in succession and claimed that instructions were issued to Ralf for the German to move over and let his team-mate through, and that those instructions were not followed. One questions how wise it is for him to come out so publicly in this way. This is not what Williams needs while they are on the verge of challenging for championships again, and it must not be good for team morale, nor for relations between Ralf and the team, and between Ralf and JPM.

The fact is, in neither France nor Britain would Ralf moving over have made any difference. At Magny-Cours Montoya retired, and at Silverstone, even if Ralf had let JPM through, the Colombian would have been stuck behind Barrichello anyway. And, considering that they would both pit at about the same time (which therefore meant they had the same amount of fuel on board), and that the new Bridgestone tyres seemed incredibly durable, JPM was unlikely to have found a way past.

It was also a just result for the Saubers to wind up 5th and 6th, and at this rate no-one would begrudge them 4th in the Constructors' Championship. Despite a relatively poor start, Raikkonen's move inside Frentzen down at Stowe on the first lap, with the Jordan squeezing him almost onto the grass, was easily the move of the race, and certainly a contender for pass of the season. Heidfeld got by his countryman as well, and with all three of them on a two-stopper, the places 5th through 7th were decided then and there.

Frentzen was somewhat unlucky in this race. He potentially had a faster car than the Saubers, but could never even get past Heidfeld, although he almost pulled off a dummy against Nick at Abbey. HHF's potential pace must beg the question: where would Trulli have been? One could quite rightly believe that he would have been a nuisance up the front, but once again the Italian has had no luck. He's the new Johnny Herbert, if ever I've seen one.

Benetton are still way behind (and are now blaming ex-Stasi computer hackers ... this far into the season???), while Arrows are where they could be expected to be. One of the rare heart-stopping moments of the race came when Enrique Bernoldi and Giancarlo Fisichella ran side-by-side down the pit lane, both on the 120kph speed limit. It may have made for good viewing, but the Arrows lollipop man must be severely reprimanded. It is his job to hold the car back if the pit lane is not clear, even if it means losing a place, and there could have been a nasty incident. 120kph is not all that slow.

European Minardi have now been well and truly left for dead, just in time for a revised PS01 to appear. It would not surprise us to see Alex Yoong take Marques' place any time soon. The rumours say that will happen in Hungary, but in the meantime there is Germany in between. With Hockenheim's long straights suiting powerful engines, on paper you would have to say it will be a Williams cake-walk. As long as they stay reliable, and as long as the Michelins are up for it.