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European Grand Prix Review
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A shorter review this time around, by virtue of a later posting, and the fact that the French GP is just this weekend. But an interesting race, culminating in a not-so-interesting result, and a fine 49th career victory for Michael Schumacher, which takes him to within striking distance of Alain Prost's all-time record of 51. It seems inconceivable to think that Schumi won't break the record this year. Even more amazing to think that when Prost won his 51st (Germany 1993), Michael had but one victory to his name.
Few surprises in qualifying except to see that the McLarens really were off the pace, despite having been quick on the Friday. It’s not the first time that’s happened this year, and it must be extremely disconcerting for the Woking men to find that they reach their maximum performance so early into the weekend, whereas Ferrari and Williams have tended to build up to hit their peak in qualifying and in the race. |
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Once again the incredible Kimi Raikkonen out-qualified Nick Heidfeld on the German's home turf (and now leads Heidfeld 5-4 on the head-to-head), while for the first time in a long time a car other than the 2001 top six teams broke into the top twelve on a proper track (Monaco doesn't count), with Eddie Irvine qualifying 12th. Mind you, looking at the rather pathetic performance of BAR this weekend, and the definite improvement coming from Jaguar, one wonders if the status quo we've seen in the first half of the season may be changing. More analyses of different teams’ performances later.
It was hard to tell whether pit strategy made that big an impact on this race. For once the lead cars were split over one or two stops, but the McLarens were simply off the boil, and Rubens Barrichello was not only so heavy-laden in his Ferrari, he basically never had the track position for us to see if one-stoppers might have had an advantage. |
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This should have been a race-long battle between the Schumacher brothers, as in Canada, and by making their first stops on the same lap Ralf Schumacher never had the chance to pass his brother there. We will never know if he could have done it at the second stop, but even if he did, the rather strange behaviour of the Michelin tyres may have given Michael a chance to pass Ralf on the track. But the race was effectively settled by the stop-go penalty given to Ralf for putting half his car over the white line on the way out of the pits. One may care to debate the proportionality of penalty and crime, but on the other hand, the drivers know the rule and any monkey is good enough to stay within the line (or to touch the line, as Michael makes a habit of doing). It's a rule in the interests of safety, and fair enough too. Arguments that it spoilt a good race don't stick. On the other side of the leger, Ralf's momentary lapse in concentration is probably enough to deserve the 'Reject of the Race' award, in a race rather devoid of brain-fade. |
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Credit has to go to Juan-Pablo Montoya for the steadiness of his drive. He would have been 3rd but for Ralf's penalty, but 2nd was just reward for keeping the car on the track. He learnt the lessons after all the flack he received post-Canada (including from us), and he has shown the public, his team, and probably himself the benefits of not going over the limits (except for one ride over the Veedol chicane grass). More of the same will see him score many times his current tally of 12 points.
3rd was as good as David Coulthard could have hoped for, and probably beyond that, considering that on performance a podium place was out of reach for the Scot. In a continuation of his very sad 2001 form, Mika Hakkinen got completely overshadowed by his team-mate, and to be lapped so early in the race was not a nice sight. Although they have the resources to bounce back, perhaps McLaren have reached the end of the road for the time being. |
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REJECT OF THE RACE
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It is a fact that in F1, teams dominate in cycles. McLaren hit the top in 1998, and produced the best car for three years in a row. Ferrari and now Williams have caught and surpassed them. As a result, this has surely been a contributory factor in Hakkinen's decline. One hopes for his sake that Mika performs in the last 8 races. I for one would not like to see him do badly, and then stay on at McLaren in 2002 to try to prove the doubters wrong. History shows that once you're down, it takes time to come back. All he'll be doing is holding a seat that deservedly belongs to someone else. Jordan and Heinz-Harald Frentzen are a good example of Hakkinen's problem. After their stunning 1999 season, they went off-key in 2000, and are now finding that in their stagnation other teams and drivers have leapt ahead, and the wide performance gap has to be bridged all over again. Having an engine-maker that supplies two teams instead of concentrating on the one doesn't help. After a solid start to the season, Jordan have once again disappointed, and reliability continues to be troublesome. I think HHF definitely needs a change in scenery. He's in the Hakkinen category. |
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The Honda situation isn't helping BAR either. In a silly season where there's been a lot of talk but unlikely to be much action, BAR are too worried about finishing 3rd in the constructors' title (an impossibility considering Williams' form) and keeping Jacques Villeneuve. Instead, everyone involved needs to regain last year's consistency which is sorely lacking in 2001. Besides, Jacques hasn't done well enough this year to attract the attention of other teams for 2002. The team that is starting to look threatening now, not dissimilar to BAR last year, is Jaguar. They're on the Michelins, and Irvine is driving as well as ever. He was on Hakkinen's tail by the end of the race, and may well have taken 6th given a few more laps. The top 6’ will soon be a top 7, and the big cats really do look rather potent for 2002. And if they're worried about not being able to secure a good driver for 2003, they should remember that Barrichello has only extended his contract for a year, instead of looking towards Jenson Button. |
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Button may have surprised all and sundry last year, but he had to keep it up with Benetton this year. An awful car may be a legitimate excuse for not scoring any points, but it's no excuse for being thrashed comprehensively by Giancarlo Fisichella, who is not renowned for his consistency. That Button has actually managed to out-qualify the Minardis in the last few races is probably more a sign of Minardi dropping back through lack of development (as they always likely to do).
Sauber continue to impress, and are looking like a real chance of ending up in the top 5 of the constructors’ title. They have maintained a high level of performance for longer that we expected, but whether or not that can continue into the last 8 races remains to be seen. Without doubt, though, this is best car Sauber have ever produced. Prost continued to be consistent if off the pace somewhat, and were once again reliable. Jean Alesi's kamikaze lunge inside Raikkonen spoilt his perfect finishing record this year (although he was classified), while Arrows also remain consistent. Consistently unreliable, that is. Anyway, with hardly time to breathe before the French GP, expect another Williams v Ferrari shootout with McLaren hoping to bounce back. Being Michelin's home race, expect them to pull everything out of the bag. |
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