Austrian GP
View from the Sofa!

by Stephen Slater and Alex Stokes

As the Ferrari drivers crossed the line to start the last lap of the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, we believed we were about to see Rubens Barrichello take his second ever Formula One win. As the cars rounded the last corner, I opened my mouth and shouted ''Come on Rubens!'', a second later I heard my friend Alex shouting ''What the...'' as, almost unbelievably, Barrichello moved over and handed Schumacher the win. We were dumbfounded; we couldn't believe it! Shouts and swearing eminated from our front room in Foolow for minutes to come!

Four days later I'm still reeling from the shock of it. In eight years of watching F1 I have to say I have never felt so critical of of the sport. Ferrari will argue that they did the switch to help Schumacher's title challenge, what they don't seem to realise is that Formula One is much bigger than Ferrari. Formula One is there as an entertainment to millions of fans - how many of them will have turned off their TVs in disgust after Sunday's debacle, and how many will want to tune in next time?

Michael Schumacher - 0/10 - He is nothing but a cheat! He doesn't deserve to win the World Championship after today's display! He may say that he was just following team orders, and he gave the winning trophy to Rubens, but if he wanted him to win why did he pass him!?

Rubens Barrichello - 11/10 ­ He dominated the weekend and showed that he can be better than Schumacher. It seemed everyone wanted him to win except his own team! Michael may have given him the trophy and the top step of the podium, but this must have felt of little consolation. Poor Rubens!

Ralf Schumacher - 5/10 ­ Somehow out-qualified his brother on Saturday, but never really showed any enthusiasm in the race and dropped back behind his teammate, finishing fourth.

Juan Pablo Montoya - 6/10 ­ Was never in contention for pole on Saturday and was extremely lucky to end up on the second row. Drove a steady race, putting in some quick laps to leapfrog his teammate and finish on the podium.

David Coulthard - 2/10 - Was out-qualified yet again by teammate Kimi Raikkonen and was fairly beaten by Fisichella's Jordan in the race. Need I say more!?

Kimi Raikkonen - 6/10 ­ Qualified ahead of DC in 6th but had a huge engine blow up early on making it 3 retirements in a row for the Finn.

Jenson Button - 5/10 ­ Qualified poorly, down in 13th, after having trouble with traffic on all his runs (or so he says!). Climbed up to 7th in the race but failed to pass fellow Brit Coulthard.

Jarno Trulli - 3/10 ­ Had a very disappointing qualifying session after an engine blow up (which red flagged the session), and had to use the spare, in which he qualified 16th. Was more competitive in the race but retired yet again due to a fuel pressure problem on lap 45.

Nick Heidfeld - 6/10 ­ Qualified in his best ever position of 5th ahead of BOTH McLarens. Made an excellent start into third but soon fell back and retired on lap 28 after a huge accident where his car spun across the hairpin collecting Sato's Jordan on the way. Luckily, he escaped uninjured.

Felipe Massa - 7/10 - Qualified a career best of seventh ahead of the McLaren of Couthard but behind Heidfeld. His race was short lived though, after his right rear suspension broke on lap 9

Heinz-Harald Frentzen - 5/10 ­ Was a very respectable 11th in qualifying despite having a high-speed spin on Trulli's oil. Had a disappointing race after being hit by teammate Bernoldi in turn 1 and then being punted off by Villeneuve in turn 2. He was then under pressure for the rest of the race playing catch-up, and spun in on the final corner of lap 17. He eventually finished 11th, 2 laps down.

Enrique Bernoldi - 4/10 ­ Qualified an F1 best of 12th behind teammate Frentzen but hit the back of Frentzen in the first corner and broke his front wing which caused him to retire. It's your own fault, Enrique!

Jacques Villeneuve - 7/10 ­ Disappointing in qualifying ending up in P17. Got off to a good start being on a lighter fuel load, but punted off Frentzen's Arrows in turn 2 which earned him a drive through penalty. From then on he drove a good race fighting his way up as high as third but disaster struck on the final lap when his engine blew.

Olivier Panis - 4/10 ­ Qualified in the top ten just behind the McLaren of Coulthard, but had a sudden end to the race when his rear wheels locked on the pit straight on lap 24 putting him in into a massive spin which brought out the safety car.

Eddie Irvine - 2/10 ­ Qualified behind teammate De la Rosa, in 20th. Didn't go anywhere during the race.

Pedro de la Rosa - 2/10 - Had a disappointing weekend, qualifying 19th and retiring on lap 9 after a problem with the throttle.

Giancarlo Fisichella - 8/10 - Qualified well down in 17th but thanks mainly to a well worked pit strategy he fought his way up to 5th ahead of Britain's David Couthard making it Jordan's first points finish of the season!

Takuma Sato - 4/10 ­ Qualified behind his teammate in 18th, and crashed out of the race in horrific style when he was hit by Nick Heidfeld's Sauber on lap 28. Miraculously he escaped with only minor bruising.

Allan McNish - 4/10 ­ Qualified a season's best of 14th and drove a steady race to finish behind his teammate in 9th.

Mika Salo - 5/10 ­ Had an excellent qualifying session ending up on row 5 and had a relatively uneventful race, finishing 8th.

Mark Webber - 2/10 ­ As expected the two Minardis filled to last two places on the grid and it was Webber who, as expected, was ahead of Yoong. He drove a solid race to finish 12th.

Alex Yoong - 1/10 ­ Yet another poor display in qualifying, ending up last nearly a second behind his teammate. His race wasn't too bad but unfortunately he was forced to retire on lap 42 after a problem with his engine. The question remains: just how long will it be until he is sacked?!