Brazilian Grand Prix Review

There were two major talking points going into the Interlagos weekend. Ferrari had brought one - just one - brand new F2002 for Schumacher to use. The German's spare would be an F2001, while Rubens Barrichello would have two F2001s. As we said in our Reject Soapbox at the time, one wonders if it was move of slight desperation to introduce the fast new machine in order to counteract Williams' initiative gained in Malaysia, whilst assuring - so they thought - Barrichello a reliable run on home soil.

In typical Ferrari fashion, this choice of car at Michael's disposal opened a can of worms. The F2002 used different-sized wheels to the F2001; Ferrari argued that Schumacher was thus entitled to double the sets of tyres, and the FIA agreed. (Watch for all top teams to bring cars with different-sized wheels in the future!) Perhaps this too was a move of desperation; the forecast high temperatures and humidity in Sao Paulo seemed sure to suit the Michelin runners, who love it hot and sticky.

By Friday afternoon, the Michelin runners had redressed the balance, with seven of them now in the top 10. This included Allan McNish up in 3rd place just 0.375s off countryman David Coulthard's fastest time, the Toyota driver obviously following Arrows' lead in giving himself an ego boost early in proceedings. Those very same Bridgestone runners who had been near the top of the timesheets in the morning, like the Saubers and Giancarlo Fisichella's Jordan, now found themselves near the bottom.

Clearly, Ferrari were going to be the main upholders of Bridgestone fortune against the swarm of Michelin-shod Williams, McLarens and Renaults, and by Saturday morning the nip-and-tuck had turned back in Schumacher's favour. Saturday first free practice was notable in that the Saubers were 8th and 9th, the Jordans 13th and 14th, the Arrows 15th and 16th, the Jaguars 17th and 18th, the Toyotas 19th and 20th, and the Minardis 21st and 22nd! You couldn't rig it better than that!

With Ralf Schumacher 3rd, Williams seemed to be Ferrari's main challenger. Once again, despite fast times in free practice the McLarens had been found wanting when it really mattered, with Coulthard 4th and Kimi Raikkonen 5th for the third race in succession. The Renaults continued to impress in 6th and 7th, while Barrichello was trapped in 8th, his best time disallowed after running the pit lane red light - unavoidably, according to Rubens - on Saturday morning.

Mika Salo maintained Toyota's surprising early-season form by starting 10th behind Nick Heidfeld's Sauber, while the Jaguars underwent an unexpected resurgence and found themselves 11th and 13th, Pedro de la Rosa ahead of Eddie Irvine. Having said that, apart from McNish and the Minardis they were the last Michelin runners, so maybe it was more to do with the tyres. After all, they were ahead of all six hapless Jordans, BARs and Arrows on Bridgestones.

Talking of Arrows, the morning warm-up saw Enrique Bernoldi get caught up in a bizarre but terrifying incident. After crashing his A23 heavily, the medical car quickly came to his aid. As the Mercedes parked next to the Brazilian's car, Heidfeld came charging along, careering into the wagon's open door. The German claimed that there was nowhere for him to go and no action was taken against him, but it was a fortunate escape for the stunned crew in the medical car.

Perhaps the medical car was a touch hasty in getting to Bernoldi's machine, as Enrique was patently unhurt even if his car was in flames - but you'd be mad to criticise the medicos for being on the scene as soon as was humanly possible. On one hand, this and several other incidents in the race were reminders of the dangers faced by track officials at any GP, but on the other hand, it might give the FIA cause to consider introducing those remote-controlled speed limiting devices which have been suggested previously. Alternately, it seems like a good idea for safety car periods during races and stoppages during practice sessions.

It almost worked. Schumacher saw how deep he was going and relented. But Montoya had gone in just a bit too deep, and running wide was the result. Michael opportunistically put himself on Montoya's outside for turn two, knowing that he would then have the inside for the Curva do Sol. And so it turned out, although it required JPM's co-operation, and to the Colombian's credit he gave the German just enough racing room. Schumacher acknowledged as much.

Schumi had got his revenge for 2001 lap three. But not to be outdone, Montoya tried to retaliate on the run down to turn four. Michael went to the inside to cover his line in a move reminiscent of what he did to Mika Hakkinen at Spa in 2000 (the lap before the Finn pulled that move on him), the Williams touched the Ferrari, and this time it was JPM who lost his front wing. Like Schumacher in Malaysia, this time it was Montoya's turn to get repairs and charge back up the field, but he only got as high as 5th by race end.

Alternatively, such was the tyre wear amongst Bridgestone runners that it was thought that most of them, the Ferraris included, would be making at least two stops. If Montoya thought Schumi was on a two-stopper, then he on a one-stopper need not have passed the German on the track. And even if, as it turned out, Michael was only stopping once, then over a whole race distance the Williams on Michelins was probably a faster proposition than Schumi, and would probably get past at the stops.

Quite simply, JPM blew it. With the Colombian out of the picture, Michael danced into the distance until Ralf's tyres came in, but meanwhile it was Barrichello providing the early heroics. On lighter fuel, he quite clinically carved through the field, passing both McLarens and both Renaults (which had blasted past the silver cars at the start), and then Ralf, and finally Michael as well (who let him by). The win was probably out of the question, but a podium finish was on the cards.

So with one Ferrari out, and one Williams out of the picture, this was a straight race between the Schumacher brothers. Michael built a handy lead by the time Ralf's tyres allowed him to get going, and the Williams started closing. But the Ferrari was not being irresistably caught; Ralf's first stint was rather inconsistent to say the least. What's more, when the two-stopper window came around, Michael didn't go in. The World Champion was defying predictions and attempting a one-stopper.

What's more, he was making an unbelievable fist of it. He was always going to come in earlier than his younger brother which would give Ralf a few laps' chance to overcome the gap, but in the final laps before he came in Michael drove so sensationally on-the-limit, he ensured that the gap was too great to overcome. And so it proved, even if the Ferrari stop was relatively slow, and red stayed up front. While Ralf did manage to catch up, he never got close enough out of the Juncao to slipstream by. The win was Michael's.

But on current form, the Renaults do seem to be almost on par with the McLarens, which reflects as well on the Viry-Chatillon concern as it does poorly on the men from Woking. A double points score would have been just reward for a hugely impressive weekend, but Trulli's engine blew towards the end. The luckless Italian seems to have brought his knack for encountering all manner of problems in races, both in himself and in his car, over from his Jordan days.

With Montoya salvaging 5th, that left Salo quietly salvaging the final point, the second points finish for Toyota in three races. Amazing for a team with such low hopes and expectations at season's start. Equally incredible was that in 7th and 8th, just outside the points, and ahead of Sato's Jordan and Jacques Villeneuve's BAR, were the two Jaguars. It was a welcome return to something resembling good form for the big cats, and now that they've decided to stay with the R3 perhaps improvements will come soon.

REJECT OF THE RACE
Soccer legend Pelé
Wake up, Pelé! Chequered flag mishap sees Sato take his first win...

And the Reject of the Race? The man who awarded Sato the race win. You heard right. See, in theory the man who sees the chequered flag first is the winner; Sato was the first to see it. Neither of the Schumachers saw it, because the dufus waving it, immortal soccer legend Pelé, got distracted and forgot all about his task! And when he finally started waving the flag at subsequent cars, he did so like an absolute pansy!

Perhaps it was more the fault of the bloke who was up there with him in the box advising him, which begs the question, why was Pele given the job if he knew so little about motor racing he needed someone to tell him what was going on? For what he achieved in soccer, he is to be admired and respected - but, all in all, he helped make it a rather strange and amusing end to what had been an interesting Grand Prix, the last of the early-season fly-away races. Everyone concerned will be glad to head back to Europe for the next race at Imola.