European Grand Prix Review

The big talking point in the lead-up to the European GP was the ongoing saga surrounding the new McLaren MP4/18. This was the car that was meant to have been unveiled at season's start before debuting sometime around Spain, not unlike the Ferrari F2003-GA. Instead, the car had not emerged from its cocoon, let alone race, until after Austria, and several mechanical failures and accidents had set back the car's test program and further postponed its first race outing.

News then came through that the car had unfathomably failed the compulsory FIA crash test, something you would least expect from a meticulous outfit like McLaren, and with the three-week testing ban approaching, word was that the car would now not be ready before the Italian GP, the third-last race of the year. By that stage, if Raikkonen were ensconced in a title battle, perhaps introducing a new car would have been an unwise thing to do, and maybe we would never get to see the MP4/18 in a GP until 2004!

Now that would be amazing, if not downright outrageous. And it certainly makes you wonder if the MP4/17D can keep up. The Ferrari F2003-GA is clearly as good if not a little bit better than the all-conquering F2002, and in recent races it is clear that the Williams FW25 has been honed into a genuine race-winner. On the other hand, all season McLaren has seemingly been taking the gamble of depending on cunning strategy rather than outright pace, but one wonders how long that can pay off.

The way Kimi ran away from the field in the early laps was something we haven't seen much of in 2003, but by becoming the first of the leaders to stop after only 16 laps (although Schumi pitted on the same lap) it was clear that he had been running light. I suspect he, like Michael, was only on an early two-stopper rather than a three-stopper, and whereas if he was three-stopping he would have been unlikely to make it work, on a two-stop strategy this race looked to be his, such was his confidence behind the wheel.

Of course, we never found out what strategy he was on, since embarrassingly for Mercedes the engine blew on lap 26. This was something Raikkonen grew heartily sick of during 2002, but until this race he had not suffered a mechanical failure on a Sunday all season. Considering his championship position, and the fact that he was commandingly on his way to a second career victory, this was a most inopportune time for a blow-up. Perhaps McLaren and Mercedes had pushed the envelope too far with the MP4/17D ...

For all the mud that his critics, ourselves included, have slung at him for his lack of racing ability, the truth is that Ralf Schumacher can be fast enough to win races when the mood takes him. The undeniable improvement in the FW25 has seen him firstly lift his game in qualifying, and now the races as well. Aided by being on the right tyres this weekend and starting from the clean side of the track, he was able to pass his brother at the beginning, and once Raikkonen retired his victory was deserved, but not in question.

Like Michael, Juan-Pablo Montoya lost out at the start by being on the dirty side of the track, allowing Barrichello to leapfrog him into the first corner, although for a moment Rubens, JPM and Trulli ran three abreast and it looked like a disaster in the making. With better car speed, it was always on the cards that the Colombian would take Barrichello at the stops, and that he duly did the second time around, allowing Juan-Pablo to starting hunting down the other Ferrari.

Michael Schumacher really had not looked in the hunt from the moment the lights went out. Clearly this was not a question of his form, nor his car's ability, but rather his tyres. Michelin was again the rubber to have, but the amazing thing was that it was at the Nurburgring last year that the French tyre put in one of its most pathetic performances of 2002, leaving the Williams several seconds, not tenths of seconds but whole seconds, adrift of the Ferrari on race day.

The turnaround has been amazing. The Bridgestone is not a bad tyre as last year's Michelin was; it's just that this year's Michelin is better. It's a brilliant equalising factor ensuring that the Michael-F2003 combination won't run away with the championship. Here, after Schumi came out behind Coulthard and the Renaults after his second stop, he lost all hope of somehow getting on top of his brother, but whether or not he had the car speed to do so on this day was debatable anyway.

It is true that he gave Michael only barely enough space, but that is the skill of a racing driver, to, fairly, pressurise your opponent into relenting. No doubt Michael was caught off guard by Juan-Pablo's audacity, and for a moment was unsure what to do, touching the Williams and spinning in the process as he took the tighter line into the Dunlop. With the Ferrari's rear wheels then left flailing in the gravel, for a moment it looked as though Schumi had just returned Raikkonen's DNF gift in kind.

For all the ways in which Michael courts controversy, the truth is that the marshals' assistance at that point was perfectly legal (although I'm not sure about the guy in the T-shirt and shorts who looked most un-marshal-like). The Ferrari was in a dangerous position, and the engine was still running. The coincidence of these factors means a push is permissible. Whether or not assistance of that kind is permissible in any situation is another question altogether, although you can argue strongly that it shouldn't be.

Michael beckoned the marshals to assist him, and I suspect that anyone else in his position with a knowledge of the rules would have done the same. That means, as Martin Brundle pointed out, that in a way the marshals are obliged to help a car in a dangerous position, which in turn puts the marshals themselves at risk. The incident also put into question the wisdom of starting gravel traps at the track's edge; if there's a fair strip of grass then spinners could driver out of dangerous positions by themselves.

That was certainly a different tune compared to after Brazil 2001, when JPM had pulled That Move on him at the restart. Michael does not hand out praise, especially to those he deems to be pretenders, if he does not believe that they are truly skilled. Mika Hakkinen received his regard, and perhaps this shows that Montoya has too. Such healthy, respectful competition between the old master and one of the anointed heirs is nothing but good for the sport.

Yet again little to say about Rubens Barrichello, who looked a touch sheepish in the post-race press conference. Yes he had just scored another six points and another podium, but it had not been a particularly strong performance, and in all honesty he had done little more than drive around all day. This from the person who had control of this event in 2002, staying ahead of Schumi and recording what was a genuine victory (compared to some others he may have had later in the year).

In the battle between the Renaults and David Coulthard's McLaren, for once Jarno Trulli seemed to have a little advantage over Fernando Alonso. For much of the race this was one of the Spaniard's less impressive performances this year, but as in Monaco he managed to get past his team-mate in the pits. Therein lies one of the key differences between Trulli and Alonso. Fernando has the ability and the motivation to up the ante when he has to, something Jarno just can't do. Cometh the in-lap, cometh the man.

Could Coulthard have matched Raikkonen's race pace had he qualified better? This is a moot point, since the fact is that once again DC couldn't glue a hot lap together and his entire race strategy suffered as a result of being trapped firstly behind Olivier Panis' Toyota and then the Renaults. Late in the race, there is no way he would have even challenged Alonso were it not for the Renault's dramas. David is not just second fiddle at McLaren, he is driving like it as well, and it would take a man in denial to disagree.

Despite what looked like serious brake problems, that was a mighty display of defensive driving from Alonso, showing tremendous skill to know where to position his car, and to know how to get enough break over Coulthard in the straights. Meanwhile, DC was going on the attack, saying: "He braked much earlier than he had on the previous laps and it was definitely questionable ... I think he's an inexperienced driver and this sort of incident shows how much he has to learn."

Is that so, Mr. Coulthard? What on earth did he expect? Alonso was clearly in trouble, but within his rights to defend his position. DC simply misjudged it, braked too late, and speared off. Had he qualified better he wouldn't have been stuck behind Alonso in the first place. Whereas Fernando held his nerve, David didn't, and if he wants to talk about experience, then a man of his experience wouldn't have gone off like that. For his brain fade, for putting the blame on Alonso, and for compounding Mercedes' misery, DC gets our 'Reject of the Race'.

REJECT OF THE RACE
David Coulthard
How much has DC to learn? Will he get the chance...?

Anyway, there were worrying signs when both Jaguars started smoking out of the first corner, but nowadays it looks like that does not mean the engine is about to detonate. BMW engines have had a habit of smoking on the first lap out of the pits in practice, for instance. Whilst Pizzonia ran a solid race to 10th, Webber's unusual strategy of a very short first stint but long second stint allowed him to get past Button and eventually take 6th to be 'best of the rest' yet again, and finally escape 'reject status' on our site as well!

Webber and Jaguar are now building up some solid points-scoring momentum, and I have no doubt that not long from now the Big Cats will pass Jordan and BAR for 5th in the constructors' title, and that would be an indicator of relative performance and consistency. Toyota, for instance, were probably better than Jaguar at the Nurburgring, and Panis may have finished as high as 5th were it not for brake problems, but in the end neither he nor Cristiano da Matta finished. Performance is only as good as results.

Ove Andersson was visibly disturbed by the double-DNF, and so he should be. Despite the fact that the TF103s were performing well on a track that doesn't require massive amounts of horsepower, which is a welcome change, it is also a fact that were last year's points system in place, Toyota would now have fewer points than at this stage last year. That is not what the folks in Tokyo would have been expecting. The Cologne team continues to be under massive pressure to perform.

It was almost enough to earn a second 'Reject of the Race' award this year, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt and put it down to a sheer bad weekend when the planets must have been out of alignment. Having a good weekend, though, virtually on home soil was Sauber. Nick Heidfeld redeemed himself after a very average first half of the season and sliding off on Saturday qualifying to climb back up to 8th in a race where there was not much attrition. It was easily his best performance of the year so far.

Heinz-Harald Frentzen probably should have scored that last point for 8th, but he was thwarted by a daft three-stop strategy. Tactics is clearly not Sauber's strong suit. Jordan also employed three-stop strategies for their cars which brought them in as early as lap 10, but really Giancarlo Fisichella and Ralph Firman continue to waste their time in the mediocre machinery. Some kudos to Firman, though, for getting within three tenths of Fisi in qualifying.

Minardi got more exposure than they bargained for when early in the race the director decided to focus on their battle with Villeneuve. Good to see directors picking up on a good battle, even if it is for 17th place! But after a better race in Canada, the black and white cars returned to running relatively unobtrusively at the back of the pack, although once again Justin Wilson got ahead of the mildly disappointing Jos Verstappen. Neither will score points this year unless there is a lot more attrition in the rest of the field.