Brazilian Grand Prix Review

Perhaps, with the flag rapidly falling on 2004 and with Melbourne alarmingly close, it was time for at least some of the political brinkmanship to end. The first thing the teams agreed on was for (another) new qualifying system, reverting to something like last year's, except that the sessions would be on Saturday and Sunday morning, with aggregate times to decide the grid. Even if we disagree with aggregate times establishing a grid, anything's better than this year's back-to-back qualifying snore.

In terms of the technical regulations, the FIA announced what looks like the final set of changes for 2005, or something close to it. The one-engine rule would extend to two races; the less said about that the better, as we have never agreed with the rule in the first place. To that the FIA has now added the one-set-of-tyres rule, plus aerodynamic changes which are all heading towards slowing the cars by 4 to 5 seconds a lap. Meanwhile, allow us time to digest the concept of 2.4 litre V8s for 2006 ...

If the cars will indeed slow down by that much, then it's probably fair that Minardi not be given dispensation to run this year's package next year. However, it's interesting that F1 is slowing down, while the new GP2 series, replacing F3000, is actually going to get faster, to the point of approaching F1 speeds. At any rate, 2004 has marked the fastest F1 cars ever, with incredible lap records to stand probably for a very, very long time. After all, Zsolt Baumgartner's time would have qualified him on pole last year ...

Two parties though were conspicuous by their absence in the declaration: first, the FIA, with Max Mosley already saying that it's too late to implement the ideas for 2005. Second, of course, was Ferrari. Reports suggested that they were involved in the first meeting of the weekend, but then either were not invited to, or simply did not attend, the follow-up when the agreements were made. Either this was a case of Ferrari holding out and being belligerent, or it was all the other teams checkmating them.

If Ferrari were simply being difficult, then however selfish they may appear to be, one can't help but understand their predicament though. They own their own two test tracks. Yes, it is a luxury no other team has, and yes, it is an unfair advantage, but it is not something they can simply give up without a cost. Fiorano especially would turn into a massive white elephant, especially since, if they were limited to 10 test days, they would probably spend them along with the other teams at, say, Barcelona and Jerez.

At the end of the day, though, the promising things to emerge are that finally those who have the power to make things happen are showing some initiative and good sense - their plan is an intrinsically workable one that does promise to cut costs, and that they are at last demonstrating some unity over the issue. To the point where even traditional Ferrari lackeys Sauber joined in with the other eight teams. After all the recent loggerheads, perhaps there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel for F1.

The Colombian, wearing a special helmet design as he did at Interlagos last year, was especially brave on his out-lap on dry tyres, when he made the decisive move outside Kimi Raikkonen into turn 4. By beating Raikkonen fair and square, he may have laid down some psychological marker against the Finn, but then again, if anyone is least likely to be psyched out, it is The Iceman. It rounded off a year which hasn't been bad for JPM, but not much good either; indeed, it was his first podium since Imola.

Ralf Schumacher's return from his Indianapolis injuries has been marked by consistent, good, but not earth-shattering drives - rather like the rest of his career so far. His 5th place finish stole 9th in the championship ahead of David Coulthard and Giancarlo Fisichella, and overall the last few races have been a solid platform from which he launches into his new association with Toyota. But considering that he has been at Williams since 1999, there will be some awkwardness in that transition, too.

Under normal circumstances, JPM's result would have been a great springboard for Williams into 2005, but in view of the rule changes it won't mean much. The team has shown that they have the technical know-how to rectify inherent problems, but for the second year in a row the car hasn't worked out of the box. They need to get that right for next year. The good news is that the delay in finalising the rules have meant that Ferrari haven't got as much of a jump in terms of building their 2005 challenger.

Such has been the speed of the cars in 2004, a heavy strategy has not been likely to work unless you have had a clear track, which DC did not have once he gambled on dries and became mired in the field. In contrast to, say, Michael Schumacher in Britain, where he had the space and car speed to overcome the extra weight. The question now is, will David get a drive for 2005? Martin Brundle is quite certain he will, but it's hard to see where, unless it is with a lowly team, or unless Williams has a change of heart.

While Brundle would not be so outwardly confident just for show, it's hard to see how the curtain has not effectively closed on the career of a very good, at times top-drawer driver who, in an era of those such as Schumacher and to some extent Mika Hakkinen, could beat them on occasions but not often enough. In the last few years especially, since coming 2nd in 2001, he has been thwarted by disappointing machinery and waning confidence in the face of one-lap qualifying and having Raikkonen as team-mate.

For only the third time this year Ferrari failed to win, and Michael finished this record-breaking year with a whimper. In the last four race weekends, he has spun four times and added a crash here as well. For all the talk of how he still has the fire inside, once the championship was secured he did seem to drop the ball. At one stage it looked like he would smash his 2002 points-scoring record of 144 points; with a final tally of merely 148, he only just eclipsed it.

Having said that, the downturn in his form has coincided with Ferrari stopping work on the F2004. Rubens Barrichello will be ruing that as well at the moment. This was his big chance to take that home win he so desperately craves, with Michael content to swan around and the car having been so good all year. But just as the F2004 is at its most advanced, it also hasn't been developed for a while. Whereas everyone else, McLaren and Williams in particular, has slowly worked up to Ferrari's level, even if it's too late.

Tellingly, in the dry Rubens' race pace simply matched Montoya and Raikkonen's. At no stage could he start chomping into their advantage. Basically, by staying out on intermediates for a lap longer than those two, he lost the lead, he lost track position, and he lost the race as a result. True, as Barrichello lamented in the post-race press conference, the conditions were not at their most advantageous for his Bridgestones, but the truth is, it would have been closer had he switched to dries a lap earlier.

But if we're talking about Michael going down with a whimper, then what about Renault? Fernando Alonso risked starting on dries, climbed into the lead in the early laps when others' early stops put them onto a skewed three-stop pattern, as opposed to his own more balanced three-stop plan, and came out 3rd after his first stop - having effectively moved up from 15th to 3rd in the pits. But he could not stay there; in the end, he handed 3rd to Barrichello rather lamely.

Jacques Villeneuve showed signs of getting more into the groove, matching Alonso's race pace in parts, but he at best still languished in the midfield. These three races have been a difficult return. His results have not been what he or Flavio Briatore would have hoped for. Sauber will be hoping that either Jacques has just taken a while to shake off the cobwebs, or the second Renault has indeed been disfavoured, or the R24 really is that tricky to drive, as opposed to Villeneuve simply not been good enough any more.

Renault's downturn in fortune over the last third of the season meant that BAR had no real fears about losing 2nd in the constructors' title, but really the Contract Recognition Board's decision during the week was their only piece of genuinely good news. Since announcing his attempted defection to Williams, Jenson Button and BAR's professionalism have been impressive. It looks like reconciliation is possible, at least enough for them to make a good fist of '05, better than Montoya and Williams this year.

One wonders though if during the course of the year, Button has been too consumed with the 'first win' hype, just as he had previously been consumed by the 'first podium' obsession. The truth is, to some degree BAR have tailed off too, just less than Renault, while the old hands at McLaren and Williams have truly made a resurgence in the last segment of the championship. In 2005, Jenson is better off going into each race not being concerned about whether or not the first win will come that weekend.

REJECT OF THE RACE
Christian Klien
Made Jaguar's farewell one to forget

The star for Sauber this weekend was undoubtedly Felipe Massa - well, sort of. Quite brilliant in qualifying to land his car on 4th, even if he was probably low-fuelled, the Brazilian was at his aggressive best at the start. But by going for the glory of leading one lap, pitting two laps later than the majority for dries, he lost so much time he threw away his chance of big points, eventually winding up 8th, just pipping team-mate Fisichella for the last point.

Massa has improved his speed in the second half of the season, but he still can't really string whole races together to maximise his points-scoring opportunities, which is what Fisi has done all year. Even though this time Giancarlo, on his return to the place where he took his maiden win last year, had a relatively quiet race to finish his year, missing out on interloping in the top 10 of the drivers' championship as a result of Ralf Schumacher leapfrogging him.

One couldn't help but feel sorry for Jaguar. Those who worked for Arrows or Prost may have suspected that their teams were about to close down, but for the first time in a long time, a group of mechanics have gone to a race knowing that it's the last one for the team, and possibly their own last call to arms, if Jaguar fails to attract a purchaser. Stewart's metamorphosis into Jaguar itself at the end of 1999 doesn't count; perhaps we have to go back to Tyrrell's demise at the end of 1998.

And then, for the two R5s to collide - the ultimate worst case scenario. The passing move may have been a touch late by Mark Webber, but it was also needlessly aggressive or ignorant defence from Christian Klien, who undoubtedly closed the door on his team-mate who was practically alongside. Klien has tended to get caught out in scraps this year, either overambitious in attack or defence. For rubbing salt into Jaguar wounds by being at fault in the collision, we award the Austrian 'Reject of the Race'.

Toyota's inherent speed with the TF104B continues to improve. Ryan Briscoe was second fastest in the first Friday free practice session, and Jarno Trulli once again showed great one-lap pace with the car. But race-wise, Toyota still finished sotto voce in Brazil, for both Trulli and Ricardo Zonta in his home race. Whatever their failings, Jarno and Ralf are a step up from this year's drivers, and combined with Mike Gascoyne's talents, it is time for this team to get serious and start afresh for 2005 - as of now.

If Jordan were hoping for another miracle like their victory with Fisichella last year, they were to be disappointed, after another weekend in which it would have mattered little whether or not they were present. Robert Doornbos impressed on Friday, Nick Heidfeld must surely be hoping he can snare the second Williams seat, and Timo Glock came home 15th for the third time in a row. Will Jordan survive into 2005? Probably, but the rumours of Benson & Hedges pulling out must be causing further heart palpitations.

Likewise for Minardi, which has gone through 2004 with little purpose other than simply to survive and participate, unlike previous years when they could on occasions actually hope to be competitive. The high reliability hasn't helped them this year; Gianmaria Bruni has only been classified in half the races this year, and never higher than 14th. Baumgartner continued his steady improvement, and was only 2.9s away from pole position here, in possibly the Hungarian's best qualifying effort all season.

And so the longest-ever F1 season finishes to the fading samba beats of the Paulistas. A year featuring the fastest-ever F1 cars, and a record-breaking year for one man and one team in particular. A season also tainted by remarkable politics, and ending with farewells up and down the pit lane, as the revolution of drivers, teams, regulations and circuits begin in anticipation of 2005. Thanks for sharing the ride with our race reviews this year - and stay tuned for our season review in the coming weeks!