British Grand Prix Review

More about McLaren's amazing resurgence shortly, but for the second year in a row, Silverstone produced a race where - gasp! - overtaking took place, even if in 2004 it was not quite of the same magnitude as the extraordinary race last season. When clearly this circuit layout is so conducive to good on-track action, whatever off-track deficiencies it may have in terms of pit facilities and spectator access and parties, Silverstone should remain on the calendar. In other words: Bernie and Max (and whoever follows Max), lay off the British GP.

The midweek demonstration of F1 cars in Regent Street, though, seemed to whet not a few appetites for the idea of a street Grand Prix in downtown London. The return of the concrete-canyon street circuit? we'd like to see that. In my humble opinion, the World Championship is poorer for not having one genuine concrete-lined street circuit, like a Long Beach or an Adelaide. The combination of oily low-grip streets, blind corners and severe bumps creates the kind of drama and attrition that F1 occasionally needs.

For all its attractions, Albert Park in Melbourne is hardly a true street circuit, its parkland setting making it feel more like Montreal. Even the most famous street circuit of them all, Monaco, is only an emasculated version of its former testing nature, now that in so many of its corners the armco on the apex has been moved back, so that drivers are aiming for an inside kerb like they would on any other road track. If variety is the spice of F1 life, then F1 could well do with another real street race.

The other great thing about Britain is, like Belgium, there's always the lingering threat of inclement weather, even if this weekend the brooding storm clouds never let loose. The likelihood of rain during qualifying caused a stir though, as several teams, mostr noticeably Ferrari deliberately tried to go slowly in pre-qualifying, hoping to go out first in qualifying proper to make use of a dry track before the expected rain came. It led to claims that the problematic qualifying system had now descended into the realms of farce.

But the question is, what's wrong with teams trying to maximise the rules to their advantage - some more overtly than others? It may have had the purists up in arms, but for the average Joe, was there not a certain novelty value in the fastest drivers in the world suddenly doing their utmost to go slowly? Did it not create a level of intrigue, that the pre-qualifying timesheet was as jumbled up as it was? Who remembers pre-qualifying results anyway?

To the race then, and in a way this race was very much like the Nurburgring, where three-stoppers found themselves caught up with, and often behind, the two-stoppers after their first round of stops, effectively handing the advantage to the men stopping fewer times, who may have been on the more durable Bridgestones as well. Also At the Nurburgring the Ferraris hedged their bets by putting one car on both strategies, except that Schumacher was the three-stopper and Rubens Barrichello only pitted twice.

Here, the two swapped roles, and with an empty track in front of him for five laps before his first stop, Michael set five straight fastest laps, and leapt from 4th to 1st, thank you very much. He does this so often that we take it for granted, but the sheer mastery of it is unparalleled. Incredibly, each lap in that sequence was faster than the previous one by more than mere fuel burn would dictate. It meant that Schumi was not only getting the maximum out of the car; each lap he was also extracting more from himself.

As in France, he is able to try unorthodox tactics and make them work. With 100 points up already, in this system which is designed to make it almost impossible to win the championship before the last race, if Michael wins every race from now and Rubens comes 2nd in each, the title will be over with three races to spare. Scary. Even more frightening is that, if Rubens wins every race from now, and Michael finishes 2nd in each, he will still sew up the championship with a full race to go.

Take Michael out of the equation, and the championship is actually interesting. Rubens will have won 6 times out of 11, but each of Jarno Trulli, Juan-Pablo Montoya, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen will have also won one race each. But that says it all about the problem with Ferrari's challengers. Rubens aside, there are two Renaults, one Williams, one BAR and one McLaren in that list. Simply, no team has been able to mount a sustained challenge to Ferrari all season thus far.

That is, even if in any given race there's been one combination that has run Ferrari very close. For example, there is not much to say about Barrichello's race. It lacked the heroics of last year's Silverstone epic, and it was a straight three-stop strategy that saw him exchange positions in the pits with Button a few times. But he was never really in a position to challenge Raikkonen. Over a race distance on the same strategy, Raikkonen's McLaren may have had the wood on Ferrari, just as Alonso did in France.

Clearly, Mercedes have commendably resolved their reliability issues, and the 19B's aero package is obviously a good one, given the dreadful problems they had earlier this year with car balance. Raikkonen must have run significantly more wing than Schumacher, which explains why he was so sensational in sector three. That, however, also gives away the fact that Mercedes aren't producing enough horsepower for McLaren to depend on in a straight line.

Kimi was clearly benefited by the safety car, which allowed him to spend the last quarter of the race on Schumi's tail instead of 20 seconds in arrears, and if Michael was also on a three stopper then the Finn may have snatched victory. But Michael wasn't, and so Kimi didn't. A credit to him, though, that he consistently kept pushing all race. Sometimes this year when things were at their worst, last year's title contender seemed to go off the boil. The capability of the 19B could be just the thing to bring him back to his best.

With that result, Raikkonen hurdles from 11th in the championship up to 7th. Meanwhile, David Coulthard was soundly routed by his team-mate, but 7th place after a solid weekend epitomised how he compares to Kimi. When all the stars are aligned and Raikkonen's on fire, DC will have trouble laying a glove on him these days. But if dependability and experience in the face of trouble is the key, then overall the Scot has possibly had a more impressive season than the Finn so far.

Williams continued their recent downturn in form. In the last four races, they have scored a grand total of 5 points, compared to McLaren's 27. The Woking team are now only 9 points behind, and the blue flags are waving. What we said after France still holds true - Williams look like they have run out of steam, especially as Montoya's defection to McLaren draws closer. The Colombian has virtually nothing to play for in 2004, and there's no reason any more why he shouldn't shoot from the hip as he pleases.

He was particularly critical of the FW26's aerodynamics at Silverstone, which would have hit a raw nerve since this is an area they have invested heavily in. Meanwhile, Marc Gené had another grossly mediocre weekend, and Williams have no reason not to try someone else. Heck, we're even prepared to let them give Antonio Pizzonia a chance to get out of "reject status" on this website! The latest news, though, is that BMW might be pushing Williams to prise Nick Heidfeld away from Jordan in time for Hockenheim.

The previous heavy rumour was, of course, that Mark Webber would jump ship early, but the injured Ralf Schumacher's assertion that he would be back by Hungary - far-fetched but not impossible - has surely thrown a spanner in the works. If Ralf is fit to return sooner than expected, then any early move by Webber would be untenable, even if he remains hot favourite to join Williams next year. Then again, a delay in Webber's expected move to Williams allows for more time for seats to open up elsewhere.

His strategy was simply to run long on his first stint, and basically do to half the field what Schumi did to Raikkonen. Better still, he held off Montoya comfortably, and because his first stop was late, he could make his second stop under the safety car. Were it not for a small glitch at that second stop, he would assuredly have finished 5th ahead of JPM. Williams made a point of how good Fisi's drive was, and that's telling. The odds on a Webber-Fisichella combo at Williams are shortening ...

A (quick) word of praise also for Felipe Massa in the second Sauber. This was the best drive from him for a long time, as he kept the pressure on Webber all race without losing his cool, even if he did not find a way past. It was an excellent weekend for Webber himself in the Jaguar, qualifying 10th, starting 9th and finishing 8th, as the most notable Michelin two-stopper. Had the safety car not come out, giving the three-stoppers a free stop, Webber and Massa could have finished 7th and 8th, relegating Coulthard to 9th.

Mark and his team seem to have solved the problem they had been having with getting off the line, and in the end the Australian finished ahead of a Renault, a Williams and a BAR, and that said it all. His spirited defence against an increasingly impatient Alonso in the middle stages of the race was superb. Meanwhile, Christian Klien once again kept his car on the road as he has tended to do for most of the season, and that alone makes him 2004's best rookie - which shows the utter dearth of rookie talent in F1 this year.

REJECT OF THE RACE
Olivier Panis
Qualifying blocker's race was extinguished

Trulli was going well until his massive accident, caused by another suspension failure. It was a horrible way to round out a week in which he had been criticised by Renault management for his podium-costing lapse on the last lap at Magny-Cours. Jarno and Renault can't agree on terms for 2005 as yet, whilst the team are saying that they don't tolerate mistakes easily. In which case, we ask facetiously, why didn't they sack Alonso after he spun off in qualifying in Malaysia? Jarno is still 13 points ahead of Fernando ...

Put all this together for the silly season, and an early return by Ralf could stop Williams from taking Webber now. Meanwhile, Trulli may fall out with Renault and join Ralf at Toyota (nice - two racers of questionable quality!). Flavio Briatore could snap up Webber to partner Alonso (nice - after their little Bahrain stoush!), leaving Williams to take Fisichella as their number 1, joined by Heidfeld or maybe even Mika Hakkinen or Anthony Davidson ... or Nigel Mansell! Stranger things have happened.

Speaking of Toyota, the Cologne team returned to the place where they ran 1-2 for a while last year, but no such luck in 2004. Cristiano da Matta continued his rather faceless season, while Olivier Panis carried over his Magny-Cours shocker to Silverstone as well. His blissful ignorance in qualifying, when he ran so slowly on the racing line that Massa had to go off-line to pass him on his quick lap, was totally unbecoming of one of the most experienced men out there.

On their home track, Jordan once again showed nothing, although Giorgio Pantano turned the tables on team-mate Heidfeld in practice and qualifying, which was mildly impressive. However, as the German went on to record another lowly finish, Pantano undid all his good work with two most amateurish spins, the second of which forced him out of the race, when he got almost half his car onto the grass on corner entry. Giorgio is living on borrowed time as a Grand Prix driver.

Minardi had a tough meeting in so many ways. Our condolences go out to the family of their late sporting director, John Walton. Minardi ran their cars without sponsorship in a tribute to their fallen colleague, and on such a difficult weekend it is unfair to unduly criticise them, but nevertheless their on-track performance was sorely lacking once again. Both cars required engine changes before the race, and then were not the most co-operative when being lapped.

Arguably, they handed Schumacher the lead by holding up Raikkonen after his first stop, before Zsolt Baumgartner lunged inside team-mate Gianmaria Bruni and nearly took him out. Then Bruni copped a drive-through for holding up the leaders and almost ran over his refueller in a bungled pit stop, before finishing 3 laps down even on Heidfeld. Minardi has, and always will have, F1 Rejects' deepest respect and support, but is it true to now say, for the first time ever, that the sport has well and truly moved beyond them? Oh for some cash, and some decent rule changes...