| ATLAS F1 Volume 6, Issue 29 |  Email to Friend  Printable Version |
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The Austrian GP Review | ||
| A1-Ring, Spielberg, July 14-16, 2000 | by Pablo Elizalde, Spain |
 What a difference a vacation makes! The effect a couple of days off and a new setup to his car had on Mika Hakkinen's performance at the Austrian Grand Prix was mesmerising, once again proving how swiftly things can change in Formula One.
Hakkinen's victory proved he still has "it", and, when at his best, he's very hard to beat - especially in a car that is the class of the field. The reigning world champion didn't set a foot wrong during the race, dominating his teammate and leaving with ten valuable points and very much back in contention for the third consecutive title. But just as quickly as Hakkinen stamped his return, the FIA placed a shadow of doubt over the legality of his McLaren, finding that one of the two mandatory seals on the electronic box was missing. At the time of writing, a decision whether to uphold Hakkinen's win or to disqalify him was not yet announced, nor was the ever favourite option of allowing Hakkinen to retain his win and points, but detracting 10 points off McLaren's Constructors' Championship total. Either way, Hakkinen's drive on Sunday was so dominant, that even a disqalification will not detract from the memorable performance the Finn put in. Hakkinen's teammate, David Coulthard, finished second and closed the gap to championship leader Michael Schumacher, but the Austrian Grand Prix's results should worry the Scot for the long run: coming to Austria, Coulthard was the pace setter in McLaren, the team providing him full support and he was perceived as the only real option of winning the title for McLaren this year. But at the A1-Ring the old order was restored, Hakkinen dominating Coulthard in qualifying and in the race, and there can be little doubt that, if Mika is back for good, David's tenure has ended.
Rubens Barrichello made it to the podium for the fourth race in succession with the Ferrari, and it was probably the best he could hope for after being involved in the first corner incident. The Brazilian outqualified his teammate for the second time this season - the only Schumacher teammate to ever achieved this feat - although a victory still seems to be out of reach. For the BAR team, victory is too something out of reach, but the British-Canadian outfit is becoming used to fighting for the points, courtesy of Jacques Villeneuve, who finished again in fourth place after a solid performance, despite losing several places in the first corner. It's ironic that right after the announcement made by Honda that they will supply Jordan with similar works engines next season, the BARs have been steadily quicker than the yellow cars, which were out of the race by lap 5.
If there's one team boss who must be getting used to having Grand Prix weekends from hell, is Alain Prost. His team seems to try harder every race to look worse that in the previous one. As in France, Nick Heidfeld and Jean Alesi crashed into each other, although on this occasion none of them could resume the race. Prost has no engine deal for next year, no technical director and, as the season progresses, less chances of finding any of them. Qualifying Taking the French Grand Prix starting grid, but swapping each driver with his teammate, would have resulted in a very similar grid to the one we saw in Austria. Nearly all the drivers who were behind their teammates in Magny Cours were in front in the A1-Ring. Hakkinen outqualified Coulthard' Barrichello outqualified Schumacher; Ricardo Zonta did the same with Villeneuve; and Button qualified in front of Ralf Schumacher.
A few moments before the start of the qualifying session light rain began to fall on the A1-Ring, and therefore all drivers, except Jordan's, queued in the pitlane and jump onto the track once the green light went on. Coulthard was the first front runner to post a significant time with his McLaren. However, despite the rain falling in some parts of the track, Barrichello went fastest 10 minutes into the session. Meanwhile, Jacques Villeneuve's commitment ended up in a high speed spin as he was leaving the last corner. The Canadian recovered the car in spectacular fashion and crossed the line only some three seconds off the pace. Five minutes later Coulthard went fastest again, but Mika Hakkinen's intentions became clear soon, as he elevated himself to the top spot. In the meantime, Michael Schumacher was struggling with his Ferrari, unable to find the right balance between the slow and quick corners, a necessity on this track. The German lost control of his car and ended up spinning, before achieving the third fastest time.
There was nothing the Ferrari drivers could do, and only Barrichello could improve in the last minutes of the session, relegating Schumacher to fourth. "I seemed to lose out to the others in the first and third sections and was only really competitive in the second. I could have been a bit quicker but not quick enough for the front row. I hope to make up a few places at the start. It will be a very long race and anything can happen," said Schumacher. Coulthard managed to improve on his best lap in the dying moments, but it was not enough to endanger Hakkinen's 25th career pole. The Finn was delighted: "I am really happy to be back on pole position. I managed to get the maximum out of the car and really enjoyed myself." His teammate had to be content with starting on the front row, but Coulthard admitted he had a shot a the pole but made a mistake on his last attempt. "My last run was the crucial one today and unfortunately I made a mistake at the first corner and was unable to gain the time later on the lap," Coulthard said.
Jarno Trulli was fifth with his Jordan, while BAR's Ricardo Zonta was the positive surprise of the day, qualifying sixth - his best performance so far. "I am really happy," the Brazilian later said. "I had no problems all weekend and we had a good set-up that allowed me to focus on the driving." Right behind him, in seventh, was his teammate, Jacques Villeneuve. Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who had chosen the harder compound for his tyres, was one of the biggest disappointments, qualifying a meager 15th. Worse still where both Williams drivers, Jenson Button and Ralf Schumacher, who ended up the session in 18th and 19th place respectively. Qualifying Results
While the two McLarens made perfect starts - especially David Coulthard, who was somewhat eager to get moving before the green light went on - the Ferraris didn't succeed in getting away swiftly, and so Ricardo Zonta and Jarno Trulli were right under the scarlet cars' rear wings at the end of the straight. Going into the first corner, all hell broke loose. The first one to lose control of his car was Pedro Diniz, who shifted across the track at some 200km/h and hit Giancarlo Fisichella, who could do nothing to avoid the accident. Diniz resumed the race after a stop and go penalty, but the Benetton driver, who was less than happy, scored his first DNF of the season. Meanwhile, up in a front, Zonta left his breaking too late and tapped Michael Schumacher's Ferrari, forcing him to spin. The German tried to recover his car, but crashed into the Jordan of Jarno Trulli, damaging the right front wheel. Considering the price Schumacher had to pay in seeing his championship lead cut to half, the German was gallant about it. "That's racing," he said. "It sometimes can happen, and I don't think Ricardo is a person who does anything like that purposely. He just over-estimated his abilities."
Some lucky drivers were able to avoid the first corner carnage and improve their grid position dramatically. Thus, when the safety car came into the track, Mika Salo was third after starting ninth, Pedro de la Rosa was fourth having started 12th, and Jenson Button gained no less than 12 places, from 18th to 6th. Even Luciano Burti, who had to take the start from the pitlane after his Jaguar suffered a mechanical problem on the grid, improved his position to 12th. When the safety car left the track on lap 3 the action was frantic, as every driver tried to regain the lost places. De la Rosa proved his worth once more, overtaking Salo's Sauber and elevating himself to third, a fair distance however behind the two McLarens. Barrichello did the same with Johnny Herbert, and moments later, the Jaguar driver lost another place to Heinz-Harald Frentzen at the Remus Kurve. But Frentzen's engine would blow up a minute later, leaving the Jordan team with nothing to do but pack after only five laps. Meanwhile, Barrichello lost plenty of time trying to pass Salo for fourth position, and when he did he was seven second behind de la Rosa, while the McLarens were already out of reach, some 14 seconds ahead.
After the initial madness the field began to settle down and Hakkinen's lead to increase, on occasions lapping one whole second faster than Coulthard, and by lap 20 the Finn was 7 seconds ahead of his teammate. The reigning world champion was running so fast that his team showed the "shift revs" sign, which indicated that he was doing his gear changes a bit too late, thus forcing the engine more than necessary. Despite the warning, the gap between Hakkinen and Coulthard kept on growing, and by lap 30, Coulthard's deficit was more than 15 seconds. Further back, Barrichello was finally gaining on de la Rosa, but the Arrows' poor reliability was highlighted once more when on lap 33 the Spaniard was forced to retire with gearbox problems. "I think that this was the most incredible opportunity that has just escaped," lamented de la Rosa. "It felt great being up there behind the McLarens and really holding my own and I just can't say how disappointed I am." The first and only round of pit stops started around lap 35, and Hakkinen was the first of the leaders to come in, but not before having lapped all the drivers up to fourth place. His stop ran flawlessly and the Finn came back out in second place behind Coulthard, who made his stop on lap 42.
On lap 43 the Prost duo served a remake of the French Grand Prix, this time however it was Jean Alesi who ran into Nick Heidfeld's car, but unlike in Magny Cours, they ended up out of the race. Ironically, both drivers felt the team poor communication was to blame for this. Either way, Alain Prost must be wondering what he has done to deserve the 2000 season. From that moment on, the action was reduced to an off track excursion by Jenson Button, who recovered well and retained his fifth place, and a retirement of his teammate Ralf Schumacher who, after five pitstops and running seven laps down, decided to call it a day. Hakkinen took it easy in the final laps and allowed Coulthard to get closer, but Mika's 16th victory made his point: he is back. "I am extremely happy about the outcome of this Grand Prix. I am extremely happy, together with the team, to have solved problems and get back to the speed I used to have...So I am definitely feeling optimistic about the future," said Hakkinen after the race. Coulthard did his best to finish a distant second, but the Scot was happy with the result: "Today I was quite comfortable to accept the six points and hope the car was reliable, which it was," he said. "There was no point then in battling hard, because I was chasing a slightly quicker car. If we had been battling hard on the track [there was the risk] that I would turn an easy six points into maybe nothing."
Jacques Villeneuve was fourth and demonstrated that BAR is on its way up. The team moved to fifth in the Constructors' Championship and third position is just seven points away. With high speed circuits like Hockenheim, Spa and Monza still to come, the idea of BAR ending the season third is nothing to laugh at. Jenson Button drove a good race to fifth place, while the last point went tor Mika Salo, who shone again in the Sauber. Button reportedly had a chat with Frank Williams before the start of the race, and whatever Sir Frank said must have made the young Briton feel better. "It was just a friendly little chat really. Obviously we're both very busy at the weekend so it's good to talk now and again. It was just reassurance really," Button explained. The Austrian Grand Prix reintroduced two familiar elements that were absent from the last couple of races: the post-race technical controversy, and one Mika Hakkinen. The Finn's message last Sunday was loud and clear: he's ready to fight hard for his third title. David and Michael - look out!
Fastest Race Laps
Pit-Stops Times
During the recognition laps Luciano Burti has a water leak in his Jaguar. He has to start from the pits in the spare car which is set up for Johnny Herbert. Michael Schumacher is also in the spare Ferrari.
Lap 2: Verstappen pits with gearbox problems.
Lap 3: The wreckage is quickly cleared and the race restarts at the beginning of the third lap. Button drops behind Rubens Barrichello and Heinz-Harald Frentzen almost immediately while Gaston Mazzacane (Minardi) drops down the order from 11th to 17th.
Lap 4: The McLarens pull away quickly while de la Rosa passes Salo for third place.
Lap 6: Verstappen sets the fastest lap of the race as he tries to catch up after his stop.
Lap 7: Jean Alesi overtakes his Prost team mate Nick Heidfeld for 10th place.
Lap 8: Hakkinen sets his sixth fastest lap of the race while the gap between Coulthard and de la Rosa is out to five seconds. Barrichello passes Salo to take fourth. At the back Ralf Schumacher pits to have the nose of his car changed.
Lap 9: Diniz overtakes Mazzacane for 15th place, while Ralf Schumacher pits for further repairs to the Williams.
Lap 13: Hakkinen has built his lead over Coulthard to two seconds while David is 10 seconds ahead of de la Rosa. Barrichello is fourth but unable to attack as his car is damaged. Salo is fifth while Button pressures Herbert for sixth place. Gene is eighth while Alexander Wurz and Alesi swap places as they battle for ninth position. Further back Diniz overtakes Burti for 14th while Verstappen passes Mazzacane to take 16th.
Lap 16: Alesi passes Wurz for ninth.
Lap 17: Zonta and Diniz are given 10 second stop-go penalties for causing the accidents on the first lap. They drop to the tail of the field, although they remain ahead of Ralf Schumacher who has rejoined after spending seven laps in the pits.
Lap 24: Hakkinen has built his lead to 10 seconds. Alesi, on a two-stop strategy, pits and drops from ninth to 13th.
Lap 25: Zonta and Mazzacane collide at the first corner while allows Diniz to pass both of them to take 14th.
Lap 32: De la Rosa's Arrows suffers a mechanical failure and retires. Barrichello is promoted to third with Salo fourth, Herbert fifth and Button sixth.
Lap 34: Wurz drops from eighth to 10th.
Lap 39: Heidfeld pits, dropping from eighth place to 13th.
Lap 42: Coulthard pits and Hakkinen goes back into the lead. Further back Heidfeld and Alesi collide as Jean tries to pass his team mate at the first corner.
Lap 44: Salo stops and drops from fourth to seventh.
Lap 45: Herbert pits, allowing Button to move to fourth place. Johnny rejoins in eighth.
Lap 46: Barrichello stops but remains in third place.
Lap 47: Button pits and rejoins ahead of both Herbert and Salo.
Lap 49: Fourth-placed Villeneuve and fifth-placed Wurz pit. Villeneuve is able to get out just ahead of Button. Wurz drops to ninth.
Lap 51: Button goes wide at the last corner and drops back from Villeneuve. He is able to stay ahead of Salo.
Lap 59: Zonta retires from 11th place with a blown engine. Mazzacane is given a 10 second stop-go penalty.
Lap 68: Coulthard sets fastest lap.
Lap 70: The order remains unchanged at the front but on his last lap Diniz overtakes Wurz to grab ninth.
Lap 71: Hakkinen and Coulthard come home to a McLaren 1-2 to give the McLaren team the lead in the Constructors' Championship.
MCLAREN (Mika Hakkinen 1, David Coulthard 2):
Hakkinen led into the opening corner and produced a superb performance to take victory. Coulthard secured a one-two finish for McLaren. Trailed Hakkinen into the first corner and remaining behind his team-mate for the rest of the race.
Schumacher was nudged onto the gravel on the first corner of opening lap by Brazilian Ricardo Zonta and then hit by Jordan of Italian Jarno Trulli.
Barrichello also hit but recovered for third.
BAR (Jacques Villeneuve 4, Ricardo Zonta retired):
Villeneuve produced another solid performance to finish fourth and claim a second successive points finish. Benefited from the trouble at the opening corner. Zonta retired on lap 59 after his Honda engine blew up. The Brazilian was given a 10 second stop-go penalty after the opening pile-up.
WILLIAMS (Jenson Button 5, Ralf Schumacher retired):
Briton Button capped another impressive drive by securing fifth place. Started 18th on the grid and, despite breaking his nose cone 17 laps from the end, held off the challenge of Finland's Mika Salo. Ralf Schumacher made six pit-stops in a disastrous race, before finally retiring on lap 61.
"Jenson really excelled himself again driving in difficult circumstances at the end of the race and under a lot of pressure," said Frank Williams.
Salo battled with Button for fifth and had to hold off the challenge of Johnny Herbert's Jaguar for his point.
Brazilian Diniz was given a 10 seconds stop-go penalty in mid-race as he battled amongst the midfield.
JAGUAR (Johnny Herbert 7, Luciano Burti 11):
Briton Herbert narrowly missed out on sixth place, and a first points finish of the season. Ran in sixth after the opening lap but was overtaken during his sole pit-stop.
Burti completed race distance in his first grand prix, after starting in the spare car set up for Herbert from the pit-lane following hydraulic problems with his car.
MINARDI (Marc Gene 8, Gaston Mazzacane 12):
Spaniard Gene produced a solid drive to finish eighth but never challenged for a place in the top six.
Gaston Mazzacane ended last of the runners, three laps down on winner Hakkinen, and was given a 10 seconds stop-go penalty for failing to move over for the Finn towards the end.
Austrian Wurz failed to excite even his home crowd as he finished ninth. He recovered from a spin on lap 35 but never made an impression on the field. Fisichella was forced to retire after the first corner accident.
PROST (Jean Alesi and Nick Heidfeld retired):
Heidfeld went out on his 42nd lap after a collision with team-mate Alesi. The German refused to allow Alesi past at the end of the pit-straight and ended in the gravel trap.
ARROWS (Jos Verstappen and Pedro de la Rosa retired):
De la Rosa suffered gearbox failure on lap 33 and was forced to retire after impressing with the pace of his car.
Dutchman Verstappen went out on lap 15 after suffering gearbox problems. He had pitted on the opening lap after damaging his nose cone in the first corner incident.
JORDAN (Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jarno Trulli retired):
German Frentzen spun into the gravel trap on lap four after his Jordan suffered an engine failure. Trulli was the third victim of the opening corner accident.
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| Pablo Elizalde | © 2000 Kaizar.Com, Incorporated. |
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