| ATLAS F1 Volume 6, Issue 33 |  Email to Friend  Printable Version |
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Reflections on Hungaroring | ||
| by Roger Horton, England | |||
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After all the excitement at Hockenheim, it was perhaps predictable that this Hungarian race would be a disappointment, and so it was. The race's result, though, was full of interest, and the dynamics of the World Championship fight have changed dramatically, since for the first time this season Michael Schumacher no longer leads the Drivers' WC points table.
Most of the action that decided this race took place between the race morning warm-up and the time it took the cars to round the first corner. And while the latter was on full view for the world to see, the former took place behind the closed doors of the McLaren garage, as the full weight of the team's 'brains trust' was brought to bear on the problems afflicting Mika Hakkinen's car. They managed to turn their World Champion's mount from the recalcitrant beast that he had struggled with all weekend, to a race-dominating winner. The start was uneventful, and given its importance to the outcome, surprisingly so. For the second time in two races Hakkinen made the best start and managed to carry just that little extra momentum into the all-important first corner. The surprise was that Schumacher left a gap on the inside for Hakkinen to exploit, which he gratefully did. Schumacher's initial progress off line was sufficiently rapid for him not to require the slightest lateral movement to defend his position from David Coulthard, who had also started from the front row of the grid. Just whether the pressure that the other drivers have been putting on him concerning his driving tactics made Schumacher a little tentative in defending his position is hard to say, but after failing to make it past the first corner in the two previous races, a little more discretion was perhaps well advised. Wherever the truth lies, his actions at the first corner in Hungary were in stark contrast to his determined defence of his position in the Spanish Grand prix, where he chose to interlock his wheels with those of his brother Ralf, at a time when any chance of a win was long gone. As this first corner was the key to much of the race, it was little wonder that Hakkinen recalled it afterwards with evident satisfaction: "So I again had a fantastic start and I was able to overtake Michael and David before the first corner, even though it was very close with Michael in the first corner. But I must say again that that's what racing should be -- and we came round that corner in one piece." If Hakkinen's ability to lead the race so soon from his third place on the grid was one surprise, the other was the relative ease with which he pulled away once in the lead. Hakkinen trailed his teammate in every timed session prior to the race and sometimes by over a second, which is light years in Formula One terms. During qualifying he was some 0.408 seconds behind the pole position man Michael Schumacher and still just behind his teammate Coulthard. In the morning warm up the gap to the fastest man was a massive 1.203 seconds, although one of his best laps was spoiled by traffic. Other drivers have won races from poor positions on the grid this year - Coulthard won in Britain from fourth and in Monaco from third, but only after the retirement of run-away leader Schumacher, whilst the qualifying session at Silverstone was rain affected. Schumacher won in both Australia and Brazil from the inside of the second row, but these wins were aided by the retirements of the McLarens. In constant weather conditions, no other driver has managed so far this season to improve his race pace by so much in relation to his qualifying speed - and with such potentially far-reaching consequences. The ability of a driver to work away with his engineers to find speed during a Grand Prix weekend has always been a key part of a racing driver's skill. At McLaren the job list for Hakkinen's mechanics continued right up until they left the grid, and although often these last minute changes backfire badly, it worked in Hungary for Hakkinen. In the end it was as much a victory for the engineers as for the driver, and it is a fitting reward that McLaren now lead the Constructors' Championship as well.
Michael Schumacher is not much into Formula One history, but should he have the time to glance at the picture - and it is sure to become something of a classic as the years pass - he may take comfort in the fact that it was the lone Mclaren driver, Alain Prost, that ultimately lifted that year's crown. The Williams duo fought each other tooth and nail, and the points that they lost to each other allowed the little Frenchman to secure his second title. Just how long McLaren's nerve will hold in not imposing team orders as the season winds down is impossible to say, because like Williams in '86 they risk losing all. Last year, David Coulthard drove a storming race at Spa, where he won ahead of teammate Hakkinen. Should he manage this feat again this year, and Hakkinen manage to win Monza with Coulthard second, then even if Schumacher can manage only third at both events, he will still be only one win, or ten points, off the title pace with three races still to go. Any thoughts Rubens Barrichello had of mounting any sort of championship challenge went away after he was practically anonymous all weekend. Rather like Mika Salo last year, after a good race at Hockenheim, the Brazilian was way off the pace despite the lift his German victory must have given him. So although he was technically in with a chance of the championship prior to this race, his only job now will be to take points away from Schumacher's title rivals. Schumacher's problem is now as much to do with the sheer reliability of the McLarens as their pace. In the first twelve races of last year the McLarens suffered eight non-finishes, with seven being due to mechanical problems and one due to driver error (Mika Hakkinen spinning out from the lead at Imola). This year the McLarens have had just three retirements and one disqualification during the same number of events, and so far their drivers have yet to put a wheel wrong in a race, although David Coulthard lost points when he stalled on the grid at Canada. Michael Schumacher has been a fighter all through his Formula One career and he will not surrender his title chances easily. Somehow, though, Ferrari needs to find some more speed and hope that perhaps the pressure between the McLaren drivers leads to a breakdown of their so far immaculate self-control. The former he can influence, the latter, he can only hope for.
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| Roger Horton | © 2000 Kaizar.Com, Incorporated. |
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