 |
The San Marino GP Preview |
| Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola | by Ewan Tytler, U.S.A. |
|
Leaving Interlagos in Brazil, Formula One moves to Tuscany in Italy to the circuit by the river: Imola. The Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari was originally public roads that were converted into a permanent circuit in 1979. Imola, like Interlagos and Kyalami, is run in an anti-clockwise direction. At 4.929 Km (3m), Imola is average in length and, since the addition of chicanes in 1995, average in speed. It is still one of the best circuits on the calendar and has provided us with many exciting races. The 20th San Marino Grand Prix promises to be just as exciting. This weekend is the start of the European Formula One season and Saturday is also the start of the Formula 3000 season.
Most drivers thoroughly enjoy Imola. Williams' Ralf Schumacher described the challenges presented by the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari: "Imola is characterised by long straights and slow corners, which means the brakes are punished in a very hard way. Apart from the brakes, acceleration especially out of Tosa, Acque Minerali and Traguardo is really important. A good place for overtaking is Tosa."
Fuel consumption tends to be high and the chicanes have made this circuit hard on brakes and tyres. BAR's Senior Race Engineer, Jock Clear, noted that, "As the nature of the Imola circuit has changed, so chassis set-up has moved from low downforce settings, to maximise straight-line speed, to higher levels of downforce, to keep cornering speeds up."
Wet conditions at Imola are a possibility. The 1995 and 1997 races started under damp conditions, but the Italian rain is typically not like the torrential downpours of Brazil or Australia. Attrition is a major concern at Imola. Although 11 cars were classified as finishers over the last four years, only 8 cars in 1999 and 9 cars in 1998 were running at the end of the race. Engine and gearbox failures are the most common mechanical problems at Imola.
Pitstop and tyre strategies
In last year's race, Michael Schumacher, on a two-stop strategy, defeated David Coulthard's McLaren on a one-stop strategy while Sauber's Jean Alesi finished 6th on a three-stop strategy. In 1998, all the points-scoring teams used a two-stop strategy. It would be no surprise if most teams adopted a two-stop strategy on Sunday, and according to a Ferrari spokesperson, "With the pit entry and exit quite short compared to most other circuits, most teams will go for a two stop race strategy with race and pit stop tactics undoubtedly playing a crucial role in the outcome." Pit-stop strategy may also be affected by the FIA ruling that pit-lane speed-limiter must now be driver-controlled.
On tyre choice, Mr. Yoshihiko Ichikawa, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport stated last year: "For Imola, we believe that the car performance will depend on the drivers' choice of tyres as they seek to gain the maximum possible grip from a track with a surface that offers unusually low grip. This characteristic can make it difficult to get the right handling on the tyres, especially over short runs in practice and qualifying."
This year, Ichikawa added, "While most drivers complain about a lack of traction at Imola, this can be remedied by using soft tyres. However, drivers sometimes complain about a moving sensation they can feel through the wheels with soft tyres. This can be counteracted by using medium specification tyres, which eliminate the feeling of motion and make the wheels feel more responsive."
The Teams
Ferrari lead the 2000 Formula One constructors' championship. Ferrari has only won three times at Imola, in 1982, 1983 and 1999 but they had five consecutive 2nd places from 1994 to 1998. Ferrari have scored a total of 58 points at Imola in the 1990's. The tifosi would love nothing better than a Ferrari 1-2 on Sunday. This has only happened once at Imola, in 1982 with Didier Pironi winning from Gilles Villeneuve.
Michael Schumacher must now be the favourite to win the 2000 World Championship, having won at Interlagos, since eight out of the last ten winners at Interlagos went on to win the World Championship. Although Schumacher has won the first two races of the season, this is no time for complacency; Emerson Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda, Jacques Laffite and Alain Prost have all won the opening two Grand Prix without winning the drivers' championship in that year.
Schumacher is the most successful and consistent driver at Imola. Schumacher won in 1994 for Benetton and again in 1999 for Ferrari and finished second in 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998. Schumacher set fastest lap in 1998 and 1999 and also took pole position in 1995 and 1996. Michael Schumacher's thoughts on Imola: "It is a circuit which flows well and has no nasty bumps like Interlagos. We have more developments on the car since the last race and I do not see why we should not be fighting for another win in Imola. It would be great to make the hat-trick!"
Rubens Barrichello is now third equal in the drivers' championship. Barrichello finished third last year for Stewart-Ford and also finished 5th for Jordan in 1996. His highest grid position was 6th in 1999. Barrichello was injured during practice for the tragic 1994 race and underwent surgery during the winter to repair lingering rib injuries from his accident at the Variante Bassa.
Barrichello commented on his first race for Ferrari on Italian soil: "After the disappointment of not finishing my home race, it would be great to take a win in Imola where I am sure it will be a similar atmosphere for me as racing in Brazil. The Italian fans are something special and racing for Ferrari automatically makes you a son of Italy whatever nationality you might be. It should be an exciting weekend." Barrichello could indeed win at Imola and is very likely to have a podium finish.
McLaren still have no points in 2000 following the FIA's decision on Tuesday. McLaren International's Managing Director, Martin Whitmarsh, commented, "Naturally we are disappointed with the final outcome of this appeal but we will not allow this to obscure our focus on the World Championship and the start of the European season at the San Marino Grand Prix later this week."
Earlier this year, Team Principal Ron Dennis commented about perceived FIA bias towards Ferrari. "I don't particularly have any animosity to the governing bodies and the decisions they choose to take because I'm a realist," he said. "The fact is this is a sport where people like to see people occasionally winning and that's in contrast with our own objective to win every single race. It's inevitable that in areas of judgement, the judgement's always going to go against us because it's good for the sport."
McLaren dominated the San Marino Grand Prix in the 80s and they have won at Imola in 1991 and 1998 with a total of 49 points in the 90's. However, any lingering weaknesses in the Ilmor-Mercedes engine will be exposed at Imola.
David Coulthard could also win the San Marino Grand Prix as he loves this circuit and his driving style is suited to Imola. Coulthard won in 1998, from pole position and he led the first 19 laps of the 1996 race. Coulthard also finished second in 1999 and 4th in 1995. Coulthard was philosophical about the FIA's decision, "Obviously today's result isn't what I had hoped for, but it's Imola this weekend and I'm looking forward to getting into the rhythm at one of my favourite tracks and that is what I'm now concentrating on."
Mika Hakkinen has yet to finish a race in 2000 and his championship prospects are now dim. Only Alberto Ascari, Jack Brabham and Jochen Rindt have won the World drivers' championship after starting the third race of the season with no points. All three of these champions then had a string of victories through the middle of the season. Will Hakkinen adopt this strategy or will he concentrate on consistent finishing, as his manager Keke Rosberg did in 1982 and Jody Scheckter did in 1979? Hakkinen's record at Imola has been patchy. He scored his first Formula One championship points here in 1991, then he failed to qualify the uncompetitive Lotus 102D-Ford in 1992. Hakkinen had only one podium finish in 1994, finishing 3rd. Hakkinen finished 5th in 1995 and 6th in 1997. Hakkinen set pole position in 1999 and spun off at the Traguardo corner while leading.
Benetton are now second in the constructors' championship. Benetton have only won once at Imola, in 1994. They scored a total of 34 points at Imola in the 1990's. The guard has changed at Benetton, with Rocco Benetton resigning to make way for the return of Flavio Briatore as Team Principal. Rocco Benetton led Benetton out of the wilderness, it is now Briatore's job to take it back to the promised land.
Rome's Giancarlo Fisichella is now second in the drivers' championship. Fisichella scored his first Formula One world championship points at Imola, finishing 4th for Jordan in 1997 and finishing 5th on a one-stop strategy in 1999 for Benetton. His highest grid position was 6th in 1997. Alexander Wurz has yet to finish at Imola in two starts but his highest grid position was 5th in 1998.
Williams is third equal in the constructors' championship and has been the most successful team at Imola over the past 10 years, winning in 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996 and 1997 with a total of 74 points in the 1990s. Conscious of the risks of engine failure at Imola, BMW Motorsport Director, Dr Mario Theissen commented, "Our testing commitment is focused upon achieving reliability ? an area that we are looking to strengthen on the V10 engine. After having analysed Jenson's Melbourne car, we have discovered a link between his engine failure and the one that we experienced during Free Practice in Sao Paulo. Over the past ten days, we have put great effort into pinpointing this problem and we hope to avoid a repeat in San Marino."
Ralf Schumacher is now third equal in the drivers' championship but he has yet to score a point at Imola in three starts. His best finish was 7th in 1998 for Jordan and his highest grid position was 5th in 1997. A repeat of his solid performances at Melbourne and Interlagos could put him in the points again. Ralf stated, "After our strong performances in Melbourne and Sao Paulo, I am looking forward to Imola. I must say that I am really enjoying driving the FW22, especially in Melbourne. Last year I was 9th in qualifying, but retired on the 28th lap while in 4th place because of a fire in the airbox. This year I hope to see the chequered flag with the BMW WilliamsF1 Team."
Jenson Button is now 8th equal in the drivers' championship and he has never competed at Imola. Button is to be commended for his sportsmanlike comments after Coulthard's disqualification at Interlagos, saying: "Scoring my first ever point is great, but the most satisfying part was the fact that I finished the race. Like any driver, I'd like to earn my points through driving. In the meantime, however, we are firmly focused upon the job at hand in Imola. Again, this is another track that is unfamiliar to me, but one that I am really looking forward to. Balance and grip are important on the San Marino circuit and given the passionate 'Tifosi' it's an experience that I am relishing."
Jordan are third equal in the constructors' championship, however, this team has not gone consistently well at Imola and have scored only 8 points on this circuit, their highest finish being 4th in 1997 and 1999.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen is 5th in the drivers' championship and he holds the race lap record for the revised Imola circuit which he set during his first Formula One victory in 1997. In 1998 he finished 5th for Williams and in 1995 he finished 6th for Sauber. His highest grid position was in 2nd in 1997. In last year's race, Frentzen spun on some Shell oil from Eddie Irvine's engine while lying 4th. Pescara's Jarno Trulli is 6th equal in the drivers' championship be he has yet to finish at Imola. Trulli eliminated himself in an accident on the first lap of last year's race. His highest grid position was in 14th in 1999.
BAR are now 5th in the constructors' championship and they believe that they have solved the problems that they encountered in Brazil. Chief Engineer, Steve Farrell explains, "We were able to replicate the problems from Brazil here at Silverstone and, with additional data-logging available, can now better understand them. As a result, we have a clearer idea about what is required for Imola in order to restore our reliability to Melbourne levels. We felt that our relative race pace in Brazil was fine, but we couldn't be sure because of the problems we encountered. The test has shown us that our performance levels are reasonable and that, if we have a trouble-free race at Imola, we could again be looking to finish in the points."
BAR's second season in Formula One has been promising but there has been more changes in the management of this team. Team Manager, Robert Synge has stepped down and his position will be taken by Factory Manager Ron Meadows.
Jacques Villeneuve is now 6th equal in the drivers' championship but he has had limited success at Imola. Villeneuve's only finish at Imola was fourth in 1998 for Williams. Villeneuve holds the qualifying record for Imola which he set in 1997 and he led for the first third of the 1997 San Marino Grand Prix. In 1999, his gearbox failed on the grid after he qualified 5th for BAR. Ricardo Zonta is now 8th equal in the drivers' championship.
In 1999, Zonta was sidelined with tendon injuries to his left foot, "Unfortunately, I was not able to compete at Imola last year following my accident in Brazil, but I do know the circuit a little bit. We did not perform as well as we would have liked in Brazil last weekend because of mechanical problems. The engineers now know what those problems were, though, so we should have them fixed for San Marino. The chassis and engine are good, and if we can get back to the reliability we had in Australia, there is no reason why we can't get some more points."
Prost have yet to score a point in the San Marino Grand Prix but Team Principal Alain Prost won the San Marino Grand Prix three times. In last year's race, neither Prost finished and Olivier Panis' AP02 was a mobile chicane. Jean Alesi has scored points in last five races at Imola for three different teams. Alesi's best finish was second in 1995 for Ferrari and his highest grid position was 5th in 1995 and 1996. Nick Heidfeld won last year's F3000 race at Imola and finished fourth in the 1998 F3000 race. Heidfeld hold the F3000 race lap record at Imola.
Arrows are still looking competitive. Arrow, as Footwork, last scored points at Imola in 1992 when Michele Alboreto finished 5th. Jos Verstappen's only classification at Imola was 10th in 1997 for Tyrrell and his highest grid position was 14th in 1996. Verstappen commented, "I am looking forward to Imola as it is one of my favourite circuits. It is a circuit where you need traction and downforce and I think our car works well on this sort of track."
Pedro de la Rosa only completed five laps of last year's race after qualifying 21st. De la Rosa stated, "The car is definitely quick and I think if we can qualify a bit higher up in Imola we can finish in the points. Brazil was the hardest race of the season for the drivers, there is no doubt about that, but thankfully Imola is a very smooth track so it will be easier for us."
With the high rate of attrition this year, a finish in the points for either De la Rosa or Verstappen is possible.
Minardi are doing better than Sauber and Jaguar in 2000. Minardi have scored 4 points at Imola in the 1990s. They last scored a point at Imola in 1993 when Fabrizio Barbazza finished 6th. Marc Gene finished 9th after qualifying last in last year's race. Gaston Mezzacane has finished his first Grand Prix in Brazil. Mezzacane finished 7th in the 1998 F3000 race at Imola.
Sauber's performance at Melbourne showed that the Sauber C19 has the makings of a competitive car but their withdrawal from the Brazilian Grand Prix was a set-back. The Sauber team stated, "Our investigation back at the factory in Hinwil, however, reveals that both failures arose because of unusual circumstances. These very severe bumps (at Interlagos) resulted in both cars undergoing impact loads that were considerably in excess of the cycle predicted during the design of the cars, which itself incorporated a significant safety margin. The construction of the wings, and the combination of materials used, is different to last year's successful C18 design, but we are satisfied that the surface characteristics were directly responsible for the failures."
Technical Director, Leo Ress, has stepped down and this position has been filled by Sauber's Head of Track Engineering Willy Rampf. Ress has now taken charge of long-term technical research and development at Sauber and will focus on the design of the new seven-speed transmission for the C19. Sauber has scored 9 points at Imola, their highest finishes being 4th in 1993 and 1994. Pedro Diniz and Mika Salo have yet to score a point at Imola. Diniz's highest finish was 7th in 1996 for Ligier and his highest grid position was 15th in 1999. Mika Salo was classified 7th in last year's race with BAR and his highest grid position was 8th in 1996.
Jaguar's season has been a nightmare so far with four DNFs in two races. The Jaguar R1 has the potential to be fast but appears to be a handful, since Eddie Irvine has spun off in both races. As Stewart-Ford, they scored 4 points at Imola finishing third last year. Eddie Irvine has done consistently well at Imola for Ferrari, finishing third in 1997 and 1998 and fourth in 1996. Irvine's Ferrari engine blew in last year race while lying 4th. His highest grid position was 4th in 1998 and 1999. Johnny Herbert has yet to score a point at Imola, his highest finish being 7th in 1995 for Benetton and his highest grid position was 7th, in 1997.
My Predictions
If it is dry, I'm going to pick McLaren, Ferrari and Jaguar as the top three teams.
Starting grid:
|
||||
|
The San Marino Grand Prix Preview in a Nutshell:
|
Everything you Need to Know about Imola
The Atlas F1 1999 San Marino GP Preview Issue
The Atlas F1 1999 San Marino GP Review Issue |
|||
| Ewan Tytler | © 2000 Kaizar.Com, Incorporated. |
| Send comments to: tytler@atlasf1.com | Terms & Conditions |