Atlas F1 News Editor
The European Grand Prix provided an exciting race, if only to see if Ferrari would again order Rubens Barrichello to let teammate Michael Schumacher win a race he led from the start. In the end, the Italian team again imposes team orders, but this time the winner was Barrichello. Atlas F1's Pablo Elizalde reviews the entire weekend's events and results
Indeed, Sunday's race proved that Ferrari had learned a lot from the Austrian race. First of all, they learned that sometimes you have to give people what they want to avoid controversy and problems. But most importantly, they learned how to adulterate racing in a more subtle way that would have the majority of the crowd cheering even after having been treated just like in Austria.
Even in his home race, the German fans felt that justice had been done, after Ferrari decided not to ask Barrichello to let Schumacher win. In Austria nearly every racing fan felt robbed, and to see nice-guy Barrichello being rewarded with his second win on Sunday seemed to disguise the fact that Ferrari again imposed team orders to "avoid incidents", according to Ferrari's boss Jean Todt.
The end result was another example of adulterated racing that was seen by many as a way to ease the storm as Ferrari and their drivers face the FIA today over the incidents in Austria. This time, however, Ferrari did it in a 'politically correct' way. This time the winner was the 'good guy' Barrichello, but the race was another example of a Formula One that it's far from its best form.
Whether Schumacher would have overtaken Barrichello had he got the freedom to do it will be never know. As it was, the general impression was that everybody got what they wanted: Barrichello his win, Schumacher his image somewhat restored, Ferrari a one-two, and the crowd someone to cheer for.
Team orders and controversy aside, what it was evident was that Ferrari deserved to face the "problem" of having to choose which of their drivers would win a race where they again demonstrated they are way ahead of their rivals come Sunday. Surely every team owner would pay to face Ferrari's problems these days.
As Michelin boss Pierre Dupasquier said after the race, it is hard to find an explanation for Ferrari's apparent lack of pace during qualifying when they showed they were more than one second per lap quicker than their rivals in the race.
"Given the Ferraris' race pace I am beginning to wonder whether they qualified with a whole load of fuel on board or something," said the Frenchman. "After seeing their performance today I am surprised they didn't lap several seconds faster in qualifying."
Schumacher's pace as he made his way back to the top only served to prove that the German was more likely holding back as he chased Barrichello before the spin. However, the Brazilian again drove brilliantly and his victory was at least the just reward for a brilliant first lap on which he passed his teammate and both the Williams drivers in spectacular fashion.
Jumping ahead of Schumacher at the start was what most likely won Barrichello the race, as the Williams drivers were no obstacle for the red cars despite having completed their first front row lockout of the year, with Juan Pablo Montoya scoring his third consecutive pole position.
Inexplicably, the BMW-powered cars were not even quick enough to beat their McLaren rivals in the race, and only Ralf Schumacher could salvage some points with a disappointing fourth place more than a whole minute behind Barrichello. Both Schumacher and Montoya struggled with the handling of their cars, with the rear Michelin tyres suffering from excessive wear.
For the Colombian, his third pole in a row was also followed by a third consecutive retirement, but this time he had no one else to blame but himself, perhaps trying just too hard to stop David Coulthard from overtaking him. The Scot was probably right when he suggested that the Colombian should "calm down" in the races. That after he and teammate Ralf had banged wheels at the start.
Coulthard's incident with Montoya stopped him from taking second place in the standings when the odds were clearly against it. But Raikkonen was there to put on another solid drive which guaranteed that the Woking-based squad were capable of reducing the gap to Williams in the Championship standings for the third consecutive race.
Realistically, hardly anyone was expecting McLaren to be able to outscore their British rivals this year, yet the silver cars seem to be right now the ones on the way up and the battle for second place could unexpectedly heat up and give the spectators some of the excitement that is lacking in the fight for the top spot in a Championship that looks all but decided. Unless something extraordinary happens today in Paris.
Qualifying
Juan Pablo Montoya lived up to the expectations in qualifying and beat the opposition of his German rivals Ralf and Michael Schumacher in their home race at a revised Nurburgring circuit. After two consecutive pole positions in Monaco and Canada, the Colombian driver was again the quickest man on track in probably the closest qualifying session of the year.
As anticipated by the teams before turning a wheel at the modified circuit, the quickest lap was around 15 seconds slower compared to last year's pole position time. The new 600-metre twisty complex was welcomed with mixed reactions from the drivers, but the most repeated comment was that the new layout was too slow, although beneficial to the spectators.
The most interesting part of the new complex was undoubtedly the tricky first corner, with a downhill slope that saw most cars taking the turn with only three wheels touching the ground. "It's very bumpy, so bumpy that it's a bit ridiculous, and that is most likely the point this year for an incident," commented Coulthard. "I was a fan of the old corner. It was a challenge."
With the drivers struggling for grip along the 'green' new 600 metres, the new section proved crucial during the hour-long session, which was exceptionally brought forward 45 minutes to avoid a clash with the World Cup match between Senegal and Turkey.
The session was kicked off with somewhat cloudy skies and a track temperature of around 25 degrees, but with no fears of the rain that had been forecasted for the weekend. After Raikkonen had set the initial pace with a lap of 1:31.039, Coulthard, Montoya and Ralf Schumacher were the next front runners to hit the track, more than 20 minutes into the session, with the German driver moving to the top of the charts as his Colombian teammate was unable to set a really competitive time after running off the track while driving around the new complex.
Schumacher, however, was forced to switch to the spare car, which didn't include the new engine cover, due to a problem with his racing machine. While Barrichello managed to complete a flying lap that saw him moving to second place, the German couldn't even finish his first lap and was forced to return to the pits due to a problem with the gearbox.
The Championship leader returned to the track as soon as he got inside the spare Ferrari, but only managed to set a poor time that was only good enough for seventh position. With more than half a session gone, Montoya returned to the track for his second attempt, but his efforts went unrewarded, and the Williams driver failed to improve on his previous best.
Teammate Ralf Schumacher did manage to improve with his second run, lowering the quickest time to 1:29.915, more than half a second faster than his first lap. Barrichello too improved with his second attempt, still staying in second position.
Both Montoya and Ferrari's Schumacher jumped again onto the track with some 17 minutes remaining in the session, with the German driver finally setting a competitive time that elevated him to second place, around three tenths of a second behind his brother.
"Between we two drivers there's nothing in it really," said Montoya. "It's a matter of luck and I've got to say I was very lucky to get it. My target had been a place on the second row, so I am very happy to have taken pole position as we are expecting a very hard race tomorrow."
Ralf tried to respond to his teammate's effort, but his third and final run six minutes from the end of the session was not good enough to improve and had to cope with being outqualified by the quick Colombian for the fifth time in nine races.
"It's perfect for the team to be on the front row," said a surprised Ralf. "We didn't expect it to be honest. After this morning we thought we had to concern ourselves with being on the second row and not to be passed by the McLarens. It's a bit surprising but the team did a great job."
Unfortunately for him, Schumacher threw it all away with a mistake at the final corner, having to settle for third place more than a tenth behind Montoya and Ralf. "I just made two little mistakes in the last two corners, honestly, just pushed a bit too hard and overdid it," Schumacher admitted. "That's it. Obviously there is no excuse."
Barrichello completed an all-Ferrari second row with his fourth quickest time, while Raikkonen and Coulthard occupying the third row for McLaren and both the Renault drivers on the fourth, with Jarno Trulli ahead of Jenson Button. Nick Heidfeld in the Sauber and Mika Salo with the first Toyota completed the top ten.
The Race
With pole-man Montoya hoping for a change of luck after two consecutive retirements in the last two races, the start took place amid fears of a first corner clash due to the tightness of the tricky first corner. When the green lights went on, those fears where somewhat confirmed, with two different incidents, one at the front, and the other one at the back.
"At the start I lost the lead to Ralf who passed me at the first hairpin," said Montoya. "I didn't try to protect my position and risk sending the two of us out of the race."
At the back of the field, an over-optimistic Giancarlo Fisichella - starting from 18th position - left his braking too late and was unable to avoid contact with teammate Takuma Sato, both spinning and having to pit for repairs in a repeat of the Malaysian Grand Prix, that time the Japanese crashing into the Italian.
"Someone pushed me a little bit off line and then I touched Takuma, for which I am very sorry," said Fisichella, competing in his 100th Grand Prix. "The car had some damage and it became worse during the race."
Ralf maintained his lead after the new complex, but Montoya could do nothing to stop Barrichello from taking second place before the third corner. The Brazilian, clearly on a lighter fuel load than the Williams, would take the lead moments later, easily overtaking Ralf to complete a brilliant first lap.
It only took Michael two more laps to be able to take second place away from his brother Ralf with no big problems. After that, the Ferrari duo disappeared into the distance, lapping up to two seconds quicker than the pursuing Williams.
By lap five, Barrichello led Schumacher by more than two seconds, with Ralf nearly a massive ten seconds adrift as Montoya was able to open a small gap to Coulthard. Further back, Trulli would be another of the victims of the first corner, running wide and dropping back to 12th position.
Schumacher eventually caught Barrichello by lap ten, while both the Williams drivers struggled with the handling of their cars, suffering from excessive wear to their rear Michelin tyres, perhaps as a consequence of their clash at the start.
The Renault drivers were the only ones providing some entertainment during the initial part of the race, with Trulli making his way back up to eighth place after passing Olivier Panis, Allan McNish and eventually Felipe Massa in the Sauber, the young Brazilian having benefitted from a good start to move up to ninth.
Button was also charging hard to pass Raikkonen, his pressure finally paying off on lap 17, the young Finn running wide at the end of the straight to allow the Briton to move into a point-scoring position.
"I think I spun because I got too close to him and lost downforce, but I heard that Rubens also had problems at that point so maybe there was some dirt or oil," he said.
The German, however, was lucky enough not to hit anything and was able to rejoin the race still in second place. With an advantage of more than 30 seconds over Ralf, Schumacher pitted on the following lap, returning to the track still ahead of his brother.
Barrichello, leading by more than ten seconds thanks to Schumacher's spin, pitted a lap later, rejoining in first place. Ralf was still comfortably in third, but Montoya was under pressure from Coulthard, clearly being slowed down by the Williams, by that point running, literally, on slick tyres.
Coulthard tried to pass the Colombian everywhere, but Montoya was determined to keep the McLaren driver behind, and when the Scot left his braking as late as possible at the end of the straight to overtake around the outside, Montoya couldn't help spinning at the tricky first corner, banging into the McLaren and ending both drivers' race. As expected, Coulthard was not happy.
Montoya admitted his error: "I was struggling massively with the handling of my car. The car was almost undriveable but I still had some laps to go before my pitstop. Eventually I couldn't help spinning coming into the first corner and I unfortunately hit Coulthard who was close behind me, putting an early end to our race. When I came back to the paddock I apologised to David."
Up in front, Schumacher began to push to catch Barrichello, reducing the 10-second gap to less then seven by lap 30, with more than 30 seconds to Raikkonen, who moved up to third when Ralf pitted on that same lap. The Finn, who was faster than the Williams driver before the German pitted, completed his first and only pitstop five laps later, rejoining again in third.
By lap 40, with 20 left, Barrichello's advantage to Schumacher was down to 2.9 seconds, while Raikkonen, Button and Ralf more than a minute behind, the Renault driver still to make his second stop.
Michael was the first of the Ferrari drivers to come into the pits for his second stop with 18 laps remaining, staying stationary for 7.8 seconds before returning to the track. Barrichello pitted a lap later. There were no problems for the Brazilian, who could hold onto a 2-second lead over his teammate.
The Ferrari drivers' lap times dropped down significantly as the final laps went by. Barrichello was not asked to move over, but Schumacher wasn't allowed to race either, the Brazilian finally scoring his second Formula One win after nearly two years.
"After the second pit stop we told the drivers to keep their positions and avoid incidents," said Todt after the race. "You will not see Ferrari fighting against each other and we are particularly happy to see the current situation. Team tactics is part of the Ferrari policy and team tactics was to let Rubens win."
Barrichello was happy to accept the orders this time. "Let's just enjoy this one, it's been a fantastic race. My whole family is here, my son, my wife. So let's just enjoy it. I don't want to talk about Austria. There was no decision today, it was a fair and square race. Austria is part of the past. It is not as if what happened here is paying for another race. What is done is done."
Schumacher was also pleased with the result, having increased his Championship lead to 46 points with less than half a season left.
"Rubens drove a superb race," said Schumacher. "He didn't make a mistake so he deserved to be the winner and I deserved to be second. The situation was very different to Austria, when we were not arrogant enough to think winning the title would be easy, given that nothing can be taken for granted."
For Ralf and Williams, a fourth place meant another bitter defeat, not only at the hands of Ferrari, but also at McLaren's, as the Grove-based team continued to fail to materialise their qualifying performances. "My car was incredibly difficult to drive as we had some tyre problems from early in the race," said Ralf. "I must say though that this doesn't depend on Michelin, but on us getting the car right for the tyres."
Fifth place went to Button, who finished only ten seconds behind Ralf, with rookie Massa holding up to sixth after keeping teammate Nick Heidfeld at bay during the final stages.
It may be only two weeks away, yet the British Grand Prix seems very far as the eyes of the Formula One fraternity focus on Paris and the outcome of the FIA hearing. The governing body's credibility is at stake, and the whole world is watching.
Lap 2: Barrichello moves ahead by slightly over two seconds while Michael Schumacher closes up behind his brother. Further down the order there are some changes with Enrique Bernoldi passing Eddie Irvine for 14th. Behind them Heinz-Harald Frentzen overtakes both Mark Webber and Irvine to move to 15th. Also on the move is Jacques Villeneuve who passes Alex Yoong and Pedro de la Rosa to move to 18th.
Lap 3: Michael Schumacher overtakes Ralf to move to second place. At the end of the lap he is 3.5 seconds behind Barrichello. The midfield juggling continues with Olivier Panis overtaking Mika Salo for 12th and Villeneuve passing Webber for 17th.
Lap 4: Both Ferraris set fastest laps and the gap drops to 2.8 seconds. Ralf drops quickly away, indicating that the two Ferraris are probably on a two-stop strategy and the Williamses on a one-stop strategy. Villeneuve runs wide at one corner but manages to hold on to his position.
Lap 5: The gap between Barrichello and Schumacher comes down to 2.5 seconds as they increase their lead over Ralf by over seconds in the course of the lap. Jarno Trulli makes a mistake and slides off, dropping from eighth to 12th, behind Massa, Heidfeld, Salo and Panis.
Lap 7: Webber makes a mistake and runs wide and falls behind Pedro de la Rosa and Salo to run 19th. At the same time Alex Yoong comes in for a drive-through penalty for jumping the start.
Lap 10: Michael Schumacher is right on Barrichello's tail and the gap back to Ralf is up to 18.2secs. Further back Trulli has a good lap and passes both Allan McNish and Heidfeld to take ninth. Heinz-Harald Frentzen is also on the move, passing Bernoldi to take 13th.
Lap 11: There is more passing in the midfield with de la Rosa passing Irvine for 16th.
Lap 12: Trulli passes Massa to move up to eighth. At the back of the field Yoong goes off and drops further back.
Lap 13: Villeneuve overtakes Bernoldi for 14th.
Lap 14: The battling continues in the midfield with Frentzen going off and being passed by Villeneuve and Bernoldi, who also goes off in the course of the lap.
Lap 17: Raikkonen makes a mistake and goes off and loses sixth place to Button.
Lap 18: Salo goes off again and loses more time.
Lap 19: Webber also has an off and comes straight into the pits to replace his tyres and refuel.
Lap 21: Trulli and McNish pit.
Lap 22: Button and Frentzen pit.
Lap 23: Bernoldi and Salo pit. There is a big surprise as Michael Schumacher spins and drops around 10 seconds to Barrichello.
Lap 24: Michael Schumacher comes into the pits but the gap is out to over half a minute and he rejoins ahead of Ralf.
Lap 25: Barrichello is the last of the two-stop runners. He rejoins ahead of Michael Schumacher. The order is thus established with Barrichello leading Michael and Ralf, Montoya, Coulthard, Raikkonen, Massa Heidfeld, Panis and Button completing the top 10.
Lap 28: Coulthard challenges Montoya for fourth and the two cars go into the first corner side by side. Montoya runs slightly over the inside kerb and his car is tipped into a spin which takes off the McLaren. Both men retire.
Lap 29: Panis is the first of the one-stoppers to pit. He falls back from seventh to 10th. McNish overtakes Irvine and Bernoldi.
Lap 30: Ralf Schumacher pits and falls from third to sixth.
Lap 31: Massa pits and falls from fourth to seventh. Yoong spins as he comes into the pitlane but is able to rejoin.
Lap 32: Irvine pits from 13th place but spins as he goes into the pitlane.and falls to 17th place.
Lap 33: De la Rosa pits, dropping from ninth to 14th.
Lap 35: Raikkonen is the last of the one-stop runners to stop. He holds on to third place but rejoins a minute behind the Schumacher, who is five seconds behind Barrichello.
Lap 42: Trulli pits and drops from sixth to eighth.
Lap 43: Michael Schumacher pits again and pushes hard hoping to get in a position to be leading after Barrichello's second stop.
Lap 44: Fourth-placed Button stops and rejoins behind Ralf Schumacher.
Lap 45: Barrichello's pit stop is a key moment. The Brazilian emerges ahead of Michael Schumacher, although the two men are within two seconds of one another. The issue now becomes whether or not Ferrari will apply team orders.
Lap 46: Frentzen is still charging and passes McNish for 13th.
Lap 49: Yoong pits and retires.
Lap 52: All attention is focussed on what Ferrari will do as Michael Schumacher is on Barrichello's tail again. Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn gives the impression he is relaxed by eating a banana. At the back of the field Salo has a spin but remains 15th.
Lap 53: Frentzen spins but holds on to his 13th place.
Lap 60: Ferraris lap times have dropped dramatically as everyone waits to see if Barrichello is allowed to win the race. The team decides that on this occasion Michael Schumacher does not need the extra points.
Ferrari's technical director Ross Brawn said after the European Grand Prix that they had learned a great deal from the aftermath of the Austrian scandal, where they forced Rubens Barrichello to let teammate Michael Schumacher take a controversial win in front of a jeering crowd and media, whose reactions were far from anticipated by Ferrari.
"Things have moved on quite a lot since Austria," Ross Brawn said. "We live and learn as well. Life is a learning process and we did learn a lot of things from Austria. We don't deny there are things we wish we had handled differently."
Rubens Barrichello drove a brilliant and flawless race that finally rewarded the Brazilian in his best season up to date, yet there was little doubt that Schumacher was quicker than his teammate in the closing stages, clearly short-shifting to avoid getting too close to the leading Ferrari.
Apart from the tension and the intrigue that surrounded the Nurburgring on the final laps, the race was, by the most part, another high speed procession that exemplified Ferrari's domination of the 2002 season. One of the few interesting points was seeing Schumacher recovering from an uncommon spin to catch Barrichello, but in the end Ferrari's orders deprived the fans of any chance of a battle between the two.
Williams' incapability of making the most out of their qualifying performance was again McLaren's gain, who like Ferrari seem to raise their game when it counts, that is in the race. Unlike Canada, where Coulthard benefitted from Williams' problems to finish behind Michael Schumacher, in Sunday's event, both the Scot and teammate Kimi Raikkonen were clearly faster than the Williams.
Only nine thousands of a second separated Montoya from his teammate Ralf, who guaranteed the first all-Williams front row since the 2001 Belgian Grand Prix. Ironically that race was too nearly as fruitless as Sunday's European Grand Prix for the Grove-based squad.
The Ferrari drivers waited for a few more minutes before jumping onto the track, the Bridgestone-shod F2002 incorporating a modified aerodynamic package - most notably a new engine cover - that the Italian team claimed would only be used during practice as it was still lacking testing. But Barrichello and Schumacher were apparently happy with the revisions and the new cover was used both in qualifying and in the race.
However, it was the Colombian driver who would complete the most significant improvement, and with a lap of 1:29.906 that even surprised himself, Montoya leapfrogged his rivals and moved to the top of the timesheets by the smallest of margins.
Montoya and Michael Schumacher left the garage with three minutes remaining, setting up the scene for a final shootout. The Williams driver, however, aborted his run and came straight back into the pits. The Ferrari driver, on the other hard, was less than two tenths of a second slower in the first sector and managed to set the quickest second sector.
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:29.906 205.975 km/h
2. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:29.915 + 0.009
3. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:30.035 + 0.129
4. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:30.387 + 0.481
5. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:30.550 + 0.644
6. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:30.591 + 0.685
7. Trulli Renault (M) 1:30.927 + 1.021
8. Button Renault (M) 1:31.136 + 1.230
9. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:31.211 + 1.305
10. Salo Toyota (M) 1:31.389 + 1.483
11. Massa Sauber Petronas (B) 1:31.733 + 1.827
12. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:31.906 + 2.000
13. McNish Toyota (M) 1:31.941 + 2.035
14. Sato Jordan Honda (B) 1:31.999 + 2.093
15. Frentzen Arrows Cosworth (B) 1:32.144 + 2.238
16. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:32.281 + 2.375
17. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:32.510 + 2.604
18. Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) 1:32.591 + 2.685
19. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:32.968 + 3.062
20. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:32.996 + 3.090
21. Bernoldi Arrows Cosworth (B) 1:33.360 + 3.454
22. Yoong Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:34.251 + 4.345
Montoya was quick to protect the inside line, swerving to the right to avoid Ralf from passing him, while both Barrichello and Schumacher saw Coulthard flying past them before the end of the straight. The Scot, however, went a bit wide at the first corner and was relegated to fifth place once more. The first of the incidents saw Montoya and Ralf coming too close for comfort, the Colombian's front wheel touching the German's left rear as they tried to make it into the first corner. Despite the incident, both could continue, but Ralf was able to move ahead of his teammate.
Michael was also on the move, having more difficulties to pass Montoya, but eventually moving ahead at the Veedol chicane. The Williams driver was followed closely by Coulthard, Raikkonen and the two Renaults of Button and Trulli.
The first round of pitstops for the two-stoppers was kicked off by Jacques Villeneuve on lap 20, the Canadian being followed by Trulli on the next lap and Button quickly afterwards. While running comfortably behind Barrichello - perhaps too comfortably - Schumacher would endure the scare of the race, and perhaps of the season so far, when he lost control of his Ferrari on lap 23.
"I hoped he'd look at the bigger picture because he was losing two seconds a lap," Coulthard said. "The big picture is the chequered flag and we both threw it away. There is no glory in both cars not finishing the race and I think the guy is all over the place."
The television cameras began to focus on the Ferrari bosses with around ten laps remaining. Every move, every touch of any button and every word that came out of Jean Todt's and Ross Brawn's mouths were followed as the tension began to build up in anticipation of what Ferrari would do.
Raikkonen was finally rewarded with his second podium finish after yet another strong performance, the McLaren driver and his team demonstrating that despite their lack of qualifying pace, when it comes to racing they can hope for better things.
CLASSIFIED
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1h 35:07.426
2. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) + 0.294
3. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) + 46.435
4. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) + 1:06.963
5. Button Renault (M) + 1:16.943
6. Massa Sauber Petronas (B) + 1 Lap
7. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) + 1 Lap
8. Trulli Renault (M) + 1 Lap
9. Panis BAR Honda (B) + 1 Lap
10. Bernoldi Arrows Cosworth (B) + 1 Lap
11. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) + 1 Lap
12. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) + 1 Lap
13. Frentzen Arrows Cosworth (B) + 1 Lap
14. McNish Toyota (M) + 1 Lap
15. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) + 2 Laps
16. Sato Jordan Honda (B) + 2 Laps
Fastest Lap: M.Schumacher, 1:32.226, lap 26
NOT CLASSIFIED / RETIREMENTS
Salo Toyota (M) 52 Brakes
Yoong Minardi Asiatech (M) 49 Mechanical
Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 42 Mechanical
Montoya Williams BMW (M) 28 Collision
Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 28 Collision
Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) 27 Mechanical
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING, ROUND 8:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. M.Schumacher 76 1. Ferrari 102
2. R.Schumacher 30 2. Williams-BMW 57
3. Montoya 27 3. McLaren-Mercedes 37
4. Coulthard 26 4. Renault 14
= Barrichello 26 5. Sauber-Petronas 9
6. Raikkonen 11 6. Jordan-Honda 6
7. Button 10 7. Jaguar-Cosworth 3
8. Fisichella 6 8. Minardi-Asiatech 2
9. Heidfeld 5 = Toyota 2
10. Trulli 4 = Arrows 2
= Massa 4
12. Irvine 3
13. Webber 2
= Salo 2
= Frentzen 2
Pos Driver Team Lap Time
1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 26 1:32.226
2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 44 1:32.785 + 0.559
3. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 59 1:33.159 + 0.933
4. Button Renault (M) 47 1:33.676 + 1.450
5. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 49 1:33.856 + 1.630
6. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 56 1:34.224 + 1.998
7. Trulli Renault (M) 57 1:34.246 + 2.020
8. Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth (B) 47 1:34.503 + 2.277
9. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 21 1:34.583 + 2.357
10. Panis BAR-Honda (B) 58 1:34.609 + 2.383
11. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 21 1:34.635 + 2.409
12. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 57 1:34.683 + 2.457
13. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 56 1:34.809 + 2.583
14. Sato Jordan-Honda (B) 57 1:35.029 + 2.803
15. Salo Toyota (M) 39 1:35.267 + 3.041
16. Bernoldi Arrows-Cosworth (B) 48 1:35.391 + 3.165
17. McNish Toyota (M) 58 1:35.503 + 3.277
18. de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 52 1:35.644 + 3.418
19. Webber Minardi-Asiatech (M) 37 1:35.880 + 3.654
20. Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 19 1:36.662 + 4.436
21. Yoong Minardi-Asiatech (M) 21 1:36.932 + 4.706
22. Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) 3 1:37.011 + 4.785
Pos Driver Team Time Lap
1. Yoong Minardi-Asiatech (M) 22.553 7
2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 31.580 45
3. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 31.690 43
4. Button Renault (M) 31.930 44
5. Trulli Renault (M) 32.015 42
6. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 32.452 44
7. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 32.665 24
8. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 32.818 25
9. Button Renault (M) 33.057 22
10. Salo Toyota (M) 33.089 41
11. Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) 33.170 21
12. Bernoldi Arrows-Cosworth (B) 33.355 42
13. Trulli Renault (M) 33.722 21
14. McNish Toyota (M) 34.072 39
15. Webber Minardi-Asiatech (M) 34.462 19
16. Bernoldi Arrows-Cosworth (B) 34.517 23
17. Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth (B) 34.526 44
18. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 35.393 20
19. Sato Jordan-Honda (B) 35.618 36
20. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 35.719 30
21. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 35.785 30
22. Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) 35.979 1
23. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 35.983 35
24. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 36.497 31
25. de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 36.520 33
26. Panis BAR-Honda (B) 38.326 29
27. McNish Toyota (M) 38.646 21
28. Salo Toyota (M) 41.573 23
29. Webber Minardi-Asiatech (M) 45.085 41
30. Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth (B) 48.500 22
31. Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 48.976 32
32. Yoong Minardi-Asiatech (M) 52.885 31
33. Sato Jordan-Honda (B) 1:23.550 1
The European Grand Prix, Lap by Lap
Lap 1: At the start of the race Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher go into the first corner side by side with Schumacher on the outside. He emerges ahead as the fast-starting David Coulthard slides slightly wide allowing the two Ferraris to retake the advantage with Rubens Barrichello ahead of Michael Schumacher. Behind them the two Jordans collide, Giancarlo Fisichella spinning into Takuma Sato. Both men have to pit at the end of the lap. In the course of the first lap Barrichello passes Montoya and then takes the lead from Ralf Schumacher. Michael Schumacher also overtakes the Colombian so the order at the end of the first lap is Barrichello one second ahead of Ralf with Michael third nearly two seconds further back. Montoya is fourth with Coulthard fifth and Kimi Raikkonen sixth. They are followed by Jenson Button, Jarno Trulli, Felipe Massa and Nick Heidfeld.
Lap 6: The gap at the front comes down to 1.8 seconds while the gap back to Ralf Schumacher goes out to 9.2 seconds. Trulli re-passes Panis to move to 11th. Salo has a spin and drops from 13th to 19th.
Lap 20: The planned pit stops begin with Villeneuve stopping. He drops from 13th to 18th.
Lap 39: McNish is the first of the two-stop runners to pit for the second time. He drops from 10th to 14th.
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