We have now completed the Australian and South American portions of the current year. Two continents down...Three to go. Two races of domination and one of strategy. So who can predict what will happen when the "meat" of the season starts at Imola.

McLaren still has the package to beat. Three poles, two wins, three seconds. Not a bad starting average. Now that the "win one for the team orders" has stopped perhaps we will see a race between Hakkinen and Coulthard develop. While the elder McLaren driver seems to have the edge, Coulthard has the ability to start winning consistently.

It is rather obvious that Ferrari has closed the gap to the McLaren, and not just with Schumacher, but Irvine as well. They has certainly made the most of the new tyres provided by Goodyear. Perhaps this is particular to the Argentine track. Can they stay as close on tracks that are a little more open? This remains to be seen, but my personal view is that the Imola race will see McLaren dominate again.

The Williams' have seem to have lost their way, with only one podium in three races. You would have to go back a long way to see when they were as un-competitive as this. Villeneuve appears to be the most unhappy with the current configuration of F1 cars and is certainly not happy with his results this year. His main objective in Argentina was to beat his teammate, not the McLaren's. This from the current World Champion! It is a far cry from a year ago when he was in winning form.

Jordan, Sauber and Benetton all seem to be capable teams and except for a late spin Wurz was podium bound. It certainly appears that the surprise win of the year will come from one of these teams. The others, mid-pack to back-markers, have not really changed their status. They are all struggling, with engines that are weak or unreliable, new equipment, or chassis that are not just up to it yet.

Argentina was another race proving that the new cars are making it difficult to pass. Coulthard found it impossible to get past both the Sauber of Alesi and the William's of Villeneuve. This in the car that won pole, all be it a damaged pole winning car. (Credit to the boys at Woking for making that car tough).

And this brings us to the big story of the weekend. The Coulthard / Schumacher incident. Lets be clear on what happened. Coulthard had made a mistake, either a driving error or a mechanical problem with the gear change. He had run wide, he was still at speed but wide. Schumacher saw an opening and decided that it was time. On the face of it the story ends there.

But does it end there? There was an opening! Apparently not as there was contact between the two. Was there blame to be apportioned? Yes there was as this is F1 and an incident cannot be just allowed to be just an incident.

Should Schumacher have made his move if he knew that there would be contact? No he shouldn't. Did he know that there would be contact? Probably as he had ducked down onto the grass by the time of the touch.

As to the Coulthard / Villeneuve incident, I have not seen a clear picture or replay on that so I will ignore it for the moment.

So the issue is, did a driver knowingly hit another? (And remember this wasn't for the title, this is the third race of the year not the last)

For the answer to that you have to ask Schumacher, but he hinted at it during the post race interview by saying that he wouldn't back off because of the first lap incident between himself and Coulthard in Australia. He didn't say that he couldn't stop or slow, but that he wouldn't. And that is a very dangerous attitude from any driver, regardless of their ability and talent. This is F1 the highest rung of motorsports!

In all likelihood, Schumacher is the best driver to sit in an F1 car since Jackie Stewart retired. He has among the highest percentage of wins and podiums per race start of all time. He has been instrumental in the Ferrari resurgence. But regardless of the above if the order of the day is to play bumper cars because he can get away with it, especially after the whole Jerez story, then something is lacking. Perhaps it is the fault of the FIA, due to the rather weak penalty handed out at the end of last season. If Schumacher had been on a suspended race ban, as other drivers have been, would he have made the move?

I am sure that being competitive means being aggressive, but does it have to mean playing by the sort of rules that we have come to expect from lessor forms of racing.

Some will interpret this as a personal attack on Schumacher, perhaps it is, but it would not be if a clean race had been run. Could Schumacher have beaten Coulthard in a straight race? Maybe Maybe not. With the difficulty in passing caused by the new rules who knows? It would have been nice to see him try though.

Gerard is 38 years old and has been a fan of F1 since the early 70's (a rabid fan since '77). Being Canadian, Gerard has a fondness for the family name of Villeneuve and hopes for a day when at least the front 8 cars have a legitimate shot at winning a race.

Send comments to: gfurlong@brunnet.net