Saturday September 11th, 1999

Mika Marches On

Qualifying analysis, by Michele Lupini

The grid for tomorrow's Italian Grand Prix won't exactly please the local crowd, but there are a few indicators that all is not lost for their beloved Ferraris.

The Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes qualifying steamroller flattened Monza's official practice too, the combination's eleventh pole in twelve races. Had Mika been as effective as that in race trim, the championship would have already be won. But he hasn't been able to capitalise on his obvious advantage, thanks mainly to reliability, but his teammate and a lack of coherent team tactics have added to the plight of fastest man in 1999.

Only a single point ahead of Ferrari's Eddie Irvine in the drivers' chase, Mika and McLaren seem to have found reliability since Germany. But more about that later.

Mika clearly had the upper hand throughout qualifying this afternoon. Obviously holding back in practice, he quickly set the fastest lap this year at Monza – on his first flying lap. Only he would go faster after that. "I was surprised that I was able to bang out that time! My second run was good, but my third was fantastic," said a delighted Hakkinen later.

"The engineers changed my car and made it suit my driving style on the first sector, where I was having a problem. My second run was good, but my third was fantastic." Only Heinz-Harald Frentzen came near to the flying Finn, but he had a less than perfect afternoon.

"I never managed any of my three runs without a problem," said Heinz. "I don't know if I could have taken the pole, but it could have been close. I would have liked to get my revenge on Mika after he beat me in Hockenheim - but it wasn't to be. In any case, the qualifying performance is excellent."

David Coulthard ended third, despite also not having an ideal session. "Mika's lap was a pretty special time and even if I had had a clear run I think it would have been difficult to match it. Third position is a good place to start from because it is on the racing line and has better grip than the other side."

But the toast of the session, and a man that will clearly confound his vocal critics as he continues to move up the grid, was Alex Zanardi. The Italian double-CART champion revelled in proper equipment at his home circuit to edge his teammate out for a second row slot alongside Coulthard. "I am happy, of course," Alex said later. "We are very pleased, especially since we don't have a qualifying engine. I hope I'll at least maintain this position in the race."

Ralf Schumacher was again on top form, and like his teammate, well down through the speed traps, but clearly fast through the tight stuff. "I was slowed twice by yellow flags on the third and fourth runs. Anyway, the race is tomorrow and I am fairly optimistic that we will finish in a good position.

But the cars all of Italy will be watching tomorrow afternoon lost their midweek advantage, once official business started at Monza. They may be in with a shot at both titles, but it appears there's an uphill battle ahead if they want to pull it off. Mika Salo was the quickest Ferrari, closing off the third row alongside Ralf.

"We still cannot get rid of the understeer," the Finn commented later. But he went on to give Italy some hope: "Otherwise the car is good and I will have a very good race car for tomorrow. If we get a good set-up the race shouldn't be too bad."

Ferrari's new man splits his future team's current drivers on the grid tomorrow. Rubens Barrichello put the Stewart-Ford into seventh late in the session, edging out the man he's set to swap cars with next season. "We had to choose our moment carefully because there were so many yellow flags out there."

Eddie Irvine won't sleep too easy tonight, knowing his title rival is out front and he has six good men between himself and his foe. "We have not made enough progress with the car, but we cannot fix the problem overnight. At least the new version of the engine is a good step in the right direction," Eddie admitted. " My best chance in the race is to make a great start. I am aiming to get as many points as possible. In the race, Frentzen could help us by mixing it with our main rivals." Eddie also gave fans a ray of hope to cling onto, assuring, "The championship is not yet over for us."

Behind Eddie, Damon Hill and Olivier Panis rounded off the top ten in their respective Jordan and Prost, while Villeneuve, Trulli, Alesi, Wurz, Herbert, Diniz, Fisichella and Zonta shared a second. Bringing up the rear, Minardi appear to have established supremacy over their traditional backfield rivals, Arrows.

But Italy is only interested in their beloved Ferraris, who at this point appear to be in troubled water. They have everything to do tomorrow. What will be interesting, though, is how Eddie and Mika Salo deal with the Williams duo, especially in the light of Patrick Head's outburst after Spa. But even more interesting is a look back at the German GP...

The biggest difference between Hockenheim's grid and Monza tomorrow, are the Williamses between Coulthard and Salo. Hakkinen was on pole there, from Frentzen, Coulthard, Salo, Irvine and Barrichello. The Williams duo will be an extra problem for Ferrari, but considering they scored an emphatic 1-2 in Germany, there's no reason why they cannot repeat that performance.

The only man that could have beaten the Ferraris' tactical coup there was Hakkinen, but for reliability. Even if the Ferraris end up second and third behind Mika tomorrow, they will still be in touch for both titles, but they will have a little more work to do to achieve that.

Looking at the grid, Monza could well provide a close, tactical race, something we have missed while McLaren drove home their advantage in the most recent races. That is, perhaps, what most fans will want to see, for if it's another single file parade, F1 will certainly become criticised again as boring.

And an unexpected Ferrari victory at Monza, or an upset by one of the other teams, would certainly put such speculation on the backburner...