Race day at the Interlagos circuit,one of the toughest on the calender,with the uneven surface and the long corner on to the straight.Its been on ordinary weekend,same old positions,but a few huge crashes,due to suspension problems,causing concern within the teams.Last year,Sauber pulled out of the grand prix,when they suffered multiple wing faliures,again because of the bumpy surface.However,everyone will be participating in the race,and is expected to be a thriller.
With the skies clear,and the crowd excited,the Brazilian Grand Prix got under way!!!
21 drivers got off the grid.The one that did not was the Jordan of Jarno Trulli,stalling from 11th.He became an unavoidable mobile chicane for rookie Alonso,hitting the back of him and losing his front wing.
On the run down to turn one,Hakkinen made a poor start and was passed by Ralf,Stewart and Coulthard,dropping to 5th.Order after lap 1:Michael,Ralf,Coulthard,Stewart,Hakkinen and Montoya.
Alonso was already a backmarker on lap 7,and when Coulthard came up to him,he tangled with him,dropping him back to 7th,and losing him any chance of winning.
For another 15 laps,Ralf,Stewart and Hakkinen were locked in a battle for 2nd,although they never changed places once.
On lap 22,Stewart and Coulthard were the first to pit.Next lap,Ralf rejoined from his stop with the same margin over Stewart.Amazing stop from the Mclaren boys got Hakkinen out infront of both Ralf and Mark.Hakkinen was now never a feature with the other two,and Ralf and Mark were locked in another battle up their next pit stops.On lap 32,Stewart tried a move in to turn one,but only slightly miss timed his braking,letting Ralf sneak back up the inside.But on lap 42,Stewart's car lost all rear downforce,luckily it was only at slow speed,it was only a half spin,but lost 4 seconds,and if he was to get a podium,he would have to pass Schumacher on the track.
On lap 45,Stewart came in for his second stop,reported to be one lap before he was scheduled to,as there was alot of traffic infront.The next lap,Ralf rejoined the track with a 1 second lead over Stewart,he did gain a bit,and it was now a straight fight to the finish.Stewart did not want to waste anymore time behind Ralf.On lap 45,he launched himself down the inside into turn one,passing Ralf and a backmarker,using the backmarker as a guard so that could not cut back and pass,a superb move.
Stewart was now pushing hard to catch Hakkinen,and he was,but lap 61,he lost all the time he gained with a spin.He managed to hold off Ralf Schumacher to come round and take his,and Jaguar's first ever podium,a superb result for both of them,this guy is certainly a star in the making.
However no one could halt Michael Schumacher,he led every single lap of the race,to win the Brazilian Grand Prix,and go 6 points clear at the top of the championship.In contrast,home town hero Barrichello had another miserable race,going round in 7th place until retiring with brake faliure with 3 laps to go,another home grand prix he doesn't finish.Montoya finished the closest he will get to a home grand prix in 6th place,earning a point.
Once again,Jordan have a poor race,both cars failing to finish,Trulli at the start and Frentzen retired with gearbox trouble when running outside the points.
Race Clasification 71 laps 1.M.Schumacher 1:28:01.794 2.M.Hakkinen +14.986 3.M.Stewart +30.039 4.R.Schumacher +34.301 5.D.Coulthard +54.375 6.J.P.Montoya +1:06.692 7.J.Villeneuve +1:06.692 8.E.Irvine +1 lap 9.J.Alesi +1lap 10.K.Raikkonen +1 lap 11.O.Panis +1 lap 12.N.Heidfeld +2 laps 13.J.Button +2 laps 14.E.Bernoldi +3 laps 15.R.Barrichello Brakes 16.L.Burti +4 laps 17.T.Marques +4 laps
18.F.Alonso +4 laps 19.J.Verstappen Gearbox 20.G.Fisichella Gearbox 21.H-H.Frentzen Gearbox
22.J.Trulli Electronics
So the end of the first 3 fly away races.What we've learned going into the european season is that Michael Schumacher is the man to beat,Williams are back as a force to be reckoned with,Jordan,Benetton and Arrows have all made steps backwards,Barrichello has started very slowly and there is a new British champion in the making in Mark Stewart,he has already scored more than double the points that the team scored last year,and has got his maiden podium after 3 races.Next week is Imola,in San Marino,starting off the European part of the season.I hope you can join us then.
Goodbye!
Start crash in the backbround
Stewart and Ralf had a great battle
Half spin for Stewart
Ralf joins just infront for the sprint to the end
Stewart finally passes Ralf
Barrichello fails to finish another home grand prix
The Imola circuit is situated near the small principality of San Marino,just up the road from the Ferrari base,making this their home grand prix.But they did not get off to the best start,Schumacher was 2nd in both sessions,behind the ever improving Mark Stewart,in his Jaguar.It is now the european season,with only a trip to Canada breaking up the 11 European races we have.As the teams are now in Europe,there should be some more development to the cars,and should see teams such as Benetton move up the field.
There was no real change in positions from the previous race,except of course,Stewart storming to the top of the timing pages in both sessions,over 0.2 ahead both times.
There were a few incidents today,M.Schumacher,Alesi,Fisichella,Burti and Marques all had offs,stuggling with the rain we had a few hours before the first session,thus removing all the rubber that had been layed in the few races that were run there a week before.
Saturday morning,brought more rain,but this time alot heavier than yesterday,thus washing out both morning sessions,with monsoon rain falling since 10 o'clock last night,until 1 this afternoon.The track was drying,but minutes before the qualifying session started,more rain fell,although just drizzle.
Michael Schumacher opened up the fight for pole with just 8 minutes gone in the session,clocking in a 1:29.192.15 minutes in and Stewart went second,although 1.786 behind.Just after that Hakkinen went 0.462 slower than Schumi to go 2nd.On Stewart's second run,he went to within 0.483 of Michael,moving from 10th to 3rd.With just 10 minutes to go,Schumacher improved his time slightly,and Barrichello went 2nd,0.483 behind his team-mate.With 5 minutes to go,with Stewart and M.Schumacher on track for their final laps,Mark went 0.154 quicker to go 1st,with Schumi not improving.It was only Coulthard and Alonso on track in the final 3 minutes,when the rain stopped,and there was slight sunshine.In those 3 minutes the track dried ever so slightly,letting Coulthard go from 4th to pole,by 0.069 from Stewart,amazing luck for Coulthard.Alonso also got his Minardi off the back row,qualifying ahead of Burti.
The rain saw a few changes in the positions,Barrichello up to 5th,Frentzen up to 7th,Montoya down to 8th,Alesi up to 10th,who had a collision with Irvine in the final few minutes,and Alonso up to 19th.
Race day for the San Marino grand prix,here in Ferrari territory.And all night it has been raining,and still raining today,so it should spice up what normally is a quite uneventful Grand Prix.The track was completely drenched,almost as wet as yesterday morning,but they chose not to start behind the safety car,and the race got underway as planned.
Many got slow starts,Stewart had a superb start going to 1st,with DC dropping to 3rd.Jenson Button took 25 seconds to get off the gird.Order after lap 1:Stewart,Hakkinen,Coulthard,Schumacher,Barrichello and Villeneuve.
On lap 2,Hakkinen uses the power of his Mercedes engine to blast past Stewart.
After slowly catching Stewart,Coulthard passes him on lap 14,when he out brakes himself into Rivazza.On lap 15,Irvine's engine blows causing concern for his team mate Stewart.
Still going backwards is Mark,as Schumi passes him on lap 18.Lap 20 and Montoya blows his engine,his car is stuck in the middle of the track and both Trulli and Panis hit him.
Stewart pits on lap 23,and gets out 3 seconds infront of Coulthard,who pitted 4 laps before,and went of course aswell.On lap 29 the track began to dry as the rain got weaker,with most of the field changing to wets.Stewart held his place in 4th,as the track started to dry even more,and on lap 51,it was time for intermediete tyres.Hakkinen retired from 3rd in the pits with brake problems.
There was just 3.5 seconds between Stewart and Coulthard for the final podium place in the last 6 laps.But Stewart had almost no grip,and struggled alot to keep his car on the road,and in the end Coulthard passed him,there was no doubt that he would have got passed really.
In the end,after all the pit stops,it was an easy one-two for Ferrari,at their home race,with Schumi coming home half a minute ahead of Barrichello,who gets on the podium for the first time this season.However,had the conditions stayed the same through out the race,it may have been a different story,as they did not fill up to the end,when they all changed to wet weather tyres.
Coming home in 4th was Stewart,who did his best with a car not really suited to monsoon conditions,but his car seemed to get worse the drier it got,finishing some 15 seconds behind D.C. and almost a minute and a half behind the winner.
Coming home in a superb 5th place,in a brave performance,was Jean Alesi in the Prost,scoring the teams first points in 23 races.And coming home in 6th was Villeneuve.
Race Clasification 62 laps
1.M.Schumacher 1:36:16:737
2.R.Barrichello +30.870 3.D.Coulthard +1:13.038 4.M.Stewart +1:28.771 5.J.Alesi +1 lap 6.J.Villeneuve +1 lap 7.H-H.Frentzen +1 lap 8.K.Raikkonen +1 lap 9.O.Panis +2 laps 10.J.Trulli +2 laps 11.J.Verstappen +2 laps 12.J.Button +2 laps
13.G.Fisichella +3 laps 14.E.Bernoldi +3 laps 15.F.Alonso +3 laps 16.L.Burti +3 laps 17.M.Hakkinen Brakes 18.R.Schumacher Brakes
19.J.P.Montoya Engine 20.N.Heidfeld Brakes 21.E.Irvine Engine 22.T.Marques Engine
So,the end of a very wet weekend her in Imola,the first Ferrari on-two of the season,but more dominance from Michael Schumacher,and now leads the standings by 12pts.Stewart and Jaguar are still punching well above their weight in 3rd place in both championships,and Barrichello and Prost score their first points of the season in this race.Next race is in the city of Barcelona,for the Spanish Grand Prix,where they do most of their testing,and is always a very competetive race.
Till Then!
The teams touch down in the familiar surroundings of Barcelona in Spain for Round 5 of the 2001 F1 World Championship.Used as a testing venue through out the year,the teams know this track like the back of their hand,and is always very competitive.
The first session was dry,already 20?C.The day didn't get off to a good start for Minardi.Alonso opened up the session,and half way through the lap his engine blew up,thus using the spare car for most of the session.Marques also had a spin.M.Schumacher was fastest in the first session,ahead of his brother,who spun and lost his front wing,and Hakkinen,with Ralf and Mika setting the same time.Stewart had a quiet session,coming in 8th.
In the second session,the storms made its way over the Mediterranean,and it was appauling conditions.Olivier Panis had a big crash,when he went out on the wrong tyres,and slammed into the barriers.
There were multiple offs in the session,and as the skies brightened the track dried,but only enough to use standard wet tyres,and not the monsoon ones.This made for very mixed results.Again Stewart struggled in the drying conditions,coming in 16th,4.157 behind the fastest driver.
The sun shown down the Circuit de Catalunya for qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix,always very close.Last year M.Schumacher edged out Hakkinen by a few hundredths.This year tho,Schumi is really on fire.
With 13 minutes gone in the session,Mika opened up the fight for pole,posting a 1:19.964.Stewart continued to struggle with his cars lack of balance,posting a lap 0.914 slower.5 minutes later Schumi went 0.273 faster.Half way in,and Mika came out again,going just 0.039 faster.Stewart managed to get to within 0.990 of the provisional pole with his second attempt.But no one could stop Schumacher,he went 0.224 faster,then with 12 minutes to go,went hundredths quicker.7 minutes to go,Ralf made it the second all Schumacher front row of the season,0.227 slower.
Meanwhile,despite all his testing this year,Stewart qualified outside the top ten for the first time this year,coming in 11th,a worrying 1.174 slower than Schumi.
No surprise he took pole. Stewart must be disappointed, he really has to aim to finish in the points, any chance of the drivers and constructor standings?
Round 5 at the Circuit De Catalunya,a tough track on tyres,with its long right hand corners.But the drivers and teams know every inch of this track,used as a heavy testing venue for a number of years.The story of the weekend has been Mark Stewart's surprising lack of pace,not braking into the top 6 all weekend and qualifying outside the top 10.But no-one knows what will happen,even if this can be one of the most uneventful on the whole calender.The temperature was now a sizzling 31?C as the drivers left the dummy grid.
A few minutes later,the Spanish Grand Prix,was go!
Stewart made the best start as he was 8th after turn 4.Meanwhile Bernoldi hit the back of Burti into turn 1 and lost his front wing.On lap 10 Stewart managed to pass Barrichello when he ran wide at turn 8.
But the next lap Stewart's handling woes continued as he spun at turn 2,a quick recovery but he rejoined in 9th,4 seconds behind his team mate.Jaguar really have to sort out their handling,as it has cost Stewart alot already this year.On lap 21 however,the pit lane and grandstands went silent and went into shock after the huge crash between Irvine and Burti.Eddie was trying to lap Burti,but under steered into him,and they rolled over several times before crashing into the wall.Burti was quickly out under his own control,but Irvine was helped onto a stretcher,and was taken to hospital in Barcelona.Nevertheless the race continued.Stewart pitted on lap 23 from 8th and rejoined 10th,making no impression in the race.However after this stop,he suddenly launched himself into his usual pace and started to close the gap to Montoya.After 10 laps he closed the gap from 6 seconds to 1.Lap 41 and Montoya pitted with around 2 seconds on Stewart.
Stewart was then lapping over 1 second faster than Montoya with less fuel and a clear track.He pitted on lap 45 and came out 5 seconds ahead of Montoya.From then on he slowly pulled away from Montoya and was never troubled,although he was lapped,and sadly finished just outside the points in 7th place.
Once again leading the whole race was Michael Schumacher,taking his 4th win of the season,and now pulling away from Coulthard in the championship.Villeneuve did well to stay in the points,finishing in 5th.
Race Clasification 65 laps 1.M.Schumacher +1:29.13.252 2.D.Coulthard +23.503 3.R.Schumacher +35.732 4.M.Hakkinen +40.104 5.J.Villeneuve +56.785 6.R.Barrichello +1:05.378 7.M.Stewart +1 lap 8.J.P.Montoya +1 lap 9.H-H.Frentzen +1 lap 10.K.Raikkonen +1 lap 11.J.Alesi +1 lap 12.O.Panis +2 laps 13.J.Button +2 laps 14.N.Heidfeld +2 laps 15.J.Verstappen +2 laps 16.F.Alonso +3 laps
17.T.Marques +4 laps 18.E.Bernoldi +4 laps 19.G.Fisichella Suspension 20.E.Irvine Accident 21.L.Burti Accident 22.J.Trulli Gearbox
Barrichello runs wide...
And Stewart passes him at the next corner
Stewart spins again
Irvine and Burti's massive crash
The end of the 5th round,M.Schumacher is now pulling away from DC,Jaguar have to sort out their handling problems,and Burti is once again under investigation after his crash with Irvine.So we leave Barcelona,but in a few weeks they will be back their testing again.Next up is the superb location of the Austrian Grand Prix,in the mountains.I hope you can join us then!
Sorry for the lack of pics.I have a bit of flu so this weekends race may be delayed or will be run next week.
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