AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 12.3.00, Melbourne
THIS IS WHAT
ALWAYS HAPPENS TO US HERE...
The Australian GP started in
warm and sunny weather, so a lot of cars didn't make it to the
chequered flag. Finally only ten cars finished the race, of which
nine made it to the results (Mika Salo's sixth place was
disqualified because of an illegitimate front wing). Among others
both Jaguars and Jordans didn't make it. Positive surprisers were
among other things BAR, whose both drivers took points - Jacques
Villeneuve was fourth and Ricardo Zonta sixth.
The start of the race was again
like it has been for three years in a row: both McLarens took
great starts and had the lead, even though Schumi hung on near
enough. When full five laps had been driven, the safety car came
to the track after a collision between Eddie Irvine and Pedro de
la Rosa. When the safety car curved back to the pits David's
speed slowed down and he came to the pits on lap 11. For over 40
seconds the team tried to do something to his car, but the smoke
coming out of the car blabbed that there was nothing they could
do. After returning back to the track David retired only few
turns later when the engine detonated for good.
On lap 18 also Mika's car's
engine failed and also he had to retire. From that on the race
was all about the Ferraris. Michael won, Rubens came second and
at BMW's first race well succeeded little-Schumi Ralf third.
McLaren had focused
at its winter testing on finding reliability. But still four of
the team's Mercedes engines failed within 24 hours. The team
should internalize Ron's saying "To finish first, you first
have to finish!" a little better...
BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX
26.3.00, Sao Paolo
WHO GETS THE LAST
LAUGH?
At the start of the race Schumi
passed David, and already when the first lap was over Schumi
passed Mika and Rubens David. Every McLaren-fan hoped that this
was caused only because Ferrari was having a two stop strategy
and McLaren only one. Schumi increased his lead to Mika, and at
first easily behind Rubens stayed DC started suddenly leave
behind - did the problem at the gearbox occur just then? That is
to say, after the race David told that he had driven most of it
without the second and third gears. Soon also Rubens managed to
get pass Mika.
After the first one third Schumi
made his first stop and Mika took the lead. Shortly after that
Rubens retired due to a engine problem. Mika managed to increase
his lead to Schumi, but on lap 30 he drove to the pits and
retired. The problem was the engine... again!
Schumi was leading again, far
behind him was David at the second place, fighting with his
broken car. Halfway through, David made his only pit stop without
any problems. Later Schumi did his second stop.
The rest of the race was all
about exciting would the cars last to the finish. Schuey had to
slow down because of a problem at his car, but when the flag fell
the gap was almost five seconds. Benetton's Giancarlo Fisichella
took the third place.
After the race
David told that besides losing the two gears he had also lost the
radio. After all the troubles David thought getting six points
was just great. But what happened next?
RUDE BIRTHDAY
PRESENT
On Monday, 27th
March (DC's birthday), we heard the bad news: FIA had
disqualified David, because the front wing of his car was
illegal. McLaren made of course an opposing protest.
"THAT'S IT.
I'VE HAD IT. THIS TIME THEY'VE GONE TOO FAR..."
And of course Ferrari's fan club
FIA declined McLaren's protest. It would only have been fair and
reasonable that David could have kept his points, but they would
have been taken away from the team. But naturally this could not
happen, since FIA is always on Ferrari's side.
Ferrari had started
the first F1-season of the millennium in a breaking style. At the
constructors side it leaded McLaren 26-0, and at the driver's
scoring table Schumi had 20 points, second had 6, Mika 0! Was it
already too late for McLaren?
GRAND PRIX OF SAN
MARINO 9.4.00, Imola
The qualifying session for the
GP of San Marino was really exciting one. After the first runs
David Coulthard had the provisional pole, but finally he had to
settle for his worst grid position so far this season. Third
place was all he could do, because he couldn't put a full lap
together.
For the rest of the hour only
two men fought for the pole - Mika and Schumi. When only about
half a minute time was left, Schumi took the first place for
himself. Many people thought that Häkkinen's chances had already
gone when he made two minor mistakes on his last run. But -
surprise surprise - Mika managed to get the pole with 0.091
seconds faster time than Schumi's.
At the start of the
race Schumi blocked David and Rubens was able to pass DC.
Barrichello couldn't make his car work properly during the whole
weekend and was also on the race really slow. The misfortune at
the start and leaving behind Rubens ruined David's race
completely. Passing another car is almost impossible at Imola.
Luckily David managed to get pass Rubens after the second pit
stops. During the last 20 laps David was 40 seconds faster than
Rubens. The third place was less than he deserved; with luckier
start even the victory would have been possible. But the turning
point for David was already the disqualifying in Brazil. Without
those six points he lost the second place at the scoring table
would have been DC's!
OH NO. THEY WON
AGAIN. YOU BASTARDS!
The win at Imola was taken by
Schumi, who had now won all the races of the season. Frankly I
thought that McLaren doesn't have any chance to win the titles
anymore, too bad. Ferraris are so reliable, that their lead at
the points is impossible to catch, unless something dramatic
happens. For McLaren the second and third places from Imola were
nothing much, when the win must have been taken.
The next race was
the British GP at Silverstone, unusually already that time of the
year. Schumi didn't have good memories from England from last
year, David instead surely did...
BRITISH GRAND PRIX
23.4.00, Silverstone
The GP-weekend at Silverstone
was a constant battle with the weather. At the practice on Friday
only the first half an hour was rain free, then the rain began to
fall... Michael Schumacher was second last at the practice,
because he didn't drive a full lap before the rain started.
During the qualifying session
the track was getting more and more dry all the time, and
therefore numerous of drivers had the provisional pole during the
hour. Finally luckiest one was Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello, but
only 0.003 seconds slower was Jordan's Heinz-Harald Frenzen.
Häkkinen was 3rd, David 4th and Michael was left to 5th place.
'Boy Wonder', Jenson Button was 6th and beat his teammate Ralf
Schumacher.
The race itself was really tight
fight from the start to the finish. At the start Schumi was
trapped and dropped all the way down to the 8th place. David
instead succeeded well and passed Mika. Barrichello and Frenzen
kept their places.
During the first one third of
the race the six top cars stayed close together. The gap between
the leader (Rubens) and the sixth (Ralf) was only about four
seconds. When 20 laps had been driven, the drivers who were
having a two stop strategy went to the pits and only the three
top cars stuck together. The difference between Rubens and Mika,
who was third, was 1,5 seconds.
Halfway through, on lap 31,
David passed Rubens at the famous corner of Stowe and took the
lead. After his only pit stop David came back on place four, but
all the drivers in front of him would come to pits. David would
win the race if his car lasted to the finish line!
It was a close
call... During the last laps David had to struggle with his
broken gear box and Mika made it way too close. But at the
chequered flag the gap was almost 1,5 seconds for David's
benefit. David had suddenly won at Silverstone for the second
time in a row!
7th VICTORY - 7th
HEAVEN...
Well, I must admit, I never
could have believed that DC would win at Silverstone also this
year. I'm so glad that I was so very wrong - I thought he would
retire. Never has the end of a race been so exciting - I was
biting my fingers and still Mika was catching David every lap.
AWESOME...FABULOUS...AMAZING...
and most of all...UNBELIEVABLE!
Those lost points from Brazil
still pissed me off big time, even though David was now second at
the points. Next race was driven in Spain; Barcelona is one of
Mika's favorite places...
Second day in May
I'm still too
shocked to say something sensible about May 2, 2000. So I had
better focus on telling what happened in Barcelona...
SPANISH GRAND PRIX
7.5.00, Barcelona
The GP-weekend in Spain started
on Thursday with David's short statement to the press in which he
told about his plane crash. David asked the media to let him
concentrate to his work. His wish was granted, for already on
Friday David was thanking the press for giving him the space he
needed.
At the practice on Friday DC
drove 20 laps and was fifth fastest, beating even his teammate
Häkkinen, who was left to seventh place. The bottom line on
Friday was to save tyres, and David didn't drive a fast lap
during the first hour of the practice. David didn't have any
problems during the sessions unlike his teammate. Häkkinen had
some balance problems in his car and was also struggling with the
grip. McLaren's tactic on Friday is always to focus on the race
set up, and also this time there was a lot of fuel in the cars.
The fastest on Friday was M Schumi, who was over 0,5 seconds
faster than R Schumi, who was second.
Schumi was on the top of the
chart also on the practice on Saturday morning. DC was second two
tenths of a second slower. Rubens was only 0.002 slower than
David and was 3rd. Häkkinen was 4th, over half a second slower
than Schuey.
In the qualifying only Schumi
and Mika fought for the pole; finally Michael was the winner. The
first pole position of the season didn't make Schuey to speak
words of glory, he knew well enough that the points you get only
from the race itself. David was having problems; he had to quit
his first quick lap because of a fuel feeding problem. DC didn't
however jump to the T-car which set-up was Mika's, the team
solved the problem by putting more fuel to David's car for
all the remaining runs. Because of his problems David had to
settle for the fourth position again. Rubens was third with only
0.006 faster time than DC's.
At the warm up on
Sunday morning the top four was the same than in the qualifying.
So before the race Schuey had controlled the whole weekend. But
what happened at the race?
THANK YOU FOR THE
MUSIC...
At the start of the race Schumi
and Häkkinen kept their places, but little-Schumi Ralf made a
startling climb to the third place and was followed by David and
Rubens. Schumi and Häkkinen left the rest of the field behind as
Ralf was slowing David down. Schumi experienced problems on his
first pit stop, even it was a fast one and kept him in front of
Mika. The lollipop man rised the board too soon, and the fuel man
had a rough time. Luckily he suffered only a minor injury. David
made a mistake on his first stop, which lasted for over 11
seconds. Because of this DC was fifth after the first stops. He
was however right behind Ralf and Rubens, who were third and
fourth.
McLaren decided to call David
early in for his second pit stop in order to get him pass Ralf
and Rubens. But this didn't help much, because already on the
next lap both Ralf and Rubinho also visited the pits. When they
returned to the track, David managed to fight himself past Ralf.
Now third place was David's!
Schumi and Häkkinen made their
second stops at the same time. Häkkinen left the pits far more
earlier than Schumi, because Ferrari's new fuel man wasn't good
at his job and Michael stayed at the pits for over 17 seconds.
During the next laps Schumi was experiencing even more problems,
and was finally forced to let David pass. McLaren was now having
the first and second places! Schumi had to come to the pits even
for the third time, but before that he helped his teammate Rubens
to get pass Ralf. Schuey was finally fifth in the race, and
Rubens was third.
McLaren took its second one two
finish in a row at Barcelona, while Mika took his first victory
of the season. David's second place was an amazing performance
knowing he was suffering from great pain during the whole
weekend. McLaren has now 42 points against Ferrari's 49.
The race weekend in
Spain was the most challenging - both mentally and physically -
that David had never experienced. A vacation was what he needed
to be ready to race again after two weeks time. The next race was
the European GP, which was driven at Nürburgring, Germany.
EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX
21.5.00, Nürburgring
ASK ME NO
QUESTIONS, I'LL TELL YOU NO LIES...
Ever since Barcelona Häkkinen
had been a victim of strange rumours saying that he would retire
from F1 after season 2000, and before the European GP he had to
concentate on denying these rumours. The gossip about Häkkinen
quitting already after this season is bullshit; everyone knows
that if someone retires after this season, it's Michael
Schumacher!
On Thursday Norbert Haug claimed
that McLaren is not going to change its drivers for a couple of
years, and even then only because Mercedes wants to have a German
driver in the team. If what Haug claimed was true, I think then
both of the drivers in the team would be having longer
contracts... And Ron Dennis keeps always saying, that there is no
number one driver in his team. If this was true, how come the
T-car's set up is always Mika's?
It's clear that Mercedes has
wanted for years to replace David with a German, but year after
year DC has got some extra time for some odd reason. But this
season might be different; David knows that this year could be
his last at McLaren. DC knows that now is maybe his last chance
to fight for the title, therefore he puts even his own health on
the line... Desperate!
Friday's practice was driven in
a cold and variable weather. The first two places were taken by
drivers, who are driving under enormous pressure. Despite his
good performances Button is losing the battle for next year's
contract to cart-driver Montoya, and Wurz is probably driving his
last GPs. Places 3 to 5 were taken by the drivers from the two
top teams, the order was Häkkinen, Coulthard and M Schumacher.
At friday evening there was a
hailstorm around the Ring, so the weather was becoming one of the
turning points of the weekend. The weather would be making a
crucial influence on the race results.
On Saturday
morning's practice the Ferrari-drivers took the lead, and were
followed by Mika and David. The gap between the best four was
less than 0,4 seconds, so the qualifying would again be a battle
between the McLarens and the Ferraris.
"COULD THIS
BE THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE?"
The first half an
hour of the qualifying was driven in dry conditions, but then
there was a little rain, and even though at the very last minute
of the session it was enough dry again, there weren't any changes
at the top anymore. Häkkinen's first try didn't work at all,
when slower drivers lead by Johnny Herbert got into his way, and
Mika was almost one second slower than Schumi, who took the
provisional pole. David was second after the first runs.
"ONE MOMENT.
ONE SPECIAL MOMENT. TOMORROW IT WILL BE DIFFERENT."
On his second attempt Häkkinen
managed to take the lead, but there were fasters cars coming
behind him. At first Schumi took the first place again, but David
could pull together even faster lap than him. Then the rain
begun, and no one was able to threat David's time anymore,
especially when Schuey made a mistake on his last try. David had
taken his first pole position for two years!
On the Sunday
morning's warm-up Schumi was fastest, but with only 0.009 seconds
faster time than Häkkinen's. David was sixth, with over 1.3
seconds slower time than Schumi's. What was the problem?
IT'S RAINING
MEN...
When the race started Häkkinen
made another startling start and took the first place. David had
to let also Schumi by because of his bad start. Häkkinen and
Schumi soon left everyone else far behind. On lap 10, when the
rain had just started, the leader changed when Schumi passed
Mika. The tyre roulette began, everyone came to pits to change to
rain tyres. Häkkinen's stop lasted for a long time, and he lost
more time compared to Schumi because of it.
On lap 35 Schumi curved to the
pits to his second stop, far more earlier than all the others.
This tactical insight finally decided the win for Schumi, who
lapped every other driver but Häkkinen.
David struggled the whole race,
especially since the rain started, with his car. The problem was
at the rear of the car. DC described the race as one of the most
difficult during his career, and was happy with his third place.
At the end of the race Rubens came really close to David, but DC
managed to keep Rubinho behind him all the way to the end. All
and all third place was just great, especially when you remember
what happened to David at the rainy Ring last year...
At the European GP
Schumi and Ferrari increased their lead at the scoring tables. At
the constructors side Ferrari had now 62 points, McLaren 52. The
next race was driven at Monaco, which had never been a good place
for David. DC had competed at Monte for five times, and only once
he had seen the chequered flag! It was about time to get some
improvement to this statistic...
GRAND PRIX OF MONACO
4.6.00, Monte Carlo
At the qualifying
Häkkinen was a victim of bad luck. Only few minutes of the
session were left, and Mika was 17th. At the last minute he
managed to improve his time, and was finally 5th. David instead
fought for the pole up to the last minute, but he just wasn't
fast enough this time. David's grid position was 3rd, behind of
Michael and the surpriser Jarno Trulli.
WHO COULD HAVE
BELIEVED?
The race was re-started twice.
Finally the third time was a charm, and the race was on its way.
Top 5 drivers kept their places, while Ralf passed three cars and
took the sixth place. Michael's lead started rightaway increase
with a second every lap. David was stuck behind slow Trulli. On
lap 37 Trulli retired, and David had now the second place. After
his pitstop Michael had a problem and he had to retire. David was
still leading after his pitstop, and he held the lead all the way
to the finish.
With his victory, David completed
his personal Grand Slam. He has won at Monza, at Spa which is
his favorite track, twice at Silverstone which is his homeGP and
now also at Monaco. At the points David was now 12 points behind
Michael and five points ahead of Mika.
The next race, the Canadian GP
was driven at Montreal. The track of Gilles Villeneuve suits well
to David, and hopes were so up. Twice DC had had a technical
problem while leading the race, so it would have been about time
to his luck to change in Canada.
CANADIAN GRAND PRIX
18.6.00, Montreal
The GP-weekend in
Canada started really well for David, when he was fastest both at
Friday's and Saturday's practice. At the qualifying David fought
for the pole with Schuey, but was finally 0.098 seconds slower.
Rubinho was third before loser-Häkkinen.
THIS WAS NOT
SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!
David's race went all wrong even
before the start. McLaren's mechanics were still working on his
car when the green lights went on and the formation lap began.
Even though the start and the beginning of the race were just
great, when Schumi and DC left rest of the field behind, the bomb
was dropped after ten laps had been driven: David got ten seconds
stop&go-penalty. His race was basicly over at that point. He
couldn't even really fight for points anymore, even though he
tried hard during the two last laps of the race.
Even though the
circuit of Gilles Villeneuve suits perfectly to David's driving
style, bad luck just won't leave him alone in Canada. Now he was
7th for the third time, and the title hopes which had risen so
high after the win in Monaco were perhaps gone for good. It
seemed impossible to catch Michael's 22 points lead... The only
positive thing in Canada was that Mika didn't manage to pass
David just yet, even though he was now only two points behind DC.
FRENCH GRAND PRIX
2.7.00, Magny Cours
The start of the French
GP-weekend was similar to Canada: David was the fastest both at
Friday's and Saturday morning's practice sessions. Despite the
great results the sessions were full of problems; before the
qualifying David had suffered three engine failures and lots of
valuable time had been lost.
On Friday McLaren
announced that David would be driving for the team also in 2001.
Getting the contract this early must have made a boost to DC's
self confidence!
QUALIFYING LIKE A
NIGHTMARE
David's technical problems had
not been solved even at the beginning of the qualifying. When
half of the time was left, David was the only driver who hadn't
driven a single lap. The mechanics at McLaren were still working
on David's car, so he had to make his first two attempts with the
T-car. David's pace was nonetheless fast: When Mika had made two
stints with his race car and DC only one with the T-car, David
was 0.003 seconds faster than his team mate.
When only less than
15 minutes time was left, David could finally use his race car
and tried immediately to make a fast lap. At the first
indermediate he was ahead of Schuey's time, but then he spunned
at the next corner. Only few minutes of the session was left when
David left the pits to make his last run. Even though DC admitted
that he made a mistake on his last try, his time was only 0.1
seconds slower than Michael's pole time. Rubens was third, and
Mika was once again left to fourth place. Despite all the
problems DC drove an excellent lap and got a great position!
"OH, I'M SO
RUDE!"
At the start of the
race Schumi blocked David so that Rubens was able to pass DC.
Michael was able to runaway a bit when Rubinho slowed David down.
At last on lap 21 David managed to pass Ferrari's number two
driver at the hairpin of Adelaide. After the top drivers had made
their first stops David catched Schuey. The first attempt of
overtaking at Adelaide was not succesful, but six laps later DC
took the lead. Since that there was no one who could have
challenged David, and he took the win before Mika.
PERFECT BIRTHDAY
PRESENT
With his awesome drive DC gave a
perfect birthday present for me, just as I had hoped for. Thank
you! Thank you so much!!
AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX
16.7.00, A1-Ring
Still at the
beginning of the qualifying for the Austrian GP everything looked
rather good... But when the hour was over, a cold fact had to be
faced: Mika had taken the pole with over 0.4 seconds faster time
than David's. Had the champion finally returned, or would
"the new, more aggressive" Coulthard beat him in the
race?
WISE DECISION...
OR NOT?
At the race itself DC made a
great start, and before the first corner he and Mika were side by
side. But David had to back of; he didn't want to repeat the
mistake he had done last year at Remus. A lot happenet behind the
two McLarens: Schuey retired because of the first corner's
mayhem. Michael didn't give up easily, he tryed to get the red
flag risen by driving his car back to the middle of the track!
This rude trick didn't work, the safety car came out.
Soon the race was on its way
again. For the first ten laps or so DC stayed easily close to
Mika, but then he decided to give up. He was having a bit more
fuel on board than Mika, so his car was slightly slower than
Mika's at that point. He realized that it was no point in risking
the possible six points, when Michael was already out of the
race.
When the two McLarens saw the
finish line, Mika was the winner and DC the loser. Rubens was
third in the race. DC was now only six points behind the
championship leader, but his team mate was only two points behind
him.
And even though
Mika's car was finally stated illegal by FIA, Mika got to keep
his points, only the team was punished with loss of the ten
points and a big fine.
GERMAN GRAND PRIX
30.7.00, Hockenheim
Before the German GP Mika was
having another 10-day-holiday in a row, whereas DC was testing at
Silverstone for full three days. Is this McLaren's concept of
equality?!
The practice
sessions for the German GP didn't go perfectly for David: On
Friday he was fifth and third on Saturday morning. The gap to the
front seemed to be a little too big at that point of the weekend.
But it started to rain before the beginning of the qualifying
session and it changed everything.
LUCKY? NO, THE
FASTEST AND THE BEST!
The queue at the end of the pit
straight was long, when the qualifying finally began. DC couldn't
go to the track straightaway, even though he would have wanted
to. The team had to make a few last minute set up changes to his
car. But DC went out at the middle of the pack, and managed to
find a traffic free spot, which was quite beneficial especially
at the middle sector of the track. When David was driving his
first run the middle sector was already wet, but despite of that
he drove this part of the track one second faster than anybody
else. When all the drivers had made their first runs, David had
the provisional pole with over 1.5 seconds faster time than
Mika's, who was second.
The rest of the session the
drivers spent at the pits watching the skies. The top drivers
came back to the track at the end of the session. Schuey was the
only one of them who amazingly managed to improve his time and
took the second place. Halfway through of the hour Fisichella had
made his suberb time, which finally was enough for third place.
Mika was once again left to fourth place and his explanations
began...
At the warm up we saw a miracle,
when McLaren's T-car's set up was David's! DC drove the fastest
time in the warm up, even though he spun off the track at the
middle of the session and had to leave his car to the gravel.
Obviously David's car's balance was not optimal just four hours
before the race.
David's race started with
another poor start from pole. He had a succesful revenge on
Michael Schumacher, who crashed at the first corner because of
David's blocking manouvre. But since DC was fully concentating on
Michael, Mika was able to pass him, thanks to a great start from
the fourth grid position. Amazingly enough, Schuey was blaming
only Fisichella for the first corner's incicent...
The first part of the race was
really boring, when Mika and DC left everyone else behind. After
about 20 laps the gap to Barrichello, who was third, was way over
20 seconds. But then started to happen... A lunatic (Mercedes'
ex-employee!) came to the track and ruined McLaren's dreams of a
perfect 1-2 victory. This mad man almost managed to ruin David's
title hopes as well!
Safety car came out. David was
supposed to go to the pits on that lap. So he was really
surprised to see Mika pitting in front of him! DC thought that
there was a confusion... And only then he realized that the
safety car was out! So for a long, slow lap DC drove behind the
pace car knowing that the drivers behind him (like Mika) had
already made their pitstops.
Finally DC curved to the pits.
It seemed at that point that he wouldn't even be fighting for the
points anymore. But to my huge surprise DC was sixth after his
stop. Sixth! I couldn't believe my eyes. What a relief.
Then the rain began. Mika was
the first one to change to wets, but Rubens - who was leading -
and David - who was second - continued on slicks for several
laps. But eventually DC almost drove off the track at the Stadium
part of the circuit and decided to change to wets. When he
returned to track he was fourth. Soon he passed Mika Salo, who
was on third place. And even though Jenson Button was able to
catch DC at the end, David was third on the race, just behind
Rubens (who won his first ever race!) and Mika.
So after Germany,
with only six races to go, the drivers' standings were: 1. M
Schumacher 56 points 2. D Coulthard 54 p. 3. M Häkkinen 54 p. 4.
R Barrichello 46 p. It just couldn't get any more exciting and
interesting! The next GP in Hungary is known as 'the Finnish GP'.
Also this year over 20 000 Finns were coming to see the race at
the Hungaroring.
HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
13.8.2000, Hungaroring
The GP-weekend of Hungary
started well for David, when he was able to do his usual set up
programme on Friday. As a result for this was that he was the
fastest driver on the track. During the first hour of practice
the top drivers didn't even bother to come to the track, because
it was so full of dust.
Schuey was on charge at the
practice of Saturday morning. DC was second fastest, wholly 0.6
seconds slower than Michael. Mika was having big problems, he was
sixth over one second slower than Michael. Most of the time Mika
spent at the pits, when the team tryed to find better set up to
his car.
Sraightaway at the beginning of
the qualifying Schuey drove so fast time that no one was able to
challenge it during the rest of the hour. With his each try DC
got a little bit closer, but when the session was over the gap
between the poleman and David was nearly 0.4 seconds. Mika got
really close to his team mate at the end, but was finally third.
Still at the Sunday
morning's warm up Mika was struggling with his car and was over a
second slower than DC, who was "the warmest".
SORROWED EYES
FULL OF TEARS
People expected the start of the
race to be a battle between one lone red stallion and two great
silver arrows. But look what happened AGAIN: Mika took another
wonder start within two weeks' time and was leading the race
before the first corner. Schuey and DC were the next ones. For
the first laps these three seemed to stay close together. But
then Mika started to build a gap to Michael and Schuey to DC.
Later we heard that David had had problems with his first set of
tyres. This caused "unsual balance", like DC described
after the race.
Mika set a pace of his own. How
come the team had managed to find a perfect set up to his car
within four hours and at the same time to lose David's car's
rather good balance? Anyway Mika won the race a light year before
Schuey.
Already before the second pit
stops DC had got pretty close to Schuey. But then a whole queue
of backmarkers came on the way and Ferrari decided to call Schuey
in. A lap later DC made his stop, but didn't quite manage to get
in front of Michael when he returned to the track. For the rest
of the race these to were like stuck to each others, but
unfortunately passing another car is almost impossible at the
Hungaroring...
After Hungary
drivers' standings were exactly the same as in the race: 1
Häkkinen 64 points 2 Schumacher 62 p 3 Coulthard 58 p 4
Barrichello 49 p
BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
27.8.2000, Spa-Francorchamps
In Friday's practice for the
Belgian GP DC was 0.521 seconds faster than anybody else. Mika
was second and Schuey fifth, nearly a second slower than DC. How
come David was so fast? Once again the truth was altogether
different from the result sheet. David's day was nothing but
good; he had problems with one tyre and he could drive only 14
laps during the two hours, because another set of tyres was
decided not to be used.
It was clear that DC needed to
win in Belgium. Otherwise Mika might get too far ahead of him.
History would have to repeat itself, if DC still wanted to become
the World Champion 2000.
On Saturday morning David's
problems continued, when he couldn't drive in the first session,
because McLaren had to change the engine of his car. DC was sixth
in the practice, over second slower than Mika, who was fastest.
Things didn't quite work out for Ferrari either: Schuey was
seventh and Rubinho 9th.
In the qualifying DC had a fine
share of bad luck. The first two of his runs were ruined by
slower cars in front of him. Only his third run was a proper one,
and eventually gave him 5th place on the grid. It was the worst
performance of the year from David, and at the worst possible
time. But unfortunately bad luck and set up problems took their
toll. Sometimes life can be so cruel, especially in the world of
F1...
Sunday-morning's
warm up showed the tune of the day: Mika was fastest, and Michael
was only 0.1 seconds slower. DC was still struggling: He was 5th,
0.7 seconds slower than his team mate. But there were two things
that gained public's attention in the warm up: Rain and Giancarlo
Fisichella. He had a terrifying crash at Pouhon, but was luckily
unhurt. Because of his crash, though, the session was stopped for
a while.
GOODBYE TO THE
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2000
The start of the Belgian GP was
really unsual because the race was started behind the safety car.
The track was wet but after few laps it had dryed in a way that
it was time to switch to slicks. Once again DC had to stay out a
lap longer than the rest of the field, and that ultimately ruined
his race. For the whole race he was fighting hard and could pass
Jenson Button at the end of the race. But the result was
depressing: 4th in the race which Mika won. So suddenly Mika was
now whole 13 points ahead of DC in the Championship.
The whole Belgian
GP-weekend was a pure nightmare to DC. Hopefully sun will shine
above his car at least a bit in Monza, like it did in 1997...
ITALIAN GRAND PRIX
10.9.2000, Monza
At Friday's practice sessions DC
was fifth, over 0.7 seconds behind the fastest man, Ferrari's
Rubens Barrichello. The gap to Mika, who was fourth, was 0.3
seconds. At last week's test at Monza the McLarens had been so
much faster than the Ferraris. But now both DC and Mika were
having problems. DC drove off the track at the beginning of the
second hour and wasn't able to drive anymore during the rest of
the session. And Mika missed the first session because of a gear
box problem.
At the Saturday morning's
practice Schumi was fastest before Mika. DC was left to fourth
place nearly four tenths of a second slower. The gaps in the
front were small, so the qualifying was expected to be exciting.
In the qualifying the Ferraris
took the front row, and the tifosis were jumping up and down.
Schumi took the pole, Barrichello was second and Mika third.
Villeneuve surprised with his fourth place, and DC was fifth.
David's performance was nothing but good for the second weekend
in a row, and those wee title hopes started to fade away. DC and
everyone else knew the situation: Either he would win the
Sunday's race in Monza or would watch aside how Schumi and Mika
would fight for the Championship again.
The Italian GP of the F1-season
2000 will be remembered as one of the blackest weekends of the
sport. Before the start there had been a lot of speculation about
the first corner, but surprisingly only the second corner was in
where a lot happened. Heinz-Harald Frenzen hit his team mate
Jarno Trulli and Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello. These three took
also DC - who had made a good start (from fifth place to third) -
with them. Schumi and Mika on first and second places were able
to escape from this pile up, Mika only with the help of luck.
Villeneuve and Ralf who were driving behind the Jordans were able
to avoid the crash. But behind them Johnny Herbert braked
suddenly, de la Rosa didn't see this in time and touched
Herbert's tyre. This caused Pedro to jump in the air, touch
David's car only inches away from his helmet, and then land next
to Rubinho's car. Luckily none of the drivers were hurt in this
incident. But a fireman who had been standing at the wrong side
of the barrier got hit by a tyre and later died.
Finally MS won the race before
MH. When MS broke in tears at the post race press conference, he
surprised us all by showing a glimpse of humanity for the first
time ever.
David's retirement
in Monza meant that his fight for the title was over. He was now
19 points behind Mika, and many miracles have to happen in the
next two races if DC would still have his chances in the last
race. Honestly, everyone - including DC himself - knows that now
is time for team orders even at McLaren. Next race was driven at
Indianapolis on a wholly new track. It will be interesting to see
whether or not the Yankees will get interested about F1 this
time... hopefully they will!
U.S. GRAND PRIX
24.9.2000, Indianapolis
Once again DC was the fastest at
the Friday's practice, but his day wasn't problem-free. Because
of a gear box problem he couln't drive at all during the first
hour of practice. Mika had similar problems and was second. The
two McLarens were followed by the two Ferraris.
Something strange
happened at the end of the qualifying. Mika had only two laps
left, and he went out with DC just to help him.
JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
8.10.2000, Suzuka
It was expected, once again DC
wasn't able to fight for the pole in Suzuka. He has never been
better than 3rd in Japan, maybe (already) next year...? Two
well-known (BORING!) men were battling over the pole and the
faster one was this time Schuey... but he was only 0.009 seconds
faster than Mika. The next two places at the grid were taken by
the number two drivers DC & Rubinho.
At the start of the race Mika
knocked out Schumi for the third time in a row in Suzuka. Mika
held the lead til the second pit stops. Then it started to rain
and Mika's uncertainty at this weather caused him to lose the
World Championship. With his victory Schumi was celebrating his
World Championship when there still is one race to go this
season. And, once again, DC couldn't make his car work at the
demanding track of Suzuka and was third in the race.
In Malaysia Big Mac
had only theorotical chances to win the constructors' title, but
DC had great chances all the way to the top step of the podium!
Last year in Sepang DC beated Mika in the qualifying and passed
Schumi in the race before he had to retire. Whereas Mika couldn't
keep up in the Ferraris' pace... he only managed to faint on the
podium... Whatta lo-ser!
During the season 2000 DC proved
once and for all that when he's at his best he can really fight
for the World Championship-title. Three wins and two poles before
the halfway of the season - despite of the tracigal incident in
May - was an incredible performance. Too bad that the second half
of the season didn't go nearly as well, the World Championship
disappeared from David's sight little too early.
But it's relatively
easy to predict that next year everyone - including Michael &
especially Mika - will have hard time trying to beat DC.
MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX
22.10.2000, Sepang
The qualifying for the Malaysian
GP was great from DC-point of view up to the last minute, till
some jerk dropped him down to third place. But who would have
cared, since that same idiot managed to make a jump start at the
race itself. Eventually this loser let both of the
Ferraris by, even though he should have at least tried to
keep them behind him for a while. But of course this task was too
demanding to the Finnish nutcase.
But the last race
of the 2000 season was indeed VERY enjoyable, thanks to DC. All
the race long he fought really tightly with the World Champion M
Schumacher.
