Imola 2000: Race Results
Times
P. No Driver Team - Car Time/Laps
1. 3 Schumacher,M Ferrari 1h31:39.776
2. 1 Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes +0:01.100
3. 2 Coulthard McLaren Mercedes +0:51.000
4. 4 Barrichello Ferrari +1:23.000
5. 22 Villeneuve BAR Honda 1 lap(s)
6. 17 Salo Sauber Petronas 1 lap(s)
7. 7 Irvine Jaguar 1 lap(s)
8. 16 Diniz Sauber Petronas 1 lap(s)
9. 12 Wurz Benetton Playlife 1 lap(s)
10. 8 Herbert Jaguar 1 lap(s)
11. 11 Fisichella Benetton Playlife 1 lap(s)
12. 23 Zonta BAR Honda 1 lap(s)
13. 21 Mazzacane Minardi Fondmetal 2 lap(s)
14. 19 Verstappen Arrows Supertec 3 lap(s)
--- DID NOT FINISH ---
15. 6 TRULLI Jordan Mugen-Honda 4 lap(s)
16. 18 DE LA ROSA Arrows Supertec 13 lap(s)
17. 9 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW 17 lap(s)
18. 14 ALESI Prost Peugeot 37 lap(s)
19. 15 HEIDFELD Prost Peugeot 40 lap(s)
20. 10 BUTTON Williams BMW 57 lap(s)
21. 20 GENE Minardi Fondmetal 57 lap(s)
22. 5 FRENTZEN Jordan Mugen-Honda 58 lap(s)
Formula-1.co.uk Race Report
Michael Schumacher won his third consecutive race of the 2000 championship today at Imola to take a substantial 21 point lead in the drivers' championship after just three rounds. Unlike Melbourne and Interlagos it was not a case of waiting until McLaren tripped up, this time Ferrari and Schumacher played their strongest hand - tactics - and came out on top. "That's what I wanted to do - race the McLarens - and we won the race," Schumacher explained. "I think that's what we were looking for...."
The race began with Michael Schumacher demonstrating to the watching world that his Ferrari F1-2000 certainly does not have traction control, by lighting up his rear tyres. In contracts Mika Hakkinen got away cleanly from pole position to take the lead at the first turn. Schumacher veered sharply to his left to cover his poor start, blocking David Coulthard, who in turn had to take avoiding action and in doing so put Ralf Schumacher onto the grass.
Rubens Barrichello had a half-hearted stab at taking the second place from Schumacher, but thought better of it. Hence the pattern for the majority of the race was set. Hakkinen and Schumacher stormed off into the distance, while Rubens Barrichello held up David Coulthard from the fast starting Jacques Villeneuve.
And so it stayed for some time. The critical point of the race for the lead occurred in the pits, with Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen pitting together on lap 28. With no obvious way of passing Hakkinen on the circuit, Ferrari opted to give Schumacher a heavy fuel load, while McLaren serviced Hakkinen with a standard fuel stop. Come the second fuel stop on lap 49, Schumacher was at a standstill for just six seconds and emerged ahead of the stunned Hakkinen to take the lead that he would not loose. "The strategy was just right during those four laps," said Schumacher... "It was crucial."
Ferrari have demonstrated that in order to win races one does not necessarily have to have the fastest car in the field, McLaren have this advantage still this year, but unlike Ferrari, they have not had the reliability, nor do they have the tactical strength of Ferrari to think on their feet.
Schumacher's win places him a massive 24 points ahead of championship rival Mika Hakkinen. It will be more than interesting to see how the team and the Finn bounce back from this poor start to the season.
The race was not just about the battle for the wins, as Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard had their own private battle for third position. With Barrichello getting the jump on Coulthard at the start of the race, the Scot seemed perfectly happy to follow the number two Ferrari and wait for his McLaren pit crew to do the work to get him the position. Pitting for the second time, both Barrichello and Coulthard made good stops. However it was Coulthard who emerged from the pits after being released directly in front of Barrichello Speaking after the race Ross Brawn suggested that McLaren had taken an unnecessary risk in releasing Coulthard when Barrichello was virtually along side. However the pit lane is still considered a part of the racing track - pit speed limit or not.
Once past Barrichello, Coulthard was able to consistently lap two seconds a lap faster that Barrichello and went on to score a low key third position. Given Coulthard's obvious pace in the McLaren, it is mystifying as to why the Scot did not seriously attempt to pass Barrichello on the circuit. One cannot help but think that had a more aggressive driver such as Jean Alesi been in the same situation, then he would have passed Barrichello in the early laps. The race was also a poor one for Rubens Barrichello, who finished the race nearly 90 seconds behind his team leader.
Jacques Villeneuve held off a strong challenge from the impressive Mika Salo to score two world championship points on his 29th birthday. Villeneuve could not match the pace of the leading teams in his BAR Honda, but drove a solid race.
Over at Jaguar both Eddie Irvine and Johnny Herbert managed to bring their Cosworth powered R01's home for the first time. Irvine drove an aggressive race and will be disappointed not to have made it into the points. Johnny Herbert was never really on the pace, loosing out to Marc Gene in the early stages before finishing the race in tenth position.
Another team in trouble is Benetton Playlife. Giancarlo Fisichella started the race in second place in the drivers' championship, but after qualifying in a dismal 19th, had his work cut out in the race itself. However, the charge through the field never happened and the Italian found himself running around near the back behind Herbert's Jaguar. His eventual 11th place in the race flattered a remarkably poor performace by the team at the Italian's home race. It wasn't much better for Alexander Wurz, but at least he made it into the top ten.
Of the rest, Jordan continued their disappointing season with Heinz-Harald Frentzen retiring early on with a gearbox failure, while Jarno Trulli ran in the lower points until problems later in the race.
Jean Alesi was his usual fiery self and actually managed to pass some cars on the track! However, the Frenchman's day was over before half distance with an inevitable gearbox problem and retirement. Prost may be struggling for reliability at this stage of the season, but the AP02 seems pretty handy with Jean Alesi behind the wheel in race trim. Team-mate Nick Heidfeld has another awful race, his Prost stranded on the grid before the start of the race before retirement followed while running at the back
Ralf Schumacher started the race in the spare BMW Williams for the third straight race and despite being forced to take avoiding action at the the start drove a strong race. However, like team-mate Jenson Button, was unable to make it to the finish.
The San Marino Grand prix may not have been a classic motor-race, but once again Ferrari and Michael Schumacher proved themselves to be the master of race tactics. Mika Hakkinen and McLaren Mercedes can only learn from this as they head to Silverstone in two weeks time...
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