AUSTRIAN GRAND
PRIX.
VILLENEUVE LEAVES
SCHUMACHER CLINGING TO HIS CHAMPIONSHIP CHANCES.
It was a result that was not
unexpected, but for all the negative press that the
A1-Ring at Zeltweg has received in recent weeks, the
newly reconstructed Osterreichring threw up a race of
incidents that made it one of the more interesting
outings of the season. Under threat from McLaren and
Prost for the most part, Jacques Villeneuve drove a
steady if unspectacular race to take a much needed
ten points and bring him to just one point short of
Michael Schumacher who finished sixth by the skin of
his teeth passing Damon Hill on the last lap.
Mika Hakinnen made a lightning start from the grid
leaving Villeneuve struggling on colder tyres to slip
and slide uphill into the first corner. The
Bridgestone clad Prost of Jarno Trulli made an
expeditious start also, passing the Canadian before
the turn. By the third turn both the Stewart-Fords of
Rubens Barichello and Jan Magnussen also sporting the
ultra grippy Bridgestone tyres started to harry the
Williams and a fine pass by Barichello would have put
Villeneuve down in fourth had not Hakinnen’s
McLaren expired approaching the start-finish line at
the end of the first lap. "I had a very average
start and lost a place to Mika." Said Villeneuve
afterwards. "Then Trulli got me under braking.
We had a lot of fuel and somehow we couldn’t get
out of the corners very well compared to the
Bridgestones. They (Goodyears) took a bit longer to
heat up and Barichello got me on the first lap
also."
Having lost pole by seconds the day before, the
unfortunate Finn must have thought that his streak of
bad luck had run it’s course, but statistically
it could only continue and the familiar scenario
began to unfold once more as team mate David
Coulthard began picking up the pieces. "It looks
like my engine failed." Said Hakinnen matter of
factly. "...and when that explodes the game is
over."
Trulli’s game was just beginning for he started
to edge out a lead from Barichello at over half a
second a lap and the first three cars began to
separate from the rest of the field. Trulli reeled
off an unbroken string of 10 fastest laps bringing
his time down from an early 1:15.6s on lap 3 to
1:13.2s by lap 21.
Gerhard Berger meanwhile had started from the pit
lane having seen an ‘error’ light come on
in his cockpit. He was waved through as the race
commenced, promptly spun off on lap 2 but regained
the race to run mostly at the back finishing a sad
10th place at his home Grand Prix.
Michael Schumacher did well to gain 3 places at the
start and by lap 5 was closing in on 5th placed Heinz
Harald Frentzen. With Coulthard running hard after
Schumacher and Damon Hill only a couple of seconds
behind the Scotsman, there was a gap of some 8
seconds to the trailing Jordan-Peugeots of Ralf
Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella.
As the rubber content on the track surface increased,
so it’s grip improved, bringing the Goodyear
tyres back into contention and it became clear that
Magnussen was holding up all the cars from 5th
onwards. On lap 23, his tyres finally working at full
efficiency, Villeneuve found an easy way passed
Rubens Barichello at turn 2 into 2nd place and
commenced his charge after the distant Trulli.
Both Stewarts running a two stop strategy, were the
first to pit clearing the running for the quicker
cars who started making time on the front two who
were by now half a lap ahead. Villeneuve had cut
Trulli’s 11 second lead to under 7 seconds when
the young Italian pitted giving the Williams
it’s first taste of freedom at the front. This
was the last time that the Stewarts were in
contention. Rejoining in 13th and 14th place and with
a further stop to come, they faded into obscurity,
Magnussen retiring with a blown engine on lap 58 and
Barichello, spinning off trying to catch Hill and
defend his 7th position from the overtaking
Schumacher at the same time, on lap 64. "We had
opted for a two stop strategy which is not what the
leading teams pursued and that was the point at which
the shape of the race changed." Said team
director Paul Stewart. If they have a little to learn
about strategy, they can none the less be pleased
with their outing today and it bodes well for the
rapidly improving Ford V10/Bridgestone combination
for next year.
The leader pitted on lap 37 rejoining behind
Coulthard in 5th giving the Williams a temporary 1,2
at the front with Schumacher now in a strong position
to challenge for the lead as none of the top three
had made their stops, a fast couple of laps in clean
air and a second or two’s advantage in the pit
lane could decide the race. But it was all to change
and it started with Alesi.
A fairly innocent outside passing manoeuvre by Eddie
Irvine on Jean Alesi at turn 2, produced a convincing
reason for all F1 drivers to have their own pilots
licence. Irvine had come up to Alesi carrying a full
fuel load after pitting on lap37 and, giving the
Frenchman a wide berth, had passed the Benetton when
Alesi, either refusing to let go of his line or just
losing control, slid into the Ferrari and launched
itself into the air, across the nose of Irvine’s
car, narrowly missing his head, landing heavily in
the gravel. "He was heavy on fuel and I was
light and he kept the inside." Said Irvine.
"I braked up around the outside and he stayed on
the inside and then just gradually slid out and hit
my front wheel and went over the top." Irvine
has seen the underside of more cars than some
mechanics in his career to date but this time it
appeared that he was blameless. However as usual
Alesi saw it differently. "He tried to overtake
me from the outside and suddenly I fly and I finish
my race there!" His ice blue eyes glowed with
rage as he talked about the potential pasting he
would impart to the nonchalant Irvine, should he find
him in the Ferrari garage. "It’s as well I
didn’t find him otherwise it would surely have
cost me a $10,000 fine because I am extremely angry
about what he is doing. He’s dangerous,
he’s extremely rude and I don’t like this
kind of attitude." Little should be read into
the fiery Sicilian’s statement as it is not the
first time he has exploded with such vitriol in
similar circumstances.
As this mayhem occurred and the yellow caution flags
came out, another innocent move, this time by
Schumacher on Heinz Harald Frentzen, brought the
German up to second and then into the lead as
Villeneuve made his pit stop on lap 40. All the front
runners then pitted around the same time giving
Coulthard his brief turn at the front, Schumacher
rejoining the race in 4th behind a light and quick
Jordan of Giancarlo Fisichella who along with his
team mate Ralf Schumacher, had made up huge amounts
of time with the help of traffic and by leaving their
pit stops till the last moment.
With the top three positions seemingly settled, Jarno
Trulli running magnificently behind Villeneuve, and
Schumacher a creditable third after such a poor
qualifying position, a 10 second stop and go penalty
was awarded to the Ferrari driver for overtaking
Frentzen under the yellow flag condition. "This
stupid thing with the yellow flag is a shame."
Schumacher said. "The problem was that I was
following two cars and fighting very hard and I
didn't notice any yellow flags as in my view they
were only on the left hand side and I can’t look
through the cars. The flags should be more
visible." Probably with the knowledge that he
has got away without penalty before in a similar
incident whilst testing at Monza, and angry with
himself, he did however take his medicine gracefully,
rejoining the race down and out of the points in 9th
place.
Schumacher then started his charge, frightening
Barichello into removing himself from the track at
the Jochen Rindt Kurve and setting his sights on the
last remaining point held by Hill. "The penalty
made me angry." Said Schumacher later. "I
had to take risks. I had to go for it and Damon was
clever enough not to risk a crash." Go for it he
did, pushing the Arrows out of the way without a
pause or backward glance, such was his intent.
"I saw Michael behind me and I thought he was
far enough back that if I braked late enough he
couldn’t get through.... but he got
through." With worn brakes and an underpowered
Yamaha, he had no choice but to let the Ferrari go
and the German disappeared amongst a sea of
fluttering scarlet flags waved on by the Tifosi who
had turned out in their thousands to cheer their hero
on. "I was driving my nuts of and I was braking
later and later and had a soft pedal. I thought,
‘bugger’, he was able to brake later than
me!" It was as far as Schumacher could go. Next
in line was his brother young Ralf and speculation
was that, had he managed to get any closer, family
ties might have allowed the red to pass the yellow,
but it remains a tantalising scenario as the season
nears it’s climax in Spain next month.
The Jordans did extremely well to finish 4th and 5th
(Fisichella’s 3rd 4th and Schumacher’s 3rd
5th of the season) after their disappointing
qualifying times. Ever the smiling face of optimism
even in defeat Fisichella said, "I don’t
believe my result...I am very pleased. I drove very
well too! The car was a little difficult at the start
and then after 15 laps, I had hydraulic failure on
the differential. I turned it off which meant I
suffered a little in the slow corners. It was the one
stop strategy plus a very good pit stop that helped
me finish fourth."
Ralf Schumacher was not so happy. Constantly being
upstaged by his team mate, he could say little in a
positive vein in reply to the young Italian’s
jubilance. "I am not completely satisfied with
my own performance and because I started ahead of my
team mate but finished behind him. I lost time in the
pits because of a crossed wheel nut. I had a lot of
traffic in the last three laps and nearly spun when I
late braked twice. I was not able to pull ahead as
much as I would have liked." Their positions
give them a total of 33 points so far, 3 greater than
they have ever achieved before which is cause for
celebrations of some kind and clearly the team on
present performance are set to take over
Benetton’s place as the fourth team of standing
in the grid pecking order.
With Schumacher out of the frame, Coulthard continued
his slow progress through attrition, to the front. In
a strange set of events, he was subjected to first
the oil cloud of white smoke from Shinji
Nakano’s Prost as he was about to be lapped and
moments later another oil cloud of exactly the same
composition as the other Prost of Trulli’s let
go. In literally a puff of smoke, Coulthard found
himself a reasonable safe second with an outside
chance of catching Villeneuve to make it two wins in
a row. "It was a question of hanging on to the
end." He said. "Back-markers were a big
problem, but it was a fairly straightforward
race." It was indeed for him and despite being
held up by Berger in his pursuit of the leader, he
finished on the second step of the podium more by
luck this time round than driving skills.
"This is a very important win for us." Said
a jubilant Villeneuve. ""The positive thing
is that we took nine points from Michael and the
championship is looking much better now. We have a
better package overall, and I am very confident for
the rest of the season." Rarely does Villeneuve
use the word ‘I’ preferring the safety and
comfort of ‘we’ and it denotes a new air of
seriousness about him that perhaps makes him realise
that his is the championship to lose rather than win.
Despite the single point difference the cards look
set to be dealt his way and Schumacher, never
complacent over William’s temporary weakness,
will recognise the urgency now to wrap the proceeding
up. "I think I could have finished second today
without the penalty." He said finally. "But
at least I managed to pick up a point and If you tell
from where I came, starting from ninth and coming
sixth, I have a reason to be happy.... somehow."
Villeneuve is more likely to make a mistake under
pressure than Schumacher and it will be interesting
to see how they conduct themselves on the track in
the last three races of the season. For now everyone
is happy up to a point. Hill’s future is secure
for two years at least with a potentially winning
team, Villeneuve has bridged the psychological gap to
take him to the edge of stardom and Schumacher,
hanging on by his fingernails, still goes into the
next round in the lead onto a track he knows well.
The Luxembourg Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, will
reveal more of both drivers’ resolves than ever
before.
Chris Richardson
1. Jacques Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1hr 27min
35.999sec
2. David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes + 2.909sec
3. Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams-Renault +3.962
4. Giancarlo Fisichella Jordan-Peugeot +12.127
5. Ralf Schumacher Jordan-Peugeot + 31.859
6. Michael Schumacher Ferrari + 33.421
7. Damon Hill Arrows-Yamaha + 37.207
8. Johnny Herbert Sauber +49.057
9. Gianni Morbidelli Sauber +1:06.455
10. Gerhard Berger Benetton-Renault +one lap
11. Ukyo Katayama Minardi-Hart +two laps
12. Jos Verstappen Tyrrell-Ford +two laps
13. Pedro Diniz Arrows-Yamaha + four laps
14. Rubens Barrichello Stewart-Ford + seven laps
Fastest lap: J Villeneuve Williams-Renault 1:11.814s
(average speed 210.228kph)
