All things equal in
qualifying for 6th European Grand Prix
In yet another
surprise in a season full of surprises, the top three
qualifying times for the final race of the Season in Jerez,
Spain, this weekend, are identical. The chance of
this happening in any competitive sport against the
clock is rare, but with lap times measured down to
thousandths of a second the occurrence of two, let
alone three identical times, must be a million to
one. As President of the FIA, Max Mosley put
it, "Measured in tenths, you might expect it
every 150 years or so, but in thousandths, well we
thought that Bernie Ecclestone
had something to do with it!."
F1 boss
Ecclestone’s wishes have come true. He said
yesterday, "The perfect scenario now is to
have them both on the front row of the grid and see
them battling all the way to the chequered
flag." This has indeed happened in the most
dramatic way possible.
It was clear that Michael
Schumacher’s team mate Eddie Irvine
had succeeded in getting under Jacques Villeneuve’s
skin by some irksome blocking tactics during the
morning warm up session. This prompted a lightning
visit to the Ferrari pits by the diminutive
Canadian and some serious finger pointing, helmet to
helmet confrontation and meaningful looks. Villeneuve
clearly irritated by the situation commented, "He
did it to me four times this weekend, so I went and
told him to stop being an idiot. We all know he is a
clown and he does not think like any of the other
drivers. He is not involved in this championship
scrap and he should stay out of it." Villeneuve
in a final aside said, "Irvine just makes me
laugh." To which the sprightly Ulsterman
replied, "He wasn’t laughing
earlier!"
With a stiff breeze
and track temperatures rising, Villeneuve was the
first to set what would be the fastest lap of the day
at 1.21.07s, in his first of four runs and to clinch
his 10th pole of the season. Both the McLarens
put in early quick times and for a while looked as if
either would be in contention for pole. David
Coulthard and Mika Hakinnen were both
briefly into second spot on their first runs with
Schumacher following some 4 tenths down.
"It was really
quite a troubled session." Said Coulthard. "There
was definitely a quick time to be had from the car,
but the 2 runs in the middle, I hit a bit of traffic.
It’s the same for everyone and you just have to
make your gap."
An early spin by Jean
Alesi already in the spare car after spinning out
in the warm up, put him down in 20th position and he
did well to recover to finish 10th overall. The
Benettons failed yet again to realise their potential
as team mate Gerhard Berger, driving his last race
for the team and probably for himself as he enters
retirement, did his level best to mix it at the
front, finishing in 8th position. Whilst engine
supplier Renault may possibly get a win, they
certainly will not go out with a full podium for
their last race in Formula 1, as the team now under
new management look for the time being at least, to
be on the ragged side of disjointedness.
Just before half time
and with a decreased downforce setting on his rear
wing to counter balance the wind, Schumacher posted
an equal time to Villeneuve passing yellow flags
brought out by a spin by his younger brother Ralf. At
first thought to be waving, there were fears of
instant disqualification, however the track officials
deemed the flags to be stationary but blown by the
breeze. It seems destined that Michael’s brother
should be of such a great influence on his
performances this year, for a split second loss of
concentration undoubtedly cost the German that final
one thousandth of a second that would have put him on
pole. However it was not to be and as Villeneuve set
the time first that was to be Schumacher’s lot
to start behind his arch rival.
"The start is
going to be crucial." Said Schumacher. "Doing
a good one brings me into the first corner in the
lead. If the start doesn’t work that well, I am
going to be stuck behind Frentzen. It is
certainly a different sort of feeling for me from the
two years with Benetton," he added, "but
it makes no difference at all once I am in the
car." Referring to a late charge by Damon
Hill, he laughed. "The problem is that I
am now surrounded by Williams drivers!"
The Ferrari of
Irvine having posted early fast times, was now
struggling and could manage no better than 7th in the
final count and reversing the positions in Suzuka,
Heinz Harald Frentzen put in a final shot at pole
with ten minutes remaining to record incredibly the
same time as 1st and 2nd placed drivers.
All the teams with the
exception of Jordan-Peugeot opted for the soft
Goodyear compound, as did the Bridgestone runners
with the exception of Stewart Ford. Qualifying
times for all four cars were notably slower, however
as most teams will probably opt for a three stop
strategy for the race, it would enable the hard
compound runners to gain some extra time by only
stopping twice. Indeed a poor performance by the
Jordan team resulted in the teams worst qualifying
performance of the season. One thing that has
remained constant, however, is the fact that the two
drivers will start close to each other albeit down
the field, Ralf Schumacher in 16th and Giancarlo
Fisichella in 17th places.
With less than a
minute to go, both Schumacher and Villeneuve put in
their final bids, but with the track speed dipping
with the increasing temperature the early times set
stood. A surprise lap by Damon Hill driving
his last race as World Champion, put him onto the
second row of the grid a mere 600ths of a second
behind the fastest time. "I am happy,"
He laughed. "but to look at the time set and
see that I missed pole position by half a tenth of a
second - and I know that I lost a lot of time with
the Minardi that spun on the last corner- I’m
kicking myself, but it’s great to be up
there."
Seeming to have
regained his composure after his pre qualifying
wobbly Villeneuve was amazed that zero thousandths of
a second separated the first three places and joked, "If
you weren’t here, you probably wouldn’t
have believed that it had not been done on purpose!
It makes for a great last race."
As Damon Hill
commented, "The Championship comes down to a
single race" If Schumacher wins then he will
have done it through his own raw talent for taming an
unruly car. But if Villeneuve wins, everybody will
say that it was only expected and he should have done
it anyway as he has the superior machinery. Each must
fight his own personal battle and as they sit in
their cockpits seconds before the lights go out it is
possible that the race has already been won and
capitulation is but 150 metres away.
Chris Richardson
Qualifying times
for the European Grand Prix, Jerez Spain Oct 25th
1997
1. Jacques Villeneuve
Williams 1:21.072
2. Michael Schumacher
Ferrari same time
3. Heinz-Harald
Frentzen Williams Renault same time
4. Damon Hill Arrows
1:21.130
5. Mika Hakkinen
McLaren 1:21.369
6. David Coulthard
McLaren 1:21.476
7. Eddie Irvine
Ferrari 1:21.610
8. Gerhard Berger
Benetton 1:21.656
9. Olivier Panis Prost
1:21.735
10. Jean Alesi
Benetton 1:22.011
11. Jan Magnussen
Stewart 1:22.167
12. Rubens Barrichello
Stewart 1:22.222
13. Pedro Diniz Arrows
1:22.234
14. Johnny Herbert
Sauber 1:22.263
15. Shinji Nakano
Prost 1:22.351
16. Ralf Schumacher
Jordan 1:22.740
17. Giancarlo
Fisichella Jordan 1:22.804
18. Norberto Fontana
Sauber 1:23.281
19. Ukyo Katayama
Minardi 1:23.409
20. Tarso Marques
Minardi 1:23.854
21. Mika Salo Tyrrell
1:24.222
22. Jos Verstappen Tyrell
1:24.301
