Schumacher
dominates French Grand Prix. Ferrari's superiority
leave Williams wondering
Michael Schumacher took the French
Grand Prix by the scruff of the neck, shook it and
deposited the remains in front of a bewildered Williams
pit. Celebrating his third victory in 4 races, he put
paid to pre race doubts as to his competitiveness by
saying "Why does our car work suddenly? My
predictions for this race were wrong and this was a
convincing win. to take pole position and win the
race, is the best you can do". Heinz
Harald Frentzen finishing second was as perplexed
as his team, having barely managed to keep the Ferrari
in his sights. "I was astonished by
Michael’s speed at the start. I thought he must
be on three stops instead of two because he was
pushing like hell, he pulled away and it should have
been the other way round, so I just let him go."
He said, "I was desperate for points before
this race, but I’m finding more tricks and
it’s getting better."
It took merely a few
seconds after the red lights had gone out for
Schumacher to power cleanly away and out of sight
with Frentzen just about keeping station behind. With
Eddie Irvine bridging the gap to 4th placed Jacques
Villeneuve hotly contested by Ralf Schumacher’s
Jordan Peugeot, the front of the pack was
largely to stay unchanged throughout the race.
It also took merely a
few seconds for World Champion Damon Hill to
exit the race temporarily, as he was squeezed from
the back of the pack funnelling in to Estoril,
the first right hander. Trailing across the gravel
with a broken nose unit, he was forced to pit for a
replacement fighting his way through the contents of
a fire extinguisher that had been inadvertently set
off in the Arrows pits. "I came out a lap
down and got blue-flagged until I found my rightful
place in the grid and pressed on from there."
Hill said afterwards. "I just wanted to
finish really, and, we finished." And so he
did, last and three laps down. His humiliation now
seems complete and he goes forward to Silverstone and
his home crowd, not as a returning hero, but
as the guy who used to drive for Williams.
By lap 15 Villeneuve
was struggling to stay in the frame, 5 seconds behind
Irvine and 20 seconds behind the leader. The Benettons
were faring no better, Jean Alesi working hard
to stay ahead of replacement driver and novice to
Formula 1 Alexander Wurz.
The first round of pit
stops did little to alleviate the drudgery and it was
only the onset of rain around the time that the
second stops were due, that caused the race to come
alive. Most drivers settled for fresh slicks as the
rain was not severe enough to warrant the heavy time
penalties of intermediate rain tyres, Jarno Trulli
being the exception in the Prost who promptly
started slipping down the order.
By lap 60 it was
tipping down and the scramble started in the pits to
get wets on both team cars. Schumacher took a brief
turn onto the gravel as his slicks tried to keep a
grip on the soaking track, but he was shrewdly
observing Frentzen, his only threat for the top step
of the podium. If Frentzen didn’t pit neither
could he and so the game of cat and mouse continued
until the end of the race. Frentzen was a marked man
in the Ferrari garage. "I was just watching
to see what Frentzen would do." Said
Schumacher. Frentzen did nothing, but Villenueve
pitted for wets having spun at the chicane, dropping
down to sixth place and giving up his fourth slot to David
Coulthard in the McLaren Mercedes, who
again was driving a brilliant race.
Schumacher was on the
last lap and on his way to the 25th Grand Prix win of
his career equalling those of Jim Clark and Niki
Lauda. A brave if foolhardy move by his brother
saw him give Coulthard a fright as he passed him at
the Adelaide hairpin and promptly spin on the 180
degree bend. Coulthard was far from pleased. "Ralf
took a silly dive down my inside at the
hairpin." He said "I gave him room
because I wanted to finish. He then spun in front of
me." Schumacher Junior saw things
differently. "He’s a bit unhappy, I hear
about my manoeuvre. I’ll have to talk to David.
It was very slippery, like driving on soap. I saw the
possibility there and it obviously worked, but I spun
again."
Fate was to deal
Coulthard another cruel hand in the shape of Alesi
and this time it was terminal. He was rear ended by
the mercurial Frenchman in a braking mistake,
knocking him out of the race and a certain two
points. When asked what happened the Scotsman said
through gritted teeth, "Alesi happened, but
he has apologised, so I suppose that makes everything
okay doesn't it?" He said later, "We’ve
seen it so many times from Jean. He can pass me
fairly he can race me hard, but to barge into me is
very disappointing. Today McLaren deserved a point
and we didn’t get it."
The silliness
continued to the final corner . Villeneuve on a
charge from his sixth position and desperate to stay
in touch with the top three, made a desperate lunge
at 3rd placed Irvine as he bought his Ferrari into
the final Lycee turn. Realising that he
wouldn’t make it, the Canadian, braking heavily,
spun across the track, over the curbing and into the
pit lane entrance. "I had him covered, and
then he wasn't there as I gunned for the line."
A bemused Irvine said. With debris
and superstructure flying from his car, he kept the
engine alive and executing a 180 degree turn rejoined
the track almost taking Jean Alesi out as he came
steaming round the bend. A stewards enquiry later
decided not to apportion blame on Villeneuve for the
incident, but it was yet another example of a
reckless approach that has been in evidence in the
past few races and Williams Technical Director
Patrick Head will no doubt be none too pleased.
A minute and 23
seconds earlier, Michael Schumacher had taken the
chequered flag at the same time, allowing his young
brother to unlap himself and take advantage of
Coulthard’s plight by grabbing the point left by
Alesi. "I was really lucky to get that extra
lap from Michael and win a point. I owe him one, or
perhaps this is my birthday present to me for
tomorrow!". Said a happy Schumacher Junior.
Team boss Eddie Jordan was not so happy
however. With a messy performance by the young German
and a disappointing 9th place from an unhappy Giancarlo
Fisichella in an unprepared spare car due to
engine failure, he said, "We cannot be
remotely satisfied with winning only one point, but
it is good that we are closing the gap on the other
teams."
Schumacher’s
victory now gives him a 14 point lead over Villeneuve
and will ensure that he goes to his home Grand Prix
in Germany in three weeks time, the Championship
leader. Ferrari too are showing Williams the way and
the Didcot team will be scratching their heads and
wondering why.
Never higher than
fourth except for pit stops, Villeneuve revealed
another tactical weather related error by his team
when he said that his car had been prepared for rain
and was difficult to handle throughout the race. But
it’s not that the Williams is particularly slow,
it’s the Ferrari that’s now faster. With a
redesigned front wing and the promise, from newly
appointed Technical Director Ross Brawn, of
further improvements to come, the Scuderia are
set to be come the dominant force in Formula 1, a
position that has up til now been the privilege of
Williams to hold. Recent publicity regarding the
outspoken Villeneuve and the physiological pressures
put on Frentzen cannot have helped team moral and for
once Frank Williams choice of drivers now
seems marginally suspect.
The race was of course
down to the driver and the driver was the class of
the field. His superiority was evident from
qualifying, to the flag and if the Ferrari improves
further by mid season, it will be a hard struggle for
Williams to catch this runaway horse.
Chris Richardson
MAGNY-COURS,
Results
1. Michael Schumacher Ferrari
1.38.50
2. Heinz-Harald
Frentzen Williams 1.39.14
3. Eddie Irvine Ferrari
1.14.80
4. Jacques Villeneuve Williams
1.21.78
5. Jean Alesi Benetton
1.22.73
6. Ralf Schumacher Jordan
1.29.87
7. David Coulthard McLaren
1.38.40 DNF
8. Johnny Herbert Sauber
1.39.35 1 lap
9. Giancarlo
Fisichella Jordan 1.40.16 1 lap
10. Jarno Trulli Prost
2 laps
11. Ukyo Katayama Minardi
2 laps
12. Damon Hill Arrows
3 laps
