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| FERRARI GO 1-2 AS MCLAREN CHOKE!!!! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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MAGNY COURS, France -- Sunday�s French Grand Prix saw Michael Schumacher and Ferrari steal the show with a terrific performance, dominating the race along with his teammate, Eddie Irvine. It was Ferrari's first 1-2 finish in almost a decade. No sooner had the lights gone out, signifying the start of the French Grand Prix - the race was red-flagged. Jos Verstappen, who was replacing Jan Magnussen for the first race, had stalled his Stewart Ford after not being able to select first gear. Although the marshalls were able to remove the car quickly from the Start-Finish area, everyone had to stop for a re-start. It was a hectic scene on the grid, but after a brief pause, the cars were sent on their warm-up lap and at 2:09 the re-start saw Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher overtaking pole sitter Mika H�kkinen almost immediately, while Schumacher's teammate Eddie Irvine, also went past both McLarens, making it a 1-2 for Ferrari. World Champion Jacques Villeneuve gained one place quite quickly, but lost it again to David Coulthard on the next lap. The order remains stable down through the field although Johnny Herbert makes up for a bad start in his Sauber by passing the Prost of Olivier Panis and Rubens Barrichello's Stewart. The first pit stops begin on lap 16 with Ralf Schumacher coming in. Unfortunately both Jordans soon have mechanical trouble and drop out of the running. This puts the Benettons into the running, but it is clear that they are running to a three-stop strategy and will have to stop once more than their opposition. And as overtaking is difficult, the strategy was not very effective. On lap 21 H�kkinen challenges Irvine and gets ahead but almost immediately he spins and Irvine regains the place. Hakkinen comes into the pits immediately. On lap 22 Schumacher and Coulthard both pit but the McLaren driver has a problem with his refuelling machinery and loses a lot of time. Irvine pits again on lap 43 and Schumacher stops two laps later. This puts Coulthard into second and Hakkinen third until they pit again: Hakkinen on lap 54 and Coulthard on lap 55. Coulthard again has problems with the refuelling and is sent out for a lap. He comes back to refuel again but there is still a problem as he is back for a fourth stop on lap 63, which drops him to seventh. He fights back to pass Alesi on the last lap for sixth place. H�kkinen's stop drops him behind Irvine but he chases hard and spends the closing laps pressuring Irvine. He tries to pass several times but fails. His final attempt sees the two cars cross the finishing line side by side. Coulthard's misfortunes put Villeneuve in a solid fourth place, while Wurz is able to finish fifth. Alesi and Frentzen fight for seventh place but the battle ends with contact being made and Frentzen has to pit and retire from suspension damage. On the last lap, however, Alesi loses sixth place to the recovering Coulthard. Herbert survives to finish eighth with Fisichella ninth, after a couple of incidents during the race. "I am very happy with this, the 30th win of my career and, as I have been told the first one - two finish for Ferrari since 1990," said Schumacher. "These promising statistics make me feel optimistic about the future. "During the race I thought of Eddie, who did a faultless job today and helped to close the gap in the championship to only 6 points. The fact that we both got the jump on the McLarens at the start was a major factor in getting this result. My compliments go to the team and to Goodyear who have worked many nightshifts to make this result possible. " "I made a great second start and then I had Mika breathing down my neck for almost the whole race," said Irvine. "We have had lots of 1-3 finishes and this feels much better. It is also ideal for the championship. I did not try to push too hard at the start and tried to drive steadily. This result shows we have made a step forward and can fight for the title." "My second start was a disaster and I lost several positions by the first corner," said H�kkinen. "I have enough experience of this track to know that when you are behind someone who is slower than you it is nearly impossible to overtake, unless you take a risk. I did try to overtake Eddie Irvine, but it was not to be, so I decided to finish with as many points as I could." Like in Imola, Jacques Villeneuve finished 4th, scoring 3 points, far from his last year's results. "I was really pushing hard all the way through the race, even when I was 10 seconds behind David Coulthard, as he wasn't really going any quicker than me," said Villeneuve. "Today our car was actually pretty good in high speed and midspeed corners. We were lacking coming out of the hairpins so we have got to work on that but anyway we had a strong race." Villeneuve's team mate, German Heinz Harald Frentzen, had bad luck. Having showed courage and determination to overcome his accident during the test last week, his poor start cost him grid positions and he was forced to battle his was back up the field. On lap 69 he came together with the Sauber of Jean Alesi, trying to overtake the Frenchman. He immediately pitted but chose to retire as his car had a bent track rod. Stewart Grand Prix driver Rubens Barichello commented, "I was fighting the car the whole race, but...I can feel the potential the car has and I know that once we get it right in terms of set up and performance, we can show how competitive we are." His new team mate Jos Verstappen saw his first 1998 checkered flag as 12th. Even at their home Grand Prix, the Prost Team didn't score a point, Olivier Panis finishing 11th, Jarno Trulli spun after trying to overtake Johnny Herbert, and ended up in the gravel. Former World Champion Damon Hill was forced to retire on lap 19 with hydraulic problems. Has Ferrari caught up to McLaren? Not quite yet. But with Sunday 1-2 sweep in Magny Cours, a victory for Goodyear as well as Ferrari, it would seem that the gap between the once dominant McLaren team and everyone else is narrowing. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| RESULTS FOR FRANCE!! and SURVEY | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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RESULTS FOR FRANCE!!!!! 1. Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1h 34m 45.026sec (71 laps) 2. Eddie Irvine Ferrari + 0m 19.575 3. Mika Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes + 0m 19.747 4. Jacques Villeneuve Williams Mecachrome + 1m 06.965 5. Alexander Wurz Benetton Playlife -1 lap 6. David Coulthard McLaren Mercedes -1 lap 7. Jean Alesi Sauber Petronas -1 lap 8. Johnny Herbert Sauber Petronas -1 lap 9. Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton Playlife - 1 lap 10. Rubens Barrichello Stewart Ford - 2 laps 11. Olivier Panis Prost Peugeot - 2 laps 12. Jos Verstappen Stewart Ford - 2 laps 13. Mika Salo Arrows TWR - 2 laps 14. Pedro Diniz Arrows TWR - 2 laps 15. Heinz-Harald Frentzen Williams Mecachrome - 3 laps 16. Ralf Schumacher Jordan Mugen-Honda - 3 laps Retirements : 17. Shinji Nakano Minardi Ford - 6 laps 18. Tora Takagi Tyrrell Ford - 11 laps 19. Jarno Trulli Prost Peugeot - 16 laps 20. Esteban Tuero Minardi Ford - 30 laps 21. Damon Hill Jordan Mugen-Honda - 52 laps 22. Ricardo Rosset Tyrrell Ford - 55 laps Fastest Race Lap : David Coulthard - 1m 17.523 SURVEY. Does Michael Schumacher get away with too much too easy? E-mail your thoughts to [email protected] and the best four responses will be posted with the results next week. RESULTS. Yes=2 No=2 TOP TEN ANSWERS. Hello, My name is Jeremy Knowles and I'm from Australia. In response to your survey I would just like to say that Michael Schumacher is a fine driver and that he should not be punished for being aggressive. The Heinz-Harold Frentzen was not at all Schumacher's fault and neither were the Hill and Villeneuve 'incidents.' Not to mention the Coulthard mishap. I'm looking forward to a fine win from Schumacher next week-end. Hello, My name is Emmett D'Urso and I am from Saudi Arabia. I think that Michael Schumacher has been involved in too many 'accidents' at crucial stages of the championship. I think that most of these 'accidents' nare intentional and that Schumacher should be punished. Hi, My name is Russell Erwin and I am from England. I think that althoough Schumacher is a fine driver he gets out of control and has lapses of concentration at crucial times. These however often mean the end for another person instead of himself. I think that Schumacher gets away with it too easily and although they are only lapses in concentration, one of the qualities of formula one drivers is to be able t concentrate over a long period of time. My name is Cameron Mackintosh. I'm a slim, athletic boy who enjoys running, cross-countryand athletics. On the rare occasion when I'm not involved in physical exercise I like to watch Formula 1 and I would just like to say that Michael Schumacher is an aggressive driver, nothing else. If there is a gap he will take it. He didn't see Frentzen, he was protecting his position against Hill and Villeneuve and Coulthard tried to close him off when it was too late. Great page, Cameron Mackintosh | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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After 8 races: | 1 Mika Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) 50 2 Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) 44 3 David Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes) 30 4 Eddie Irvine (Ferrari) 25 5 Alex Wurz (Benetton-Playlife) 14 6 Giancarlo Fisichella (Benetton-Playlife) 13 7 Jacques Villeneuve (Williams-Mecachrome) 11 8 H-Harald Frentzen (Williams-Mecachrome) 8 9 Rubens Barrichello (Stewart-Ford) 4 10 Jean Alesi (Sauber-Petronas) 3 10 Mika Salo (Arrows-Hart) 3 12 Johnny Herbert (Sauber-Petronas) 1 12 Pedro Diniz (Arrows-Hart 1 12 Jan Magnussen (Stewart-Ford) 1
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