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Formula 1 news, results and statistics when you need it |
16 - 21 May News | |||
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Formula 1 news, results and statistics when you need it |
16 - 21 May News | |||
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Download the NewsOnF1.com | European Grand Prix
Results 21-May: Michael Schumacher described the wet conditions at the track as not very difficult as compared to previous wet races. He did indicate though that early in the race it was difficult as the leading drivers stayed on dry tyres until someone on wet tyres started lapping quicker. When asked if he had dreamt of a lead of 18 points going into the Monaco Grand Prix, he said sometimes dreams come true and he looks forward to the race at Monaco. When asked if his start was his best ever, Mika Hakkinen replied by saying it was one of the best ever starts but not the best. He also indicated that the good start made up for his bad qualifying session yesterday. Mika Hakkinen indicated that he would have been able to get very close to Michael Schumacher towards the end of the race had it not been due to backmarkers. He didn't know if he would have been able to pass though. David Coulthard indicated that he reacted slowly to the lights at the start which caused him to lose 2 places. He also indicated that there was something mechanical wrong with the car but didn't know what it was. Towards the end of the race, Rubens Barrichello was catching him but couldn't pass so he was happy to finish in 3rd place given the circumstances. 21-May: Michael Schumacher wins the European Grand Prix ahead of Mika Hakkinen. David Coulthard, Rubens Barrichello, Giancarlo Fisichella and Pedro de la Rosa make the top 6. Only 9 cars finished and everyone on the track was lapped up to Mika Hakkinen ! ... Full Report ... Timed Results. 21-May: Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time in the warm-up session for the European Grand Prix ahead of Mika Hakkinen and Heinz Harald Frentzen. Rubens Barrichello, Jos Verstappen and David Coulthard make the top 6. The session started under dry conditions and a temperature of 9 degrees. All the drivers went out immediately for the installation lap and then those with the spare car tested it as well. Eddie Irvine was the first to set a competitive time of 1:22.850 followed by Ralf Schumacher. With 10 minutes into the session and it was Mika Hakkinen ahead of David Coulthard and Jos Verstappen. Mika Hakkinen's times was 1:20.719 which is more than 3 seconds slower than pole position time. 20 minutes into this 30 minute session and it was Mika Hakkinen ahead of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. The session ended with Michael Schumacher setting the fastest time just 0.009 seconds ahead of Mika Hakkinen and Heinz Harald Frentzen. Rubens Barrichello, Jos Verstappen and David Coulthard make the top 6 ... Timed Results. Just minutes before the end of the session, Giancarlo Fisichella lost a rear wheel, luckily no other car was around at the time. There are 2 different tyres which will be used during the race, a soft compound and an extra soft compound. Most drivers have elected to go with the extra soft compound as it provides better driveability and not much wear at low temperatures. Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello and Jacques Villeneuve have elected to use the soft compound. They could be running a different strategy to the rest. 20-May: Nick Heidfeld has been excluded from the European Grand Prix due to his car being underweight. This was his best qualifying position so far in his short Formula 1 career Prost have acknowledged that they did a mistake in calculating the car's weight. This is just another blow to the Prost team who have been struggling with reliability problems since the start of the season. Giancarlo Fisichella has claimed that Ralf Schumacher has caused him to lose out on his last flying lap. He explained by saying that Ralf Schumacher braked hard on the last corner and slowed him down so he didn't get past the chequered flag in time to run a final flying lap. He claims that Ralf not only ruined his final lap but a few others including Jacques Villeneuve. Ralf Schumacher, Giancarlo Fisichella and Jacques Villeneuve were clocked very close times during practice sessions all weekend. Heinz Harald Frentzen is extremely frustrated with Jos Verstappen who appears to have slowed the German on his final qualifying lap. Frentzen claimed that Verstappen clearly did not bother to look in his mirrors and that the car had the potential to be on the third row. Frentzen's team-mate Jarno Trulli is on the 3rd row in 6th position. 20-May: When asked if he knew about the rain, David Coulthard indicated that all the teams have weather forecasters and he actually left it a bit late because it started to rain on his fastest lap. He believes that he could have gained a few tenths if it did not rain. Regarding the situation with his cracked ribs, Coulthard does not believe that it has affected his preparation. As for whether the race will be decided at the start, Coulthard indicated that while the start is very important, there are other factors such as pit stops that are also important. He hopes to be the first driver this season to win from pole. When asked if he was annoyed about not being on pole, Michael Schumacher indicated that he was not at all annoyed. He does believe that he could have gone faster but the others would have too. He believes non of the drivers had a chance to maximise their performance of the car so given these circumstances, he was quite happy with 2nd place. Mika Hakkinen indicated the car was not 100% all weekend for him and that they could not carry out the adjustments required in time and therefore he has to be happy with 3rd place. Hakkinen also acknowledged the support given to the McLaren Mercedes team by the fans here in Germany. 20-May: David Coulthard grabs his first pole position of the season ahead of Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen ... Full Report ... Timed Results. 20-May: Michael Schumacher fastest during the 2 practice sessions for today ahead of teammate Rubens Barrichello ... Full Report ... Timed Results. 20-May: Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time on the first practice session on Saturday ahead of Mika Hakkinen ... Full Report ... Timed Results. 19-May: At the Friday press conference, both Takefumi Hosaka from Honda and Jean Todt from Ferrari where asked about the effect of the new electronic regulations introduced before the British GP. Takefumi Hosaka replied by indicating that the Honda engineers warned of a reduction of power and fuel efficiency and lack of driveability but they worked very hard and are now at the same driveability level but are less fuel efficient but they will get there. Jean Todt on the other hand indicated that the changes did not affect them a lot but the regulations still affected driveability and fuel consumption a little !. Jean Todt also indicated that they will be introducing a new specification engine for qualifying but will use the standard engine for the race as the new engine has not done enough testing. Alexander Wurz has indicated that the recent rumours about his future hurts him especially when they come from his own country (Austria). But these rumours are not affecting him as he is here to do the best he can for Benetton. He believes that the car has been improved to suite his driving style and that is a big improvement This will hopefully translate into points on Sunday. Nick Heidfeld didn't set high expectations when he first joined the Prost team because he didn't know what to expect. Heidfeld believes that currently the biggest problem with Prost is reliability and that it is impossible to catch up with the other teams if they keep losing testing time to reliability issues. These issues however have not affected him mentally as he never expected to come into Formula 1 and win straight away. But he did not expect it to be this hard either !. He finished by saying that they still need a few races to get there. Heinz Harald Frentzen indicated that the gearbox problems Jordan experienced in the last few races has heavily affected them. Those problems appear to be resolved now but they are still not close to McLaren or Ferrari. Under normal circumstances, Frentzen believes that they are a little bit too far ahead ! Jacques Villeneuve indicated that the Nurburgring has been a good circuit for him as he won his first Formula 1 race but also reminded everyone that he won his last race here as well. He is looking for a points finish this week though. When asked to comment on the return of both BMW and Honda to Formula 1. He indicated that Honda chose to come back with a team that had no results last year and that is a big gamble and a big challenge and but if they get good results it will feel even better. As for BMW, they have gone with a team who has been winning championships in the past which probably makes it an easier bet. 19-May: 2 big surprises with Jenson Button fastest on Friday ahead of Alexander Wurz ... Full Report ... Timed Results. 19-May: Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time for the first practice session ahead of Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz Harald Frentzen ... Full Report ... Timed Results. 18-May: When asked if he was quite a lucky person, Michael Schumacher replied by saying that there are moments when you think about this but in the end you have to say that you work for your luck, you have to use your luck and you have to see it. He does not know if he is more or less lucky than others but he certainly works for his luck. As for the incident between himself and Ralf Schumacher, he indicated that the media has blown up the issue from nothing. He did indicate that they work for different teams and therefore would not give each other a present and that they have to fight all the way within the rules. He added that there was no need to clarify things any further. Ralf Schumacher denied any similar incidents between himself and his brother during the karting days as he is 7 years younger and when he started seriously in karting Michael Schumacher was already in Formula 3. Ralf also denied that they suffered any engine problems at the Jerez test last week. Mika Hakkinen has denied any plan to retire but could not promise that he will be racing next year "because you never know what is going to happen in your life. But the plan at the moment is that I intend to race next year". Norbert Haug indicated that the new electronics regulations have been a handicap but everyone is working on it and improving by every race. He was not sure if they will get back to the position they were in before the new regulations but is confident to get very close. Norbert Haug also indicated that BMW's entry into F1 is a good thing for the sport and for Mercedes but hopes that they will always be ahead of them. On the issue of having German drivers driving BMW engines, Dr. Mario Theissen emphasised that their priority is to get the best driver available and if that driver happens to be German then that is even better. Dr. Thiessen also thanked Norbert Haug on his comments regarding BMW and said that it will take them quite a few races to eventually pass Mercedes (which Norbert Haug disagreed with !!). In other news, Mercedes have denied any plans to supply engines to Prost next year. "It was never on our agenda and their is definitely no chance that we will link up with Prost next season" Norbert Haug said. European Formula 1 Grand Prix schedule :
17-May: "Qualifying is going to be a screamer !" is the title of the 12th issue from the Diagnosis and Prognosis Series for the 2000 season. In this issue, the Heretic looks at the upcoming European Grand Prix - Check it out here !! 16-May: Luca Badoer was at the wheel of the F1-2000 Ferrari entirely focussing on refuelling practice. The team did several stints at the Fiorano circuit carrying out 10 refuelling stops each time. Badoer covered a total of 21 laps with a best time of 1:02.830. The team is taking all possible steps to ensure that Nigel Stepney's replacement will carry out the refuelling tasks at the European Grand Prix without any delays similar to those experienced at the Spanish Grand Prix. Bridgestone have explained what caused the problem with Michael Schumacher's tyre which suffered low pressure at the Spanish Grand Prix. It appears that the tyre bead was damaged when the tyre was fitted on the wheel rim. A tiny cut allowed the air to slowly leak from around the rim due to the flexing from the forces endured during the race. 16-May: Ralf Schumacher claims that Rubens Barrichello has no hope of competing for the World Championship this year with his brother Michael and Barrichello should rather concentrate on helping Michael Schumacher win it. Rubens Barrichello on the other hand indicated that Ralf was probably still angry at losing third place at the Spanish Grand Prix when Barrichello managed to pass both Ralf and Michael together. He added that he would be angry and a little disillusioned if it happened to him too ! McLaren are hoping that they can take the lead in the constructor's championship at this weekend's European Grand Prix. Ron Dennis said "As always when you are trying to eat an elephant, you have got to eat it one mouthful at a time". He also indicated that he does not believe that McLaren are weak at any track but the same applies for Ferrari as well so it will be hard fought battle on each track. Honda have indicated that the budget is not an issue in their quest to return to the winning form the enjoyed with McLaren and Williams. Honda have indicated that they are committed to BAR even beyond the 3 year contract they currently have dismissing recent rumours regarding switching to Jordan next year. Honda expect to be competing at the top level in 2002 with BAR. |
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