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Formula 1 news, results and statistics when you need it |
Is
Overtaking Something Of The Past ? 16 March 2000 Volume 2 - Issue 3 |
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Formula 1 news, results and statistics when you need it |
Is
Overtaking Something Of The Past ? 16 March 2000 Volume 2 - Issue 3 |
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2000 Season Schedule and Results |
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Is Overtaking
Something Of The Past ?
It must have been a very special day for Michael Schumacher. I am sure that every time a driver wins a race it is a special day, but to share the podium with his team mate Rubens Barrichello in second spot and his brother Ralf in third place must be up there in Michael’s list of most memorable moments. Ferrari proved to be very fast. It was difficult to tell if Ferrari had the legs to beat McLaren as they expired before we could see either of the Ferrari drivers challenge their lead. It certainly looked as if they had the pace to stay ahead of Michael Schumacher, but we do not know how hard he was trying at the time. All the teams have now opted for a high downforce setup which makes me wonder if we are going to see another season where overtaking hardly ever happens. Melbourne has always been a circuit with little opportunity for overtaking but on Sunday we only saw one real overtaking manoeuvre and that was from Salo who was subsequently disqualified for having too much front wing. It is logical that, if this year’s F1 car relies on aerodynamics for most of its grip, this will not work at all well in the turbulence of the car in front, making the car more difficult to keep on the island the closer you get to the car you are trying to overtake. Barrichello was obviously much faster than Frentzen but did not seem to ever get close enough to overtake. McLaren I suspect that they went to Melbourne with a choice of engines. A reliable motor, somewhat down on horsepower and a powerful but unreliable motor. I also suspect that they were hoping to be competitive with the slower, but reliable motor, but were forced to use the more powerful powerplant as it became apparent that several teams were fast on Friday’s practice session. They may have reasoned that their reliable engine would not be fast enough to finish in the points and they had nothing to lose by forfeiting reliability and hoping that at least one car would make it to the end. I could be wrong and McLaren could have been sandbagging in the earlier practice sessions but they appeared to be much faster after they changed both engines. Because the engine changes were made during the Saturday practice sessions we did not see the cars on the track for very long before qualifying. However, Hakkinen, who could only be described as rather pedestrian before that, qualified a good ½ second ahead of Michael Schumacher in the first Ferrari. There is no doubt that the McLaren is fast. Reliability is now their biggest problem. If they can overcome the engine gremlins within the next two or three races they could be the team to beat, if they don’t Ferrari will gain too many points to be overtaken. Ferrari How fast is this car really? Both Ferrari drivers did not get the opportunity to qualify well. Rubens Barrichello got baulked by yellow flags almost every time he attempted a flying lap and Michael Schumacher spent an extraordinary long time in the pits after running out of fuel, only to have his last chance flying lap aborted by a spin from Coulthard. Both Ferraris were slow off the line. We saw too much of this last year to conclude that it is purely driver error. I suspect that slower starting is a feature of Ferrari and they could possibly struggle with this for the rest of the season. Michael Schumacher appeared to be comfortable behind the McLarens for the first 18 laps (before both retired with the same engine problem). He did not seem to be pushing very hard and was probably biding his time, waiting for either the pit stop or a lighter fuel load to make his move. We saw some indication of what the Ferrari is capable of when Rubens Barrichello came out with a lighter fuel load and fresh tyres after his first pit stop. As confirmed in the press interview after the race, this was done to get ahead of Frentzen, but turned out to not be necessary as Frentzen retired soon after that. Barrichello put up a blistering pace, scoring the fastest lap on lap 41 before he settled down to drive the car home. Both Ferraris were well clear of the field when they crossed the finish line. I would not say that Ferrari is faster than McLaren, but if there is a gap it is not very big. McLaren may still be slightly faster but they have a reliability problem. We do not know how reliable the Ferrari is as they had a pretty easy run after lap 18, but both Ferraris certainly appeared to not even miss a beat. On the other hand Ferrari could be the dominant team, both faster and more reliable than McLaren. We will just have to wait and see. Jordan Frentzen took advantage of the slow Ferrari start to get ahead of Barrichello and stayed there until his pit stop. Although Barrichello was never far behind he did not seem to be able to overtake Frentzen. Frentzen, on the other hand, was not fast enough to close the gap to the leaders and after the two McLarens retired Schumacher was steadily pulling away from him. Both Jordans seemed fast, but not fast enough to match McLaren or Ferrari. Both retired around half distance. Frentzen with a hydraulic problem and Trulli with a broken exhaust. Although I am sure that they will improve reliability over the season I find it hard to imagine that they will be able to increase their pace to challenge either McLaren or Ferrari. The Mugen-Honda engine is even older than the Supertec and must be very close to maximum potential. Jaguar Beautifully turned out, possibly second only to Prost when it comes to looks. But that is not enough. Both cars were plagued with reliability problems throughout the weekend as they were in pre-season testing. Potentially, I believe that the Jaguar could be one of the teams to challenge the leaders, but to do that they have to overcome a huge reliability problem. Currently they are not fast enough to be considered as one of the top teams. Add to that the reliability problem and my guess is that we will not see them gain substantial points before half the season is lost. Williams A low key approach to the season, with BMW’s Berger claiming that they do not expect to be on the podium this season. And suddenly Ralf Schumacher is on the podium. Sure, he would not have been in third place if Hakkinen, Coulthard or Frentzen finished trouble free. But they did not and he finished without a problem in a car that both Williams and BMW claim is still in development. Luck or sandbagging? Button who had to race in a car that was seriously damaged on Friday during practice and had to be rebuilt overnight, retired on lap 46. His car may even have lasted full race distance if they had more time to rebuild it. I still think that the BMW motor is due for failure over the rest of the season, but judging from their performance in the first race of the season they may not be as far behind as they profess. They may bear watching. Benetton Both cars finished on the same lap as the leaders. Wurz just missed getting into the points in 7th place and Fisichella in 5th looked as if he could be faster than the BAR in front of him if he could manage to overtake. Much as I would like to see Fisichella in a fast car as I believe that he is one of the best drivers on the circuit, I suspect that Benetton will slowly drift down the field as the other teams gain reliability and speed. Benetton are not likely to get a substantial horsepower gain over the season from the aging Supertec. Prost I was surprised to see a Prost finish the race, even though Heidfeld was two laps down at the finish. Their reliability during pre-season testing was so bad that I expected them to break down long before the first pit stop. It almost looks as if the team had decided to sacrifice speed for reliability because the cars were slow. For a team that showed so much potential towards the end of last year to be scrapping for second last place is sad. Sauber Salo would have finished in the points had he not been disqualified. We will never know if the illegal front wing of his car (which caused the disqualification) made his car more competitive but he certainly proved that Sauber will be up there with BAR and Benetton. Last year Ferrari had a very reliable motor (Sauber’s Petronas engine is in fact the previous seasons Ferrari engine) and we must assume that Sauber will finish most races this season, so they could easily finish in the points with at least one car. Again, as the other teams (like Jaguar and McLaren) gain speed and reliability we can expect Sauber to drop further down as they will find it hard to increase the power from an engine on which development has stopped. Arrows As they withdrew Verstappen after de la Rosa crashed it is hard to comment on their performance. The fact is that they will be struggling this season with the Supertec motor and although they have shown promise during the pre-season they are unlikely to do well this year. Minardi An ageing engine and a small budget will keep them at the back of the pack for the whole season. They should be grateful that Prost have made a mess of their car this year as it will probably save them the embarrassment of coming last. BAR Villeneuve finished in 4th place and Zonta in 6th. Villeneuve was undoubtedly holding up the cars behind him for the entire race so we must assume that the Benettons were marginally faster. This is a team that already has the reliability that they lacked last year. Honda is working on more power in their normal inscrutable way and we should see this car improve gradually over the season. I do not think that it will happen quickly as this is not the Japanese way, but when it happens I am sure that they will not need to sacrifice reliability. The car seems fast and stable so when the extra power is delivered they should be a force to be reckoned with. Being the first race of the season, as well as being one of the faster tracks that is very demanding on driver and car, attrition is always very high in Melbourne. More than half of the field did not finish, but that is normal for Melbourne. We can only hope that teams like McLaren and Jaguar resolve their reliability problems soon so we can watch some real racing. Agree or disagree ? |
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Recommended Books: The Science of
Speed: Today's Fascination High-Tech World of Formula 1 1999 World
Championship British
American Racing |
