McLaren fast, Ferrari reliable?

It was obvious from the first lap that Ferrari were on a two stop strategy with both cars. Coulthard fluffed the start, which made things even easier for Michael Schumacher who demonstrated the advantage of a light fuel load by overtaking Hakkinen on the second lap. Barrichello also overtook Coulthard on the second lap and slotted in behind Hakkinen in third.

By lap 3 Schumacher had already gained 3 seconds on Hakkinen who must have been slowed down by Barrichello (defensive driving means not always being able to take the optimum line through corners).

Coulthard, who decided to race on a softer compound tyre, could not match the pace of the three in front of him and steadily dropped back. In hindsight it was the wrong tyre choice, but if the track turned out to be damp it would have been a great choice, and there was a possibility of rain.

Michael Schumacher went into the pits on lap 21 which surprised me a little as that was quite a bit off 1/3 distance, but it did explain why he was so fast from the start. He rejoined the race in third place behind Barrichello and moved up to second place after Barrichello stopped for tyres and a decent fuel load on lap 24.

From that point on Schumacher was not gaining on Hakkinen any more. This was obviously because he was now carrying more fuel than the Finn. At around lap 27 Hakkinen started increasing his pace, easing away from Schumacher. Hakkinen was in control.

Hakkinen must have known that the gap between him and Schumacher was certainly big enough to cope with the slightly longer pit stop that he, Hakkinen, will have to make (because he would need a bigger fuel load). He must have calculated that, after accounting for both of their stops, he was still at least 8 seconds ahead and that should be enough to cater for Michael’s increased pace while he would be on a lighter fuel load, but it was going to be close.

And then he loses power, coasts into the pits, stomps out of the car, hops into his own car and storms off. I do not blame him! He had driven a perfect race, was in control and had a chance to reduce the points lead that Schumacher had over him to 6. Instead he falls back another 10 points to 20! I would have been suicidal!

I do not want to take anything away from Michael Schumacher or Ferrari. The strategy to start on an exceptionally light fuel load had a chance of succeeding and it was executed very well. It was their best chance to get past the McLarens. They took the risk and finished in first. It obviously worked.

McLaren got one car home and so did Ferrari. Coulthard had gearbox trouble in second place and must have been praying that the car would make it to the end of the race, which it did, only to be disqualified for a wing too low (a real case of a wing and a prayer).

So, McLaren have not sorted their reliability problems out yet.

However, only one Ferrari finished (Barrichello retired on lap 27 with hydraulic problems) and Michael Schumacher slowed down considerably for several laps towards the end of the race.

Now, it is possible that Schumacher slowed down deliberately in an attempt to convince McLaren and Coulthard that he did have a problem. He may have hoped that Coulthard would respond by increasing his pace and break his fading gearbox in an attempt to catch and overtake Schumacher. It is not inconceivable – Coulthard has a record of Kamikaze acts.

Coulthard was disqualified for an infringement related to the position of the front wing during the post race scrutiny. McLaren has appealed and we will have to wait a week before we know what the outcome of the appeal will be. I do not claim to understand the rules or even the infringement but after watching the race I am surprised that any components on any of the cars are still where they were meant to be after bouncing down the main straight.

Either way Ferrari, do not look that reliable any more. The cars had different problems, which may be easy to fix and Ferrari may be back to their normal total reliability by San Marino, but it bears watching as McLaren are more reliable than they were in Australia where both cars retired early in the race. McLaren is making progress while Ferrari seems to be going backwards.

McLaren

I can’t see them eliminating their reliability problems before San Marino, but I am sure that we will see it improve some.

They were faster than Ferrari in Brazil and I expect that advantage to continue on for most, if not all, of the season.

Hakkinen has not lost any of his drive, determination and skill. Give him a reliable and fast car and he will be a real threat to Schumacher’s chances of finally winning the title for Ferrari.

Coulthard is, in my opinion, not in the same class. In Brazil, he was just not fast enough. If he wants to feature this season we need to see the pace that he displays for qualifying, continued to racing.

Ferrari

Providing that they get their reliability back I believe that they have a real chance of winning both the driver’s and constructor’s championships this year.

Ferrari may not be as fast as McLaren, but the gap is much smaller than it has been for the last two seasons. On race day, Ferrari has the ability to come up with a strategy that, if executed well, gives them a chance to win and this year they have two drivers that I believe are capable of doing what it takes to win.

Schumacher did his bit to finish in first, although he had me concerned when he suddenly lost pace towards the end of the race.

Barrichello may have had a problem with his car from the start because he did not appear to have the pace to pass Hakkinen with the same ease as Schumacher. On the other hand, he may not yet have the familiarity with the car to confidently overtake someone as fast as Hakkinen.

Jordan

Frentzen finished in 3^rd and Trulli in 4^th (possibly 4^th and 5^th if McLaren win the appeal)

The Mugen-Honda motors may not be as powerful as Ferrari or McLaren but they certainly appear to be better than the rest (with the possible exception of BMW). The cars seem stable and fast and Frentzen and Trulli are both first class drivers.

I still believe that the motor is very close to the end of its useful life. I would not be surprised to see them losing ground slowly over the season, but that depends on the other teams getting it right and with the exception of Williams I can’t see a real threat at present.

Frentzen has always been fast. Last year I questioned his aggression when overtaking and I still need convincing that this is not an issue.

Once Trulli settles down in the team I would not be surprised to find that he is as fast as Frentzen.

Jaguar

Well, at least Herbert managed to feel what it is like to be in a Grand Prix in Brazil. His 51 laps must be the longest distance a Jaguar has gone without breaking this year. Irvine spun again – it seems to be a pattern.

Jaguar are not only unreliable, but slow too. I am sure that they will improve dramatically over the season but it needs to be dramatic to even get to the finish line.

Neither driver has impressed me in the past. So far this season Irvine has spun out of both races (not that it matters as his car would probably not have lasted to half distance anyway). I get the feeling that he is trying too hard.

I do not see them on the podium, or even in the points, for at least another couple of months.

Williams

Now if Williams were suffering the problems that Jaguar are having I would not have been surprised. I am surprised that they are not.

Ralf Schumacher came 5^th and rookie Jenson Button 6^th (possibly 6^th and 7^th), not far behind the Jordans. Ralf is a very good driver, possibly the best on the circuit today, and Button has certainly shown that he has the maturity and pace to stay in touch with Ralf. Williams has always had the ability to recruit great rookie drivers.

BMW’s Berger, in a pre-season interview, stated that they did not expect too much this year as it is their debut year and most of it must be devoted to learning and improving. I would like to see these cars go when Berger is expecting a lot!

At this rate BMW will be competitive well before the end of the season.

Benetton

Isn’t it amazing what Flavio’s presence can do? I am sure that a lot of Fisichella’s 2^nd (possibly 3^rd) place is due to hard work put in by the team before Flavio Briatore stepped back in as Managing Director of Benetton, but I am also sure that Flavio’s return with the associated support from Renault just made the team want to win.

They certainly did a great job. Poor Wurz is still unlucky. His engine failed on lap 6.

This team may improve over the season, but the Supertec engine, that they will have to use for a long time to come, has its limitations. Even with Renault’s weight and money behind it, it is still old.

Prost

Both cars broke in the first 11 laps. Alesi was doing well and trying hard, but what is the point?

Sauber

Succumbed to the racetrack. I am surprised more teams did not withdraw their cars.

Salo narrowly avoided a nasty accident when his rear wing failed during practice and Sauber decided, most sensibly, that the brackets securing their rear wing was not robust enough for full race distance on a racetrack that was shaking all the fillings out of the drivers’ teeth.

We did not see enough of the Saubers to make any judgement call, but I do not expect them to be in contention. They are just not fast enough and unless they find something dramatic, this is unlikely to change for the rest of the season.

Arrows

Both finished one lap down.

What happened to the speed that they were showing during pre-season testing? De la Rosa broke the lap record in Barcelona twice. Admittedly he could have been in qualifying trim but one must assume that most of these records are set in qualifying trim as all teams must be testing both qualifying and race configurations.

They should be faster and I expect to see them do much better as the season progresses. I do not think that they have much of a chance to get on the podium, unless attrition of the cars in front hand it to them on a plate, but they should have the pace to get in the points reasonably often.

Minardi

Mazzacane finished 2 laps down and Gene retired on lap 31.

A team with very little budget, and it shows. While Prost and Jaguar are struggling with their problems Minardi do not look so bad, but then they have very little upside.

BAR.

Let’s hope that the reliability they found for Melbourne was not a flash in the pan. Honda has a development plan for the motor so we should see some improvement in pace over the season (lets face it – they can’t get worse). At the moment they are just not on the pace.

I am dying to see Villeneuve in a competitive car. He demonstrated, while driving for Williams, that he has the flair and ability to do well.