DeTomaso Mailing List: March 2001, Message #145

-----Original Message-----
From: f1mail@ef1c.galeforcef1.com [mailto:f1mail@ef1c.galeforcef1.com]
Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2001 11:40 AM
Subject: Australia_F1GP_Day3


GALE FORCE F1 Report (http://www.galeforcef1.com)

Formula 1: Grand Prix of Australia
------------------------------------------------------------
Day 3: Warm-Up & Race
------------------------------------------------------------

Warm-Up Session
---------------
Welcome back to a grey overcast, cloudy Melbourne, its 9h30, the air is
at 20C and the track surface 19C, the 30 minutes Warm-Up session for the
Grand Prix of Australia is just starting:

09:26:02: The good news today is that T.Marques despite being outside
the 107% in Qualifying will be racing.

9:29:33: The cars line up at the end of the pit lane

9:30:18: N.Heidfeld leads them out onto the track

9:31:41: ITS RAINING!

9:32:41: The cars return to the pits just R.Barrichello has not been
out yet

9:33:48: R.Barrichello is now the only car on track

9:34:35: The rain seems to have stopped

9:35:01: R.Barrichello is back in the pits, J.Button and J.Verstappen
are on track

9:36:59: J.Verstappen sets the first lap at 1m 48.057s-3L

9:38:07: D.Coulthard seems to have a car problem, M.Hakkinen has been out
twice so far but no fast lap

9:38:38: E.Irvine takes 2nd at 1m 48.614s-3L

At 9:40 the top 6 are:
J.Trulli     1m 36.160s 4 laps
J.Verstappen 1m 48.057s 4 laps
E.Irvine     1m 48.614s 3 laps
J.Villeneuve 1m 59.620s 3 laps
O.Panis      2m 00.334s 3 laps
G.Fisichella 2m 01.398s 3 laps

9:42:33: The times are dropping quickly now, current fastest is F.Alonso
at 1m 34.360s-4L

9:43:05: The top 6 are: F.Alonso, O.Panis, J.Trulli, J.Villeneuve,
G.Fisichella, R.Schumacher

9:43:18: J.Verstappen takes 1st at 1m 32.930s-6L

9:44:04: M.Hakkinen goes wide over the grass

9:45:14: M.Schumacher takes 1st at 1m 32.231s-5L, J.Verstappen takes 1st
at 1m 31.885s-7L, the top 6 are: J.Verstappen, M.Schumacher, R.Barrichello,
J.Trulli, O.Panis, H.Frentzen

9:47:45: M.Hakkinen sets the best S1 and S2 at 30.110s, and 24.043s. He
sets the best S3 at 36.487s and takes 1st at 1m 30.640s-7L, the top 6 are
now: M.Hakkinen, M.Schumacher, J.Verstappen, R.Barrichello, K.Raikkonen,
O.Panis

9:48:19: M.Hakkinen sets the top times in S1 and S2 then pits

9:48:46: D.Coulthard is 22nd having not made a fast lap yet

At 9:50 the top 6 are:
M.Hakkinen    1m 30.640s 7 laps
M.Schumacher  1m 30.839s 7 laps
R.Barrichello 1m 31.450s 6 laps
J.Verstappen  1m 31.885s 8 laps
K.Raikkonen   1m 32.502s 6 laps
H.Frentzen    1m 32.545s 9 laps

9:53:51: The top 6 are now: M.Hakkinen, M.Schumacher, D.Coulthard,
R.Barrichello, E.Irvine, ver

9:55:09: M.Hakkinen is back on track, R.Barrichello is out of his car -
looks like he has a problem

9:56:33: O.Panis takes 2nd at 1m 30.835s-10L, the top 6 are now: M.Hakkinen,
O.Panis, M.Schumacher, D.Coulthard, R.Barrichello, E.Irvine

9:57:12: D.Coulthard runs wide over the grass

9:58:49: D.Coulthard sets the top S1 at 29.996s

9:59:16: O.Panis takes 1st at 1m 30.584s-12L, D.Coulthard takes the top S2
at 23.887s

9:59:40: D.Coulthard takes 1st at 1m 30.178s-10L

10:00:05: The flag is out - last laps

10:01:21: M.Hakkinen sets the top S1 and S2, D.Coulthard takes it back,
M.Hakkinen takes 1st at 1m 30.152s-12L, J.Montoya takes 4th at 1m
30.559s-11L,
D.Coulthard takes 1st at 1m 30.099s-11L

At 10:02 the final top 6 are:
D.Coulthard  1m 30.099s 11 laps
M.Hakkinen   1m 30.152s 12 laps
J.Verstappen 1m 30.396s 14 laps
J.Montoya    1m 30.559s 11 laps
O.Panis      1m 30.584s 13 laps
M.Schumacher 1m 30.839s 7 laps

The best times in each track sector were:
S1: M.Hakkinen - 29.916s
S2: D.Coulthard - 23.767s
S3: J.Verstappen - 36.268s


Session: Warm-Up
----------------
Weather:  Cloudy, Air: 20C, Track: 19C

Track Times:
Pos Driver       Team      Time       To 1st Laps
 1 D.Coulthard   McLaren  1m 30.099s          11
 2 M.Hakkinen    McLaren  1m 30.152s  0.053s  12
 3 J.Verstappen  Arrows   1m 30.396s  0.297s  14
 4 J.Montoya     Williams 1m 30.559s  0.460s  11
 5 O.Panis       BAR      1m 30.584s  0.485s  13
 6 M.Schumacher  Ferrari  1m 30.839s  0.740s   7
 7 N.Heidfeld    Sauber   1m 30.966s  0.867s  16
 8 E.Irvine      Jaguar   1m 31.061s  0.962s  13
 9 R.Barrichello Ferrari  1m 31.450s  1.351s   6
10 H.Frentzen    Jordan   1m 31.566s  1.467s  13
11 K.Raikkonen   Sauber   1m 31.665s  1.566s  11
12 J.Trulli      Jordan   1m 31.811s  1.712s  13
13 E.Bernoldi    Arrows   1m 32.106s  2.007s  12
14 J.Villeneuve  BAR      1m 32.108s  2.009s  14
15 R.Schumacher  Williams 1m 32.687s  2.588s  13
16 F.Alonso      Minardi  1m 33.717s  3.618s   9
17 G.Mazzacane   Prost    1m 33.747s  3.648s  11
18 L.Burti       Jaguar   1m 33.772s  3.673s  14
19 J.Alesi       Prost    1m 34.421s  4.322s   9
20 J.Button      Benetton 1m 34.554s  4.455s   9
21 G.Fisichella  Benetton 1m 34.572s  4.473s  10
22 T.Marques     Minardi  1m 35.514s  5.415s   9

Race
----
Its 2pm in Melbourne and the formation lap for the Grand Prix of
Australia is just about to begin. The weather is grey and cloudy, it
looks like it could rain at any time. The air is at 23C and the Albert
Park track surface at 27C.

Trouble for J.Button just before the formation lap starts - his
mechanics have to run back onto the grid when it looks like his engine
has stalled. Seconds later everyone makes a clean get away for the
formation lap.

They all makes it back to the grid ok. As the light go out the race
begins. M.Schumacher (Grid 1) and M.Hakkinen (G3) both make good starts,
R.Barrichello (G2) is not so fast and H.Frentzen (G4) pulls to his left
to overtake, behind him D.Coulthard (G6) is trying to pass inside
H.Frentzen. On ther other side of the grid R.Schumacher (G5) tucks in
behind M.Hakkinen and in front of J.Trulli (G7).

As they near the pit exit lane M.Schumacher is still running straight
and true with M.Hakkinen pulling over behind him. R.Barrichello realises
where H.Frentzen is and pulls over to block, this makes H.Frentzen pull
over to avoid and ends up squashing D.Coulthard between himself and
R.Schumacher. By now J.Trulli is stuck just behind this high speed
Jordan-McLaren-Williams sandwich.

As they past the pit exit J.Trulli cuts all the way across to the right
to try pass R.Barrichello down the inside, R.Barrichello moves over to
block. On the other side of the track D.Coulthard has been squeezed back
into 7th after being hit by the H.Frentzen-R.Schumacher pincer movement.
M.Schumacher is clear at the front with M.Hakkinen behind him. Its a tie
for 3rd between R.Barrichello, H.Frentzen and R.Schumacher.

Mucho smokeo as they try to out brake each other into the first corner,
M.Schumacher is way out in front along with M.Hakkinen, H.Frentzen and
R.Schumacher just make it in front of R.Barrichello with D.Coulthard next
to him, J.Trulli has been squeezed back behind the Ferrari.

As they pass through the right-left corner J.Montoya comes out of nowhere
(actually G11) and is 6th for a moment passing down the inside of J.Trulli
but is running too fast and drives over the grass losing many places. A
few corners later he makes a move on E.Irvine which leaves the Jaguar
spinning over the grass and rejoining in last place.

As they complete lap 1 its M.Schumacher from M.Hakkinen followed by
H.Frentzen,
R.Schumacher, R.Barrichello, J.Trulli, D.Coulthard, J.Villeneuve,
N.Heidfeld,
O.Panis. J.Montoya is back in 13th.

On lap 2 E.Bernoldi runs wide over the grass bounces back onto the track and
smashes into the wall on the other side. R.Schumacher drops from 5th back to
7th.

On lap 3 R.Barrichello makes a move on H.Frentzen which leaves the Jordan
spinning over the grass and rejoining the field in 16th.

On lap 4 M.Schumacher is 1.3s in front of M.Hakkinen who is 4s in front of
R.Barrichello. 4th is D.Coulthard followed by J.Trulli, R.Schumacher,
J.Villeneuve, O.Panis and J.Verstappen. Half way around the lap J.Villeneuve
tries to pass R.Schumacher but instead runs into the back of him. The BAR
catches the Williams rear wheel and flys up into the air. J.Villeneuve lands
sideways onto the track side fencing and skims down it into the gravel
throwing debris every where, R.Schumacher ends up in the gravel. The Safety
Car comes on track while the area is cleared. Tragically a track marshall
was badly hurt by the flying debris. The Safety Car stays on track for 11
laps while the injured person is treated and taken to hospital.
Unfortunately
the marshall died of their injuries.

On lap 16 the race is on again.

On lap 18 J.Button pits for a 10s penalty awarded because his mechanics were
late leaving the grid.

By lap 25 M.Schumacher is 4.7s in front of M.Hakkinen who is 4.8s in front
of R.Barrichello. D.Coulthard is 4th 1.3s further back followed after 8.2s
by
J.Trulli, O.Panis, N.Heidfeld, J.Montoya and K.Raikkonen. Suddenly the front
suspension of M.Hakkinen's McLaren colapses and sends the Finn spinning
heavily into a tyre wall.

By lap 33 M.Schumacher is a comfortable 11.1s in front of team mate
R.Barrichello and D.Coulthard is 1.7s behind him. 4th is O.Panis followed
by J.Trulli, N.Heidfeld, J.Montoya, K.Raikkonen and a charging H.Frentzen.
D.Coulthard passes R.Barrichello into 2nd place.

In the next few laps all the top 10 pit except for J.Montoya who's engine
blows up while in 3rd place.

By lap 42 M.Schumacher is leading D.Coulthard by 10.5s, R.Barrichello is
3rd by 10s followed by O.Panis, N.Heidfeld, H.Frentzen, K.Raikkonen,
E.Irvine
and L.Burti.

E.Irvine pits on lap 51, L.Burti takes over 8th and J.Verstappen 9th with
J.Alesi 10th.

M.Schumacher wins by just 1.7s after slowing on the last few laps,
D.Coulthard
is second and R.Barrichello 3rd 31.7s further back. O.Panis, N.Heidfeld and
H.Frentzen complete the points with K.Raikkonen, L.Burti, J.Verstappen,
J.Alesi,
E.Irvine, F.Alonso and G.Fisichella all still running at the end.

The win gives M.Schumacher a great start to the season and R.Barrichello 3rd
already puts Ferrari 8 points ahead of McLaren. A brilliant showing by
O.Panis
(4th) and N.Heidfeld (5th) puts them and their news teams on the scoreboard
already much to everyones surprise.

Both J.Montoya and K.Raikkonen were very impressive in their first F1 races.
J.Montoya started well from grid 11, took to the grass in 6th place at the
first corner and then fought his way up the field to 3rd before his engine
gave up. In just his 24th car race K.Raikkonen finished in 7th just outside
the points from 13th on the grid.


Post Race Interview
-------------------
Interviewer: And we are with the top three drivers at the 2001 Australian
Grand Prix. Its the winner Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard and Rubens
Barrichello. I wonder Michael if you would perhaps give us a typical story
of your race please?

M.Schumacher: Obviously I had a great start, we worked very hard all winter
about that and as you can see, it worked out very well. We were quite
pleased about this. Then I just tried to split my racing into a kind of
rythym to be fast just when I have to be fast, and not overdrive the car
when it was not necessary. Obviously then we had the safety-car situation
and unfortunately we have just been told that the marshall did die and
obviously we are all shocked about this and we have to look at what is
possible
from our side, what support we can give. Certainly everybody is very much
down for this situation.

Interviewer: Thanks Michael. David, a quick word from you.

D.Coulthard: Well obviously the overriding story of the race is as Michael
has just mentioned, the fatality of the marshall, and I think on behalf of
all the drivers our thoughts go to him and his family. And it certainly
tells
us how we can improve track safety for these people who give their time in
order to enable us to go racing. That to one side, I had a fairly
straightforward race to pick up 6 points, but that now seems pretty
insignificant when there is a loss of life involved.

Interviewer: Thank you David. And finally a quick word from Rubens.

R.Barrichello: Well I mean its always nice to score some points to begin
with is quite good but you know we are definitely not happy just because
what Michael and David just said. It's very bad when a colleague that is
there for you, you know happens to be in an instant like that so my thoughts
are with him and with his family and there is no way that we can make up
for this race.

Interviewer: Thanks gentlemen.


Session: Race
-------------
Weather:  Cloudy, Air: 23C, Track: 27C

Track Times:
Pos Driver       Team        Race Time
 1 M.Schumacher  Ferrari  1hr 38m 26.533s : 58 laps
                                          : Pole Position
                                          : Race Fastest lap 1m 28.214s
                                          : 54 laps 1st
                                          : 1 pit stop  (28.7s-L37)
 2 D.Coulthard   McLaren         +01.717s : 4 laps 1st
                                          : 1 pit stop  (28.5s-L41)
 3 R.Barrichello Ferrari         +33.491s : 1 pit stop  (28.6s-L39)
 4 O.Panis       BAR          +1m 02.050s : 1 pit stop  (28.7s-L40)
 5 N.Heidfeld    Sauber       +1m 11.479s : 1 pit stop  (28.2s-L37)
 6 H.Frentzen    Jordan       +1m 12.807s : 1 pit stop  (28.1s-L37)
 7 K.Raikkonen   Sauber       +1m 24.143s : 1 pit stop  (29.2s-L36)
 8 L.Burti       Jaguar   Laps behind:  1 : 1 pit stop  (30.2s-L36)
 9 J.Verstappen  Arrows   Laps behind:  1 : 2 pit stops
(28.5s-L14,29.0s-L38)
10 J.Alesi       Prost    Laps behind:  1 : 1 pit stop  (29.0s-L35)
11 E.Irvine      Jaguar   Laps behind:  1 : 2 pit stops
(28.8s-L39,32.5s-L50)
12 F.Alonso      Minardi  Laps behind:  2 : 2 pit stops
(28.6s-L32,29.1s-L41)
13 G.Fisichella  Benetton Laps behind:  3 : 2 pit stops
(30.3s-L26,25.9s-L50)
14 J.Button      Benetton Laps behind:  6 : 2 pit stops
(30.0s-L18,30.9s-L32)

Race Retirements
----------------
J.Montoya     Williams    Laps behind: 18 : Retires: Engine
J.Trulli      Jordan      Laps behind: 20 : 1 pit stop  (32.2s-L33)
                                          : Retires: Mechanical problem
M.Hakkinen    McLaren     Laps behind: 33 : Retires: Suspension
R.Schumacher  Williams    Laps behind: 54 : Retires: Crashed into by
Villeneuve
J.Villeneuve  BAR         Laps behind: 54 : Retires: Crashed into
R.Schmacher
T.Marques     Minardi     Laps behind: 55
E.Bernoldi    Arrows      Laps behind: 56 : Retires: Spun off
G.Mazzacane   Prost       Laps behind: 58

Not Included
------------

Fastest Race Laps
-----------------
Pos Driver        Team     Lap   Time       To 1st
 1  M.Schumacher  Ferrari   34  1m 28.214s
 2  D.Coulthard   McLaren   40  1m 28.838s  0.624s
 3  R.Barrichello Ferrari   33  1m 29.060s  0.846s
 4  J.Montoya     Williams  40  1m 29.606s  1.392s
 5  M.Hakkinen    McLaren   25  1m 29.612s  1.398s
 6  O.Panis       BAR       36  1m 30.199s  1.985s
 7  K.Raikkonen   Sauber    35  1m 30.229s  2.015s
 8  H.Frentzen    Jordan    35  1m 30.266s  2.052s
 9  N.Heidfeld    Sauber    35  1m 30.317s  2.103s
10  J.Trulli      Jordan    29  1m 30.432s  2.218s
11  L.Burti       Jaguar    31  1m 30.903s  2.689s
12  J.Alesi       Prost     31  1m 31.030s  2.816s
13  E.Irvine      Jaguar    29  1m 31.267s  3.053s
14  J.Verstappen  Arrows    56  1m 31.999s  3.785s
15  J.Button      Benetton  24  1m 32.001s  3.787s
16  F.Alonso      Minardi   56  1m 32.043s  3.829s
17  G.Fisichella  Benetton  23  1m 32.407s  4.193s
18  R.Schumacher  Williams   3  1m 34.406s  6.192s
19  J.Villeneuve  BAR        3  1m 34.432s  6.218s
20  E.Bernoldi    Arrows     2  1m 36.689s  8.475s
21  T.Marques     Minardi    2  1m 38.249s  10.035s

Pit Stops (Times are IN/OUT of pit lane)
----------------------------------------
 Time  Lap Driver        Team
 25.9s  50 G.Fisichella  Benetton
 28.1s  37 H.Frentzen    Jordan
 28.2s  37 N.Heidfeld    Sauber
 28.5s  14 J.Verstappen  Arrows
 28.5s  41 D.Coulthard   McLaren
 28.6s  32 F.Alonso      Minardi
 28.6s  39 R.Barrichello Ferrari
 28.7s  37 M.Schumacher  Ferrari
 28.7s  40 O.Panis       BAR
 28.8s  39 E.Irvine      Jaguar
 29.0s  38 J.Verstappen  Arrows
 29.0s  35 J.Alesi       Prost
 29.1s  41 F.Alonso      Minardi
 29.2s  36 K.Raikkonen   Sauber
 30.0s  18 J.Button      Benetton
 30.2s  36 L.Burti       Jaguar
 30.3s  26 G.Fisichella  Benetton
 30.9s  32 J.Button      Benetton
 32.2s  33 J.Trulli      Jordan
 32.5s  50 E.Irvine      Jaguar

Drivers Championship
--------------------
Pos Driver        Team     Points  Gap
 1  M.Schumacher  Ferrari    10
 2  D.Coulthard   McLaren     6      4
 3  R.Barrichello Ferrari     4      2
 4  O.Panis       BAR         3      1
 5  N.Heidfeld    Sauber      2      1
 6  H.Frentzen    Jordan      1      1

Team Championship
-----------------
Pos Team     Points  Gap
 1  Ferrari    14
 2  McLaren     6      8
 3  BAR         3      3
 4  Sauber      2      1
 5  Jordan      1      1

All information is unofficial
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