Mika Hakkinen finally won his first race of the season at Silverstone today. It was the first time he had ever won the British GP and will hopefully put an end to some of the rumours about his possible retirement and lack of motivation.
Starting beside pole-sitter Michael Schumacher — who was on a heavier fuel load one-stop strategy — Hakkinen quickly took the lead and never looked back. Setting one fastest lap after another he looked like the Mika of old and was cool and relaxed as he joked in the post-race press conference.
Ferrari teammates Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello were followed by Juan Montoya who had led the race several times during pit stops but who was let down by a bad strategy which left him held up behind his teammate Ralf Schumacher who took only a single stop and then retired with engine problems.
There was very little attrition with most of what there was coming on the first corner when David Coulthard (McLaren) and Jarno Trulli (Jordan) came together as did the BAR pairing of Jacques Villeneuve and Olivier Panis – Villeneuve was able to continue and salvage an eighth place finish. Two time defending winner Coulthard was especially unlucky to go out so early in front of his home crowd as it virtually removes whatever slim chance he had of challenging Schumacher for the drivers’ championship.
| Position | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mika Hakkinen (FIN) | McLaren-Mercedes | 10 |
| 2 | Michael Schumacher (D) | Ferrari | 6 |
| 3 | Rubens Barrichello (BR) | Ferrari | 4 |
| 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) | Williams-BMW | 3 |
| 5 | Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) | Sauber-Petronas | 2 |
| 6 | Nick Heidfeld (D) | Sauber-Petronas | 1 |
| Fastest Qualifier: Michael Schumacher (D) | |||