Michael Schumacher won the French Grand Prix today and also clinched his fifth Formula One World Championship to equal Juan Manuel Fangio’s 45 year old record. It was his eighth win in the eleven races that have been run so far this year. Going into the race he said that he wasn’t thinking about the championship as to win it he would not only have to win the race but also have his title challengers finish several places behind him but in the end it all fell into place and the championship was his with six races left in the season.
| Position | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Schumacher (D) | Ferrari | 10 |
| 2 | Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) | McLaren Mercedes | 6 |
| 3 | David Coulthard (GB) | McLaren Mercedes | 4 |
| 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) | Williams BMW | 3 |
| 5 | Ralf Schumacher (D) | Williams BMW | 2 |
| 6 | Jenson Button (GB) | Renault | 1 |
| Fastest Qualifier: Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) | |||
Complete GP of France results.
His Ferrari team mate Rubens Barrichello who was closest to him in points – but not a threat due to team orders – didn’t have such a good day. When the formation lap started his car was still up on jacks on the grid and his mechanics had to push him back into the pits before they could continue to work on his car. Eventually when the race was several laps old they gave up and Barrichello’s day was over.
Schumacher’s victory almost didn’t happen as he crossed the pit exit blend line when he rejoined the track after his first pit stop and was given a drive-through penalty by the stewards. This dropped him from first place and put him behind Kimi Raikkonen who had been a contender all day in his McLaren and who now drove the best race of his short career to keep Schumacher behind him. Raikkonen was five laps away from winning his first Grand Prix when he slid wide on some oil from Allan McNish’s stranded Toyota which allowed Schumacher to regain the lead.
McLaren boss Ron Dennis immediately protested Schumacher’s pass of Raikkonen as there were yellow flags waving locally for the Toyota but as Raikkonen had run wide and almost off of the track there was nothing else that Schumacher could have done. The stewards agreed, the protest was rejected and Schumacher’s win and championship stood.
David Coulthard, who also received a drive-through penalty for crossing the white line at the pit exit, finished in third place in the second McLaren.
Juan Pablo Montoya had started well from his fifth straight pole position and had managed to keep Schumacher and the rest of the pack behind his Williams until his first pit stop but he was obviously holding them up and once Schumacher had got around him there was no way that he could keep up with him. Montoya’s second stop took several seconds longer than it should have and he eventually finished fourth. His team mate Ralph Schumacher, who was the last car on the lead lap, finished a second behind him in fifth place having also received a drive-through penalty for crossing the pit exit blend line.
Jenson Button finished sixth for Renault who had earlier announced that he would not be with them next year.
Still running at the end were Nick Heidfeld (Sauber), Mark Webber (Minardi), Pedro de la Rosa (Jaguar) and Alex Yoong (Minardi). Allan McNish was the last classified driver in 11th place but his Toyota had been towed away long before the chequered flag was waved.
Eddie Irvine was lucky not to have been injured when the rear wing fell off of his Jaguar at speed causing him to spin off of the track.
On a day when records were being broken and penalties were being handed out freely Felipe Massa (Sauber) had the dubious distinction of receiving two drive-through penalties – his first was for one of the most blatant jump-starts ever seen in a Grand Prix and his second was for crossing the infamous pit lane blend line as he finished his first penalty.
Olivier Panis (BAR) and Takuma Sato (Jordan) collided on the first corner and, despite both being able to continue at the time, neither of them made it to the halfway point in the race.
Only one of the Jordans lined up on the starting grid after Giancarlo Fisichella had a massive accident in practice on Saturday morning and was not able to qualify or take part in the race. Fisichella was not physically injured but he slammed into the tyre barrier with such force that he was told by the FIA medical experts that he shouldn’t drive.
Neither of the Arrows cars took part in the race after they both failed to qualify inside the 107% rule – which was hardly surprising as they didn’t take part in any of the practice sessions and they only made one qualifying attempt each.
The Arrows team has severe financial problems and would probably have already been sold if it wasn’t embroiled in a legal battle with one of its creditors. Had they not taken part in qualifying they could have been heavily fined and they might even have lost their place on the grid which would have made them virtually worthless so it looks like they purposely did just enough to avoid being penalized while deliberately not getting into the field for today’s race.
Ironically this left Heinz-Harald Frentzen without a drive for the weekend and so he agreed to drive the second Jordan for the team that dumped him almost exactly a year ago. In the end there were apparently legal issues which could not be resolved in time and so the Jordan stayed in the pits.