Coulthard Wins 2000 British GP
David Coulthard won the Grand Prix of Great Britain today at an unexpectedly dry Silverstone circuit. The switch from the usual date in July had displeased all of the drivers and team owners and, until today, had meant that most of the practice and qualifying laps were held either in the rain or at best between showers on a damp track. Heavy rain earlier in the weekend had turned some of the parking areas into quagmires and many ticket holders were turned away due to a lack of parking and long delays getting into the circuit. It is expected that there will be an outcry in the British tabloid press over this and that the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) who own the circuit and were the promoters of the race will lose money after they have refunded the entry fees to those that were unable to get into the event.
For the first time this year someone other than Mika Hakkinen qualified at the front of the grid, this time it was Rubens Barrichello who collected his first pole for Ferrari. Rubens has quite a record of qualifying well in the wet and so this was not that surprising.
Barrichello made a good start and led for more than half of the race until David Coulthard, who had been shadowing him from the start, made a daring move and passed him on the outside at Stowe corner. Seven laps later Barrichello spun off of the track and, even though he managed to get back onto the track and into his pit, retired after being unable to engage a gear at the end of his pit stop. Ferrari announced later that he had a hydraulic problem.
Coulthard kept the lead and finished just in front of Mika Hakkinen who was closing fast but who had reportedly been told not to risk the McLaren 1-2 by fighting with his teammate. Although Hakkinen would have liked to score maximum points to help him in the race to retain his title, the win could hardly have come at a better time for Coulthard as the rumours of his replacement at the end of the year have been growing stronger.
Hakkinen (McLaren) and Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) completed the podium although neither of them made a good start or had a very good race. It was their one-stop strategy that allowed them to pass the Williams teammates of Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button who stopped twice and finished fourth and fifth respectively. This was Button’s second finish in the points in just four races and will no doubt endear him further to the media who have already accorded him superstar-status. The twenty year old has just launched a line of designer clothes and is said to have an autobiography in the works. These extra-curricular activities and the attention that they are generating is apparently not going over too well with his bosses at Williams who feel that this could divert his attention from their priorities. Williams have now moved into third place in the Constructors’ table and are looking like the "best of the rest" behind the predictable Ferrari and McLaren front runners.
Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Jordan) had looked likely to finish sixth but a gearbox problem left him stuck in 6th gear and he retired six laps from the end.
Jacques Villeneuve who had again driven strongly in the BAR inherited the last points-paying position but retired two laps later handing the place to Jarno Trulli who thus scored a single point for Jordan.
The Benettons of Giancarlo Fisichella and Alexander Wurz finished in 7th and 9th positions, sandwiching the Sauber of Mika Salo.
The much criticized Johnny Herbert finished in 12th place, just in front of his Jaguar teammate Eddie Irvine. The rumour mill has it that Herbert will be retiring sometime this year and that this could have been either his last British GP or perhaps even his last race according to which source you listened to.
Posted: Sunday, April 23rd, 2000
