Michael Schumacher won a wet Grand Prix of Europe for Ferrari at the Nurburgring today. As usual he was the quickest in the rain and by the end of the race the only unlapped car on the track was the McLaren of Mika Hakkinen.
The race started before the rain began with David Coulthard on the pole but Schumacher had pulled in front of him before the first corner. In his best start this year Mika Hakkinen came from the second row and slipped between both of them. Schumacher seemed quicker but Hakkinen was in front and that was the way it stayed until the rain started.
Once the rain began Schumacher passed Hakkinen and, apart from the period when he and Hakkinen were out of step on their pit stops, he led the rest of the race.
David Coulthard (McLaren) and Rubens Barichello (Ferrari) contested third place and the faster Barichello would almost certainly have triumphed had it not been for a poor second stop where his team failed to give him enough fuel to finish the race. Once he had made a third stop he was still right behind Coulthard but could not get past him before the finish.
Giancarlo Fisichella took fifth place for Benetton and Pedro de la Rosa scored Arrows’ first championship point of the year in sixth.
It was a bad day for Jordan, first Jarno Trulli went off on the opening lap (with a little help from Fisichella) and then Heinz-Harald Frentzen retired two laps later with a blown engine.
There were several slow-speed collisions in the wet; Eddie Irvine’s Jaguar slid whilst trying to pass the Arrows of Jos Verstappen and clipped the rear wing from Ralf Schumacher’s Williams. Alexander Wurz (Benetton) and Johnny Herbert (Jaguar) collided and damaged Jenson Button’s Williams which retired a short while later.
Nick Heidfeld missed his first race in his own country after his Prost was disqualified from Saturday’s qualifying for being under the minimum weight.
European GP results.
Posted: Sunday, May 21st, 2000
For the second race in a row McLaren finished one-two but this time it was defending champion Mika Hakkinen who finished first with David Coulthard in second. As is often the case the race was won and lost in the pits - this time in Michael Schumacher’s pit.
Schumacher had started his Ferrari from his first pole of the year and pulled away from the pack with only Hakkinen keeping up with him. On his first pit stop Schumacher was signaled out of his pit too soon while the fuel hose was still attached to the car. The hose came loose but mechanic Nigel Stepney was knocked to the ground, injuring his leg.
Schumacher’s second stop was no better as at first the fuel did not flow into his car, finally it did but his stop took 17.5 seconds and allowed Mika Hakkinen to take the lead. His troubles were still not over as it seems that one of his tyres had low air pressure and this allowed David Coulthard to pass him on the track. Schumacher’s Ferrari teammate Rubens Barichello was also able to pass him while he was dicing with his brother Ralf for third place. To several commentators it looked like Michael deliberately eased Ralf’s Williams wide to allow his Ferrari colleague to pass. Michael had to make an extra stop for fresh tyres and this put him back in fifth place, one position behind his brother.
Jenson Button in the second Williams would have finished sixth but a breakdown one lap from the end gave the place to Heinz-Harald Frentzen in a Jordan.
Spanish GP results.
Posted: Sunday, May 7th, 2000
British McLaren Formula One driver David Coulthard miraculously walked away from the wreckage of a private jet in which the pilot and co-pilot died when it crashed during an emergency landing in central France on Tuesday.
Coulthard, his American fianc Heidi Wichlinski and his personal trainer Andy Matthews escaped with nothing worse than cuts and bruises when the chartered Lear Jet in which they were traveling from Southern England developed engine trouble. The pilot told the passengers that they would have to attempt an emergency landing and it was during this procedure that one of the wings apparently hit the ground launching the plane up into the air again. After the jet smashed into the ground the front section exploded killing the two pilots but the rear of the plane was largely undamaged, giving Coulthard and his two companions time to climb from the plane.
The three survivors were treated at Lyon’s Edouard Herriot hospital and they later drove to Coulthard’s home in Monte Carlo.
A statement from the McLaren team has confirmed that Coulthard still intends to drive in this weekend’s Spanish GP.
Posted: Tuesday, May 2nd, 2000
