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Formula 1 news, results and statistics when you need it |
3 - 8 May News | |||
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Formula 1 news, results and statistics when you need it |
3 - 8 May News | |||
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8-May: Ralf Schumacher preferred not to comment on the incident between himself and his brother Michael Schumacher when they were fighting for position towards the end of the Spanish Grand Prix and Rubens Barrichello managed to slip past both. He indicated that he would rather watch the video first. Michael Schumacher on the other hand simply said "racing is racing, if Ralf wants to fight, he'll get a fight". Their father Rolf appears to be used to this kind of sibling rivalry and he prefers to remain neutral !! 8-May: Michael Schumacher only managed to finish 5th at the Spanish Grand Prix following a series of problems for himself and the Ferrari team. At the first pit stop, the lollipop man mistakenly lifted the stop/go sign while the refuelers where still disengaging the fuel nozzle from the car. This caused Michael Schumacher to hit the mechanic (Nigel Stepney) with his rear right wheel. Ferrari then had to replace him with another refueler who (mainly due to inexperience and pressure) took too a very long time to refuel Michael's car at the second pit stop causing him to lose the lead. To make things worse, Michael Schumacher had low pressure in one of his tyres causing him to quickly drop behind Hakkinen and allow David Coulthard, Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher all to pass him. Later Michael Schumacher said "You cannot always have lucky races and today's race did not go so well for us". He was only a little bit disappointed as he still managed to score some points given the circumstances. 7-May: At the post race press conference, Mika Hakkinen was lost for words when he was asked how he felt about winning the Spanish Grand Prix 3 times in a row. Eventually he said that he was over the moon. He indicated that his plan was to pass Michael through the pits and that worked. When asked about his chances for the championship, he said that there is a long way to go and that McLaren are working very hard on new developments which will make them even stronger. McLaren were clearly stronger than Ferrari under race conditions here in Spain. David Coulthard was happy to be able to score second place and maximise the points for McLaren and when asked if it was the right decision to race so soon following his plane crash, Coulthard said that yes it was. Rubens Barrichello clearly indicated his disappointment with his pit stops. This was due to the main refueller being injured after Michael's car hit him. The replacement refueller was not so quick. Rubens added that he owes this 3rd place to Michael Schumacher following the fight Michael and Ralf had for 3rd place. 7-May: Mika Hakkinen wins the Spanish Grand Prix ahead of teammate David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello. Ralf Schumacher, Michael Schumacher and Heinz Harald Frentzen make the top 6 ... Full Report ... Timed Results. 7-May: Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time during the warm-up session ahead of Mika Hakkinen and Rubens Barrichello. David Coulthard, Jenson Button and Pedro de la Rosa make the top 6. The session started with drivers doing installation laps on their race cars and the spare cars. Pedro de la Rosa who is running under appeal had a problem with his race car and got stuck into the gravel trap. He races back to the pits to use the spare car. Most other drivers start setting timed laps. With 15 minutes into the session it was Michael Schumacher from Mika Hakkinen and Rubens Barrichello. The session continued with drivers improving their times and no major incidents apart from a couple of excursions over the grass or the gravel trap by Pedro Diniz and Alexander Wurz. Gaston Mazzacane lost it at the end of the session and was stuck in the gravel trap. While most of the lap times are comparable indicating similar pit stop strategies and fuel loads, the Sauber team only managed 21st and 22nd indicating that they are running a heavier fuel load and possibly a different strategy. 6-May: Following an impressive qualifying session where he qualified 9th, Pedro de la Rosa was found to have a fuel infringement on his car. The stewards stripped him of 9th position and placed him at the back of the grid. The Arrows team have appealed and Pedro de la Rosa will be allowed to start in 9th place pending a decision by the stewards which will be heard after the race. It appears that David Coulthard could have been much closer to the top 2 had he been running a lighter car. David experienced a fuel pressure problem on his first lap during qualifying and was forced to abort his run. Rather than use the spare car which was setup for Mika Hakkinen, the team decided to put more fuel in the car to solve the fuel pressure problem. This however made his car heavier and thus slower. Let us hope that he gets a chance to fight with the top 2 at the race. Heinz Harald Frentzen indicated that they would be unrealistic to expect a position in the first two rows however he was disappointed that he was not on the third row. He indicated that Ralf Schumacher deserves 5th place but he was very surprised that Jacques Villeneuve managed 6th place ahead of both the Jordan's. Jacques Villeneuve was very pleased with his best qualifying position so far this season in 6th position and indicated that it felt as good as fighting for pole position. He was also very pleased that they are less than a second away from pole and thinks that they have made up around half a second to the leaders. At Silverstone, Jacques Villeneuve managed to storm from 10th to 6th place and get ahead of Michael Schumacher on the first lap and kept him behind until the first pit stop. If he has another amazing start here, could he do something similar ? 6-May: At the post qualifying press conference, Michael Schumacher indicated that Ferrari have always been competitive this year but they had a bad run in the first few races. He added that the competition between them and McLaren is so close that any simple mistake will lose you pole position and that is what has happened in the past. When asked about how crucial is the start tomorrow, Michael indicated that while leading the race makes it slightly easier to decide your race strategy, it is not most necessary but it certainly helps. Mika Hakkinen on the other hand believed that he could have got pole position since only his last run was a 100% clear run and he only ended up 0.078 seconds behind Michael. Rubens Barrichello thought that he could and should have done better than 3rd but he was not quite comfortable with the car. He also indicated that he is still having some handling problems with the car but Ferrari are looking into it. 6-May: Michael Schumacher grabs his first pole position of the season ahead of Mika Hakkinen and Rubens Barrichello ... Full Report ... Timed Results. 6-May: Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time in the second practice session on Saturday ahead of David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello ... Full Report ... Timed Results. 6-May: David Coulthard sets the fastest time in the first practice session on Saturday ahead of teammate Mika Hakkinen and Ralf Schumacher. ... Full Report ... Timed Results. 5-May: At the FIA press conference on Friday, Heinz Harald Frentzen said that he was on paternity leave when asked why didn't he set a fast lap during the first practice session and set just one timed lap in the second session. On a more serious note, he indicated that it was a tactical move and if it was up to him he would have not done any laps. He believes that they have done everything they needed to do during testing last week. He also indicated that they appear to have sorted the gearbox problems but not necessarily 100%. He is optimistic of better reliability. On his teammate Jarno Trulli, Frentzen said that he gives himself and all the team a challenge and that he cannot think of anything bad to say about him. Jos Verstappen indicated his satisfaction with the Arrows and that he believes that the reliability should be improved at Spain. He expects to be able to finish the race anywhere between 8th and 15th. Mika Salo indicated that they had a few problems at the start of the season. Several new parts will be tested over the next few weeks that should make the car go quicker. On qualifying, he indicated that the field is very tight and anywhere between 8th and 15th is possible. Cesare Fiorio from the Minardi team indicated that they are in discussions with a few parties regarding acquiring business partners but would not elaborate further. He also mentioned that Minardi will have one more engine development step that they will be using for qualifying and on one car during the race. There will be no further engine development this year. On the titanium gearbox, he indicated that it is still under development and that it is an expensive exercise. Minardi will be continuing the development at race venues due to lack of funds. At Spain, only Gaston Mazzacane will be using the titanium gearbox. Tom Walkinshaw from the Arrows team was hopeful that Arrows would be able to keep the Supertec engines for next year but that depends on what Renault wants to do as they now own Benetton and could supply Benetton exclusively. He indicated that they are still developing the in-house engine they used last year but a very low-key level. On his drivers, he indicated that Jos Verstappen has made every effort to get fit and now he wants to see his drivers fight it out and put pressure on each other. 5-May: Michael and Ralf Schumacher fastest on Friday while David Coulthard is 5th and Mika Hakkinen is 7th ! ... Full Report ... Timed Results. 5-May: Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time for the first practice session ahead of his teammate Rubens Barrichello and Mika Hakkinen ... Full Report ... Timed Results. 4-May: At the FIA press conference on Thursday, Ralf Schumacher indicated his delight with the Williams BMW after a better than expected start to the season. He indicated that he did not expect to finish in the points on the first race of the season and certainly not 3rd place. He also thought that Jenson Button was a very quick driver and hopes that he is not too quick. Rubens Barrichello indicated that it is still too early to judge him as the first 2 races are different from the rest of the tracks, San Marino is all about kerbs and Silverstone was mainly a wet weekend. He believes that Ferrari will do well here and expects to outqualify the McLaren's. He asked everyone not to judge him yet. Marc Gene indicated that he was impressed with this year's Minardi in particular the braking. He also indicated that despite still qualifying at the back of the grid, they are over a second closer than they were last year. He also indicated that there are several buyers interested in the team but does not know who will get the team. Pedro de la Rosa expects Arrows to be competitive at this race as they have been setting impressive times here in testing. He also indicated that they appear to have sorted out the reliability problems as himself and his teammate Jos Verstappen have covered in excess of 290 laps during the testing session last week. 4-May: Professor Sid Watkins, the official Formula 1 medical doctor has examined David Coulthard and gave him the all clear to race in Spain. He indicated that David Coulthard is all right and will have no problems. He did indicated though that Coulthard had heavy bruising on his rib cage and severe grazing on both elbows. Sid Watkins compared Formula 1 drivers to fighter pilots, extremely fit and live everyday of their lives with risks of serious accidents. David Coulthard spoke publicly about his plane crash at the FIA Thursday press conference. He read a prepared statement and asked the press to respect his privacy. He did not take any questions and returned to the McLaren garages immediately. In his statement he expressed his sympathy to the 2 pilots who were killed in the crash and indicated that it was not the aircraft or crew that he usually takes. He also indicated how the aircraft suffered an engine problem and requested an emergency landing at Lyon Airport. Upon landing, one of the wing fuel tanks ruptured and there was fire on the right hand side of the plane. When the plane came to a stop, the cockpit had broke free from the main fuselage and the only way out was through the front of the aircraft. Coulthard's fitness trainer Andy Matthews was first to leave followed by David so they could help David's fiancé Heidi Wichlinski get down from the plane. David Coulthard revealed that he then returned to the aircraft to see what he could do for the pilots but there was nothing he could do. David Coulthard also thanked the French emergency services who arrived in less than a minute at took over the rescue process. David Coulthard asked the press to respect their feelings and allow them to get on with the job this weekend. He did not want to make any further comments or speculation as the French authorities were still investigating the accident. Jaguar racing announced today that Jaguar Racing Chairman Neal Ressler will assume the duties of Paul Stewart who stepped down due to illness. Neal Ressler is now the Chairman and the COO of Jaguar Racing. He is also the Chief Technical Officer of the Ford Motor Company. Neal Ressler also announced that Jaguar Racing will be building their own wind tunnel facility and centralise all their racing functions including the wind tunnel, the race and development teams and Cosworth racing in a single location. Jaguar will be hoping that these improvements will enable them to compete with the 2 top teams in Formula 1 and challenge for the World Championship. The organisers of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone have been summoned by the FIA to appear before the World Motor Sport Council on June 21st. This is due to several errors that occurred at the event last month. Errors such as the mishandling of flags during qualifying and the race, allowing cars on the track prior to the track being officially opened, refusal to open the gates to spectators on Sunday morning despite the long queues of spectators waiting to enter the grounds. The organisers could face heavy fines or even a possible ban. 3-May: David Coulthard who miraculously escaped unhurt from a plane crash on Tuesday is set to take part at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend. He is also expected be present at the FIA press conference on Thursday. Jacques Villeneuve who is suffering from a back injury which occurred while racing at the Brazilian Grand Prix is also expected to race at Spain after pulling out of the testing session at Barcelona last week. A BAR spokesman indicated that if Jacques is still having some pain, he'll just take some painkillers and get on with it !. He was in a similar situation at the San Marino Grand Prix earlier this season. Luca Badoer shook down the 3 Ferrari's heading to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend. He completed a total of 16 laps in the 3 cars with a best time of 1:02.478. 3-May: "Schumacher Fast, Coulthard Lucky !" is the title of the 10th issue from the Diagnosis and Prognosis Series for the 2000 season. In this issue, the Heretic looks at the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix - Check it out here !! Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix schedule :
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