I know that I keep on picking on the FIA   
17 April 2003 Volume 5 - Issue 5   

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But their tyre rules are pointless and dangerous.

I assume that the rule restricting teams to only one type of wet tyre per event is aimed at saving money.

What money?

The cost of transport?

Storage space at the track?

I know if one counts pennies the rest will look after itself but for God’s sake how much money is saved by leaving a choice of tyre behind?

It totally screwed up the race – all the cars were out on intermediates and that could not cope with the water on the track. Apart from the cost of rebuilding the cars (which would have covered the cost of shipping the tyres a hundred times over) it made the race far too dangerous for drivers and trackside staff.

Allowing each team to develop their own tyres (by specifying their own compounds) but then to only let them bring some of them to the track is stupid! How does that save money? Surely by far the greatest cost is in the development of the tyres? Surely the cost borne by the tyre suppliers is part of the game. If not, how long do they think that the tyre suppliers will be prepared to keep this up?

I cannot comment much about the race in Brazil. What is there to say? Carnage changed the outcome of the race so much that they could not even work out who won. I think it is neat that Fisichella won his first race as I have always felt that he had the ability but it is hard to suggest that he was anything else but the last man standing. Most of the competition had already succumbed to aquaplaning.

Again I repeat much of what I said last time about the Imola track as it has not changed:

The pit straight is relatively short limiting speeds to around 300km/H(186mph) before braking for the Tamburello, a sweeping s-curve taken at around 130km/H(90mph) before building up to 300km/H(186mph) again around a long sweep before braking for Villeneuve, a fast 200km/H(124mph) right handed kink.

A short straight gets up to Tosa, a 110km/H(68mph) left hand corner that is almost a hairpin, from which a flat out right handed king separates the trip to Piratella a fast left hand corner (200km/H or 124mph). A stretched out left-right weave builds speeds up to around 280KMh/174mph before braking for Acque Minerali (right 90 degree 145km/H or 90mph) after which the track weaves left then right to Variante Alta taken slightly faster than Acque Minerali.

A short straight ends in a flat out right hand kink so the cars should get up to around 300km/H(186mph) again before braking for Rivazza a full, fast hairpin that slows cars to 125km/H(80mph) on the apex, accelerating through the corner to exit at over 150km/H(93mph) through Variante Bassa (a right hand sweep so gentle that I am surprised it was named at all) up to 300km/H(186mph) before braking down to 100km/H(62mph) for Tranguardo the entrance to the pit straight.

Overtaking is always difficult at San Marino. The only opportunity is the pit straight but it is a little short. Getting on the inside in Tosa by starting on the outside in Villeneuve is also possible but it is risky and difficult to exit Villeneuve fast enough to stay with the opponent that has the optimum line on the clean part of the circuit. Rivazza may also work on the same basis – overtaking on the wrong, long left side of the kink to get the inside through Rivazza.

Yet again strategy at the start, and therefore, qualifying will be crucial. So far we have not seen a pattern emerge that will give us an idea of what the teams are planning. Hell, we have been unable to make any sense out of the last three races, especially Brazil.

We could expect the slight advantage that Michelin had so far, not that one race is a pattern, to ease up in the cooler European climate.

San Marino is somewhat slower than the tracks we have seen so far this season. If all else is equal, it should favour Ferrari but with the weird starting strategies we have seen from all teams they may not be able to take advantage of this edge. At San Marino getting caught behind slower cars will be fatal. Overtaking is not easy and waiting for pit stops to sort out the field is a gamble as it is virtually impossible to predict when the teams may stop.

Theoretically, we should be able to work out which teams are on a light fuel load but when it becomes a procession we cannot even make that comparison. The leaders may be on heavy fuel loads and were just lucky in qualifying.

Stretching qualifying over a prolonged period one after the other should not make that much difference but in Brazil we saw that the weather, or at least the effect of it, can dramatically influence qualifying times. Guessing who will be on pole is impossible. Are they on a heavy fuel load? Was the track dryer or wetter, warmer or colder, cleaner or dirtier? Picking names out of a hat will be just as effective.

I still suspect that we have not seen the Ferrari in it’s best light yet. It is almost as if the season is starting off by levelling the extraordinary run of luck that Ferrari had over the past two years. Nothing has worked out for them. Every strategy failed through no fault of theirs.
I am sure that all the rumours of Michael retiring are unfound. Of all people he would know that he did not have a chance in all three races so far. Lady Luck was just not with him. I am sure that both Schumacher and Barrichello realise that it is very unlikely that the season will continue like this.
On the other hand if their bad luck lasts a little longer it may upset the team’s equilibrium. Decisions could be made on “the safe choice” rather than the best choice and that could hold Ferrari back even longer. As long as they do not allow themselves to get phased by the start to the season they could rapidly become the team to beat again.
Barrichello now seems to fit in much better than before. He has the right attitude for Ferrari and has at last been accepted as a contributing driver rather than a support driver to Michael. I am expecting him to do much better when the team and the pattern of the season settles down. His luck is just as bad as ever – he manages to avoid spinning only to retire with a fuel problem.

At San Marino I predict that McLaren will be considerably better than Williams, who are still struggling with their chassis. This is not the place to have an inferior chassis.
Of the two drivers it has to be Raikkonen that takes the lead. Coulthard will not be much slower and will look after his car and tyres far better but just does not have the agility (courage of youth) to keep up. He is more likely to finish than Raikkonen.

Montoya will drive the wheels off the Williams again but I just do not see the car working for him in San Marino. Maybe they will surprise me by fixing the chassis in time for the race but I suspect it needs weeks in the wind tunnel. If they get it right (and their record in the past few seasons does not fill me with confidence) I will be surprised if they do before August or so.
Ralf will potter around in the background again. Who knows maybe carnage in the lead will get him some reasonable championship points again.

Whether it is luck alone or luck and a much-improved car we do not know, but Renault is currently second in the Constructor’s Championship, ahead of Ferrari. When last did we see that?
Alonso could be the next great driver. I rate him as high as Raikkonen, if not higher. Trulli is absolutely not slow but it seems that he is playing the same role at Renault as Coulthard plays at McLaren.
Their package seems to be improving but it is so hard to say. They could do well in San Marino.
In San Marino good brakes are essential to overtake or fend off an overtaking manoeuvre. Renault will probably still have the best braking ability in the field.

Jordan have now overtaken Sauber in the Constructor’s standings. When last have we seen a Jordan on the podium? Let alone on the top of the podium.
Fisichella, as I have maintained for years, has the skill to do well, so maybe this will be the year when we see what he is capable of.
Who knows how good Firman is? He certainly has not had a chance to demonstrate any of his skills so far this year. When the chaos dies down (and I hope it does) we should be able to make a better assessment.
I think that it was a combination of luck and Fisichella’s ability in these really adverse conditions that got them to the podium in Brazil. I do not expect to see them much higher than 6th or7th in San Marino.

Sauber did manage to get one car in the points – Frentzen. Heidfeld had an engine failure. They must be very frustrated as (and I have mentioned this before) they only have the early part of the season to do well in. And that is so mixed up that they have little chance.

Villeneuve finished behind Frentzen in 6th place which sounds great for BAR until you realise that Villeneuve is one of the world’s top drivers and last year’s other Honda powered team won the race. Maybe BAR should have moved to Ford power too.
Button is still not showing the flair we saw before but then in the last three races not many drivers had the opportunity to do that either.

Webber classified as a finisher. Or, should I say that he did finish officially after being the cause of the race being ended prematurely. How it works I am not sure, but there you have it.
Pizzonia spun much earlier in the race.
Jaguar did not do too good. I guess they have a long way to go.

Da Matta finished a lap behind but at least he kept the Toyota on the island.
Panis stacked on the 17th lap. We are all focusing on the bad luck that Ferrari and especially Schumacher has but here is a driver that has not finished a single race without putting a foot wrong. This time he just happened to be in front of Firman when the Jordan’s suspension failed. Firman piled into the back of Panis taking both out of the race.
Toyota are not doing well, but I expected them to struggle. It would be encouraging to see them gradually improve as they work towards getting it right. With this chaos who knows? For all we know they are improving.

Minardi is Minardi.

Interesting that there are that many suspension failures this year. I can’t remember it being that prevalent before. It seems that most teams have now managed to make their wings strong enough to stay on but the huge downforce is now breaking suspensions. I guess it is part of the evolution that these cars are constantly going through.

Much as I would like to see it I do not expect the madness to go away now that they have moved to Europe. The teams are still struggling to come up with reasonable or workable race strategies that are unlikely to be fouled by more radical strategies by other teams. Until they all settle down into some type of predictable pattern we are all doomed to confusion. The current chaos may have some spectator appeal amongst the spectacle seekers but I hate it.

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