Formula One: Villeneuve fifth as Honda finishes season on a high note
22 October 2000
The final race of the 2000 Formula One season brought yet another points finish for Lucky Strike Reynard BAR Honda as the team clinched fifth position in the Constructors' Championship, despite finishing level on points with Benetton in fourth position. Jacques Villeneuve produced an excellent performance to claim fifth place behind only Ferrari and McLaren, recording his seventh points finish of the year and securing a Drivers' Championship standing of seventh. Ricardo Zonta had also been well placed to add to his season's points total, but the Brazilian retired ten laps from the end. More than 80,000 fans witnessed the climax to the 17-race season, enjoying the hot and humid conditions with temperatures in the high 30s. For the drivers, however, the cockpit temperatures were the hottest of the year. Given that Villeneuve endured most of the race without the use of his drinks bottle, his position behind the Ferrari and McLaren top four was all the more remarkable. Villeneuve once again made a great start. He immediately passed Barrichello and rounded the first corner side-by-side with Wurz. Unfortunately, his line was then blocked by Schumacher's Ferrari and he lost the positions, settling back into sixth place. Once Villeneuve had passed Wurz's Benetton, the BAR Honda driver had a fierce battle with Mika Hakkinen. The Honda-powered BAR was able to keep the McLaren at bay for a number of laps, and although Villeneuve was able to maintain the speed down the back straight, he ran wide at the last corner and Hakkinen was through to claim fourth place. After a strong showing in morning warm-up, in which he had set the fastest time, Ricardo Zonta had high hopes of another points finish. Despite a poor start in which he lost a number of places from 11th on the grid, Ricardo had charged up to eighth on lap six and by the time of his first pit stop on lap 23, he was running fourth. Five laps later Zonta made an excursion off the track after he encountered oil on the tarmac. He quickly rejoined, but the car had picked up a lot of grass and gravel and the engine temperature began to rise. The engineers pulled forward his second stop to lap 38 in order to clean out the radiator ducts, but the searing Malaysian heat took its toll and the engine overheated on lap 47. Jacques Villeneuve Position: 5th "We have made good progress and improved the car throughout the season. We have got to know the car better in terms of set-up which has allowed us to push harder in races and challenge consistently for points. The Honda engine started well and the guys have worked hard throughout the year, but more importantly we have had a car and an engine package that was able to finish races and that has allowed us to finish fifth in the championship." Ricardo Zonta Position: DNF - Lap 47 "I lost my concentration at the beginning because I saw Mika Hakkinen jump the start. Then I overtook four or five cars in the first few laps and the car was really good - I was quicker than the Jordan, the Williams and the Jaguar. After the first stop I was up behind Irvine, we both ran over oil at turn six. He kept on the track, but I went through the gravel, lost time and picked up a lot of grass. Then the engine got hotter and hotter and my race was over." Takefumi Hosaka - Managing Director, Honda R&D "I am very appreciative of Jacques' excellent performance in such hot conditions today to get fifth position. Ricardo also raced very aggressively but I am very sorry that he retired. I look forward to him continuing his good efforts in the future. "Today, we helped the team to achieve its season's objective to get fifth position in the Constructors' Championship. This result was achieved thanks to everybody's efforts, so I would like to thank all the BAR people and my Honda colleagues for their hard work through this season. I would also like to thank our fans very much for their support during a long season and everyone at Honda looks forward to doubling our efforts for an exciting 2001." Jordan Mugen Honda had looked forward to a good performance to end a difficult season for the team in which they have suffered with consistent bad luck. The same was true today as Jarno Trulli was caught up in a first lap incident that necessitated an unscheduled pit stop for a new nose cone and consigned him to finish 12th. Heinz-Harald Frentzen's race ended with electrical problems on lap eight. The 2001 Formula One season begins on 4 March 2001 with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. An official testing ban is now in force until the end of November after which the teams will begin a rigorous testing programme in advance of the new season. 2000 FIA Formula 1 World Championship Final Championship Standings after 17 rounds DRIVERS 1 M Schumacher Ferrari (champion) 108 2 Hakkinen McLaren 89 3 Coulthard McLaren 73 4 Barrichello Ferrari 62 5 R Schumacher Williams 24 6 Fisichella Benetton 18 7 Villeneuve BAR Honda 17 8 Button Williams 12 9 Frentzen Jordan-Mugen Honda 11 10 Trulli Jordan-Mugen Honda 6 13 Zonta BAR Honda 3 CONSTRUCTORS 1 Ferrari (champions) 170 2 McLaren-Mercedes 152 3 Williams-BMW 36 4 Benetton-Playlife 20 5 BAR Honda 20 6 Jordan Mugen-Honda 17 7 Arrows 7 8 Sauber 6 9 Jaguar 4 - Minardi 0 - Prost 0