Japanese Grand Prix - Michael Schumacher Victorious!
TRULLI BRINGS HONDA’S YEAR TO A CLOSE Jarno leads home Honda runners Jarno Trulli, aboard his Benson and Hedges Jordan Honda, led home the Honda runners in today’s Japanese Grand Prix, as Michael Schumacher sealed his championship year with an emphatic victory in a thrilling race at Suzuka to close the 2001 Formula One World Championship. In doing so, the Ferrari driver became the highest points scorer in Formula One’s history. Juan Pablo Montoya finished second in his Williams BMW while McLaren’s David Coulthard was able to secure the runners-up spot in the drivers’ world championship from Rubens Barrichello by taking the third step of the podium. Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda’s Jacques Villeneuve finished the race in 10th position with his team-mate Olivier Panis in 13th. Jean Alesi’s final Formula One race came to an early and abrupt end when he was innocently caught up in the spinning Sauber of Kimi Raikkonen on lap six. Yet again Michael scorched away from the lights at the start, chased by Montoya and his team-mate Ralf Schumacher, with the Ferrari of Barrichello, Benetton of Giancarlo Fisichella, McLarens of Mika Hakkinen and Coulthard and Trulli in immediate pursuit. After some frenetic moves in the opening laps, including a hard-edged dice between Montoya and Barrichello, the race order settled down with the race leader opening up a lead from the two Williams BMWs, with Trulli in seventh, Alesi 10th, Villeneuve 13th and Panis 17th. On lap six however, Kimi Raikkonen spun off at high-speed and Alesi, running close behind the Sauber, was unable to take avoiding action and the pair collided, sliding off into the barriers and out of the race. With virtually all of the field on a two-stop strategy, the race order was set for a number of changes. First to pit among the leading group was Barrichello on lap 15 (the only driver to run on a three-stop strategy) followed by Trulli and Fisichella simultaneously two laps later. A quick despatch by the Jordan Honda pit crew maintained Trulli’s edge over his compatriot, with whom he swaps teams next year. On the same lap Panis pitted, with a new nose fitted in addition to the scheduled fuel and tyres. When Michael made his first pitstop on lap 18 Montoya took the race lead and a spate of pitstops followed. Within the following six laps the rest of the field made their first stops, including Villeneuve, but as the shakeout took place Michael regained his lead. His brother Ralf, in the Williams BMW, was fairing differently in his battle with Barrichello for third. Following a 10 second stop-go penalty for cutting off the final chicane and gaining advantage, he passed the slow Ferrari as it exited the pitlane after Barrichello’s second stop, crossing the white line but escaping further sanction from the race stewards. By lap 34 the first of the Honda-powered runners were in for their second stops, Panis and Trulli pitting on the same lap and Villeneuve the next, exiting just behind the Jordan Honda to commence a close-fought battle. With the remaining cars all pitting over the next five laps, Michael had done enough to maintain his lead, with Montoya still chasing hard in second, Barrichello in third, Hakkinen and Coulthard fourth and fifth, and Ralf trying to claw his way back from his enforced demotion to sixth. The two Benettons of Jenson Button and Fisichella in seventh and eighth were the immediate target of Trulli, himself mounting a staunch defence from the eager attentions of Villeneuve, with Panis now up to 15th. Barrichello dropped to fifth after his third ‘splash and dash’ pitstop on lap 42, by which time the gap between Trulli had closed to half a second. Two laps later Jacques overtook into the chicane but overshot, enabling Jarno to pass him back. At this time Fisichella retired, promoting the Honda runners one place and just after Hakkinen moved over to promote his team-mate to third place, to ensure his championship position over Barrichello. The race between Trulli and Villeneuve was still raging, with Jacques spinning into the chicane in another attempt to pass Jarno and although he kept the car going, he was forced to surrender a position to Nick Heidfeld’s Sauber. Meanwhile Michael cruised to the chequered flag with Montoya still in hot pursuit and Coulthard completing the podium line-up. Jarno Trulli Position: 8th “I really wanted to win points for Jordan before leaving, and I think we deserved to do so. But it was a tough race and we were not competitive enough today. I just was not able to go any faster – I don’t know why we were so slow. I feel really down about finishing the season like this but I have good memories from my two years at Jordan. These years have been a very important stepping stone in my career I want to say thank you to my mechanics, engineers and all my friends in the team.” Kazutoshi Nishizawa – Technical Director, Honda Racing Development “The four drivers each did a fantastic job but regrettably their efforts could not be rewarded, especially Jean, whose unfortunate involvement in the accident denied him the opportunity to achieve the record of being the first F1 driver to finish 17 races in one year just before he retired. In terms of this season, we were simply not able to achieve our target. We will press on with the development of our engine for next year which is already running.” Eddie Jordan, Chief Executive, Jordan Honda “There is not a lot to say about today. I feel for Jean as this was a sad way to end his career. He is very philosophical about it though, and has clearly enjoyed the weekend immensely. Jarno deserved better this season with us – he had a particularly unlucky season.” Craig Pollock, Team Principal and Managing Director, B.A.R Honda “The team worked incredibly hard all weekend and have fantastic. They certainly made up for our performance at the last race. Both drivers did a great job and we saw Jacques drive like a champion to get us the result we needed. Today really showed the true quality of this team. It has been a very tough season and everyone has survived it brilliantly. The team deserves a good break now then all our thoughts will turn to giving us the car we deserve for next year.” Race results 1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1h27'33"298 2 MONTOYA Williams BMW + 0'03"154 3 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes + 0'23"262 4 HAKKINEN McLaren Mercedes + 0'35"539 5 BARRICHELLO Ferrari + 0'36"544 6 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW + 0'37"122 7 BUTTON Benetton Renault + 1'37"102 8 TRULLI Jordan Honda 1 lap 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas 1 lap 10 VILLENEUVE B.A.R Honda 1 lap 11 ALONSO Minardi European 1 lap 12 FRENTZEN Prost Acer 1 lap 13 PANIS B.A.R Honda 2 laps 14 BERNOLDI Arrows Asiatech 2 laps 15 VERSTAPPEN Arrows Asiatech 2 laps 16 YOONG Minardi European 3 laps World Championship standings (after 17 of 17 rounds) Drivers’ 1 M Schumacher Ferrari 123 2 Coulthard McLaren Mercedes 65 3 Barrichello Ferrari 56 4 R Schumacher Williams BMW 49 5 Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes 37 6 Montoya Williams BMW 31 8 Villeneuve B.A.R Honda 12 10 Trulli Jordan Honda 9 13 Alesi Jordan Honda 6 15 Panis B.A.R Honda 5 Constructors’ 1 Ferrari 179 2 McLaren Mercedes 102 3 Williams BMW 80 4 Sauber Petronas 22 5 Jordan Honda 19* 6 B.A.R Honda 17 7 Benetton Renault 10 8 Jaguar 10 9 Prost 4 10 Arrows 1 *provisional pending appeal -------------------------------------------------------------- Honda Formula 1 Press Office, 19 Heathmans Road, London, SW6 4TJ, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7384 2133 Fax: +44 (0)20 7384 1238