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Formula One: M. Schumacher reigns supreme in wet race, leading Ferrari 1-2

19 June 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

MONTREAL -- Michael Schumacher led Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello to a 1-2 finish in the Canadian Grand Prix and extended his lead in the World Championship over West McLaren-Mercedes teammates David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen.

After eight of 17 races, Schumacher, with five wins this season, has 56 points. Coulthard is second with 34 points followed by Hakkinen with 32. But Schumacher is not thinking about winning his third World Championship just yet.

"Theres no need to think about the championship," he said. "The golden rule is that you cannot think about being champion until there is no mathematical chance of you losing it. Thats the way I see it. I have been in Formula 1 for almost 10 years, and I have lots of experience in this business, so I want to wait until its final.

"Right now, I want to say congratulations to all the team on doing a perfect job all weekend. I also want to mention my teammate, because he protected me at the end there when I was going slowly to play safe. Hes a good man, and one day I will pay him back for it. Thanks for that."

Schumacher now has 40 career Grand Prix victories. He is third on the all-time win list behind Alain Prost with 52 victories and Ayrton Senna with 41 victories.

He led all but nine of the 69 laps on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Rain began to fall just past half distance and, although Schumacher slid off the track at one stage, he kept his Ferrari under control and went on to win for the fourth time in Canada.

Barrichello ended up second despite getting held up behind Jacques Villeneuve for the first 24 laps, which allowed Schumacher to pull out a 26-second lead. Then Barrichello had to wait behind Schumacher when both came into the Ferrari pits at the same time to switch to rain tires.

Mild Seven Benetton-Playlife was the only team that had a rain strategy in place, so Giancarlo Fisichella and Alexander Wurz did not have to make an extra pit stop to change to rain tires. That helped Fisichella to finish third. Hes placed in the top three in four consecutive Canadian Grands Prix.

Hakkinen, who also got held up behind Villeneuve, salvaged fourth place. Jos Verstappen scored his first points of the season when he brought his Orange Arrows-Supertec home fifth. Jarno Trulli rounded out the top six in his Benson & Hedges Jordan-Mugen-Honda.

Pole winner Schumacher took the lead at the start, and he and Coulthard pulled away from a queue of cars that consisted of Villeneuves Lucky Strike BAR-Honda, Barrichellos Ferrari, Hakkinens McLaren and Verstappens Arrows.

But Coulthard had to serve a 10 second stop-and-go penalty because his mechanics had not cleared the grid 15 seconds before the final formation lap. They had to restart his car after he stalled it. The penalty, a spin and a collision with Alexander Wurz dropped Coulthard to seventh place.

Most drivers had already stopped for fuel and tires when it started to rain, and that meant that they soon had to pit again. A breakdown in radio communications meant that the BAR crew did not hear Villeneuves request for rain tires, and Villeneuve had to pit again just one lap after he pitted for the first time. He later collided with Ralf Schumachers Williams-BMW with five laps to go, and both drivers were eliminated from the race. Race officials issued Villeneuve with a reprimand for causing the accident.

Michael Schumacher averaged 112.374 mph (180.849 km) to finish the 69-lap, 189.548-mile (305.049-km) race in one hour, 41 minutes and 12.313 seconds. He slowed in the closing laps because of a sensor problem on his car, and that allowed Barrichello to close within 0.174 of a second at the finish line.

QUOTEBOOK:

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER (Ferrari, winner): "At the start, I knew something had happened to Coulthard, but I just drove my own race. He was not close enough to attack anyway. Then when he had his penalty, I took it easy. I made my pit stop because I thought something was wrong with the car, but the mechanics could find nothing wrong so I continued. I had to push a little bit more when Rubens was behind. The track was slippery when it started to rain, then it got better and then worse. I locked up my brakes at Turn 1 and decided to drive straight through the gravel."

RUBENS BARRICHELLO (Ferrari, second): "Because of what happened at the Nurburgring, where I missed my pit stop by one or two laps, there was a radio conversation between me and Ross (Brawn). If I had put the wets on at the right moment (there), I would probably have won the race. Here it was very close, and I was telling Ross that it was raining more and more, (in fact raining so hard) that I told him that even if it only rained for another 10 laps it would still be quicker to make the extra stop. So they told me to come in and (wait my turn) behind Michael."

GIANCARLO FISICHELLA (Mild Seven Benetton-Playlife, third): "The strategy was obviously for one pit stop, and my car was carrying maximum fuel, a lot. At the beginning it was quite difficult, so I drove quite a safe race. Then it started to rain quite heavily, and I called my engineers to ask them for wet tires. They called me in one lap later, and that was the right moment."

MIKA HAKKINEN (West McLaren-Mercedes, fourth): "I was quick off the line and managed to get alongside Barrichello coming into the first corner. However, Villeneuve managed to get next to me, and I decided to play it safe and ease off rather than end up in the gravel trap. As a result, both Barrichello and myself were stuck behind Villeneuve for a number of laps. I finally found my way past Jacques and was able to go flat out. Then it started to rain, and my race was pretty much over."

DAVID COULTHARD (West McLaren-Mercedes, seventh): "Championship-wise, this is not where I wanted to be after winning in Monaco. I stalled the engine on the formation lap, and the team started the car at the last moment. According to the rules, that meant a stop-and-go penalty. It is a shame because I was definitely quicker than (Michael) Schumacher."

JACQUES VILLENUEVE (Lucky Strike BAR-Honda, retired): "The car was really quick in the wet. Unfortunately, a miscommunication in the pit stop meant that we put the wrong tires on, and I had to return to the pits. I then pushed hard to try and regain some of the places I had lost. Unfortunately, I guess I tried a little too hard."

Text provided by Paul Kelly

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