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U.S. GRAND PRIX: M. Schumacher takes pole as Coulthard's charge falls short

23 September 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

INDIANAPOLIS-- Scotsman David Coulthard stuck his nose into the middle of Formula Ones Michael and Mika Show on Saturday so the front row for Sundays inaugural SAP United States Grand Prix wont be Schumacher and Hakkinen.

Michael Schumacher did his job and put his red Ferrari on the pole during the one-hour qualifying session with a lap time of 1 minute, 14.266 seconds around the 13-turn, 2.606-mile circuit. Thats 203.204 kilometers per hour, which translates to 126.265 mph. Coulthard was second at 1:14.392.

"Obviously, we put on a good show today," Schumacher said, "like David (Coulthard) just did in the last couple of seconds. We had a good fight for the pole position. So it was a good day for all of us."

Schumacher had lowered his early time of 1:14.492 that had stood for much of the session.

Hakkinen set the early pace in his West McLaren Mercedes with a 1:14.689. Later he sliced this to 1:14.428 that seemed to assure the two tough rivals for the Formula One championship would be starting from the front row.

Then some strange strategy began to take place.

First, the two Ferraris returned to the track. The idea was to help Schumachers teammate, Rubens Barrichello, improve his time by creating a speed-increasing slipstream and possibly knock Hakkinen back a position. It didnt work as Barrichello failed to negotiate the course quicker than his 1:14.600 that left him in fourth.

Oddly, the McLaren team decided to do the same thing as the hour-long session closed to its final minute. Hakkinen and Coulthard took their gray-and black twin cars out, and the plan solely was to provide Coulthard a shot at the pole. It almost succeeded.

But instead Coulthard came up .126 of second short of Schumachers time. That knocked Hakkinen down a spot to third.

"Its a great thing, and I have to thank him for doing that," Coulthard said about his teammate, two-time defending World Champion Hakkinen, sacrificing a position for him. Hakkinen leads Schumacher in the World Championship point standings, 80-78.

When Coulthard fell short on his final lap, Schumacher was assured of the 30th pole of his career and seventh of the season, sending the wildly avid Ferrari fans into a cheering, flag-waving dither.

It didnt take long for the drivers to shift their attention from qualifying to the race and the forecasted showers. The race will be run as scheduled, rain or shine.

"There is a chance well have a wet-weather race, so we know what to do," Schumacher said. "I hope we dont find too many rivers running across the circuit, which could cause trouble as we dont know the place in full wet condition yet. But maybe, or hopefully, if its going to be that, we have the chance tomorrow morning in warm-up to experience that."

The start of a Formula One event often is the most dramatic part of the race as the drivers jockey for position and try to get an advantage dashing into the first turn. Schumacher has been eliminated twice on the start in recent races.

"Basically, if everybody comes off well, then you wont see really that much moving (of cars)," Schumacher said.

"Its probably similar to Indy if somebody is sleeping, not doing a good start, you see many passing maneuvers. So with us if we miss the start, if we get too much wheelspin or slow off the line, then you will have different speed with different cars down the straight and many overtaking, which is, say, rather difficult to handle because you have to watch front, you have to watch rearward, and thats not an easy thing.

"But were supposed to be the best 22 drivers around the world, and we should be able to handle it."

Hakkinen added: "The first corner is always the first corner. It is difficult. Well see what happens."

Causing some concern for all three was the famed "yard of bricks" at the start-finish line that the cars must accelerate over when the green light flicks on. The row of bricks is the last visible part of the 3.2 million bricks laid as the racing surface in the fall of 1909.

"I think it will be a disadvantage to have a yard of bricks," Coulthard said. "When you drive at speed, you feel where you position the car as to whether youre floored. The plank hits the ground a bit more. Nothing gets better closer to the middle of the track, but for the start what will happen is you will feel that youre running over a yard of bricks."

Following the top four was Jarno Trulli in the Benson & Hedges Jordan at 1:15.006 to round out the top five. Young Jenson Button was sixth and 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve eighth.

Text Provided By Paul Kelly

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