The 2002 Canadian GP Review
By Pablo Elizalde, Spain
Atlas F1 News Editor
Michael Schumacher's victory at the Canadian Grand Prix was just another step towards his fifth World Championship in what is becoming a cakewalk for the Ferrari driver. The German took advantage of his rivals' misfortunes to score his sixth win of the season. However, there was much more than another Schumacher victory, as the race was full of excitement. Atlas F1's Pablo Elizalde reviews the entire weekend's events and results
There are almost countless pieces of data and examples that help put Schumacher's dominance into perspective. Sunday's victory in Canada was his tenth consecutive podium finish, good enough to ensure he has enjoyed the best ever season start in terms of points and wins in the history of Formula One.
It was also Schumacher's 59th victory in Grand Prix racing, and his points tally eight races into the season is only ten points away from a perfect record - he has scored 70 out of the 80 available points. But perhaps more importantly, his Ferrari has not let him down for 13 races in succession, and he has retired only twice in the last 32 (!) Grands Prix.
Despite all the statistics favouring him, and despite having a 43-point advantage over rivals Juan Pablo Montoya and his brother Ralf, Schumacher was still his cautious self, refusing to begin the celebrations, probably with flashbacks of the 1999 British Grand Prix still inside his mind.
"There's no point in thinking about it too much," said Schumacher after scoring his fifth win in Canada. "We know we have a comfortable lead. There's no point in thinking about when we can win it, we just have to make sure we do win it. It's not being pessimistic, just being realistic. It's not over. We still have to wait for that."
With the Championship already a foregone conclusion, the least Formula One fans can hope for in the remaining nine races of the season is that they are as entertaining as last Sunday's event, even if the world crown will not be at stake.
The nature of the Gilles Villeneuve circuit most likely provided more overtaking in one single race than all the other previous seven Grands Prix combined. This time the excitement was well spread throughout the field - there was action both at the top and at the back - and the end result was uncertain up until Montoya's BMW engine let go for the second consecutive time.
One can only feel sorry for the Colombian who, through no fault of his own, has seen two very good chances of winning vanish in the cloud of smoke left by his Williams. Montoya was, like in Monaco, the quickest in qualifying, and there was no doubt that he would have at least raced Schumacher for victory had his car not broken down when he was flying towards his Ferrari rival.
"Juan had that race well won," said Williams technical director Patrick Head after the race. "I think Michael was very short on fuel, which is why he was going quite slowly towards the end. And there were some problems with blistering tyres so I think Juan would have been in very good shape."
Whether Head's claims were right or not, the fact that mattered was that Williams failed to live up to the expectations in Canada, where they were the clear favourites to return to winnings ways. It was not only Montoya who fell victim to Williams' problems, with Ralf also enduring a torrid race that ended with another BMW engine failing once he crossed the line just outside the points.
As BMW boss Gerhard Berger said after the race, even the timing for engine failure is favouring Michael Schumacher this year. "The fact is that we had two engine failures today and that cost us important points. Ferrari also had an engine failure today but their timing was better," he said referring to Schumacher blown engine during the warm-up.
Williams' misfortunes were McLaren's gain as the Woking-based team continued with their momentum following David Coulthard's win in Monaco two weeks earlier. Truth is that Coulthard benefitted from the entry of the Safety Car after a dismal qualifying, but his second place was a just reward to a charging drive and an intelligent strategy in the first race that has seen both McLarens crossing the finish line.
Following the point-less race for both his Williams rivals, the Scot is now knocking on the door for the runner-up spot behind Ferrari's Schumacher, when three races ago probably no one would have bet a penny on his chances. However, it was not all good news for Coulthard in Canada, as he again was overshadowed during most of the weekend by teammate Kimi Raikkonen.
The young Finn was finally able to make it to the end of a race after six retirements in a row, but that was only half the story, as Raikkonen was again hit by problems that robbed him of what seemed set to be his second Formula One podium finish. With his low-key and silent approach, Raikkonen is slowly showing he has what it takes to lead McLaren's challenge in the future.
Once it has been made clear that McLaren have raised their game in the last few races, the Renault team, who seem to have lost some of their initial momentum, are in for a real battle for fourth place in the Constructors' Championship, most likely against Sauber and a rejuvenated Jordan thanks to the brilliance of Giancarlo Fisichella.
If in Monaco it was the French team who beat their British rivals, in Canada Fisichella put on another great drive to score his third consecutive fifth place to move Jordan within two points of Sauber and six behind Renault. The Silverstone-based squad also continued to edge away from the also Honda-powered BAR team, who left Canada with nothing to show for despite their much revised 004 chassis.
Qualifying
As the races go by, it is getting clear that Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya is becoming a specialist when it comes to extracting the best out of his car and his tyres in one single flying lap during the one hour long qualifying sessions.
And the Williams driver demonstrated just that once again at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit last Saturday, when he eclipsed his rivals - most notably Michael Schumacher - to score his sixth pole position in only 25 Formula One Grands Prix. Beating Schumacher on a track where he has started from the top spot in six occasions was, however, no easy task for Montoya.
In order to leave his rivals trailing for the second consecutive time in a qualifying session, Montoya had to lap more than three seconds quicker than Schumacher's pole position time from 2001, the Colombian taking full advantage of the power provided by the BMW qualifying spec engine.
Montoya's 1:12.836 lap was less than two tenths of a second faster than the Ferrari driver's, and the Williams star claimed he could have gone even faster. "Everything went really smoothly, the car is good and has been all weekend," said Montoya. "I gave it a good go and if I'd really put all the sectors together I could have been faster."
Montoya, who atypically was the first man to hit the track during the session, had already topped the times with his second run, but it was with his third attempt that he flew around the Montreal track some 25 minutes into qualifying to claim his third pole of the year.
Despite the relative low track temperatures - around 25 degrees Celsius - Montoya was pleased with the performance of his Michelin tyres, and Michelin boss Pierre Dupasquier was hoping the Colombian's pole put to rest the perception that their tyres do not perform like the Bridgestone in cooler weather.
"I hope so," said Dupasquier after the end of qualifying. "I have always said that we are able to run competitively in warm or cool weather."
Ralf Schumacher, last year's brilliant winner in Canada, did not enjoy the same kind of luck as his teammate, and the German was forced to switch to the spare car halfway through the session after his racing machine suffered from a pneumatic leak in its valve gear. The younger Schumacher would eventually finish down in fourth place.
Ralf's elder brother Michael failed to finish on top of the timesheets for the third consecutive race despite challenging for pole during most of the session. Schumacher occupied the top spot only briefly during the hour-long session, when he completed his first run some 20 minutes into the session, but after that the Ferrari driver spent the rest of the day trying to catch Montoya.
His cause was not aided by the expected rain that hit the circuit some 15 minutes from the end, making it too slippery for Schumacher to improve.
"We might have been able to get pole, but if you look at my sector times, we were very close but just didn't get it together," claimed Schumacher after having to settle for second place. "On my third run, which was my fastest one, I lost some time in the first sector. I knew where I had lost it and why, so I was optimistic for my last run, but then came the rain. We knew there was a chance of rain but not when it could come exactly."
Having hit the wall during practice, consequently losing a lot of valuable time to prepare his car for qualifying, Rubens Barrichello was happy after posting the third quickest time right behind his Ferrari teammate. The Brazilian played catch-up during most of the session, but finished only less than three tenths behind Schumacher despite completing only two of his runs.
Barrichello's third run was spoiled when he spun at turn three, and his final attempt took place when the track was already too damp to improve.
Despite an updated version of the Mercedes-Benz engine for qualifying at the back of their McLaren, Kimi Raikkonen and especially David Coulthard were brought back to reality after the Monaco Grand Prix, with the Finn finishing one second off the pace and the Scot even a further half a second behind his young teammate.
McLaren boss Ron Dennis had predicted after their Monaco win that Canada would be painful for them, and qualifying certainly was for Coulthard, who struggled to match Raikkonen's pace, the Finn outqualifying him for the fifth time in eight races.
Coulthard, who realistically should have been able to fight at least for sixth position, was one of the victims of the late rain, which spoiled his last run. Having already had his third attempt marred by Takuma Sato's blown engine, Coulthard had to do with only two flying laps, only good enough to earn him a place at the back of the fourth row of the grid.
The McLaren driver had to concede to Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella and to Nick Heidfeld in the Sauber, the Italian driver being probably the only one who was capable of gaining positions on the dying moments of the session, jumping up to sixth place with the improving Honda-powered EJ12.
With the much awaited revised 004 chassis, the other Honda-powered team - BAR - were boosted by Jacques Villeneuve's best qualifying performance of the year. The local hero was finally happy with one of the cars from the Brackley-based squad, and though, as expected, it didn't help them make a giant leap, the new car was certainly a step forward, at least in qualifying trim.
The Race
The skies finally cleared up Sunday morning after some heavy showers on Saturday that cleared the track surface, making it very slippery for the warm-up. The session was relatively trouble-free for everyone except for Michael Schumacher, whose engine let go while at the wheel of his spare Ferrari.
"It was certainly better to have an engine failure in the warm-up rather than in the race," said a lucky Schumacher after completing a short run to the pits.
Having called for his Williams team to improve their launch control software after losing out to David Coulthard at the start of the Monaco Grand Prix two weeks earlier, Juan Pablo Montoya was certainly much more happier with his getaway in Canada, as when the red lights extinguished, the Colombian was quick off the line and could hold on to his lead coming into the first turn.
Schumacher's start was not as good as his rival's and lost out to teammate Rubens Barrichello who, starting from the cleaner side of the circuit, got right behind Montoya, with Schumacher in third and Kimi Raikkonen, also on the less dusty part of the track, overtaking Ralf Schumacher for fourth place. Coulthard gained two positions to move up to sixth ahead of Nick Heidfeld, Giancarlo Fisichella and Jarno Trulli in the Renault.
Although there were no incidents at the start, the end of the first lap would see Jaguar's Pedro de la Rosa clashing with Allan McNish in the Toyota, the Spaniard coming off worst, hitting the wall and causing some reparable damage to his R3. De la Rosa, however, was not happy with McNish's driving, claiming the Scot moved over to the outside and hit him.
"There was absolutely no reason for him to have done that and at 330 km/h, it was utter lunacy in my opinion," he said. "Maybe he didn't see me, I don't know, but it essentially ended my race."
Also before the end of the lap, Barrichello, with a Ferrari that was light on fuel, moved ahead of Montoya at the end of the back straight, but the Brazilian was unable to take off, and only managed to edge slightly away from the Colombian.
Both Barrichello and Montoya were among the first drivers to jump the chicane before the start/finish straight, in what would become a habit for most of the drivers who overshot the final corner. Mika Salo and Jacques Villeneuve also jumped the chicane while the Finn was trying to pass the Canadian, but the BAR driver conceded his position after it became obvious that he had benefitted.
Villeneuve's hopes of shining in his home race - and of scoring BAR's first points of the season - were dashed soon afterwards, his 004 suffering engine problems on lap nine and coming to a halt halfway through the back straight. The stewards were unable to remove the car and, after almost five laps, the race director decided to deploy the Safety Car, to the dismay of Barrichello, who had finally began to edge clear of Montoya.
"I don't know why they brought the safety car out because they could have rolled the car backwards, the BAR," Barrichello, on a two-stop strategy, said after the race "That was it. I really don't understand why they... they completely did my race there."
Williams decided to call Montoya in for his first pitstop while the Safety Car was out. The Colombian rejoined right in front of Coulthard, who was running in sixth. The Safety Car left the track on lap 18, and Montoya immediately overtook teammate Ralf and McLaren Raikkonen after both lost time when cutting across the chicane.
By lap 20, Montoya was some seven seconds behind Barrichello, who was followed closely by a quiet Schumacher. The Brazilian Ferrari driver, however, began to push harder, setting the fastest lap several times before making his first scheduled pitstop on lap 25, standing still for 10.6 seconds and rejoining right behind Coulthard in sixth.
Up in front, Schumacher increased his pace, and Montoya, with a lot of fuel on board, was unable to follow him, the German having a commanding lead of nearly 17 seconds on lap 30. Raikkonen followed Montoya closely, while Ralf was still unable to do anything to pass the young Finn.
With a lead of more than 23 seconds, Schumacher came in for his first and only scheduled stop on lap 38, returning to the track more than three seconds behind Montoya. The Colombian's teammate Ralf pitted four laps later, but the German was hit by trouble as the refuelling rig did not work properly and no fuel went in. The Williams driver had to pit again two laps later, ruining all his chances of a good result.
"I had a problem with the fuel rig and this meant that my race was practically lost after the additional pit stop that I had to make," he said afterwards. "Without all these problems I think I could have aimed for second place."
Things were going much better for his Williams teammate, who was beginning to increase his gap to second-placed Schumacher, now under pressure from Raikkonen and a very light McLaren. The Finn, however, would pit on lap 45. Like Ralf, Raikkonen had a problem with the refuelling rig, which meant that not all the fuel that was expected went in.
Instead of calling him in again, McLaren decided to ask him to slow down in the remaining laps, losing all chances of a podium finish. That allowed Coulthard to move up to third place and keep his position once he made his only scheduled stop on lap 49. Raikkonen was still in fifth, while Fisichella, who had pitted at the same time as the Finn, was a distant sixth ahead of Trulli.
With an advantage of more than 12 seconds, and after posting the quickest lap time of the race, Montoya came into the pits for the second time on lap 51. It was a quick stop, but the Colombian rejoined the race in third place behind the two Ferraris, around ten seconds off Schumacher. Second-placed Barrichello, however, was not a problem for Montoya, the Brazilian pitting again three laps later, coming back out in fourth position behind Coulthard.
Montoya's charge to the front was short-lived, and what promised to be a thrilling battle for the win vanished when his BMW engine let go 13 laps from the end of the race, leaving Schumacher alone in the lead of the race... and the Championship.
"I was catching Michael quickly. Suddenly I felt a loss of power and that was it. We did everything right but today was not for us," said a philosophical Montoya after his second consecutive retirement due to problems with his BMW engine.
With ten laps remaining and with more than 17 seconds to Coulthard, Schumacher literally cruised to the chequered flag, and despite the Scot running even some three seconds per lap quicker, it was nothing but an illusion, as Schumacher did just enough to keep his lead.
"I am very happy with this result and the package we had today," said the German after scoring his team's 150th F1 win. "The Safety Car worked in my favour, even if I don't understand why they had to use it. I kept a good pace as we knew Montoya was on a two stop, but I could not ease up until I knew I would be in front of him after his second stop. In the final laps I slowed down to save the car and brakes."
A somewhat surprised Coulthard finished ahead of Barrichello, who was unable to catch the Scot after a somewhat controversial failed attempt to pass him five laps from the end. Both drivers missed the chicane as Coulthard left his braking too late when trying to avoid Barrichello from overtaking him, and the Ferrari driver was not happy with the Scot.
"If I had in my mind the feeling that I just push and I go straight and see what happens then I would have pushed him with me, I am sure, because he was willing to do that with me," Barrichello said. "So when I saw the car going a little faster I had to just let it go a little bit more and just see if I could be in a position to block him."
Coulthard also gave his view: "I braked as late as possible and missed the chicane and was prepared to move over if Rubens had made it, but Rubens made the same mistake and therefore I didn't gain any advantage.
"I didn't think in a straight fight I'd be on the podium," admitted the Scot. "But I was pretty confident, even though I started eighth, that I'd finish in the points. As in Monaco our launch control system worked well and I gained two places at the start."
The unlucky Raikkonen had to settle for a distant fourth that didn't reward his performance throughout the weekend, although after six retirements in a row, it was a certainly a celebrated result. "The team told me to conserve fuel, which slowed me down considerably and cost me a podium position," he said. "However to finish in the points was a nice way to end the weekend."
However, it was again Ferrari and Michael Schumacher who had the best reasons to celebrate, with the German's record-equalling fifth world title almost in the pocket despite more than half a season yet to be contested.
Judging by their own on-track performance and by their rivals incapability of making them sweat this year, Ferrari's biggest worry right now must surely be the outcome of their meeting with the FIA later this month after the events of the Austrian Grand Prix. Whatever happens then, though, it will most likely be only a small bump in what seems an unstoppable run towards another World Championship.
Lap 1: At the start of the race the effect of the grip on the race track has a decisive effect at the start with Juan-Pablo Montoya making the perfect start and taking the lead. Rubens Barrichello from the the left side of the grid follows Montoya into the first corner with Michael Schumacher (on the dusty side of the track) in third. Kimi Raikkonen follows suit beating Ralf Schumacher for fourth place while both David Coulthard and Nick Heidfeld go the better of Giancarlo Fisichella's Jordan-Honda. Further back there is a lot of action as Jarno Trulli, Jacques Villeneuve and a fast-starting Jenson Button battle for ninth place. At the end of the lap Pedro de la Rosa and Allan McNish collide and the Jaguar driver goes into the wall. He is able to limp into the pits for repairs.
Lap 2: Barrichello sets the fastest lap of the race as he tries to pull away from Montoya. The two are slightly ahead of Michael Schumacher. The next few positions remain unchanged but there is action in the midfield as Mika Salo overtakes Felipe Massa, who also falls behind Takuma Sato, who passes Eddie Irvine before passing the Sauber. At the back of the field de la Rosa rejoins a lap behind.
Lap 4: Barrichello's lead is just 1.2 seconds, indicating that the strategies of the front runners are not that different. It looks as though Michael Schumacher is on a one-stop strategy as he is more than two seconds behind Montoya. The midfield battles continue as Salo (obviously on a two-stop strategy) overtakes Olivier Panis for 12th and behind them Enrique Bernoldi grabs 17th from Irvine.
Lap 6: The midfield fun continues with Salo passing Jacques Villeneuve for 11th. Sato passes Panis for 13th.
Lap 8: Barrichello's lead is up to 3.3 seconds with Montoya 2.2 seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher. These three are well clear of the rest which are led by Raikkonen, Ralf Schumacher and David Coulthard. Further back Sato overtakes Villeneuve for 12th and Massa passes Panis for 14th.
Lap 9: Villeneuve retires with an engine failure. The car comes to a stop in a dangerous position. The Safety Car is put on standby.
Lap 14: It becomes clear that the stricken BAR cannot be moved and it is decided to send out the Safety Car. The Williams team reacts immediately and calls in Montoya who refuels and is on his way without losing any real time although he drops from second to fifth on the road. Jordan also reacts quickly and Sato pits from 12th to emerge 19th.
Lap 15: Arrows tries to take advantage of the Safety Car and calls in Bernoldi. But there is a problem and Bernoldi has to pit again on lap 16.
Lap 17: Bernoldi retires.
Lap 18: The race restarts with Barrichello ahead of Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen is third ahead of Ralf Schumacher and Montoya. At the end of the lap Raikkonen makes a mistake in the chicane and holds up Ralf and as a result Montoya is able to challenge for third.
Lap 19: Going into the first corner Montoya slots ahead of Raikkonen and Ralf Schumacher. Coulthard is sixth with Heidfeld seventh, Fisichella eighth, Trulli ninth and Button 10th. Then comes Salo ahead of Massa, Panis, Irvine and McNish.
Lap 20: Salo passes Button for 10th. Further back Sato passes Alex Yoong for 18th position.
Lap 22: Barrichello begins to pull away from in a dramatic fashion, increasing his lead to 3.5 seconds.
Lap 25: Salo comes into the pits for the first of his two-stop strategy. He drops from 10th to 19th. But there is a problem and he returns to the pits again.
Lap 26: Barrichello pits and Michael Schumacher goes into the lead. Montoya is second with Raikkonen third, Ralf Schumacher fourth, Coulthard fifth and Barrichello sixth. Schumacher begins to charge to try to be ahead of Montoya when he has to pit.
Lap 30: Heinz-Harald Frentzen, running 15th, stops for his two-stop strategy. He drops back to 18th a lap behind the leaders.
Lap 31: Salo is given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
Lap 33: De la Rosa retires at the back of the field.
Lap 36: Schumacher's lead is up to 22 seconds as the first stops begin with Button pitting from 10th. He falls back to 16th.
Lap 37: Heidfeld pits from seventh and falls to 15th. Also pitting is Alex Yoong at the back of the field.
Lap 38: Michael Schumacher pits and Montoya takes the lead. By the end of the lap Michael is 3.6 seconds behind.
Lap 39: Mark Webber has his pit stop and falls from 13th to 16th.
Lap 40: Montoya is able to pull away by a few tenths. In the midfield Massa and Irvine pit.
Lap 41: Panis and McNish also pits. The Scotsman has a very long pit stop. Irvine retires with a mechanical problem.
Lap 42: Ralf Schumacher pits from fourth place and falls back to seventh. There is a problem with the refuelling machinery and Ralf has to return to the pits two laps later for fuel. Also pitting is Trulli.
Lap 44: Ralf pits for the second time and falls back to 10th position. Heidfeld is called in for a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Alex Yoong also pits for a drive-through penalty for the same problem.
Lap 45: Third-placed Raikkonen pits. There is a small problem with the refuelling and so in the laps that follow the Finn has to drive carefully to save fuel. Also pitting is sixth placed Fisichella.
Lap 46: Sato comes in for his second pit stop and drops from eighth to 13th. McNish spins and retires.
Lap 48: Massa is called into the pits for speeding in the pit lane. He falls back from eighth to 11th.
Lap 49: Coulthard is the last one-stopper to pit and he emerges from the pits just ahead of his team mate Raikkonen in fourth place. At the tail of the field Frentzen has a second stop.
Lap 50: With the one stops runners all having stopped the order is Montoya, 12 seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher with Barrichello third, Coulthard fourth, Raikkonen fifth and Fisichella sixth.
Lap 51: Montoya has his second pit stop and falls back to third place behind the two Ferraris. Further back Heidfeld has a stop-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane again. Sauber later finds that there is a software problem with its speed limiter.
Lap 54: Barrichello stops for his second stop and Montoya moves ahead of him and begins to chase after Schumacher. Barrichello emerges behind Coulthard in fourth place.
Lap 57: Montoya goes out with a blown engine.
Lap 60: As Coulthard and Barrichello lap Sato, Barrichello tries to get ahead at the chicane. Coulthard stays on the outside and holds off the challenge and misses the chicane. Barrichello also misses the chicane. As neither gained an advantage neither is punished..
Lap 66: Button retires from 10th place.
Lap 70: Michael Schumacher wins Ferrari's 150th Grand Prix and his own 59th victory. Coulthard is right behind him at the flag with Barrichello third, Raikkonen fourth, Fisichella fifth and Trulli sixth. Ralf Schumacher's Williams suffers an engine failure as it crosses the line in seventh. A lap down Panis is eighth with Massa right behind him and the top 10 is completed by Sato.
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