ATLAS F1 - THE JOURNAL OF FORMULA ONE MOTORSPORT
San Marino Facts, Stats and Memoirs

By Marcel Schot, Netherlands
Atlas F1 Magazine Writer



With Giancarlo Fisichella getting his first win in Brazil last weekend and Kimi Raikkonen clinching his maiden victory two weeks before, in Malaysia, we now have two new Grand Prix winners in the first three races of the season. This hasn't happened since 1967, when Pedro Rodriguez won at Kyalami and Denny Hulme won the Monaco Grand Prix to open the season. Hulme would continue the season in impressive style to win the World Championship.

Piquet wins in Imola in 1980While Ferrari earlier announced the F2003GA would make its debut during the next Grand Prix at Imola, the first raceappearance of the new car has been delayed until the Spanish Grand Prix. To see a design used in the previous season being used as late as the fourth race of its second season, we must go back quite a long time.

In 1989, the Benetton team wasn't able to get the new B189 ready for the start of the season. This provided the team with two problems: first, they obviously had to use the old B188 chassis. More importantly, as their new Ford HB engine didn't fit in the old design, they were also limited to the Cosworth DFR engine that the smaller teams were using.

The new chassis suffered continuous problems, mainly with the suspension and engine vibrations. The first B189 was finally ready for the French Grand Prix, which was the seventh race of the season. However, it was not until the British Grand Prix two weeks later that both drivers had the use of the new car. It didn't help much, though; a third position in the Constructors' Championship after six races turned into a fourth position by the end of the season.

So far the F2002 is not performing as well as it had last year. In the past 30 years, 100 cars were used beyond their debut year. Only 13 of those won one or more races. McLaren's M23 is the clear king of re-usability. The car lasted four seasons, used in a massive 148 Grands Prix and won 13 more races after its debut season. However, when it comes to lasting power, Ferrari can think of their 312T with pride.

After a rocky start of the 1975 season in the old 312B3, the 312T made its debut in the third race of the season. Six races were won, as well as both the Drivers' and Consuctors' Championships. In 1976, the team drove the first three races with the old car and won all three of them. The final race of the 312T even ended in a one-two for the Maranello team.

Car             Debut   End  Wins  Participations
                                   after debut year
=============== ===== ===== =====  ================
McLaren M23      1973  1976    13               148
Tyrrell 006      1972  1973     5                33
Ferrari 312T2    1976  1978     5                38
McLaren M26      1977  1978     3                68
Lotus 72E        1973  1974     3                53
Ferrari 312T     1975  1976     3                 6
Ferrari 312B3    1973  1974     3                34
Brabham BT49     1979  1980     3                28
Tyrrell 011      1981  1983     2                56
Lotus 78         1977  1978     2                28
Williams FW07    1979  1980     1                11
Williams FW09    1983  1984     1                18
Tyrrell 007      1974  1975     1                48
Shadow DN8       1976  1977     1                45
Ferrari F2001    2001  2002     1                 5

Of those 47 wins in older cars, one came at Imola. In 1980 there was no San Marino Grand Prix, but after a lot of political hastling Imola was to host the Italian Grand Prix.

Just like in the previous two races, the Renaults were the crop of the class in qualifying. On Friday afternoon Jean-Pierre Jabouille was the fastest by far, driving four tenths quicker than teammate Rene Arnoux. Bruno Giacomelli in the Alfa was the surprising number three, little over seven tenths back. Alan Jones (Williams), Nelson Piquet and Jones' teammate Carlos Reutemann followed within a tenth of the Alfa driver, behind whom there was a gap of a full second to Gilles Villeneuve in the first Ferrari.

On Saturday Jabouille wasn't able to improve his time, but Arnoux was. The Frenchman put the number 16 Renault on Pole almost half a second faster than his teammate. Carlos Reutemann claimed third on the grid, just ahead of Giacomelli, Piquet and Jones.

Frentzen's first win at Imola, 1997In a race that's most well known for Gilles Villeneuve's horrific crash on the fifth lap, the Renaults couldn't quite match their qualifying pace and after good starts of both Brabham drivers, Nelson Piquet took the lead after four laps and never looked back. Only the Williamses could remotely follow the Brazilian. At the end of the race, Piquet was nearly 30 seconds clear of Alan Jones, while Carlos Reutemann was the only other unlapped car, at one minute and 13 seconds behind the winner.

This year, Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso may have high hopes for the San Marino Grand Prix: it's always been a warm home to Renault engined cars, and in fact seven of the 20 San Marino Grands Prix have been won by cars with a Renault engine. Elio de Angelis was the first one with the Lotus-Renault in 1985. He was followed by Riccardo Patrese, who won for Williams in 1990. Five more Williams-Renault victories followed in the next seven years. Damon Hill was the only one to do it twice, while Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and Heinz-Harald Frentzen all contributed to Renault's success at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

For Frentzen, the 1997 San Marino Grand Prix was a special victory, since it was his first. In qualifying Williams was dominant, with Jacques Villeneuve claiming pole and Frentzen completing the front row. However, Frentzen got a slight scare when confronted with a steward's report. The German had failed to sufficiently slow down at a yellow flag situation. Luckily for Frentzen it didn't have any influence on his starting position, but he was sentenced to a suspended race ban.

At the start, Frentzen had to see Michael Schumacher's Ferrari blow past him, but good pitstop tactics put him in the lead after the first round of stops. When Frentzen stopped for the second time, Schumacher briefly took the lead. When the Ferrari driver pitted the next lap, the road was free for Frentzen's first win. However, the lead was never big and Schumacher came closer and closer in the final stages of the race. In the end, the gap was a little over one second.

 
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Volume 9, Issue 16
April 16th 2003

Atlas F1 Exclusive

Giancarlo Fisichella: Through the Visor
by Giancarlo Fisichella

Interview with Patrick Head
by Gary Emmerson

Interview with Nick Heidfeld
by David Cameron

San Marino GP Preview

2003 San Marino GP Preview
by Craig Scarborough

San Marino Facts & Stats
by Marcel Schot

Columns

The Fuel Stop
by Reginald Kincaid

The F1 Trivia Quiz
by Marcel Borsboom

Bookworm Critique
by Mark Glendenning

On the Road
by Garry Martin

Elsewhere in Racing
by David Wright & Mark Alan Jones

The Weekly Grapevine
by Tom Keeble



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