San Marino Grand Prix Review

Needless to say, we refer to the tragedy befalling Michael Schumacher and his brother Ralf, when their mother Elisabeth slipped into a coma after a fall during the week. Both brothers rushed from Imola to Cologne after sealing the front row in qualifying, an almighty effort in itself in the circumstances. They returned on race morning, and with them came the news that Elisabeth had passed away. To Michael and Ralf, and to all of Elisabeth's friends and family, our sincerest condolences.

Some may question the morals of Michael and Ralf proceeding to compete in the race, but one must remember that the Schumacher brothers were also the two who had the most misgivings about racing after September 11, and during the war in Iraq. In other words, despite their often taciturn appearances, they are easily affected by events around them. And as such, their brave decision to race after their mother's passing would never have been taken lightly.

As Michael explained after the event, the brothers had raced because Elisabeth had been a staunch supporter of both their careers, and would have wanted them to compete. As a tribute, Michael wore a black armband in the cockpit, and Ralf had a black band around his helmet. It is not our place to condone or criticise their rationale, it was their decision to make and it should be respected. Instead, it is better to concentrate on their herculean drives in the race, which amazingly they mustered the composure to produce.

The FIA did the right thing by exempting both from any formalities after the race, even though Michael courageously mounted the podium nonetheless after his win. It would have been fitting if Ralf had made it into the top three as well after his most convincing drive of the year so far. And what made both their races even more notable was that, tragic circumstances aside, both of them had to perform at Imola. This was a race where both Schumacher brothers simply had to produce.

Michael may have been expecting 2003 to be tougher than 2002, but never could he have conceived how he would falter in the first three races. For sure he was caught out by the weather in Australia, and he may have been in competitive positions were it not for his errors in Malaysia and Brazil, but all the ifs, buts and maybes aside, the truth was that going into Imola he was 16 points behind Kimi Raikkonen, a gap which this year would take 8 races to erase were he to win all of them with the Finn 2nd in each.

Schumi could at least have had the confidence of knowing that the old Ferrari F2002 was still the best car in the field, but he needed a normal, mistake-free weekend with minimal interruption from the weather or the new rules to get his title defence back on the rails. His family dramas threw a new spanner in the works, but in general Michael's response was magnificent. He was threatening during the free practice sessions, and did just enough in qualifying to squeeze out Ralf for pole by 0.014s.

If Michael was under pressure to revive his title defence, then Ralf was under pressure simply to keep his job. After three rather hopeless performances in the fly-away rounds, criticisms from all comers (including us), and with the gossip on the grapevine that Marc Gene was set for a call-up, and that Sir Frank Williams had dined with Giancarlo Fisichella on the Thursday - with all the implications that entailed - Ralf had to show that he was capable of producing in one-lap qualifying, and maintaining a rapid pace in the race.

At Imola, Ralf answered so many of the doubts. Fastest in Friday free practice, 3rd in Friday qualifying and 2nd in both Saturday free, he just missed out on pole in final qualifying after using his spare, having crashed his race car in free practice. He had the measure of team-mate Juan-Pablo Montoya all weekend, and was once again showing the speed that had made fans of his bosses in 1999 and the first half of 2001. More performances like this, and Williams will not want to relinquish him.

Had the Michelins on the Williams given him more front-end turn-in grip as opposed to the chronic understeer Ralf suffered from all race, then he would at least have held off Barrichello for 3rd, and possibly challenged Raikkonen for 2nd, even if Michael was in a different league. All in all though, positive signs from Ralf, and seemingly more of an appetite for a fight, as shown in his aggressive but clean and exemplary defensive driving whilst trying to hold off first his brother, and then Barrichello.

Montoya was always going to end up being last out of the Ferrari and Williams drivers. The Colombian's weekend was somewhat low key, and he blamed his indifferent showings on tyres and tyre pressures. One wonders though if it's more to do with him being tired and increasingly under pressure. After driving his pants off in Australia but throwing away a certain win by his own hand, he followed that up with two no-scores in Malaysia and Brazil, and was trounced by Ralf at Imola.

JPM is a naturally aggressive chap, but all that verve needs to feed off results. The FW25 is not the radical Ferrari-beating car Williams hoped for. The lack of wins (Italy 2001 remains his singleton triumph) are dogging Juan-Pablo more and more with each passing race. The new qualifying system, so dependent on fuel loads, may thwart his pole-taking ability. They say you make your own luck in this business; one wonders if his refuelling dramas at Imola which dropped him to an eventual 7th are something of an omen.

But if the Montoya camp is a pressure-cooker building up steam, then McLaren is totally at peace with itself at the moment. In Australia and here at Imola, they were prepared to sacrifice grid positions for the sake of race strategies, and that takes confidence. In turn, the gamble has paid off with results which benefit from the new points system that rewards consistency. Which in turn breeds more confidence. This cycle means that McLaren will make it tough for Ferrari to overcome their head-start in the title chase.

Another one in that shortlist would be Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard lies 4th in the championship after his 6th place, and if he keeps up this regular points-scoring he will remain in the top 6 by year's end. He blew the doors off team-mate Jarno Trulli in one of the Italian's home races, and the eight-place difference on the grid between them was due not to different fuel strategies but rather the fact that Trulli was using a spare car that was not to his liking.

That Jarno seemed completely unable to drive around the unfamiliarity of the spare car will only add to the doubts about him, doubts that seem to be somewhat allayed with a good race here and there, but are more often fuelled than quelled. On the other hand, Alonso seemed more than able to live with a Renault R23 that had been difficult to set-up throughout the weekend. Trulli and Alonso do get on well, but that was when Jarno wasn't expecting Fernando to blow his socks off.

Meanwhile, Renault's 'Malaysia strategy' of a short first stint followed by a long second stint, a variation on a standard two-stopper, continues to amaze. Have they not learnt that, if you are making the same number of stops as someone else, you want to stop after and not before them? I guess the early first stop does give them the option of utilising a two-stop or a three-stop strategy, but perhaps Renault need to employ some of McLaren's decisiveness and wisdom when choosing their tactics.

Word is that pressure is now coming from Tokyo for Toyota to start getting points on the board. They, along with Jaguar and Minardi, remain the only teams yet to crack a top eight finish thus far. Perhaps the TF103 on its Michelins perform a great deal better on low tanks and fresh tyres, but one feels that Panis' renowned race consistency is being wasted by the team's tactics. Reliability has been an issue too, but give Olivier a reliable car and a minimum-stop strategy, and watch him bring it home in the points.

After showing good qualifying speed in Australia and Malaysia, Cristiano da Matta has now gone into his shell somewhat, but remains the best-performed of an unimpressive crop of rookies this year. Still, this time da Matta became the latest victim of a traditional Imola disease, the Backmarkers Behaving Badly Syndrome (BBBS), which notably claimed the Minardi pair of Luca Badoer and Pierluigi Martini in 1995, Ukyo Katayama in 1996, and Panis himself in 1999.

In this race, da Matta gave Michael Schumacher one particularly vicious chop going into the Tamburello. He then let Schumi by in a particularly awkward manner on the approach to the Variante Bassa, and late in the race, having let Ralf and Rubens through, cut off DC going into the same chicane. Such antics from recalcitrant backmarkers always produce a mixture of amusement and ire, and in a race rather devoid of silliness we give Cristiano our 'Reject of the Race' award.

REJECT OF THE RACE
Cristiano da Matta
Look in your mirrors, Cristiano!!

In other words, this was a genuine pace comparison between the F2002, the FW25 and the R4, and the green machine proved only to be about 0.7s slower. This must come as a confidence boost, for it means that if only the Jaguar can make it to the finish, Webber will score regular points. Trouble is, the litany of mechanical problems keeps changing. At Imola, there was a launch control glitch that ruined Mark's strategy, a pit speed limiter failure that incurred a penalty, and finally a terminal driveshaft problem.

The good news from Mark's point of view is that his team-mate is providing no threat whatsoever. Antonio Pizzonia is proving to be a massive disappointment. He cannot match Webber's pace, he has made too many mistakes, and the way he came into the pits at Imola when the team were totally not expecting him was sadly laughable. ITV commentator Martin Brundle said it was like pulling into what you think is a 24hr gas station, only to find it closed.

Neither Fisi or Ralph Firman were ever in the hunt for points, and unless more freakish races like Brazil occur, Jordan may find be hard-pressed to add to their tally of 10 points. BAR should not have the same concern; Jenson Button drove a solid race to 8th, while Jacques Villeneuve qualified 7th, and even upon retiring was still able to sound upbeat because, in his words, "The car is quick." F1 needs Jacques to be positive and giving his all, and this year's car is allowing him to do that, which is good news.

In what is essentially their home race, Minardi disappointed, with Jos Verstappen becoming the first person to have a major incident in shoot-out qualifying, and both he and Justin Wilson retiring from the race. As expected, Paul Stoddart's brave predictions of being a midfield runner this year are proving to be unfounded. Minardi need unusual circumstances to shine. With Brazil past, and with Imola bringing a sense of normality back into F1, their chance for glory in 2003 may already have passed. But we hope not!