FORCDA 2010 Season

[Wizzie]

Pre-Turkey:

The word is Sir Frank is trying to pull out all the stock to try and stop the team falling to even more unbelievable depths as for the second year in a row they have been simply abysmal. To make matters worse Nico Rosberg has simply had enough with the team and is expected to leave at the end of the season. Test driver Heikki Kovalainen is rumoured to be in the second seat as soon as the next race in Great Britain to replace Kazuki Nakajima. This comes on the back of rumours that Toyota could be leaving the sport at the end of the year after their disappointing run since Jarno Trulli scored the team's first and so far only win at Bahrain in 2005.

Round 7: Turkey

Qualifying:

There was a glimmer of hope for the Brawn team as for the first time all year both cars were within a second of the pole time set by Daniel Melrose as the Juggernaut arrived at Istanbul. The composition of the grid was fairly consistent with the form guide for this year although Jarno Trulli put in his best qualifying performance of the year to be 7th ahead of Sammy Jones and Kimi Raikkonen while Thomas De Bock answered the critics by outqualifying teammate Sebastian Buemi for the first time all season.

Grid:
1. D. Melrose (BMW)
2. J. Button (Brawn-Mercedes)
3. F. Zimmer (Brawn-Mercedes)
4. S. Vettel (RBR-Renault)
5. M. Webber (RBR-Renault)
6. L. Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
7. J. Trulli (Toyota)
8. S. Jones (McLaren-Mercedes)
9. K. Raikkonen (Ferrari)
10. F. Alonso (Renault)
11. T. Glock (Toyota)
12. N. Rosberg (Williams-Toyota)
13. K. Nakajima (Williams-Toyota)
14. R. Kubica (BMW)
15. N. Piquet Jr (Renault)
16. T. De Bock (STR-Ferrari)
17. A. Sutil (Force India-Mercedes)
18. S. Buemi (STR-Ferrari)
19. P. McAllister (Force India-Mercedes)
20. L. Badoer (Ferrari)
21. C. Klien (USF1-Cosworth)
22. S. Speed (USF1-Cosworth)

Race:

Another race, another relatively easy win for Daniel Melrose as he takes another step to a historic 4th world championship after a mid-race strategy change from a two stop to a one stop strategy. There is a glimmer of hope for the Brawn team though as this was the first time all year either of them finished on the lead lap with Jenson Button leading Frank Zimmer to a 2-3 finish. Red Bull scored another double points finish with Sebastian Vettel ahead of Mark Webber while Kimi Raikkonen hauled his sub-par Ferrari ahead of the two McLarens.

Results:
1. D. Melrose (BMW): 1h 21m 11.599
2. J. Button (Brawn-Mercedes): +59.902
3. F. Zimmer (Brawn-Mercedes): +1:14.389
4. S. Vettel (RBR-Renault): +1 LAP
5. M. Webber (RBR-Renault): +1 LAP
6. K. Raikkonen (Ferrari): +1 LAP
7. L. Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes): +1 LAP
8. S. Jones (McLaren-Mercedes): +1 LAP
9. F. Alonso (Renault): +1 LAP
10. T. Glock (Toyota): +1 LAP
11. J. Trulli (Toyota): +1 LAP
12. K. Nakajima (Williams-Toyota): +2 LAPS
13. R. Kubica (BMW): +2 LAPS
14. N. Piquet Jr (Renault): +2 LAPS
15. P. McAllister (Force India-Mercedes): +2 LAPS
16. L. Badoer (Ferrari): +3 LAPS
17. C. Klien (USF1-Cosworth)
DNF. S. Buemi (STR-Ferrari)
DNF. N. Rosberg (Williams-Toyota)
DNF. S. Speed (USF1-Cosworth)
DNF. T. De Bock (STR-Ferrari)
DNF. A. Sutil (Force India-Mercedes)

Pole: D. Melrose (BMW): 1:21.661
Fastest Lap: D. Melrose (BMW): 1.22.501
Leaders: D. Melrose: 1-58 (Total: 58)

Championship Standings:
Drivers:

1. D. Melrose (BMW): 70 points (7 wins)
2. J. Button (Brawn-Mercedes): 54 points (6 2nds, 1 3rd)
3. F. Zimmer (Brawn-Mercedes): 27 points (1 2nd, 2 3rds)
4. L. Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes): 23 points (1 3rd)
5. S. Vettel (RBR-Renault): 21 points (2 3rds)
6. K. Raikkonen (Ferrari): 20 points (Best Result: 2 4ths)
7. M. Webber (RBR-Renault): 17 points (1 3rd)
8. S. Jones (McLaren-Mercedes): 15 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
9. F. Alonso (Renault): 12 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
10. J. Trulli (Toyota): 7 points (Best Result: 1 6th)
11. T. Glock (Toyota): 6 points (Best Result: 1 6th)
12. P. McAllister (Force India-Mercedes): 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)

Constructors:

1. Virgin Brawn GP F1 Team Mercedes: 81 points (7 2nds, 3 3rds)
2. BMW Sauber F1 Team: 70 points (7 wins)
3. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: 38 points (1 3rd)
4. Red Bull Racing Renault: 38 points (3 3rds)
5. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: 20 points (Best Result: 2 4ths)
6. Panasonic Toyota Racing: 13 points (Best Result: 2 6ths)
7. ING Renault F1 Team: 12 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
8. Force India F1 Team Mercedes: 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)

Next up is the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire.

[The Lukas]

Pre-Turkey:

The word is Sir Frank is trying to pull out all the stock to try and stop the team falling to even more unbelievable depths as for the second year in a row they have been simply abysmal. To make matters worse Nico Rosberg has simply had enough with the team and is expected to leave at the end of the season. Test driver Heikki Kovalainen is rumoured to be in the second seat as soon as the next race in Great Britain to replace Kazuki Nakajima. This comes on the back of rumours that Toyota could be leaving the sport at the end of the year after their disappointing run since Jarno Trulli scored the team's first and so far only win at Bahrain in 2005.

Round 7: Turkey

Qualifying:

There was a glimmer of hope for the Brawn team as for the first time all year both cars were within a second of the pole time set by Daniel Melrose as the Juggernaut arrived at Istanbul. The composition of the grid was fairly consistent with the form guide for this year although Jarno Trulli put in his best qualifying performance of the year to be 7th ahead of Sammy Jones and Kimi Raikkonen while Thomas De Bock answered the critics by outqualifying teammate Sebastian Buemi for the first time all season.

Grid:
1. D. Melrose (BMW)
2. J. Button (Brawn-Mercedes)
3. F. Zimmer (Brawn-Mercedes)
4. S. Vettel (RBR-Renault)
5. M. Webber (RBR-Renault)
6. L. Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
7. J. Trulli (Toyota)
8. S. Jones (McLaren-Mercedes)
9. K. Raikkonen (Ferrari)
10. F. Alonso (Renault)
11. T. Glock (Toyota)
12. N. Rosberg (Williams-Toyota)
13. K. Nakajima (Williams-Toyota)
14. R. Kubica (BMW)
15. N. Piquet Jr (Renault)
16. T. De Bock (STR-Ferrari)
17. A. Sutil (Force India-Mercedes)
18. S. Buemi (STR-Ferrari)
19. P. McAllister (Force India-Mercedes)
20. L. Badoer (Ferrari)
21. C. Klien (USF1-Cosworth)
22. S. Speed (USF1-Cosworth)

Race:
(To be done later)

Could another world Champions title?

[the Masked Lapwing]

2001 German Grand Prix
Pre-race:
Jordan have shown Heinz-Harald Frentzen the door, and replaced him with Ricardo Zonta. Since Zonta’s podium in Montreal, Frentzen hasn’t scored a point. Jordan are, however, looking for a new permanent driver, and rumours are going around that Jean Alesi may not be the happiest of drivers at Prost.

Qualifying:
Good news: The McLaren was going around the stadium section and the chicanes fine. Bad news: No top speed. At all. So pole was never a chance, but qualifying 5th was nice.
1st: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): 1:33.512
2nd: M. Hakkinen (McLaren): +0.029
3rd: R. Schumacher (Williams): +0.057
4th: J. Montoya (Williams): +0.212
5th: R. Davies (McLaren): +0.747
6th: K. Raikkonen (Sauber): +0.931
7th: O. Panis (BAR): +0.959
8th: R. Barrichello (Ferrari): +0.989
9th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +1.245
10th: J. Trulli (Jordan): +1.248
11th: J. Button (Benetton): +1.950
12th: R. Zonta (Jordan): +2.076
13th: G. Fisichella (Benetton): +2.237
14th: S. Jones (Jaguar): +2.330
15th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +2.503
16th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +2.680
17th: J. Verstappen (Arrows): +4.307
18th: T. Marques (Minardi): +4.487
19th: F. Alonso (Minardi): +4.503
20th: L. Burti (Prost): +5.073
21st: J. Alesi (Prost): +6.041
22nd: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +6.236

Race:
Turn 1 saw Montoya try to make a crazy move up the inside of Ralf Schumacher, that resulted in them sliding their way onto the straight. No acceleration meant Davies managed to get past for third. And he would have gotten Hakkinen for second if he had been able to use his slipstream to pass, rather than simply keep up. The lack of speed though meant that a train quickly formed behind him, while Schumacher and Hakkinen skipped off into the distance. Montoya wasted no time in doing the exact same thing at turn 1, dropping Davies down to 11th (It was a big train…) Davies found his way to 9th when Trulli’s engine started smoking, and he took advantage of the confusion to get past Villeneuve (on a straight!) Of course, it didn’t last long as the Canadian got revenge after the third chicane. Davies would pit at the end of the lap, to let the traffic he was still holding up through. But that doesn’t work when they all file in behind! Well, except for Jones, who managed to leapfrog him. He would emerge 16th, between Jones and Fernando Alonso. Davies got Jones at the first chicane, putting him behind Villeneuve again, who had also pitted. And then, the ultimate shame - passed by Jones in the stadium and both Minardis at turn 1! Add to that de la Rosa popping out of the pits, and suddenly it was all going horribly wrong. But that was just the start. Alonso and Marques had nothing for him on the straight, but as Davies tried to go around the outside of de la Rosa (stupid, stupid, stupid…), the Jag squeezed him, and they collided. Davies managed to continue - but with three wheels on his wagon! Both cars could only drive down the straight at about 50km/h, and while Alonso made it through, Marques, Fisichella, Alesi and Ralf Schumacher (after a pit for a new front wing) didn’t, and suddenly there was carnage. With no retirements as yet, and Trulli managing to get through, Davies was now second last! However, de la Rosa took most of the damage, and didn’t get far before his car gave up the fight, leaving Davies dead last with about 3 quarters of a lap to do with 3 quarters of his wheels. He couldn’t even get around the second chicane without ending up backwards, so tried to help Hakkinen by holding up Michael Schumacher slightly. He took long enough to get back to the pits that he was lapped by Trulli - although he was now 18th after Marques and Bernoldi needed suspension repairs. Davies made it to the pit just as Schumacher crossed the line to complete his final lap. This meant that Davies wouldn’t need to do a final lap.

1st: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): 9:13.953
2nd: M. Hakkinen (McLaren): +7.058
3rd: J. Montoya (Williams): +13.218
4th: K. Raikkonen (Sauber): +18.837
5th: O. Panis (BAR): +20.663
6th: R. Barrichello (Ferrari): +26.684
7th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +30.015
8th: R. Zonta (Jordan): +32.143
9th: J. Button (Benetton): +35.537
10th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +35.960
11th: S. Jones (Jaguar): +46.467
12th: J. Verstappen (Arrows): +52.545
13th: L. Burti (Jaguar): +1:01.421
14th: G. Fisichella (Benetton): +1:02.140
15th: J. Alesi (Prost): +1:05.308
16th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +1:05.845
17th: F. Alonso (Minardi): +1:19.106
18th: J. Trulli (Jordan): +1:19.855
19th: T. Marques (Minardi): +1:24.874
20th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +1 LAP
21st: R. Davies (McLaren): +1 LAP
DNF: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): Collision

Drivers’ Championship:
1st: R. Schumacher - 54
= 2nd: R. Davies - 44
= 2nd: M. Schumacher - 44
4th: M. Hakkinen - 42
5th: R. Barrichello - 28
6th: J. Montoya - 25
7th: K. Raikkonen - 20
8th: J. Trulli - 12
9th: J. Villeneuve - 8
= 10th: S. Jones - 6
= 10th: N. Heidfeld - 6
= 10th: H. Frentzen - 6
= 10th: O. Panis - 6
14th: R. Zonta - 4
= 15th: G. Fisichella - 2
= 15th: J. Verstappen - 2
= 15th: J. Button - 2
16th: T. Marques - 1

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 86
2nd: Williams - 79
3rd: Ferrari - 72
4th: Sauber - 26
5th: Jordan - 22
6th: BAR - 14
7th: Jaguar - 6
8th: Benetton - 4
9th: Arrows - 2
10th: Minardi - 1

And so next is the Hungarian GP.
This just keeps getting worse…

[the Masked Lapwing]

2001 Hungarian Grand Prix
Pre-race:
Jean Alesi announced shortly before the race that he would be leaving Prost - and joining Jordan. Prost were left at short notice to get another driver, so they simply got Heinz-Harald Frentzen to join them. This meant that Ricardo Zonta is once again demoted to test driver.

Qualifying:
For Davies, the Hungaroring is like Silverstone - not a particularly hated track, just one with a lot of bad luck. And taking pole by almost two seconds is the good part.

1st: R. Davies (McLaren): 1:09.353
2nd: R. Barrichello (Ferrari): +1.884
3rd: M. Hakkinen (McLaren): +2.083
4th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +2.094
5th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +2.269
6th: O. Panis (BAR): +2.535
7th: J. Trulli (Jordan): +2.654
8th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +2.667
9th: J. Montoya (Williams): +2.678
10th: K. Raikkonen (Sauber): +2.751
11th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +3.011
12th: G. Fisichella (Benetton): +3.253
13th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +3.346
14th: J. Button (Benetton): +3.447
15th: J. Alesi (Jordan): +3.557
16th: S. Jones (Jaguar): +3.793
17th: J. Verstappen (Arrows): +5.248
18th: F. Alonso (Minardi): +5.366
19th: H. Frentzen (Prost): +5.400
20th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +5.438
21st: T. Marques (Minardi): +6.035
22nd: L. Burti (Prost): +6.081

Race:
The lights go out - and someone’s stalled! Button has stalled his Benetton! But it means that the yellows are out all the way to turn 1, and Davies will lead the field (it’s like a bloody safety car start). And by pushing the speed limit, he has a pretty healthy lead when they go green. OK, so healthy is just 0.6 of a second, but I haven’t lead for a while! The lead stayed pretty much the same over the next few laps, including after Hakkinen got past Barrichello at turn 1 on lap 2. It stayed the same up front until Davies stopped on lap 4, allowing Hakkinen and Barrichello into open air. He came out 9th, with Montoya right under his wing (I don’t know how he ever got that close), just in front of Burti and Heidfeld. Montoya came out behind those two, and immediately hit the Prost. Davies got to 6th when Jones, Bernoldi and Raikkonen pitted, but Hakkinen had come out ahead. De la Rosa and Villeneuve pitting put Davies 4th, but his stop had to have been really slow since Michael Schumacher was now ahead, and Villeneuve hadn’t gotten out far behind. With Barrichello still in the lead and yet to pit, it meant Davies had a very slim chance of a podium (at least he was ahead of Ralf). On lap 7 of 8, Barrichello pitted and came out between Hakkinen and Schumacher. But then, as Hakkinen went through turn 3 on the last lap, his engine started to smoke slightly. It wasn’t terminal though. At the other end of the field, Frentzen’s engine celebrated his first race for Prost by also belching smoke, but to a slightly worse extent. Hakkinen won the race from both Ferraris, with Davies fourth, Villeneuve right behind in 5th and Raikkonen also not very far behind in 6th.

1st: M. Hakkinen (McLaren): 10:02.495
2nd: R. Barrichello (Ferrari): +1.312
3rd: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +2.583
4th: R. Davies (McLaren): +9.635
5th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +10.141
6th: K. Raikkonen (Sauber): +10.710
7th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +10.989
8th: J. Trulli (Jordan): +13.317
9th: J. Montoya (Williams): +14.139
10th: O. Panis (BAR): +18.848
11th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +24.257
12th: G. Fisichella (Benetton): +26.208
13th: J. Alesi (Jordan): +27.060
14th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +41.539
15th: F. Alonso (Minardi): +42.145
16th: S. Jones (Jaguar): +43.035
17th: T. Marques (Minardi): +45.159
18th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +51.398
19th: J. Verstappen (Arrows): +52.265
20th: H. Frentzen (Prost): +1:08.859
21st: L. Burti (Prost): +1:12.606
DNF: J. Button (Benetton): Stalled

Drivers’ Championship:
1st: R. Schumacher - 54
2nd: M. Hakkinen - 52
3rd: M. Schumacher - 48
4th: R. Davies - 47
5th: R. Barrichello - 34
6th: J. Montoya - 25
7th: K. Raikkonen - 21
8th: J. Trulli - 12
9th: J. Villeneuve - 10
= 10th: S. Jones - 6
= 10th: N. Heidfeld - 6
= 10th: H. Frentzen - 6
= 10th: O. Panis - 6
14th: R. Zonta - 4
= 15th: G. Fisichella - 2
= 15th: J. Verstappen - 2
= 15th: J. Button - 2
16th: T. Marques - 1

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 99
2nd: Ferrari - 82
3rd: Williams - 79
4th: Sauber - 27
5th: Jordan - 22
6th: BAR - 16
7th: Jaguar - 6
8th: Benetton - 4
9th: Arrows - 2
10th: Minardi - 1

And now it’s over to Spa…

[the Masked Lapwing]

2001 Belgian Grand Prix

Qualifying:
Spa. A track that is as evil as Hockenheim. Except there are others that actually like it, so it ain’t disappearing any time soon. So Davies will just have to suck it up and drive to somewhere that hopefully isn’t last.

1st: R. Schumacher (Williams): 1:37.769
2nd: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +0.103
3rd: R. Barrichello (Ferrari): +0.130
4th: J. Montoya (Williams): +0.401
5th: R. Davies (McLaren): +0.467
6th: M. Hakkinen (McLaren): +1.137
7th: K. Raikkonen (Sauber): +1.232
8th: O. Panis (BAR): +1.302
9th: J. Trulli (Jordan): +1.468
10th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +1.614
11th: G. Fisichella (Benetton): +1.874
12th: J. Alesi (Jordan): +2.070
13th: S. Jones (Jaguar): +2.606
14th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +2.775
15th: J. Button (Benetton): +2.792
16th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +3.140
17th: T. Marques (Minardi): +4.449
18th: J. verstappen (Arrows): +4.537
19th: H. Frentzen (Prost): +4.995
20th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +5.131
21st: F. Alonso (Minardi): +5.226
22nd: L. Burti (Prost): +5.493

Race:
Davies managed to get to third with an ambitious move at La Source, and outran Michael Schumacher to be second going into Eau Rouge. He managed to stay within about 2 seconds of Ralf all lap, and inherited the lead when he pitted. A good sign was how far ahead of Michael he got in the final sector alone - he pulled 2 and a half seconds out, and when you consider that he was running a fairly high downforce set up, it made for a confusing situation. When he got further ahead on lap 2, he realised - he was going through the bus stop at light speed compared to everyone else! But on lap 3 his Stavelot demons struck, giving Michael the lead. And then, as they went through Blanchimont, they collided, and spun across the track, collecting Raikkonen who had been running third! Davies got going first, having lost fourth gear. But since he had to pit that lap anyway, it didn’t make much difference. The big winner was Mika Hakkinen, who had been nowhere at the time, and took advantage of the confusion to inherit the lead after Davies pitted. Sammy Jones also benefitted, but pitted at the same time as Davies, from third. Davies came out third, and Jones fourth as they raced Alesi to Eau Rouge, made all the more dangerous thanks to oil from Ralf Schumacher’s blown engine (to add to Villeneuve’s oil at La Source). Temporarily, it was a Finn 1-2, with Hakkinen way in front of Raikkonen, who had miraculously not suffered too much damage. Both pitted on lap 4, with Hakkinen just edging out Davies onto the road. But Davies had better speed, and got past anyway. They started the final lap just a second apart, but then, at Rivage, Hakkinen lost control! He’d gone wide after Davies had covered the inside but misjudged his speed completely. In doing so, he scraped the wall, and lost his front wing. This resulted in giving Jones second place, but he was so far behind that Davies would be unchallenged to the flag, and he managed to win the Belgian Grand Prix! Jones would hold off Barrichello and Montoya to take his second podium of the year, while his teammate Pedro de la Rosa would finish 6th, making Jaguar the only team to have both cars in the points!

1st: R. Davies (McLaren): 10:35.336
2nd: S. Jones (Jaguar): +8.998
3rd: R. Barrichello (Ferrari): +9.430
4th: J. Montoya (Williams): +9.835
5th: J. Button (Benetton): +12.617
6th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +14.106
7th: K. Raikkonen (Sauber): +14.384
8th: J. Alesi (Jordan): +15.098
9th: H. Frentzen (Prost): +26.902
10th: O. Panis (BAR): +27.715
11th: J. Verstappen (Arrows): +28.465
12th: F. Alonso (Minardi): +29.433
13th: M. Hakkinen (McLaren): +29.692
14th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +30.431
15th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +31.238
16th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +31.730
17th: J. Trulli (Jordan): +1:00.721
18th: G. Fisichella (Benetton): +1:17.636
19th: T. Marques (Minardi): +1 LAP
DNF: L. Burti (Prost): Suspension
DNF: J. Villeneuve (BAR): Engine
DNF: R. Schumacher (Williams): Engine

Drivers’ Championship:
1st: R. Davies - 57
2nd: R. Schumacher - 54
3rd: M. Hakkinen - 52
4th: M. Schumacher - 48
5th: R. Barrichello - 38
6th: J. Montoya - 28
7th: K. Raikkonen - 21
= 8th: S. Jones - 12
= 8th: J. Trulli - 12
10th: J. Villeneuve - 10
= 11th: N. Heidfeld - 6
= 11th: H. Frentzen - 6
= 11th: O. Panis - 6
14th: R. Zonta - 4
= 15th: J. Button - 4
= 15th: G. Fisichella - 2
= 15th: J. Verstappen - 2
= 18th: T. Marques - 1
= 18th: P. de la Rosa - 1

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 109
2nd: Ferrari - 86
3rd: Williams - 82
4th: Sauber - 27
5th: Jordan - 22
6th: BAR - 16
7th: Jaguar - 13
8th: Benetton - 6
9th: Arrows - 2
10th: Minardi - 1

Next up it’s the final round of the European season, the Italian GP - and now we’re into the tracks Davies likes. Suddenly the championship looks like it can be won!

[the Masked Lapwing]

2001 Italian Grand Prix
Pre-race:
Poor Luciano Burti. How many drivers have been sacked by two different teams in one year? The fact that he has generally done pretty well in comparison to his teammates makes this decision slightly strange. He will replaced at Prost by Tomas Enge. Minardi have also made a driver change, with Tarso Marques replaced by Alex Yoong. Despite Marques scoring a point, Alonso has been beating him quite often, and Yoong has more money.

Qualifying:
Monza is similar to, yet is the exact opposite of Hockenheim. Both are high speed tracks, but Davies actually like driving at Monza. And his first lap was 3 seconds faster than the Ferraris. That oughta shut up the Tifosi. And that was before he found two more seconds. In fact, he was the only driver within 107%!

1st: R. Davies (McLaren): 1:10.095
2nd: R. Barrichello (Ferrari): +4.969
3rd: J. Montoya (Williams): +5.217
4th: M. Schumacher (Ferrar): +5.352
5th: K. Raikkonen (Sauber): +5.805
6th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +5.976
7th: J. Alesi (Jordan): +5.991
8th: M. Hakkinen (McLaren): +6.209
9th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +6.238
10th: J. Trulli (Jordan): +6.291
11th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +6.377
12th: S. Jones (Jaguar): +6.553
13th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +6.582
14th: J. Button (Benetton): +6.603
15th: O. Panis (BAR): +6.629
16th: G. Fisichella (Benetton): +6.707
17th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +8.610
18th: J. Verstappen (Arrows): +8.633
19th: H. Frentzen (Prost): +8.640
20th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +8.658
21st: F. Alonso (Minardi): +8.686
22nd: T. Enge (Prost): +8.862

Race:
Unfortunately, qualifying pace does not equal race pace, but Davies managed to do well, right up until he ran off into the gravel at the Parabolica on lap 2. But once Michael Schumacher decided the best way to enter the pit lane was to stop in the middle of the track, life became difficult, as Davies spun trying to swerve around the Ferrari and get into the pits at the same time. Add in being jumped by Trulli and failing at going through chicane over the next lap, and suddenly he’d gone from 2nd to 6th. And he was fortunate to be that high, when Alesi, running 5th, tried an overambitious move at della Roggia. End result: Both go spinning, as does Montoya. For once though, Davies was worse off, as he required another stop to repair gearbox damage (no 7th gear sort of makes it necessary). On the plus side, Michael Schumacher’s suspension gave out, so at least he was beating somebody. Well, he would be if a gearbox was easier to fix than suspension damage. Davies was now 18th, and on track to repeat his pathetic Hockenheim performance. He managed to breeze around the outside of Schumacher at Curva Grande (his suspension repair didn’t seem to work), which meant Mika Hakkinen was the next in line (and I’m positive this is a midfield battle). Then it took him two minutes to get around the Lesmos. Why? The controller kept screwing up, so it kept pausing every 2 seconds while I tried to fix it. When that was repaired, 17th became 16th as Verstappen’s engine blew. Then it was 14th as he passed Hakkinen and Fisichella. But Hakkinen was having none of it, as they came out of the second Lesmo, he moved across and put his teammate into the fence. It left Davies permanently in second gear, yet Hakkinen continued onwards to finish 14th. Davies would be 16th when he got going again, thanks to Fisichella being caught up in it, but the Italian was gaining fast, and Davies would only beat him to the line by swerving dangerously. Up front, Barrichello took victory for the Tifosi, while behind him there were no drivers from the top 3 teams to score points. Jarno Trulli would be second, Nick Heidfeld third, Jean Alesi fourth, Sammy Jones fifth and Olivier Panis sixth.

1st: R. Barrichello (Ferrari): 8:04.743
2nd: J. Trulli (Jordan): +6.242
3rd: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +7.421
4th: J. Alesi (Jordan): +13.202
5th: S. Jones (Jaguar): +20.951
6th: O. Panis (BAR): +21.607
7th: J. Montoya (Williams): +32.021
8th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +33.620
9th: T. Enge (Prost): +38.745
10th: J. Button (Benetton): +39.852
11th: H. Frentzen (Prost): +41.000
12th: K. Raikkonen (Sauber): +41.343
13th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +44.403
14th: M. Hakkinen (McLaren): +52.316
15th: F. Alonso (Minardi): +54.063
16th: R. Davies (McLaren): +1:16.588
17th: G. Fisichella (Benetton): +1:17.020
18th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +1 LAP
19th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +1 LAP
20th: J. Verstappen (Arrows): +1 LAP
Ret: P. de la Rosa (Jaguar): Engine
Ret: R. Schumacher (Williams): Accident

Drivers’ Championship:
1st: R. Davies - 57
2nd: R. Schumacher - 54
3rd: M. Hakkinen - 52
= 4th: R. Barrichello - 48
= 4th: M. Schumacher - 48 (This tiebreaker goes all the way to Barrichello having a 7th!)
6th: J. Montoya - 28
7th: K. Raikkonen - 21
8th: J. Trulli - 18
9th: S. Jones - 14
= 10th: N. Heidfeld - 10
= 10th: J. Villeneuve - 10
12th: O. Panis - 7
13th: H. Frentzen - 6
= 14th: R. Zonta - 4
= 14th: J. Button - 4
16th: J. Alesi - 3
= 17th: G. Fisichella - 2
= 17th: J. Verstappen - 2
= 19th: T. Marques - 1
= 19th: P. de la Rosa - 1

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 109
2nd: Ferrari - 96
3rd: Williams - 82
= 4th: Jordan - 31
= 4th: Sauber - 31
6th: BAR - 17
7th: Jaguar - 15
8th: Benetton - 6
9th: Arrows - 2
10th: Minardi - 1
Bold shows who is still in the hunt for the championships.

So two races to go, and 5 drivers still with a shot at the championship, not to mention the 3-way fight for the constructors’ crown. To Indy!

[the Masked Lapwing]

2001 United States Grand Prix

Qualifying:
Davies won the first US GP here at Indianapolis last year, and he plans on doing so again to take a good lead into Suzuka. And scoring yet another pole helped him to the box seat.

1st: R. Davies (McLaren): 1:07.281
2nd: R. Barrichello (Ferrari): +0.734
3rd: J. Montoya (Williams): +1.161
4th: K. Raikkonen (Sauber): +1.538
5th: J. Trulli (Jordan): +1.718
6th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +1.722
7th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +1.742
8th: M. Hakkinen (McLaren): +1.780
9th: O. Panis (BAR): +1.956
10th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +2.129
11th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +2.247
12th: J. Button (Benetton): +2.317
13th: J. Alesi (Jordan): +2.379
14th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +2.666
15th: S. Jones (Jaguar): +3.203
16th: G. Fisichella (Benetton): +3.724
17th: T. Enge (Prost): +3.940
18th: J. Verstappen (Arrows): +4.048
19th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +4.171
20th: F. Alonso (Minardi): +4.327
21st: H. Frentzen (Prost): +4.375
22nd: A. Yoong (Minardi): +4.390

Race:
The first two laps were completely uneventful for the leaders, but Ralf Schumacher was regretting his poor qualifying, as he got into a game of ping-pong with the Jordans. Up front, Davies and Barrichello were fairly even matched, with the Ferrari stronger in the infield, while McLaren would power ahead on the oval. On lap 4, as they went through turn 12, Montoya locked his brakes and went straight into Barrichello, spinning himself. Barrichello was fairly unharmed, and took the race lead as Davies pitted. He came out 11th, thanks to the long lane, 8 seconds behind Montoya and 4 ahead of Michael Schumacher. The other Schumacher though had his heart broken, as his engine started belching smoke, removing him from contention for the win. If Davies won the race, his championship would be over. Villeneuve’s engine also blew, on the way into turn 13. More pitstops saw Davies get to 6th, but Schumacher had caught up slightly. And by slightly, I mean close to enough to punt Davies off the road. Neither car had much damage, but for davies this meant that Montoya got further ahead. Yet more stops on lap 6, and Davies was 2nd, still behind Montoya. But on the penultimate lap, Montoya drove straight past the pit entry, and would try to win the race without stopping, gladly helping Ralf out. So if he had the fuel, he wouldn’t be caught by Davies and Michael, who were still 15 seconds behind. Even more luckily for him, a backmarker had spun in the first sector after he’d gotten past, putting the yellows out for Davies and Schumacher, slowing them down massively. So Montoya would win his second race, keeping his teammate in the title hunt.

1st: J. Montoya (Williams): 9:42.617
2nd: R. Davies (McLaren): +19.011
3rd: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +23.369
4th: J. Alesi (Jordan): +29.392
5th: K. Raikkonen (Sauber): +32.935
6th: M. Hakkinen (McLaren): +33.105
7th: J. Trulli (Jordan): +34.616
8th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +36.179
9th: O. Panis (BAR): +36.699
10th: J. Button (Benetton): +42.198
11th: R. Barrichello (Ferrari): +42.609
12th: T. Enge (Prost): +48.767
13th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +51.556
14th: S. Jones (Jaguar): +52.427
15th: H. Frentzen (Prost): +57.511
16th: G. Fisichella (Benetton): +57.931
17th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +59.310
18th: F. Alonso (Minardi): +1:01.147
19th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +1:01.524
20th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +1 LAP
21st: J. Verstappen (Arrows): +1 LAP
DNF: J. Villeneuve (BAR): Engine

Drivers’ Championship:
1st: R. Davies - 63
2nd: R. Schumacher - 54
3rd: M. Hakkinen - 53
4th: M. Schumacher - 52
5th: R. Barrichello - 48
6th: J. Montoya - 38
7th: K. Raikkonen - 23
8th: J. Trulli - 18
9th: S. Jones - 14
= 10th: N. Heidfeld - 10
= 10th: J. Villeneuve - 10
12th: O. Panis - 7
= 13th: H. Frentzen - 6
= 13th: J. Alesi - 6
= 15th: R. Zonta - 4
= 15th: J. Button - 4
= 17th: G. Fisichella - 2
= 17th: J. Verstappen - 2
= 19th: T. Marques - 1
= 19th: P. de la Rosa - 1

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 116 - Champions
2nd: Ferrari - 100
3rd: Williams - 92
4th: Jordan - 34
5th: Sauber - 33
6th: BAR - 17
7th: Jaguar - 15
8th: Benetton - 6
9th: Arrows - 2
10th: Minardi - 1

Hakkinen’s 6th means he stays in the championship by the skin of his teeth, and it also seals the constructor’s championship for McLaren, as Ferrari can equal them but lose on countback (McLaren has 6 wins, but if Ferrari won they would only have 5). In fact, Ferrari will leave for Japan without any chance of a championship, with Schumacher needing to have at least beaten Davies to stay in, and Barrichello having an absolute shocker after he'd pitted.

[Wizzie]

Race results for Turkey now up

[Wizzie]

Pre-Canada:

One of Giorgio Pantano's sponsors decided that it was a good idea not to pay up so he has been dumped for this race and replaced by Toyota's test driver Sammy Jones. In other news Juan Pablo Montoya is interested in signing for McLaren next year and there are rumours starting to float around that Daniel Melrose may be moving to Sauber next year as Ferrari continue to evaluate him as a potential successor for Michael Schumacher at Ferrari in the next few years.

2004: Round 8: Canada

Qualifying:

Up till this point in the season Ralf Schumacher has scored a grand total of 5 points by dint of his 4th place at the season opener in Australia before being relegated to anonymous midfielder status. Here at Canada though he turned that around to score pole ahead of Jenson Button. Daniel Melrose was third on the grid but it is starting to be expected of the Australian whilst the Ferraris were struggling with Michael Schumacher 8th and Rubens Barrichello 10th, both a long way off pole.

Grid:
1. R. Schumacher (Williams-BMW)
2. J. Button (BAR-Honda)
3. D. Melrose (Minardi-Cosworth)
4. J. Trulli (Renault)
5. J. Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW)
6. F. Alonso (Renault)
7. K. Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes)
8. M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
9. D. Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes)
10. R. Barrichello (Ferrari)
11. C. Klien (Jaguar-Cosworth)
12. C. Da Matta (Toyota)
13. G. Fisichella (Sauber-Petronas)
14. O. Panis (Toyota)
15. M. Webber (Jaguar-Cosworth)
16. N. Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford)
17. S. Jones (Jordan-Ford)
18. Z. Baumgartner (Minardi-Cosworth)
19. F. Massa (Sauber-Petronas)
20. T. Sato (BAR-Honda)

Race:

Montreal has always had a habit of throwing up some strange results. This year it was Minardi being even better around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve than they usually are with Daniel Melrose taking his first ever Grand Prix win despite a puncture which meant he had to change from a two to three stopper and his teammate Zsolt Baumgartner (Now also known to his fans as HWNSNBM) making clinical moves on half the field to finish 10th whilst hounding polesitter Ralf Schumacher with a few laps to go. Ferrari finished 2-3 with Rubens Barrichello ahead of Michael Schumacher with Giancarlo Fisichella doing his chances of a top drive next year no harm at all by finishing 4th after overtaking Jenson Button with a few laps to go. McLaren scored a double points finish which would have been considered a miracle at the start of the season while Sammy Jones in his return to Formula One scored a point in 8th place.

Results:
1. D. Melrose (Minardi-Cosworth): 1h 36m 07.916s
2. R. Barrichello (Ferrari): +13.390
3. M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +20.736
4. G. Fisichella (Sauber-Petronas): +55.753
5. J. Button (BAR-Honda): +56.485
6. D. Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes): +1 LAP
7. K. Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes): +1 LAP
8. S. Jones (Jordan-Ford): +2 LAPS
9. R. Schumacher (Williams-BMW): +2 LAPS
10. Z. Baumgartner (Minardi-Cosworth): +2 LAPS
11. N. Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford): +2 LAPS
12. J. Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW): +2 LAPS
13. C. Klien (Jaguar-Cosworth): +2 LAPS
14. C. Da Matta (Toyota): +3 LAPS
15. O. Panis (Toyota): +3 LAPS
16. F. Massa (Sauber-Petronas): +3 LAPS
17. J. Trulli (Renault): +3 LAPS
18. F. Alonso (Renault): +3 LAPS
19. T. Sato (BAR-Honda): +3 LAPS
20. M. Webber (Jaguar-Cosworth): +3 LAPS

Pole: R. Schumacher (Williams-BMW): 1.13.594
Fastest Lap: D. Melrose (Minardi-Cosworth): 1:14.392
Leaders: J. Button: 1-4, 11 (Total: 5)
D. Melrose: 5-10, 19-56, 58-70 (Total: 57)
M. Schumacher: 12-18 (Total: 7)
R. Barrichello: 57 (Total: 1)

Championship Standings (Half points for Bahrain):
Drivers:
1. R. Barrichello (Ferrari): 50.5 points (1 win, 4 2nds, 1 3rd)
2. M. Schumacher (Ferrari): 50 points (3 wins, 2 2nds, 1 3rd)
3. D. Melrose (Minardi-Cosworth): 43 points (1 win, 2 2nds, 3 3rds)
4. J. Button (BAR-Honda): 31 points (2 wins, 1 3rd)
5. J. Trulli (Renault): 27 points (1 win, 1 3rd)
6. F. Alonso (Renault): 19 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
7. J. Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW): 17 points (1 3rd)
8. D. Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes): 11 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
9. G. Fisichella (Sauber-Petronas): 9 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
10. C. Da Matta (Toyota): 6 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
11. O. Panis (Toyota): 6 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
12. M. Webber (Jaguar-Cosworth): 5.5 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
13. R. Schumacher (Williams-BMW): 5 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
14. T. Sato (BAR-Honda): 4.5 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
15. N. Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford): 4 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
16. K. Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes): 2 points (Best Result: 1 7th)
17. C. Klien (Jaguar-Cosworth): 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)
18. S. Jones (Jordan-Ford): 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)

Constructors:
1. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: 100.5 points (4 wins, 6 2nds, 2 3rds)
2. Mild Seven Renault F1 Team: 46 points (1 win, 1 3rd)
3. Wilux Minardi Cosworth: 43 points (1 win, 2 2nds, 3 3rds)
4. Lucky Strike BAR Honda: 35.5 points (2 wins, 1 3rd)
5. BMW WilliamsF1 Team: 22 points (1 3rd)
6. West McLaren Mercedes: 13 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
7. Panasonic Toyota Racing: 12 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
8. Sauber Petronas: 9 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
9. Jaguar Racing Cosworth: 6.5 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
10. Jordan Ford: 5 points (Best Result: 1 5th)

Next up is the United States Grand Prix at the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway

[the Masked Lapwing]

2001 Japanese Grand Prix

Qualifying:
It’s like Monza all over again! Davies took pole for the 13th time this season, in what will be his 50th Grand Prix start. But here, he took advantage of extra laps near the end of the session, when the track was dry(ish), so the gap can actually be explained.

1st: R. Davies (McLaren): 1:31.859
2nd: R. Schumacher (Williams): +5.644
3rd: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +6.306
4th: J. Montoya (Williams): +6.416
5th: K. Raikkonen (Sauber): +6.536
6th: M. Hakkinen (McLaren): +6.458
7th: R. Barrichello (Ferrari): +7.015
8th: J. Alesi (Jordan): +7.179
9th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +7.269
10th: O. Panis (BAR): +7.392
11th: J. Trulli (Jordan): +7.417
12th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +7.478
13th: S. Jones (Jaguar): +7.728
14th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +7.905
15th: J. Button (Benetton): +8.624
16th: G. Fisichella (Benetton): +8.853
17th: F. Alonso (Minardi): +10.000
18th: J. Verstappen (Arrows): +10.074
19th: T. Enge (Prost): +10.541
20th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +10.616
21st: H. Frentzen (Prost): +10.838
22nd: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +11.280

Race:
The track was soaked for the start, and it was only getting wetter. Davies made one of the best starts of the year to lead Ralf into turn 1. At the back of the field, the two Benettons got together at the hairpin, with both spinning. Both of the other title challengers pitted at the end of lap 1, while Davies wouldn’t until lap 2 (favouritism much?). He led by 5 seconds over Michael Schumacher, until his engine blew up through the Esses, putting Montoya second. As he went through 130R, the Mercedes in the back of Davies’ McLaren also blew up, spinning him on his own oil straight into the fence! Davies managed to keep the car going, although he had to coast into the pits, giving Montoya the lead. He came out (after a long stop that saw Alesi leapfrog him) 11th, right alongside Verstappen, and now behind Ralf in 10th, but he wasn’t very far ahead. Hakkinen, though, was 13th. Up front, Montoya pitted, not game enough to try his Indy strategy. Davies caught up to him through 130R, and as they went side by side into the Casio triangle, Olivier Panis, just ahead, made a dive for the pits, from the left hand side of the track! He clipped both Schumacher and Davies, and both ended up facing the way they’d come. Davies was still on the black stuff though, while Ralf was in the sand, so Davies got going again much quicker. More stops saw Davies get to 5th, now behind Montoya and both of the Jordans, but still ahead of Hakkinen. Until Montoya’s BMW started to smoke too (3 front running teams, 3 engine dramas. Explain that!). Montoya’s dramas though held up the Jordans, allowing Davies to catch up. He very nearly hit Alesi at the chicane, but just pulled up short. That didn’t stop them coming together at the first corner when Davies snuck up the inside. All Jean succeeded in doing was spinning himself and bringing Jacques Villeneuve into podium contention, but it did let Trulli get away. Meanwhile, the leader was, Barrichello, was several miles ahead, having avoided much trouble. As they started the final lap, Davies had about two seconds in front and behind, so he eased off and let Trulli have second, while denying his old enemy third. Behind all this, Ralf was running 6th, and Mika 7th, until the fourth front running engine drama struck Schumacher, giving Hakkinen the last point.

1st: R. Barrichello (Ferrari): 10:11.966
2nd: J. Trulli (Jordan): +16.646
3rd: R. Davies (McLaren): +17.466
4th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +21.549
5th: O. Panis (BAR): +22.868
6th: M. Hakkinen (McLaren): +25.635
7th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +30.329
8th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +31.557
9th: J. Alesi (Jordan): +32.035
10th: S. Jones (Jaguar): +32.666
11th: K. Raikkonen (Sauber): +34.806
12th: G. Fisichella (Benetton): +43.750
13th: F. Alonso (Minardi): +52.112
14th: T. Enge (Prost): +53.059
15th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +54.363
16th: H. Frentzen (Prost): +55.132
17th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +55.991
18th: J. Verstappen (Arrows): +1:04.648
19th: J. Montoya (Williams): +1:04.947
20th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +1 LAP
DNF: J. Button (Benetton): Suspension
DNF: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): Engine

Drivers’ Championship:
1st: R. Davies - 67 (3 wins, 3 2nds, 2 3rds) - Champion
2nd: R. Barrichello - 58 (3 wins, 2 2nds, 3 3rds)
3rd: R. Schumacher - 54 (4 wins, 2 2nds)
4th: M. Hakkinen - 54 (3 wins, 1 2nd, 1 3rd)
5th: M. Schumacher - 52 (2 wins, 2 2nds, 3 3rds)
6th: J. Montoya - 38 (2 wins, 1 2nd, 1 3rd)
7th: J. Trulli - 24 (3 2nds)
8th: K. Raikkonen - 23 (1 2nd, 1 3rd)
9th: S. Jones - 14 (2 2nds)
10th: J. Villeneuve - 13 (2 3rds)
11th: N. Heidfeld - 10 (2 3rds)
12th: O. Panis - 9
13th: H. Frentzen - 6
14th: J. Alesi - 6
15th: R. Zonta - 4 (1 3rd)
16th: J. Button - 4 (1 5th)
17th: G. Fisichella - 2 (1 5th, 1 8th)
18th: J. Verstappen - 2 (1 5th, 3 11ths)
19th: P. de la Rosa - 1 (1 6th, 2 8ths)
20th: T. Marques - 1 (1 6th, 1 8th)
21st: L. Burti - 0 (1 8th)
22nd: E. Bernoldi - 0 (1 9th, 1 10th)
23rd: T. Enge - 0 (1 9th, 1 12th)
24th: F. Alonso - 0 (2 11ths)
25th: A. Yoong - 0 (1 13th, 1 15th)
26th: G. Mazzacane - 0 (1 13th, 1 16th)

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 121 (6 wins, 4 2nds, 3 3rds) - Champions
2nd: Ferrari - 110 (5 wins, 4 2nds, 6 3rds)
3rd: Williams - 92 (6 wins, 3 2nds, 1 3rd)
4th: Jordan - 40 (3 2nds)
5th: Sauber - 33 (1 2nd, 3 3rds)
6th: BAR - 22 (2 3rds)
7th: Jaguar - 15 (2 2nds)
8th: Benetton - 6
9th: Arrows - 2
10th: Minardi - 1
11th: Prost - 0

And with that 3rd place, Davies takes his second World Championship! Barrichello comes from nowhere a few races ago to steal second, while Ralf beats Hakkine to third on countback.


Post race, and the usual offers come appear for 2002. But who will Davies go to? Will he stay at McLaren, the champions? Or will he go back to Williams, alongside Ralf Schumacher? What about Ferrari, with the other Schumacher?

[Wizzie]

Pre-Great Britain

It was a mess both on the grid and behind the scenes in the buildup to one of the most anticipated British Grand Prix in years. There were two major changes on the driving front with Giancarlo Fisichella being announced as Ferrari's second driver for the foreseeable future while Williams test driver Heikki Kovalainen got his promised Williams drive as he took over from the thus far disappointing Kazuki Nakajima. In the paddock the major talk was concerning the short lived "Formula Elaborate Bluff" which was devised as the bastard lovechild of all the major manufacturers before dying a painful death a few days later. This angered championship leader Daniel Melrose so much he announced that he is reconsidering his options at the end of the year as the political bickering is getting too out of hand.

Round 8: Great Britain

Qualifying:

Some of Melrose's best driving has usually come of the back of Melrose arriving at the track annoyed at pretty much everything and today was no different. Cold temperatures forecast for the weekend meant that BMW were expected to struggle but even so Melrose took his eight pole of the season by just under three tenths from local hero Jenson Button and his teammate Frank Zimmer. Sammy Jones, also on home soil, put in his best qualifying effort in a long time to be 5th ahead of Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton while on his return Heikki Kovalainen was a respectable 13th ahead of Robert Kubica.

Grid:
1. D. Melrose (BMW)
2. J. Button (Brawn-Mercedes)
3. F. Zimmer (Brawn-Mercedes)
4. S. Vettel (RBR-Renault)
5. S. Jones (McLaren-Mercedes)
6. M. Webber (RBR-Renault)
7. L. Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
8. F. Alonso (Renault)
9. N. Rosberg (Williams-Toyota)
10. J. Trulli (Toyota)
11. K. Raikkonen (Ferrari)
12. T. Glock (Toyota)
13. H. Kovalainen (Williams-Toyota)
14. R. Kubica (BMW)
15. N. Piquet Jr (Renault)
16. G. Fisichella (Ferrari)
17. A. Sutil (Force India-Mercedes)
18. S. Buemi (STR-Ferrari)
19. P. McAllister (Force India-Mercedes)
20. T. De Bock (STR-Ferrari)
21. S. Speed (USF1-Cosworth)
22. C. Klien (USF1-Cosworth)

Race:
Not even a fuel miscalculation by the BMW team which meant Daniel Melrose had to pit with a few laps to go could stop him from winning the Grand Prix from the Brawn of Jenson Button and the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel, also on a one stopper. Melrose won the start while Button spent the first few laps behind teammate Frank Zimmer. By the time Button had passed Zimmer, Melrose was 7 seconds up the road. The gap closed to four seconds but an incredible set of 8 laps from lap 19 to 27 from Melrose where all his lap times in that segment were within two tenths of each other won Melrose the race regardless of whether he stayed on a two stopper or switch a one stopper (which he did to almost disastrous consequences). Frank Zimmer eventually fell to 4th with Mark Webber a few seconds behind in 5th whilst Fernando Alonso spent most of the race on Vettel's tail before finishing best of the rest in 6th. Lewis Hamilton had a shocker at home as first an electrical problem and then a collision with Heikki Kovalainen meant he was resigned to an anonymous 13th.

Results:
1. D. Melrose (BMW): 1h 21m 03.002
2. J. Button (Brawn-Mercedes): +8.094
3. S. Vettel (RBR-Renault): +24.500
4. F. Zimmer (Brawm-Mercedes): +36.703
5. M. Webber (RBR-Renault): +44.620
6. F. Alonso (Renault): +1:10.050
7. K. Raikkonen (Ferrari): +1:13.484
8. S. Jones (McLaren-Mercedes): +1:14.772
9. J. Trulli (Toyota): +1:18.858
10. N. Rosberg (Williams-Toyota): +1 LAP
11. R. Kubica (BMW): +1 LAP
12. G. Fisichella (Ferrari): +1 LAP
13. L. Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes): +1 LAP
14. N. Piquet Jr (Renault): +1 LAP
15. S. Buemi (STR-Ferrari): +1 LAP
16. H. Kovalainen (Williams-Toyota): +2 LAPS
17. T. De Bock (STR-Ferrari): +3 LAPS
18. S. Speed (USF1-Cosworth): +3 LAPS
DNF. C. Klien (USF1-Cosworth)
DNF. A. Sutil (Force India-Mercedes)
DNF. T. Glock (Toyota)
DNF. P. McAllister (Force India-Mercedes)

Pole: D. Melrose (BMW): 1:17.537
Fastest Lap: D. Melrose (BMW): 1.17.977
Leaders: D. Melrose: 1-60 (Total: 60)

Championship Standings:
Drivers:

1. D. Melrose (BMW): 80 points (8 wins)
2. J. Button (Brawn-Mercedes): 62 points (7 2nds, 1 3rd)
3. F. Zimmer (Brawn-Mercedes): 32 points (1 2nd, 2 3rds)
4. S. Vettel (RBR-Renault): 27 points (3 3rds)
5. L. Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes): 23 points (1 3rd)
6. K. Raikkonen (Ferrari): 22 points (Best Result: 2 4ths)
7. M. Webber (RBR-Renault): 21 points (1 3rd)
8. S. Jones (McLaren-Mercedes): 16 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
9. F. Alonso (Renault): 15 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
10. J. Trulli (Toyota): 7 points (Best Result: 1 6th)
11. T. Glock (Toyota): 6 points (Best Result: 1 6th)
12. P. McAllister (Force India-Mercedes): 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)

Constructors:

1. Virgin Brawn GP F1 Team Mercedes: 94 points (8 2nds, 3 3rds)
2. BMW Sauber F1 Team: 80 points (8 wins)
3. Red Bull Racing Renault: 48 points (4 3rds)
4. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: 39 points (1 3rd)
5. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: 22 points (Best Result: 2 4ths)
6. ING Renault F1 Team: 15 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
7. Panasonic Toyota Racing: 13 points (Best Result: 2 6ths)
8. Force India F1 Team Mercedes: 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)

Next up is the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

[Wizzie]

Race results for Great Britain now up

[East Londoner]

Daniel Melrose - Somehow making Sebastian Vettel seem interesting since 2005!

[Wizzie]

Daniel Melrose - Somehow making Sebastian Vettel seem interesting since 2005!

Pretty much

[the Masked Lapwing]

2002 FORMULA ONE SEASON ENTRY LIST:

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
#1 - Rhys Davies (AUS)
#2 - Michael Schumacher (GER)

The Italians have surprised everyone by signing Rhys Davies to the team. It seems that Davies remaining at McLaren was dependent on whether Hakkinen retired or not, a fact which he and team refused to tell anyone about. In the end, Davies signed for Ferrari anyway, with Hakkinen announcing his retirement about 24 hours later. Despite Barrichello finishing second last year, Schumacher was the better performer all year, so remains with the team while Barrichello drops to test driver.


West McLaren Mercedes
#3 - Kimi Raikkonen (FIN)
#4 - David Coulthard (GBR)

McLaren did, however, sign Kimi Raikkonen to replace Hakkinen, the young Finn surprising, well, everyone, with several podiums coming his way at Sauber. They have also recalled David Coulthard, who spent 2001 testing for the team.


BMW WilliamsF1 Team
#5 - Ralf Schumacher (GER)
#6 - Juan Pablo Montoya (COL)

Williams keep their lineup from last year, with Schumacher once again coming close to the championship. But it was Montoya's poor debut season that stopped them from being higher in the constructors' last year, so the pressure will be on.


DHL Jordan Honda
#7 - Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA)
#8 - Takuma Sato (JPN)

Fisichella has left Benetton, and was immediately signed by Jordan, who needed two new drivers after Jean Alesi retired and Jarno Trulli moved to Renault. They managed to convince Honda to give them engines for another year, having annihilated BAR in 2001, partly by hiring a Japanese driver in Takuma Sato.


Sauber Petronas
#9 - Nick Heidfeld (GER)
#10 - Felipe Massa (BRA)

Sauber had a brilliant season last year, with Raikkonen and Heidfeld taking several podiums, and only lost out to Jordan in the final races. Heidfeld has stayed on, and they have signed Felipe Massa, seemingly at Ferrari's bidding.


Lucky Strike BAR Honda
#11 - Jacques Villeneuve (CAN)
#12 - Olivier Panis (FRA)

BAR have managed to keep hold of works Honda engines, but for how long remains to be seen. On the driver front, they keep Panis and Villeneuve, neither of whom had spectacular seasons.


Jaguar Racing
#14 - Pedro de la Rosa (ESP)
#15 - James Courtney (AUS)

Sammy Jones has moved on, signed by the new Toyota team, leaving Jag to hire young Aussie James Courtney to their second seat. De la Rosa is now the team leader, and it will be interesting to see what they can achieve.


Mild Seven Renault F1 Team
#16 - Jenson Button (GBR)
#17 - Jarno Trulli (ITA)

Benetton have been bought out, and their engine supplier Renault will re-enter the sport. They kept Button on at the team, and managed to convince Jarno Trulli to leave Jordan, hoping to take the challenge to the top teams.


Orange Arrows
#18 - Enrique Bernoldi (BRA)
#19 - Heinz-Harald Frentzen (GER)

Frentzen, the Prost refugee, was quite desperate to get a drive, and Arrows was the last spot available. Bernoldi stuck around, his money vital to the survival of them team, who look in danger of not making the rest of the year. They did, however, manage to secure the same Cosworth engines that Jaguar are using.


Go KL Minardi Asiatech
#20 - Alex Yoong (MAL)
#21 - Mark Webber (AUS)

Minardi managed to score a point last year, to keep them off the bottom of the standings. Of the drivers, Alex Yoong is kept because of his money, and he did fairly solidly at the end of the year. Team principal Paul Stoddart has also signed Mark Webber, meaning that there will be four Australians on the grid when they line up in Melbourne.


Panasonic Toyota Racing
#22 - Sammy Jones (GBR)
#23 - Ryan Briscoe (AUS)

Mika Salo sacrificed a year of his career for this team, and how is he rewarded? Being dumped so they could sign Sammy Jones. Toyota are on the grid after Prost ran out of money and folded, leaving an empty grid spot. Another Aussie in Ryan Briscoe will also drive for the team.



I may have been cheap here, but I can't possibly be any worse than Melrose, can I?

[the Masked Lapwing]

2002 Australian Grand Prix

Qualifying:
Once again Davies would return to Melbourne, and took pole for the second time at Albert Park. David Coulthard would line up alongside his for his first race since 2000. James Courtney managed to outqualify his more experienced teammate, and Felipe Massa put in a brilliant performance to get into the top 8.
1st: R. Davies (Ferrari): 1:22.467
2nd: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +1.089
3rd: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +1.162
4th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +1.364
5th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +1.679
6th: F. Massa (Sauber): +1.929
7th: J. Montoya (Williams): +1.953
8th: J. Trulli (Renault): +1.978
9th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +2.066
10th: J. Button (Benetton): +2.264
11th: O. Panis (BAR): +2.917
12th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +2.937
13th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +3.087
14th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +3.262
15th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +3.390
16th: T. Sato (Jordan): +3.777
17th: M. Webber (Minardi): +5.056
18th: E. Bernodi (Arrows): +5.099
19th: S. Jones (Toyota): +5.176
20th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +5.185
21st: A. Yoong (Minardi): +5.252
22nd: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +6.077

Race:
Davies led the field through turn 1, as near the back Webber tried to make an over-ambitious move on Fisichella and the two Arrows collided. Coulthard got past Davies at turn 3, but pitted at the end of the lap. Most of the field pitted on lap 2, making a temporary Aussie 1-2 of Davies and Courtney. Both pitted on lap 3. Coulthard got ahead, as did Ralf Schumacher, while de la Rosa, Montoya and Briscoe didn’t stop till lap 4. When they did, it promoted Davies to third, which became second as Schumacher’s suspension almost collapsed. He had Massa right behind him though, the Brazilian having a brilliant debut. Coulthard, however, was way up the road, and Davies pushed so hard that he ran off at turn 6, letting Massa into second. Courtney also tried to have a crack, but they couldn’t get through turn 14 side by side and both speared off the track. Davies managed to stay ahead of Fisichella, but Courtney blew a chance of a big points finish. Eventually, Coulthard crossed the line to win on his return, with Massa taking second on debut. Davies simply drove away from Fisichella for third, while Button took fifth and Courtney held on to 6th.

1st: D. Coulthard (McLaren): 8:49.556
2nd: F. Massa (Sauber): +8.897
3rd: R. Davies (Ferrari): +16.851
4th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +20.498
5th: J. Button (Benetton): +21.678
6th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +23.245
7th: T. Sato (Jordan): +26.285
8th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +27.312
9th: J. Montoya (Williams): +27.816
10th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +28.328
11th: M. Webber (Minardi): +32.334
12th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +33.567
13th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +36.109
14th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +37.832
15th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +38.149
16th: S. Jones (Toyota): +50.037
17th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +51.010
18th: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +53.029
19th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +1 LAP
20th: O. Panis (BAR): +1 LAP
DNF: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): Engine
DNF: J. Trulli (Renault): Accident

New for 2002:
ROTR: Kimi Raikkonen - Was back that far after running off at turn 3 - a lot.
IIDOTR: Felipe Massa - Brilliant drive to second place, on debut, and in a Sauber.

Driver’s Championship:
1st: D. Coulthard - 10
2nd: F. Massa - 6
3rd: R. Davies - 4
4th: G. Fisichella - 3
5th: J. Button - 2
6th: J. Courtney - 1

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 10
2nd: Sauber - 6
3rd: Ferrari - 4
4th: Jordan - 3
5th: Renault - 2
6th: Jaguar - 1

[Wizzie]

Pre-United States:

Giorgio Pantano returned in the Jordan for this race as his sponsor decided to pay up. Silly season news now and there are rumours already starting to float around that Mark Webber may be heading Williams bound next year. Ferrari are also pushing to get their man Daniel Melrose in a Sauber seat to replace one of their current drivers.

2004: Round 9: United States

Qualifying:

Maybe it was the sky high confidence Daniel Melrose had after winning last weekend's Canadian Grand Prix. Maybe it was Minardi getting the setup right for his driving style after they struggled through free practice. Or maybe it was just the sheer ability the young Australian to wrestle a car that was threatening to spit him out on several occasions that put him on the front row of the grid alongside championship leader Rubens Barrichello with Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya right on their heels. The same couldn't be said for Jarno Trulli as he ended up on the back row of the grid.

Grid:

1. R. Barrichello (Ferrari)
2. D. Melrose (Minardi-Cosworth)
3. M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
4. J. Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW)
5. T. Sato (BAR-Honda)
6. O. Panis (Toyota)
7. R. Schumacher (Williams-BMW)
8. J. Button (BAR-Honda)
9. K. Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes)
10. C. Da Matta (Toyota)
11. M. Webber (Jaguar-Cosworth)
12. F. Alonso (Renault)
13. D. Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes)
14. C. Klien (Jaguar-Cosworth)
15. G. Fisichella (Sauber-Petronas)
16. F. Massa (Sauber-Petronas)
17. N. Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford)
18. G. Pantano (Jordan-Ford)
19. Z. Baumgartner (Minardi-Cosworth)
20. J. Trulli (Renault)

Race:

If it wasn't for Melrose's messy first lap where he kicked into anti-stall, hit the back of Raikkonen, damaged his front wing and run Coulthard and Webber off the road leaving him almost a minute behind after the pitstop he would have run away with his second win in the space of a week as thanks to Minardi's gamble with setup everyone but him struggled with front tyre wear. As it was he actually got into the lead on lap 68 when Michael Schumacher's fuel system called it quits but lo and behold the very next lap Ralf Schumacher had the mother and father of all big accidents which meant the results were backtracked to the end of lap 67 which Schumacher was leading. Rubens Barrichello had second all sewn up until he stayed out too long for his final pitstop, got mugged by Melrose and Takuma Sato, who ended up scoring his first podium in third, and went into points collection mode in 4th. Zsolt Baumgartner showed that the second Minardi driver is also one to watch as he finished 9th which showed that with proper nurturing from the Minardi team both drivers have bright futures in front of them.

Results (67 laps completed):
1. M. Schumacher (Ferrari): 1h 22m 29.877
2. D. Melrose (Minardi-Cosworth): +0.871
3. T. Sato (BAR-Honda): +9.053
4. R. Barrichello (Ferrari): +19.341
5. J. Trulli (Renault): +1 LAP
6. K. Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes): +1 LAP
7. G. Fisichella (Sauber-Petronas): +1 LAP
8. J. Button (BAR-Honda): +1 LAP
9. Z. Baumgartner (Minardi-Cosworth): +1 LAP
10. O. Panis (Toyota): +1 LAP
11. N. Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford): +1 LAP
12. J. Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW): +1 LAP
13. C. Klien (Jaguar-Cosworth): +2 LAPS
14. F. Alonso (Renault): +2 LAPS
15. G. Pantano (Jordan-Ford): +2 LAPS
16. R. Schumacher (Williams-BMW): +2 LAPS
17. C. Da Matta (Toyota): +2 LAPS
DNF. F. Massa (Sauber-Petronas)
DNF. D. Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes)
DNF. M. Webber (Jaguar-Cosworth)

Pole: R. Barrichello (Williams-BMW): 1.10.275
Fastest Lap: D. Melrose (Minardi-Cosworth): 1:10.566
Leaders: M. Schumacher: 1-9, 12-40, 55-67 (Total: 52)
R. Barrichello: 10-11, 41-49 (Total: 11)
D. Melrose: 50-54 (Total: 5)

Championship Standings (Half points for Bahrain):
Drivers:
1. M. Schumacher (Ferrari): 60 points (4 wins, 2 2nds, 1 3rd)
2. R. Barrichello (Ferrari): 55.5 points (1 win, 4 2nds, 1 3rd)
3. D. Melrose (Minardi-Cosworth): 51 points (1 win, 3 2nds, 3 3rds)
4. J. Button (BAR-Honda): 32 points (2 wins, 1 3rd)
5. J. Trulli (Renault): 31 points (1 win, 1 3rd)
6. F. Alonso (Renault): 19 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
7. J. Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW): 17 points (1 3rd)
8. D. Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes): 11 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
9. G. Fisichella (Sauber-Petronas): 11 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
10. T. Sato (BAR-Honda): 10.5 points (1 3rd)
11. C. Da Matta (Toyota): 6 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
12. O. Panis (Toyota): 6 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
13. M. Webber (Jaguar-Cosworth): 5.5 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
14. R. Schumacher (Williams-BMW): 5 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
15. K. Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes): 5 points (Best Result: 1 6th)
16. N. Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford): 4 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
17. C. Klien (Jaguar-Cosworth): 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)
18. S. Jones (Jordan-Ford): 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)

Constructors:
1. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: 115.5 points (5 wins, 6 2nds, 2 3rds)
3. Wilux Minardi Cosworth: 51 points (1 win, 3 2nds, 3 3rds)
2. Mild Seven Renault F1 Team: 50 points (1 win, 1 3rd)
4. Lucky Strike BAR Honda: 42.5 points (2 wins, 2 3rds)
5. BMW WilliamsF1 Team: 22 points (1 3rd)
6. West McLaren Mercedes: 16 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
7. Panasonic Toyota Racing: 12 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
8. Sauber Petronas: 11 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
9. Jaguar Racing Cosworth: 6.5 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
10. Jordan Ford: 5 points (Best Result: 1 5th)

Next up is the trip back across the pond for the French Grand Prix at Magny Course

[the Masked Lapwing]

Three races at once anyone?

2002 Malaysian Grand Prix

Qualifying:
Apparently Ferrari uses Michelin tyres. Who knew? From one glitch to another, as it took everyone except Davies 20 minutes to set a lap time. And he was still 2 seconds faster!

1st: R. Davies (Ferrari): 1:28.437
2nd: R. Schumacher (Williams): +2.767
3rd: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +3.363
4th: J. Button (Renault): +3.794
5th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +3.984
6th: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +4.075
7th: J. Trulli (Renault): +4.162
8th: J. Montoya (Williams): +4.216
9th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +4.427
10th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +4.623
11th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +4.797
12th: T. Sato (Jordan): +4.862
13th: F. Massa (Sauber): +4.863
14th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +5.093
15th: O. Panis (BAR): +5.413
16th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +5.715
17th: S. Jones (Toyota): +6.587
18th: M. Webber (Minardi): +6.769
19th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +6.807
20th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +8.043
21st: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +8.498
22nd: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +8.894

Race:
Apart from Massa making a shocking start and hitting Panis, the entire first lap was uneventful. Davies, Ralf Schumacher and Coulthard skipped away from the field, with the Williams pitting straight away. However, a spin at turn 9 on lap 2 let Coulthard and Montoya get ahead of Davies. He was back in front of Montoya in no time, and took back the lead when Coulthard pitted. Montoya did likewise, leaving Davies with a few seconds back to Jenson Button. Both pitted on lap 3, and the Ferrari pit crew delivered an absolutely shocking stop, letting Ralf, Coulthard and Raikkonen jump him. Montoya also got to have a crack into turn 1,that resulted in Davies spinning, collecting Button and Massa. Button and Davies managed to keep going in 5th and 6th, and simultaneously spun at turn 4 with oversteering cars. It took all of 8 seconds for them to collide, sending Button violently spinning and putting James Courtney into the points again. Davies managed to hold 5th, barely, and opened a gap, but no longer had the car to catch Montoya. Courtney, meanwhile, had to defend hard against the other Schumacher, and was doing a pretty good job of it. Davies, meanwhile, was struggling with the car, and discovered an engine problem as he accelerated out of turn 2 on the final lap. Or tried to, anyway - he’d been left with a car that was taking a long time to get up to speed. Fortunately, it wasn’t terminal, and so while he lost a little time to Courtney and Schumacher (who actually got passed by Heidfeld), he still came home 5th.

1st: R. Schumacher (Williams): 9:34.210
2nd: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +1.840
3rd: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +3.497
4th: J. Montoya (Williams): +11.122
5th: R. Davies (Ferrari): +18.568
6th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +30.289
7th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +31.519
8th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +32.216
9th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +34.725
10th: J. Trulli (Renault): +35.022
11th: J. Button (Renault): +35.886
12th: O. Panis (BAR): +39.957
13th: T. Sato (Jordan): +42.376
14th: S. Jones (Toyota): +49.641
15th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +51.492
16th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +54.822
17th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +57.935
18th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +59.074
19th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +1:06.030
20th*: J. Villeneuve (BAR): Engine
21st: F. Massa (Sauber): +1 LAP
22nd: M. Webber (Minardi): +1 LAP

ROTR: Ferrari - Let’s compare to their real results, shall we?
IIDOTR: Courtney - Two points in two races, and held off one of the Ferraris (who would normally have shunted him off the road).

Driver’s Championship:
1st: D. Coulthard - 16
2nd: R. Schumacher - 10
3rd: F. Massa - 6 (1 2nd)
4th: R. Davies - 6 (1 3rd)
5th: K. Raikkonen - 4
6th: J. Montoya - 3 (1 4th, 1 9th)
7th: G. Fisichella - 3 (1 4th, 1 18th)
8th: J. Button - 2 (1 5th)
9th: J. Courtney - 2 (2 6ths)

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 20
2nd: Williams - 13
3rd: Sauber - 6 (1 2nd)
4th: Ferrari - 6 (1 3rd)
5th: Jordan - 3
6th: Renault - 2 (1 5th)
7th: Jaguar - 2 (2 6ths)




2002 Brazilian Grand Prix

Qualifying:
Normally, Davies spends his time at Interlagos being painfully slow in the middle sector, but fast enough on the rest of the track to make up for it. Unfortunately, the rain that showed up over the weekend dampened that, meaning that any laps he did that were within a second of pole were miracles.

1st: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): 1:12.958
2nd: J. Montoya (Williams): +0.068
3rd: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +0.156
4th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +0.486
5th: R. Davies (Ferrari): +0.662
6th: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +0.673
7th: J. Button (Renault): +0.712
8th: J. Trulli (Renault): +0.866
9th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +
10th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +0.870
11th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +1.505
12th: T. Sato (Jordan): +1.512
13th: F. Massa (Sauber): +1.581
14th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +1.628
15th: O. Panis (BAR): +1.940
16th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +2.229
17th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +3.329
18th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +3.420
19th: M. Webber (Minardi): +3.432
20th: S. Jones (Toyota): +3.650
21st: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +3.708
22nd: A. Yoong (Minardi): +3.799

Race:
More rain at the start, as Montoya made a banzai move into turn 1 that simply resulted in Davies moving into second, behind Raikkonen and ahead of Ralf Schumacher. Nick Heidfeld meanwhile made a brilliant start, and found himself in third when Ralf made a dive up the inside of Davies at turn 4, only to smack the fence. Raikkonen pulled out 3 seconds on Davies by the end of the lap, and Heidfeld, Michael Schumacher and Coulthard were lining up to pass. Davies ran off at turn 4, allowing the Sauber and Ferrari through but holding up Coulthard, and the Jordans, Renault, BARs, Jags and Ralf Schumacher had caught up. When Davies slid through turn 10, he caused a hold up, allowing Sato to slip through into 5th, but still behind Davies. Michael pitted from 3rd at the end of lap 2, as did a few of the drivers behind Davies, trying to undercut him. As he moved left to pit on lap 3, Courtney stuck his nose up the inside, sending him spinning just beyond the entry, so Davies made the always bright decision to reverse slightly to get in, collecting Trulli as he tried to pit as well. He would come out 18th, now behind most of the old train. As a few drivers pitted, he got to 16th by passing stationary cars, and 15th when he outpaced Ralf as he left the pits (and skilfully tricked Montoya into hitting his teammate!) Of course, he buggered up at turn 4 again, putting Ralf ahead. In the battle for 8th, Massa and de la Rosa collided, damaging de la Rosa’s suspension. Massa got forced wide, and was stuck there as most of the cars behind him went inside. Except for a certain Ferrari driver, who couldn’t get to the inside because he’s useless (and being outpaced by Bernoldi, for crying out loud!). He spent the last lap and a half trying to keep up with Fisichella and not let Massa or Ralf back in front of him. Up front, Kimi Raikkonen took his first career win, but Heidfeld gave him a run for his money in the final laps.

1st: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): 10:17.035
2nd: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +2.844
3rd: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +10.388
4th: T. Sato (Jordan): +26.624
5th: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +27.026
6th: J. Trulli (Renault): +27.489
7th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +30.150
8th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +31.298
9th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +51.502
10th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +51.958
11th: R. Davies (Ferrari): +54.053
12th: F. Massa (Sauber): +54.668
13th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +55.129
14th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +1:01.406
15th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +1:03.243
16th: O. Panis (BAR): +1:03.737
17th: S. Jones (Toyota): +1:05.502
18th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +1:06.694
19th: J. Montoya (Williams): +1 LAP
20th: M. Webber (Minardi): +1 LAP
DNF: R. Briscoe (Toyota): Accident
DNF: J. Button (Renault): Accident

ROTR: Rhys Davies - Couldn’t catch Fisichella while driving a Ferrari. Maybe not that big a problem on its own, but Fisi was being held up by two seconds a lap by Yoong.
IIDOTR: Takuma Sato - Unrejectification!! Honourable mention to Heidfeld, for being just 2 seconds behind Raikkonen at the end, and took fastest lap honours as well.

Driver’s Championship:
1st: D. Coulthard - 18
2nd: K. Raikkonen - 14
3rd: R. Schumacher - 10
4th: N. Heidfeld - 6 (1 2nd, 1 7th)
5th: F. Massa - 6 (1 2nd, 1 12th)
6th: R. Davies - 6 (1 3rd)
7th: M. Schumacher - 4
8th: T. Sato - 3 (1 4th, 1 7th)
9th: J. Montoya - 3 (1 4th, 1 9th)
10th: G. Fisichella - 3 (1 4th, 1 10th)
11th: J. Button - 2 (1 5th)
12th: J. Courtney - 2 (2 6ths)
13th: J. Trulli - 1

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 32
2nd: Williams - 13
3rd: Sauber - 12
4th: Ferrari - 10
5th: Jordan - 6
6th: Renault - 3
7th: Jaguar - 2



2002 San Marino Grand Prix

Qualifying:
Davies got his usual poor performance during the opening races of a season out of the way at Interlagos, and this time out at Imola he took a dominating pole, nothing like last year’s visit at all. Apart from a collision between Trulli and Villeneuve at Variante Alta (both were on flyers, but Villeneuve slowed a bit much), it was a quiet session.

1st: R. Davies (Ferrari): 1:11.039
2nd: R. Schumacher (Williams): +1.200
3rd: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +1.216
4th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +1.614
5th: F. Massa (Sauber): +1.749
6th: J. Montoya (Williams): +1.840
7th: J. Trulli (Renault): +2.042
8th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +2.132
9th: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +2.264
10th: T. Sato (Jordan): +2.419
11th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +2.444
12th: J. Button (Renault): +2.447
13th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +2.488
14th: O. Panis (BAR): +2.529
15th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +2.669
16th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +3.222
17th: S. Jones (Toyota): +4.200
18th: M. Webber (Minardi): +4.221
19th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +4.305
20th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +4.346
21st: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +4.410
22nd: A. Yoong (Minardi): +4.808

Race:
For the first time since really 2000 (not counting Monaco), Davies managed to hold the lead throughout the first lap, and race out to a 3-second lead over Ralf Schumacher. The fact that he kept building made the, the, what do you call people from San Marino? Ah bugger it, the Italian fans happy. Thanks to most of the field stopping on laps 1 and 2, he came from his stop on lap 3 in 3rd, behind Coulthard and Heidfeld, and just ahead of Villeneuve. All three of them stopped on lap 4, leaving Davies well ahead of the field. The late stop worked for Coulthard as he jumped Schumacher. On lap 5, Briscoe’s engine blew up, dumping oil on the run down to Villeneuve, and Raikkonen’s gave out on the main straight a lap later. And then Yoong’s died at Variante Alta on the last lap. All the oil ruined what would have been 6th and 7th for Heidfeld and Sato. Davies still took a 10 second victory, slowed by the yellow flags, but aided by the battle between Coulthard and Schumacher, in favour of the German when they crossed the line. Massa was the benefactor from the oil, taking 6th place.

1st: R. Davies (Ferrari): 8:51.852
2nd: R. Schumacher (Williams): +10.164
3rd: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +10.609
4th: J. Montoya (Williams): +11.429
5th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +12.478
6th: F. Massa (Sauber): +23.829
7th: J. Trulli (Renault): +24.115
8th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +32.193
9th: J. Button (Renault): +32.803
10th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +33.826
11th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +35.435
12th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +35.798
13th: S. Jones (Toyota): +49.397
14th: M. Webber (Minardi): +52.814
15th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +53.122
16th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +55.415
17th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +1 LAP
18th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +1 LAP
19th: T. Sato (Jordan): +1 LAP
DNF: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): Engine
DNF: R. Briscoe (Toyota): Engine
DNF: O. Panis (BAR): Suspension

ROTR: Engines (specifically Raikkonen’s) - Ruined a brilliant battle for 6th by sending both Heidfeld and Sato into the wall.
IIDOTR: Felipe Massa - If only for his qualifying performance.

Driver’s Championship:
1st: D. Coulthard - 22
2nd: R. Schumacher - 16 (1 win, 1 2nd)
3rd: R. Davies - 16 (1 win, 1 3rd)
4th: K. Raikkonen - 14
5th: F. Massa - 7
6th: N. Heidfeld - 6 (1 2nd)
7th: M. Schumacher - 6 (1 3rd)
8th: J. Montoya - 6 (2 4ths)
9th: T. Sato - 3 (1 4th, 1 7th)
10th: G. Fisichella - 3 (1 4th, 1 10th)
11th: J. Button - 2 (1 5th)
12th: J. Courtney - 2 (2 6ths)
13th: J. Trulli - 1

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 36
2nd: Williams - 22 (1 win, 1 2nd)
3rd: Ferrari - 22 (1 win, 2 3rds)
4th: Sauber - 13
5th: Jordan - 6
6th: Renault - 3
7th: Jaguar - 2

[Wizzie]

Pre-Germany:

Formula One and Motorsport as the world knows it was changed forever on the Wednesday before the German Grand Prix when it was announced the breakaway series, or as the fans coined it, "Formula Elaborate Bluff" was going ahead under the guise of the F1RWRS although what that actually stood for was anyone's guess. It's been alleged that the series was set up through a myriad of late night meetings between Mercedes, Toyota and BMW which was accelerated with the utter domination of Daniel Melrose in the World Championship. Belgian Thomas De Bock was the first to announce that he would drive in the new series and was promptly sacked by Toro Rosso. Jaime Alguersuari was to drive alongside Sebastian Buemi but due to Jaime being delayed considerably at Barcelona, Sebastian Bourdais has been drafted in alongside his Swiss namesake. BMW test driver Dave Simpson also announced that he was to drive in the new series along with Spaniard Pheonix McAllister and Australian Frank Zimmer, who allegedly acted as a negotiator for the new series. And then on Friday morning came the biggest announcement of them all came when Sammy Jones and Daniel Melrose both announced their defection to the new series for next year. Melrose himself however has stated he will drive in both categories in 2010 before considering his options in 2011.

Round 9: Germany

Qualifying:

There was much argument both for and against Daniel Melrose's move to the new F1RWRS series. Those supporting the move said that it was a wakeup call to Max Mosely and co that there was something endemically wrong with Formula One while those against said that he and the others that were defecting to the series was making quite possibly the biggest mistake of the century. But none of that mattered to Melrose as his last-gasp effort on a track that was drying at the end of the session put him almost a second and a half ahead of Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel. Robert Kubica's disappointing season looked set to end from 5th on the grid while the luck of the draw left Frank Zimmer, Kimi Raikkonen and Sammy Jones 12th, 14th and a dismal 17th respectively while Sebastian Bourdais will make his return from row 10 of the grid.

Grid:
1. D. Melrose (BMW)
2. J. Button (Brawn-Mercedes)
3. S. Vettel (RBR-Renault)
4. M. Webber (RBR-Renault)
5. R. Kubica (BMW)
6. T. Glock (Toyota)
7. L. Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
8. J. Trulli (Toyota)
9. F. Alonso (Renault)
10. H. Kovalainen (Williams-Toyota)
11. N. Rosberg (Williams-Toyota)
12. F. Zimmer (Brawn-Mercedes)
13. S. Buemi (STR-Ferrari)
14. K. Raikkonen (Ferrari)
15. A. Sutil (Force India-Mercedes)
16. N. Piquet Jr (Renault)
17. S. Jones (McLaren-Mercedes)
18. G. Fisichella (Ferrari)
19. P. McAllister (Force India-Mercedes)
20. S. Bourdais (STR-Ferrari)
21. C. Klien (USF1-Cosworth)
22. S. Speed (USF1-Cosworth)

Race:

Daniel Melrose woke up on Sunday morning to the strangest sight as he found a package inside his hotel room. Inside it was an FIA flag, signed by an obviously disgruntled fan, and an Oasis CD, which had a note attatched to it saying "Back beat, the word is on the street that the fire in your heart is out. I'm sure you've heard it all before but you never really had a doubt." What it meant though was anyone's guess. Infact Melrose probably spent so much time thinking about it he ended up losing the start to Button and spending the first 7 laps behind the Briton before the first of 3 top class moves Melrose would do in the race into the Veedol Chicane. In typical Melrose fashion he did exactly the same thing to Sebastian Vettel during the first pitstop phase before pulling it off on Button again late in the race before Jenson's second stop. None of that stopped Melrose coming through and taking the way from Button and Lewis Hamilton, who inherited the podium position after Mark Webber had a wheel fall off his wagon and Vettel's suspension collasped. Frank Zimmer pulled out a good recovery drive to score 5 more points in 4th while Robert Kubica scored his first points of the season in 6th place.

Results:
1. D. Melrose (BMW): 1h 34m 05.597
2. J. Button (Brawn-Mercedes): +25.322
3. L. Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes): +1:20.526
4. F. Zimmer (Brawm-Mercedes): +1 LAP
5. J. Trulli (Toyota): +1 LAP
6. R. Kubica (BMW): +1 LAP
7. T. Glock (Toyota): +1 LAP
8. F. Alonso (Renault): +1 LAP
9. K. Raikkonen (Ferrari): +1 LAP
10. S. Jones (McLaren-Mercedes): +1 LAP
11. H. Kovalainen (Williams-Toyota): +1 LAP
12. S. Buemi (STR-Ferrari): +2 LAPS
13. P. McAllister (Force India-Mercedes): +2 LAPS
14. N. Piquet Jr (Renault): +2 LAPS
15. S. Bourdais (STR-Ferrari): +2 LAPS
16. C. Klien (USF1-Cosworth): +3 LAPS
DNF. S. Vettel (RBR-Renault)
DNF. G. Fisichella (Ferrari)
DNF. N. Rosberg (Williams-Toyota)
DNF. S. Speed (USF1-Cosworth)
DNF. M. Webber (RBR-Renault)
DNF. A. Sutil (Force India-Mercedes)

Pole: D. Melrose (BMW): 1:42.376
Fastest Lap: D. Melrose (BMW): 1.32.191
Leaders: J. Button: 1-7, 41-46 (Total: 13)
D. Melrose: 8-20, 24-40, 47-60 (Total: 44)
S. Vettel: 21-23 (Total: 3)

Championship Standings:
Drivers:

1. D. Melrose (BMW): 90 points (9 wins)
2. J. Button (Brawn-Mercedes): 70 points (8 2nds, 1 3rd)
3. F. Zimmer (Brawn-Mercedes): 37 points (1 2nd, 2 3rds)
5. L. Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes): 29 points (2 3rds)
4. S. Vettel (RBR-Renault): 27 points (3 3rds)
6. K. Raikkonen (Ferrari): 22 points (Best Result: 2 4ths)
7. M. Webber (RBR-Renault): 21 points (1 3rd)
8. F. Alonso (Renault): 16 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
9. S. Jones (McLaren-Mercedes): 16 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
10. J. Trulli (Toyota): 11 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
11. T. Glock (Toyota): 8 points (Best Result: 1 6th)
12. R. Kubica (BMW): 3 points (Best Result: 1 6th)
13. P. McAllister (Force India-Mercedes): 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)

Constructors:

1. Virgin Brawn GP F1 Team Mercedes: 107 points (9 2nds, 3 3rds)
2. BMW Sauber F1 Team: 93 points (9 wins)
3. Red Bull Racing Renault: 48 points (4 3rds)
4. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: 45 points (2 3rds)
5. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: 22 points (Best Result: 2 4ths)
6. Panasonic Toyota Racing: 19 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
7. ING Renault F1 Team: 16 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
8. Force India F1 Team Mercedes: 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)

Next up is the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring Circuit where the fallout from this week's events is really set to take hold.

[Wizzie]

Qualifying and Race Results for Germany now up

[tommykl]

OK, now this is getting ridiculous!

[East Londoner]

OK, now this is getting ridiculous!

Only good thing is that Bunsen Jetton is 'only' 20 points away. Maybe he could overhaul Melrose? Hopefully...

[Wizzie]

OK, now this is getting ridiculous!

Only good thing is that Bunsen Jetton is 'only' 20 points away. Maybe he could overhaul Melrose? Hopefully...

Plus my 2 worst tracks are coming up (The new Hungaroring and Valencia)

[the Masked Lapwing]

2002 Spanish Grand Prix

Qualifying:
For the second race in a row, Davies was on fire in qualifying trim, taking pole by almost two seconds over David Coulthard.

1st: R. Davies (Ferrari): 1:13.144
2nd: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +1.920
3rd: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +2.042
4th: J. Montoya (Williams): +2.159
5th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +2.365
6th: F. Massa (Sauber): +2.743
7th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +2.857
8th: J. Trulli (Renault): +2.982
9th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +3.335
10th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +3.408
11th: J. Button (Renault): +3.615
12th: T. Sato (Jordan): +3.618
13th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +4.057
14th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +4.281
15th: O. Panis (BAR): +4.892
16th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +4.950
17th: S. Jones (Toyota): +5.557
18th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +5.563
19th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +5.615
20th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +5.986
21st: A. Yoong (Minardi): +6.113
22nd: M. Webber (Minardi): +6.137

Race:
Unlike Imola, Davies didn’t manage to build on his lead, leading Coulthard over the line by just a few tenths of a second. Lap 2 saw Ralf Schumacher dive up the inside of Coulthard at turn 10, and Coulthard pulled into the pits. Davies was still in the lead, but was receiving warnings about his engine and tyre temperatures. He pitted on lap 3, while both Schumachers kept going. The team delivered another poor stop, allowing Massa to jump him. He passed him into turn 1 anyway, now in 10th place, and 4 seconds behind Coulthard. 10th became 6th on lap 4 thanks to more stops, but Michael Schumacher got back out ahead as well. By lap 5, his engine was on the verge of blowing itself to smithereens, allowing Coulthard and Schumacher to skip away, while allowing Massa a sniff a points. Not helping matters was the fact his tyres were being torn to shreds. But then, on the final lap, the Bradbury Principle stepped in. Coulthard had caught up to Ralf Schumacher, and was keen to get revenge for Schumacher’s earlier pass. At turn 10, he ducked inside, but got it horribly wrong, taking them both into the sand, and letting Michael, Davies and Massa get past, just. Up front, Raikkonen lessened the blow for McLaren by beating Montoya to line.

1st: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): 9:01.405
2nd: J. Montoya (Williams): +2.460
3rd: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +4.634
4th: R. Davies (Ferrari): +13.120
5th: F. Massa (Sauber): +15.621
6th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +15.904
7th: T. Sato (Jordan): +19.250
8th: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +19.959
9th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +20.960
10th: J. Button (Renault): +22.132
11th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +22.660
12th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +23.354
13th: J. Trulli (Jordan): +23.646
14th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +26.744
15th: O. Panis (BAR): +27.518
16th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +35.667
17th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +38.995
18th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +39.625
19th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +45.118
20th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +1 LAP
21st: S. Jones (Toyota): +1 LAP
22nd: M. Webber (Minardi): +1 LAP

ROTR: David Coulthard - 4th would have been a good result, since he would still have been ahead of Kimi, just, but he had to make an overambitious move on Schumacher.
IIDOTR: Felipe Massa (again) - Nice effort, and being in the right place at the right time scores him more points. Honourable mention to Sato, for being in the thick of it again and showing Fisichella the way to go.

Driver’s Championship:
1st: K. Raikkonen - 24
2nd: D. Coulthard - 22
3rd: R. Davies - 19
4th: R. Schumacher - 17
5th: J. Montoya - 12
6th: M. Schumacher - 10
7th: F. Massa - 9
8th: N. Heidfeld - 6
9th: T. Sato - 3 (1 4th, 1 7th)
10th: G. Fisichella - 3 (1 4th, 1 10th)
11th: J. Button - 2 (1 5th)
12th: J. Courtney - 2 (2 6ths)
13th: J. Trulli - 1

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 46
2nd: Williams - 29 (1 win, 2 2nds)
3rd: Ferrari - 29 (1 win, 3 3rds)
4th: Sauber - 15
5th: Jordan - 6
6th: Renault - 3
7th: Jaguar - 2


2002 Austrian Grand Prix

Qualifying:
A lack of dry running in the practice session and an inability to set remotely competitive times in the second and third sectors saw Davies qualify, well, nowhere. 9th, behind both Renaults, is unacceptable. Oh well. At least Schumacher got beaten by Massa

1st: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): 1:05.750
2nd: R. Schumacher (Williams): +0.168
3rd: J. Montoya (Williams): +0.466
4th: F. Massa (Sauber): +0.624
5th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +0.664
6th: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +0.668
7th: J. Trulli (Renault): +0.809
8th: J. Button (Renault): +0.844
9th: R. Davies (Ferrari): +0.917
10th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +1.006
11th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +1.361
12th: T. Sato (Jordan): +1.416
13th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +1.599
14th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +1.689
15th: O. Panis (BAR): +1.978
16th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +2.298
17th: M. Webber (Minardi): +3.091
18th: S. Jones (Toyota): +3.164
19th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +3.165
20th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +3.296
21st: A. Yoong (Minardi): +3.882
22nd: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +4.140

Race:
Davies made a lightning start from 9th to be second at the first corner, and in the lead shortly afterwards! 8 cars, all of whom were on dry tyres, couldn’t stop Davies, starting on inters on a dry track. And even that decision looked like a brilliant move as it started to sprinkle at the end of the lap. Over the next few laps, he wasn’t quite able to shake Raikkonen, and by lap 4 they were lapping Toyotas. As they came around the final corner, they came across Button’s Renault, crawling to the pits with broken suspension. Davies went inside him, but Raikkonen slowed behind him, giving Davies a fairly large advantage as they both pitted with Button. This gave Ralf Schumacher the lead, who hadn’t really been on the pace of the top 2. Davies came out 7th, behind de la Rosa, and Raikkonen was miles ahead. He quickly got past the Jag, and most of the drivers in front pitted on lap 5. This left Raikkonen in the lead, but he had Takuma Sato crawling all over him. Davies was third, and Ralf had rejoined about two seconds behind him. The lapped Toyota of Jones was between the two groups, but he didn’t stand a chance against the Ferrari and Williams, although he did give Schumacher a little push as he let him past. Sato pitted on lap 6, correcting the order and giving Davies second place with two laps to go. Kimi was now 7 seconds up the road, while Ralf was just 1 behind, making use of his fresher inters. But then, on lap 8 of 8, as he came out of turn 5, he came across Bernoldi, who had suspension trouble like Button. Unlike Button, who was at least on the outside of the track, Bernoldi was on the inside, and Davies had nowhere to go, running straight up the backside of the Arrows. End result: he launches into the air and ends up on his head. Bernoldi would fair no better, the damage to his rear end preventing him from making it to the finish line.

1st: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): 9:39.548
2nd: R. Schumacher (Williams): +9.172
3rd: J. Trulli (Renault): +17.101
4th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +33.346
5th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +35.008
6th: T. Sato (Jordan): +43.584
7th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +48.628
8th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +48.932
9th: O. Panis (BAR): +49.209
10th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +49.972
11th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +50.816
12th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +1:00.171
13th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +1:00.577
14th: J. Montoya (Williams): +1:00.964
15th*: R. Davies (Ferrari): Collision
16th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +1 LAP
17th: M. Webber (Minardi): +1 LAP
18th: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +
19th: S. Jones (Toyota): +1 LAP
20th: F. Massa (Sauber): +1 LAP
DNF: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): Collision (One lap behind + not making it to the line = DNF)
DNF: J. Button (Renault): Suspension

ROTR: David Coulthard, Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya - Triple shared award for all finishing behind Alex Yoong (and a lap down in Coulthard’s case).
IIDOTR: Heinz-Harald Frentzen - So close to scoring a point for Arrows, but yet so far.

Driver’s Championship:
1st: K. Raikkonen - 34
2nd: R. Schumacher - 23
3rd: D. Coulthard - 22
4th: R. Davies - 19
5th: J. Montoya - 12
6th: M. Schumacher - 10
7th: F. Massa - 9
8th: N. Heidfeld - 8
9th: G. Fisichella - 6
10th: J. Trulli - 5
11th: T. Sato - 4
12th: J. Button - 2 (1 5th)
13th: J. Courtney - 2 (2 6ths)

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 56
2nd: Williams - 37
3rd: Ferrari - 29
4th: Sauber - 17
5th: Jordan - 10
6th: Renault - 7
7th: Jaguar - 2

Next up is fortunately the Monaco GP, where Davies should get his year back on track.

[the Masked Lapwing]

2002 Monaco Grand Prix

Qualifying:
Monaco + Rain = No-one within 107%. Guess who got pole?

1st: R. Davies (Ferrari): 1:15.235
2nd: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +5.812
3rd: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +5.886
4th: J. Montoya (Williams): +6.099
5th: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +6.203
6th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +6.399
7th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +7.016
8th: F. Massa (Sauber): +7.097
9th: J. Button (Renault): +7.115
10th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +7.457
11th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +7.649
12th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +7.656
13th: J. Trulli (Renault): +7.776
14th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +7.788
15th: T. Sato (Jordan): +7.823
16th: O. Panis (BAR): +8.174
17th: S. Jones (Toyota): +9.504
18th: M. Webber (Minardi): +9.688
19th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +9.846
20th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +10.024
21st: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +10.029
22nd: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +10.346

Race:
Remember last year when Davies took a 21 second lead after one lap? Well, it was just 12 this time, thanks to Michael Schumacher getting through the usual turn 1 mess. But it didn’t matter, because he didn’t even see another car until he lapped Yoong on lap 4. At the exit of the swimming pool, Frentzen assisted Briscoe into the fence as Davies came up to lap them, bringing out the yellows. Briscoe wasn’t moving, so Davies simply drove on past and stayed behind Frentzen, until Davies pitted at the end of the lap. He came out in… first. Still 15 seconds ahead of Schumacher. And nothing happened for the rest of the race (except for Schumacher spinning out of an easy second, although he managed to hold third).

1st: R. Davies (Ferrari): 11:37.007
2nd: J. Montoya (Williams): +48.423
3rd: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +49.117
4th: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +49.464
5th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +54.231
6th: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +54.587
7th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +1:01.360
8th: J. Button (Renault): +1:10.608
9th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +1 LAP
10th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +1 LAP
11th: J. Trulli (Renault): +1 LAP
12th: S. Jones (Toyota): +1 LAP
13th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +1 LAP
14th: M. Webber (Minardi): +1 LAP
15th: O. Panis (BAR): +1 LAP
16th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +1 LAP
17th: T. Sato (Jordan): +1 LAP
NC: A. Yoong (Minardi): +2 LAPS
DNF: R. Briscoe (Toyota): Collision
DNF: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): Collision
DNF: J. Courtney (Jaguar): Collision
DNF: F. Massa (Sauber): Collision

ROTR: Jaguar Racing - Both cars collide at turn 1, and take Massa with them.
IIDOTR: Nick Heidfeld, Jenson Button - For not being lapped. Nothing else to give them competition, really.

Driver’s Championship:
1st: K. Raikkonen - 37
2nd: R. Davies - 29
3rd: R. Schumacher - 25
4th: D. Coulthard - 23
5th: J. Montoya - 18
6th: M. Schumacher - 14
7th: F. Massa - 9
8th: N. Heidfeld - 8
9th: G. Fisichella - 6
10th: J. Trulli - 5
11th: T. Sato - 4
12th: J. Button - 2 (1 5th)
13th: J. Courtney - 2 (2 6ths)

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 60
2nd: Williams - 45
3rd: Ferrari - 43
4th: Sauber - 17
5th: Jordan - 10
6th: Renault - 7
7th: Jaguar - 2

This race would mark that usual time when new contracts arrived. For once, there was some variety in the options - while Ferrari offered to keep him, and McLaren tried to get him back, Williams have given up, and instead Renault have given him an offer. And it was an enticing one, since Fisichella wasn’t there anymore. But the problem was, they weren’t exactly competitive. Davies thought hard about it. Pros for going to Renault: No Schumachers to deal with and less pressure to perform. Pros for McLaren: he knows the team members well, and is probably the best car on the grid. Pros for Ferrari: Competitve car, likely to win a few more races, Italian fans wouldn’t be pissed off at him. Cons for Renault: Crap car. Cons for McLaren: Raikkonen is leading the championship. Cons for Ferrari: Poor pit stops have cost him a few times, and still have to be near Schumacher. The decision: bugger it. Let’s race for Renault! I've already won a couple of championships

[Wizzie]

Pre-Hungary:

There was a sombre mood as the teams arrived in Budapest with the death of Englishman Henry Surtees, son of former World Champion John Surtees in a Formula 2 race at Brands Hatch the previous weekend with many cars running tributes to Surtees as a result. One man who wasn't in the paddock though was Nelson Piquet Junior who got the sack almost immediately after the German Grand Prix for being, frankly, crap. Toro Rosso have also found a permanent replacement for Thomas De Bock in the form of Spanish driver Jaime Alguersuari, who will become the second youngest ever driver to start a F1 race after Daniel Melrose.

Round 10: Hungary

Qualifying:

If Germany was a race where Daniel Melrose was driving with his head then here was a place where he was driving with his heart as he went almost a second quicker than anyone else in qualifying before having the car powerslide through turn 7, almost as a warning to slow down. Naturally he ended up backing it into the wall at turns 8 and 9 when the car did exactly the same thing again. McLaren went through a sort of mini-resurgance with Lewis Hamilton 3rd and Sammy Jones nearly beating Frank Zimmer for 5th on the grid. Piquet's replacement Romain Grosjean however looked like he wasn't going anywhere in a hurry as he qualified a lowly 16th on the grid.

Grid:
1. D. Melrose (BMW)
2. J. Button (Brawn-Mercedes)
3. L. Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
4. S. Vettel (RBR-Renault)
5. F. Zimmer (Brawn-Mercedes)
6. S. Jones (McLaren-Mercedes)
7. M. Webber (RBR-Renault)
8. F. Alonso (Renault)
9. K. Raikkonen (Ferrari)
10. T. Glock (Toyota)
11. J. Trulli (Toyota)
12. N. Rosberg (Williams-Toyota)
13. R. Kubica (BMW)
14. H. Kovalainen (Williams-Toyota)
15. G. Fisichella (Ferrari)
16. R. Grosjean (Renault)
17. A. Sutil (Force India-Mercedes)
18. S. Buemi (STR-Ferrari)
19. P. McAllister (Force India-Mercedes)
20. J. Alguersuari (STR-Ferrari)
22. S. Speed (USF1-Cosworth)
21. C. Klien (USF1-Cosworth)

Race:

A familiar story played itself out yet again at Budapest. Jenson Button won the start before Daniel Melrose got by at the first pitstop before proceeding to win yet again and make the championship look like an inevitable formality. McLaren were genuinely competitive for once with Lewis Hamilton holding off the likes of Frank Zimmer and Sebastian Vettel for the final podium position whilst Sammy Jones finished 6th after being as low as 20th early in the race. The same couldn't be said for Mark Webber as he, like Jones, lost ground thanks to a driver error. Unlike Jones however he didn't have the car pace to do anything about it as he ended up a lapped 11th.

Results:
1. D. Melrose (BMW): 1h 34m 57.710
2. J. Button (Brawn-Mercedes): +21.190
3. L. Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes): +1:01.946
4. F. Zimmer (Brawm-Mercedes): +1:06.910
5. S. Vettel (RBR-Renault): +1 LAP
6. S. Jones (McLaren-Mercedes): +1 LAP
7. F. Alonso (Renault): +1 LAP
8. K. Raikkonen (Ferrari): +1 LAP
9. J. Trulli (Toyota): +1 LAP
10. T. Glock (Toyota): +1 LAP
11. M. Webber (RBR-Renault): +1 LAP
12. H. Kovalainen (Williams-Toyota): +2 LAPS
13. G. Fisichella (Ferrari): +2 LAPS
14. R. Kubica (BMW): +2 LAPS
15. R. Grosjean (Renault): +2 LAPS
16. P. McAllister (Force India-Ferrari): +2 LAPS
17. S. Buemi (STR-Ferrari): +2 LAPS
18. J. Alguersuari (STR-Ferrari): +2 LAPS
DNF. S. Speed (USF1-Cosworth)
DNF. A. Sutil (Force India-Mercedes)
DNF. N. Rosberg (Williams-Toyota)
DNF. C. Klien (USF1-Cosworth)

Pole: D. Melrose (BMW): 1:17.818
Fastest Lap: D. Melrose (BMW): 1.19.527
Leaders: J. Button: 1-19, 48 (Total: 20)
D. Melrose: 20-47, 49-70 (Total: 50)

Championship Standings:
Drivers:

1. D. Melrose (BMW): 100 points (10 wins)
2. J. Button (Brawn-Mercedes): 78 points (9 2nds, 1 3rd)
3. F. Zimmer (Brawn-Mercedes): 42 points (1 2nd, 2 3rds)
5. L. Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes): 35 points (3 3rds)
4. S. Vettel (RBR-Renault): 31 points (3 3rds)
6. K. Raikkonen (Ferrari): 23 points (Best Result: 2 4ths)
7. M. Webber (RBR-Renault): 21 points (1 3rd)
8. S. Jones (McLaren-Mercedes): 19 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
9. F. Alonso (Renault): 18 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
10. J. Trulli (Toyota): 11 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
11. T. Glock (Toyota): 8 points (Best Result: 1 6th)
12. R. Kubica (BMW): 3 points (Best Result: 1 6th)
13. P. McAllister (Force India-Mercedes): 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)

Constructors:

1. Virgin Brawn GP F1 Team Mercedes: 120 points (10 2nds, 3 3rds)
2. BMW Sauber F1 Team: 103 points (10 wins)
3. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: 54 points (3 3rds)
4. Red Bull Racing Renault: 52 points (4 3rds)
5. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: 23 points (Best Result: 2 4ths)
6. Panasonic Toyota Racing: 19 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
7. ING Renault F1 Team: 18 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
8. Force India F1 Team Mercedes: 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)

Next up is the second European Grand Prix at the Valencia street circuit

[Phoenix]

Stop it! You're making HWNSNBM look ordinary

[the Masked Lapwing]

2002 Canadian Grand Prix
Pre-race:
With Rhys Davies signing his contract with Renault, a few changes were made - Renault turfed out Jenson Button, who hadn't been at quite the same level as Trulli. Ferrari, meanwhile, turned to one of their test drivers for a replacement - not Rubens Barrichello, who had been very angry with the team for replacing him despite beating Schumacher in the last two years. Rather, they felt they needed an Italian in the field - and so Luca Badoer will return to the cockpit for the first time since 1999.

Qualifying:
Davies has always been a one-lap specialist when it comes to Montreal, and even in his new Renault, he took pole by more than three seconds.

1st: R. Davies (Renault): 1:11.926
2nd: J. Montoya (Williams): +3.486
3rd: R. Schumacher (Williams): +3.591
4th: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +3.595
5th: L. Badoer (Ferrari): +3.760
6th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +4.246
7th: F. Massa (Sauber): +4.544
8th: J. Trulli (Renault): +4.564
9th: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +4.857
10th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +5.031
11th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +5.089
12th: T. Sato (Jordan): +5.121
13th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +5.244
14th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +5.433
15th: O. Panis (BAR): +5.436
16th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +5.578
17th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +6.823
18th: M. Webber (Minardi): +6.938
19th: S. Jones (Toyota): +7.323
20th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +7.619
21st: A. Yoong (Minardi): +7.816
22nd: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +7.921

Race:
Montoya got a much better start than Davies, but before they got anywhere near turn 1 Montoya cut across the track without completely clearing him, spinning both and losing his rear wing in the process. Davies righted himself and got back onto the track in 9th, behind both Saubers and ahead of Raikkonen. It didn’t take long for there to be more carnage, as Trulli spun at turn 3, causing a chain reaction down the field. Fisichella lost his front wing and the Jags, BARs and Davies all went for a spin. The demoted Davies from 1st to 21st, and now last because Courtney’s car had found the fence quite hard. However, it became 20th as he passed Fisichella, 19th when Panis’ engine blew and then 14th as he made a very ambitious dive at the hairpin (aided by a few cars understeering into the wall). In the next few laps he gained spots as others pitted, but he was fighting understeer in his car, and losing bucketloads of time to Briscoe, and holding up Yoong. The Minardi pitted on lap 3, and Davies on lap 4, opening out a massive gap to him in the process. It didn’t last long however, as on lap 5 Massa and Webber collided while fighting for 9th. Bernoldi and Davies both got a bit of the action as they came past, Davies requiring another pit stop as a result of the heavy contact with Webber and the wall. The blue smoke coming from his engine, and the front left wheel jumping the fence were pretty bad signs. Webber didn’t take to kindly to it, and he gave Davies a little tap as he went past, that resulted in both spinning. The contact even broke his gearbox, sticking him in first gear, although he wouldn’t be shifting out of it anyway. Quite a few drivers also spun trying to get past (whoops…), including Sato and Badoer. When he eventually made it to the pits, he was 17th. He’d barely left the pits when his engine had another problem, and it wasn’t confined to just his Renault, with Trulli’s also going funny as he was running third (although it wasn’t terminal). End result: he’d have to pit for the third time in three laps. Well, not really, because it went for good at the hairpin. His second DNF in three races (and to think I went all this time without a single one!) Up front, it was a Schumacher 1-2, with Michael beating Ralf by some 20 seconds. Trulli held third, and Sammy Jones scored Toyota’s first World Championship points by finishing 4th. Heinz-Harald Frentzen also scored for Arrows in 5th, and David Coulthard rounded out the top 6.

1st: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): 10:04.504
2nd: R. Schumacher (Williams): +20.788
3rd: J. Trulli (Renault): +23.792
4th: S. Jones (Toyota): +47.575
5th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +50.744
6th: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +56.367
7th: L. Badoer (Ferrari): +1:08.945 (Oh come on!)
8th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +1 LAP
9th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +1 LAP
10th: M. Webber (Minardi): +1 LAP
11th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +1 LAP
12th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +1 LAP
13th: J. Montoya (Williams): +1 LAP
14th: O. Panis (BAR): +1 LAP
15th: F. Massa (Sauber): +1 LAP
16th: T. Sato (Jordan): +1 LAP
DNF: R. Davies (Renault): Engine
DNF: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): Engine
DNF: A. Yoong (Minardi): Suspension
DNF: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): Collision
DNF: G. Fisichella (Jordan): Collision
DNF: J. Courtney (Jaguar): Collision

ROTR: Rhys Davies - That was crap, even for Montreal.
IIDOTR: Sammy Jones - 4th! In that thing! Honourable mention to Frentzen though, he may have just saved Arrows with those points.

Driver’s Championship:
1st: K. Raikkonen - 37
2nd: R. Schumacher - 31
3rd: R. Davies - 29
4th: D. Coulthard - 24 (1 win, 1 2nd)
5th: M. Schumacher - 24 (1 win, 1 3rd)
6th: J. Montoya - 18
7th: F. Massa - 9 (1 2nd)
8th: J. Trulli - 9 (2 3rds)
9th: N. Heidfeld - 8
10th: G. Fisichella - 6
11th: T. Sato - 4
12th: S. Jones - 3
13th: H. Frentzen - 2 (1 5th, 1 7th)
14th: J. Button - 2 (1 5th, 1 8th)
15th: J. Courtney - 2 (2 6ths)

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 61
2nd: Ferrari - 53
3rd: Williams - 51
4th: Sauber - 17
5th: Renault - 11
6th: Jordan - 10
7th: Toyota - 3
8th: Arrows - 2 (1 5th)
9th: Jaguar - 2 (2 6ths)

[Wizzie]

Stop it! You're making HWNSNBM look ordinary

As you can see from the Hungary results I am better than HWNSNBM*

*Although there are rumours that HWNSNBM was the real winner of the 2004 Canadian Grand Prix

[Wizzie]

Pre-France:

Ralf Schumacher's horrendous shunt meant he would be out for several months. This was an oppertunity Toyota test driver Sammy Jones couldn't miss out on if he was to look for a long-term future in Formula 1 as he has, sadly, become one of the forgotten men of the sport as bad luck has conspired against him again and again. Rumour has it that Williams were initially interested in getting Mark Webber to drive the Williams car which all but confirmed the Australian will be going there next year. Word in the paddock is that Jenson Button may also end up at Williams but there is a bitter battle between the Grove squad and BAR over who has the right to his services for next year as Button still has a year on his BAR contract to run. Finally the rumours are picking up that both Toyota drivers will be facing the sack at the end of the year although many expect this to be Panis' swansong season anyway.

Round 10 - France:

Qualifying:

Not many people expected Fernando Alonso to score his third pole position of his career here in France and certainly nobody expected David Coulthard to join him on the front row but that was what you got at the front of the grid. Michael Schumacher was 3rd while teammate Rubens Barrichello was a disappointing 10th behind the likes of Daniel Melrose, Takuma Sato and Sammy Jones at the back end of the top 10. Kimi Raikkonen was over half a second slower than teammate DC and as a result will only be 11th on the grid.

Grid:

1. F. Alonso (Renault)
2. D. Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes)
3. M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
4. J. Button (BAR-Honda)
5. J. Trulli (Renault)
6. J. Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW)
7. D. Melrose (Minardi-Cosworth)
8. T. Sato (BAR-Honda)
9. S. Jones (Williams-BMW)
10. R. Barrichello (Ferrari)
11. K. Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes)
12. M. Webber (Jaguar-Cosworth)
13. C. Da Matta (Toyota)
14. C. Klien (Jaguar-Cosworth)
15. O. Panis (Toyota)
16. F. Massa (Sauber-Petronas)
17. G. Fisichella (Sauber-Petronas)
18. N. Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford)
19. G. Pantano (Jordan-Ford)
20. Z. Baumgartner (Minardi-Cosworth)

Race:

It's hard to fathom that if it wasn't for bad luck Daniel Melrose could have won the last 3 races on the trot and possibly even the last 4. Here the Minardi decided to have an eclectrical problem late in the second stint which meant the car was stuck in 5th gear for an entire lap aswell as forcing the Australian to pit a few laps earlier than he would have liked for his second and final stop, which turned out to be the right strategy with virtually everyone else on three-stop stop strategies which was why Melrose was in contention in the first place. In the end Michael Schumacher won the race from Melrose, polesitter Fernando Alonso, Jarno Trulli and Rubens Barrichello. Takuma Sato further down the field destroyed the races of many a midfield driver as the top 8 after lap 1 ended up being the top 8 by race end thanks to Sato being over 5 seconds a lap off the ultimate pace.

Results:
1. M. Schumacher (Ferrari): 1h 28m 09.083
2. D. Melrose (Minardi-Cosworth): +5.816
3. F. Alonso (Renault): +11.663
4. J. Trulli (Renault): +21.503
5. R. Barrichello (Ferrari): +22.270
6. J. Button (BAR-Honda): +41.908
7. D. Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes): +57.563
8. J. Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW): +1 LAP
9. K. Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes): +1 LAP
10. S. Jones (Williams-BMW): +1 LAP
11. M. Webber (Jaguar-Cosworth): +2 LAPS
12. G. Fisichella (Sauber-Petronas): +2 LAPS
13. F. Massa (Sauber-Petronas): +2 LAPS
14. C. Klien (Jaguar-Cosworth): +2 LAPS
15. C. Da Matta (Toyota): +2 LAPS
16. N. Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford): +3 LAPS
17. O. Panis (Toyota): +3 LAPS
18. Z. Baumgartner (Minardi-Cosworth): +3 LAPS
19. G. Pantano (Jordan-Ford): +3 LAPS
20. T. Sato (BAR-Honda): +4 LAPS

Pole: F. Alonso (Renault): 1.11.340
Fastest Lap: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): 1:12.141
Leaders: F. Alonso: 1-14, 34-35, 44 (Total: 17)
J. Button: 15-17 (Total: 3)
D. Melrose: 18-24, 36-43 (Total: 15)
M. Schumacher: 25-33, 50-71 (Total: 31)
R. Barrichello: 45-49 (Total: 5)

Championship Standings (Half points for Bahrain):
Drivers:
1. M. Schumacher (Ferrari): 70 points (5 wins, 2 2nds, 1 3rd)
2. R. Barrichello (Ferrari): 59.5 points (1 win, 4 2nds, 1 3rd)
3. D. Melrose (Minardi-Cosworth): 59 points (1 win, 4 2nds, 3 3rds)
4. J. Trulli (Renault): 36 points (1 win, 1 3rd)
5. J. Button (BAR-Honda): 35 points (2 wins, 1 3rd)
6. F. Alonso (Renault): 25 points (1 3rd)
7. J. Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW): 18 points (1 3rd)
8. D. Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes): 13 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
9. G. Fisichella (Sauber-Petronas): 11 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
10. T. Sato (BAR-Honda): 10.5 points (1 3rd)
11. C. Da Matta (Toyota): 6 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
12. O. Panis (Toyota): 6 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
13. M. Webber (Jaguar-Cosworth): 5.5 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
14. R. Schumacher (Williams-BMW): 5 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
15. K. Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes): 5 points (Best Result: 1 6th)
16. N. Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford): 4 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
17. C. Klien (Jaguar-Cosworth): 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)
18. S. Jones (Jordan-Ford/WIlliams-BMW): 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)

Constructors:
1. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: 129.5 points (5 wins, 6 2nds, 2 3rds)
2. Mild Seven Renault F1 Team: 61 points (1 win, 2 3rds)
3. Wilux Minardi Cosworth: 59 points (1 win, 4 2nds, 3 3rds)
4. Lucky Strike BAR Honda: 45.5 points (2 wins, 2 3rds)
5. BMW WilliamsF1 Team: 23 points (1 3rd)
6. West McLaren Mercedes: 18 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
7. Panasonic Toyota Racing: 12 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
8. Sauber Petronas: 11 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
9. Jaguar Racing Cosworth: 6.5 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
10. Jordan Ford: 5 points (Best Result: 1 5th)

Next up is one of the fan favourite racetracks of the season at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.

[East Londoner]

BLASPHEMY! HWNSNBM shall smite you for stealing his car and putting it 7th.

[Wizzie]

BLASPHEMY! HWNSNBM shall smite you for stealing his car and putting it 7th.

...And on the 10th race HWNSNBM punished his mere mortal teammate yet again by giving him a box full of 5th gears halfway through the race.

[Wizzie]

2004: Round 11: Great Britain

Qualifying:

On a weekend where the Minardi team paid tribute to their late sporting director, John Walton, their star rookie Daniel Melrose gave him the send-off he deserved, and one the British crowd could never complain about, even if it kept their man Jenson Button off the pole. Rubens Barrichello had the upper hand on Michael Schumacher for once as the pair were split, surprisingly, by Kimi Raikkonen in the McLaren. Fernando Alonso meanwhile wasn't having the rub of the green like he did 7 days ago in France as he ended up a dismal 17th on the grid.

Grid:

1. D. Melrose (Minardi-Cosworth)
2. J. Button (BAR-Honda)
3. R. Barrichello (Ferrari)
4. K. Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes)
5. M. Schumacher (Ferrari)
6. J. Trulli (Renault)
7. D. Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes)
8. J. Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW)
9. T. Sato (BAR-Honda)
10. M. Webber (Jaguar-Cosworth)
11. F. Massa (Sauber-Petronas)
12. S. Jones (Williams-BMW)
13. C. Da Matta (Toyota)
14. C. Klien (Jaguar-Cosworth)
15. G. Pantano (Jordan-Ford)
16. N. Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford)
17. F. Alonso (Renault)
18. O. Panis (Toyota)
19. Z. Baumgartner (Minardi-Cosworth)
20. G. Fisichella (Sauber-Petronas)

Race:

If you said 4 races ago that McLaren would win a race before the season's out, you would have been laughed off the planet. Kimi Raikkonen, who has had a torrid season thus far, turned it into reality at Silverstone by just over a second ahead of Daniel Melrose who was another second ahead of Schumacher. The last third of the race was nailbitingly tense as the Australian closed in on Raikkonen with Schumacher catching the pair of them. With every lap and every lapped car they came across the fortunes of each driver changed but in the end Raikkonen lived up to his Iceman moniker.

Behind them Jenson Button finished 4th after leading the first lap when Melrose lost out on the run to Copse. Melrose lost two further places to the Ferraris on the run to Stowe when Schumacher tried his luck down the inside with Barrichello going around the outside of the pair of them at the same time with Melrose blinking first. Rubens Barrichello eventually fell to 5th with Juan Pablo Montoya 6th, David Coulthard in the second McLaren 7th and Giancarlo Fisichella 8th in the Sauber. Renault had a torrid day with Fernando Alonso's race ending early when he crashed into the wall on pit entry while Jarno Trulli was simply abmysal all race.

Results:
1. K. Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes): 1h 21m 00.133
2. D. Melrose (Minardi-Cosworth): +1.102
3. M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +2.160
4. J. Button (BAR-Honda): +21.522
5. R. Barrichello (Ferrari): +29.318
6. J. Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW): +55.583
7. D. Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes): +1 LAP
8. G. Fisichella (Sauber-Petronas): +1 LAP
9. M. Webber (Jaguar-Cosworth): +1 LAP
10. F. Massa (Sauber-Petronas): +1 LAP
11. T. Sato (BAR-Honda): +1 LAP
12. S. Jones (Williams-BMW): +1 LAP
13. C. Da Matta (Toyota): +2 LAPS
14. C. Klien (Jaguar-Cosworth): +2 LAPS
15. N. Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford): +2 LAPS
16. G. Pantano (Jordan-Ford): +3 LAPS
17. Z. Baumgartner (Minardi-Cosworth): +3 LAPS
18. J. Trulli (Renault): +3 LAPS
19. O. Panis (Toyota): +3 LAPS
DNF. F. Alonso (Renault)

Pole: D. Melrose (Minardi-Cosworth): 1.18.298
Fastest Lap: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): 1:18.173
Leaders: J. Button: 1, 10-12 (Total: 4)
M. Schumacher: 2-9, 21-29, 39-41 (Total: 20)
K. Raikkonen: 13-16, 30-38, 42-60 (Total: 32)
R. Barrichello: 17-20 (Total: 4)

Championship Standings (Half points for Bahrain):
Drivers:
1. M. Schumacher (Ferrari): 76 points (5 wins, 2 2nds, 2 3rds)
2. D. Melrose (Minardi-Cosworth): 67 points (1 win, 5 2nds, 3 3rds)
3. R. Barrichello (Ferrari): 63.5 points (1 win, 4 2nds, 1 3rd)\
4. J. Button (BAR-Honda): 40 points (2 wins, 1 3rd)
5. J. Trulli (Renault): 36 points (1 win, 1 3rd)
6. F. Alonso (Renault): 25 points (1 3rd)
7. J. Pablo Montoya (Williams-BMW): 21 points (1 3rd)
8. K. Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes): 15 points (1 win)
9. D. Coulthard (McLaren-Mercedes): 15 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
10. G. Fisichella (Sauber-Petronas): 12 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
11. T. Sato (BAR-Honda): 10.5 points (1 3rd)
12. C. Da Matta (Toyota): 6 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
13. O. Panis (Toyota): 6 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
14. M. Webber (Jaguar-Cosworth): 5.5 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
15. R. Schumacher (Williams-BMW): 5 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
16. N. Heidfeld (Jordan-Ford): 4 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
17. C. Klien (Jaguar-Cosworth): 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)
18. S. Jones (Jordan-Ford/WIlliams-BMW): 1 point (Best Result: 1 8th)

Constructors:
1. Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro: 139.5 points (5 wins, 6 2nds, 3 3rds)
2. Wilux Minardi Cosworth: 67 points (1 win, 5 2nds, 3 3rds)
3. Mild Seven Renault F1 Team: 61 points (1 win, 2 3rds)
4. Lucky Strike BAR Honda: 50.5 points (2 wins, 2 3rds)
5. West McLaren Mercedes: 30 points (1 win)
6. BMW WilliamsF1 Team: 26 points (1 3rd)
7. Panasonic Toyota Racing: 12 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
8. Sauber Petronas: 12 points (Best Result: 1 4th)
9. Jaguar Racing Cosworth: 6.5 points (Best Result: 1 5th)
10. Jordan Ford: 5 points (Best Result: 1 5th)

Next up is the German Grand Prix and the mordernised Hockenheimring

[East Londoner]

OK, stop now. This is plainly ridiculous. You've obviously tampered with the difficulty settings again. I'm guessing 0.25% difficulty now, considering this is 2004?

[Wizzie]

OK, stop now. This is plainly ridiculous. You've obviously tampered with the difficulty settings again. I'm guessing 0.25% difficulty now, considering this is 2004?

*Points to Nathan McKane winning the championship in a Hispania in his first season and Sam Emmett nearly doing the same thing*

[Phoenix]

OK, stop now. This is plainly ridiculous. You've obviously tampered with the difficulty settings again. I'm guessing 0.25% difficulty now, considering this is 2004?

*Points to Nathan McKane winning the championship in a Hispania in his first season and Sam Emmett nearly doing the same thing*

Dreaming's free, after all

[BlindCaveSalamander]

OK, stop now. This is plainly ridiculous. You've obviously tampered with the difficulty settings again. I'm guessing 0.25% difficulty now, considering this is 2004?

Clearly it's HWNSNBM who's driving. Wizzie just sticks his name there in exchange for some popcorn.

[the Masked Lapwing]

2002 European Grand Prix

Qualifying:
Is it me, or is there something very unoriginal about this grid…

1st: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): 1:12.152
2nd: L. Badoer (Ferrari): +0.086
3rd: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +0.111
4th: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +0.519
5th: J. Montoya (Williams): +0.544
6th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +0.859
7th: R. Davies (Renault): +0.992
8th: J. Trulli (Renault): +1.003
9th: F. Massa (Sauber): +1.261
10th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +1.264
11th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +1.544
12th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +1.619
13th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +1.677
14th: O. Panis (BAR): +1.709
15th: T. Sato (Jordan): +1.843
16th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +2.128
17th: S. Jones (Toyota): +3.234
18th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +3.258
19th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +3.675
20th: M. Webber (Minardi): +3.750
21st: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +3.781
22nd: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +3.834

Race:
Davies made a brilliant getaway to get to third behind the Ferraris, although there was contact with one of the McLarens at the exit of turn 2 (I think it was Raikkonen). It was quickly apparent, however, that he didn’t have the pace, and Schumacher and Badoer skipped away, while Coulthard and both Williams were stuck behind him. The fact that he lost 7 seconds to the Ferraris in two laps said a lot. Davies pitted on lap 3, the first of the frontrunners, and watched as virtually everyone else sailed past. He would come out 17th, ahead of Jones who had also just pitted. He gained a spot when Montoya’s engine started to give up. Quite a few drivers pitted on lap 4, including Ralf Schumacher, who came out ahead. After more stops on lap 5, he was 7th, still behind Ralf but still ahead of Coulthard. It seemed that the new tyres were doing wonders for Davies now that they were warmed up, as he’d gained a second on Ralf on that lap. Up front, it was still Michael leading Luca, until the former’s suspension failed after kerb hopping at the chicane. His problems meant that when the last drivers pitted on lap 6, it was Badoer first, daylight, Ralf Schumacher second, Davies third and Coulthard fourth. On the final lap, it just started to sprinkle at the hairpin, and both Davies and Coulthard were caught out by it. They swapped spots, but didn’t lose out too badly. Davies had just lost the podium, until Coulthard did the stupidest thing - he pitted! On the last lap, not really under threat, he pitted for no apparent reason. It handed third to Davies (and very nearly gave fourth to Massa as well). Up front, Luca Badoer scored his first win (and points), well ahead of Ralf.

1st: L. Badoer (Ferrari): 10:14.713
2nd: R. Schumacher (Williams): +12.304
3rd: R. Davies (Renault): +28.994
4th: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +30.053
5th: F. Massa (Sauber): +30.929
6th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +33.526
7th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +33.970
8th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +35.798
9th: J. Trulli (Renault): +36.551
10th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +40.703
11th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +41.403
12th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +42.683
13th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +51.679
14th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +52.421
15th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +54.241
16th: S. Jones (Toyota): +56.002
17th: M. Webber (Minardi): +56.807
18th: O. Panis (BAR): +57.322
19th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +59.971
20th: J. Montoya (Williams): +1 LAP
21st: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +1 LAP
Ret: T. Sato (Jordan): Accident

ROTR: Takuma Sato - Only DNF of the race, and it was entirely his fault.
IIDOTR: Luca Badoer - Need I say more?

Driver’s Championship:
1st: K. Raikkonen - 37 (3 wins)
2nd: R. Schumacher - 37 (1 win)
3rd: R. Davies - 33
4th: D. Coulthard - 27
5th: M. Schumacher - 24
6th: J. Montoya - 18
7th: F. Massa - 11
8th: L. Badoer - 10
9th: J. Trulli - 9
10th: N. Heidfeld - 8
11th: G. Fisichella - 7
12th: T. Sato - 4
13th: S. Jones - 3
14th: H. Frentzen - 2 (1 5th, 1 7th)
15th: J. Button - 2 (1 5th, 1 8th)
16th: J. Courtney - 2 (2 6ths)

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 64
2nd: Ferrari - 63
3rd: Williams - 58
4th: Sauber - 19
5th: Renault - 15
6th: Jordan - 11
7th: Toyota - 3
8th: Arrows - 2 (1 5th)
9th: Jaguar - 2 (2 6ths)

[the Masked Lapwing]

2002 British Grand Prix

Qualifying:
It rained all of Friday and Saturday, which pretty much ensured that the grid wouldn’t be two-by-two again.

1st: R. Davies (Renault): 1:19.048
2nd: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +1.886
3rd: J. Montoya (Williams): +1.988
4th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +2.033
5th: L. Badoer (Ferrari): +2.332
6th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +2.618
7th: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +2.666
8th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +2.941
9th: J. Trulli (Renault): +3.040
10th: F. Massa (Sauber): +3.159
11th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +3.680
12th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +3.746
13th: O. Panis (BAR): +3.942
14th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +4.146
15th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +4.388
16th: T. Sato (Jordan): +4.519
17th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +5.516
18th: S. Jones (Toyota): +5.565
19th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +5.573
20th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +5.820
21st: M. Webber (Minardi): +5.985
22nd: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +6.148

Race:
Many times throughout his career, Davies has been told to start the race on a dry track on wets or inters. For the first time, however, Renault had given slicks, on a damp track! Fortunately, it wasn’t really raining, in fact it was just overcast. But even so, he struggled for grip, but managed to hold off Coulthard (mostly because someone stalled at the start, and the CPU doesn’t push the yellow flag speed limit nearly as much as I do). By the end of the lap, he had all of the Ferraris, Williams and McLarens lined up, with Coulthard having a go at Becketts on lap 2, but not quite managing it, giving Michael Schumacher a shot at Vale. He spun, so it was Coulthard’s turn again, but he, Montoya and Badoer pitted, giving Ralf a shot on lap 3. He didn’t do anything stupid though, and just followed Davies until lap 4, when both pitted (as well as Michael Schumacher, who by now had caught back up). Ralf jumped Davies, but had to hit the brakes to avoid Coulthard as he left the lane, giving the spot back. Coulthard was now second, Davies was third, with the Schumachers fighting over 4th. On the last lap, Michael tried to repeat his lap 2 move on Davies, with roughly the same result - contact. This time though, it was minimal, and Ralf got revenge at Brooklands at the end of the lap (which was much more serious). But out front, Coulthard crossed the line second and Davies third. But who had won the race? I didn’t notice it at first, because of the pit exit chaos, but someone had snuck through during the pit cycle to jump past the lot of them. It wasn’t Badoer (who had engine dramas), Raikkonen (who had been nowhere since the stops) or Montoya (who had already crashed), so who was it? And then came the glorious message (depending on your preferences): “Nick Heidfeld has won the race!”

1st: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): 9:35.084
2nd: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +0.925
3rd: R. Davies (Renault): +10.273
4th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +10.654
5th: J. Trulli (Renault): +11.132
6th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +18.877
7th: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +19.445
8th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +21.378
9th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +22.258
10th: M. Webber (Minardi): +35.181
11th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +35.824
12th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +38.300
13th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +38.896
14th: F. Massa (Sauber): +41.148
15th: S. Jones (Toyota): +45.479
16th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +47.067
17th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +48.257
18th: L. Badoer (Ferrari): +1 LAP
19th: O. Panis (BAR): +1 LAP
20th: T. Sato (Jordan): +1 LAP
DNF: J. Montoya (Williams): Accident
DNF: G. Fisichella (Jordan): Stalled

ROTR: Juan Pablo Montoya - Drove right into the gravel at Luffield because he doesn’t know what “understeer” is.
IIDOTR: Nick Heidfeld - First Badoer, now Heidfeld. Let’s see anyone else beat that!

Driver’s Championship:
1st: R. Schumacher - 40
2nd: K. Raikkonen - 37 (3 wins)
3rd: R. Davies - 37 (2 wins)
4th: D. Coulthard - 33
5th: M. Schumacher - 24
6th: N. Heidfeld - 18 (1 win)
7th: J. Montoya - 18 (2 2nds)
8th: F. Massa - 11 (1 2nd)
9th: J. Trulli - 11 (2 3rds)
10th: L. Badoer - 10
11th: G. Fisichella - 7
12th: T. Sato - 4
13th: S. Jones - 3
14th: H. Frentzen - 2 (1 5th, 1 7th)
15th: J. Button - 2 (1 5th, 1 8th)
16th: J. Courtney - 2 (2 6ths)
17th: J. Villeneuve - 1

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 70
2nd: Ferrari - 63
3rd: Williams - 61
4th: Sauber - 29
5th: Renault - 21
6th: Jordan - 11
7th: Toyota - 3
8th: Arrows - 2 (1 5th)
9th: Jaguar - 2 (2 6ths)
10th: BAR - 1


2002 French Grand Prix

Qualifying:
Another race, another pole. Although he wasn't very quick on the straights, he was took the hairpin and chicanes much faster than anyone else.

1st: R. Davies (Renault): 1:18.798
2nd: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +0.709
3rd: R. Schumacher (Williams): +0.771
4th: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +0.827
5th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +0.880
6th: J. Montoya (Williams): +1.311
7th: F. Massa (Sauber): +1.472
8th: J. Trulli (Renault): +1.673
9th: L. Badoer (Ferrari): +1.685
10th: O. Panis (BAR): +2.222
11th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +2.236
12th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +2.307
13th: T. Sato (Jordan): +2.508
14th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +2.611
15th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +2.757
16th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +2.981
17th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +3.881
18th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +3.915
19th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +3.980
20th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +4.222
21st: S. Jones (Toyota): +4.253
22nd: M. Webber (Minardi): +4.332

Race:
Coulthard got a brilliant start to take the lead, while Raikkonen and Davies and Montoya went well wide at the Adelaide hairpin. This left Coulthard way out in front, but the French were fairly pleased, with the two Renaults now second and third and Olivier Panis fourth. That didn’t last long though as Panis tried to go flat through the last chicane, running up the backside of Trulli, costing the Italian his rear wing. It didn’t take long for him to legitimately take second from Davies, who was struggling with poor top speed. On lap 2 it was Ferrari’s turn to bugger up at Adelaide, with Schumacher and Badoer both running wide, promoting James Courtney to fourth. Coulthard and Panis pitted on lap 3, while Davies pitted on lap 4, giving Courtney the lead. Davies came out 11th, well behind Panis, but lost a few spots when he tried to defend at Adelaide from a much faster… Minardi. Davies was slower in a straight line than a fricken Minardi. However, he gained a spot when Panis’ suspension gave out. As the order restores itself after pitstops, he was only 7th, which quickly became 5th as first Courtney and then Villeneuve ran into problems. There was where he stayed, his lack of speed meaning he couldn’t catch Raikkonen, and Badoer struggling with his car as well meant he held the Ferrari off. Up front, Coulthard won the race by quite a margin, ahead of Ralf Schumacher and TAKUMA SATO!

1st: D. Coulthard (McLaren): 9:29.367
2nd: R. Schumacher (Williams): +19.147
3rd: T. Sato (Jordan): +28.946
4th: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +30.094
5th: R. Davies (Renault): +36.777
6th: L. Badoer (Ferrari): +37.843
7th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +38.991
8th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +47.740
9th: H. Frentzen (Arrows): +51.270
10th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +52.532
11th: F. Massa (Sauber): +53.789
12th: M. Webber (Minardi): +1:02.402
13th: S. Jones (Toyota): +1:04.873
14th: J. Trulli (Renault): +1:05.556
15th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +1:11.590
16th: J. Montoya (Williams): +1:12.215
17th: O. Panis (BAR): +1 LAP
18th: E. Bernoldi (Arrows): +1 LAP
19th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +1 LAP
20th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +1 LAP
21st: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +1 LAP
DNF: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): Engine

ROTR: France - One Renault fluked points, the other and the French driver collided.
IIDOTR: Takuma Sato - Last man standing took the podium.

Driver’s Championship:
1st: R. Schumacher - 46
2nd: D. Coulthard - 43
3rd: K. Raikkonen - 40
4th: R. Davies - 39
5th: M. Schumacher - 24
6th: N. Heidfeld - 18 (1 win)
7th: J. Montoya - 18 (2 2nds)
8th: L. Badoer - 11 (1 win)
9th: F. Massa - 11 (1 2nd)
10th: J. Trulli - 11 (2 3rds)
11th: T. Sato - 8
12th: G. Fisichella - 7
13th: S. Jones - 3
14th: H. Frentzen - 2 (1 5th, 1 7th)
15th: J. Button - 2 (1 5th, 1 8th)
16th: J. Courtney - 2 (2 6ths)
17th: J. Villeneuve - 1

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 83
2nd: Williams - 67
3rd: Ferrari - 64
4th: Sauber - 29
5th: Renault - 23
6th: Jordan - 15
7th: Toyota - 3
8th: Arrows - 2 (1 5th)
9th: Jaguar - 2 (2 6ths)
10th: BAR - 1

[the Masked Lapwing]

2002 German Grand Prix
Pre-race:
For the rest of the season, there will only be ten teams competing, after the Arrows team closed its doors, shortly before the race. This will leave Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Enrique Bernoldi without drives for now, and whether they can get one at all for the rest of the year is up in the air.

Qualifying:
The rain was once again coming down during quali, with Davies being the first driver to get used to the new layout. He’d never had much success at Hockenheim before, with only a pole position in 2000 to his name, but this new version suited him much better.

1st: R. Davies (Renault): 1:27.412
2nd: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +3.179
3rd: R. Schumacher (Williams): +3.212
4th: L. Badoer (Ferrari): +3.532
5th: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +3.684
6th: J. Montoya (Williams): +3.998
7th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +4.113
8th: F. Massa (Sauber): +4.298
9th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +4.390
10th: J. Trulli (Renault): +4,568
11th: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +4.998
12th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +5.050
13th: O. Panis (BAR): +5.313
14th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +5.741
15th: T. Sato (Jordan): +5.876
16th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +6.109
17th: M. Webber (Minardi): +7.312
18th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +7.552
19th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +7.593
20th: S. Jones (Toyota): +7.906

Race:
There was a lot of push and shove at turn 1, but Davies stayed clear of it all to easily hold the lead. Badoer made a brilliant start and passed Raikkonen at the hairpin. It didn’t take long for him and Michael Schumacher to chase down and pass Davies, who had to defend against Heidfeld, Ralf, Raikkonen, Coulthard and Courtney, while all of them struggled on a very wet track (which is strange, considering it wasn’t raining…) On lap 3, most of the front runners pitted, except Badoer, who already had a massive lead after Schumacher pitted on lap 2. He came out 12th, jumped by Ralf, but passed Villeneuve into turn 2 and Ralf at the hairpin. Over the next few laps, he wound up third, thanks to more stops. He (and everyone else) was now on slick tyres, which meant that everyone was in a bit of trouble when the rain really started to fall on lap 5. Ahead of him were Badoer and Courtney, who had also gained in the pits. Behind was Trulli, who had benefitted from an early stop and avoided most of the accidents that had plagued the midfield. Unfortunately, he spun at turn 1 on the last lap, losing an easy fourth to de la Rosa and Heidfeld. Up front, Badoer won by 30 seconds over Courtney and Davies.

1st: L. Badoer (Ferrari): 11:44.238
2nd: J. Courtney (Jaguar): +34.408
3rd: R. Davies (Renault): +48.727
4th: P. De la Rosa (Jaguar): +51.269
5th: N. Heidfeld (Sauber): +51.566
6th: J. Trulli (Renault): +52.862
7th: M. Webber (Minardi): +1:00.526
8th: G. Fisichella (Jordan): +1:00.808
9th: D. Coulthard (McLaren): +1:01.247
10th: S. Jones (Toyota): +1:08.195
11th: F. Massa (Sauber): +1:10.339
12th: O. Panis (BAR): +1:10.739
13th: A. Yoong (Minardi): +1:17.686
14th: T. Sato (Jordan): +1:18.863
15th: R. Schumacher (Williams): +1:19.354
16th: J. Villeneuve (BAR): +1:21.300
17th: M. Schumacher (Ferrari): +1:21.842
18th: R. Briscoe (Toyota): +1:35.559
19th: K. Raikkonen (McLaren): +1:41.473
20th: J. Montoya (Williams): +1 LAP

ROTR: The hairpin - Virtually every driver in the field showed an inability to get around it without hitting something.
IIDOTR: James Courtney - Sammy Jones would’ve won the race in a Jag, but a good drive nonetheless.

Driver’s Championship:
1st: R. Schumacher - 46
2nd: D. Coulthard - 43 (2 wins, 2 2nds)
3rd: R. Davies - 43 (2 wins, 4 3rds)
4th: K. Raikkonen - 40
5th: M. Schumacher - 24
6th: L. Badoer - 21
7th: N. Heidfeld - 20
8th: J. Montoya - 18
9th: J. Trulli - 12
10th: F. Massa - 11
11th: J. Courtney - 8 (1 2nd)
12th: T. Sato - 8 (1 3rd)
13th: G. Fisichella - 7
14th: P. De la Rosa - 3 (1 4th, 3 8ths)
15th: S. Jones - 3 (1 4th, 1 10th)
16th: H. Frentzen - 2 (1 5th, 1 7th)
17th: J. Button - 2 (1 5th, 1 8th)
18th: J. Villeneuve - 1

Constructors’ Standings:
1st: McLaren - 83
2nd: Ferrari - 74
3rd: Williams - 64
4th: Sauber - 31
5th: Renault - 28
6th: Jordan - 15
7th: Jaguar - 11
8th: Toyota - 3
9th: Arrows - 2
10th: BAR - 1