July 11, 2002

by Erik C. Nielsen
Pictures courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media

Michael Schumacher once again proved that he is the best driver of the early 21st century in a dramatic performance at a very wet Silverstone. The Ferrari driver has now won a record 60 races in the last ten years and came 10 points closer to wrapping up the championship early in the season. His team-mate came from last place after stalling on the formation lap to second in only 19 laps, showing that the F2002 is just unstoppable, and raising the chances for a 1-2 finish in the driver's championship.

Montoya started from pole for the fourth time in a row, but after a dramatic early battle, was passed on lap 16 after conditions changed and the track went full wet. He did manage to finish this race and captured the last spot on the podium. The Michelin wets and intermediates still need work, as do Montoya's language skills. Even after all of these years racing in English speaking regions, the kid still talks like he has a mouth full of marbles. Enunciate, child, enunciate!!!

JV must have read last week's issue of VeloceToday.com and had a desire to make his fellow Quebecois eat crow this week (which after having king snake for dinner again last night, I will gladly do). In capturing his first points of the season and finishing ahead of his team mate, the French Canadian put in an excellent effort and showed that BAR still has some talent to use. Hopefully, this is a sign of progress in the team and not an anomaly due to the weather.

The Ferrari privateers (Sauber) did well, again, with Heidfeld capturing the last championship point and Massa coming home in 9th, both only one lap down. If the murmurs about three car teams come true, one of these may be brought up to the major league teams.

McLaren had a dismal race in their own back yard. Coulthard could do no better than 10th place after a multitude of pit stops to try and find tires that worked in the changing conditions. This was compounded by problems with the fuel rig and a radio band being used for commentary. Kimi's day was no better. After a hard charge and racing in 3rd place for some time, the young Finn's day ended with another Mercedes engine blowing up in his Montoya impersonation. Ron Dennis was not pleased and looked as angry as ever. With Mercedes' performance on the track, and the recent announcement that they will sell the A-class in the United States, putting a Honda in your driveway is starting to look like a wise decision.

Only eleven cars finished the race, so, once again, designers must go back to the computer and figure out how to add reliability to the cars without sacrificing speed. Jenson Button's day ended with a loose front wheel. Toyota showed that they still had development work to do, with Salo out on 16 with gearbox problems after a spin. McNish didn't even make it off the start line with a broken clutch.

Niki Lauda started his comments off with "It's been a long and difficult weekend for us. We have learned a great deal about our new package and quite simply, we still have a fair way to go before we are satisfied." Hell, why limit the comments to this weekend. Your car has been a turd-on-wheels all season long. The money has got to dry up sooner or later.

Minardi was back to the form that they have had in seasons past. Alex I-shouldn't-even-be-here Yoong could not post a fast enough time to beat the 107% rule. Even I managed to get within 4 seconds of pole on the computer (F1 2002) driving the Minardi. This was with the car in advanced mode. Maybe I should try out for the team. His team mate's day ended with a spin and a broken clutch on lap 10.

This race demonstrated, once again, Ferrari's domination of the field, this season. The car is definitely more drivable than anything else on the grid. The Bridgestone tires seem to have been designed specifically for this chassis. The pit crews do everything asked of them. The brain trust on the pit wall is almost psychic. Overall, its been some time since a team has worked this well together. Hopefully, winning will not make them complacent and they can keep the momentum going. With di Montezemola saying that he was considering retirement, the only question can be: Why not? It seems that it can only go down hill from here, so why not leave at the peak?

If Michael Schumacher can extend his lead to 60 points at the end of the French Grand Prix, the German will capture his 5th world championship. The rest of the season will be to see how the rest of the field shapes up.

Race Results

1	M.SCHUMACHER	Ferrari	1h31m45.015s
2	BARRICHELLO	Ferrari	+14.578s
3	MONTOYA	Williams BMW	+31.661s
4	VILLENEUVE	BAR Honda	+1 lap
5	PANIS	Bar Honda	+1 lap
6	HEIDFELD	Sauber Petronas	+1 lap
7	FISICHELLA	Jordan Honda	+1 lap
8	R.SCHUMACHER	Williams BMW	+1 lap
9	MASSA	Sauber Petronas	+1 lap
10	COULTHARD	McLaren Mercedes	+2 laps
11	DE LA ROSA	Jaguar	+2 laps
12	BUTTON	Renault	+6 laps
13	SATO	Jordan Honda	+10 laps
14	RAIKKONEN	McLaren Mercedes	+16 laps
15	TRULLI	Renault	+31 laps
16	BERNOLDI	Arrows Cosworth	+32 laps
17	IRVINE	Jaguar	+37 laps
18	FRENTZEN	Arrows Cosworth	+40 laps
19	SALO	Toyota	+45 laps
20	WEBBER	Minardi Asiatech	+51 laps
21	MCNISH	Toyota	+60 laps