Formula-1 2000 R03 San Marino Grand Prix

AutosportfanTwo

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Transcript

00:00:00Back with us on a cloudy spring day in northern Italy for the San Marino Grand Prix.

00:00:05There is massive enthusiasm for the Ferrari cause around Imola.

00:00:10Let's join Martin Brundle, and first of all, Murray Walker. Hiya, Murray.

00:00:13Hiya, Jim. Thanks very much.

00:00:16Now, Australia was great, Brazil was very good indeed,

00:00:20but there's something very special indeed about being back in Europe

00:00:25for the first European race of the year 2000 World Championship of Formula 1.

00:00:31And what a prospect we've got. You've heard a lot about it already.

00:00:35Micha Hakkinen there in pole position for the 24th time in his career,

00:00:40the third time this year, but, and this is the big but,

00:00:44for the first time this year, Michael Schumacher alongside the Finn in the front row.

00:00:52Now, they're both super starters, but Micha Hakkinen, I think, is a superer,

00:00:59if there is such a word, starter than Michael Schumacher.

00:01:04And he's got that advantage of a car's length ahead of the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher

00:01:09that you're looking at on the grid.

00:01:11And if he gets away first, it's going to be mighty, mighty difficult

00:01:15for even Michael Schumacher to pass him.

00:01:18David Coulthard there treading on their heels,

00:01:21and this morning in the warm-up, the two McLarens were faster than both the Ferraris.

00:01:27There was only six one-hundredths of a second in it between Coulthard and Hakkinen.

00:01:31Michael Schumacher, two-tenths of a second slower than the fastest McLaren.

00:01:37Rubens Barrichello, fourth fastest, eight-tenths off the pace.

00:01:42So, it's looking like another McLaren versus Ferrari contest,

00:01:46but I wouldn't like to put money on any of the four of them.

00:01:49I think they're not sure either.

00:01:51Talking to Hakkinen just before they went to the grid,

00:01:54he's expecting a very close race, and suddenly,

00:01:56whenever they've all been on the track at the same time,

00:01:58there's been a tenth or less between the three of them.

00:02:02Barrichello just hanging on by his fingertips, really.

00:02:05Coulthard you saw getting in the car quite late.

00:02:07That's because he left his earplugs in the toilet, would you believe?

00:02:10But all of these simple things can affect you when you've got to get a Grand Prix underway.

00:02:14But I think it is going to be extremely competitive at the front end,

00:02:19and I think the tactics today, the strategies,

00:02:22and getting in and out of the pits is going to play a very crucial part in this race.

00:02:26Been a bit of a downer for Rubens Barrichello so far.

00:02:29He just hasn't been able to get to grips with the setup,

00:02:33the handling of his Ferrari for his third race with the Maranello team.

00:02:38And as I said, he was eight-tenths of a second off the pace this morning.

00:02:42My manner of qualifying, really, in spite of Mika Hakkinen's absolutely sensational lap,

00:02:49was Ralf Schumacher in that Williams BMW, fifth fastest on the grid.

00:02:54And this is from an engine that I think BMW have deliberately been downplaying

00:03:01in terms of its effect and advanced technology,

00:03:04because it did extremely well, of course, in the first race of the year,

00:03:08third place in its first Grand Prix in Australia.

00:03:12And Ralf Schumacher, who took that third place, was in fifth position in Brazil.

00:03:17Yes, I think, in fairness to us all who thought they were going to have a disastrous start to the season,

00:03:21that's because in testing, we only seem to see the Williams on the end of a tow rope, really,

00:03:25with a lot of engine problems, but also in fairness to the team and Gerhard Berger of BMW,

00:03:30they kept saying, listen, it's going to be OK, it's going to be OK.

00:03:33And sure enough, it is. I think that must have been quite an explosive engine

00:03:37in terms of performance that they put in for Ralf yesterday,

00:03:40because I don't think anybody there's Gerhard Berger now,

00:03:43the head of competition at BMW, an old sparring partner of mine.

00:03:47But I don't think they even expected to be quite this far up the grid.

00:03:51There is Ralf Schumacher, his teammate Jenson Button down at 18th place on the grid.

00:03:57He had all sorts of problems, hydraulic and other.

00:04:00He was 2.4 seconds off the pace in qualifying,

00:04:04but this morning, Jenson was 11th fastest out of the 22 starters, 1.4 seconds off the pace.

00:04:12I just watched Michael Schumacher do a practice start at the end of the pit lane,

00:04:16and there was virtually zero wheelspin as he took off.

00:04:19They really have got some clever electronics on these cars.

00:04:22And apparently and allegedly, they're all going to disappear for Silverstone,

00:04:26the next Grand Prix.

00:04:27So that's going to give them, a lot of the teams, quite a headache as they head off to the British.

00:04:33And while I mentioned the British Grand Prix, the tickets are now sold out for Sunday,

00:04:37two weeks today, but apparently you can still go and watch on the Friday and Saturday.

00:04:42So, away they go on the formation lap into the first left-handed chicane,

00:04:49left and right at the Tamburello.

00:04:52And left, left on the grid is Nick Heidfelt, and he was starting last in the Prost.

00:04:58They've really not done very well here, any more than they've done well at the other two races.

00:05:03They're very late in their development.

00:05:05And so this is the Villeneuve chicane and up to Tosa.

00:05:08Yes, but of course, if you stall on the line, you have to go to the back of the grid.

00:05:11And as you've already pointed out, Murray, that he can't find neutral.

00:05:14That's his problem.

00:05:15They've got the back jacked up and he can't get it into neutral.

00:05:18They can drop him off the jack, but when he gets around to the start-finish line.

00:05:21But the rules, because he was at the back of the grid anyway, what he mustn't do,

00:05:25if the light procedure started when he gets around to the grid, he has to go in the pit lane.

00:05:31He must not cruise up to the back of the grid and join in just when he pleases.

00:05:35So there are still regulations applying to Heidfelt, even though, in fact,

00:05:39you can see now they're pulling him back down the grid and they'll push him in the end of the pit lane.

00:05:44This is the man who was the European Formula 3000 champion last year.

00:05:49And here we are at the very Alta.

00:05:53This is where they start to drop downhill to the double 90 degree left at the Rivazza,

00:05:59which they approach at 185 miles an hour.

00:06:02We're with Rubens Barrichello at the moment, David Coulthard's McLaren in front of him.

00:06:07So it's the silver McLaren Mercedes leading the field,

00:06:12Micka Häkkinen and then the scarlet Ferrari of Michael Schumacher.

00:06:16The silver McLaren in front of us there is David Coulthard and we are back again with Rubens Barrichello.

00:06:24Talk on the grid, I don't know if you mentioned it in the programme while I was watching,

00:06:27while I was wandering around the grid itself, but the talking that it's raining in Milan

00:06:33and they're expecting rain before the end of this race.

00:06:36Yeah, I hesitated to say that after what I'd said in Brazil.

00:06:40But yes, there was even talk of rain at two o'clock and it's two minutes past two Italian time at the moment.

00:06:47And certainly a forecast that it's going to rain later today, but how much later? I don't know.

00:06:54At the left-hand side of the grid, if you did happen to see our onboard lap going around the track,

00:07:00here the left-hand side of the grid is the racing line and should have significantly more grip.

00:07:05So the two McLarens, first and third on the grid, two Ferraris, second and fourth.

00:07:10Theoretically, the McLarens should have a better bite from the track to be getting away into this race.

00:07:16Jonny Herbert in the second Jaguar, 17th on the grid.

00:07:19There's Jenson Button behind him, Alexander Wurz as we go down the grid.

00:07:25Ralf Schumacher, Frentzen, Eddie Irvine in the top Jaguar is seventh on the grid.

00:07:31That's a very good position for him.

00:07:33Jonny Herbert, as ever, has had all the trouble that the Jaguar team have been having.

00:07:37And it's a 62-lap race. It's going to last over an hour and a half.

00:07:44And it's going to be absolutely crucial for the World Championship.

00:07:48Curiously, Michael Schumacher has positioned his Ferrari pointing slightly right.

00:07:56That's it, away they go. Good one, Hacken and good one, Schumacher.

00:08:00And Rubens Barrichello is alongside David Coulthard.

00:08:03It looks to me as though he's going ahead.

00:08:06But Michael Schumacher fighting for position and Barrichello has gone ahead of David Coulthard.

00:08:12And that is a real strike for Ferrari.

00:08:15So it's McLaren-Ferrari, Ferrari-McLaren.

00:08:18David Coulthard ducking and diving.

00:08:21And Jacques Nielder has come up extremely well.

00:08:23From ninth on the grid to fifth in the race,

00:08:26he's in front of both the yellow Jordans who are fighting each other.

00:08:30As they go round the Tosa, the left-hander, and climb up towards the Piratella.

00:08:35So, Barrichello, Coulthard and the rest of them streaming through.

00:08:40Yes, Michael Schumacher slow off the line and was very, very aggressive to Coulthard.

00:08:45And that's eventually put Coulthard behind his teammate too.

00:08:48So, Michael sweeping across the racetrack and into Tosa.

00:08:52The two Jordans very nearly made contact.

00:08:55But Hacken and out front pulling away already.

00:08:57And Michael Schumacher, look at the gap back now to Barrichello.

00:09:00That's going to be a headache for Coulthard and the following pack,

00:09:03because there really is very few,

00:09:06very, ah, very few overtaking opportunities on this racetrack.

00:09:09So, Michael Hacken has got the advantage at the present moment.

00:09:13And both the Ferrari in the front and the McLaren behind it

00:09:16are pulling away from their teammates.

00:09:18There's a discernible gap developing.

00:09:21And that's Marc Genet going ahead of Johnny Herbert.

00:09:24And Michael Schumacher has actually closed the gap on Micah Hacken a bit.

00:09:29Remember what we were saying earlier on as Nick Heidfeld joins the race,

00:09:34what we were saying earlier on about strategy, tyres,

00:09:38the amount of time it takes for fuel is going to be very important in this race.

00:09:42Probably a too strong strategy for the leading cars.

00:09:46And at the present moment, totally expected, what I expected,

00:09:50Micah Hacken got away better than Michael Schumacher.

00:09:53Look at the gap that's developing between them.

00:09:55Rubens Barrichello, followed by David Coulthard,

00:09:58followed by Jacques Villeneuve, superb start.

00:10:00Then the two Jordans, behind them is Eddie Irvine.

00:10:04The guy who really got a rocket start was Ralph Schumacher, actually,

00:10:09but he's now down in ninth place.

00:10:10He had to take to the grass.

00:10:12His brother pushed Coulthard wide,

00:10:14and Ralph was the net loser, especially in that one.

00:10:16Hopefully, we'll get a replay of that start.

00:10:18It was a lot of action for us to have a look at.

00:10:21And, of course, I'm going to be watching Jenson Button.

00:10:23He started 18th on the grid.

00:10:26He finished the first lap in 17th position,

00:10:29and we've still got a long, long way to go.

00:10:32Barrichello, Coulthard, they're pulling away from Villeneuve,

00:10:36and behind Villeneuve is Jarno Trotti. Here's the start.

00:10:39Now, here's the start. Look at Michael Schumacher snaking across,

00:10:42gets in front of Coulthard.

00:10:43Coulthard has to lift out.

00:10:45Ralph Schumacher on the grass and gives Barrichello the run.

00:10:48He so nearly took Michael, actually.

00:10:50Now, Barrichello jumps on the throttle, look,

00:10:52squeezes Coulthard wide, and then he has the position.

00:10:56Sensational start for Jacques Villeneuve, too.

00:10:59Over the line, that...

00:11:00And Michael Schumacher is now faster than Micah Hacketton

00:11:06by just one tenth of a second at this stage of the race.

00:11:10As Leiners turn, they come over to complete another lap.

00:11:14They're on their third lap now out of 62.

00:11:17Micah Hacketton leading the Ferrari by one second,

00:11:21and the fastest lap by Michael Schumacher,

00:11:23which we've just had, will have closed that gap a bit.

00:11:26The fastest lap last year was 128.54

00:11:30by Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari,

00:11:33and last year, of course, Michael Schumacher was not in the...

00:11:38And so, there he goes,

00:11:41down the descent to the Revazza again.

00:11:45It's the last part of Acquaminerale, actually,

00:11:47and we have a Minardi off as Mazzucani.

00:11:49Mazzucani, sorry.

00:11:51Yeah, Mazzucani off the road.

00:11:54He will have stalled the engine, so he will be out of the race.

00:11:57He cannot rejoin the race.

00:11:58Now, Micah Hacketton, this is Mazzucani running wide.

00:12:02Let's see which corner that is.

00:12:04It's one of the chicanes. I think it's Villeneuve's chicane.

00:12:06He arrived altogether wrong in that one,

00:12:08was never going to make the exit.

00:12:10So, that's Mazzucani out of the way.

00:12:13I wonder if he has managed to keep the engine going at all.

00:12:16Now, he's right in the way at the moment.

00:12:17Look at him.

00:12:19He tried to restart, but they must get him off the track.

00:12:22Now, the engine's running. The engine is running.

00:12:24Can you hear it?

00:12:25There he goes.

00:12:26Right, away he goes.

00:12:27Now, lap four of the 62-lap race.

00:12:31Still a second between Hacketton and Schumacher.

00:12:33Here are Barrichello and Coulbard.

00:12:35Then, it's Villeneuve and Trulli.

00:12:38Frentzen in the yellow car, Eddie Jordan behind him.

00:12:40Then, it's Ralf Schumacher, Mika Salo.

00:12:4311th position is Josper Stappert.

00:12:45Here are the lead.

00:12:47If you spin your car and the marshals push you out of the way,

00:12:50you are allowed to continue in the race

00:12:52if you were presumed to be in a dangerous position.

00:12:56So, Mazzucani will be okay, but he's running Plemlas.

00:12:59You're on board with Barrichello.

00:13:00Look, Michael Schumacher, too much wheel spin.

00:13:03Realised it, moved across to cut off Coulbard.

00:13:05Barrichello getting a fabulous run right down the outside

00:13:08and really should have stayed on it there.

00:13:10I think he could have taken Michael, too.

00:13:12But this was the good bit.

00:13:13Keeping on the gas, squeezing out the competitors.

00:13:17And Mika Hacketton is replying to Michael Schumacher's challenge now

00:13:22as the McLaren and the Ferrari extend their lead.

00:13:25He's just done the fastest first sector of all.

00:13:28I remind you again that this track, like all the others,

00:13:31split up into three sections for timing purposes.

00:13:34And Jack Villeneuve is holding his fifth position.

00:13:37You're looking now at Frentzen, followed by Irvine,

00:13:40followed by Ralf Schumacher.

00:13:42So, that's the Jaguar of Eddie Irvine in eighth position

00:13:47ahead of the Williams BMW

00:13:50as through the last chicane,

00:13:53just before the start and finish straight,

00:13:55go the two leaders.

00:13:56And it's getting mighty, mighty close at the back.

00:13:59Slow Jordan there, whether he just made a mistake

00:14:01and got shuffled to the outside

00:14:03or whether he's got some kind of problem.

00:14:05Let's see Irvine and Ralf Schumacher through.

00:14:08We're missing a Jordan.

00:14:09A Jordan, here we go now.

00:14:13Locks a wheel, runs wide, maybe just lost track position.

00:14:16So, we'll watch to see.

00:14:17No, Frentzen is in the pits.

00:14:19Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the pits.

00:14:22Well, I think that Rubens Barrichello is holding David Koolvaarder

00:14:26because there's a gap developing all the time.

00:14:28There's seven seconds now between them

00:14:31as Heinz-Harald Frentzen sits in the pit lane.

00:14:34I'm looking down to see if I can see him.

00:14:36Sadly, yes, I can.

00:14:38I can just see him sitting in the Jordan

00:14:41as there goes Pedro de la Rosa

00:14:44and Frentzen is getting out of the car.

00:14:47So, he is retiring from the San Marino Grand Prix.

00:14:50Tough luck for Jordan

00:14:52because they've worked their way up to third with Williams.

00:14:55There he is.

00:14:56Worked their way up to third with Williams

00:14:57in the Constructors' Championship

00:14:59as a result of their success in Brazil.

00:15:01Third and fourth places there

00:15:03to Frentzen and Trulli.

00:15:05Mika Häkkinen leads.

00:15:06Michael Schumacher second.

00:15:08Look at that gap.

00:15:09Look at it now.

00:15:09That's Barrichello.

00:15:11Then there's Koolvaard.

00:15:12Then there's that long gap to Villeneuve.

00:15:14Behind Villeneuve is Trulli.

00:15:15So, up into seventh place has gone Eddie Irvine.

00:15:18There's Ralf Schumacher in ninth, eighth position.

00:15:21Behind him is Mika Salo.

00:15:23Behind Mika Salo is Jos Verstappen.

00:15:25So, one of the arrows is up into tenth position

00:15:29and Michael Schumacher is increasing his speed.

00:15:32New fastest lap, 1.28.9.

00:15:36That's just four-tenths of a second

00:15:39off last year's fastest lap,

00:15:43which was put up by Michael Schumacher as well

00:15:46as we look down a clear track.

00:15:48So, we've got McLaren versus Ferrari.

00:15:50Ferrari versus McLaren.

00:15:52VAR, there it is.

00:15:54Villeneuve versus Jordan.

00:15:55The Jaguar going well in seventh place.

00:15:58A gap before Ralf Schumacher in the Williams BMW.

00:16:01Salo followed by Verstappen.

00:16:03In eleventh place is Riccardo Zonta.

00:16:06In the next VAR, Pedro Diniz in the second salvo.

00:16:10And coming round at the back,

00:16:13Giancarlo Fisichella that you saw talking to Luis earlier on.

00:16:17And he's down in nineteenth position.

00:16:20Something looks very wrong indeed with the Benetton.

00:16:23His teammate, Alexander Wurz, is four places ahead of him

00:16:27in fifteenth place.

00:16:28Leaders down to the Rivazza

00:16:31and off goes the other.

00:16:33Or is it Mazzacane again?

00:16:35I can't tell you. No, it's Jeunet this time.

00:16:38Marc Jeunet.

00:16:39And I think Jenson Button is in there somewhere as well.

00:16:42So, Mazzacane has gone off and rejoined the track in the Minardi.

00:16:46Jeunet has just gone off

00:16:49and he was with Jenson Button.

00:16:51So, completion. Look at this.

00:16:53Schumacher is closing.

00:16:54The gap was previously just over a second.

00:16:57Now, it's just under a second.

00:17:00Not very much to close, but here is the battle again

00:17:03between the third and fourth cars.

00:17:07Oh, there it is. Jenson Button out of the race.

00:17:10So, he failed to finish in his first race in Australia,

00:17:14notwithstanding the fact that he got up to fourth place.

00:17:17He had a fine drive to his first World Championship point in Brazil.

00:17:21He's out of the San Marino Grand Prix

00:17:23and I suspect that he and Jeunet had a coming together

00:17:28while they were fighting for 17th position.

00:17:31And look how close it is.

00:17:33You see, Barrichello is 10 seconds behind the race leader.

00:17:37David Coulthard is right behind Barrichello.

00:17:39Then there's a four-second gap to Villeneuve

00:17:43and only five seconds covers the next six places.

00:17:46There's really only one place to overtake around here.

00:17:49It's a few corners' time down into Rivazza,

00:17:52but you've got to be super committed

00:17:54and the other guys really got to know you're coming

00:17:57and accept the fact, otherwise he'll turn in on you.

00:17:59So, Coulthard, a really critical stage of the race for him.

00:18:03It's way, way too early to start changing your pit stop strategy

00:18:06to try and ease him past this Ferrari,

00:18:08but David left himself a little bit of a gap a couple of laps ago

00:18:12and immediately came back at Barrichello over half a second faster.

00:18:17Louise is with Frentzen.

00:18:18Heinz-Harald, first man out of the race, tell us why.

00:18:21Well, I had a gear shift select problem.

00:18:24I was stuck in sixth gear and I couldn't shift down anymore

00:18:27and I had to come into the pits.

00:18:28There was no chance, really.

00:18:30It's been a bit of a problem for Jordan so far this year, the gearbox, isn't it?

00:18:33It's taken you a while to get on top of it.

00:18:35Well, certainly we have some difficulties,

00:18:37but the problem we had in Melbourne

00:18:40had nothing to do with the problem today.

00:18:42In Melbourne, it was just a hydraulic leak.

00:18:45Well, it just caused by an exhaust temperature

00:18:48to melt the hydraulic pipe,

00:18:51which was a problem only with mounting the thing.

00:18:53But here we have, for the first time,

00:18:57something we have to look first, to be honest.

00:18:59I don't know what is the problem.

00:19:01Well, bad luck for today, but good luck with the birth of your new child.

00:19:05Well, you watch Rubens Barrichello in third position

00:19:08with David Coulthard behind him.

00:19:10And the gap from Barrichello to Hacken and the race leader

00:19:14is now some 10 seconds.

00:19:17I think if only David Coulthard could get past the Ferrari,

00:19:20he could pull away from it.

00:19:22But Rubens Barrichello, quite understandably,

00:19:24is not making room for him to do that.

00:19:26And on this circuit, it's very, very difficult to pass

00:19:29unless you get cooperation from the man in front.

00:19:32That may be alright if you're coming up to lap someone,

00:19:34but if you're fighting for track position the way Barrichello is,

00:19:37there is no way you're going to move.

00:19:39While Heinz-Harald Frentzen was talking to Louise,

00:19:42you probably saw the replay of Jenson Button's incident.

00:19:45His engine blew up and he drove off the racetrack.

00:19:48Junaid spun on the oil of that broken BMW engine just behind him.

00:19:53So, not a mistake there by Jenson Button.

00:19:55It looked like a mechanical failure in the engine department.

00:19:59It looks to me as though the race is just settling down a bit.

00:20:02Remember that Micah Hacken has got the pressure on him.

00:20:05He hasn't scored in Australia, he hasn't scored in Brazil.

00:20:09Michael Schumacher won both races.

00:20:11He's got 20 points in his pocket, whereas Hacken has got none.

00:20:15Michael Schumacher can afford to settle for second place,

00:20:19and he will be keeping Hacken under pressure all the time.

00:20:24Micah has got to stay cool, get his lines right,

00:20:27make sure he brakes in the right places, accelerates in the right places,

00:20:31takes the tail-enders at the right time,

00:20:33hopefully so that he can put one between himself and Michael Schumacher.

00:20:37That's Barrichello and Coulthard third and fourth,

00:20:40and the gap is increasing now.

00:20:43It's something like half a second a lap between Hacken, who is leading,

00:20:48and Barrichello, who is in third place,

00:20:50and therefore Coulthard, who is in fourth place.

00:20:53Fifth is Villeneuve, sixth is Trolley, seventh is Irvine,

00:20:56eighth is Ralf Schumacher, ninth is Mikasala.

00:20:59Top ten, Joss Verstappen.

00:21:03And news from James Allen in the pits.

00:21:05Yeah, just looking at the figures here, the lap times, that kind of thing,

00:21:07trying to work out what everybody's doing.

00:21:09It looks to me, obviously, as though Hacken and Michael Schumacher

00:21:11are on the same strategy, and their lap times

00:21:13very much consistent with a two-stopper,

00:21:15expecting them to come in sometime around lap 24 to 26.

00:21:19And obviously, the timing of those stops is going to be critical.

00:21:21You might see one of them running a little bit longer than the other.

00:21:23Behind them, however, Rubens Barrichello's being dropped

00:21:25about a second a lap, and that, too, consistent with a guy

00:21:28who's got a bit more fuel on board,

00:21:29which is what Michael Schumacher did here last year.

00:21:32He started with a one-stop fuel load,

00:21:34and I think that's what Rubens is doing.

00:21:35The critical point of this race, then, guys, is going to be the mid-phase

00:21:38between lap 32 and 45, when the two-stoppers start coming in again.

00:21:42That's when Rubens is going to have to play his role

00:21:44to help Michael get back out in front of Hacken.

00:21:47Hacken has just done two consecutive fastest laps of the race.

00:21:50He's now down to 128.2, and edging away from Michael

00:21:55three or four tens per lap.

00:21:56Micke is very, very happy that he went for the softer tyre yesterday.

00:22:00He was looking at the sky.

00:22:02We were all a bit chilly, wearing a jacket down there in the paddock earlier on.

00:22:05He said, I've got the right tyres.

00:22:07I'm really excited about this afternoon.

00:22:09I think I've made the right choice,

00:22:11because it's nowhere near as warm as we all expected yesterday.

00:22:14I'm not going to be very popular for what I'm about to say,

00:22:17but there's little doubt in my mind

00:22:20that the first two races of the year were lost by McLaren,

00:22:23rather than won by Ferrari.

00:22:26Yes, Ferrari won, and they won nobly by finishing,

00:22:29and the McLarens didn't.

00:22:31But the McLarens were handling beautifully.

00:22:33They were quicker.

00:22:35Remember, Häkkinen had the lead,

00:22:37and that's what he's got now.

00:22:39And if this car is reliable,

00:22:42I think Micke Häkkinen, even at this early stage of the race,

00:22:45we're on lap 10 out of 62,

00:22:48is looking very strong for his first victory and 10 points of the year.

00:22:52But he's coming up now to Mazzacane,

00:22:55the man we saw go off earlier on.

00:22:58I expect the Argentine driver will be keeping his eye on the mirrors very carefully.

00:23:02If he's not and he holds Micke Häkkinen up,

00:23:05this could be Michael Schumacher's opportunity

00:23:07to close up on the McLaren.

00:23:10The gap between them now is 1.6 seconds.

00:23:13There is Pedro Diniz,

00:23:15and going through on the inside

00:23:17to take Pedro de la Rosa is Jean Alessi in the Prost.

00:23:21He's moved up to 12th position,

00:23:23and Häkkinen is past Mazzacane,

00:23:26who tours almost on the left

00:23:29in order to allow Michael Schumacher to get past as well.

00:23:33And lap 11, 51 to go.

00:23:37We're going for a break.

00:25:2913th out of 62 at Imola for the San Marino Grand Prix.

00:25:53It looks as though we have another retirement

00:25:55because Jos Verstappen in the arrows has come into the pits,

00:25:59and we've seen that he's got some kind of a suspension problem.

00:26:02Micke Häkkinen there, still leading the race.

00:26:05He's now a discernible gap of 1.7 seconds

00:26:09between him and the first Ferrari of Michael Schumacher.

00:26:13Then it's Barrichello for Coulthard,

00:26:15for Jacques Villeneuve, still in 5th position.

00:26:19But right up behind him is Jarno Trulli-Jordan,

00:26:22the only one that's left because Frentzen is out.

00:26:25Eddie Irvine is running in the Jaguar in 7th place

00:26:28ahead of Ralf Schumacher, who started 5th and is down to 8th.

00:26:33Micke Salo is 9th, Zonta is 10th, and Louise Goodman has news.

00:26:36I'm standing here with Jenson Button, actually, Murray.

00:26:38Jenson, we saw you off into the gravel trap earlier.

00:26:40Was there a problem with the car, or was it a mistake?

00:26:43As I turned into the left part of the second chicane,

00:26:47it just locked, the rear wheels just locked.

00:26:49Loads of smoke out the back.

00:26:51It felt like an engine failure,

00:26:52but I'm not going to say anything too much yet.

00:26:55But there you go.

00:26:57You don't seem really to have got to grips with this track.

00:26:59You've not had a really good weekend, have you?

00:27:01This morning, it actually got a lot better.

00:27:03I was 11th in practice this morning.

00:27:05And I think we were looking good for the race.

00:27:08We had a good set-up for pit stops, I think.

00:27:10And I was in a good position then for a good result.

00:27:13But there you go, it happens.

00:27:15So next up, we'll see you there.

00:27:17Oh, yes.

00:27:18A very realistic response and attitude from Jenson Button.

00:27:23He's now a very, very famous man in Britain,

00:27:25and everybody's expecting miracles from him.

00:27:27But this is, after all, his first Grand Prix season.

00:27:3020 years old.

00:27:32He's learning all the time.

00:27:33And he's certainly learned at Imola

00:27:35how you have to attack the kerbs.

00:27:37You can't get round this circuit quickly unless you do.

00:27:40Mika Häkkinen, that you're watching,

00:27:42is, of course, a master of this.

00:27:43He was saying yesterday

00:27:45that you've got to get the kerbs absolutely right.

00:27:47That's Barrichello third, David Coulthard fourth.

00:27:50Still very close to each other.

00:27:52And Häkkinen was saying,

00:27:54if you attack too much, you go off.

00:27:56If you don't attack enough, you lose time.

00:27:59So, he is certainly gaining time.

00:28:02He's nearly two seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher now.

00:28:05They're lapping about three-tenths of a second differently

00:28:09with Häkkinen the faster.

00:28:11But it's still McLaren-Ferrari.

00:28:14Ferrari-McLaren.

00:28:15The B.A.R. of Jacques Villeneuve in fifth position.

00:28:19And look at Mika Häkkinen,

00:28:21and the way he's throwing that McLaren about.

00:28:24Well, it's exactly what you were just talking about.

00:28:26And certainly, Jenson didn't get hooked up on those kerbs.

00:28:30And as you rightly said,

00:28:32it really is a question of attack

00:28:33and be very, very aggressive,

00:28:35but know the limit.

00:28:37Let the car fly a little bit,

00:28:38but be ready for when it lands.

00:28:40And it is really quite an art around this racetrack.

00:28:43And Coulthard needs to pass that Ferrari.

00:28:45Otherwise, his afternoon is wrecked.

00:28:47Yeah, Coulthard is close enough to Barrichello, of course,

00:28:50for the pit stop to make all the difference.

00:28:53This is Barrichello that we're riding with now.

00:28:55And right up close behind us there is the McLaren.

00:28:58But Mika Häkkinen is looking better and better

00:29:01all the time in comparison with Michael Schumacher

00:29:04in terms of relative positions at pit stops.

00:29:07If Häkkinen comes in before Schumacher,

00:29:09of course, Schumacher will pass.

00:29:12But if the Finns' pit stop turns out to be the quicker,

00:29:16it could be very, very close indeed for the lead

00:29:20when Michael Schumacher rejoins.

00:29:22Now, we're on lap 15 out of 62 at the present moment.

00:29:26If they're both on two-stop strategies,

00:29:28which we believe they are,

00:29:30they'll be coming in in about nine laps time.

00:29:33And you can expect a stop of around about eight seconds.

00:29:36When I say stop, I mean with the car stationary.

00:29:40They're going to lose a lot more time than that, of course,

00:29:43going into the pit lane and slowing down.

00:29:45There is now a maximum speed of 80 kilometers an hour

00:29:49in the pit lane on race day.

00:29:51That is very slow indeed.

00:29:53But at Silverstone, remember,

00:29:55when they've got to have new electronic systems in their cars,

00:29:59the drivers are going to be in charge of slowing down.

00:30:02At the present moment, they press a button

00:30:04and it's done electronically.

00:30:06And I'm expecting to see from Silverstone onwards

00:30:09quite a few penalties, ten-second penalties,

00:30:13plus the time to slow down and speed up

00:30:15before overshooting the mark in terms of speed in the pit lane.

00:30:20But not today.

00:30:21Coulthard is better under braking.

00:30:23His car's working better under braking than Barrichello's Ferrari,

00:30:26which would also suggest Barrichello's carrying a bit more

00:30:29lard in his fuel tank.

00:30:31But Coulthard can't stay anywhere near him

00:30:33under acceleration away from the corners.

00:30:35And struggling with traction,

00:30:37getting the rear tyres hooked up to the racetrack,

00:30:40is David Coulthard. It's clear to see.

00:30:42Now, as you watch Barrichello third, Coulthard fourth,

00:30:47I can tell you that the leaders, Hakanen and Schumacher,

00:30:51are lapping at just a whisker over 1 minute 28.

00:30:54The third and fourth men that you're looking at

00:30:56are lapping at about one and a half seconds slower than that,

00:31:01as a result of which the gap between Hakanen, who is leading,

00:31:06and Barrichello and Coulthard, who are third and fourth,

00:31:09is just a whisker over 20 seconds.

00:31:12That's after 15 laps.

00:31:15Now, I don't think that signifies that Barrichello is necessarily

00:31:20on a different pit stop strategy

00:31:22than Michael Schumacher and Mikko Hakanen,

00:31:25but he just might do.

00:31:27I think this is just going to be a slow-mo replay,

00:31:29showing you just how hard the front suspension and tyres are working

00:31:33over those kerbs of Ruben Barrichello's Ferrari.

00:31:37And both the leaders now in the 1 minute 27s.

00:31:39And again, Hakanen is a tenth faster.

00:31:42I think we're seeing, although Ferrari are way ahead in the World Championship,

00:31:46it may seem a strange thing to say,

00:31:48but I do believe that Hakanen's McLaren has been the fastest car now

00:31:52of all of the first three races.

00:31:55But it's Michael that's come through and grabbed the points.

00:31:57Here, retirement so far.

00:31:59Thanks, Harold Fredsen, out very early in the race.

00:32:02Marc Genet out in the Minardi

00:32:05as a result of some sort of confrontation with Jenson Button,

00:32:09who is out in the Williams BMW.

00:32:12Jos Verstappen out in the Arrows,

00:32:14and both Minardis are out because Gaston Mazzacchade was out.

00:32:19And that means there are 17 drivers left out of the 22 who started.

00:32:24The last on the track at the moment is Nick Heidfeldt.

00:32:26He is in 17th position in the Frost.

00:32:29That is Mikko Hakanen. Look back.

00:32:31There is Michael Schumacher. No doubt about which is fastest now.

00:32:35It is this man. It's the Finn.

00:32:38Mikko Hakanen, the winner of 14 Grand Prix in his career.

00:32:44This is his 131st, and he's coming through now.

00:32:48He's completed his 17th lap.

00:32:50And in the background there, in the green Jaguar,

00:32:54is Johnny Herbert.

00:33:00And he is chasing Alexander Wurz's Benetton.

00:33:04They are respectively 15th Johnny Herbert and 14th Alexander Wurz.

00:33:10Now, Eddie Irvine is still holding 7th position,

00:33:12so the Jaguars, which have been plagued with unreliability in the earlier races,

00:33:18and particularly Johnny Herbert's, are running well at the moment.

00:33:21Lap 18 out of 62.

00:33:24And look at this. This is Villeneuve battling with Jarno Trulli for 5th position.

00:33:30Yes, Villeneuve really under pressure there,

00:33:31and knowing it, going very, very early to cover his line,

00:33:34which compromises his entry to that first Tamburello chicane quite badly.

00:33:39Now he's going to turn into a chicane that carries his name,

00:33:42but it's named after his father, of course, Villeneuve.

00:33:455th, 6th, 7th and 8th.

00:33:47Because 7th in the green Jaguar is Eddie Irvine.

00:33:508th in the white Williams BMW is Ralph Schumacher

00:33:55with the yellow flash on his helmet.

00:33:57Behind him is Mikko Salo.

00:34:00So, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th.

00:34:04Pretty close to each other on the circuit.

00:34:06We're on lap 18.

00:34:08Vika Häkkinen is going faster again.

00:34:10He's got the gap up to 2.6 seconds now.

00:34:15Over the crest.

00:34:16I was just thinking, if he was an Englishman,

00:34:18he'd be called Jack Newtown, wouldn't he?

00:34:20I don't know if they'd have named a chicane after him.

00:34:21That's an interesting fact.

00:34:23And here is Jarno Trulli, who is in 6th place.

00:34:27Now this is the drop down to the rivet,

00:34:30so they're doing 185 miles an hour as they brake

00:34:32for the first left-hander.

00:34:34A bit of a squirt down to the second left-hander.

00:34:36Take the apex at about 80 miles an hour.

00:34:39Accelerate up to 180 at an enormous velocity.

00:34:44And Jarno Trulli, the man that Eddie Jordan

00:34:47was talking about so confidently and with such praise.

00:34:50And we're riding with now,

00:34:52as we go into the start and finish straight,

00:34:55up towards the Tamburello

00:34:57at 175 miles an hour.

00:35:00Back off a bit for the left.

00:35:02Right again.

00:35:03Accelerate up to 135 miles an hour.

00:35:06Now 185 miles an hour

00:35:09to the second chicane at Villeneuve.

00:35:12Right, left, right.

00:35:14Hard on the brakes.

00:35:1580 miles an hour for one of the most acute corners

00:35:18on the circuit, Tosa.

00:35:20And this is where the circuit starts to climb,

00:35:23up towards the Piratella.

00:35:26Under the bridge, there, left,

00:35:28there's Eddie Irvine

00:35:29holding on to that seventh position.

00:35:32And the times, obviously,

00:35:35actually, Eddie Irvine is catching Jarno Trulli.

00:35:37He's got the gap down to six-tenths of a second.

00:35:41This is the man who was second in the World Championship

00:35:44for Ferrari last year.

00:35:46Won four races for the Maranello Concern,

00:35:49Barrichello,

00:35:51and David Coulthard.

00:35:53And they are closing up on Mazzacane,

00:35:55who will move over again.

00:35:57It's Mazzacane having rejoined the race,

00:35:59as has Jos Verstappen in the arrow.

00:36:02So we're back to 19 runners now.

00:36:06And not only back to 19 runners,

00:36:10but back to going away from Imola for a little while,

00:36:13if you follow me.

00:37:53♪♪

00:38:02♪♪

00:38:12♪♪

00:38:20♪♪

00:38:27Marino Grand Prix.

00:38:28We are now on lap 22 out of 62,

00:38:32as you look at Villeneuve,

00:38:34followed by Trulli and Irvine.

00:38:36Irvine's got some kind of problem.

00:38:37The shot before was Irvine behind Salo.

00:38:40So Irvine coming up the hill there.

00:38:42Looks like he ran out of gear shift ability

00:38:44or something like that.

00:38:45So Eddie Irvine slipping back down now

00:38:48to at least ninth position.

00:38:50Well, we believe the Jaguar to be pretty quick,

00:38:53given the opportunity,

00:38:54but it hasn't had much opportunity

00:38:56because it's had so much unreliability this year.

00:38:59Johnny Herbert is in 14th position.

00:39:01You've just seen Eddie Irvine lose at least one place

00:39:05with Ralf Schumacher going past in the Williams.

00:39:08He is now in seventh position.

00:39:10Salo has passed Irvine,

00:39:12who is dropping down through the field.

00:39:14He's only got Zonta six seconds behind him now,

00:39:17and if he's got a problem,

00:39:18he's going to slip back down and down the field

00:39:21and probably come into the pits.

00:39:23Rubens Barrichello in the Ferrari,

00:39:25hanging on third position ahead of David Coulthard.

00:39:29David Coulthard, of course,

00:39:30who won here in 1998,

00:39:33finished second here last year to Michael Schumacher.

00:39:38And the German is 3.3 seconds behind Mikko Häkkinen.

00:39:43But as I say that,

00:39:45I see that probably Michael Schumacher's got the message

00:39:50that pit stops are imminent

00:39:51because he's on a charge

00:39:53to our fastest first sector of the afternoon.

00:39:56Jaguar mechanics in the pit lane too,

00:39:58but Eddie Irvine is now back up to the green

00:40:02in the hydro there with his stop-and-go penalties,

00:40:05what you saw coming through the pits,

00:40:06but the Jaguar ready.

00:40:07Eddie Irvine did have a problem.

00:40:09He's actually back up to speed in the first sector,

00:40:12a bit tardy in the middle of the lap,

00:40:13so clearly Irvine's still carrying some kind of drama.

00:40:17Mechanics are ready for him

00:40:18if indeed there's anything they can do.

00:40:21Well, we are all keeping a weather eye on the pit lane.

00:40:24James Allen is down there.

00:40:27And James, as I say that, has got some news for us.

00:40:30Yeah, very interesting time this, Murray,

00:40:31in the build-up to the first stops.

00:40:32And I tell you, there's a very intensive discussion

00:40:34been going on between Luca Baldesserri,

00:40:36who is Michael Schumacher's race engineer,

00:40:38and Ross Braun, of course, the strategist at Ferrari.

00:40:40They're trying to dream up a clever trick now

00:40:42to get Michael ahead of Häkkinen.

00:40:43As far as I see it, they have two options.

00:40:45They can either short-fill him,

00:40:47put in less fuel than Häkkinen's going to put in,

00:40:49which means that when Häkkinen comes after his pit stop,

00:40:51Michael will be ahead of him.

00:40:53Or they can long-fill him, which is what they did last year,

00:40:55and then he can do a longer second stint.

00:40:57For sure they're going to try something here.

00:40:59They don't want to sit behind Häkkinen all day.

00:41:01But as you and Martin have been saying,

00:41:02there's no question here this weekend

00:41:04that McLaren is the faster car.

00:41:05So an uphill struggle for them, for sure.

00:41:07The McLaren is the faster car

00:41:09if it's got Michael Häkkinen at the wheel.

00:41:11It's not if it's got David Coulthard,

00:41:13because you see, David, even if he is in a faster car,

00:41:17it's not got the superior speed enough

00:41:19to get past Barry Keller.

00:41:21That's Verstappen carrying out a stop-and-go penalty

00:41:24for blocking, as you can see yourself.

00:41:27They're not allowed to touch the car.

00:41:28If he needs tires or fuel, he's got to come in again.

00:41:31You're not allowed to do it.

00:41:32You stop at your own box, 10-second station.

00:41:35It's going to cost you about 26, 27 seconds all told,

00:41:38including negotiating the pit lane.

00:41:40And I can only assume that's because he was blocking the leaders

00:41:43as he was lapped, because he's running last.

00:41:45He could not have been blocking another competitor.

00:41:47Lap 24.

00:41:48Now, you watch Barry Keller and David Coulthard.

00:41:51I'll tell you what's happening in front of and behind them.

00:41:54Micha Häkkinen has got Michael Schumacher in second place,

00:41:573.3 seconds behind him.

00:41:59There's Barry Keller, who's 30 seconds behind Häkkinen.

00:42:02You can see where Coulthard is.

00:42:04Fifth is Jacques Villeneuve, 45 seconds behind the leader.

00:42:08In comes Trulli.

00:42:09Sixth is Trulli, or was,

00:42:11because now Ralf Schumacher's gone past him

00:42:14and up into the points, but not for long.

00:42:17Seventh is Micka Salo.

00:42:18Eighth is, was, Eddie Irvine, but he's in the pits.

00:42:22So it will now be Pedro Diniz and Riccardo Zonta.

00:42:26Trulli away first.

00:42:27It amazes me there's not more broken legs in that pit lane

00:42:30as the cars pull away,

00:42:32especially when they sweep back in

00:42:33and your rear wheel cuts the arc of the corner.

00:42:37This is a replay of Zonta getting out of shape

00:42:40into one of the chicanes.

00:42:42Across the grass.

00:42:43It's the last chicane, actually,

00:42:45and then he's going to be,

00:42:47well, that's Heidfeld finishing his dreadful weekend,

00:42:51parked up with obviously a technical failure,

00:42:52a little bit of smoke coming from the front,

00:42:54but actually that is just a bit of heat soak

00:42:57from the brake discs and calipers.

00:42:59Louise, what can you tell us about Swerve and Irvine?

00:43:02Well, he's just been into the pits.

00:43:03We saw earlier on, just before he came for that pit stop,

00:43:05he did lose a lot of time.

00:43:06He reported back to the team that he was having a misfire.

00:43:09So what they did, they brought him into the pits

00:43:10slightly earlier than he was due to come in

00:43:12and they've actually switched something off,

00:43:14according to technical director Gary Anderson.

00:43:16He wouldn't be drawn further on what it was they'd switched off,

00:43:19but he says that he's quite confident

00:43:21that that's going to correct the problem.

00:43:22So Irvine's on his way again and, fingers crossed,

00:43:24that's the end of the problem.

00:43:25Well, I certainly can't imagine what it is

00:43:27that he'd switch off to stop a misfire.

00:43:29Let's hope he's succeeded, though.

00:43:31Eddie Irvine's down to 9th position at the moment.

00:43:34In comes the Minardi of Mazzacane,

00:43:3717th position, Heidfeld, of course, out of the race.

00:43:41Jos Verstappen is still running.

00:43:43Haven't seen him recently.

00:43:45That means to say that there are 18 competitors

00:43:47still left in the race as Mazzacane,

00:43:50with the shortest pit road of all,

00:43:52to get out of the pit lane, shoots back into the fray.

00:43:56Fastest pit stop of the race last year was 23.9 seconds,

00:44:00all told, including negotiating the lane itself

00:44:03by Michael Schumacher.

00:44:04It's a little bit slower down there this year,

00:44:06so we're looking at something of 24, 25 seconds total loss.

00:44:10Now, cars 1 and 2 on the road,

00:44:13Hakkinen and Schumacher already have over half a minute gap

00:44:16on Barrichello and Coulthard,

00:44:18so they've got a pit stop plus in their pockets.

00:44:21Micah Hakkinen is underlining his superiority here today.

00:44:26Fastest lap, 1.27.38,

00:44:30which is 1.2 seconds faster

00:44:33than Michael Schumacher's fastest lap last year,

00:44:36and the McLaren mechanics are out in the pit lane.

00:44:40Now, I would imagine it's for Coulthard rather than Hakkinen

00:44:44because they've probably decided that if they bring Coulthard in,

00:44:47who clearly can't get past Barrichello, and it is.

00:44:50Are you there, James, or not?

00:44:52I am down here, Murray, and this is going to be a very interesting one.

00:44:54Are the clock going to go on to this?

00:44:55It's very hard to see exactly how long it's going to be.

00:44:58Seven, eight, nine seconds.

00:44:59That's a two-stop strategy. Interesting.

00:45:02Yes, and David wasn't into first gear fast enough there.

00:45:04For every second that the car was stationary,

00:45:08there's about three and a half laps worth of fuel going in

00:45:12when it all shakes out,

00:45:13so Coulthard there with a reasonable pit stop

00:45:16but definitely lost another half second before he got away.

00:45:19I was working something else out at the time,

00:45:21but I think David has actually kept his fourth place

00:45:26and that Jacques Villeneuve did not get through and take that position

00:45:30whilst David was still in the pit lane.

00:45:32Oh, Villeneuve was only 15.6 seconds behind,

00:45:35so he must be ahead of him, I think, Murray.

00:45:37You can't stop in anything less than 24, 25 seconds

00:45:40as we see another ailing Prost, which can only be a lacey

00:45:44because Heidfeld is already out of the race

00:45:47and there's some long, long faces in that Prost team.

00:45:50Prost are having a terrible season.

00:45:53They've had problems with the Peugeot engine.

00:45:55This is Michael Schumacher.

00:45:57He's now 3.7 seconds behind Mika Häkkinen

00:46:00and the Jaguar there coming round the left-hander

00:46:06and up towards Tosa.

00:46:07On the tail of Wootz's Benetton is that of Johnny Herbert

00:46:12and he's ahead of Fissi Keller.

00:46:14So the Benettons are having a pretty unhappy race

00:46:17because they're down in 13th and 15th positions.

00:46:21Now, let's look at the relative speed of Johnny Herbert

00:46:25in the Jaguar and the Benetton,

00:46:29but now the Ferrari mechanics, you just saw them there, are out.

00:46:34Now, is this for Schumacher? Is it for Barrichello?

00:46:37They are 2nd and 3rd.

00:46:38I'd have thought they're going to be responding with Barrichello's car

00:46:41to David Coulthard's stop.

00:46:43It's what I'd imagined they're going to do

00:46:45as you see a Lacey sweep straight in the garage,

00:46:48but we're getting the information up here

00:46:51that Häkkinen and Schumacher will stop on the same lap.

00:46:55I'm not quite sure where that information's come from,

00:46:57but it's coming through my headphones now.

00:46:59And look, Ferrari and McLaren mechanics, all of them.

00:47:03Yes, here's Häkkinen.

00:47:05Now, does Schumacher follow him down the pit lane?

00:47:08Can't see Schumacher going round the last chicane,

00:47:10so he must be in the pit lane somewhere.

00:47:12It's a very, very tight entry there.

00:47:15And yes, Michael Schumacher also stopping at the same time

00:47:18as straight race between the mechanics, James.

00:47:21It took Schumacher a lot longer to get here than I expected,

00:47:24but he's still there, but quite a long fill.

00:47:26What does the clock say, guys? How long was it?

00:47:28Well, 9.9 seconds, Schumacher.

00:47:30He's doing what I thought he would do.

00:47:32He's put more fuel in for the second stint,

00:47:34so it's been very interesting.

00:47:36Yeah, Micah Häkkinen has gained time.

00:47:38He's increased his advantage as a result of that pit stop,

00:47:42but if James is right, and I'm sure he is,

00:47:45there we are, he's gained two seconds, at least,

00:47:47on that pit stop.

00:47:49But Michael Schumacher has had more fuel put in the car.

00:47:52That is going to be very significant

00:47:54in the closing stages of the race.

00:47:57When he comes in for another stop and new tyres,

00:48:00he'll be doing the end of the race on a brand new set of tyres.

00:48:04And at the present moment, it's still Häkkinen, Schumacher,

00:48:07Barrichello, Villeneuve up into fourth place,

00:48:10Ralf Schumacher into fifth position,

00:48:12Coulthard down into sixth place.

00:48:14The Ferrari mechanics out there,

00:48:16waiting for Barrichello to come out.

00:48:18We're on lap 28 out of 62.

00:48:20There's Coulthard now down into the 28s, 27s rather now.

00:48:23He doesn't have to look at the back of Barrichello's Ferrari.

00:48:27Crucial lap now, this out lap.

00:48:29Neither Häkkinen nor Michael Schumacher

00:48:31have got any traffic ahead of them.

00:48:33Look, clear track ahead,

00:48:34so it's a question of getting back up to speed

00:48:36within one or two corners, really.

00:48:38And already now, halfway around the lap,

00:48:40two-thirds of the way around the lap,

00:48:41Häkkinen should be braking exactly where he was braking

00:48:44before he came into the pits.

00:48:46You really have to condition yourself

00:48:48to just pick up that speed, that race speed,

00:48:50immediately you leave the pits.

00:48:53Well, we're riding with Barrichello now in third position.

00:48:56And I can tell you that Michael Schumacher on the new rubber

00:49:01is gained half a second in one sector from the leader

00:49:06as in comes Barrichello, hits the pit stop speed limiter.

00:49:10There are the Ferrari mechanics.

00:49:12James!

00:49:13Yeah, Rubens comes in.

00:49:14Now, of course, the critical thing here is

00:49:15we thought he was running quite a heavy fuel load,

00:49:18so he's come in now and putting a reasonable amount of fuel in.

00:49:20Well, 7.7 seconds.

00:49:23Bit difficult to tell what Rubens is up to today.

00:49:25Maybe he's just slow, guys.

00:49:26Yeah, I think it may well be that.

00:49:28As I said earlier on, he couldn't get to grips

00:49:30with the handling of the Ferrari

00:49:32in the practice and qualifying sessions,

00:49:34nor this morning.

00:49:36Ralph Schumacher there moves up to fourth

00:49:38because he hasn't stopped yet,

00:49:39but Barrichello remains ahead of Coulthard.

00:49:42Coulthard did not.

00:49:44He had a slower pit stop

00:49:45and was not able to gain any track position.

00:49:48Now, Villeneuve's in the pits from what was fourth place.

00:49:52Realistic when it all sorts itself out after the stop,

00:49:55the first stop.

00:49:57Villeneuve's in fourth and Ralph Schumacher is fifth.

00:50:00Well, looking good for McLaren with Häkkinen,

00:50:03not looking so good for McLaren with Coulthard.

00:50:06Looking questionable for both Schumacher and Barrichello,

00:50:09until we get into the later stages of the race.

00:50:12And now you see the Ferrari rejoining

00:50:15and Ralph Schumacher moving up into a higher position.

00:50:21Yes, that's Schumacher going up into third.

00:50:24That was a replay they were just showing us.

00:50:25So that's third, fourth, and fifth.

00:50:27But Ralph has yet to stop, I would reiterate.

00:50:31And once again, Ralph Schumacher,

00:50:34well, I was going to say surprising us.

00:50:36He's not surprising me now.

00:50:38He's a lot younger than his brother.

00:50:41Michael is 31 years old and Ralph Schumacher is 24.

00:50:45But Ralph is a mighty fine driver.

00:50:47Give him another five years

00:50:49and he's certainly going to be up there with his brother,

00:50:51if not ahead of him.

00:50:52It's always been, funnily enough,

00:50:53the younger brother when there have been partnerships

00:50:56in Grand Prix racing,

00:50:58like the Stuarts and the Rodriguez brothers,

00:51:01who has been the faster.

00:51:02And in comes Ralph, as I say that.

00:51:05You're watching the Williams BMW of Ralph Schumacher,

00:51:08who was in third position.

00:51:12Nice clean stop.

00:51:14No indication of the time, so I can't tell you.

00:51:17Rejoins.

00:51:18Now, let's see who...

00:51:20That is Villeneuve going through.

00:51:22So Villeneuve has got a track position advantage there

00:51:26over the Williams BMW of Ralph Schumacher in the background.

00:51:32We're on lap 30 out of 62.

00:51:34So, as near as makes no difference.

00:51:36Half the distance as you get that replay

00:51:39of the BAR and the Williams rejoining.

00:51:41It's a horrible feeling when you come on the other side of that pit wall

00:51:44and the man you're desperately trying to get track position on

00:51:48flashes past.

00:51:48It's so frustrating and disappointing.

00:51:51And that's exactly what Ralph Schumacher had to watch then,

00:51:54as Villeneuve swept through

00:51:55into an effective fourth position.

00:51:58Lap 31. You're watching the race leader, Michael Schum...

00:52:01Er, Micah Häkkinen.

00:52:03Michael Schumacher is four and a half seconds behind him

00:52:05on a longer pit stop.

00:52:07Ralph Schumacher was third, but he's now gone down.

00:52:10And Rubens Barrichello is therefore up into third position.

00:52:14David Coulthard in fourth position.

00:52:17I can't tell you any more of the first ten

00:52:20because I want to see where Ralph Schumacher is on the circuit.

00:52:24But all we know for sure

00:52:26is that Villeneuve got track advantage on him there.

00:52:29Yes, I said fourth, but Ralph Schumacher should have said fifth.

00:52:33Coulthard's fourth, Barrichello third,

00:52:35Michael second.

00:52:37Micah is first, of course. Look out, it's a break.

00:53:29RALPH SCHUMACHER IN FIFTH POSITION

00:53:59RALPH SCHUMACHER IN FIFTH POSITION

00:54:29RALPH SCHUMACHER IN FIFTH POSITION

00:54:51Laps over half distance, here is the top ten.

00:54:54Micah Häkkinen leads Michael Schumacher by 5.1 seconds.

00:54:59Bit misleading because their times at the pitstops were very different.

00:55:03Rubens Barrichello third, 34 seconds behind,

00:55:07just ahead of David Coulthard fourth.

00:55:08They've both stopped.

00:55:10Jacques Villeneuve is in fifth position ahead of Ralph Schumacher,

00:55:13gained advantage on the pitstop.

00:55:15Seventh is Micah Salo, eighth is Jarno Trulli.

00:55:18Eddie Irvine still running in the Jaguar in spite of that long pitstop.

00:55:22Ninth position, Riccardo Zonta is tenth.

00:55:2517 runners left, 15 are on the same lap.

00:55:29And out come the Jaguar mechanics for, I presume,

00:55:33Johnny, yes, it's got to be Johnny Herbert.

00:55:35He has not stopped yet.

00:55:37Over half distance.

00:55:38Eddie Irvine, of course, has been in some few laps ago.

00:55:43You're looking at Villeneuve and Schumacher.

00:55:45B.A.R. Honda and Williams BMW,

00:55:50and they are in fifth and sixth places

00:55:52with Micah Salo in the background in the Sauber

00:55:55as Johnny Herbert in the Jaguar comes into the pits.

00:55:59Lead is Weiser.

00:56:01New set of Bridgestones go on.

00:56:03Out comes the Jack.

00:56:05But there's a problem somewhere.

00:56:07What is it? Right rear.

00:56:08Oh, no, it's just the fuel taking longer than the wheels to change.

00:56:11Yes, one stopper, of course, so 12 seconds is about right.

00:56:15That'll see Herbert to the end of the race.

00:56:17And this will be a replay of the leader, Micah Hakkinen,

00:56:20lapping Jos Verstappen.

00:56:23There must have been a De Rosa.

00:56:24De La Rosa, who's 15th, actually,

00:56:27and Micah Hakkinen sweeping through there.

00:56:29Perfect mathematical stop for Johnny Herbert.

00:56:31He came in as we expected on that lap 33.

00:56:36That's one lap over half distance.

00:56:38It took him 11 seconds, which is exactly what you would have expected.

00:56:42And Rubens Barrichello is still staving off David Coulthard,

00:56:46who cannot make the Brazilian make the mistake,

00:56:49but David needs to get past the Ferrari.

00:56:52Two teams who did well in Brazil in the last Grand Prix,

00:56:55which is Benetton and Jordan, having an appalling afternoon.

00:56:57Jordan, best runner at the moment, is truly in 8th,

00:56:59frenching out of the race.

00:57:01And we've got to look down where we go.

00:57:04We're 12th for Verstappen in the Benetton

00:57:06and 14th for Fisichella, absolutely nowhere.

00:57:09Fisichella currently second in the World Championship as a driver.

00:57:12Right, we've got three races at the front.

00:57:14We've got Hakkinen versus Schumacher, with four seconds between them.

00:57:18We've got Barrichello versus Coulthard,

00:57:21with just about half a second between them.

00:57:23And diving through on the inside goes Pedro Diniz

00:57:27to take 10th position from Zonta, who retakes it again.

00:57:31So Pedro outreached himself, dived in too fast,

00:57:35and now he's losing ground to Zonta.

00:57:38And closing up on him are Alexander Wurz.

00:57:41And there it is, there's a replay, you see.

00:57:45Pedro dived through, got onto the grass.

00:57:47Zonta said, thank you very much, I'll have that back again.

00:57:49Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

00:57:50It was certainly worth a go there by Diniz.

00:57:53And Mika lost about 9 tenths of the lap previous to this,

00:57:58but now has pulled another 3 tenths of that back again.

00:58:01So Mika, I think they're yo-yoing a little bit now

00:58:04between Schumacher and Hakkinen as they go through the traffic.

00:58:07So we're hanging on now to see whether

00:58:09whatever the Ferrari pit strategy is,

00:58:12is going to help them on the second stop.

00:58:15Now, the second stop should be round about lap 43,

00:58:19and that is in 9 laps time.

00:58:23Barrichello's been extremely serene in the Ferrari.

00:58:26But you have to say, he's not been stunningly fast.

00:58:28Melbourne, he looked half-tidy.

00:58:31But in the other races, I don't think he's quite,

00:58:34or he's not been really anywhere near the pace

00:58:36of Michael Schumacher in the sister car.

00:58:38No, nor was Eddie Irvine, of course, last year.

00:58:41I mean, if Eddie got within half a second of Michael Schumacher,

00:58:45he reckoned he was doing about as well as he could do.

00:58:49Rubens Barrichello that you're looking at

00:58:51has been closer than that, but not here.

00:58:54He was 8 tenths of a second off the pace for qualifying.

00:58:58And Michael Schumacher is not making any impression

00:59:01on Mika Hakkinen.

00:59:03Well, I tell a lie, he made a two-tenths impression

00:59:06on him on the last lap.

00:59:09But he's still four seconds behind Hakkinen,

00:59:12albeit a bit closer than he was.

00:59:13As Villeneuve and Ralf Schumacher there,

00:59:16fifth and sixth battle on the circuit,

00:59:19round the Acquaminerale bends,

00:59:21climbing up towards the Variante Alta.

00:59:25This is it.

00:59:27Left.

00:59:28And accelerate away.

00:59:30So, BMW V10 in the Williams,

00:59:33Honda V10 in the BAR.

00:59:36Both engines are new to Formula 1 this year.

00:59:40Both very, very welcome indeed,

00:59:42because there is starting to develop in Formula 1

00:59:45a problem with enough good engines

00:59:47to satisfy all the 11 teams,

00:59:50soon to be 12 when Toyota join.

00:59:53We cut back to the BAR bouncing across the kerbs.

00:59:56I was just watching Coulthard and Barrichello there together,

00:59:59nose to tail, here we see it again.

01:00:01Touch of déjà vu for both of them, really.

01:00:04They were squabbling over the British Formula 3 Championship

01:00:06many years ago.

01:00:08Barrichello just nipping it at the last moment

01:00:11from David Coulthard.

01:00:13And there's Zonta with Pedro Diniz.

01:00:15Pedro, of course, didn't get a drive in Brazil

01:00:18due to the fact that the Sauber wing

01:00:21broke off Micasalo's car

01:00:23and Pedro Diniz was withdrawn

01:00:25because it was felt to be too dangerous.

01:00:27And the Brazilian is certainly attacking his countryman now,

01:00:30Brazilian Ricardo Zonta,

01:00:32Brazilian Pedro Diniz.

01:00:34It's Zonta's first race at Imola.

01:00:37And as a result of Zonta holding Pedro Diniz up,

01:00:40which he undoubtedly is,

01:00:42you can see the Benetton behind

01:00:45closing up all the time.

01:00:46That's Alexander Vuerts in 12th position.

01:00:49Behind him is teammate Fisichella.

01:00:5214th is de la Rosa in the arrows.

01:00:5415th is Johnny Herbert.

01:00:56And then Bezzacane with a lap behind them,

01:01:01Jos Verstappen in 17th position.

01:01:03But it's getting pretty close because, look,

01:01:05Vuerts is closing in the Benetton all the time

01:01:09on the car in front of him.

01:01:10Hello, a bit of a problem here.

01:01:12I think that's Diniz still all over.

01:01:14Zonta like a bad suit.

01:01:16And Diniz really has a much, much faster car.

01:01:19Zonta appears to be struggling to slow down.

01:01:21But as we saw, he just couldn't make the move stick

01:01:25when it came to it.

01:01:27Well, Mika Hakkinen certainly seems to have this race by the throat.

01:01:31Although Michael Schumacher is consistently faster

01:01:35in the first sector of this circuit,

01:01:37Hakkinen invariably gets it back

01:01:39in the later two sectors.

01:01:41And the gap is up to 4.5 seconds now.

01:01:46But Ferrari are still in those strong 2nd and 3rd places.

01:01:50And Michael Schumacher, of course,

01:01:51would get 6 points for the World Championship

01:01:54if he finishes in 2nd place.

01:01:56James is in that area, I think.

01:01:58But it may look a bit dull on the track at the moment.

01:02:00I tell you, this is such a finely balanced motor race.

01:02:02It's really fantastic.

01:02:04Both Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher

01:02:05pushing to the limit.

01:02:06And Hakkinen's going to need all of these 4.5 seconds

01:02:09because I reckon he's going to stop around about lap 43.

01:02:12But I think Michael Schumacher has the fuel to go for about 5

01:02:14or possibly even 6 laps more.

01:02:16And, of course, his 2nd stop will be shorter

01:02:18in terms of time because he'll be putting less fuel in

01:02:20than Hakkinen.

01:02:21So unless Hakkinen can get a few more seconds' lead,

01:02:23this race will be won on the 2nd fuel stop.

01:02:25Could be very interesting.

01:02:26Well, he's not getting it at the moment, James.

01:02:28Thanks for that.

01:02:29They're on lap 48... 38.

01:02:32So there's another 5 laps before we expect Mika Hakkinen

01:02:36to come in.

01:02:37Another 11 laps before we expect Michael Schumacher

01:02:40to come in.

01:02:41So it looks as though it's going to be a mighty close finish

01:02:45to the San Marino Grand Prix of this circuit,

01:02:47which has seen so much excitement and drama over the years.

01:02:51Pedro Diniz still chasing Riccardo Zonta

01:02:55as they plunge down to the Rivazza.

01:02:57Brake from 185 miles an hour

01:03:00down to about 80 miles an hour.

01:03:02Alexander Wurz not closing.

01:03:04Fisichella has been lapped now in the Benetton.

01:03:08He's 13 seconds behind this fight that you're seeing now.

01:03:11But Hakkinen is closing on all of them.

01:03:14Now, Zonta and Diniz and Wurz are occupied with each other.

01:03:20Diniz is trying to get past Zonta.

01:03:22Wurz is trying to catch Diniz.

01:03:24And none of them will be paying much attention to their mirrors.

01:03:27They'll be watching the car ahead.

01:03:29And this could enable Michael Schumacher

01:03:32to close that gap on Mika Hakkinen.

01:03:34This could be absolutely critical.

01:03:36One of those Benettons has got to come in for a stop soon.

01:03:38Neither Benetton have yet stopped.

01:03:40Remember, they went 51 laps into the Brazilian Grand Prix,

01:03:43demonstrating both the size of their fuel tank

01:03:46and the economy of their super tech engine.

01:03:48And Michael has put a sprint on.

01:03:50He took eight tenths of a second.

01:03:51There's a lot of gravel.

01:03:52Somebody's been off the road.

01:03:53Zonta finally outbraked himself.

01:03:56And Mika Hakkinen is through.

01:03:58And Michael Schumacher now has to clear those two

01:04:01before Piratella Zonta going off in Villeneuve.

01:04:03He's been looking like an accident,

01:04:05looking for somewhere to happen for a few laps.

01:04:07And there it finally is.

01:04:09Well, maybe that's turned to Mika Hakkinen's advantage.

01:04:13There is the fin on his 39th lap.

01:04:16Four laps to go before he stops, if we are right.

01:04:19Now he's up to Alexander Wurz,

01:04:21who is in 11th... 12th position,

01:04:26with Zonta ahead.

01:04:28So, Schumacher is past.

01:04:31Yes, Michael only lost four tenths of a second

01:04:33in the middle sector there, passing the yellow car.

01:04:36But he still yet has to clear Zonta.

01:04:38Zonta's still sideways everywhere.

01:04:40And moves... stays right.

01:04:43Lets Michael Schumacher through.

01:04:44Good bit of driving there.

01:04:45He's spotted the Scarlet Ferrari in his mirrors.

01:04:48And now he's got Mazzacane,

01:04:49but Mazzacane is a lap behind him.

01:04:52So, not a danger in terms of track position.

01:04:54In comes Alexander Wurz.

01:04:56Good news for Hakkinen.

01:04:57Wurz was his next target to be lapped.

01:05:00So, that makes it slightly easier for Hakkinen

01:05:02through the traffic.

01:05:03And now, effectively, they've cleared all of those three

01:05:06that were having a squabble.

01:05:07The gap is up.

01:05:09The gap is up to nearly five seconds.

01:05:11Hakkinen has benefited from that.

01:05:14We'll be... We're going for a break.

01:05:15We'll be back soon.

01:07:03HE WHISTLES

01:07:28...at the front at the present moment.

01:07:30It is still McLaren-Ferrari-Ferrari-McLaren.

01:07:34Häkkinen-Schumacher, Barrichello-Coulthard.

01:07:37But there could be, because we're getting towards the point,

01:07:40when Mika Häkkinen there, who has just passed Pedro Diniz,

01:07:44and lapped the 10th place man, is coming in.

01:07:47Yes, and Michael Schumacher a full one second faster on the last lap.

01:07:50You can see it for yourself now.

01:07:52A new fastest lap of 27.1.

01:07:551.4 seconds faster than last year's best lap.

01:07:59So, Schumacher now putting in a charge.

01:08:01You can see the traffic ahead of him,

01:08:03and the Benetton having had two starts at getting away.

01:08:05They're at Fisichella,

01:08:07and Michael now beginning to apply his traditional late-race pressure.

01:08:11But as we've seen before,

01:08:12Mika Häkkinen is usually more than up to it.

01:08:15Yeah, Ross Crawn will probably,

01:08:17who is the Ferrari technical director and the strategical guru,

01:08:21will probably have told Michael Schumacher

01:08:24that Mika Häkkinen is due to come in soon.

01:08:26So, loud pedal, Michael, and lots of it.

01:08:29Cut the gap, and you could take the lead

01:08:31after your second stop in six laps time after Mika Häkkinen.

01:08:36That's my surmise.

01:08:38We'll wait for time to tell whether I'm right or wrong.

01:08:41No change third, Barrichello.

01:08:43No change fourth, David Coulthard.

01:08:45Villeneuve is still fifth.

01:08:47Four eight-tenths of a second behind him is Ralph Schumacher

01:08:51in the Williams BMW 6.

01:08:52Salo is seventh, Trudy is eighth.

01:08:54Eddie Irvine, Jaguar, is ninth.

01:08:56Pedredin is tenth and has been lapped.

01:08:59Yes, I would think Coulthard,

01:09:00he's yo-yoing up to the back of Barrichello from time to time,

01:09:04but with the turbulent air coming off the back of the Ferrari,

01:09:07that's just about as close as you can get around here.

01:09:09And what's going to frustrate Coulthard

01:09:11when he sees the video of this race

01:09:13and all of the drivers study the videos very, very carefully

01:09:16to see what they can learn of the opposition,

01:09:18what's going to frustrate him

01:09:19is it was Michael Schumacher's tardy wheel-spinning start

01:09:23that ended up putting him behind Rubens Barrichello.

01:09:26And look how close now Michael Schumacher is to Mika Hakkinen.

01:09:30Mika Hakkinen's lost a lot of time in the first section here.

01:09:33Just about three seconds,

01:09:35he clearly had to follow Diniz for an awful long time.

01:09:39And Michael Schumacher's now got to follow Diniz.

01:09:41Is the Brazilian going to move over?

01:09:43Oh, did he make a mistake?

01:09:44He passed Diniz on the previous lap, didn't he?

01:09:46Yeah, that's right.

01:09:46So Diniz caught Hakkinen too.

01:09:49So did Mika Hakkinen make a mistake?

01:09:52And there's Michael having to lock a brake as well.

01:09:54Did Hakkinen make a mistake or has he got a little drama?

01:09:57Well, I don't know, but you're absolutely right.

01:09:59That gap is a lot less than 3.4 seconds.

01:10:03And remember, Mika Hakkinen is going to be coming in very shortly.

01:10:07Michael Schumacher will be staying out

01:10:09and he will be really applying the pressure then

01:10:12to increase the gap over himself and Mika Hakkinen

01:10:15enough to enable him to hold the lead

01:10:18when he comes out of the pits after his second stop.

01:10:21We're on lap 43.

01:10:22Yes, that locking up his wheel,

01:10:24trying not to run into the back of Diniz

01:10:26cost Michael Schumacher 1.1 seconds

01:10:28in the middle of the lap that they're currently on.

01:10:30Right, Hakkinen over the line, 1.29.7.

01:10:34Michael Schumacher still 7 tenths of a second faster.

01:10:37The gap down to 2.6.

01:10:39I'd like to see a replay and see if Hakkinen just made a mistake.

01:10:43His car looks fine, sounds fine,

01:10:45but I don't know why he lost so much time on the last lap.

01:10:49Neither do I, but it could be the thing that decided the race.

01:10:52I say it could be, we've still got some time to go.

01:10:55This is lap 44, 62 lap race.

01:10:58You're looking at the two leaders

01:11:00who are 43 seconds ahead of the battle for third position

01:11:04and it is still Hakkinen-McLaren.

01:11:07Schumacher, Ferrari, Barrichello, Ferrari.

01:11:10David Coulthard, who is very close indeed to the Ferrari

01:11:14as he exits and starts another lap

01:11:16and comes up towards the Tamburello.

01:11:18It's a strange thing, but when you follow a car like this for so long,

01:11:21as Coulthard now has for 43 laps, they're on their 44th,

01:11:25you get mesmerized, you end up just matching your pace to the car in front.

01:11:30Sometimes you drop back and try and get out of that bad rhythm that you're into

01:11:34and McLaren mechanics are out in the pit lane looking out of the window here,

01:11:39so McLaren mechanics getting ready for what I would imagine

01:11:42should be a second scheduled stop for one of their two drivers.

01:11:48Yeah, and Fisichella is about to be lapped by the flying cars behind them.

01:11:55Hakkinen's in the pits, Mari, Hakkinen's in the pits.

01:11:57The crowd are going mad out here.

01:11:58Michael Schumacher takes the lead of the race.

01:12:01Hakkinen now looks like a regular stop.

01:12:04As James pointed out, the Ferrari had more fuel in it.

01:12:07The car goes down very, very quickly and away it goes,

01:12:11so great, great pit stop there.

01:12:148.3 seconds for Micah Hakkinen.

01:12:168.3 seconds.

01:12:19Now we're into the bit of the race that really matters.

01:12:22As Micah Hakkinen sprints out of the pit lane,

01:12:25Michael Schumacher has taken the lead.

01:12:27Michael Schumacher will know that.

01:12:29Ferrari will have told him, not that he'll need telling

01:12:32because he's a master tactician himself,

01:12:35that he's got to keep going as fast as he possibly can

01:12:38in the remaining laps before he comes in for his second pit stop.

01:12:42So there is Fisichella,

01:12:44about to be lapped by Barrichello and by Coulthard.

01:12:48Mazzacane is there and he's two laps down.

01:12:51Yes, this could be Coulthard's best chance of the race now.

01:12:53While Barrichello's attention is held up in front of him,

01:12:57well, he's moving out of the way very, very nicely,

01:13:00so no problems there, no opportunities for Coulthard.

01:13:02Barrichello keeping his head.

01:13:04Now he's got the Benetton ahead of him to lap also.

01:13:06Nice bit of marshalling.

01:13:07You saw the marshal waving the blue flag there

01:13:10and that means move over.

01:13:13There is a driver behind you who is going faster

01:13:16and has the right to pass.

01:13:18In comes Jarno Trulli from sixth position.

01:13:21In behind him comes Eddie Irvine from seventh position.

01:13:25Absolutely together.

01:13:26Terrifically exciting.

01:13:28Now is Trulli going to get out and hold his position?

01:13:30Yes. No!

01:13:31My goodness, it's close.

01:13:33Yes, but look now, Irvine is much closer to him than he was.

01:13:37It was two seconds when they came in

01:13:39and it's virtually nothing now.

01:13:42I tell you, you never look left in that situation.

01:13:44When the lollipop goes up, you go.

01:13:46You have no visibility.

01:13:48If you looked in your mirrors,

01:13:49all you'd see is all of your own mechanics

01:13:52and that was so close to being contact in the pit lane.

01:13:56Fighting for track position,

01:13:58Eddie Irvine in the Jaguar going extremely well,

01:14:01holding the Jordan of Jarno Trulli.

01:14:03Yes, Irvine will have a half a chance,

01:14:05but Trulli got too good a traction

01:14:08out of the Villeneuve chicane there.

01:14:09Trulli now should just about hold his position.

01:14:12Trulli was a long time getting into first gear.

01:14:14Looked like he went dog to dog

01:14:16and just could not get the first gear to connect.

01:14:19Meantime, up at the front of the San Marino Grand Prix,

01:14:23Michael Schumacher is 20.5 seconds ahead of Mika Häkkinen,

01:14:28who has had his second stop.

01:14:30Michael Schumacher has not.

01:14:32Now, Schumacher, the conventional wisdom

01:14:35is that a circuit like this,

01:14:37the driver in front has to be at least 20 seconds ahead

01:14:41of the driver behind

01:14:42in order to be able to get into the pit lane,

01:14:44stop, take on new tyres.

01:14:46That's Ralph Schumacher going off.

01:14:48Ferrari are getting ready to come out.

01:14:50I don't think 20 seconds is enough.

01:14:52It needs to be 24, 25 seconds

01:14:54to enable Michael Schumacher to hold that lead.

01:14:57He's coming in earlier than I expected him to

01:14:59because he must be coming in on the next lap.

01:15:02The mechanics have to come out on the lap

01:15:04that their driver is coming in.

01:15:06Yes, Barrichello's in the pits this time around.

01:15:08You can see for yourself, Michael Schumacher remains on track.

01:15:13So, yes, you're right.

01:15:14If there was a stop now,

01:15:15then Michael Schumacher would come out

01:15:17still in the lead of this race.

01:15:19He's 21.5 seconds ahead of Häkkinen,

01:15:21that time over the line.

01:15:23Well, if Michael Schumacher wins this race,

01:15:26it is going to be...

01:15:26He's right up with Wielder now, who is in sixth position.

01:15:30Let me correct that.

01:15:31He would not come out in front of Mika Häkkinen.

01:15:33I'm sorry.

01:15:34Mika Häkkinen would remain in the lead.

01:15:36Michael Schumacher's got to put another five on.

01:15:38That's Rauk Schumacher retiring from the race.

01:15:41And Barrichello's in, and so is Coulthard.

01:15:44That's the scrap for third place you've been watching all afternoon.

01:15:47Who's going to get away first?

01:15:48The Ferrari should be easily away first.

01:15:51And it is.

01:15:51Oh, that is so close.

01:15:53Well done.

01:15:54Amazing stop there from the McLaren boys.

01:15:56And just...

01:15:57Well, Barrichello did well to avoid an incident there.

01:16:00And surely now Coulthard's got the faster car.

01:16:03That should give him the podium opportunity.

01:16:06Michael Schumacher's going to have to stay out

01:16:08for at least another five or six laps

01:16:11if he's going to get track position.

01:16:13And there's Rauk Schumacher walking back to the pits.

01:16:15You saw his car pulling off a moment too back.

01:16:17Coulthard definitely getting his thing hooked...

01:16:19His first gear hooked up this time.

01:16:21And Barrichello just having to yield.

01:16:23Simple as that.

01:16:24Yeah, a lovely bit of driving by David Coulthard.

01:16:26You want track position here, Rubens?

01:16:28Well, you're not going to get it.

01:16:30In his slots.

01:16:31And now, as Martin has pointed out,

01:16:34and I've had the suspicion all along...

01:16:36Ah, here we are.

01:16:37This is it.

01:16:38This is going to be the stop that decides the race.

01:16:41The Ferrari mechanics are now coming out for Michael Schumacher.

01:16:46And the gap is 21.6 seconds

01:16:49as brother Ralph walks in,

01:16:52leaving the stricken Williams BMW behind him.

01:16:55Now, David Coulthard ahead of Barrichello.

01:16:59And look, you see, there's a gap extending all the time.

01:17:03It's beginning to look like question mark first,

01:17:06question mark second,

01:17:07David Coulthard third, Rubens Barrichello fourth.

01:17:10Because at last, the bung has been released

01:17:13from the bottle that was holding up David Coulthard.

01:17:17And he is fairly streaking away from Rubens Barrichello.

01:17:21Undoubtedly a very frustrated man.

01:17:23Yes, Coulthard would want to show now

01:17:25just how fast he would have been

01:17:26without the problems at the start.

01:17:28But there's little point in throwing it off the road

01:17:31because he needs to...

01:17:33He will not catch Hakanen or Michael Schumacher.

01:17:35Schumacher on a hot lap, Murray.

01:17:36Yeah, very hot indeed.

01:17:38Faster than he's ever been in the first sector.

01:17:40Fastest of all in the second sector.

01:17:42Michael Schumacher, as I expected,

01:17:45is extending his lead over Michael Schumacher.

01:17:48And the Ferrari mechanics are ready for him.

01:17:50James James.

01:17:51Yes, he's going to put less fuel in, of course,

01:17:53than Mika Hakanen did in his stop.

01:17:54And of course, the McLaren mechanics

01:17:55did a fantastic job for Coulthard.

01:17:57This is where the race is going to be won and lost.

01:17:59It was a 6.2.

01:18:00He's going to do it by about a second, Murray.

01:18:02Sensational.

01:18:03Two seconds advantage on the pit stop.

01:18:05There is Michael Schumacher exiting the pit lane.

01:18:08Where is Mika Hakanen?

01:18:09There he is in the background.

01:18:11The crowd rises.

01:18:13The crowd rises.

01:18:14They can see a chance for their hero, Michael Schumacher,

01:18:18to make it three wins in a row,

01:18:20to do the hat trick for his team, Ferrari,

01:18:23and to beat Mika Hakanen fair

01:18:25and square on the track.

01:18:27Now, we're on lap 49 now.

01:18:30There are 13 laps to go,

01:18:32including the one that he is on.

01:18:34He's on fresh tires.

01:18:37Ferrari will have judged the fuel to perfection.

01:18:40He's on a lighter car than he might have been.

01:18:43And Mika Hakanen is down in second place.

01:18:46It looks like yet another bit

01:18:48of brilliant tactical thinking

01:18:50by Ross Brawn on the circuit

01:18:53and Mika Hakanen and Michael Schumacher at the wheel.

01:18:58I'm trying to work out the mathematics of all of that

01:19:00because he didn't just pit Hakanen out of the pit lane, did he?

01:19:04He was positively the pit straight ahead of him.

01:19:06Absolutely amazing.

01:19:07He's done what we've seen him do before.

01:19:09He was on a real flyer in that lap.

01:19:12You see, there's part of the answer,

01:19:15the 1.26.8 on his in-lap.

01:19:18So, Michael Schumacher there putting in

01:19:20one of his classic sprints when he most needs to.

01:19:23Didn't it make a huge difference?

01:19:25Nearly two seconds faster than last year's fastest lap.

01:19:29Lap 49, then.

01:19:30Schumacher leads. Will he continue to do so?

01:19:33Hakanen down to second place.

01:19:34Coulthard up to third.

01:19:36Barrichello down to fourth.

01:19:37Theo Nerv is fifth ahead of Mika Salo in the south,

01:19:40or up into sixth position.

01:19:42Jarno Trulli is seventh in the Jordan.

01:19:44Eddie Irvine is eighth.

01:19:46Denise is ninth.

01:19:47And Alexander Wurz is tenth.

01:19:50Yes, I think Salo's probably the driver of the race for me at the moment.

01:19:53He's chasing Will Nerv, just four tenths of a second behind him.

01:19:56This is fifth and sixth place you're looking at.

01:19:58Salo looking particularly menacing

01:20:00to what is one of his best mates, actually, Jack Villeneuve.

01:20:03And it's a repeat of what happened in Australia.

01:20:06But if you remember, he had a tremendous battle with Jack Villeneuve,

01:20:10only to be excluded because of a technical infringement of the rules.

01:20:14No fault of his.

01:20:15It was a fault of the teams, but it cost him precious points.

01:20:19But that Sauber is very, very much improved this year.

01:20:23New chassis, and it has last year's Ferrari engine

01:20:27benched as badged as a Petronas.

01:20:29And you're looking at Jack Villeneuve fifth,

01:20:32Mika Salo sixth,

01:20:33down to the Revazza.

01:20:35Meantime, Michael Schumacher 3.7 seconds ahead of Mika Hakkinen

01:20:40after his second stop.

01:20:42But what matters is what are the relative times going to be

01:20:46on this, the 50th lap with 12 to go

01:20:49after it has been completed.

01:20:51But at the present moment,

01:20:52Michael Schumacher looking strong

01:20:54for 10 World Championship points for the third race in succession.

01:20:58And I was saying earlier on,

01:21:00if Ferrari beat McLaren in this race,

01:21:02it's going to be very depressing for the Woking concern.

01:21:06They lost the first two races,

01:21:08not because of speed, but because of reliability.

01:21:11And we've never really had the chance yet to see on the track

01:21:15the comparative performance of the Ferrari and the McLaren.

01:21:18We've seen it today, aided by a brilliant, masterly strategy.

01:21:23And Michael Schumacher is on lap 51.

01:21:27And there is Mika Hakkinen cutting his way through the traffic.

01:21:31Strategy is good on the Ferrari.

01:21:32But actually, I think it's a hot lap he did just before he came in.

01:21:36Plus the stunning in-lap that Michael...

01:21:39I'm just trying to work out the mathematics.

01:21:40It's clearly that stunning in-lap, the 6.2 second stop.

01:21:44And Michael maximized the speed limit through the pit lane.

01:21:48We're going to take a quick break.

01:21:49We'll be back shortly.

01:23:49So,

01:24:00lap 53 out of 62.

01:24:02The closing stages of the San Marino Grand Prix.

01:24:05And Mika Hakkinen is on a colossal charge.

01:24:09This happened while you're away.

01:24:10De La Rosa spins out of 14th place, I believe.

01:24:12Right rear suspension failure.

01:24:14Not drive error there for De La Rosa.

01:24:16He limped away from this a little bit.

01:24:18But not a particularly heavy impact.

01:24:20Maybe just got sore feet from pressing the brake pedals

01:24:23around this tough racing circuit.

01:24:25Hakkinen is now the faster of the two leaders.

01:24:28Coulthard pulling clear from Barrichello some two seconds a lap.

01:24:32Now he's managed to spring out in that amazing pit stop

01:24:35where he just got the nod on Barrichello

01:24:38as they pulled out of their respective garages.

01:24:40And Michael Schumacher, roll reversal going on now.

01:24:43Michael Schumacher's now got a look at a silver McLaren

01:24:46homing on him.

01:24:47And in most of the afternoon,

01:24:49Hakkinen has been watching the Ferrari behind him.

01:24:51And just to show you how frustrating this race

01:24:54must have been for David Coulthard,

01:24:56he is lapping some two seconds faster

01:24:59than Rubens Barrichello now.

01:25:01Just about half a second slower than Mika Hakkinen.

01:25:03And closer than that, actually,

01:25:05because David Coulthard is just on a very, very quick lap indeed,

01:25:09which may well turn out to be the fastest lap of the race.

01:25:12Faster than Michael Schumacher's 1.26.8,

01:25:16which itself is some two seconds faster

01:25:21than the previous fastest lap last year,

01:25:24Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari.

01:25:26But anyway, this is the story of the race.

01:25:29Another two tenths of a second faster that time.

01:25:31Hakkinen to the gap.

01:25:32The lead now down to 2.4 seconds for Michael Schumacher.

01:25:36There it is on your screen, 2.440.

01:25:39Traffic ahead of them.

01:25:40Hakkinen now on a sprint.

01:25:43I would think he'll be scratching his head

01:25:45to see that Ferrari ahead of him,

01:25:47just like I was after the pit stop,

01:25:49because the mathematics are amazing there.

01:25:51And he's going to be thinking,

01:25:52how did that Ferrari get out ahead of me by so far?

01:25:56And Michael Schumacher's going to be thinking,

01:25:58I'm closing up on Mikasalo Sauber,

01:26:01which is in sixth place and battling with Jacques Villeneuve's B.A.R.

01:26:06I hope they see me coming, realise who I am,

01:26:09and know from the red colour of my car that it's my Ferrari,

01:26:13and move over and let me through,

01:26:14because there is Mika Hakkinen getting closer all the time.

01:26:17On lap 54 out of 62.

01:26:19The gap is down to 2.4 seconds.

01:26:22Villeneuve and Salo go into the Rivazza,

01:26:28and now out of it.

01:26:30Now, I'm sorry, they're coming up towards the end of the lap,

01:26:33down to the Traguardo.

01:26:35Michael's actually quicker on this lap so far,

01:26:38through the middle section,

01:26:39comes over the line now with a 27.3.

01:26:41There's Hakkinen, coming over with a 27.7,

01:26:44so the gap now up to 2.7 seconds.

01:26:46But this is it now, just watch there.

01:26:48The white car is Villeneuve in fifth position.

01:26:51The other one behind is Salo Sauber,

01:26:54which has got Michael Schumacher getting closer and closer

01:26:57all the time on lap 55 out of 62.

01:27:00In what's turned out, as we expected,

01:27:03in what's turned out, as we expected,

01:27:04to be an absolutely riveting race in the closing stages

01:27:08because of the different strategies

01:27:10of the Ferrari and McLaren teams.

01:27:12Michael Schumacher took the lead

01:27:14as a result of that from Mika Hakkinen.

01:27:16Now is Salo.

01:27:17Yes, well done, Mika Salo.

01:27:18He moves over and lets Michael Schumacher through

01:27:20and doesn't delay the Ferrari.

01:27:23Ferrari engine, of course, in the back of that Sauber,

01:27:25but I think Mika Salo is a straight player, straight guy,

01:27:29and he will not mess around with these two leaders,

01:27:32even though it's left him really falling off.

01:27:35Look how far he's falling off the back of Villeneuve now,

01:27:37but I'm sure he got a pretty early call to say,

01:27:40Michael's coming up behind you.

01:27:41Yeah, 10 out of 10 to Mika Salo.

01:27:43That was a very selfless move of his

01:27:46because he's lost a lot of track time and space

01:27:49to Jacques Villeneuve ahead of him,

01:27:50who has now been passed by Michael Schumacher,

01:27:54and Michael has got the BAR and the Sauber

01:27:58between him and Mika Hakkinen's McLaren,

01:28:01so it's going to depend on how Salo and Villeneuve

01:28:05treat Mika Hakkinen when he comes up to pass them.

01:28:08I've no reason to doubt that they'll be any less generous

01:28:10to him than they were to Michael Schumacher,

01:28:13and the gap between the Ferrari and the McLaren

01:28:16is down to 2.4 seconds on lap 56 out of 62.

01:28:22I think Mika was actually delayed momentarily there,

01:28:25and every moment is going to matter.

01:28:27Yes, Salo was looking in his mirrors saying,

01:28:29well, go on then, go, go down that side,

01:28:30I'm giving you some space.

01:28:32So Mika did get delayed,

01:28:33but I don't think it was intentional on Salo's part.

01:28:35That was a crucial stage of the race.

01:28:37Michael certainly got the spring on that one.

01:28:4014 points potentially for Ferrari

01:28:43in the Constructors' Championship,

01:28:4510 points potentially for McLaren.

01:28:48So if they stay where they are,

01:28:50Ferrari will extend their already massive lead

01:28:53over McLaren in the Constructors' Championship,

01:28:57and of course, if they stay where they are,

01:28:59Michael Schumacher's going to extend

01:29:01his already massive lead over Mika Häkkinen,

01:29:04which is 20 points to 24 points.

01:29:08But there's many a slip,

01:29:11tweaks cup and lip.

01:29:12Lap 56, 62 lap race.

01:29:16Well, we've been saying all afternoon,

01:29:17we thought the McLaren,

01:29:18we're sure the McLaren actually on outright pace,

01:29:21is slightly faster,

01:29:22but here we are, both McLarens running,

01:29:24albeit one delayed earlier on,

01:29:26and really, Michael's got the legs on them, hasn't he?

01:29:29Yeah, and I'm just looking at the sector times.

01:29:32He's just done the fastest first sector of the race.

01:29:36He's coming through to complete the lap,

01:29:39and the gap goes up to 3.2 seconds,

01:29:45despite a stirring last sector by Mika Häkkinen

01:29:48that you're looking at.

01:29:49Just put a wheel over the kerb onto the dust.

01:29:53There's grass creaks there on the inside.

01:29:55What looks like grass is actually perforated concrete blocks,

01:29:59which the grass grows through,

01:30:02and therefore offers some grip to the tyres

01:30:05if you go over the kerb.

01:30:06We're on lap 57.

01:30:08So laps 58, 9, 60, 1 and 2.

01:30:13Five laps to go.

01:30:15Michael Schumacher,

01:30:16in what has got a mythical reputation for reliability,

01:30:23his Ferrari is in a very, very strong position indeed,

01:30:28because, charge as Mika Häkkinen may,

01:30:31he's actually lost a bit of time.

01:30:34Some of that may have been due to traffic,

01:30:36but they've got a clear track now.

01:30:38Lap 58 coming up.

01:30:40It always amazes me every year how close the cars are.

01:30:43If you compare the McLaren and Ferrari,

01:30:45the philosophies, for example,

01:30:46the Ferrari with a very, very high nose on it,

01:30:50and the detail through the car is so different.

01:30:52Different teams, different drivers,

01:30:54different mentality of the teams,

01:30:56and yet there's nothing to choose between them.

01:30:5857 laps into this race.

01:31:00There is Michael Schumacher completing the lap.

01:31:03Now, he was 3.2 seconds ahead,

01:31:06and he's now 2.8 seconds ahead

01:31:08as a result of Mika Häkkinen making the fastest lap of the race.

01:31:111.26.7.

01:31:13Mika knows he's really got...

01:31:16I won't say to throw caution to the winds,

01:31:18he's a very calm, methodical bloke,

01:31:20but he knows he's got to dig, dig, dig,

01:31:23as he did yesterday to get the fastest lap in qualifying

01:31:26to close the gap on Michael Schumacher,

01:31:28and even then, he's got to get past him.

01:31:30Now, the order.

01:31:31Schumacher leads Häkkinen, you can see.

01:31:34Coulthard is 46 seconds behind them,

01:31:36but 23 seconds ahead of Barrichello,

01:31:38who I suspect has got a problem.

01:31:40Jacques Villeneuve has been lapped and is fifth.

01:31:43Vickersalo is sixth, half a second behind Villeneuve.

01:31:46Seventh is Jarno Trudy's Jordan,

01:31:48eighth is Eddie Irvine,

01:31:49still in the running in the Jaguar.

01:31:51Ninth is Pedro Diniz,

01:31:52and tenth is Alexander Wurz.

01:31:54Johnny Herbert in the second Jaguar,

01:31:56still running 11th place.

01:31:58The next person for Michael to lap,

01:32:00who's some 20 seconds down the road, actually,

01:32:02is his own teammate, Rubens Barrichello.

01:32:04Gives you some idea of the pace of these two drivers up front.

01:32:09That is incredible.

01:32:10Rubens Barrichello is 70, 7.0 seconds,

01:32:13behind Michael Schumacher,

01:32:15and Schumacher is lapping at the present moment

01:32:18in about 1 minute 26,

01:32:20so, what, 27.

01:32:23So, in another few laps,

01:32:25and as you rightly point out, Martin,

01:32:27the Ferrari would be lapping its teammate.

01:32:30And he goes through now.

01:32:32Hakkinen is 2.6 seconds behind.

01:32:36He certainly isn't giving up.

01:32:37I certainly wouldn't expect him to.

01:32:39McLaren can do nothing to help

01:32:42except keep their fingers crossed

01:32:44and pray for the Finn,

01:32:46who is giving it his everything.

01:32:48On lap 59, you can see the gap visually.

01:32:52The gap in terms of time at the end of the lap

01:32:54was 2.6 seconds,

01:32:55and it is decreasing.

01:32:57Yes, a new fastest lap there again

01:32:59for Micah Hakkinen, 26.604.

01:33:01You can see it on your screen.

01:33:02You're watching a battle royal

01:33:04between two supreme sportsmen

01:33:07who are absolutely on top of their cars

01:33:09and on top of their sport.

01:33:11Absolutely thrilling stuff.

01:33:1214 wins for Micah Hakkinen in his career.

01:33:16Michael Schumacher has won 37 times.

01:33:19The outstanding driver of his age.

01:33:22Already a double world champion,

01:33:24as is Micah Hakkinen,

01:33:26who's actually got more pole positions now, 24,

01:33:30than Michael Schumacher, 23.

01:33:32And there are plenty of people

01:33:33who are now saying, in their view,

01:33:36Micah Hakkinen is as good a driver

01:33:38as Michael Schumacher.

01:33:40That's a contentious point of view,

01:33:42but they hold it very strongly indeed.

01:33:44He is the double reigning world champion,

01:33:46so he's got a bit of a head start

01:33:47on that argument, I would have thought.

01:33:50And is he going to win this race?

01:33:52Michael Schumacher coming through now,

01:33:55right at the end of a lap

01:33:57where he started 2.6 seconds behind.

01:34:00He's into his 60...

01:34:04He's 2.5 seconds.

01:34:06He's holding the gap.

01:34:07He's on lap 60 now.

01:34:10This one, the next one,

01:34:12the one after,

01:34:13and Michael, if he wins this race,

01:34:17will have 30 world championship points.

01:34:19And remember, he joined Ferrari in 1996

01:34:23from Benetton as double world champion

01:34:26because he wanted a challenge,

01:34:28and he could think of no greater challenge

01:34:30than trying to get Ferrari

01:34:32back into the position they were

01:34:34when Jody Schecter last won

01:34:36the world championship for drivers

01:34:38driving a Ferrari in 1979.

01:34:41That's how hard they've been trying.

01:34:43But Mika Häkkinen, there,

01:34:45he's doing everything he can to stop him.

01:34:47He's faster than Michael Schumacher

01:34:49in the first sector by two tenths of a second,

01:34:52and the Ferrari mechanic sitting there

01:34:54can only do as their McLaren rivals

01:34:57are in their garage,

01:34:58watch and hope and pray.

01:35:00There's an arrow about to come into play

01:35:04where the drivers have been excellent

01:35:05this afternoon in getting out of the way.

01:35:07Michael's quicker in the middle section.

01:35:09He has been all through the afternoon.

01:35:11If Mika can close the gap down,

01:35:13I don't see where he's going to overtake him.

01:35:14But he needs those ten points

01:35:17more than Michael Schumacher does.

01:35:18Schumacher's got 20 already.

01:35:20He's in for a triple here

01:35:21if he can finish these last few laps

01:35:23and win this motor race.

01:35:24He won here last year.

01:35:26He'll be the third driver

01:35:28to have a double win here in Imola.

01:35:31And Michael Schumacher looking extremely strong.

01:35:33But Mika Häkkinen really does need those ten points.

01:35:37Down comes the gap to 2.1 seconds.

01:35:40Out goes Jarno Trulli.

01:35:42Or is he just off the track?

01:35:44He's making his way back very carefully

01:35:46to protect the nose wing.

01:35:47But Jos Verstappen is the man in the arrows

01:35:50who is two laps down ahead of Michael Schumacher.

01:35:54He needs to move over

01:35:55to let the German through cleanly.

01:35:58He does so.

01:35:58I'm sure he'll do the same thing for Mika Häkkinen.

01:36:01This is lap 61.

01:36:03Just one lap to go after that.

01:36:05I can't see even Mika Häkkinen

01:36:08catching and then getting past

01:36:09Michael Schumacher.

01:36:10But stranger things have happened in this world.

01:36:13Trulli is out of the race.

01:36:14We're getting the information.

01:36:15Trulli has actually stopped.

01:36:17But that doesn't affect the top six.

01:36:19Eddie Irvine now moves up into seventh place.

01:36:21And there's Jarno Trulli

01:36:23being escorted out of the gravel trap.

01:36:26Rotten day for Jordan.

01:36:27Both their drivers out.

01:36:28Heinz-Harald Frentzen the first one to retire.

01:36:31Other retirements.

01:36:32Marc Janais, Jenson Button, Nick Halpert,

01:36:34John Alessi, Ralf Schumacher,

01:36:36Dallarosa, Verstappen, Masakene, Zonta.

01:36:39And now Jarno Trulli

01:36:41and Michael Schumacher

01:36:43pursued by that man.

01:36:45Mika Häkkinen is very shortly going to start

01:36:48the 62nd and last lap

01:36:50of the San Marino Grand Prix.

01:36:52And he does so now.

01:36:54And the Ferrari,

01:36:56the Ferraristas,

01:36:57the Tiposi in the grandstands

01:37:00are holding their breaths.

01:37:01They're going to go mad

01:37:02if Michael Schumacher wins this race

01:37:04for the second year in succession

01:37:08followed by a McLaren.

01:37:09This year driven by Mika Häkkinen.

01:37:13Last year the second place car

01:37:15was the McLaren of David Coulthard.

01:37:17The Ferrari mechanics are on the pit lane

01:37:21and Häkkinen is climbing up

01:37:23from the Tosa

01:37:26pursuing Michael Schumacher.

01:37:281.8 seconds was the gap

01:37:30at the end of the previous lap.

01:37:32The crowd is rising.

01:37:34They're going down to the Acquaminerale.

01:37:36It bends the lowest point of the circuit

01:37:39where it starts to climb again

01:37:41to the Variante Alta.

01:37:42Up to 180 miles an hour.

01:37:45Race leader Schumacher.

01:37:47Second place Mika Häkkinen.

01:37:48He can do it.

01:37:49I don't think he will,

01:37:51but he can.

01:37:52If Michael Schumacher makes a mistake

01:37:55which is more than unlikely,

01:37:56we're going to see a dramatic change.

01:37:58Yes, there's a car ahead,

01:37:59but it's the sister Ferrari of Barrichello

01:38:01and it's far enough ahead

01:38:02not to come into play in any way.

01:38:05And there's absolutely no way

01:38:07Michael Schumacher will make a mistake

01:38:09to the end of this lap.

01:38:10It's just a question of cruising home now

01:38:12and providing us no silly mechanical dramas

01:38:15through the last corner, Murray.

01:38:16Down to the Trocado and out of it

01:38:18and Michael Schumacher wins

01:38:21the San Marino Grand Prix

01:38:23by 1.1 seconds

01:38:26from a marvelous Mika Häkkinen.

01:38:29What a sensational race this has been.

01:38:32And the third successive victory

01:38:35for Michael Schumacher

01:38:36and for Ferrari

01:38:38puts him on 30 World Championship points

01:38:42to Mika Häkkinen's 10,

01:38:44to Mika Häkkinen's 6

01:38:46as David Coulthard comes down

01:38:49to the Revazza

01:38:51to finish a stirring third.

01:38:53He's going to be

01:38:54some 35 seconds ahead

01:38:57of Rubens Barrichello.

01:38:59If only it had been better at the start

01:39:02for David Coulthard,

01:39:04this race could have been very different.

01:39:06So now he's finished first,

01:39:08second and third

01:39:10in three successive years.

01:39:13So no doubt about it,

01:39:15Michael Schumacher,

01:39:17very strong indeed.

01:39:18Look at him.

01:39:18You can see how pleased he is

01:39:20as ever.

01:39:21I've said before,

01:39:22that's Barrichello

01:39:23coming home to finish fourth.

01:39:24So both the Clarence home,

01:39:27one Ferrari home,

01:39:28the second one about to come home.

01:39:30Jacques Villeneuve has been lapped already.

01:39:33So he's finished fifth.

01:39:34He finished fourth in Australia.

01:39:37Mika Salo takes a justified point this time,

01:39:41provided there's no car problem

01:39:42as there was in Brazil.

01:39:45And it is points for McLaren,

01:39:48for Ferrari, for BAR.

01:39:50What a wonderful year they're having

01:39:52in comparison with last year.

01:39:54And Salva will be very pleased indeed.

01:39:56And over to James Allen.

01:39:58Well, Ross Murray is going

01:39:59absolutely ballistic,

01:40:00as you can imagine.

01:40:01That was a very audacious switch of strategy.

01:40:04Well, it wasn't a switch.

01:40:06It's what we planned.

01:40:06I mean, we knew from that position

01:40:08that we had to do certain things

01:40:09and it worked.

01:40:11I mean, luckily,

01:40:11I think he had a little bit of a problem

01:40:12in his pit stop,

01:40:13but even without that,

01:40:14I think we could have done it.

01:40:18I think what we've got to think about

01:40:20is what happened with Rubens

01:40:21because that was so close to an accident.

01:40:22And I think we've got to have a think,

01:40:23all the teams,

01:40:24about how we handle that situation.

01:40:25I'm not criticising McLaren,

01:40:27but that was so close to an accident

01:40:29and it's going to end up

01:40:30with a lot of mess in the pit lane.

01:40:31So we've got to have a think

01:40:33about what we do

01:40:33with those sort of situations.

01:40:35Thanks so much, Ross.

01:40:36I have to tell you,

01:40:37I don't know if you know, Martin,

01:40:38I have to tell you,

01:40:38I don't know what Ross Braun

01:40:39is talking about.

01:40:40Yes, I do.

01:40:41He's talking about when

01:40:42they released Coulthard

01:40:44as Barrichello was just

01:40:46rejoining the fast lane of the pit lane,

01:40:48but I believe they're entitled

01:40:50to release Coulthard.

01:40:53Ross is right.

01:40:54If they touch,

01:40:55they're going to spin off

01:40:55and there's mechanics there.

01:40:57It is an issue

01:40:58quite how you fix it,

01:40:59I don't know,

01:41:00because the man on the lollipop

01:41:02can't be too polite.

01:41:03This is a motor race.

01:41:04Well, it's been a pretty bitter season

01:41:06of contention between Ferrari

01:41:07and McLaren so far,

01:41:09and it looks as though

01:41:09it's getting even worse.

01:41:10But Michael Schumacher

01:41:12is now on 30 World Championship points.

01:41:14His teammate, Rubens Barrichello,

01:41:17has moved up into second place

01:41:18ahead of Fisichella,

01:41:20but he's 21 points behind

01:41:22Michael Schumacher.

01:41:23Fisichella goes from second

01:41:25in the Drivers' Championship

01:41:26down to third.

01:41:27And Micah Häkkinen

01:41:28joins Ralf Schumacher,

01:41:30fourth equal on six points,

01:41:3224 points behind Michael Schumacher.

01:41:36All is not lost.

01:41:37I have seen World Championships

01:41:41retreat from worse positions than this,

01:41:43but not very much worse,

01:41:44particularly in a situation

01:41:46where Ferrari have this year,

01:41:48as they did last year,

01:41:50showed that they've not only got a car

01:41:52which is fast but reliable,

01:41:54and this year much faster

01:41:56in comparison with McLaren

01:41:58than it was.

01:41:59Yes, but Michael Schumacher

01:42:00takes that 30 points to Silverstone,

01:42:02and he, for one,

01:42:03will be remembering well

01:42:04the broken leg he received

01:42:05when he went flying off at Stowe,

01:42:08at Stowe Corner with that brake failure.

01:42:10So Michael is all too aware

01:42:13from recent experience

01:42:14just how this can disappear

01:42:16and change in such a hurry.

01:42:17Yes, I don't think it'll have

01:42:18a psychological effect on him

01:42:20because he was talking about it

01:42:22the other day and he said

01:42:23if he'd gone off through

01:42:24a mistake of his,

01:42:25he would have worried

01:42:26that it was a brake bleed valve

01:42:28that caused the problem.

01:42:29Ferrari fan kissing the track

01:42:31that his hero has just won on,

01:42:34and Micah Hakkinen,

01:42:36well, he's got nothing to be ashamed of.

01:42:38Second place, he could have won in Australia,

01:42:41he could have won in Brazil,

01:42:43and Formula One is a contest

01:42:46of ever-changing fortunes.

01:42:49So, just again,

01:42:50the results of the San Marino Grand Prix

01:42:53after 62 riveting laps.

01:42:55Michael Schumacher beats Micah Hakkinen,

01:42:57takes his third successive victory

01:42:59by 1.1 seconds,

01:43:0251 seconds ahead of the third place

01:43:04David Coulthard.

01:43:05There are their cars in the Parc Clermont,

01:43:07they will now be inspected in detail,

01:43:10put on the jig,

01:43:12and that was the jig that discovered

01:43:14that the McLaren wing after Brazil

01:43:17was seven millimeters too low,

01:43:20two millimeters too low,

01:43:22even allowing for the five millimeter tolerance.

01:43:25And Michael Schumacher does

01:43:26what I saw Micah Hakkinen do last year,

01:43:29he pats his car to congratulate it

01:43:31on a wonderful victory.

01:43:34Rubens Barrichello fourth,

01:43:35Jacques Villeneuve lapped but fifth,

01:43:37Micah Sarlow lapped but sixth,

01:43:40and then Eddie Irvine brings the Jaguar home,

01:43:42seventh ahead of Pedro Diniz,

01:43:44Alexander Woods,

01:43:45Johnny Herbert in the second Jaguar.

01:43:47This is the first race

01:43:48that both Jaguars have finished,

01:43:50and they're both in the top ten.

01:43:52Fisichella 11th,

01:43:53Zonta 12th,

01:43:54Mazzacane two laps down in the Minardi 13th,

01:43:58Jos Verstappen three laps down in the Arrows 14th,

01:44:02and all the rest,

01:44:04the other eight,

01:44:05retired from the San Marino Grand Prix.

01:44:09Ferrari, as you see,

01:44:1028 World Championship points

01:44:13in the Constructors' Contest ahead of McLaren.

01:44:16Now's the time to drive out of this circuit, Mary.

01:44:18I haven't seen anybody leave their seats yet.

01:44:20The Ferrari fans out here

01:44:21in the grandstands in front of us,

01:44:23just glued and waiting

01:44:25for the drivers to appear on the podium

01:44:27as they finish their weighing process,

01:44:29and they'll, any moment now,

01:44:32be walking out,

01:44:33and Michael Schumacher's going to enjoy that, isn't he?

01:44:35Indeed he is.

01:44:36I've said before that he's never reluctant

01:44:39to show his emotion when he's won a race,

01:44:42and to win here at Imola in Italy,

01:44:47in front of the Tifosi,

01:44:49not for the first time,

01:44:50but for the second time,

01:44:52is going to be absolutely marvellous for him.

01:44:55Look at him.

01:44:57Yes, I've done it.

01:44:59I've done it.

01:44:59This is the man who broke his leg at Silverstone,

01:45:03missed races,

01:45:04came back in Malaysia

01:45:05for an absolutely sensational drive

01:45:08to take the lead,

01:45:09yield it to his teammate, Eddie Irvine,

01:45:12hold up Micah Hakkanen,

01:45:14and make it nearly possible

01:45:16for Eddie Irvine to win the World Championship,

01:45:19which of course he did not do.

01:45:20Micah Hakkanen did.

01:45:23If you were Micah Hakkanen, what?

01:45:27I would be really amazed

01:45:30at trying to understand

01:45:32how he lost track position.

01:45:35Ross alluded to,

01:45:35Ross Braun alluded to

01:45:36some kind of pit stop problem that Micah had.

01:45:38I didn't spot that.

01:45:39It seemed like a reasonable stop.

01:45:42Ferrari, of course, had a great stop.

01:45:44I think Micah had a little bit of traffic

01:45:46in those three or four laps

01:45:47where Michael was flying,

01:45:48and if you add all the little bits and pieces up,

01:45:51we ended up with that track position swap.

01:45:54Michael Schumacher was never going to relinquish that.

01:45:56Jean Tott there in amongst his boys

01:45:59with a very smug and satisfied look on his face.

01:46:04But he deserves it.

01:46:05My goodness, he's had some tough times at Ferrari.

01:46:08Incidentally, Micah Hakkanen's two stops

01:46:12when he was stationary took 16 seconds,

01:46:15which is exactly what I would have expected

01:46:17on a two-stop strategy.

01:46:19So we'll have to find out more

01:46:20on what Ross Braun was talking about.

01:46:22Well, it's really...

01:46:24We get the time that the car's on its jacks, I think.

01:46:28Whoever's controlling the computer

01:46:30is a question of who's pressing the button.

01:46:32What's really crucial is the time

01:46:34that the fuel filler is in the car

01:46:37before it's pulled away.

01:46:38And then, of course, there's other times

01:46:40that we don't get.

01:46:40How quickly do they get the rear wheel spinning

01:46:43and up and away?

01:46:44We've seen quite a lot of cars this afternoon,

01:46:46and this is a replay of the start look.

01:46:48Hakkanen away beautifully.

01:46:50Michael just realising he didn't get a good one,

01:46:52went across to cut Coulthard off,

01:46:54let Barrichello and Villeneuve go down the outside,

01:46:57and brother Ralph was away well too.

01:46:59Look at Villeneuve screaming away,

01:47:01the second of the white cars.

01:47:02Ralph on the grass,

01:47:03Villeneuve going through behind the two red Ferraris,

01:47:06Barrichello yielding easily to Michael in the first corner,

01:47:11and the afternoon was set

01:47:12until that pit stop strategy of Ferrari.

01:47:17♪♪

01:47:27♪♪

01:47:37♪♪

01:47:47♪♪

01:47:57♪♪

01:48:07♪♪

01:48:17♪♪

01:48:21And now for the Tifosi all around the world,

01:48:25Italy's national anthem with Ross Brawn

01:48:27waiting to collect the Constructor's Award.

01:48:31♪♪

01:48:41♪♪

01:48:51♪♪

01:49:01♪♪

01:49:11♪♪

01:49:21♪♪

01:49:26Well, my apologies, because I maligned the man

01:49:29who makes up the fourth man in the Ferrari quartet

01:49:33that have done so much to help the Maranello concern

01:49:36to their present position.

01:49:38Rory Byrne on the left in the shirt and trousers

01:49:42who is the man who designed the Ferrari

01:49:45and the man who enabled, therefore, Michael Schumacher

01:49:48to take that winner's trophy.

01:49:51And now Rory himself deservedly receives

01:49:55the Constructor's Trophy from Frank Spitzhutti.

01:50:03Congratulations all round.

01:50:06Vika Hakkinen.

01:50:08Well, it's a different face to yesterday, isn't it?

01:50:11Michael Schumacher, after making a mistake in qualifying,

01:50:14had a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp,

01:50:16went into the press conference and apologised to all of the fans

01:50:19in Germany and in Italy for making a mistake

01:50:22and throwing away pole position.

01:50:24But today he's made up for it, and as I say,

01:50:26it's a completely different expression on his face

01:50:29as he applauds third-place man David Coulthard.

01:50:32Yeah, and let's remember, everybody,

01:50:34that the next Grand Prix is at Silverstone

01:50:37in two weeks' time.

01:50:39The British Grand Prix, unusually early this year,

01:50:42but if the first three races have been anything to go by

01:50:46and we see McLaren fight back against Ferrari,

01:50:49it's going to be a race on no account to miss.

01:50:53Thanks very much indeed, Murray,

01:50:55and thanks to Martin Brundle as well.

01:50:57Yep, how could we forget it?

01:50:58A couple of weeks' time over the Easter weekend

01:51:00we will all be at Silverstone

01:51:02to see if Ferrari can continue their winning streak.

01:51:05Three out of three, then, back-to-back Ferrari victories

01:51:08here at Imola. Plenty still to come.

01:51:10We have the result of that competition

01:51:12to give away that Rubens Barrichello autographed helmet.

01:51:16We'll have the views of Tony Jardim.

01:51:18We'll be talking to some of the drivers as well,

01:51:20and you can be sure we will review

01:51:23that controversial Coulthard-Barrichello incident

01:51:26that Ross Brawn was talking about.

01:51:28So plenty more to look forward to

01:51:30when you rejoin us here at Imola.

01:52:59...of the Scuderia del Cavalier Raffate.

01:53:0230 points for Mika Schumacher,

01:53:04a triplet in this season's race

01:53:06that leaves a great world championship

01:53:09in the hands of sports fans.

01:53:12...at the San Marino Grand Prix 2000.

01:53:15Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.

01:53:18Michael, congratulations, your third win in three races.

01:53:21A great result, but not the best of starts.

01:53:23Perhaps you can talk us through those first few yards.

01:53:25Yeah, it was exciting.

01:53:28It was one of the worst ones,

01:53:30probably similar to Suzuka last year.

01:53:34I actually have to find out what happened.

01:53:36I don't know myself.

01:53:37I went straight to wheelspin, so massive

01:53:40that it was a done start.

01:53:42I was lucky that nobody went by except Mika,

01:53:46so I could drive my race.

01:53:48Now, you actually won the race in those four laps

01:53:51that you stayed out longer than Mika

01:53:52at the end of the second stint.

01:53:54Was that always going to happen,

01:53:55or was that one of your strategy changes?

01:53:57No, I mean, the strategy was like this,

01:53:59but obviously we didn't know what Mika was going to do,

01:54:02so we had to guess,

01:54:04and it was the only alternative we had, honestly.

01:54:07I was lucky that just before the end of his second stint,

01:54:12I don't know what kind of problem he had,

01:54:14but there was suddenly...

01:54:17the gap shrank down quite a lot.

01:54:19At the same moment when it was down,

01:54:21I was behind Diniz, which I almost hit.

01:54:23He tried to let me by in an area

01:54:25which it was very, very difficult to assume

01:54:29that he was going to do, and I almost hit his back,

01:54:31so I lost two seconds, the same I just picked up.

01:54:34So nevertheless, the strategy was just right, as you said.

01:54:38I mean, it was these four laps, which was crucial,

01:54:40and we did it, and we did a full typhosis.

01:54:44I apologized yesterday,

01:54:47but I said that I would try to put it straight,

01:54:51and I did, so I hope everybody is happy with this,

01:54:56as far as I saw outside, it looks like.

01:54:59So do I. Now we look forward to the next one.

01:55:02Michael, thank you.

01:55:04Mika, how disappointing is it to lose a race

01:55:07that you were seemingly controlling quite easily

01:55:09in the front, just on strategy?

01:55:15Yeah, it is disappointing,

01:55:17but I had two situations in a race

01:55:24which probably cost me a lot of time.

01:55:26It did definitely cost me a lot of time,

01:55:28and that was after the first stop,

01:55:30when I was running, I hit some kind of...

01:55:33I don't know what it was on the track,

01:55:35some kind of metal piece or something,

01:55:37and destroyed the front of the floor completely,

01:55:40and I lost aerodynamics a lot on the front,

01:55:43so the car was very difficult to drive after that.

01:55:45And the second thing that happened was...

01:55:50I was going just before my second stop,

01:55:53I went to the end of the main straight,

01:55:55and it just stopped, the car didn't want to continue,

01:55:58it just went, the engine stopped running,

01:56:04and I just lost a lot of time there,

01:56:06I mean, I don't know how many seconds I lost there,

01:56:08four, three, four seconds easily,

01:56:11and that's it, that's enough, you know.

01:56:16So I would say for that reason,

01:56:19I can be extremely disappointed

01:56:21for my own work, what I did this weekend,

01:56:23and I think for what the mechanics did,

01:56:25I think it was fabulous.

01:56:27Everybody did just the right job,

01:56:29the right thing they did.

01:56:31It's interesting actually that Michael mentioned

01:56:34nearly hitting Pedro, because this time last year

01:56:36it was Michael who was first, and David was second,

01:56:38and he said there were a lot of problems with traffic.

01:56:40Was the traffic much better this year

01:56:41with the new blue light system?

01:56:43No, not really.

01:56:45I mean, I didn't find that to be very good.

01:56:49I mean, it's difficult to complain, you know,

01:56:52in one sense, you can say such many things

01:56:54at the end of the day, but I don't think

01:56:57it's not going to change the result,

01:57:00it's not going to change anything,

01:57:02but to answer your question, yeah,

01:57:04definitely it was a problem to overtake

01:57:06the back markers today.

01:57:08Some drivers were very good, I mean,

01:57:11you know, and some drivers were less good.

01:57:14Thank you, Michael.

01:57:16David, unlike your team-mate, you actually

01:57:17gained a position during a pit stop.

01:57:19It was very exciting.

01:57:20Perhaps you can talk us through it.

01:57:22Yeah, well, obviously I had myself in that situation

01:57:25because trying to pass Michael at the first corner

01:57:29was very close, but obviously we went round there,

01:57:32and then when I had to back off to avoid touching,

01:57:35then it allowed Rubens to get past me,

01:57:37so then I spent the rest of the race

01:57:38up until that pit stop, stuck behind Rubens.

01:57:40Obviously my first stop was quite early,

01:57:42so he gained a bit of track time there.

01:57:44I also had a problem selecting first gear

01:57:46at the pit stop, so that exaggerated the amount

01:57:48of time that he gained in that first stop.

01:57:51And then I knew I was quicker, so I caught him up,

01:57:53obviously, and it was just a question of staying close

01:57:55and hoping that I was maybe stopping a lap later,

01:57:57and then we both stopped in the same lap,

01:57:59and thankfully my guys did a good job

01:58:00and got me out in front of him,

01:58:02and then I think I pulled 20-odd seconds

01:58:04in the last few laps.

01:58:07Yeah, in fact, you were over two seconds a lap quicker.

01:58:09I mean, how much quicker do you need to be here

01:58:11to actually pass someone in Muller?

01:58:13It's very difficult on this track.

01:58:14Unlike what we saw in Brazil,

01:58:16where obviously there was some overtaking

01:58:19by the Ferraris and us, but we were on heavy fuel load,

01:58:22they were light fuel load, and long straights.

01:58:24Somewhere like here, we were all running the same strategy.

01:58:26The straights aren't long enough

01:58:27to get that sort of advantage,

01:58:29so unfortunately it's very difficult,

01:58:31and you probably need to be five seconds a lap quicker

01:58:33to overtake easily.

01:58:35Thanks, David.

01:58:36Michael, we now go on to Silverstone,

01:58:38which obviously was the scene of your accident last year.

01:58:40Do you approach this meeting with mixed feelings?

01:58:43Right now, no.

01:58:45I mean, honestly,

01:58:47it's something you know why it had happened,

01:58:51and I said quite often

01:58:53that it could have happened anywhere, anytime.

01:58:56So I will look for the run-off areas very carefully

01:59:00in this area, because it wasn't up to the level,

01:59:03and we make sure that everything is good down there.

01:59:07Other than that, I just go with normal feelings now.

01:59:09But we have a test anyway next week,

01:59:11beginning of next week,

01:59:13and I assume I won't feel anything strange.

01:59:17Thank you, Michael.

01:59:18Now from Michael and Mikko,

01:59:19a word in your own languages, please.

01:59:20Michael.

01:59:22Yeah.

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