Formula-1 2000 R16 Japan Grand Prix
https://video.mrautosportfan.com/formula-1-full-races/
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00:00Suzuka is primed for a world championship decider. Ferrari are ready to acclaim Michael Schumacher, Mika Häkkinen and McLaren.
00:00:09They want to ruin the party. It's the Japanese Grand Prix with Martin Brundle and Murray. Murray Walker.
00:00:17Good afternoon everybody. I'm talking to you very quietly because it is strangely, ethereally quiet here at Suzuka.
00:00:27The tension is genuinely well nigh unbearable. My palms are literally sweating.
00:00:34Because think ahead. The great world champions of the past.
00:00:40Juan Manuel Fangio has won it five times. Alain Prost has won it four times.
00:00:45Five men have won it three times and what a roll call of honour it is.
00:00:50Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Nikki Lauda, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna.
00:00:55Is Mika Häkkinen or Michael Schumacher going to join that roll of honour today?
00:01:01Or is it going to be delayed until two weeks time in Malaysia?
00:01:06Well, the world championship has been settled many times here at Suzuka, notably the last two years.
00:01:13For my money, the expectation that Michael Schumacher is going to do it today is not necessarily correct.
00:01:21He's not at his best in the conditions that he's under at the moment. At the front, under enormous pressure.
00:01:27He got it wrong at the start last year. He got it terribly wrong the year before when he stalled his engine and had to start from the back.
00:01:35Mika Häkkinen, on the other hand, the implacable flying Finn, is at his very best in these circumstances.
00:01:43You've heard from Martin down on the grid about those bad starts, practice starts, that both Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher were making this morning.
00:01:53Mika Häkkinen doesn't do that.
00:01:56In 1990, the world championship was settled when Senna and Prost drove into each other at the very first corner.
00:02:04Let us hope there is no question of that today.
00:02:07But whatever I'm expecting it to be, a nail-bitingly tense race every inch of the way, particularly, as seems very likely, if it rains.
00:02:17Yes, certainly many people are talking. It has been spitting, of course, as I'm sure you've been told.
00:02:22A few umbrellas up here and there, but nothing significant at the moment.
00:02:26But clearly, all the teams pretty much in a consensus that there is a 30% chance of rain around three o'clock.
00:02:33Now, there's been no wet running at all on this track this weekend.
00:02:37Normally, if that happens, then it rains.
00:02:39There is a 15-minute window where they must practice on the wet track.
00:02:43Of course, when you get into the race procedure, that goes out of the window.
00:02:47So now it's into the great unknown.
00:02:49Will they adjust the cars on the grid?
00:02:52Will they put a little bit more downforce on in anticipation?
00:02:55I think probably not. I think they'll take a risk.
00:02:58Now, the intermediate tyres that are here are a different compound.
00:03:03They were falling apart in Spa.
00:03:05They're a tougher compound here, but nobody's really tested them here.
00:03:08In fact, they haven't tested them at all.
00:03:10They have been used by the various test teams back in Europe, but it's a total unknown.
00:03:15I think the wet tyre that Bridgestone have brought to this race is a softer compound to give them more grip,
00:03:21because when it rains here, it tends to rain very, very heavily indeed.
00:03:26Yeah, they've got a thing called the Monsoon Bridgestone tyre,
00:03:29and in 1994, Damon Hill beat Michael Schumacher in one of the most exciting races I have ever seen,
00:03:36which was stopped after 17 laps because of rain, then restarted for another 34 laps,
00:03:43and Damon won. I remember I had to do a countdown on the time,
00:03:47and I remember saying excitedly, 3.4 seconds,
00:03:51and that's what Damon Hill had won the race by.
00:03:54This could well be another one as they prepare for the formation lap.
00:03:58And Michael Schumacher is definitely very nervous.
00:04:02His body language suggests that in the warm-up, before the warm-up this morning,
00:04:06he was wandering around outside the garage looking in at the Ferraris.
00:04:09I've never seen him do that.
00:04:10He was in the car a full 12 or 13 minutes before warm-up commenced.
00:04:15I haven't ever seen him do that.
00:04:17He was almost meditating on the grid.
00:04:19We saw a shot of him really with his head down, his eyes closed,
00:04:23and just thinking his way through this race.
00:04:26Michael Schumacher needs to deliver this championship for himself and for Ferrari.
00:04:31He gets paid a huge amount of money.
00:04:33It hasn't worked out for him in other years.
00:04:35One time with his own mistake, another time with the broken leg from Silverstone,
00:04:40and so on and so forth.
00:04:42Michael needs to deliver.
00:04:44I think Hakkinen is totally relaxed, on the other hand.
00:04:4753 laps this race.
00:04:50Now, this is the notorious first corner.
00:04:53It's a wonderful track here at Suzuka, 3.6 miles long.
00:04:58It's unique in that it is a figure-of-eight configuration.
00:05:02They're into the famous snake now, this series of left and right bends,
00:05:07climbing up towards Turn 7, a 150-mile-an-hour double left-hander.
00:05:13And then they approach the crossover.
00:05:16This is Turn 7 that they're in now.
00:05:19Into Degner, which is a double right-hander that Michael Schumacher is particularly good at.
00:05:25It's Degner 1.
00:05:26The second one leads into the lower section of the crossover.
00:05:30There's the track going over the top.
00:05:32Up now to the hairpin, which is about 40 miles an hour.
00:05:36But they approach it, of course, at about 150 miles an hour.
00:05:40Very slowly indeed.
00:05:41The line here is absolutely essential to get it right.
00:05:44Down towards the spoon now.
00:05:47Another unique corner at Suzuka.
00:05:50A long, long left-hander that just keeps on going.
00:05:53Into it at about 110 miles an hour.
00:05:56Build up to 125.
00:05:58Back off again to 85 miles an hour.
00:06:01You'll see now why it's called the spoon.
00:06:03There it is.
00:06:04Literally spoon-shaped.
00:06:06Out of it, downhill.
00:06:08And then climb up at a massive speed to one of the most exciting corners in Formula 1.
00:06:14The 130R.
00:06:15This is it.
00:06:16190 miles an hour in race conditions.
00:06:19Yes, and you can still see traces of the cement dust put down yesterday
00:06:23after Pedro Diniz toured around a lap leaking fluids with his car,
00:06:28more or less on fire, the whole of the back end of the car on fire
00:06:31by the time he got back to the pits.
00:06:33And even his suspension was melted.
00:06:35He came so far around the track with that problem.
00:06:39And there's quite a lot of debris on the outside of this racetrack.
00:06:43It's a high tyre wear situation,
00:06:45therefore you get a lot of marbles off the racing line,
00:06:48and it's certainly not a place to go here.
00:06:50And let me remind you that the top non-Ferrari or McLaren driver
00:06:55is Jenson Button, fifth position in the Williams BMW,
00:06:59alongside his team mate, Ralf Schumacher.
00:07:02You look at Michael Schumacher,
00:07:04behind him, as Micah Hakkinen jinks out to take up his position,
00:07:08David Coulthard.
00:07:09You're looking now, Schumacher, Ferrari, in the background,
00:07:13the McLaren of Micah Hakkinen.
00:07:15Behind them, David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello.
00:07:19Behind them, Jenson Button.
00:07:21You can just see his union-flagged helmet in the background,
00:07:25and Ralf Schumacher.
00:07:27Is somebody going to make an unexpectedly good start,
00:07:30but in particular, can Michael Schumacher get it away?
00:07:33Hakkinen's car not looking particularly healthy on the line there.
00:07:36Look, a lot of blue smoke coming out of the back.
00:07:38That could be just oil burning off of the exterior of the exhaust pipes,
00:07:42but that is definitely more than normal, Murray.
00:07:44Yep. Watch for that, then.
00:07:46Four lights, five lights for the Japanese Grand Prix.
00:07:51He's go, and Michael Schumacher comes straight across
00:07:54and drives Micah Hakkinen towards the wall.
00:07:56But Hakkinen's done it again!
00:07:58And he's taken the lead, as he did last year and the year before.
00:08:02A terrible bit of news for Michael Schumacher.
00:08:05David Coulthard in third position,
00:08:08and Rubens Barrichello has been swapped,
00:08:11including by Eddie Irvine's Jaguar,
00:08:14which started in seventh position.
00:08:16So, Hakkinen, Schumacher, Coulthard,
00:08:19and up has come extremely well the Williams BMW,
00:08:23and it looks like Ralf Schumacher in fourth position.
00:08:26Totally unexpected.
00:08:28And Micah Hakkinen has got exactly the situation
00:08:31that he wanted on the first lap.
00:08:33Michael Schumacher has got exactly the situation he didn't want.
00:08:36Remember what James Allen told you about fuel strategies?
00:08:40This could have immediately changed the Ferrari fuel strategy
00:08:44if Michael Schumacher was starting on a light load.
00:08:47So, both Ferraris, then, as expected, slow off the line.
00:08:51Michael tried to amend that by squeezing Micah Hakkinen,
00:08:55he would have nothing of it,
00:08:57just like he would have nothing of it back at the Hungarian Grand Prix either,
00:09:01and straight through.
00:09:03But anyway, it's all calm.
00:09:04Michael is still in a six-point scoring position.
00:09:08He can still win the championship if he finishes second to Hakkinen twice,
00:09:12so I don't think he'll be too distressed.
00:09:14He's got four wheels on his wagon and a whole race ahead of him,
00:09:18and I think he has the pace to at least stay with Hakkinen
00:09:21and maybe just an ounce more speed, too.
00:09:23And sure enough, Ralf Schumacher, a brilliant fourth place,
00:09:27Eddie Irvine up into fifth position,
00:09:29Rubens Barrichello down to sixth,
00:09:31Jenson Button lost two places,
00:09:33down to seventh position and over the line.
00:09:36One lap completed, 52 laps to go.
00:09:38You can see them as Micah Hakkinen turns into the approach to the snake.
00:09:44Now, last year, he pulled away and built up a comparatively rapidly
00:09:49eight seconds lead over Michael Schumacher.
00:09:52It doesn't look to me as though he's doing that this year.
00:09:54Here it is again.
00:09:55Yeah, so we've got an overhead.
00:09:56Look, they got away perfectly, but it's just Micah just hooked up,
00:09:59got more grip, had to take to the yellow hatched zone,
00:10:02and there, Barrichello getting squeezed totally out,
00:10:05back into sixth place, so not working at all well for him.
00:10:09But Michael certainly activated the clutch at the right time,
00:10:13but just did not pick up speed.
00:10:16You'd have to suggest that the Ferrari is heavier on fuel,
00:10:19because he certainly got off the line quite well.
00:10:21But as we've seen so many times this year,
00:10:23Hakkinen is able to build speed so quickly.
00:10:26Look, he kills the wheel spin immediately and just gets total forward motion,
00:10:31and that is the net result.
00:10:33He's leading the Grand Prix.
00:10:34So quickly did he do that, that although Michael Schumacher
00:10:37moved across immediately to try and impede the McLaren,
00:10:41he totally failed to do so.
00:10:42Now, here they come out of the spoon,
00:10:46up towards the 130R, Hakkinen, Schumacher.
00:10:49Now, the gap between Hakkinen and Schumacher and Coulthard,
00:10:52who is in third place, is already some two seconds.
00:10:56The first two are pulling away.
00:10:58Now, remember, we don't know anything about fuel strategies.
00:11:02We're expecting them to stop twice,
00:11:05in which case the first stop should be round about lap 19 up to lap 22.
00:11:10Some way to go yet.
00:11:12Now, Hakkinen led by eight-tenths of a second on the first lap.
00:11:16He's increased it to one second.
00:11:18He's obviously, therefore, made the fastest lap of the race.
00:11:21David Coulthard still there,
00:11:23and the Williams BMWs of Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button,
00:11:27fourth and seventh places,
00:11:29but Jaguar and Eddie Irvine,
00:11:31magnificently, and you can see it in the background there,
00:11:34holding on to that fifth place alone on the track,
00:11:37well ahead of Rubens Barrichello.
00:11:39Yes, he was over a second a lap faster than Barrichello
00:11:42on the last time around,
00:11:44so Irvine has got some serious pace.
00:11:46Barrichello's struggling some 2.7 seconds slower
00:11:51than Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher,
00:11:53so Barrichello, with no apparent speed, can't see any problems.
00:11:56Remember the smoke we saw coming out of the back of Hakkinen's car
00:12:00was clearly running hotter than it should have been.
00:12:02It must have been a breather pipe or something,
00:12:05or occasionally the exhaust can give off a smoke like that
00:12:08when they get to a high temperature,
00:12:10and, therefore, Hakkinen appears to have no problems at this time.
00:12:14Now, if Michael Schumacher can just keep in touch,
00:12:17he's going to be in there with a very considerable chance.
00:12:21There are 53 laps in this race.
00:12:23We're only on the third lap of the Japanese Grand Prix
00:12:26at the present moment.
00:12:28As we have seen in the past,
00:12:30it is being dominated by these two men,
00:12:33one of which must lead the World Championship
00:12:36over the crossover up to the...
00:12:39There comes down to the end of the lap.
00:12:42Mika Hakkinen coming through to complete lap three,
00:12:45and Michael Schumacher has closed up on him.
00:12:48It looks to me as though the gap is less than a second
00:12:51as they come over the line.
00:12:53Lap three completed, 50 to go.
00:12:55It is less than a second, but only by one-tenth of a second.
00:13:01Yes, so the first three, then, in the one-minute 40s,
00:13:04and, as you rightly say, Mary, for the first time in the race so far,
00:13:07Michael Schumacher with a faster lap than Mika Hakkinen
00:13:11to bring that gap under one second.
00:13:13Now, in this race last year, Michael Schumacher stopped twice,
00:13:16but he started the race intending to stop only once,
00:13:19had a bad start, and had to change the strategy
00:13:22to try to get ahead of that McLaren,
00:13:24to try to get track position.
00:13:26Don't know if he's doing that today. We'll have to wait and find out.
00:13:29But now it appears Michael is once again showing
00:13:32that tiny speed advantage he has had through this weekend.
00:13:35Yeah, great news for McLaren, for Jaguar fans,
00:13:38because Eddie Irvine is calmly holding on to that fifth position.
00:13:42He's 2.3 seconds ahead of Ruben's Barrichello,
00:13:46and Johnny Herbert has moved up from tenth on the grid
00:13:49to eighth position, right behind Jenson Button.
00:13:52In fact, only half a second separates the Williams BMW
00:13:56and Johnny Herbert's Jaguar.
00:13:58They're ahead of Jacques Villeneuve, who is ninth.
00:14:01Now, Hakkinen's responded. He's already two-tenths up on this lap so far,
00:14:05as they head towards the end of the second sector.
00:14:08But also remember last year, we thought Michael Schumacher
00:14:11wasn't pushing that hard. It was Eddie Irvine's championship
00:14:14that was up for grabs. The big difference this year,
00:14:16it's Michael's own championship that's up for grabs,
00:14:19and I think he'll be attacking rather harder this year
00:14:22than he did last.
00:14:23Yeah, it's worth repeating the situation.
00:14:26Michael Schumacher leads Micah Hakkinen in the championship
00:14:30by eight points.
00:14:33If Hakkinen wins this race and Michael Schumacher finishes second,
00:14:37it will keep the championship alive down to Malaysia.
00:14:40But if Schumacher finished second there, even if Hakkinen won,
00:14:46Schumacher would still win the championship on the number of wins.
00:14:49He's won seven times already this season.
00:14:52Ferrari have had more wins this year, more points this year
00:14:56than they have ever had before.
00:14:58Looks darker outside our country box window
00:15:01and a few spots of rain on the camera lens there.
00:15:05I wonder if we're now starting to look at that weather front
00:15:09coming through that all the teams are expecting.
00:15:11Yeah, and I was told that if it rained,
00:15:13it was going to rain very heavily indeed.
00:15:15It may be a need for the Bridgestone Monsoon tyre.
00:15:19The one that they're using now is a medium compound.
00:15:22It's a new compound.
00:15:24They're in a battle with Michelin next year
00:15:26for the Constructors and Drivers Championships on their tyres.
00:15:30And Bridgestone are making the most of the opportunity
00:15:33to bring in their new tyre as early as they can.
00:15:36And it seems to be working very well indeed.
00:15:39We're on lap five now out of 53.
00:15:41Still virtually nothing in it between the McLaren and the Ferrari.
00:15:45But David Coulthard is dropping back all the time.
00:15:48He's now four and a half seconds behind Hakkinen.
00:15:51He's two seconds ahead of Ralph Schumacher,
00:15:54who is 2.7 seconds ahead of Irvine.
00:15:57Barrichello is six.
00:15:59No retirement so far.
00:16:01Gaston Mazzucani, who started last, is running last.
00:16:04And he's already nearly 30 seconds behind Micah Hakkinen
00:16:09on lap five out of 53.
00:16:12Now, the gap was one second.
00:16:16It's still one second. It's the last two laps.
00:16:19They've been thousands of a second apart.
00:16:21Absolutely amazing.
00:16:22Just as we saw through that magnificent qualifying session yesterday,
00:16:26there's absolutely nothing to choose between these two great drivers,
00:16:30both double world champions.
00:16:32This is a bit of a bogey circuit for Coulthard down there in third place.
00:16:35He never really has seemed to hook up around here.
00:16:38I said to him, it's just a piece of tarmac like any other racetrack in the world.
00:16:41But whatever reason, he doesn't find the balance in the car
00:16:45or it doesn't suit his driving style.
00:16:47And he is falling back.
00:16:48We don't know his fuel load situation.
00:16:50But behind him, Ralf Schumacher and Eddie Irvine falling further back still.
00:16:55But Irvine has really pegged fourth place man Ralf Schumacher.
00:16:59They're lapping in 41.9, but the leaders are down there in 140.2.
00:17:04Yeah, you see, it looks a lot closer as they come out of the corner there
00:17:09than one second. Maybe it is.
00:17:12Schumacher is obviously trying tremendously hard
00:17:15as they approach the spoon for the sixth time.
00:17:18They approach it at a speed of about 175 miles an hour
00:17:23as they back off with this basically double left hander
00:17:26and accelerate up towards the 130R.
00:17:29That's where Mark Blundell came off so very badly some years ago.
00:17:34Terrific accident. He got out of the car, but he wasn't at all well after it.
00:17:38And now, look, McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari, Ferrari,
00:17:42Ferrari construction, Ferrari engine.
00:17:45That's the notorious chicane where Prost and Senna
00:17:49ended the World Championship in 1989.
00:17:52Through to complete another lap. The gap was one second.
00:17:55Micah Hakkinen has gone faster and increased the gap to 1.3 seconds.
00:18:00We're going to leave you. We'll be back.
00:20:16Lap A, down to 53. No change at the front.
00:20:19Micah Hakkinen is holding the lead that he took so brilliantly at the start
00:20:23from Michael Schumacher.
00:20:25You can see them as they approach the spoon for the eighth time
00:20:28in this 53-lap race.
00:20:31And it's now going to come down to strategy and pit stops.
00:20:35If a McLaren mechanic or a Ferrari mechanic dropped a wheel nut,
00:20:40if the wheel went on askew, if the fuel hose didn't go in properly,
00:20:45something like that could decide the result of this race
00:20:48and potentially, therefore, the result of the World Championship.
00:20:52But at the present moment, with a 1.4-second lead
00:20:56at the end of the seventh lap,
00:20:58and I'll be able to tell you in a moment what it is as they complete this one,
00:21:01Micah Hakkinen is certainly looking very much in control
00:21:05of the Japanese Grand Prix.
00:21:07As he itches away again, James Allen, 1.5 seconds.
00:21:10Yeah, Murray, I completely agree with you.
00:21:12I'm in the McLaren car at the moment, and it's a tense atmosphere,
00:21:15but they are feeling quite confident at the moment.
00:21:17I had quite a long chat with Ross Brawn just before the start of this race
00:21:20about the different strategic possibilities.
00:21:22I got the impression that both teams were trying to keep in touch
00:21:25with each other through this first stint,
00:21:27use roughly the same sort of fuel load,
00:21:29and the length of the first stop will be the critical thing.
00:21:31How long that fuel hose is on for as to whether one of them
00:21:34is going slightly longer or shorter in the middle stint.
00:21:37But Ross said he felt today's race would be cat and mouse all the way,
00:21:40and it would literally come down to just a few fractions of a second
00:21:44in a pit stop.
00:21:45Perhaps a little mistake by Micah, that kind of thing.
00:21:47It's really, really tense, fantastic atmosphere.
00:21:49Well, you've just seen Jack Wielner moving up through the field
00:21:54by passing the Jaguar.
00:21:56I expected him to be doing a lot better than he is, to be quite honest.
00:22:00He started in 9th position and held that place.
00:22:03He's now ahead of Johnny Herbert's Jaguar,
00:22:06so he's moved up a place into 8th position.
00:22:09Johnny Herbert down to 9th when he started in 10th position.
00:22:13Jenson Button is still running in 7th position,
00:22:16just 1.8 seconds behind Rubens Barrichello,
00:22:19whose lack of progress is really surprising me.
00:22:22Yeah, Rubens has been off the road three times this weekend
00:22:25and really has not looked on top of this circuit or this car.
00:22:28Micah Hakkinen is on a stonking lap.
00:22:30It's about to be the fastest lap of the race, without any doubt at all.
00:22:34And for the first time a couple of laps ago, while you were talking, Mario,
00:22:37I saw the first signs that the rear tires of Schumacher's car
00:22:40are not in quite as good condition as Hakkinen.
00:22:4339.8 as Hakkinen comes over the line for a new fastest lap.
00:22:4739.9 for Michael, so Michael can just about hang on.
00:22:51You were talking about Wielner.
00:22:53He's the fourth fastest man on the track at the moment.
00:22:55I think as we're watching an arrow going into Verstappen
00:22:59with a problem of some sort,
00:23:01I think Wielner will be homing in very quickly on Armand Jenson Button.
00:23:05About time we gave you the top 10 on the lap 10.
00:23:08Micah Hakkinen leading, of course, getting on towards 2 seconds now
00:23:12from Michael Schumacher, with David Coulthard in 3rd position,
00:23:168 seconds behind the leader.
00:23:18Fourth is Ralf Schumacher, who made that brilliant start in the Williams.
00:23:22Fifth still is Eddie Irvine,
00:23:24just 1.5 seconds ahead of Rubens Barrichello,
00:23:27who's closed up a bit.
00:23:28Jenson Button's still 7th.
00:23:30Wielner, on the other hand, is getting close to Button in 8th position.
00:23:35Johnny Herbert down tonight.
00:23:37Giano Trulli in the Jordan is in 10th position,
00:23:41and he started well down in 15th place,
00:23:44so he's making good progress.
00:23:46He's ahead of his teammate, Heinz-Harald Fredsen.
00:23:49Then it's De La Rosa, Wojt Salo into the pits,
00:23:52comes Jos Verstappen, and that is a retirement.
00:23:56That is for sure.
00:23:57When they turn like that, and the mechanics wheel the car backwards, that's it.
00:24:01First retirement of the race then for Jos Verstappen in the orange arrows.
00:24:05Don't know what his problem is.
00:24:06I'm sure we'll find out soon from the F1 ITV pit crew.
00:24:09Meanwhile, back with the leaders,
00:24:11and Hakkinen, again on this lap,
00:24:14appears to be a couple of tenths faster than Michael Schumacher.
00:24:17Can he edge this lead to over 2 seconds?
00:24:20I think it'll be this lap or the next,
00:24:22and he'll clear that 2-second hurdle.
00:24:23A 39.9 again for him, and a 40.0 for Michael.
00:24:27So it's a tenth per lap now.
00:24:29Well, there's no question of the fact that Michael Schumacher is not trying.
00:24:33He's trying all right, but try as he may, lap by lap, meter by meter,
00:24:39Micah Hakkinen, with perfect control and superb line in an ideally set-up motor car,
00:24:45is inching away from him.
00:24:47Very interesting that, because we've had 5 sessions, 6 sessions of one kind or another up to today,
00:24:53including qualifying.
00:24:55Michael Schumacher was faster in 5 of those 6,
00:24:59but in the end, it's Hakkinen on that superior start,
00:25:02who's gone ahead, and now he's staying ahead.
00:25:05Yes, if you want to see where, how, and why Hakkinen's inching away,
00:25:08just watch the front wheels as they go through the kerbs,
00:25:11particularly earlier on in the lap,
00:25:13and even through Spoon, which is about another half a kilometre down the road from where they are now.
00:25:19Hakkinen hooks up with them more consistently than Michael Schumacher.
00:25:24And it's Schumacher, and the car's just edging away from those apex kerbs,
00:25:28where he really needs to be.
00:25:30Makes him have to fight the car on the exit a little bit.
00:25:32It's only a tiny amount, but if you look hard,
00:25:34you can see Michael having to work harder to stay on line than Hakkinen.
00:25:38Well, that's Riccardo Zonta in the white car that you're looking at.
00:25:42He is in 17th place, chasing Nick Heidfelt.
00:25:46Behind him is Pedro Diniz.
00:25:48Here we are, back again with Micah Hakkinen, down to complete another lap.
00:25:52Michael Schumacher could keep him in sight,
00:25:55but that McLaren is slowly getting smaller and smaller.
00:26:00Completion of lap 11. 42 laps yet to go.
00:26:04There is the gap.
00:26:06Two seconds now.
00:26:07It is over two seconds as a result of the fact that,
00:26:11although Michael Schumacher has gone faster than he has been before,
00:26:15Micah Hakkinen has just gone faster than anybody has been before,
00:26:19including himself, of course.
00:26:21A new fastest lap on lap 11.
00:26:25139.7.
00:26:28And that is some one and a half seconds faster
00:26:32than Michael Schumacher's fastest lap last year.
00:26:35So we've got a 130-mile-an-hour lap
00:26:38as we ride with Rubens Barrichello in sixth position.
00:26:42And the car you see ahead is the green Jaguar,
00:26:46the green Jaguar of Eddie Irvine.
00:26:49So the scarlet Ferrari cannot make up ground on Eddie Irvine,
00:26:54who went so well last year here in the Ferrari.
00:26:57150 miles an hour now through Dunlop.
00:27:00And then, look, the first Degner really catches you by surprise.
00:27:03You just launch through it and then take the second one much more seriously,
00:27:07down to 80 miles an hour.
00:27:08And you can lean on that green piece of concrete on the exit.
00:27:12And Barrichello spun off here by clipping a kerb on Friday.
00:27:15No such problems this time around.
00:27:17But he's lapping down in the 41.4s and his teammates in the 39.8s.
00:27:22So Barrichello could...
00:27:24Well, I'm sure he's on more fuel than Michael.
00:27:26He cannot be that much slower around here.
00:27:29I'll tell you this.
00:27:30I bet there are a lot of people in Malaysia
00:27:32who are watching this race with a special interest
00:27:35because if Micah Hakkinen stays where he is,
00:27:38no matter where Michael Schumacher finishes after him,
00:27:42the World Championship is going down to Kuala Lumpur
00:27:46on October the 22nd in two weeks' time.
00:27:49Historically, it's been settled at the last race for several years now.
00:27:54And with that news, we're going to a break.
00:28:24Oh, my God.
00:28:54Oh, my God.
00:29:24Oh, my God.
00:29:54Oh, my God.
00:30:01Oh, my God.
00:30:12Two retirements now from the Japanese Grand Prix
00:30:15on lap 14 out of 53
00:30:17as Pedro Diniz comes in for the first routine pit stop we've had.
00:30:22The other retirement was that of Gaston Mazzucati,
00:30:25the Argentine driver in the Minardi,
00:30:27who went off at Degner and damaged the motor car.
00:30:31He's perfectly all right out of the race.
00:30:33But it's very close behind as you look at Zonta again,
00:30:36back in 17th place,
00:30:38closing up on Nick Heidfeldt in the Prost
00:30:41and pulling away in the process
00:30:43from Fisichella in the blue Benetton
00:30:47who is strangely far down the field.
00:30:50Yes, all that blood, sweat and tears
00:30:53and risk to be 17th is pretty hard work.
00:30:56But look, this lot driving for all they're worth
00:30:59and quite what Fisichella's problem is, I don't know.
00:31:02I think Mazzucati carried on, Murray.
00:31:04I still think we only have one retirement in this race,
00:31:06which is Verstappen, who apparently lost two gears.
00:31:10Rather careless of him.
00:31:11I'm sure they'll find them sometime later.
00:31:13Apparently, they're going to try and repair the gearbox on that Arrows,
00:31:17but he's effectively out of the race.
00:31:19Well, if you watch this battle developing
00:31:21between Heidfeldt, Alessi and Zonta
00:31:24with the yellow band on his helmet,
00:31:26having a look at the Prost in front,
00:31:28let me tell you about lap 15
00:31:30and what the situation is at the front.
00:31:33Bikker Hekkinen now has eased away yet more
00:31:37from Michael Schumacher.
00:31:38David Coulthard is still in that third position
00:31:41ahead of Ralf Schumacher.
00:31:42Eddie Irvine is still in fifth place,
00:31:45but Rubens Barrichello is eating up on the Williams BMW.
00:31:50Barrichello in the second Ferrari in sixth position.
00:31:53Now, I'm wondering whether Rubens Barrichello
00:31:57is on a one-stop strategy.
00:32:00Seems unlikely, but it's conceivable
00:32:03because he's strangely far down the field.
00:32:05But meantime, in seventh position,
00:32:07Jenson Button soldiering on well,
00:32:09about a tenth of a second a lap slower than Barrichello,
00:32:12still in seventh place.
00:32:14Well, the point of putting Barrichello on a one-stopper
00:32:16would probably leave him in play
00:32:18when Mikko Hekkinen comes out after his first stop.
00:32:22Assuming he's on a two-stopper,
00:32:23it would be around lap 21, 22, I would guess, for Hekkinen.
00:32:28It might have put Barrichello somewhere in the action
00:32:32to interfere and certainly interfere with his pace
00:32:35for a short amount of time anyway.
00:32:37But actually, Barrichello is so slow,
00:32:39he's now 27 seconds down the road and falling away.
00:32:43So that one is not going to work out.
00:32:45We don't know if Coulthard happens to be heavy on fuel.
00:32:48He could come into play later on.
00:32:50But again, he's currently 12 seconds down the road.
00:32:53But Irvine is beginning to come under pressure from Barrichello
00:32:57and Button beginning to come under pressure from Jacques Villeneuve.
00:33:01Yeah, and the only man who's remotely in touch with the leaders
00:33:04in terms of lap times is David Coulthard.
00:33:07He's lapping half a second slower than Hekkinen and Schumacher.
00:33:11As Trulli comes into the pits.
00:33:14Jarno Trulli, 11th position in the Jordan.
00:33:18His place will be taken by Pedro de la Rosa in the arrows.
00:33:22He'll move up into 11th position.
00:33:25Nice clean start, a stop, no problems there.
00:33:28Short one, 6.2 seconds.
00:33:30You're looking at Rubens Barrichello now
00:33:32and Eddie Irvine starting a battle for 5th position
00:33:36as Barrichello closes up slightly on the Jaguar.
00:33:40Jordan having a poor day.
00:33:41I mean, Trulli coming in that early, needing fuel that early
00:33:45suggests that he really is seriously off the pace.
00:33:48Started well down the field.
00:33:4910th and 11th at the moment for Jordan.
00:33:52And Trulli, of course, when it all shakes out
00:33:54will be somewhat further down the field
00:33:56having been the second man to stop.
00:33:59Well, the BAR factory at Bicester,
00:34:03they have four objectives on the wall
00:34:06to motivate and encourage the people who work for.
00:34:09And one of those objectives is get Jordan
00:34:12because the two of them have got the same number of points
00:34:15in the World Championship, 17 points.
00:34:18And the BAR's ambition is to finish at least 4th
00:34:22in the Constructor, at least 5th in the Constructor's Championship
00:34:26by getting ahead of Jordan who are there now.
00:34:29And out come the Jaguar mechanics into the pit lane
00:34:33to receive either Eddie Irvine in 5th position
00:34:36or Johnny Herbert who is 9th.
00:34:38Irvine coming in, peeling off then.
00:34:40So Irvine locking up to get down to the 120K.
00:34:43And he has pitted very, very early again
00:34:46at the end of lap 16.
00:34:48So Irvine then explains to a certain extent
00:34:51some of his pace, especially if Barrichello
00:34:53can go somewhat further into the race.
00:34:55But nonetheless, a good run, good first part of the race
00:34:58for Eddie Irvine.
00:34:59Barrichello up into 5th place.
00:35:01Jenson Button back into the points, 6th position.
00:35:04Eddie Irvine.
00:35:05I'm sure Villeneuve is going to get through before him.
00:35:08Yes, indeed he has, because now here is
00:35:11De La Rosa right behind him.
00:35:13And he was in 11th place.
00:35:14There is Jacques Villeneuve.
00:35:16And it looks as though BAR are starting to get
00:35:20towards achieving their objective in this race.
00:35:23Yes, and there you see Jenson Button in front of him.
00:35:26Last time around, the gap was just 0.6 of a second.
00:35:32And Villeneuve really closing in under braking.
00:35:35You always get a yo-yo effect in a hairpin like that.
00:35:38But clearly Villeneuve has greater pace at the moment.
00:35:42Lap 17, race order.
00:35:44Hakkinen, 2.2 seconds.
00:35:46Schumacher, 13 seconds.
00:35:48David Coulthard, 23 seconds.
00:35:50Ralf Schumacher, 4th, 30 seconds.
00:35:53Rubens Barrichello is 5th, 32 seconds.
00:35:56Jenson Button, 32 seconds behind Hakkinen, that is.
00:36:00And not behind Barrichello in 6th position.
00:36:03So just over half a minute covers the top 6, the top 7 now.
00:36:08Because you are looking at Jenson Button in the whites of Williams.
00:36:12Or you were.
00:36:13And Jacques Villeneuve, here they are.
00:36:16So Button only 2.1 seconds behind Barrichello.
00:36:19You probably saw the Ferrari flash through the foreground
00:36:22as they cut away to Button and Villeneuve.
00:36:25Over the line they go.
00:36:26This time it's Button that's slightly faster on that lap.
00:36:29By a fraction of a second.
00:36:31Good tussle here.
00:36:32Button doing an amazing job through this Grand Prix weekend
00:36:35to qualify 5th on his first ever visit to this,
00:36:39one of the most demanding circuits in the world.
00:36:41And the Japanese have taken him to their hearts like they did Ayrton Senna.
00:36:47Button was literally mobbed on his way into the circuit today.
00:36:51They stopped his car, they tore the wing mirrors off it.
00:36:54They were so enthusiastic again at the young Englishman
00:36:57that their excitement almost literally knew no bounds.
00:37:02He is their new hero.
00:37:03It's hardly surprising.
00:37:04He's only 20 years old.
00:37:06Here on a driver's circuit in Suzuka,
00:37:09he was the top man to qualify behind the two Ferraris and the two McLarens.
00:37:14In Belgium at Spa, that magnificent driver's circuit,
00:37:17he was 3rd on the grid.
00:37:19Gerhard Berger said yesterday
00:37:21this man is going to be world champion within 5 years.
00:37:24I don't know whether he's as good as that,
00:37:26but he's certainly absolutely brilliant.
00:37:29And we're on lap 18 now,
00:37:31with Mika Häkkinen making yet another fastest lap of the race.
00:37:352.5 seconds now is the gap between him and Michael Schumacher,
00:37:40as out of the 130R, up towards the end of the lap,
00:37:43Jenson Button in the Williams,
00:37:45Jacques Villeneuve in the BAR,
00:37:476th and 7th fighting.
00:37:50We're with Villeneuve now.
00:37:52So, down from about 190mph,
00:37:55turn in, 40mph,
00:37:58out to complete the lap.
00:38:00Jenson Button accelerates away.
00:38:02The speed builds up before turn 1
00:38:04to 195mph.
00:38:08But all the time, Jenson Button is seeing that BAR getting closer and closer.
00:38:14Your ears did not deceive you if you were paying good attention
00:38:17on board with Jacques Villeneuve there.
00:38:19The Japanese director, as Herbert comes in for his first stop
00:38:22at the end of lap 18.
00:38:24The Japanese director has not got the right exhaust note
00:38:27with the right picture,
00:38:29so the dubbing is not at all good.
00:38:31But that certainly is, as Herbert leaves the pits in 8.2.
00:38:34Irvine had a very poor stop in 10.1 seconds.
00:38:38He's currently running down in 10th place.
00:38:40So, of the people who've stopped...
00:38:42And there's a queue coming in the pits.
00:38:44Verts, Salo, and then must be Alessi behind them.
00:38:49So, now we've had Herbert, Irvine, Verts,
00:38:53Trulli, Salo, Heidfeldt, and Diniz have all stopped.
00:38:58None of the front runners have yet stopped.
00:39:00Is this going to be another disappointment for Michael Schumacher?
00:39:04Like so many Japanese Grand Prix in the past have been.
00:39:08Last year, beaten by Micah Hakkinen.
00:39:10The year before, beaten by Micah Hakkinen
00:39:13in the race and the World Championship.
00:39:15And he's doing nothing about the flying fin ahead of him.
00:39:19Although the gap between Schumacher in second place
00:39:22and Coulthard, third, is getting bigger and bigger.
00:39:2515 seconds it is now.
00:39:27And Coulthard himself is nearly 14 seconds ahead of Ralf Schumacher.
00:39:32Yet again, it looks as though the Williams BMW
00:39:35is going to finish in the points.
00:39:37Ralf Schumacher's had a brilliant season.
00:39:39Three third places already.
00:39:41Ralf has pitted.
00:39:42So, Ralf Schumacher pits from fourth place.
00:39:45Barrichello will temporarily take that fourth place over.
00:39:49Butter moves up also to fifth in that case.
00:39:51So, Ralf in for his first scheduled stop
00:39:54on what is an early two-stopper, I'd imagine.
00:39:598.3 seconds.
00:40:01In comes Jacques Villeneuve.
00:40:05Bit of a clumsy pit entry there, not for Jacques,
00:40:07but just the geography of where his team are based down there
00:40:10really had to turn in.
00:40:11Others seem to have more space than they can sweep into their garage.
00:40:15And away goes Frentzen.
00:40:17So, touring in and touring out, thick and fast,
00:40:21as up to lap the Benetton comes Mika Häkkinen.
00:40:26And out go the Ferrari crew.
00:40:28This is going to be the first Ferrari stop.
00:40:31Michael Schumacher has not been in.
00:40:33Rubens Barrichello has not been in.
00:40:36This is lap 20.
00:40:38The pit lane entry has been changed this year
00:40:41from before the chicane to after the chicane.
00:40:45And bang, there goes one of the Prosts.
00:40:49It looks like Jean Alessi to me.
00:40:52And the marshal is on the wrong side.
00:40:54He's trying to make the cars go up the inside.
00:40:56That is not a happy place to be.
00:40:58And there is some liquid, of course, on the racetrack.
00:41:01I think the engine has blown on that Prost,
00:41:03sent him backwards across the grass.
00:41:05I'm sure we'll get a replay soon.
00:41:07They have recovered the situation well.
00:41:09The track will be slippery.
00:41:11I believe that's turn five that they're through there.
00:41:15Yeah, it's one of the end-turners.
00:41:17Four or five.
00:41:18It's five, I think, Martin.
00:41:19It's on the snake, definitely, out of turns one and two.
00:41:23Another Peugeot engine gone kaput.
00:41:26Into the pit lane comes Rubens Barrichello from fourth position.
00:41:30Well, he clearly had not got a lot of fuel on board then.
00:41:32He's the first Ferrari to stop.
00:41:34Barrichello simply off the pace for whatever reason this afternoon.
00:41:38Rubens not having a happy weekend.
00:41:40He's had some great runs this year,
00:41:42but this weekend is not one of them.
00:41:44Now, here is a straw for Ferrari lovers to clutch at.
00:41:48I offer it to you for what it's worth.
00:41:50As Jenson Button leaves the pits,
00:41:52it is that Michael Schumacher started this race
00:41:55on a very heavy fuel load
00:41:57and is struggling to keep up with Mikko Häkkinen because of that.
00:42:01But Mikko Häkkinen will come in earlier.
00:42:03Michael Schumacher will stay out for a long time
00:42:05and take the lead of the race.
00:42:07So, think about that.
00:42:08They're too close in pace for that to be the case, Murray,
00:42:11to be a significant difference in fuel load.
00:42:14It is for every ten kilos of fuel,
00:42:16which is about probably two and a half laps,
00:42:18it's something like four tenths of a second,
00:42:20four and a half tenths of a second per lap.
00:42:23And, really, I think there's the engine going,
00:42:25there's the Peugeot engine going,
00:42:26and it seizes up, locks up,
00:42:29and just spins Alessi around
00:42:31and puts him back onto the racetrack.
00:42:33Deposits some fluid down,
00:42:35but nothing he can, nothing to do with Jean,
00:42:37nothing he can do about that at all.
00:42:38As soon as the hydraulic pressure decays,
00:42:41you cannot pull the clutch and release it,
00:42:43and if the engine seizes up, therefore, so do your rear wheels.
00:42:47Bit of a bonus for Eddie Irvine, that,
00:42:49because Jack Bielder was temporarily unsighted
00:42:53by that mass of white smoke.
00:42:55Probably had to back off a bit,
00:42:57and that has saved Eddie Irvine from attack
00:43:00from Jack Bielder for a few yards.
00:43:03Irvine is still in seventh place,
00:43:05Bielder is eighth.
00:43:06Sixth is Ralf Schumacher after the stops.
00:43:09Jenson Button is now ahead of his teammate,
00:43:12and they have both stopped.
00:43:13So, Button is fifth, Ralf Schumacher is sixth,
00:43:16Barrichello in fourth position after his stop,
00:43:19and, of course, Hakkinen, Schumacher,
00:43:22and David Coulthard on lap 22 out of 53.
00:43:25Coming up towards half distance,
00:43:28and getting towards the end of the window
00:43:31for a two-lock, two-stop strategy.
00:43:34Ah, still about out on the track,
00:43:36not having come in.
00:43:38Look at the spoon.
00:43:39Hakkinen closing up now.
00:43:41He's taken Heidfeldt.
00:43:42He's closing up on Pedro de la Rosa,
00:43:45who is 15th in the arrows,
00:43:47and here is the first McLaren stop coming up.
00:43:50It'll be on lap 22 out of 53.
00:43:53Off the circuit goes Alex Wurz in 17th position.
00:43:57That's the spoon,
00:43:58and if you keep to the right where he is now,
00:44:00you're away from that very loose gravel,
00:44:02and you can filter your way back onto the track.
00:44:05Very dusty motorcar, but you live to fight another day.
00:44:09Yes, you have to remember when you get down to 130 R2,
00:44:12and it's Hakkinen.
00:44:13It's Hakkinen, the race leader,
00:44:14coming in for his first stop at the end of lap 22,
00:44:18and here we go, the James.
00:44:21Yeah, and he comes now.
00:44:22Watch how long that fuel hose is on for.
00:44:24If it's on for anything like about eight seconds,
00:44:26he's putting 50 kilos of fuel in.
00:44:27No, it's less than that.
00:44:28Short stop now.
00:44:29Ross Brawn is bringing Michael Schumacher in next lap by,
00:44:32and this is where the race is going to be won and lost, guys.
00:44:35It's how much fuel goes in
00:44:36and what the middle stint of the race is going to be.
00:44:38Thanks, James.
00:44:396.8 seconds.
00:44:40He came in with a two-second lead.
00:44:44Michael Schumacher, of course, is in the lead,
00:44:46and he knows he's got to go, go, go on this lap.
00:44:49He's got to try and go as fast as he possibly can
00:44:52and decrease the gap between himself and Micah Hakkinen
00:44:55and rely on a perfect stop from the Ferrari people.
00:45:00Under seven seconds,
00:45:01and it's going to be very close in that case
00:45:03when they come out to rejoin on lap 24.
00:45:07Yes, Michael Schumacher wrestling the car
00:45:09through the Dunlop curve as we cut back to him,
00:45:11and his car is not handling as well as Micah Hakkinen's,
00:45:15but remember, he missed a run in qualifying yesterday.
00:45:18Michael only did three runs.
00:45:19He has three new sets of tires available for this race.
00:45:23Micah Hakkinen only has two,
00:45:25but Hakkinen will use his two new sets in the first two stints,
00:45:29so I don't think Schumacher will be able to do too much
00:45:31with his third set.
00:45:32This is a crucial pit stop for the Ferrari mechanics.
00:45:35They need to win this championship for a driver
00:45:37for the first time in 21 years,
00:45:39as I'm sure you've heard many times.
00:45:41Now he must go through the last chicane
00:45:44before he comes into that pit lane.
00:45:46It cost him about two seconds extra to stop this year,
00:45:50and Michael is in.
00:45:51James, are you there?
00:45:52I am indeed, Martin, and I've worked out
00:45:54that Micah Hakkinen took on 13 laps worth of fuel, that's all.
00:45:57So McLaren were the ones that short-fueled the car.
00:46:00What are Ferrari going to do?
00:46:01Michael goes in, the hose goes on as well.
00:46:03Everything looks fairly routine to me.
00:46:05I haven't got a clock. I don't know if you can see one.
00:46:077.4, a tiny bit more fuel for Michael Schumacher.
00:46:11So how many more laps has he got?
00:46:12He's going to do about 14 or 15 laps, maybe.
00:46:14Oh, look at this!
00:46:15Here comes Micah Hakkinen on the right,
00:46:17and he's going to get through ahead of Michael Schumacher.
00:46:20The status quo has been retained almost exactly.
00:46:24I don't know what the time gap is,
00:46:26but it looks like a couple of seconds, maybe a bit more,
00:46:29because Michael Schumacher took 7.4 seconds on his stop,
00:46:33stationary, that is, excluding the coming in and leaving,
00:46:36in comparison with Micah Hakkinen, 6.8.
00:46:39And as you can see, there are some spots of rain on the lens there.
00:46:43Don't forget that the possibility of rain in this race still exists,
00:46:47and if it happens, it could absolutely transform it.
00:46:50Not much meat left on those tyres, look,
00:46:52and virtually down to slicks on two-thirds of the tyre there for Michael Schumacher.
00:46:57But Hakkinen's out lap was absolutely blistering.
00:47:01Incredible.
00:47:02The fastest man through the middle section of the lap,
00:47:05and his fastest sector at the end of the lap,
00:47:07to really put something special in,
00:47:09to be sure he was ahead of Michael Schumacher.
00:47:12Schumacher, as you saw, stopped for about six-tenths of a second worth more of fuel.
00:47:16James is right, I think he can go a bit further.
00:47:18Coulthard, the leader, current leader,
00:47:21will have to come in on this lap, by the looks of it.
00:47:23Eddie Irvine fighting some nasty oversteer there in the Jaguar
00:47:26as Villeneuve homes in on him.
00:47:28And here comes Coulthard now, into 130R.
00:47:31He will pit at the end of this lap.
00:47:34And should get out with no problem at all
00:47:37before Rubens Barrichello, who is currently in fourth place, comes through.
00:47:42And Irvine, as you've seen, is still ahead in the Jaguar of Jacques Villeneuve
00:47:48as David Coulthard comes into the pit lane.
00:47:50Are you there, James?
00:47:52No.
00:47:53So, David Coulthard, then, how does his stop compare
00:47:57with Michael Schumacher, 7.4,
00:48:00Micah Hakkinen, 6.8,
00:48:02and will he get out before Rubens Barrichello?
00:48:05Well, that's the fastest of the top men we've had so far.
00:48:08A superb 6.6 seconds for David Coulthard.
00:48:12And I'm looking to see where it...
00:48:14Look back, and when you see a red car,
00:48:17well, you won't see one, because Rubens Barrichello is too far back
00:48:21even to appear before David Coulthard exits the pit lane.
00:48:25So, we're back again.
00:48:27Hakkinen leads, Schumacher second,
00:48:29Coulthard third, Barrichello fourth,
00:48:31Ralf Schumacher is fifth,
00:48:33Wilson Button is in sixth place, still in the points,
00:48:36lap 25, just over half a race still to go.
00:48:39We're going. We'll be back as usual.
00:49:33HEAVY METAL MUSIC
00:50:03HEAVY METAL MUSIC
00:50:33HEAVY METAL MUSIC
00:51:03As near as makes no difference,
00:51:05half the Japanese Grand Prix of 2000 has been completed.
00:51:09Mika Hakkinen crosses the line.
00:51:11Now we're at Michael Schumacher,
00:51:13completing their 26th lap in this 53-lap race.
00:51:18Hakkinen is increasing his lead.
00:51:20He's gone up from 2.5 seconds to nearly 3 seconds.
00:51:25They have both stopped, as has David Coulthard,
00:51:28and, in fact, as has everybody who is still in the race.
00:51:31Only two retirements,
00:51:32Jean Alessi and Jos Verstappen.
00:51:35Coulthard still third,
00:51:37then Barrichello, Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button.
00:51:41Yes, Hakkinen really putting the hammer down
00:51:43on that last lap for that 39.1.
00:51:45That's getting very close to the outright lap record of this circuit.
00:51:49So, Hakkinen on a flyer,
00:51:51deciding this is the stage of the race
00:51:53where he's going to stretch it out.
00:51:55While you're away, while we're in the break,
00:51:57Villeneuve passed Eddie Irvine into the chicane,
00:52:00a big, deep, desperate move on the brakes
00:52:03into the last chicane, or triangle, as they call it.
00:52:06He then passed over the kerb with all four wheels,
00:52:09so whether he'll get any kind of penalty, I don't know.
00:52:12It was just a momentary thing.
00:52:13Nothing showing on the computer at the moment,
00:52:15so it seems as if Villeneuve got away with it
00:52:18and he is up into seventh place
00:52:20and once again chasing Jenson Button.
00:52:22Well, I know there's still half a race to go
00:52:25and I know there is still another pit and fuel stop
00:52:29and I know anything can happen,
00:52:31but it really is starting to look as though
00:52:34Micah Hakkinen, who won the last German race
00:52:37and the championship and in 1998,
00:52:40is going to make it a hat-trick here
00:52:42because Schumacher, try as he may,
00:52:45is not really making any difference to the cap
00:52:48between himself and Micah Hakkinen.
00:52:51Whether the German will shrug his shoulders after the race
00:52:53and say, I did the best I could and it wasn't good enough,
00:52:56or whether he's got some sort of problem like his tyres going off
00:52:59where Hakkinen's are not, I know not,
00:53:01but we'll have to wait and see.
00:53:03Michael has responded, as you're saying,
00:53:05with his fastest lap of the race on a 39.4,
00:53:07reduced the gap to 2.6 seconds,
00:53:09so he has got a bit more speed left there yet,
00:53:12but he's now got to encounter a back marker
00:53:14that Hakkinen has already cleared
00:53:16and there'll be several more of those
00:53:17before the afternoon is finished.
00:53:19Yeah, I think Hakkinen is coming up to Nick Heidfeldt,
00:53:24the German in the Prost.
00:53:26He's going to be driving for Sauber next year, incidentally.
00:53:29Heidfeldt, who is in 16th place.
00:53:31Pisikela and Wurz, both doing very badly for Benetton.
00:53:35They're down in 17th and 19th places
00:53:39and Benetton are fourth in the Constructors' Championship
00:53:43and BAR and Jordan currently are only three points behind them.
00:53:47It could be a gigantic bonus for BAR
00:53:50if Jack Villeneuve can make his way up through the field
00:53:53and at the present moment,
00:53:55he is still behind Jenson Button, who is in 6th place.
00:53:59So Villeneuve still not in the points.
00:54:01There is Button.
00:54:03Yes, the two Williams now are lying astern.
00:54:05Villeneuve just had a very poor lap,
00:54:07some 2.5 seconds off the pace.
00:54:09I just wonder if it started to rain out that side of the circuit.
00:54:12The others following him through are more on their normal pace,
00:54:15so clearly Villeneuve either made a mistake
00:54:17or has the beginning of some kind of problem,
00:54:19as Button now is looking just 1.7 seconds down the road
00:54:24at his experienced teammate, Ralf Schumacher.
00:54:26I haven't been doing much looking out of the window, to be honest with you,
00:54:29but now that I actually make an effort and do so,
00:54:32the flags are straining horizontally at their flagpoles.
00:54:36There's quite a high wind blowing here at Suzuka
00:54:39and it's very dark skies from the direction in which the wind is blowing,
00:54:44so the wind is bringing, I think, the rain clouds towards us.
00:54:48We were told that there could be rain any time between 2 and 5
00:54:52and it is now 20 past 3 local time.
00:54:55And it's Mika Häkkinen who's been quite slow last time around on a 40.2.
00:55:00Michael Schumacher's now got the gap down to just 2 seconds.
00:55:03We didn't see any of those two laps.
00:55:05You're watching Coulthard, who's 20 seconds behind the leaders,
00:55:09and Häkkinen appears to have lost quite a lot of pace on the previous lap,
00:55:13but it was Michael that was shaping up to pass Heidfeld.
00:55:16Häkkinen appeared to have a clear road.
00:55:19And remember how Häkkinen was held up by Matsukane
00:55:22in the American Grand Prix at Indianapolis two weeks ago.
00:55:27We had this unique sight of the yellow Minardi with newcomer Gaston Matsukane
00:55:32holding up the double world champion in the best car in the field
00:55:36because there is no doubt at all about the fact that the McLaren
00:55:39is the best car in the field, and I include Ferrari.
00:55:43But try as he may, Mika Häkkinen could not get past,
00:55:47as in comes Jarno Trulli for his second pit stop.
00:55:52This is lap 29 out of 53, and Trulli was in 11th position,
00:55:58about 14 seconds ahead of Pedro Diniz.
00:56:01It's going to be a very close thing, but Pedro Diniz should certainly
00:56:05have moved up into that place by the end of the lap.
00:56:09You're watching Mika Häkkinen and Schumacher looking a lot closer.
00:56:16But he's not. It's still 2.1 seconds. James, news?
00:56:20Yes, I've just worked a few things out here. Häkkinen pitted on lap 22.
00:56:23He's going to go through to about lap 35.
00:56:25I believe Schumacher can go two laps longer.
00:56:28Now they're encountering traffic, and there's a lot more traffic to come.
00:56:31De La Rosa, Salo, Zonta, Diniz and Trulli will be encountered
00:56:35before the second round of pit stops.
00:56:37Schumacher's target, therefore, is to keep within two seconds
00:56:40of Häkkinen through all that traffic.
00:56:42If he can do that, he might be able to nick it at the second pit stop.
00:56:45And they're siding their way through the traffic.
00:56:48It's amazing what a foreshortening effect television has,
00:56:51because Schumacher looks as though he's getting closer and closer
00:56:55as they come up to the hairpin.
00:56:58He is, because Mika lost four tenths of a second
00:57:01following the Jordan through T1.
00:57:03So Michael is quite a lot closer, and it must be tantalizing for him.
00:57:06He can see that World Championship.
00:57:08If he can just get ahead of Häkkinen, he can take the World Championship today.
00:57:13And it must be so tantalizingly close for him.
00:57:16As James said, I think if he can really stay with Mika through this section
00:57:20and he can do a couple more laps on this tank of fuel,
00:57:23he may, may just be able to get out ahead of him.
00:57:26And here comes Häkkinen up to Pedro de la Rosa, 15th in the arrows.
00:57:32There is Nikon Schumacher in second position.
00:57:35Will Pedro see both of them as into the pits comes Heitz-Harald Frentzen?
00:57:39Oh, off the track, out of the race.
00:57:41Frentzen retires, the third retirement of the race,
00:57:45and that is the tenth time in 16 races that Heitz-Harald Frentzen has retired.
00:57:52The bugbear of the Jordan team this year has been a lack of reliability.
00:57:58Ten retirements for Frentzen, and truly has retired seven times as well.
00:58:03And a very gloomy Eddie Jordan pensively looks at the screen,
00:58:08because they are starting to see, as I have made clear already,
00:58:12the possibility of their fifth place in the Constructors' Championship disappearing,
00:58:18because Frentzen is certainly going to score no points.
00:58:21As you look down on this battle, this intriguing, continuing, non-stop battle
00:58:26between Mika Häkkinen and Michael Schumacher,
00:58:29and the gap now was 1.1 seconds, and Schumacher is really going for it.
00:58:35Up to the hairpin on lap 31 out of 53.
00:58:39Look at this!
00:58:41Now, this is real excitement.
00:58:43Michael Schumacher has got the bit between his teeth, Mika Häkkinen knows
00:58:47the gap of 2.4, so 2.5 seconds is down to just a few car lengths.
00:58:53I'm absolutely sure that there is a little bit of drizzle falling,
00:58:57because everybody's lapping 1.5 seconds slower than they were earlier on.
00:59:02I know they've got more fuel on board now, but I'm pretty sure
00:59:05there's just a little tiny bit of drizzle out there that's making Häkkinen quite cautious.
00:59:10I keep you in touch, David Coulthard is still third, 23 seconds behind the leaders.
00:59:15Rubens Barrichello, a massive 44 seconds, but still fourth.
00:59:19Jenson Button is fifth, 50 seconds behind them.
00:59:22Ralf Schumacher is sixth, in 54 seconds behind the leaders.
00:59:26But this is what the crowd is absolutely glued to watching.
00:59:31Over the line, 8 tenths of a second.
00:59:35Michael Schumacher closes up on the gearbox of the McLaren Mercedes.
00:59:40Now, whenever we've seen a damp track situation earlier in the year,
00:59:44it's always been the Ferrari that's quickest.
00:59:47They seem to have, despite McLaren's very well-balanced car,
00:59:50the Ferrari seems to thrive more, or maybe their drivers, I don't know what it is.
00:59:54But in these tricky conditions, it's Michael who always seems to have the upper hand.
00:59:59And right now, I think you're seeing exactly that.
01:00:02They're now lapping down in the 1.41, mid 1.41,
01:00:06so that's two and a half seconds off the fastest lap of the race.
01:00:10And the reason for that is, I believe, there's some moisture on the surface.
01:00:14Degner one, Degner two, up to the hairpin, turn 11 on this track.
01:00:2017 corners in all, down to 40 miles an hour,
01:00:24and Schumacher is hunting his finish prey.
01:00:28The McLaren Mercedes in front of him, the Ferrari V10 engine behind him,
01:00:33some 800 horsepower.
01:00:35They're on the same type of Bridgestone tyre, down into the Spoon again.
01:00:41And David Coulthard still continues, 24 seconds behind this Titanic scrap.
01:00:47Not only for victory in Japan,
01:00:49but for the possibility of the World Championship being completed right here, today,
01:00:54at Suzuka, for the third year in succession.
01:00:57And out of our view, Jenson Button has passed Ralf Schumacher somewhere.
01:01:01So Button now, back up to fifth place,
01:01:04and still Villeneuve hunting down both those Williams,
01:01:07but Schumacher must have had a problem somewhere else, or made a mistake.
01:01:11Button has cleared him by some four seconds now.
01:01:14Oh, look at this, that's Erija Häkkinen watching her husband in the lead.
01:01:19She knows that if Michael Schumacher can get past him,
01:01:23his hopes of the World Championship will be massively reduced,
01:01:27because there's still going to be the remaining laps in this race
01:01:30for him to do something about it, if that happens.
01:01:33Lap 33, 20 laps to go, each of 3.6 miles.
01:01:38And Michael Schumacher, the implacable German,
01:01:42is on his 142nd Grand Prix,
01:01:45a double World Champion, like the man in front of him.
01:01:48A terrific record here at Suzuka.
01:01:51He was third in 1996, he was excluded from the last race in 1997,
01:01:58but last year, he was in fifth position.
01:02:01Remember, he'd come back after being away from six races with that broken leg.
01:02:06Now, they are coming up to a batch of tail-enders,
01:02:11Heidfeld, Trulli and de la Rosa,
01:02:14in the 14th, 13th and 12th positions.
01:02:19So, this could be Michael Schumacher's opportunity, on the other hand.
01:02:24If Mika Häkkinen, as you see, the blue prost coming up to the 130R,
01:02:29can exploit the situation better than Schumacher, it could be his.
01:02:34Coming up to the end of lap 33 now.
01:02:40Yes, and interestingly, also further down the field,
01:02:43fourth-placeman Farah Kello starting to close in.
01:02:46She's now 20 seconds behind David Coulthard, third-placeman.
01:02:49So, at this part of the race, the Ferraris definitely have the edge
01:02:54on the McLarens in terms of pace,
01:02:56although Häkkinen now has managed to equal out that pace.
01:03:00So, for the first time for several laps,
01:03:02Häkkinen has managed to keep that gap.
01:03:05Yes, and you can see how close he's getting to the car ahead.
01:03:09And it's actually Mika Salo in 11th position in the Sauber
01:03:14that they're closing up on.
01:03:16Salo is having a battle of his own with Riccardo Zonta's VAR in 10th position,
01:03:22and he moves over, he sees the approaching battle behind him,
01:03:25and in his gentlemanly Finnish way moves over
01:03:28and lets his countryman, who he's not at all fond of, incidentally,
01:03:31prove to retain the lead with Michael Schumacher
01:03:34under one second behind the McLaren.
01:03:37It's still anybody's race.
01:03:39They're coming up behind Zonta now in the VAR in 10th position.
01:03:43Villeneuve, incidentally, in the other VAR
01:03:46still is not in a points-scoring situation.
01:03:50He's in seventh place, 2.8 seconds behind Ralf Schumacher's BMW
01:03:55in the last points position.
01:03:57Sixth place, spoon turn.
01:04:00Zonta, 10th.
01:04:03Schumacher, second.
01:04:05Ahead of him, Häkkinen, the leader.
01:04:08And Häkkinen is going to come up behind Zonta right on the hairpin.
01:04:12No, Zonta lets him through.
01:04:14Blue flag, well done.
01:04:15Now, is Zonta going to realize that Schumacher's behind him?
01:04:19Down to the...
01:04:20Yeah, Zonta should just pull left and give Schumi the line, the racing line.
01:04:24Oh, he nearly, so nearly touched there.
01:04:26Michael cut across back in front of Zonta before he cleared it.
01:04:30And they look like the faces of Zonta's right front
01:04:33and Schumacher's left rear must have virtually touched.
01:04:37And as a result of that, up goes the gap
01:04:39from 9 tenths to 1.2 seconds.
01:04:45Dick Häkkinen gained 3 tenths of a second.
01:04:47Now, watch this again. See how close they get.
01:04:49Michael goes over to take his normal line.
01:04:52And Zonta's just coasting.
01:04:53And look, Zonta having to take to the grass virtually
01:04:56to stop them having an incident there.
01:04:58But if you notice on the camera now,
01:05:00there's no more spots of rain appearing.
01:05:02And I think the track's beginning to dry out one more time.
01:05:06To be totally dry, that is.
01:05:07And you can see Häkkinen beginning slightly to reestablish himself.
01:05:12Yeah, and you've got to remember
01:05:13that Micah Häkkinen cannot really afford to take a risk.
01:05:17He's eight points behind Michael Schumacher in the championship.
01:05:21Michael Schumacher can afford to take a risk
01:05:24to a greater extent than Häkkinen can.
01:05:27But it's very, very close on lap 35.
01:05:32David Coulthard's obviously lapping slower than both of them
01:05:36as a result of which the gap to third place is increasing.
01:05:40But McLaren have got two cars in the top three
01:05:44and Ferrari have only got one car in the top six
01:05:48where you score World Championship points.
01:05:50Now, I tell a lie because Rubens Barrichello is in fourth position.
01:05:54So it's still mighty close for the Constructors' Championship
01:05:58because McLaren are on a potential 14 points
01:06:02and Ferrari are on a potential nine.
01:06:05The gap is at the moment reduced in the Constructors' Championship
01:06:09from 10 points advantage for Ferrari to five.
01:06:13But anything can happen in the remaining laps.
01:06:15Yes, Coulthard's going to have to get on with it
01:06:17otherwise he's going to find Barrichello very close to him
01:06:20at the end of the race if he wants to defend those points for McLaren.
01:06:24He's certainly got to pick up his pace.
01:06:26Barrichello taking over a second a lap out of him at the moment.
01:06:29But as ever, the first two appear to be connected with a tow rope somehow.
01:06:34And the gap, 1.1 seconds last time past the pits.
01:06:38Michael faster by exactly a tenth of a second on the previous lap.
01:06:42Well, it's nice to see the race like this
01:06:44because there were all sorts of evil theories being put about
01:06:47ah, ah, Coulthard or Hacken.
01:06:50Oh, Barrichello going to act as spoilers somehow.
01:06:53Difficult to see how they could when they were starting behind Schumacher and Hacken.
01:06:58There's obviously been no question of that.
01:07:00Neither of them have been in the race.
01:07:02David Coulthard well behind in third position.
01:07:05Barrichello has dramatically, however, increased his position in the race.
01:07:10He's still in fourth place where he started it on the grid.
01:07:14And in comes Ralph Schumacher from sixth position for his second pit stop.
01:07:19And as a result of that, Fielder moves up into the points in the B.A.R.
01:07:24And the nearest Jordan behind him is truly in 14th position
01:07:29because Frentzen is out of the race.
01:07:32Yes, gearbox problems for Frentzen.
01:07:34Apparently, or transmission, I should say, to be more precise,
01:07:37for Frentzen who was the third retirement of this race.
01:07:40So Verstappen out first with gearbox problems,
01:07:43Alessi with the blown engine, and Frentzen with transmission problems too.
01:07:47So 19 runners now as they come through to complete lap 36.
01:07:52And if the order is the same at the end of the race as it was at the end of lap 36,
01:07:58which they have just completed with the gap down to 8 tenths of a second,
01:08:03and Mika Hakkinen wins it.
01:08:05He gets 10 world championship points to Michael Schumacher's six.
01:08:09The world championship would be alive as we go to Malaysia in two weeks' time.
01:08:14And the gap between them would be reduced from the 8 points it was when this race began to 4 points.
01:08:20An absolutely scintillating consideration.
01:08:24I believe it's drizzling again very, very slightly.
01:08:27And once again, Michael appears to have the upper hand.
01:08:30It's incredible, isn't it?
01:08:31Totally dry track. Hakkinen's got about a tenth.
01:08:34When it's damp, slightly damp, it's Michael with about 3 tenths in his pocket.
01:08:39He'll be hoping for a bit more of that stuff falling out of the sky, I would imagine,
01:08:42because it's certainly giving him a chance all the time to close in on Mika Hakkinen,
01:08:47who is shaping up to lap the two Jaguars.
01:08:50Herbert in 8th, Eddie Irvine in 9th place.
01:08:55Yes, but I'm going to trot out the hoary old cliche,
01:08:59catching is one thing, passing another.
01:09:01And Schumacher has not yet caught Mika Hakkinen to be close enough to make a challenge.
01:09:08And Mika Hakkinen certainly is going to make it easy,
01:09:11as out come the McLaren mechanics for a second stop.
01:09:15And I see some red overalls in the background as well.
01:09:19Will Ferrari respond immediately to this?
01:09:23It was Barrichello the first Ferrari to stop last time around.
01:09:27So we watch closely. Does Hakkinen peel in and avoid that traffic?
01:09:31Yes, he does. So it must be Barrichello Ferrari getting ready for,
01:09:35unless they're playing games. So Hakkinen is James.
01:09:39Michael Schumacher takes the lead of the Japanese Grand Prix as Mika Hakkinen comes in.
01:09:43There's still a bit of drizzle around. McLaren would dearly love
01:09:46for the both of the two cars to have stopped at the same time.
01:09:49It wasn't going to be possible.
01:09:50A lot of discussion on the pit wall to see if they could make the fuel last.
01:09:53Hakkinen 7.4. These next two laps could well decide the Japanese Grand Prix.
01:09:58And the World Championship. Michael Schumacher has got those two Jaguars in front of him,
01:10:03which will inhibit him, if not stop him, from making the searing lap that he would need to make,
01:10:09having taken the lead, in order to try to decrease the gap between himself and Mika Hakkinen.
01:10:15There we are, you see.
01:10:17Yes, he's still behind both of them, Murray. So he hasn't cleared either of them yet.
01:10:20Irvine moves easily out of the way. Teammates from last year, of course.
01:10:24Eddie Irvine clears the path for Michael Schumacher.
01:10:27The Jaguar's beginning to struggle on pace. I think Herbert had a problem last time around.
01:10:32And it's absolutely crucial for Michael Schumacher's chances of winning this race
01:10:36and this championship to clear that Jaguar before the end of the lap.
01:10:40Excellent bit of flag marshalling there, the Japanese man.
01:10:43And the rain, look at that! This could, because they can bring him in now for wet tyres.
01:10:49Michael Schumacher could come in and change to a more appropriate tyre,
01:10:53because if this rain continues, the track will get wet pretty quickly.
01:10:58And remember that Mika Hakkinen has been in and has gone out on a new set of grooved tyres
01:11:05for dry track conditions. Let's wait and see what tyres Michael Schumacher's Ferrari receives.
01:11:12Well, Schumacher passes the pit lane, so he's not coming in this time around.
01:11:16It's not wet enough for wets, that's for sure.
01:11:19Even the intermediates wouldn't last more than two or three laps around here.
01:11:23It's Barrichello that must be coming in the pits this time around.
01:11:26Michael Schumacher with a 1.42.3.
01:11:30So his opportunity to stamp a quick lap out was spoiled by having to lap the two Jaguars
01:11:35and the amount of rain that's beginning to fall.
01:11:38But remember two weeks ago in Indianapolis how Michael Schumacher stayed out on wet weather tyres
01:11:45as the track was drying much longer than anybody expected him to.
01:11:49He can be an absolute master at driving on what seems to be the wrong tyre type.
01:11:56In dry conditions he can make it go in wet, and in wet conditions he can make it go in dry.
01:12:01But whatever, Mikko Häkkinen and Schumacher are both in on dry weather tyres.
01:12:08Mikko Häkkinen has stopped. In comes Rubens Barrichello.
01:12:11And unless they get him out very quickly indeed,
01:12:14that's going to mean to say that they're not going to have Michael Schumacher's wheels and tyres ready for him.
01:12:19I think Michael might have another lap left here.
01:12:21Remember, James did the calculations.
01:12:23We think Michael could go probably two laps longer, but we'll have to wait and see.
01:12:28But there is only one tyre choice at the moment, and that is slicks.
01:12:31There is no other option at all. It makes no sense to be on anything else.
01:12:35You'll be so slow, you'll trash them in two or three laps.
01:12:39So you might as well come in yet again if you have to, would be the right decision.
01:12:42A fantastic development, because now on lap 39 out of 53, as he tears off of Weiser,
01:12:48Michael Schumacher leads the Japanese Grand Prix, the previous lap,
01:12:53by 25 seconds, 25.6 to be exact, over the line on those dry weather tyres.
01:13:00We wait for Mikko Häkkinen to come through, as Johnny Herbert, who has now been lapped,
01:13:06and Irvine, who have been lapped and are in eighth and ninth positions, come through.
01:13:11Now, Mikko Häkkinen, we're still waiting for the Ferrari to come through, the McLaren to come through.
01:13:16And the McLaren mechanics are out again.
01:13:19That must be for David Coulthard, who has yet to come in.
01:13:23Only Mikko Häkkinen of the leaders has stopped twice.
01:13:26So Mikko's crew, Michael's crew getting ready, there you can see.
01:13:30Interestingly, Mikko Häkkinen was exactly 1.2 seconds slower than Michael Schumacher on the last lap.
01:13:36Remember, before these pit stops commenced, the second stop commenced, the gap was 0.9 of a second.
01:13:43So it's going to be absolutely nip and tuck.
01:13:46The Ferrari team have got to put two laps less worth of fuel in.
01:13:49Their stop should also be a fraction faster than Häkkinen's,
01:13:52and they may, may just get their man out onto the track.
01:13:56But they're going to be virtually side by side,
01:13:58unless there's some kind of drama on Michael's in-lap or during the pit stop.
01:14:02And that would be with 13.13 laps still to go.
01:14:07Now, keep it calm. Michael Schumacher out of the spoon.
01:14:12Is he going to cut up to the car in front of him quickly enough for it to impede his progress?
01:14:18Round the hairpin behind him goes the McLaren.
01:14:21Here comes the race leader.
01:14:23We know that the Ferrari mechanics are out in the pit lane.
01:14:26I'm looking through the window at them as I talk to you.
01:14:29Down to the chicane.
01:14:31This is going to be the crucial stop that decides it.
01:14:34And he dodges a spun Benetton, that of Alex Wurz down in 18th position.
01:14:41As the two Jaguars go by.
01:14:43Now, here's the pit stop, James.
01:14:45Yes, he's made half a second on Häkkinen on this lap.
01:14:48He had a 26.8 second lead.
01:14:51I think it's going to be enough, guys.
01:14:53If this stop is anything, yes, it's definitely going to be enough.
01:14:56He's going to do it.
01:14:57I think you're right.
01:14:58Häkkinen has not gone through.
01:15:00There is the McLaren going through the chicane.
01:15:03Look for it as here comes Michael Schumacher,
01:15:06rejoining the track, and he's ahead of Michael Häkkinen.
01:15:11The horns blow, because they're as keen on Ferrari in Japan
01:15:15as they are in most other countries.
01:15:18There is a sea of Ferrari flags and red hats here.
01:15:22They want Schumacher to win.
01:15:24He's now on lap 41 out of 53,
01:15:27looking good for his eighth win of the year,
01:15:31which would make him world champion for the third time.
01:15:35But let's not count any Ferrari chickens before they are hatched.
01:15:39There are still 12 laps to go.
01:15:42So, two poor laps by Micah Häkkinen on the damp track,
01:15:45and a stunning pit stop by the Ferrari team
01:15:48has put Michael Schumacher into the lead of this race
01:15:51for the first time this afternoon.
01:15:53Schumacher leads Häkkinen.
01:15:55Coulthard, 40 seconds down the road.
01:15:57Barrichello, fourth.
01:15:59Jenson Button still in fifth.
01:16:01Ralf Schumacher in sixth.
01:16:03We're going to take a short break. Be back.
01:16:33We'll be right back.
01:17:03CAR ALARM BLARES
01:17:33CAR ALARM BLARES
01:18:04CAR ALARM BLARES
01:18:18Out of the Japanese Grand Prix and sixth position,
01:18:22Jacques Villeneuve moves up in the BAR
01:18:25for that single point which could take the BAR team
01:18:28ahead of Jordan in the Constructors' Championship.
01:18:31This is what happened.
01:18:33Yes, he put a wheel up on the white line,
01:18:35ran in too deep into one,
01:18:37and spins off before ever arriving into two.
01:18:40Very close up behind the Minardi,
01:18:42and another mistake there for Ralf Schumacher.
01:18:45Not been one of his greatest seasons by any stretch,
01:18:48and tried to gently pull away in that gravel trap,
01:18:51but it dug in, the floor pan bottoms out, and that's it.
01:18:54You just can't find any traction.
01:18:56Michael Schumacher now still with a 4.1-second lead
01:18:59last time around.
01:19:01Barrichello now levelling out with Coulthard,
01:19:04ten seconds behind Coulthard in third place.
01:19:07Is Coulthard, Barrichello, fourth,
01:19:09Button now a clear fifth
01:19:11now that Schumacher is in the boondocks,
01:19:14and Villeneuve, as you say, moving up into the final points,
01:19:17and the two Jaguars, seventh and eighth.
01:19:19And one of the German journalists has done
01:19:21a very detailed examination of driver mistakes this season.
01:19:25And you know who's made the least mistakes of all?
01:19:28The man you're looking at, Jenson Button,
01:19:30who is in fifth position.
01:19:32James, over to you.
01:19:34Murray, I've felt some raw emotions
01:19:36in the last ten years of being in Ferrari Garage.
01:19:38They were also rounds five or six years ago.
01:19:40The mechanics are in tears here, some of them.
01:19:42They really don't know what to do with themselves.
01:19:44It's absolute agony.
01:19:45They're fidgeting, they can't watch the television,
01:19:47they don't know what to do.
01:19:48It's the fourth straight year they've come
01:19:50looking for a championship and been within sight of it.
01:19:52It might be another earthquake, guys,
01:19:54but I could swear this whole garage is shaking.
01:19:57Well, that may well be so,
01:20:00but if Michael Schumacher wins this race
01:20:02and the championship, and we've still got nine laps to go,
01:20:05it will be no more than he deserves.
01:20:08In 1995, he made a brave policy decision
01:20:12to leave Benetton as double world champion
01:20:15and join the broken Ferrari team to try to revive it.
01:20:19That was going to be his challenge.
01:20:21Well, he didn't do so in 96.
01:20:23He had a terrible 97 season
01:20:25when he was excluded from the world championship
01:20:28after having a rather rambunctious coming together
01:20:31with Jacques Villeneuve in the last race of the year at Haren.
01:20:35He didn't win it in 98 when Häkkinen stole it from him
01:20:39at this, the last race of the year at Suzuka.
01:20:42He didn't win it in 1999
01:20:44when Häkkinen did exactly the same thing,
01:20:46from second on the grid in the case of the Fin.
01:20:49But now Michael Schumacher is not only leading the race
01:20:53on lap 44 out of 53,
01:20:55but he is increasing his lead over the man you're looking at,
01:20:59Micah Häkkinen.
01:21:00As you can see, the gap now is 4.7 seconds.
01:21:04David Coulthard is third, as he has been for the whole race.
01:21:08Rubens Barrichello, who I frankly admit
01:21:11has disappointed me in this race,
01:21:13is the second Ferrari.
01:21:15And Ferrari are looking good in the constructors' championship
01:21:18as they are in the drivers' championship
01:21:21because both their cars are in the top four,
01:21:23as are both for McLaren's.
01:21:25Jenson Button looks like scoring another two world championship points
01:21:29to add to the ten that he has already
01:21:32with a possible fifth place for Williams.
01:21:35He's the star of this year in many, many ways.
01:21:39And Jacques Villeneuve on one world championship point for BAR
01:21:44to move them ahead of George.
01:21:45But what a race it's been for Michael Schumacher.
01:21:48Well, he kept his head, didn't he, in the early part
01:21:50and just kept attacking Micah to be sure
01:21:53he was somewhere near, there or thereabouts,
01:21:56so that with that extra fuel they put on board,
01:21:59McLaren, I think, were a touch conservative
01:22:02on how much fuel they gave Micah in that first stop
01:22:05because I think they had a bit more of a lead than that.
01:22:08They wanted to ensure track position
01:22:10and it's cost them in the end.
01:22:11It enabled Michael to have those two extra laps before coming in,
01:22:15a slightly shorter fill, and just to really help it along,
01:22:18it was spitting with rain and Micah was not lapping that fast.
01:22:22We're going to take a short break.
01:22:48Thank you.
01:23:182A 3.30 x (-0.006 Loss 0-0.008 Invalid 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.
01:23:48Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0
01:24:18Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006 Lose 0-0.006
01:24:38Platt.
01:24:3947 coming up out of 53 at Suzuka.
01:24:45And if you root for McLaren, get on your knees and pray.
01:24:50If you root for Ferrari, do the same thing.
01:24:53Because Michael Schumacher is leading Mika Häkkinen by a decreased gap.
01:24:58It's come down from 5 seconds to 4.3 seconds.
01:25:03Mika Häkkinen's last lap was 4 tenths of a second faster than Michael Schumacher.
01:25:09Big Fin can only attack now. Pro caution for the wins.
01:25:13Really go for it. He's got nothing to lose.
01:25:16Michael Schumacher coming up to lap the Jaguar in front of him,
01:25:20which will hopefully move over and let him through.
01:25:24It looks like Eddie Irvine's car, the man who was his teammate last year.
01:25:29But Michael Schumacher, at the moment, at the rate they are going,
01:25:34and the number of laps they've got, I say, but...
01:25:37Ah, he moves through on the inside of the hatchet.
01:25:40Yes, and the reason he's moving past the Jaguars again,
01:25:43of course, is he's made a pit stop since he passed them last time around,
01:25:46where you lose about 25 seconds.
01:25:49So Michael having to re-pass both Jaguars, the first one of them down,
01:25:53and Johnny Herbert about 3 seconds down the road.
01:25:57And there's the sign that says it all.
01:26:00It's lap 6 to go, plus 4.3 seconds from Hackey,
01:26:04as they put it, to shorten it up on the board.
01:26:06And Michael now looking supremely confident.
01:26:11Six laps to go at the end of this race.
01:26:15A Japanese Grand Prix which has been full of excitement
01:26:19and nail-biting interest all the way through.
01:26:24Michael Schumacher has never given up his superiority
01:26:29in slightly declining weather conditions, as shown.
01:26:324.3 seconds was the gap.
01:26:35He's got one Jaguar between himself and Micah Hackenham.
01:26:384.2 seconds is the gap now. He's on his 48th lap.
01:26:44With just those few 3.6 miles between himself
01:26:49and his third World Championship to join those great champions of the past
01:26:53I was talking about earlier on.
01:26:55They need to keep their wits about them.
01:26:57They're now running 5 seconds slower than they were earlier in the race.
01:27:00That tells you just how damp the racetrack is.
01:27:03Remember, Michael Schumacher spun off leading in Indianapolis
01:27:06through lack of attention.
01:27:08And look, you can see the rain falling now
01:27:10against the back of Ron Dennis' black jacket there.
01:27:13And Michael will have to be super, super cautious.
01:27:17Barrichello made a mistake last time around.
01:27:19He slipped back slightly from Coulthard.
01:27:21I don't know what their problems are back there.
01:27:23But Barrichello was certainly beginning to threaten.
01:27:26And that would give Ferrari an even bigger stranglehold
01:27:29on the Manufacturer's title.
01:27:31And it looks like they're in with a great chance of the Driver's title.
01:27:34As Johnny Herbert moved over and courteously let Michael Schumacher through.
01:27:40So, the German has now got not one, but two Jaguars
01:27:45between himself and Micah Hakkanen.
01:27:47I wouldn't expect Irvine and Herbert to be any less considerate of Micah Hakkanen
01:27:52trying to pass them than they were of Michael Schumacher.
01:27:55But the fact is, he's got to do it.
01:27:57And he might be trying to do so at the wrong place.
01:28:01And the reason he can attack 130R like that
01:28:04with an apparently slightly damp track
01:28:06is because at that kind of speed,
01:28:07you've got much more downforce than the car weighs.
01:28:10You could drive it along the ceiling at that speed.
01:28:13It's got so much downforce.
01:28:15And it's in the slower corners or the medium-speed corners
01:28:18where you have to be extra careful.
01:28:19As Irvine in the background there moves out of the way for Micah Hakkanen.
01:28:23The gap remains 4.4 seconds.
01:28:26And Barrichello is now falling away from Coulthard.
01:28:29But all three of them now, Coulthard, Barrichello and Button,
01:28:32lapping very, very slowly.
01:28:34And so is Villeneuve.
01:28:35I don't know what they're finding around the other side of the track
01:28:38that the two leaders are not.
01:28:39Well, once again, we're seeing that McLaren and Ferrari,
01:28:43who between them have scored 73% of the World Championship points
01:28:49which are available so far, are dominating the race.
01:28:52Their four drivers are in the first four places.
01:28:55Which means to say that, in effect, all the rest of them,
01:28:58the other 18 drivers, are trying to win a race by taking fifth position.
01:29:03And the man who's doing that is Jenson Button.
01:29:06And this is the first time he's driven at Suzuka, which is a driver's circuit.
01:29:11So he's effectively leading Division 2, if you like.
01:29:15And he's leading Division 2 by a commanding 20 seconds from Jacques Villeneuve in the BAR.
01:29:22Yet again, the Canadian is going to be in the points.
01:29:26He's had a lot of fourth places this year, and he's had fifth positions as well.
01:29:30He's going to have a sixth position in this race
01:29:33as Michael Schumacher comes round the 130R, down to the chicane again
01:29:38to complete his 49th lap.
01:29:42Well, it would have to rain quite hard for them to be worth coming in for a set of wets.
01:29:46Certainly not looking like that at the moment.
01:29:48But I think with the time left, the laps available,
01:29:51they just have to somehow scamper around.
01:29:54But if it really bucketed down, it would be worth coming in for a set of wets.
01:29:57Otherwise, you can fall off the road so easily.
01:30:00Junaid there, I would think he's broken down rather than anything else.
01:30:03And Michael Schumacher in to turn one for the 50th lap.
01:30:08Lapping four and a half seconds slower than the fastest lap we've had so far.
01:30:12That of Mikko Häkkinen on lap 26.
01:30:15One minute 39.2.
01:30:18And that is some two seconds faster than the fastest lap we had last year.
01:30:25Let me just remind you how Michael Schumacher got in the lead of this race.
01:30:29Poor start. Mikko Häkkinen took the lead,
01:30:31despite Schumacher trying to squeeze him out down the right-hand side of the road.
01:30:36And then he just stayed with him. Stayed within a couple of seconds.
01:30:39Looks like Häkkinen had a bit more pace in the beginning.
01:30:41And at the first of their two scheduled stops, Ferrari put in more fuel.
01:30:46Schumacher could then run two laps further.
01:30:49And in those two laps, he was faster than Mikko Häkkinen.
01:30:52He came in 0.9 behind Häkkinen.
01:30:55And he made up nearly five seconds
01:30:57because of a great stop by the Ferrari team.
01:31:006.0 seconds.
01:31:01And he was quicker in those two crucial laps
01:31:05by another four seconds over Mikko Häkkinen.
01:31:08And that is why the Scarlet Ferrari is running at the front of the field now
01:31:12by 5.8 seconds.
01:31:13It seems like Häkkinen has probably given up the chase.
01:31:17And Michael Schumacher would be adding another ten points
01:31:21to the second highest total in the history of Formula 1 that he already has.
01:31:26He's got 660 points now to Alain Prost.
01:31:30798.
01:31:32Just one and a half points off the magic 800.
01:31:36An incredible figure.
01:31:38And Michael Schumacher could beat that if he goes on to continue in Formula 1.
01:31:42As he has said he would do.
01:31:44Over the line again.
01:31:46Lap 51 is the one that Michael Schumacher is on now.
01:31:51Three laps, including the one that he is on.
01:31:545.6 seconds.
01:31:56Mikko Häkkinen must just be hoping for the best now.
01:32:00And the best, as far as he's concerned,
01:32:02would be that Michael Schumacher
01:32:05strikes one of several possible alternatives.
01:32:07Traffic, which slows him up, which is not likely.
01:32:10Or that he has some kind of a defect.
01:32:12Michael barely on the throttle there through Turn 6, Murray.
01:32:15Absolutely amazing. Just really, just coasting on that throttle.
01:32:18The track must be very, very slippery now.
01:32:21Doesn't look it from here, does it?
01:32:22But Michael just squeezing the throttle.
01:32:25And look, fighting the car through the exit there of Degner 2.
01:32:29That track is much more treacherous than it looks.
01:32:31Yeah, he is acknowledged to be, as he has proved many, many times,
01:32:36to be the Rainmaster.
01:32:38Who will ever forget his victory at Spain for Ferrari?
01:32:41His victory at Monaco for Ferrari in appalling weather conditions.
01:32:47If anybody can find traction in greasy or wet conditions,
01:32:51it's going to be Michael Schumacher.
01:32:53He's on his 51st lap now.
01:32:56Coming towards the end of...
01:32:59Coming up to the 130R and the chicane again
01:33:02to complete 51 laps,
01:33:04to start his 52nd and last lap.
01:33:08But one... Oh!
01:33:10That's how slippery it's getting.
01:33:12It's so difficult to hear the throttle
01:33:13because the Japanese director leaves another system open somewhere.
01:33:17You can hear all sorts of engine noises.
01:33:18But Michael Schumacher there getting a nasty wobble on the exit of 130R.
01:33:23And that will surprise him.
01:33:24That will give him a bit of a wake-up call too
01:33:26because you would not normally expect the car to be out of shape there.
01:33:29Remember how he had that wake-up call at Indianapolis
01:33:33when he actually spun as he was coming in the closing laps of the race
01:33:38and managed to recover it.
01:33:39James, what's your news?
01:33:40Murray, it's unbelievable.
01:33:42The Ferrari mechanics have got their hands together as if they're in prayer.
01:33:45They're two laps away from the dream.
01:33:46And the man who's most uncomfortable of all is Willy Weber,
01:33:49Michael Schumacher's manager.
01:33:50Not only does he stand to make hundreds of millions of dollars
01:33:53if this comes off,
01:33:54I'm told, of course, two times he made some Michael Schumacher World Champion caps
01:33:58and both times Schumacher failed to win the championship.
01:34:01This time I just asked him, where are the caps, Willy?
01:34:03He said, this year we didn't make no caps.
01:34:05Well, let me tell you this.
01:34:06If Michael Schumacher wins this race,
01:34:09and he's not far off starting his last lap,
01:34:12it will not just be down to Michael Schumacher.
01:34:14Formula One is a team event.
01:34:17It will be down to a lot of other people.
01:34:19Luca de Montezemolo, the boss of Ferrari,
01:34:22who has supported them through thick and thin.
01:34:24Jean Tout, the little Frenchman, who is the team manager,
01:34:28who has led the Ferrari revival.
01:34:30Ross Brawn, the English technical director,
01:34:33who has done a fantastic job
01:34:36in terms of not only developing the cars, but race strategies.
01:34:40And by no means least, South Africa's Rory Byrne,
01:34:43who sits patiently in Italy, and we very seldom see him at races.
01:34:48The man who designed the winning Benettons for Michael Schumacher
01:34:52when he was double World Champion,
01:34:54and has now designed the winning Ferraris.
01:34:57The wind tunnel experts at Marinello.
01:35:00All the people in Italy who produce these magnificent motor cars.
01:35:04And Formula One will rejoice,
01:35:06the world will rejoice if Ferrari wins it.
01:35:09They richly deserve to.
01:35:11I can see a national holiday in Italy coming up
01:35:13at the end of this flying lap,
01:35:15if Michael Schumacher keeps all pointing in the right direction.
01:35:19And certainly no sign of any further heavier rain.
01:35:23So Michael then with about 3.5 miles to go
01:35:26to his third Formula One World Championship.
01:35:29Can they believe it?
01:35:30Out come the Ferrari mechanics
01:35:33to greet home their ultimate hero, Michael Schumacher.
01:35:38The Japanese are following the Germans here with their air horns
01:35:43and giving it lots and lots of welly, the maximum amount of noise.
01:35:48You are about to see Germany's Michael Schumacher
01:35:52in Italy's Ferrari become World Champion.
01:35:55Hakanen's just done the fastest first sector of the race.
01:35:59Hakanen, the gap down to 4.2.
01:36:01He will not let Michael Schumacher relax and enjoy.
01:36:04Look, in the background there, there's not enough time for him to do anything,
01:36:07but he's going to keep Michael honest all the way to the chequered flag.
01:36:11Michael's starting to coast because he does not want to push his luck
01:36:14on this tricky, slimy racetrack.
01:36:17And Hakanen's saying, right, I'm going to make you really work
01:36:20all the way to the line.
01:36:22But I don't think Hakanen has enough time left.
01:36:24Clearly, he does not have enough time left
01:36:26to spoil Michael Schumacher and Ferrari's party.
01:36:29But it shows what a worthy double World Champion Mika Hakanen is.
01:36:34He refuses to give up.
01:36:35A magnificent race for Hakanen, a superb race for McLaren,
01:36:40but a brilliant race for Michael Schumacher,
01:36:44who exits the chicane for the 53rd and last time
01:36:48to win the 2000 Japanese Grand Prix
01:36:51and the World Championship for the third time
01:36:55to give Ferrari and Italy their dream.
01:36:58And look, look, he knows it.
01:37:01He is absolutely beside himself with joy.
01:37:05He contained himself.
01:37:06You heard Martin say how nervous he was at the beginning of the race.
01:37:10But his ultimate dream has been succeeded.
01:37:14He can now let the emotion flood.
01:37:17And when he gets out of this car, he will be out of the cockpit,
01:37:22over to the mechanics to greet them and thank them for everything they've done.
01:37:27Well, the floodgates have broken for Ferrari.
01:37:30It's a well-deserved victory.
01:37:33It would have been no less well-deserved if McLaren had won it,
01:37:37because they try just as hard as do all the other Formula 1 teams.
01:37:42But in the end, somebody has to be first and somebody has to be second.
01:37:48This year, it was Schumacher and Ferrari.
01:37:51This year, it was Hakkinen and McLaren.
01:37:55So, a new name amongst those three-times World Champion winners.
01:38:01Fangio won it five times.
01:38:03Prost won it four times.
01:38:05But Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna won it.
01:38:11And now Michael Schumacher, three-times World Champion.
01:38:14We're leaving, but we will be back for the podium.
01:38:51FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:38:54FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:38:57FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:01FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:04FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:07FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:10FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:13FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:17FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:20FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:23FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:26FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:29FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:32FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:36FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:39FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:42FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:45FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:48FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:51FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:55FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:39:58FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:01FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:04FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:07FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:11FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:14FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:17FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:20FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:23FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:26FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:30FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:33FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:36FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:39FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:42FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:45FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:49FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:52FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:55FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:40:58FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:41:01FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:41:05FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:41:08FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:41:11FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:41:14FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:41:17FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:41:20FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:41:24FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:41:27FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:41:30FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:41:33FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:41:36FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:41:40FANGIO WON IT FIVE TIMES WORLD CHAMPION
01:41:43MICHAAL!
01:41:52Michaal, Michaal ...
01:42:13Thank you.
01:42:14Thank you.
01:42:15Thank you.
01:42:16Thank you.
01:42:17Thank you.
01:42:18Thank you.
01:42:19Thank you.
01:42:20Thank you.
01:42:21Thank you.
01:42:22Thank you.
01:42:23Thank you.
01:42:24Thank you.
01:42:25Thank you.
01:42:26Thank you.
01:42:27Thank you.
01:42:28Thank you.
01:42:29Thank you.
01:42:30Thank you.
01:42:31Thank you.
01:42:32Thank you.
01:42:33Thank you.
01:42:34Thank you.
01:42:35Thank you.
01:42:36Thank you.
01:42:37Thank you.
01:42:38Thank you.
01:42:39Thank you.
01:42:40Thank you.
01:42:41Thank you.
01:42:42Thank you.
01:42:43Thank you.
01:42:44Thank you.
01:42:45Thank you.
01:42:46Thank you.
01:42:47Thank you.
01:42:48Thank you.
01:42:49Thank you.
01:42:50Thank you.
01:42:51Thank you.
01:42:52Thank you.
01:42:53Thank you.
01:42:54Thank you.
01:42:55Thank you.
01:42:56Thank you.
01:42:57Thank you.
01:42:58Thank you.
01:42:59Thank you.
01:43:00Thank you.
01:43:01Thank you.
01:43:02Thank you.
01:43:03Thank you.
01:43:04Thank you.
01:43:05Thank you.
01:43:06Thank you.
01:43:07Thank you.
01:43:08Thank you.
01:43:09Thank you.
01:43:10Thank you.
01:43:11Thank you.
01:43:12Thank you.
01:43:13Thank you.
01:43:14Thank you.
01:43:15Thank you.
01:43:16Thank you.
01:43:17Thank you.
01:43:18Thank you.
01:43:19Thank you.
01:43:20Thank you.
01:43:21Thank you.
01:43:22Thank you.
01:43:23Thank you.
01:43:24Thank you.
01:43:25Thank you.
01:43:26Thank you.
01:43:27Thank you.
01:43:28Thank you.
01:43:29Thank you.
01:43:30Thank you.
01:43:31Thank you.
01:43:32Thank you.
01:43:33Thank you.
01:43:34Thank you.
01:43:35Thank you.
01:43:36Thank you.
01:43:37Thank you.
01:43:38Thank you.
01:43:39Thank you.
01:43:40Thank you.
01:43:41Thank you.
01:43:42Thank you.
01:43:43Thank you.
01:43:44Thank you.
01:43:45Thank you.
01:43:46Thank you.
01:43:47Thank you.
01:43:48Thank you.
01:43:49Thank you.
01:43:50Thank you.
01:43:51Thank you.
01:43:52Thank you.
01:43:53Thank you.
01:43:54Thank you.
01:43:55Thank you.
01:43:56Thank you.
01:43:57Thank you.
01:43:58Thank you.
01:43:59Thank you.
01:44:00Thank you.
01:44:01Thank you.
01:44:02Thank you.
01:44:03Thank you.
01:44:04Thank you.
01:44:05Thank you.
01:44:06Thank you.
01:44:07Thank you.
01:44:08Thank you.
01:44:09Thank you.
01:44:10Thank you.
01:44:11Thank you.
01:44:12Thank you.
01:44:13Thank you.
01:44:14Thank you.
01:44:15Thank you.
01:44:16Thank you.
01:44:17Thank you.
01:44:18Thank you.
01:44:19Thank you.
01:44:20Thank you.
01:44:21Thank you.
01:44:22Thank you.
01:44:23Thank you.
01:44:24Thank you.
01:44:25Thank you.
01:44:26Thank you.
01:44:27Thank you.
01:44:28Thank you.
01:44:29Thank you.
01:44:30Thank you.
01:44:31Thank you.
01:44:32Thank you.
01:44:33Thank you.
01:44:34Thank you.
01:44:35Thank you.
01:44:36Thank you.
01:44:37Thank you.
01:44:38Thank you.
01:44:39Thank you.
01:44:40Thank you.
01:44:41Thank you.
01:44:42Thank you.
01:44:43Thank you.
01:44:44Thank you.
01:44:45Thank you.
01:44:46Thank you.
01:44:47Thank you.
01:44:48Thank you.
01:44:49Thank you.
01:44:50Thank you.
01:44:51Thank you.
01:44:52Thank you.
01:44:53Thank you.
01:44:54Thank you.
01:44:55Thank you.
01:44:56Thank you.
01:44:57Thank you.
01:44:58Thank you.
01:44:59Thank you.
01:45:00Thank you.
01:45:01Thank you.
01:45:02Thank you.
01:45:03Thank you.
01:45:04Thank you.
01:45:05Thank you.
01:45:06Thank you.
01:45:07Thank you.
01:45:08Thank you.
01:45:09Thank you.
01:45:10Thank you.
01:45:11Thank you.
01:45:12Thank you.
01:45:13Thank you.
01:45:14Thank you.
01:45:15Thank you.
01:45:16Thank you.
01:45:17Thank you.
01:45:18Thank you.
01:45:19Thank you.
01:45:20Thank you.
01:45:21Thank you.
01:45:22Thank you.
01:45:23Thank you.
01:45:24Thank you.
01:45:25Thank you.
01:45:26Thank you.
01:45:27Thank you.
01:45:28Thank you.
01:45:29Thank you.
01:45:30Thank you.
01:45:31Thank you.
01:45:32Thank you.
01:45:33Thank you.
01:45:34Thank you.
01:45:35Thank you.
01:45:36Thank you.
01:45:37Thank you.
01:45:38Thank you.
01:45:39Thank you.
01:45:40Thank you.
01:45:41Thank you.
01:45:42Thank you.
01:45:43Thank you.
01:45:44Thank you.
01:45:45Thank you.
01:45:46Thank you.
01:45:47Thank you.
01:45:48Thank you.
01:45:49Thank you.
01:45:50Thank you.
01:45:51Thank you.
01:45:52Thank you.
01:45:53Thank you.
01:45:54Thank you.
01:45:55Thank you.
01:45:56Thank you.
01:45:57Thank you.
01:45:58Thank you.
01:45:59Thank you.
01:46:00Thank you.
01:46:01Thank you.
01:46:02Thank you.
01:46:03Thank you.
01:46:04Thank you.
01:46:05Thank you.
01:46:06Thank you.
01:46:07Thank you.
01:46:08Thank you.
01:46:09Thank you.
01:46:10Thank you.
01:46:11Thank you.
01:46:12Thank you.
01:46:13Thank you.
01:46:14Thank you.
01:46:15Thank you.
01:46:16Thank you.
01:46:17Thank you.
01:46:18Thank you.
01:46:19Thank you.
01:46:20Thank you.
01:46:21Thank you.
01:46:22Thank you.
01:46:23Thank you.
01:46:24Thank you.
01:46:25Thank you.
01:46:26Thank you.
01:46:27Thank you.
01:46:28Thank you.
01:46:29Thank you.
01:46:30Thank you.
01:46:31Thank you.
01:46:32Thank you.
01:46:33Thank you.
01:46:34Thank you.
01:46:35Thank you.
01:46:36Thank you.
01:46:37Thank you.
01:46:38Thank you.
01:46:39Thank you.
01:46:40Thank you.
01:46:41Thank you.
01:46:42Thank you.
01:46:43Thank you.
01:46:44Thank you.
01:46:45Thank you.
01:46:46Thank you.
01:46:47Thank you.
01:46:48Thank you.
01:46:49Thank you.
01:46:50Thank you.
01:46:51Thank you.
01:46:52Thank you.
01:46:53Thank you.
01:46:54Thank you.
01:46:55Thank you.
01:46:56Thank you.
01:46:57Thank you.
01:46:58Thank you.
01:46:59Thank you.
01:47:00Thank you.
01:47:01Thank you.
01:47:02Thank you.
01:47:03Thank you.
01:47:04Thank you.
01:47:05Thank you.
01:47:06Thank you.
01:47:07Thank you.
01:47:08Thank you.
01:47:09Thank you.
01:47:10Thank you.
01:47:11Thank you.
01:47:12Thank you.
01:47:13Thank you.
01:47:14Thank you.
01:47:15Thank you.
01:47:16Thank you.
01:47:17Thank you.
01:47:18Thank you.
01:47:19Thank you.
01:47:20Thank you.
01:47:21Thank you.
01:47:22Thank you.
01:47:23Thank you.
01:47:24Thank you.
01:47:25Thank you.
01:47:26Thank you.
01:47:27Thank you.
01:47:28Thank you.
01:47:29Thank you.
01:47:30Thank you.
01:47:31Thank you.
01:47:32Thank you.
01:47:33Thank you.
01:47:34Thank you.
01:47:35Thank you.
01:47:36Thank you.
01:47:37Thank you.
01:47:38Thank you.
01:47:39Thank you.
01:47:40Thank you.
01:47:41Thank you.
01:47:42Thank you.
01:47:43Thank you.
01:47:44Thank you.
01:47:45Thank you.
01:47:46Thank you.
01:47:47Thank you.
01:47:48Thank you.
01:47:49Thank you.
01:47:50Thank you.
01:47:51Thank you.
01:47:52Thank you.
01:47:53Thank you.
01:47:54Thank you.
01:47:55Thank you.
01:47:56Thank you.
01:47:57Thank you.
01:47:58Thank you.
01:47:59Thank you.
01:48:00Thank you.
01:48:01Thank you.
01:48:02Thank you.
01:48:03Thank you.
01:48:04Thank you.
01:48:05Thank you.
01:48:06Thank you.
01:48:07Thank you.
01:48:08Thank you.
01:48:09Thank you.
01:48:10Thank you.
01:48:11Thank you.
01:48:12Thank you.
01:48:13Thank you.
01:48:14Thank you.
01:48:15Thank you.
01:48:16Thank you.
01:48:17Thank you.
01:48:18Thank you.
01:48:19Thank you.
01:48:20Thank you.
01:48:21Thank you.
01:48:22Thank you.
01:48:23Thank you.
01:48:24Thank you.
01:48:25Thank you.
01:48:26Thank you.
01:48:27Thank you.
01:48:28Thank you.
01:48:29Thank you.
01:48:30Thank you.
01:48:31Thank you.
01:48:32Thank you.
01:48:33Thank you.
01:48:34Thank you.
01:48:35Thank you.
01:48:36Thank you.
01:48:37Thank you.
01:48:38Thank you.
01:48:39Thank you.
01:48:40Thank you.
01:48:41Thank you.
01:48:42Thank you.
01:48:43Thank you.
01:48:44Thank you.
01:48:45Thank you.
01:48:46Thank you.
01:48:47Thank you.
01:48:48Thank you.
01:48:49Thank you.
01:48:50Thank you.
01:48:51Thank you.
01:48:52Thank you.
01:48:53Thank you.
01:48:54Thank you.
01:48:55Thank you.
01:48:56Thank you.
01:48:57Thank you.
01:48:58Thank you.
01:48:59Thank you.
01:49:00Thank you.
01:49:01Thank you.
01:49:02Thank you.
01:49:03Thank you.
01:49:04Thank you.
01:49:05Thank you.
01:49:06Thank you.
01:49:07Thank you.
01:49:08Thank you.
01:49:09Thank you.
01:49:10Thank you.
01:49:11Thank you.
01:49:12Thank you.
01:49:13Thank you.
01:49:14Thank you.
01:49:15Thank you.
01:49:16Thank you.
01:49:17Thank you.
01:49:18Thank you.
01:49:19Thank you.
01:49:20Thank you.
01:49:21Thank you.
01:49:22Thank you.
01:49:23Thank you.
01:49:24Thank you.
01:49:25Thank you.
01:49:26Thank you.
01:49:27Thank you.
01:49:28Thank you.
01:49:29Thank you.
01:49:30Thank you.
01:49:31Thank you.
01:49:32Thank you.
01:49:33Thank you.
01:49:34Thank you.
01:49:35Thank you.
01:49:36Thank you.
01:49:37Thank you.
01:49:38Thank you.
01:49:39Thank you.
01:49:40Thank you.
01:49:41Thank you.
01:49:42Thank you.
01:49:43Thank you.
01:49:44Thank you.
01:49:45Thank you.
01:49:46Thank you.
01:49:47Thank you.
01:49:48Thank you.
01:49:49Thank you.
01:49:50Thank you.
01:49:51Thank you.
01:49:52Thank you.
01:49:53Thank you.
01:49:54Thank you.
01:49:55Thank you.
01:49:56Thank you.
01:49:57Thank you.
01:49:58Thank you.
01:49:59Thank you.
01:50:00Thank you.
01:50:01Thank you.
01:50:02Thank you.
01:50:03Thank you.
01:50:04Thank you.
01:50:05Thank you.
01:50:06Thank you.
01:50:07Thank you.
01:50:08Thank you.
01:50:09Thank you.
01:50:10Thank you.
01:50:11Thank you.
01:50:12Thank you.
01:50:13Thank you.
01:50:14Thank you.
01:50:15Thank you.
01:50:16Thank you.
01:50:17Thank you.
01:50:18Thank you.
01:50:19Thank you.
01:50:20Thank you.
01:50:21Thank you.
01:50:22Thank you.
01:50:23Thank you.
01:50:24Thank you.
01:50:25Thank you.
01:50:26Thank you.
01:50:27Thank you.
01:50:28Thank you.
01:50:29Thank you.
01:50:30Thank you.
01:50:31Thank you.
01:50:32Thank you.
01:50:33Thank you.
01:50:34Thank you.
01:50:35Thank you.
01:50:36Thank you.
01:50:37Thank you.
01:50:38Thank you.
01:50:39Thank you.
01:50:40Thank you.
01:50:41Thank you.
01:50:42Thank you.
01:50:43Thank you.
01:50:44Thank you.
01:50:45Thank you.
01:50:46Thank you.
01:50:47Thank you.
01:50:48Thank you.
01:50:49Thank you.
01:50:50Thank you.
01:50:51Thank you.
01:50:52Thank you.
01:50:53Thank you.
01:50:54Thank you.
01:50:55Thank you.
01:50:56Thank you.
01:50:57Thank you.
01:50:58Thank you.
01:50:59Thank you.
01:51:00Thank you.
01:51:01Thank you.
01:51:02Thank you.
01:51:03Thank you.
01:51:04Thank you.
01:51:05Thank you.
01:51:06Thank you.
01:51:07Thank you.
01:51:08Thank you.
01:51:09Thank you.
01:51:10Thank you.
01:51:11Thank you.
01:51:12Thank you.
01:51:13Thank you.
01:51:14Thank you.
01:51:15Thank you.
01:51:16Thank you.
01:51:17Thank you.
01:51:18Thank you.
01:51:19Thank you.
01:51:20Thank you.
01:51:21Thank you.
01:51:22Thank you.
01:51:23Thank you.
01:51:24Thank you.
01:51:25Thank you.
01:51:26Thank you.
01:51:27Thank you.
01:51:28Thank you.
01:51:29Thank you.
01:51:30Thank you.
01:51:31Thank you.
01:51:32Thank you.
01:51:33Thank you.
01:51:34Thank you.
01:51:35Thank you.
01:51:36Thank you.
01:51:37Thank you.
01:51:38Thank you.
01:51:39Thank you.
01:51:40Thank you.
01:51:41Thank you.
01:51:42Thank you.
01:51:43Thank you.
01:51:44Thank you.
01:51:45Thank you.
01:51:46Thank you.
01:51:47Thank you.
01:51:48Thank you.
01:51:49Thank you.
01:51:50Thank you.
01:51:51Thank you.
01:51:52Thank you.
01:51:53Thank you.
01:51:54Thank you.
01:51:55Thank you.
01:51:56Thank you.
01:51:57Thank you.
01:51:58Thank you.
01:51:59Thank you.
01:52:00Thank you.
01:52:01Thank you.
01:52:02Thank you.
01:52:03Thank you.
01:52:04Thank you.
01:52:05Thank you.
01:52:06Thank you.
01:52:07Thank you.
01:52:08Thank you.
01:52:09Thank you.
01:52:10Thank you.
01:52:11Thank you.
01:52:12Thank you.
01:52:13Thank you.
01:52:14Thank you.
01:52:15Thank you.
01:52:16Thank you.
01:52:17Thank you.
01:52:18Thank you.
01:52:19Thank you.
01:52:20Thank you.
01:52:21Thank you.
01:52:22Thank you.
01:52:23Thank you.
01:52:24Thank you.
01:52:25Thank you.
01:52:26Thank you.
01:52:27Thank you.
01:52:28Thank you.
01:52:29Thank you.
01:52:30Thank you.
01:52:31Thank you.
01:52:32Thank you.
01:52:33Thank you.
01:52:34Thank you.
01:52:35Thank you.
01:52:36Thank you.
01:52:37Thank you.
01:52:38Thank you.
01:52:39Thank you.
01:52:40Thank you.
01:52:41Thank you.
01:52:42Thank you.
01:52:43Thank you.
01:52:44Thank you.
01:52:45Thank you.
01:52:46Thank you.
01:52:47Thank you.
01:52:48Thank you.
01:52:49Thank you.
01:52:50Thank you.
01:52:51Thank you.
01:52:52Thank you.
01:52:53Thank you.
01:52:54Thank you.
01:52:55Thank you.
01:53:05Michael Schumacher, Drivers World Champion Year 2000.
01:53:08How do you feel?
01:53:12Similar to Monza, but don't expect me fall into tears now.
01:53:17Again, it's difficult to find proper words for such feeling.
01:53:25I mean, there was such an outbreak of emotion initially when I crossed the line.
01:53:30I mean, the conditions were difficult today.
01:53:33The rain, no rain, a little bit more.
01:53:37The up-going, the down-going through the season,
01:53:41and then finally achieve it with a victory,
01:53:44the way we did it in a fight until the last corner, thanks to Mika.
01:53:50Could have done it a bit easier for me.
01:53:53It's simply outstanding and no words for it to explain it any better.
01:54:01It's been five years since your second World Championship.
01:54:03Were there periods during that period of time,
01:54:05during that period where you thought it's never going to happen again?
01:54:08No, no, I didn't think it was never going to happen again.
01:54:12But obviously every year it didn't happen.
01:54:15It got longer and longer.
01:54:17And you somehow get more upset that it doesn't work finally,
01:54:23even though we always felt we had an opportunity
01:54:28and then we couldn't use it for many reasons.
01:54:31And finally doing it, I mean, it's simply great.
01:54:37Imagine what is going on right now in Italy.
01:54:41That must be simply amazing.
01:54:44The race turned at the second pit stop
01:54:47and we heard you on the driver waiting, thanking Ross.
01:54:50What was the conversation between you two around that time on the second stop?
01:54:55Basically, as we saw Mika going in for his pit stop,
01:55:00we knew we had a couple more laps to go
01:55:03and we knew these were the crucial lap.
01:55:06The problem was I had traffic
01:55:08and I wouldn't say it was too easy to pass them
01:55:12because it cost me a little bit of time.
01:55:15And then when I entered the pits,
01:55:17there was this Benetton spinning in front of me and moving backwards
01:55:21and I didn't know where he was going to go.
01:55:23So I thought it isn't enough simply because it was spitting off rain
01:55:29and I wasn't really thinking I was going as fast as I should have done.
01:55:34And then I came out and Ross kept me up-to-date saying,
01:55:37it's looking good, it's looking good, it's looking good
01:55:39down the pit lane in 80 km per hour.
01:55:41And he says, I was just waiting for the word,
01:55:43no, it was not looking good enough or things like this
01:55:46because you cannot see where is your competitor.
01:55:49And then he said, it's looking bloody good.
01:55:51And that was obviously an amazing moment.
01:55:55And from that on, I mean, you simply just hope nothing breaks.
01:56:00The rain, which was going on and off again, wasn't helpful
01:56:03because as you're in front, you don't want to make a mistake.
01:56:06If you're behind, you somehow have nothing to lose.
01:56:09You have to keep pushing.
01:56:11And it wasn't the ideal circumstance,
01:56:14but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter whether it's ideal or not.
01:56:17It was enough.
01:56:19Congratulations. Thank you, Michael.
01:56:21Micka, you've been a superb world champion for the last two years,
01:56:24but your reign for now is over. How do you feel?
01:56:27So sad.
01:56:29Anyway, congratulations for Michael anyway, really.
01:56:32It's been a great season, very tough, first of all.
01:56:35It definitely has been very interesting this year,
01:56:43and it has been also ups and downs for us.
01:56:47And on the other hand, I understand
01:56:52it's sometimes some other drivers' turn to win.
01:56:57And to be a good winner, sometimes you have to be a good loser too.
01:57:03It doesn't mean you have to be very happy about it, to be second or lose,
01:57:07but to give enjoyment and pleasure for the driver who has won.
01:57:14And that is Michael at the moment.
01:57:16He's done the best possible job this year.
01:57:19We weren't able to do it, so naturally I feel a bit disappointed,
01:57:24but at the same time I feel I have won two years in a row in 1998-99,
01:57:31so life continues and racing continues.
01:57:35We have to keep fighting, and I'm sure we will see exciting races in the future too.
01:57:40Talking about the races, we said it was the second pit stop where things changed.
01:57:44How did you see it from the McLaren point of view?
01:57:46At the time when I went in the pits for my second stop,
01:57:51everything looked pretty good.
01:57:53The pit stop went fine, the mechanics and the team did fantastic work.
01:57:57I went out on the track and I still realized Michael hasn't stopped,
01:58:02so I automatically realized he has an advantage to push a gap for me.
01:58:08And our gap was anyway, before I pit it, was something like one second or one and a half seconds,
01:58:13so I knew it was going to be very, very tough.
01:58:16So when I went out, I had first of all a little bit of traffic,
01:58:19and for some reason it started raining also at the same time a little bit more,
01:58:25so I was just sliding all over the place, not able to get the grip on the tyres.
01:58:30So that gave the opportunity to Michael to get in front of me in the second stop.
01:58:34And after that it was just trying to keep up and try to go flat out.
01:58:40Even the conditions were difficult, but it did not enough.
01:58:45In the final lap, obviously, Michael probably slowed down and I went over the limit,
01:58:51just trying to catch for the last lap.
01:58:53I got quite close, but it did not enough.
01:58:56Mikko, thank you very much.
01:58:57Thanks.
01:58:58David, I'm afraid we were concentrating on the battle between the top two there.
01:59:01What was your race like?
01:59:03Well, I completely understand.
01:59:05I had a very quiet race from the start.
01:59:11I didn't really have too much of a battle,
01:59:13and it was just a question of trying to keep the car on the track
01:59:16in what were very difficult conditions.
01:59:19Okay.
01:59:22As Michael returns to us.
01:59:23Thank you, David, for that one.
01:59:26You put me off there.
01:59:28Michael, as you said, Italy is already celebrating the first Ferrari World Champion for 21 years, I think.
01:59:33How are you going to celebrate tonight?
01:59:35Yeah, I guess we haven't planned anything,
01:59:37and I ask everyone not to plan anything because I simply feel that it gives us luck.
01:59:43We improvise.