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00:00:00It's the British Grand Prix, we are live from Silverstone, let's join your commentators
00:00:07Martin Brundle and the voice of motor racing, Murray Walker.
00:00:11And a very emotional voice it is at the moment because it's not just for me that this is
00:00:18the big one, of course for the whole of Britain it's the big one, dare I say, for the whole
00:00:24of the world.
00:00:25The World Championship started here at Silverstone in 1950 and there have been some absolutely
00:00:32wonderful races, starting with that first one that was won by the Alfa Romeos, who will
00:00:38ever forget Nigel Mansell's race in 1987 and so many more.
00:00:44But this could top them and it could top them for all sorts of reasons, let us not forget
00:00:49that although Micka Hakkinen is leading the World Championship, Michael Schumacher has
00:00:54won the last two races for Ferrari and he is now only six points behind.
00:01:01The conditions you've heard a lot about, but look at that track, it is glistening there
00:01:08and that means that it is damp.
00:01:10I look up and I see a very heavy lowering sky, it's grey, there's a lot of water up
00:01:17there, the question is, is that water going to come down or not?
00:01:21If it does, they will be changing to rain tyres and look, you saw that shot there, there
00:01:27is a dry line around the track, or a drier line around the track and what's that going
00:01:33to mean to the drivers?
00:01:34Well it means the track is going to be different every lap, every corner will have a slightly
00:01:39more grip next time around and it's always difficult to know exactly where the limit
00:01:43is because you can go and pull out a lead and then if you spin off you go from hero
00:01:48to zero very, very quickly in these conditions.
00:01:51It is windy, there is a certain amount of ambient temperature out there, 22 cars running
00:01:55around those intermediate tyres they've got on, the groove tyres, they lift the water
00:01:59into the air by the bucket load and of course it soon gets dispersed away from the racing
00:02:04line so very quickly their intermediates will be getting overheated because they are designed
00:02:10to run in the cooler conditions of the rain, but they'll be hoping they can get to the
00:02:14first pit stop window, if they are going to two stop in this race, they'll hope they can
00:02:19get to where they would normally make their first stop so they don't waste time changing
00:02:23tyres without taking fuel on board.
00:02:26Well Britain is obviously hoping for a British driver to win this race, if you look at the
00:02:31grid, the chap with the best chance of doing it is David Coulthard, although he's starting
00:02:37off the front row of the grid for only the second time this season, he's starting lower
00:02:42than he started before this year, down in fourth place because he had an engine problem
00:02:46yesterday, wasn't able to get the most performance that he could out of the car.
00:02:51So he's fourth on the grid, Eddie Irvine who I have to tell you I'm expecting to do well
00:02:56in this race, don't ask me why, it's just a hunch, he's fifth on the grid and Micah
00:03:01Hakanen is on the drier side of the track, he's in pole position for the start, that's
00:03:07bad news for Michael Schumacher alongside him, good news for Jacques Villeneuve who
00:03:13is right up there, he's equal the best grid position that Williams have had this year
00:03:18so far, he's third with the much improved Williams, but in warm up this morning he was
00:03:24down in 11th place, they really do not want a wet race, the Williams team.
00:03:29The changes that they've made, there he is, seem to favour a drier setup than a wet one
00:03:35which they will have now, or a semi-wet one, and we're back in the tyre war situation,
00:03:42Goodyear and Bridgestone have got new wet weather tyres, new rain tyres for this track,
00:03:48but I do believe that virtually everybody is going to be starting, if not everybody
00:03:52is going to be starting on intermediate tyres, there you are, you see, Jacques Villeneuve,
00:03:57it's the intermediate Goodyear, it's not the grooved tread for dry conditions, nor
00:04:04is it the Goodyear Aquatro, which is for shifting large quantities of water, so there are going
00:04:10to be really exciting times in this race when they have to come in if it starts to dry out
00:04:16and switch to grooved tyres, or if it starts to rain, switch to rain tyres, and we're soon
00:04:22going to know the answer, because in just a few seconds they will be leaving on the
00:04:27formation lap prior to the 60 lap British Grand Prix.
00:04:31Those intermediates will be preheated to around 40 degrees centigrade, the slick they heat
00:04:36to 80 degrees centigrade, and as I said earlier, this rubber on these tyres are designed to
00:04:40run and give grip at a lower temperature.
00:04:44So look at that drier line on the right, now taking round Silverstone, this is Tops, they
00:04:50go round that in race conditions of about 150 miles an hour, now up to that fabulous
00:04:55complex of corners, Maggots, the left-hander, which leads into the right-left, right-left
00:05:02of Becketts, which they are now, look at the water on the track there, you've got to keep
00:05:06the inside line, then it's out of Chapel, speed building up to 190 miles an hour, as
00:05:13they go down to Stowe Corner in 6th gear, that's Mika Häkkinen leading the parade,
00:05:20Michael Schumacher is behind him, Jacques Villeneuve in the red Williams, and fourth
00:05:24on the track is David Goulthard.
00:05:26Well, as you can see, even their formation lap to the grid before this green flag lap,
00:05:31they've already dried and burned the line in the racetrack, so look, it's virtually
00:05:36bone dry on the way into Club Corner there, so it's going to be very, very early that
00:05:41these tyres are going to be overheating, but it's a question of when they can take
00:05:45the risk to go to those hard, slick, grooved, slick tyres, because a corner like Club, you
00:05:50can be two-thirds of the way around it with apparently very good grip, and just be facing
00:05:55the wrong way as quick as you like on a damp patch, so it's a critical decision made partly
00:06:00by the driver and partly by the team manager.
00:06:03And also, if you think you can get past somebody on this lap and you choose the wrong place
00:06:07to do it and hit a wet patch, you could be history.
00:06:10So, it's from here into the complex, that's the left-hander of Priory, and Brooklands
00:06:15are now into the double right at Luffield, which leads to Woodcote and the grid.
00:06:19Well, the Stuarts, we understand, have chosen to go out on slick.
00:06:23They're taking a flyer on slick tyres.
00:06:25They're towards the back of the grid, not too much to lose.
00:06:28It may be a gamble that they're sitting pretty on in 10 laps from now, or they could
00:06:32be in the wall.
00:06:34Yeah, that really is a gamble, and the Stuarts.
00:06:38Jos Verstappen is down at 15th on the grid, and he's ahead of his teammate, Rubens Barrichello,
00:06:4416th on the grid.
00:06:45It's only Jos Verstappen's second race for Stuart, because he's replaced Jan Magnussen,
00:06:51as we ride with Hans-Harald Frentzen in the Williams.
00:06:56Well, it's a hopeless moment.
00:06:57You're coming around on this Green Flag Formation lap, and you're thinking, I've made the
00:07:02wrong decision.
00:07:02I wish I'd have been on slicks.
00:07:04So much is going through your head, and it's frustrating, because you can change nothing.
00:07:07Your strategy's in place.
00:07:09Just go and drive it.
00:07:10Reminder about this starting situation.
00:07:12The lights, the five red lights, will come on one at a time at second intervals, and
00:07:16then when they are all on, there will be a pre-programmed pause of up to three seconds,
00:07:23and the 60-lap British Grand Prix will be go.
00:07:25One light, two lights, three lights, four lights, five lights.
00:07:32Go!
00:07:33And Silverstone, Häkkinen leads, Schumacher second.
00:07:36Villeneuve is alongside, and coming through on the inside, it's one of the salvos.
00:07:44It looks like Johnny Herbert has come up into fourth place.
00:07:48No, it's Alessi.
00:07:49Alessi with a terrific start, but meantime, Häkkinen can choose the dry line as he goes
00:07:55out of the Becketts Complex and down the hangar straight.
00:07:58Schumacher is behind him, and David Coulthard is in third position.
00:08:04So the first three on the grid are the first three in the race.
00:08:07And sure enough, it's Jean Alessi in fourth position.
00:08:11Heitz-Harald Frentzen is in fifth position, and behind him is Eddie Irvine.
00:08:16Both Williams slow away.
00:08:18Coulthard will be absolutely relieved.
00:08:20He was behind Villeneuve on the grid, of course, and now he's up.
00:08:23This is going to be a three-horse race, judging by the time so far through this Grand Prix
00:08:27weekend, and a big relief for Coulthard.
00:08:29I know he was concerned about getting touched up behind Villeneuve, and the two Williams
00:08:34are back.
00:08:35So a clean start, though, nobody off the road yet.
00:08:37And very, very bad news, indeed, for Eddie Irvine, who started fifth on the grid, and
00:08:43he's down, it looks like, to eighth position at the present moment, as they go round Bridge
00:08:48Corner up to the complex for the first time.
00:08:51The two lefts, and then the two rights, and Michael Schumacher is closing on Micah Häkkinen.
00:08:56He's going to give the Finn a very hard time at the start of the race.
00:09:00Well, this is a whole new experience for all the drivers.
00:09:02They wouldn't have run on the intermediate this morning.
00:09:04It's too wet.
00:09:06So as they're tentatively finding their way around, it's as new to them as it is to us.
00:09:10They've no idea the grip level to expect when they arrive in the braking zone.
00:09:15And look at the way that Häkkinen and Schumacher are pulling away.
00:09:19Already at the end of the first lap, David Coulthard is one and a half seconds down,
00:09:23as Eddie Irvine battles with Alexander Wurz.
00:09:28That's Ralf Schumacher, who's come up through the field from last but one on the grid.
00:09:32Ralf Schumacher has made a good start this time.
00:09:35His brother Michael has made a superb start, and he's coming right up to the gearbox of
00:09:41Micah Häkkinen's McLaren.
00:09:42These are the two men who are first and second in the World Championship.
00:09:46Well, the other time that Schumacher caught Häkkinen this year, he just sailed straight
00:09:50past him.
00:09:50We've yet to see Micah really in a tap-to-tap on that wheel-to-wheel battle, and I'm looking
00:09:55forward to that, because Michael is quite clearly faster at the moment.
00:09:58And hats off to Jean Alési, the little Frenchman who's had so much criticism, but in fact has
00:10:05driven a very consistent two seasons in 97 and 98.
00:10:10He's up there in fourth place, ahead of Villeneuve, who started third on the grid, down to fifth
00:10:16position.
00:10:17Heinz-Harald Frentzen is in sixth place.
00:10:19Damon Hill, who started seventh, he's still seventh.
00:10:22Johnny Herman in the second tower, but is in eighth position.
00:10:25And then is Alexander Voigt, and Eddie Irvine must have some sort of a problem, because
00:10:30he has slipped down from fifth on the grid to tenth in the race.
00:10:34And we're now on lap two, coming up to complete it.
00:10:38Häkkinen making a very good job of the complex, the last three quarters of the lap, and pulling
00:10:42out a bit of breathing space on Michael Schumacher.
00:10:45Obviously those Bridgestones coming up to the operating temperature he's comfortable
00:10:48with, and Coulthard now beginning to close the gap to Schumacher too.
00:10:52Bridgestone leading, Doodya second, Bridgestone third, Doodya fourth, and there's Villeneuve,
00:10:58there is Frentzen.
00:10:59Frentzen is in sixth place.
00:11:01Look for the yellow dots, it's Damon Hill, Micah Häkkinen, obviously the quickest man
00:11:05on the track, by 25.9.
00:11:08You can see the dampness in the air, if you look at the vortices coming off the rear wing
00:11:11as they head down the straight, you'll see it like a grey smoke almost coming off the
00:11:16end of the rear wing tip, you can see it there, and soon you're going to find these drivers
00:11:21moving offline to keep their tyres cool.
00:11:23Very, very soon, we saw a little bit of it on the pit straight already at the end of
00:11:28the second lap.
00:11:29Now they're 11 seconds off the lap record at the present moment, which is held by Michael
00:11:33Schumacher, Ferrari, last year, 124.4.
00:11:38That's a combination of the fact that the track is damp and that they are on intermediate
00:11:42tyres, but as Martin has said, as this track dries out, there's going to come a critical
00:11:47time when someone is going to come in, and then the teams watching the telemetry in their
00:11:52garages, which tells them in three sectors around the lap what those individual sector
00:11:58times are, will spot that someone is going quicker and then they'll all come pouring
00:12:02in.
00:12:03That is provided no more rain comes down, no sign of it at the moment.
00:12:06Now listen to the throttle, he hasn't been waiting a long time, he'll be gentle with
00:12:09it.
00:12:10Squeezing it very, very gently, not lighting up the rear wheels at all.
00:12:14Playing effort, just keep playing on the throttle and waiting, otherwise you'll spin off the
00:12:19road.
00:12:20Seems slow, but there's no option.
00:12:22Out of Woodcote, down the start and finish straight, up to Cox.
00:12:26He's doing some 180 miles an hour as he approaches Cox.
00:12:30Now there's the gap to four for the John Alesi, followed by Villeneuve.
00:12:35Princeton is sixth, there is Damon Hilseth.
00:12:37Eddie Irvine coming up through the field and taking Johnny Herbert.
00:12:41Now whatever was wrong with Eddie Irvine seems to be coming right now.
00:12:45Maybe it was just a bad start.
00:12:47Anyway, he was down in tenth, he's now up in eighth position.
00:12:51Yes, Irvine I think just had a poor getaway and got bundled around into the first corner.
00:12:55Kept his head, now he can start making his way back up.
00:12:58Now it's interesting to see the way the Williams are going.
00:13:01Villeneuve, of course, won this race last year and the year before.
00:13:06Started third, is fifth.
00:13:07You see them coming out.
00:13:08Look at the way Ralph Schumacher in the yellow Jordan there is going.
00:13:12There they are looking for the look at the back end of Johnny's car.
00:13:16The tires are overheating already and he saw them looking for that wet part of the racetrack
00:13:21to cool the tires down.
00:13:22They're already in trouble.
00:13:24Great drive by young Ralph Schumacher.
00:13:26There he is and he's come up from 21st on the grid to 13th place on the fourth lap.
00:13:32If he can keep this up, he's going to be up in the top ten fairly shortly.
00:13:35There is his teammate, Damon Hill, followed by Eddie Irvine, followed by Johnny Herbert.
00:13:40We're on lap four now in this 60 lap British Grand Prix.
00:13:44No signs of rain, in fact, just the reverse.
00:13:47The circuit is drying out and there's Schumacher and look!
00:13:52Yeah, Schumacher, let's just see.
00:13:54Is that Schumacher and Hackett or is that Coulthard making his way?
00:13:57I think Schumacher's made a mistake somewhere on the lap.
00:14:00He did a poor mid-section.
00:14:02Is that Coulthard homing in?
00:14:04Hackett is out front.
00:14:05Coulthard looking for the damp track again.
00:14:08And, well, David a full half second faster than Michael Schumacher on that lap
00:14:14and that's why he was steering at the back of him.
00:14:15Yeah, Paul, I better be careful there.
00:14:17Had Schumacher got past Hackett or had Coulthard caught Schumacher?
00:14:20That was the answer.
00:14:21Coulthard caught Schumacher.
00:14:23And now on lap five, Michael Hackett leads this race by over three seconds.
00:14:29That was a bad mistake by Michael Schumacher.
00:14:32And now David Coulthard is swarming about all over the track.
00:14:36Is it to try and get past Michael Schumacher or is it to keep his tyres cool?
00:14:40He was going into a wetter part of the circuit there because no rain has fallen.
00:14:46And look at the way Coulthard is...
00:14:48Attack, attack, attack!
00:14:49This is Coulthard attacking for second place
00:14:52and he knows he's got to get past Schumacher
00:14:54to try and get up with Hackett and win this race.
00:14:57Yeah, Coulthard's got to win and he needs to dispatch Michael Schumacher very quickly.
00:15:01He put a good move on the Prost into that corner this morning
00:15:04but he was just too far behind.
00:15:05That's a brave one, David.
00:15:07Don't go and lock your front wheel.
00:15:08You've already run into Michael this year before in Argentina
00:15:12but no problem.
00:15:13A fantastic move from David Coulthard.
00:15:15Totally putting manners on Michael Schumacher.
00:15:18Now he can get after the World Championship leader Micah Hackett.
00:15:20That was a mega, mega, mega move by David Coulthard
00:15:25who out-poured, out-drove Michael Schumacher, the double World Champion.
00:15:30And look at the way he's pulling away.
00:15:31Does this mean to say that Schumacher's tyres are starting to overheat
00:15:35and he's got to come in and the Bridgestones of David Coulthard are lasting better?
00:15:39Well, now let's see what the gap was.
00:15:41It's starting to rain again.
00:15:43It's starting to rain again as I talk to you.
00:15:45And now Micah Hackett has extended his lead to five seconds
00:15:49but this time it's over David Coulthard.
00:15:52Yes, Coulthard lost a couple of seconds to Hackett
00:15:55and Schumacher four seconds with that passing manoeuvre.
00:15:58So giving Micah Hackett a bit of breathing space.
00:16:01Now David's got to push very hard.
00:16:03Well, what has happened to Michael Schumacher?
00:16:06This is not what you expect from him, especially in circumstances like this.
00:16:11Now I can only hazard a guess that it's something to do with the tyres.
00:16:14Watch the way Jean Alessi in fourth position is starting to hone in on Schumacher.
00:16:19And look at that battle behind them.
00:16:21That's Frentzen.
00:16:23There's Alessi.
00:16:24Behind Alessi is Damon Hill.
00:16:26Behind Damon Hill is Eddie Irvine.
00:16:28And four to eight positions with Damon Hill there in seventh place
00:16:34are getting very close indeed.
00:16:36Frentzen, Villeneuve, Damon Hill now.
00:16:39What happened at the start?
00:16:41Here is the answer.
00:16:42Remember the track was a lot wetter then than it is now.
00:16:45And look at the way Micah Hackett got away.
00:16:48Beautiful clean start from Michael Schumacher
00:16:50with David Coulthard up to third.
00:16:52And that's where Alessi got through.
00:16:54Yes, and while you were talking all around that, Murray,
00:16:56I was watching Irvine away from that start
00:16:58and he just seemed to bog down.
00:16:59He got away from the line initially well
00:17:01and ended up going absolutely nowhere.
00:17:03You can see him there.
00:17:05And that's how Alessi got through the middle of them.
00:17:07Hill going through too and Irvine and the two Benettons.
00:17:10So Irvine would be very unhappy going into the first corner.
00:17:14And Eddie Irvine at the present moment
00:17:16is lapping two and a half seconds slower than the leader, Micah Hackett.
00:17:21And Micah Hackett, of course, this year has already had four victories.
00:17:25He's looking for a fifth to extend his lead in the World Championship.
00:17:29We're over one tenth race distance now
00:17:31because this is lap seven out of 16.
00:17:34Hackett leads Coulthard by 5.3 seconds.
00:17:38But Coulthard's last lap was faster than Hackett's.
00:17:41Schumacher is 8.7 seconds now behind Hackett
00:17:45and only two seconds ahead of Alessi.
00:17:47Look at this!
00:17:47Now, this is fantastic.
00:17:49David's got a lot of confidence.
00:17:50He made a lot of overtaking moves in front and pulled them off.
00:17:54And now he really puts one on Micah,
00:17:56leaves him nowhere to go.
00:17:57Total confidence and off he goes.
00:17:59That was a great move that'll leave an indelible mark
00:18:02in Micah Schumacher's mind.
00:18:03Now, David Coulthard is a very placid, easygoing chap.
00:18:08But I think he was really stunned
00:18:09by what happened to him in qualifying yesterday.
00:18:12He was over a second slower than Micah Hackett
00:18:15and he said, that wasn't me,
00:18:16that was something wrong with the car.
00:18:18And you can feel him now urging himself on to catch Micah Hackett.
00:18:23We're going to know the answer soon.
00:18:24The gap after he had immediately passed Michael Schumacher
00:18:28was five seconds.
00:18:29They're coming up towards the end of the lap now
00:18:31with Prince in their fifth position.
00:18:33Villeneuve, sixth.
00:18:34Damon Hill, seventh.
00:18:35Eddie Irvine, eighth.
00:18:37Jonny Herbert in ninth position
00:18:39and behind him, Alexander Wurz
00:18:41in the leading of the two Benettons
00:18:44which, as in qualifying, are not going very well.
00:18:48They're down in 10th and 11th places.
00:18:50Wurz, who finished third last year
00:18:52in his first Grand Prix.
00:18:54A terrific drive.
00:18:55And Fisichella, who is 11th.
00:18:58Compared to a good qualifying lap on their slick tyres,
00:19:00driving around this track that's virtually dry
00:19:03on those groove tyres will feel like
00:19:05something akin to a Morris Minor.
00:19:08They really have pathetic grip
00:19:09and it seems like the tyres are made of jelly
00:19:12because they're squirming around.
00:19:13And every time you turn the wheel, it doesn't go in.
00:19:15Every time you touch the throttle,
00:19:17it lights up the rear tyres.
00:19:19But they've got to stick with it.
00:19:20It's a cat and mouse game.
00:19:22It's a brave man that would go in for slicks.
00:19:24I still think they're three or four seconds off of a slick time
00:19:29and it's still fitting with rain.
00:19:30Now, the experts tell me that the crossover time
00:19:33as we ride with Damon Hill chasing Jacques Villeneuve ahead,
00:19:37the crossover time to switch from intermediate
00:19:41to groove tyres for the dry weather tyres
00:19:44is about 1 minute 34 seconds.
00:19:46They're currently lapping in 1 minute 37.
00:19:48And now it's Irvine putting a good move there on Damon Hill.
00:19:51Irvine down the outside, braking extremely late.
00:19:54And Irvine taking seven points away from Damon.
00:19:58Yep, there you are.
00:19:59Irvine seventh.
00:20:00His next target is Jacques Villeneuve.
00:20:02You'll see him.
00:20:03There he is.
00:20:04The red Ferrari.
00:20:06And ahead of that, the red Williams behind him.
00:20:09The yellow Jordan.
00:20:10And Eddie Irvine is really flying.
00:20:121 minute 39.9 was his last lap.
00:20:16And he's two and a half seconds slower than Häkkinen.
00:20:19But then Irvine is caught up in traffic.
00:20:21And Coulthard is on a lap six tenths of a second faster so far
00:20:25than the leader Micka Häkkinen.
00:20:26So Coulthard making a charge.
00:20:28And Irvine already getting lined up to move past Villeneuve.
00:20:33Lap nine.
00:20:33Race order.
00:20:34Oh, Villeneuve running wide.
00:20:35Villeneuve hitting the puddle of water.
00:20:37Running wide.
00:20:38And it's too easy for Irvine.
00:20:40That's P6.
00:20:41And Eddie Irvine who dropped from fifth on the grid
00:20:44to tenth in the race has fought his way up to sixth position.
00:20:49Here are the top ten.
00:20:50Häkkinen leads Coulthard by 4.7 seconds.
00:20:53And the gap is decreasing.
00:20:55Coulthard is second.
00:20:57Schumacher is third.
00:20:58Alessi is fourth.
00:20:59Prentzl is in fifth place.
00:21:01Look at the way Eddie Irvine is going in that Ferrari as he closes up on
00:21:06the man in front who is now Heinz-Harald Prentzl.
00:21:09He's taken one Williams.
00:21:10Now he's going for the other.
00:21:12Coulthard taking nine tenths of a second in the end on that fast lap.
00:21:15Out of Häkkinen's lead.
00:21:174.7 seconds as you can clearly see is now the gap.
00:21:21Now look at the gap between Eddie Irvine there.
00:21:24P6 and Villeneuve seventh.
00:21:27Damon Hill, Johnny Herbert, Wurz, Fizzy Keller.
00:21:30Here is the race leader Micah Häkkinen.
00:21:33And David Coulthard lines up for the left-hander at Abbey.
00:21:37That's a 70 mile an hour corner.
00:21:39And Michael Schumacher just can't do anything about it.
00:21:46Who's catching who at the present moment?
00:21:48Well, Coulthard is catching Häkkinen.
00:21:50The rest of that is static.
00:21:51Eddie Irvine is catching Heinz-Harald Prentzl.
00:21:54And Damon Hill in eighth place is catching Villeneuve.
00:21:57And in the back of that group you saw Ralf Schumacher
00:21:59had to start at the very back of the field
00:22:02because of technical infringement yesterday in qualifying.
00:22:05Making his way through.
00:22:06So Ralf up to 12th place.
00:22:08Yeah, the technical infringement very briefly
00:22:11was that he went out in the spare car
00:22:13and was not able to get out of it quickly enough
00:22:16to satisfy the safety regulations.
00:22:18As a result of which he was wheeled down to 21st.
00:22:22He qualified 10th.
00:22:24So a very severe penalty.
00:22:25Newfast's lap of the race to Michael Schumacher in third place.
00:22:29Suddenly getting a move on.
00:22:31So Michael now reducing the gap down to David Coulthard to five seconds.
00:22:36There's a lot of action still to come in this British Grand Prix
00:22:40as we come up to one-sixth distance
00:22:42because we're on lap 10 now out of 60.
00:22:46And those 50 laps to the left are going to disappear
00:22:48like snow on the desert I think
00:22:50because as I say there's going to be a lot of pace changes.
00:22:54But are we getting any closer to that 1 minute 34?
00:22:57Magic time when we can expect them to come over
00:23:00and switch to dry weather tyres.
00:23:02The answer is no.
00:23:031 minute 37.2 was the last lap for the leader at 1 minute 30.
00:23:10And that's Ralf making a move on Fisichella up the inside.
00:23:13Will Fisichella yield?
00:23:14I think it's Stoke Corner.
00:23:16Yes, it is through the veil.
00:23:17Fisichella has the inside line.
00:23:19I don't think Ralf can go around the outside.
00:23:21If he just buys his time,
00:23:22he might get a slingshot here out of club
00:23:24because he's forced Fisichella off line.
00:23:26If he can get on the throttle early enough,
00:23:28he'll get a run up to the Abbey chicane.
00:23:31Ralf on the move.
00:23:32But the two fastest cars on the track right now are the Ferraris.
00:23:35Fisichella in 11th place.
00:23:37Look for Ralf Schumacher.
00:23:39His dander is up
00:23:41because he felt it was unfair
00:23:43that he'd been pushed out of that 21st position.
00:23:46So he's got a bit of a red mist,
00:23:47but he's just got to keep stable, keep cool,
00:23:50drive hard, but not too hard.
00:23:53And Fisichella is showing him the way at the moment.
00:23:55Coulthard reducing the gap to Hakkinen.
00:23:573.8 seconds.
00:23:58David's still on a charge.
00:24:00But so is Michael Schumacher.
00:24:02He's just gone fastest of all
00:24:04in the first sector of the lap that he's completed.
00:24:07Coulthard is definitely catching Hakkinen.
00:24:09The gap is under four seconds.
00:24:11It's still five seconds from Coulthard
00:24:14to Michael Schumacher, who is third.
00:24:17It's 4.8 seconds to Alessi,
00:24:19who is fourth from Schumacher.
00:24:21Now there is the German in the Ferrari.
00:24:24Look back, the French Sicilian, Jordan Alessi,
00:24:26fourth place in the Sauber.
00:24:28And Micah Hakkinen in the beautiful silver and black McLaren Mercedes
00:24:35leads the British Grand Prix.
00:24:36One-sixth of the race completed, 50 laps to go.
00:24:39And your heart sinks when you see that on your pit board.
00:24:42But with these conditions, the concentration level is massive.
00:24:46Every touch of the brake or the throttle pedal
00:24:49can send you off the road.
00:24:50And 50 laps to go is an awful long way in these track conditions.
00:24:55Just contrast the times between the leader, Micah Hakkinen,
00:24:581 minute 36.7,
00:25:00and Esteban Tuero, the Argentine driver in the Minardi who is last,
00:25:051 minute 45.8.
00:25:08So that is some nine seconds slower per lap.
00:25:14And already, Micah Hakkinen is scorching through the field.
00:25:17He's up to Shinji Nakano now in the second Minardi in 21st place.
00:25:22And he comes out from behind him to go through and lap the Japanese driver.
00:25:26And he has already lapped Esteban Tuero on lap 12.
00:25:31Apparently, it's still drizzling out there.
00:25:33Sorry to interrupt you, Martin,
00:25:35but this is Eddie Irvine having dispatched Villeneuve.
00:25:38He's going for Prinsen, who is in fifth position.
00:25:42Well, my man of the race so far,
00:25:43he's certainly Eddie Irvine, and he's alongside.
00:25:46And he's going through on the inside.
00:25:48And Villeneuve has to defer now.
00:25:50I'm sure, Martin, that that is tires.
00:25:52Because Villeneuve said he wasn't looking forward to this race if it was wet
00:25:56because he felt that the rain tire that he was on,
00:26:00the intermediate, was not as good as the one that Eddie Irvine is on.
00:26:04Might be the case, but it was Prinsen he was overtaking into the first corner.
00:26:07We saw Prinsen have a look in his mirrors,
00:26:09and well, I'm taking candy from a baby, wasn't I?
00:26:11Irvine up the inside, total confidence.
00:26:14He's on a roll.
00:26:14Yeah, fifth position for Eddie Irvine.
00:26:17And it's Hakkinen, Coulthard.
00:26:19The gap, 3.8 seconds.
00:26:21Schumacher, third.
00:26:22He's not catching them.
00:26:23Alessi, fourth.
00:26:24He's not catching them either.
00:26:26Prinsen is static, but Irvine is really going.
00:26:29You've just seen the results.
00:26:31And that is Damon Hill.
00:26:33Now, he's in eighth position.
00:26:34It's Jacques Villeneuve in front of him as they come out of the right hander.
00:26:41This is the longer wheelbase Williams,
00:26:43and this is the Ferrari much changed of Eddie Irvine.
00:26:48And I'm wondering, it's getting a bit darker as I talk to you.
00:26:51I'm wondering if I can see a lot of rain spots.
00:26:55It's just drizzle at the present moment on the window.
00:26:58But this track is certainly not drying out.
00:27:01Victor Hakkinen has just gone round in one minute, 37.07.
00:27:08New fastest lap for Michael Schumacher, 135.7.
00:27:12So either the very heavy fuelers,
00:27:15everybody would have filled their cars up with fuel on the start line
00:27:18to give them a better chance of having to come into the pits
00:27:22at the right time to go on the slick if that indeed is necessary.
00:27:26But clearly, Michael's enjoying his car more
00:27:28now he's got rid of a little bit of the fuel.
00:27:30Well, I don't know how relevant it is
00:27:32to talk about one stop and two stop strategies
00:27:35because they are on intermediates
00:27:38and they may have to change for weather reasons.
00:27:40But if they were stopping twice,
00:27:42I would expect them to start coming in round about lap 31.
00:27:46If they were stopping once,
00:27:47I would expect them to come in at half distance,
00:27:49which is lap 30 out of 60.
00:27:53And that is Michael Schumacher,
00:27:55well, fastest man on the track at the present moment.
00:27:58Yeah, that'll give David Coupard a fright
00:27:59when he comes around on this lap,
00:28:01and Mika Hakkinen.
00:28:02They'll see the pit board,
00:28:03McLaren will show them that Michael Schumacher
00:28:06took a full 1.6 seconds out of them on the last lap.
00:28:10Which is absolutely astounding.
00:28:123.8 seconds was the gap.
00:28:15You can never forget, never ignore,
00:28:18never underestimate the incredible Michael Schumacher
00:28:21who's made Ferrari what it is this year
00:28:24and last year and the year before
00:28:26since he's decided to leave Benetton.
00:28:28It's so difficult to know how fast to go in these conditions
00:28:32because one error and you're out of the race,
00:28:34you'll be in a gravel trap or buried in the hedge.
00:28:36And clearly Mike has decided
00:28:38the limit is somewhat higher
00:28:40than he's been pushing it to up until this point.
00:28:42And now he's really moving it.
00:28:44Now, Michael is a human calculating machine.
00:28:47He's driven an enormous number of miles in racing cars
00:28:51and you see the Jordan team there ready to get in.
00:28:54Will it be Damon Hill or will it be Ralph Schumacher?
00:28:57I suspect it's Damon Hill.
00:28:59I'd be surprised if they're going to put Slicks on.
00:29:01They apparently are waiting for Damon
00:29:03but if the Stuarts were on Slicks,
00:29:05they've been lapped already.
00:29:06They're running some four seconds a lap off the pace
00:29:10on the Slick tires.
00:29:11And I assume other teams know that there are guys out there
00:29:14already on Slicks and that's Ralph in the pits.
00:29:18So if he goes to Slicks, that's a very early decision.
00:29:21Well, we'll soon know the answer
00:29:23because here is Ralph Schumacher.
00:29:25Now, what's he putting on?
00:29:27He's putting some more wets on.
00:29:28Yeah, it's more intermediate.
00:29:30Hey, maybe it's wets that came off.
00:29:33Now, they know because he just told them
00:29:34it was inters that came off and inters that went on.
00:29:36Right.
00:29:37Well, now we know that the Stuarts started on groove cars
00:29:41which is the nearest we've got to full Slicks now in 1998.
00:29:45But Staphan is ahead of Barrichello
00:29:47as they were on the grid
00:29:48and they're only down in 18th and 19th places.
00:29:51They're lapping five seconds a lap off the leaders
00:29:55but on the other hand,
00:29:56they're lapping seven seconds a lap faster
00:29:58than the Minardis behind them.
00:30:01But we'll just have to wait and see.
00:30:03But as you look down,
00:30:04you see that track is getting grayer and grayer
00:30:08and that means it's getting drier and drier.
00:30:11As over the line goes Mikko Häkkinen.
00:30:13He's on his 15th lap now out of 60 in the British Grand Prix
00:30:18and we're waiting for David Coulthard to come through
00:30:21and Mikko Häkkinen of course is dealing with traffic now.
00:30:24He's past Tuero and Nakano.
00:30:26The next man he's going to go for is for Staphan.
00:30:30Oh!
00:30:30And that is Damon Hill.
00:30:32Damon Hill as he spun off.
00:30:33Damon Hill was in 8th position.
00:30:36Has he stalled his engine?
00:30:37I think he stalled
00:30:38otherwise he'd be trying to get away by now.
00:30:40I think he's talking on the radio.
00:30:42He's slamming the steering wheel
00:30:44and a bad error there.
00:30:46I think that Brooklyn's corner within,
00:30:49just near the end of the lap.
00:30:50Damon Hill sadly clearly out of the race.
00:30:54Well that's not the way he wanted to finish the British Grand Prix.
00:30:57It's not the way Jordan wanted him to finish the Grand Prix.
00:31:00It's the 9th race of the year.
00:31:01They've yet to score a single world championship point.
00:31:04You saw his teammate Michael Schumacher driving past in the background.
00:31:08Ralph Schumacher, he's now up to 13th place.
00:31:10This is what happened.
00:31:11He just got on the throttle just a fraction too early.
00:31:14You see what I mean?
00:31:15It's just impossible to know where the final limit is
00:31:18and it's so slippery that it'll swap ends in a heartbeat.
00:31:22We've seen Damon walking back before
00:31:25but that time was when he was leading the British Grand Prix
00:31:28and the Williams and his engine blew up at the closing stages of the race.
00:31:31Meantime, up to Olivier Pannis who is 16th in the dark blue front.
00:31:37Goes to Mika Häkkinen and laps him.
00:31:41Yes, he's yo-yoing as the two McLarens go through the traffic.
00:31:44One moment it's Coulthard fast to the next, it's Häkkinen
00:31:47and the gap is now up to 5.3.
00:31:50It'll come down.
00:31:51I think it'll come down at the end of this lap
00:31:54but don't go away.
00:31:55If we see it, you'll see it.
00:31:56We'll be back shortly.
00:34:17Lap 17 and the two Arrows battling there are Mika Salo
00:34:26and his teammate Pedro Diniz fighting for 10th position.
00:34:30Let's hope they don't take each other off
00:34:32because it's a great achievement for the two Arrows
00:34:35which are distinctly underpowered to be up in 10th and 11th places.
00:34:39Although paradoxically their comparative lack of power
00:34:42won't hurt them nearly as much here in these wet conditions
00:34:45as it would have been if it had been dry.
00:34:47Nothing to report while you've been away.
00:34:49The two McLarens are yo-yoing through the traffic.
00:34:51The gap is four seconds
00:34:53but Michael Schumacher is really pushing it to the limit.
00:34:56That's Frentzen's car.
00:34:57Michael Schumacher is pushing it to the limit through the traffic
00:35:00and he is closing just now 3.7 seconds behind David Coulthard.
00:35:04There's Häkkinen and Frentzen.
00:35:06We don't know where he's gone off.
00:35:07Maybe they'll put it as a replay in
00:35:09and Frentzen clearly out of the race.
00:35:12And that's it.
00:35:13So that's Harold Frentzen
00:35:15who wasn't in very good odour with Williams
00:35:18after two pretty poor seasons
00:35:20and is rumoured to be leaving the Williams team
00:35:23at the end of this year
00:35:24with all sorts of alternatives to replace him.
00:35:27Rading from Alexander Zanardi
00:35:30to the Colombian test driver who drives with them.
00:35:34I think it must be sprinkling with rain a little bit harder.
00:35:36Those guys on slicks are now in the late 140s, 148s.
00:35:39Puts them a full 10 seconds a lap off the pace.
00:35:42Why they haven't come in and admitted they've made a mistake, I don't know.
00:35:45We may be changing.
00:35:47They may be stopping to change for quite the other reason, Martin.
00:35:50It's now started to rain quite heavily
00:35:52and they may be coming in to change from...
00:35:54Yeah, here into the pits comes Jos Verstappen.
00:35:57Yes, this is what I was just talking about.
00:35:58I think he's going to put some inters on.
00:36:00I think they've had to say.
00:36:02Right, yeah, there's some wetter, deeper group tyres going on.
00:36:06Verstappen saying that's enough.
00:36:08It didn't pay off.
00:36:09Let's now go with the rest of the group.
00:36:12Yeah, those are the Bridgestone full wets.
00:36:14You can see from the very heavy tread pattern on them
00:36:17that they have got the maximum water clearance characteristic.
00:36:21And you see Mika Häkkinen now supremely in the lead.
00:36:25Just under four seconds ahead of David Coulthard
00:36:28who, try as he may, is not making any impression on his teammate at the present moment.
00:36:33There's Häkkinen.
00:36:34There in the background is David Coulthard.
00:36:37Michael Schumacher is nine seconds behind Mika Häkkinen.
00:36:41Oh, look at Häkkinen there,
00:36:43desperately trying to get the car on the racetrack.
00:36:45And now it is raining.
00:36:46Look, you can see the spots of rain on the camera.
00:36:49Beginning of a little rooster tail again coming out of the back of the car
00:36:52as the rain and the spray gets lifted up.
00:36:55So now, look, a lot of activity in the pit lane.
00:36:58Are they going to go for full wets?
00:37:00Fredsen making his way back
00:37:02to explain it all to Frank Williams once again.
00:37:06Lap 19.
00:37:07Down comes the rain and in will come the drivers at one third distance
00:37:13with some 40 laps still to go.
00:37:16I'd be surprised if they come in for full wets
00:37:18because unless they hit standing water,
00:37:20the inters should clear.
00:37:23You can see how careful Michael's having to be.
00:37:25But the inters should clear the water well enough.
00:37:29Well, the thing that fascinates me from Martin
00:37:32is how well the two McLarens are going on the new Bridgestone wets
00:37:37and how tippy-toe Michael Schumacher is having to be on the new Goodyear wets.
00:37:41It seemed to be in the warm-up this morning
00:37:44that the Japanese car has got the advantage.
00:37:46It's looking like it in the race, too.
00:37:48Now, here is Eddie Irvine coming towards us in the background
00:37:52and he's coming up behind Ricciardo Rosset in the Tyrrell to lap him.
00:37:5615th Rosset.
00:37:57Yes, looking at the section times,
00:37:58it's quite clear that the Bridgestone intermediate is much happier
00:38:02than the Goodyear one
00:38:03because Michael is, of course, two seconds slower
00:38:05just through the first three corners than the two leading McLarens.
00:38:09They seem to be just about happy now,
00:38:12but it's clear to me that Michael may come in for a set of wets.
00:38:15So Verstappen has been in for Bridgestone wets.
00:38:18Here is Fisichella leaving the pits.
00:38:20He's gone on to full Bridgestone wets.
00:38:22Here is Michael Schumacher.
00:38:24Is he going to come in to change his Goodyears
00:38:27from the intermediates to the Quattro Tars?
00:38:30And it's lap 20.
00:38:32Now, 40 to go.
00:38:33There's a lot of red overalls out in the pit lane.
00:38:36I think, judging by how slow Michael's having to go,
00:38:39clearly he's lost the temperature in those tires.
00:38:41He just can't go fast enough to keep the temperature up.
00:38:45And when that happens, they just fall away from you
00:38:47and you can fall off at a ridiculously slow speed.
00:38:50James Allen is down in the pit.
00:38:51Yes, it's intermediates, believe it or not,
00:38:53Martin, that Michael Schumacher is going to be putting on.
00:38:55I'm standing out in the Ferrari garage looking at the rain
00:38:57and it's coming down diagonally,
00:38:58so it's a very brave decision from Michael Schumacher.
00:39:01But actually, no, I take that back.
00:39:03It might be a set of the...
00:39:05No, it is indeed intermediate tires.
00:39:07Michael Schumacher is taking a gamble.
00:39:08Because he cannot put full wets on,
00:39:10went from intermediates to full wets.
00:39:11So that's his feeling.
00:39:12It's obviously getting wetter out there,
00:39:13but Schuey has been on intermediates.
00:39:15Well, clearly, they're going to be a lot warmer
00:39:17than the ones that he took off.
00:39:18So if he can get on it and stay on it,
00:39:20he can keep the temperature up on those.
00:39:21But maybe Michael had two-stop fuel in the car.
00:39:24So, obviously, refueling,
00:39:25that would be about the time to come in
00:39:27for a two-stop strategy.
00:39:29And that's Fielder in the background,
00:39:31his teammate, Heiss-Harald Prentzen,
00:39:32already out of the race.
00:39:34In from 7th place comes Jack Wielner.
00:39:37That's Alexander Woertz in from 8th position.
00:39:40Very close thing as Wielner gets away.
00:39:44Ahead of the Benetton,
00:39:45as he was when he came into the pit.
00:39:47So they're pouring in now.
00:39:50Hakkinen and Coulthard still out there,
00:39:52of course, on their intermediates.
00:39:54There's Coulthard making the lead,
00:39:56pulling there.
00:39:57Hakkinen, sorry, making the lead to 4.4 seconds now.
00:40:00But no sign of the McLaren boys in the pit lane at the moment.
00:40:04And Rubens Barrichello,
00:40:06who is in the Stewart car,
00:40:09down in 20th position,
00:40:11comes up behind the two who just left the pit lane,
00:40:14Wielner and Fisichella.
00:40:16And the McLaren goes through.
00:40:17That's David Coulthard still in 2nd place,
00:40:20still 5 seconds behind Hakkinen.
00:40:22And Barrichello is now last.
00:40:23I really don't know why they spent 20 laps
00:40:25before coming in and getting rid of those slicks,
00:40:28assuming our information was correct.
00:40:30They were on slicks at the beginning of the race,
00:40:31and we're pretty certain about that.
00:40:33Lap 21, just two retirements.
00:40:35Damon Hill spun out.
00:40:37Hykes, Carroll, Frentzen did the same thing.
00:40:40So Rubens Barrichello is last at the present moment.
00:40:43He's been lapped.
00:40:45He's got some brake on him.
00:40:46What you could see before the break-up on that picture
00:40:49from Hakkinen's car is about all he can see.
00:40:51It's very, very poor visibility,
00:40:53and often you get steam on the inside of the visor,
00:40:55and you have to tape it down,
00:40:57make sure you get no moisture creeping around the edge.
00:40:59He's still got a tear-off on his visor
00:41:01that he can get rid of,
00:41:02and that helps a lot,
00:41:03because the water tends to get between the two legs.
00:41:08There's a British Union Jack flag on the circuit there
00:41:12that's obviously blown out from the crowd,
00:41:14distracting from the drivers.
00:41:16Incidentally, to show you how the conditions have deteriorated,
00:41:19the fastest lap we've had so far
00:41:21was Michael Schumacher on lap 12, 1.35.7.
00:41:26They're now lapping some six seconds slower than that.
00:41:30Hakkinen's just gone round in 1.41.8.
00:41:33As out come the McLaren mechanics
00:41:36with a new set of Bridgestones.
00:41:39But are they intermediates, or are they full wets?
00:41:41And are they for Hakkinen, or are they for Coulthard?
00:41:44This is Micah Hakkinen leading the British Grand Prix
00:41:47on lap 21 by five seconds.
00:41:50John Alesi, of course, now is up to third position
00:41:54as a result of Schumacher coming in.
00:41:56This is Hakkinen,
00:41:58and the order at the present moment is Hakkinen
00:42:00that you are looking at, Coulthard.
00:42:03Into the pits comes David Coulthard,
00:42:05Alesi's third.
00:42:07I don't think he'll get through
00:42:08before Coulthard stops James Allen.
00:42:11Yes, it's a set of intermediate Bridgestones
00:42:13that's going on to the McLaren,
00:42:14and interestingly, we saw David Coulthard
00:42:16have some problems refueling in France.
00:42:18Well, Bernie Eccleston is a bit of a joke.
00:42:19He's stored an antique fuel pump
00:42:21just outside the McLaren garage this race,
00:42:23but no problems this time for David.
00:42:25Quite a lot of fuel on board, though, guys.
00:42:27I'm sure Ron Dennis had a broad smile on his face
00:42:30at that ho-ho-ho joke from Bernie Eccleston,
00:42:34and you're looking now at Eddie Irvine
00:42:36in fourth position,
00:42:38only three and a half seconds behind John Alesi,
00:42:41and look at the conditions!
00:42:43It's like driving through a grey suit.
00:42:46Yes, I think David Coulthard
00:42:48should get out ahead of Alesi and Irvine,
00:42:50but if they're on a one-stopper,
00:42:52they're looking in pretty good shape.
00:42:54Yeah, they are on lap 22 now.
00:42:57I would have thought they're more likely
00:42:59to be on a two-stopper,
00:43:00but you never can tell with the fuel loads these days.
00:43:02There's Coulthard, and there's Irvine,
00:43:05so it doesn't appear as if...
00:43:08And Mike is coming around,
00:43:09so it doesn't appear as if David Coulthard
00:43:12stayed out in front of the traffic.
00:43:13Michael Schumacher is now running behind.
00:43:17And of the leaders,
00:43:19the man who has made a stop, of course,
00:43:21is David Coulthard.
00:43:24This must be Irvine's stop then, too.
00:43:26Look at the rain.
00:43:27Of course, yeah.
00:43:28Look at the rain coming down
00:43:29as they wait for Eddie Irvine
00:43:31to come in from fourth position.
00:43:33Only about three and a half seconds
00:43:35behind John Alesi.
00:43:36There is Alesi.
00:43:37The blue car there is Trulli,
00:43:39who's been lapped.
00:43:40The red car that you see coming towards you
00:43:43is Eddie Irvine in fourth position.
00:43:45The order is Hackett and Coulthard,
00:43:47Alesi, Irvine, Schumacher
00:43:49down to fifth after his stop,
00:43:51and Jonny Herbert in sixth position.
00:43:53So, good race, after all,
00:43:55so far for the Saubers.
00:43:56Alesi in third place,
00:43:58and Jonny Herbert in the points
00:44:00in sixth position.
00:44:01And it's a long time since he's been there.
00:44:04Well, it's nice to see Silverstone
00:44:06in the summer, isn't it, Murray?
00:44:07Absolutely, yes.
00:44:09Well, exciting conditions, nevertheless.
00:44:12Now, Eddie Irvine tiptoes his way in,
00:44:15crosses the line where they have to,
00:44:18and Alesi is just ahead of him,
00:44:19so Alesi responding to Irvine's call
00:44:22into the pit.
00:44:23That concrete gets very slippery
00:44:25when you come in for a pit stop.
00:44:26If I was Eddie,
00:44:27I'd get a few of those rip-offs
00:44:28off my visor.
00:44:29Fourth and fifth in together now.
00:44:31There's no sign of Alesi there,
00:44:32so he has gone away in front of Eddie Irvine.
00:44:35Alesi's further down the pit lane,
00:44:37and he nearly got away into the side of him,
00:44:39so a good stop from Sauber,
00:44:41but Irvine's just holding it.
00:44:43I wonder if Eddie Irvine was all right
00:44:45on the speed limit.
00:44:46I'm wrong about that.
00:44:47Of course, Irvine had made a play,
00:44:50and Irvine's passing Alesi for a play.
00:44:52Yeah, that's what made me say,
00:44:54I wonder if he's all right on the speed limit.
00:44:57Well, I think it was just a better start.
00:44:59Well, anyway, Eddie Irvine now,
00:45:01we'll wait to see where Johnny Herbert
00:45:03is in relation to them,
00:45:05but there is Herbert,
00:45:07and he's ahead of Irvine.
00:45:09He is ahead of Alesi,
00:45:11so Johnny Herbert at the present moment
00:45:13is up into fourth position.
00:45:15The McLaren mechanic's waiting now.
00:45:18It's Hakkinen to come in.
00:45:19David Coulthard, of course, has been in,
00:45:22and Hakkinen now comes in,
00:45:24and James Allen is there.
00:45:26Yes, and he's putting full wet tyres on.
00:45:28This could be the roll of dice
00:45:29that decides the British Grand Prix.
00:45:30Mika Hakkinen comes in
00:45:32and puts a full set of wets on.
00:45:33Remember, David Coulthard
00:45:35and Michael Schumacher are on intermediate.
00:45:36It's now raining harder
00:45:38than at any other time during the Grand Prix so far.
00:45:40That looked like a slightly messy stop to me,
00:45:447.8 seconds on the side of the screen.
00:45:46I was about to say exactly the opposite.
00:45:50Anyway, out of the pit lane
00:45:52goes Mika Hakkinen,
00:45:54and he should still be in the lead
00:45:57because his teammate David Coulthard
00:45:59was 23 seconds behind him.
00:46:01He is. There is Hakkinen,
00:46:03and the second car you see in the background
00:46:05is David Coulthard,
00:46:07so McLarens are still first and second.
00:46:10Michael Schumacher is still first.
00:46:12Well, a tactical move from McLaren.
00:46:14They've got one on wet and one on intermediate,
00:46:16so it'd be easy to see which is the better
00:46:20any time now
00:46:20because if Coulthard's got more grip,
00:46:22he should just zoom up behind Mika Hakkinen.
00:46:24I doubt there'll be that much in it at the moment.
00:46:26Great stuff.
00:46:27We had the first three all in the same shot
00:46:30as they come down the hemisphere,
00:46:32but here's Eddie Irvine and Alessi,
00:46:34and Irvine having taken Alessi in the pit lane,
00:46:37and Johnny Herbert there too.
00:46:39Well, Johnny Herbert is giving Michael Schumacher
00:46:41a run for his money.
00:46:42A little bit further up the track also,
00:46:44so Alessi chasing Irvine,
00:46:46Sauber chasing Ferrari,
00:46:47and the same thing happening just ahead of them.
00:46:49Herbert, really the only one of the top 10 runners
00:46:52that hasn't made a stop.
00:46:53There's Johnny now,
00:46:55with Eddie Irvine ahead of him,
00:46:56with Sean Alessi behind him,
00:46:59and Irvine has benefited from that pit stop.
00:47:02There's the Ferrari.
00:47:03There is Johnny Herbert.
00:47:05Very good news for Johnny to be in the points.
00:47:07He won the British Grand Prix, of course,
00:47:10in 1995,
00:47:12when he benefited from the coming together
00:47:14between Michael Schumacher in the Benetton
00:47:16and Damon Hill in the Williams,
00:47:18and as they mercilessly groped their way up towards Abbey,
00:47:23Eddie Irvine in the Ferrari is consolidating that gap
00:47:26that he built between himself and Alessi.
00:47:28Yeah, Johnny Herbert made a mistake somewhere on this lap
00:47:30because Irvine had passed him,
00:47:32and Herbert falling back into the grip
00:47:34of teammate John Alessi,
00:47:36so some kind of problem for Johnny Herbert
00:47:39in the mid-section.
00:47:40He was very, very slow.
00:47:41About 25 in the British Grand Prix,
00:47:43and we have the fascinating situation now
00:47:45of McLaren's first and second,
00:47:48with less than three seconds between Hackinnon and Coulthard.
00:47:51Ferrari's third and fourth,
00:47:53with Michael Schumacher six seconds behind David Coulthard,
00:47:58and Johnny Herbert and Eddie Irvine in fourth place,
00:48:01Johnny Herbert in fifth position,
00:48:03and Alessi in the sixth place,
00:48:05so both the Saubers,
00:48:07both the McLarens,
00:48:08both the Ferraris,
00:48:09in the top six.
00:48:10Ralph Schumacher,
00:48:11driving an absolutely blinding race,
00:48:14is up in the jaunt from 21st on the grid
00:48:17to 7th in the race,
00:48:18and yes, he has had a start,
00:48:20so there's no question there of false timing.
00:48:23He's ahead of Jacques Villeneuve, who's 8th,
00:48:25he's ahead of Boots, who's 9th,
00:48:27and he's ahead of his teammate,
00:48:29Vitti Keller,
00:48:29who is in 10th position.
00:48:31Time to leave Silverstone for a few moments,
00:48:33but we'll be back.
00:50:39RALPH SCHUMACHER
00:50:43RALPH SCHUMACHER
00:50:47RALPH SCHUMACHER
00:50:51RALPH SCHUMACHER
00:50:55RALPH SCHUMACHER
00:50:57That's 27 and a great race developing at Silverstone,
00:51:00because David Coulthard is closing up on Mika Häkkinen.
00:51:05The gap is less than one and a half seconds
00:51:07as they thread their way through traffic,
00:51:09and Michael Schumacher is keeping in touch with both of them.
00:51:12This is lap 27, Häkkinen goes in,
00:51:15tries to pass Barrichello,
00:51:17he's held off by traffic there,
00:51:18he passes Barrichello,
00:51:20it's Rossett in the Tyrrell he's got to go for now,
00:51:23and he gets through on the inside,
00:51:24and at the same time, Barrichello gets past Rossett,
00:51:27and David Coulthard has got both the Tyrrell and the Stewart to get by,
00:51:32and Mika Häkkinen has cleared them,
00:51:34and Coulthard is through on the inside.
00:51:37Tremendous bit of driving,
00:51:38remember how he passed Schumacher,
00:51:40he's doing it again,
00:51:41and he's closing on Häkkinen.
00:51:42Yeah, both McLaren drivers making a very good job
00:51:45of getting through those two cars,
00:51:47David clearly happy on his intermediate tires,
00:51:49Mika on the full wedge,
00:51:50Coulthard has the faster car now.
00:51:52Now it's Pedro Diniz in the black arrows,
00:51:55he's in 12th position as Häkkinen closes up on him,
00:51:59there is Diniz,
00:52:01there was Häkkinen,
00:52:02here is David Coulthard as he goes into the complex now,
00:52:05the black car is driven by the Brazilian Pedro Diniz,
00:52:09and you can see from the rain on the camera lens
00:52:11that it is absolutely melting down at Silverstone,
00:52:14and my goodness, David Coulthard can sense victory,
00:52:17a chance of it anyway as we come up to half distance.
00:52:20And it's taking the go-kart line around the outside,
00:52:23and very nearly cutting back in,
00:52:25in front of the, or into the side of race leader Mika Häkkinen,
00:52:28Coulthard should take him easily down the pit straight,
00:52:30and the gap is down to 0.7 of a second,
00:52:340.7 of a second now between David Coulthard
00:52:37and leading the British Grand Prix.
00:52:39Let me take you back to the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne,
00:52:42the opening race of 1998,
00:52:44when, gentleman that he is,
00:52:46David Coulthard deferred to Mika Häkkinen
00:52:49to honour an agreement they made before the race,
00:52:52that if whoever got to the first corner first,
00:52:56because of the superiority then of their appearance,
00:52:59would take the race,
00:53:00and he gave way to Mika Häkkinen,
00:53:02and there's a cut,
00:53:03oh, and that's one of the Saubers,
00:53:06it's Johnny Herbert,
00:53:07and he's bogged right down,
00:53:09his rear wheel's spinning in the gravel trap,
00:53:12he won't get out of that,
00:53:14and that's one point loss for Sauber,
00:53:16one point loss for Johnny Herbert,
00:53:18that is Olivier Panis in the pits from 13th position,
00:53:22we're on lap 38,
00:53:24no change in the first six minutes,
00:53:26yes, up into sixth position comes Ralf Schumacher now,
00:53:29as a result of Johnny Herbert going out,
00:53:31so both the Schumacher brothers are in the points,
00:53:35Ralf Schumacher is sixth in the Jordan,
00:53:37Mika Schumacher is third in the Ferrari,
00:53:39and Eddie Irvine is fourth in the Ferrari,
00:53:43yes, Swervin Irvine was the fastest man on the track on the last lap,
00:53:46so Eddie keeping up his great pace after that poor start,
00:53:49there's Coulthard,
00:53:50and there's Häkkinen ahead of him,
00:53:53and this is Johnny Herbert going off,
00:53:55just getting on the power a bit too early,
00:53:57a lazy teammate nearly running into him,
00:53:59he's got the throttle on, look,
00:54:00but he won't get out of there,
00:54:01that'll need a tractor,
00:54:03or several marshals in a very dangerous position,
00:54:06to pull that car out of the way,
00:54:07so there's...
00:54:08That must be a lazy surely,
00:54:11because Johnny Herbert's,
00:54:12that's, that's got to be,
00:54:15that's got to be a lazy,
00:54:16it can't be Johnny Herbert's car having spun off into the gravel track,
00:54:21unless they pushed Johnny out,
00:54:22and he then drove back to fifth,
00:54:24yeah,
00:54:24he has to retire anyway,
00:54:26if you get him pushed up,
00:54:27you're out of the race,
00:54:28maybe that's Johnny,
00:54:29I would have a guess,
00:54:30that that's Johnny recovering,
00:54:31it is,
00:54:31I can just read his name on the,
00:54:33on the headrest behind him,
00:54:34fourth, fourth, fourth alive,
00:54:36but John Lacey is still in fifth position,
00:54:38but look at this,
00:54:39Häkkinen can now see Coulthard in his mirrors,
00:54:43and, and Ralf Schumacher is eight seconds behind them,
00:54:47Michael Schumacher is eight seconds behind them in the Ferrari,
00:54:50race order, Häkkinen, Coulthard,
00:54:52here they are,
00:54:54now,
00:54:55they'll be giving those white lines,
00:54:56and very brightly painted curves,
00:54:59a wide curve,
00:55:00because they'll have you off the road as quick as you like,
00:55:02they're so slippery,
00:55:03you've got to use,
00:55:04you've got to use all of the track available,
00:55:06but you must not touch those,
00:55:07suppose you were team manager Ron Dennis Martin,
00:55:11your two cars are in the lead,
00:55:13they are eight seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari,
00:55:17they're looking good,
00:55:18would you let them slug it out?
00:55:21They have to,
00:55:21they've got a race for the championship,
00:55:23Ron has said,
00:55:24after those first couple of races,
00:55:25where they're unsure of their reliability,
00:55:27my two drivers are racing,
00:55:29they're out there to race,
00:55:30he'll have told them not to run into each other of course,
00:55:32but they'll be entitled to the race,
00:55:34maybe just before the end,
00:55:35if they've got a clear one too,
00:55:37they'll pull something into line to say,
00:55:39okay guys,
00:55:40there's an arrow spinning off,
00:55:42there's no harm done,
00:55:42he should have,
00:55:43he kept the engine going,
00:55:44he should recover from that,
00:55:46but no sign of any movement yet,
00:55:48I think he's lost the engine,
00:55:50yes, he's lost the engine,
00:55:51so Salo on the exit of Luffield,
00:55:54the last corner,
00:55:55but it didn't really interrupt the flow of the McLaren,
00:55:58and Kulkarp,
00:55:59slightly quicker on that lap,
00:56:00nine tenths of a second behind now,
00:56:02and Michael Schumacher,
00:56:04nine seconds behind that,
00:56:05yeah of course,
00:56:06in terms of team orders,
00:56:07we shouldn't forget that the FIA,
00:56:09the governing body,
00:56:10have read the ride back to the teams,
00:56:12and said no phony manoeuvres,
00:56:15chaps,
00:56:15we want straight racing from the start,
00:56:17and we're getting it here,
00:56:18Michael Schumacher is the acknowledged Reagan Meister,
00:56:21has he got the right tyres?
00:56:23Doesn't look like it at the moment,
00:56:25I believe his talent is undimmed,
00:56:27the car goes well,
00:56:29but he's now 10 seconds behind,
00:56:31this terrific battle for the lead,
00:56:32on lap 30,
00:56:33which is half the distance,
00:56:35at the British Grand Prix,
00:56:37we've only got those three retirements now,
00:56:40Salo out of the race,
00:56:41Frenkel out of the race,
00:56:42Hill out of the race,
00:56:43and of course the fourth one,
00:56:45Johnny Herbert out,
00:56:46so there are 18 cars left,
00:56:50out of the 22 that started,
00:56:52the last one who's running is Jarno Trulli,
00:56:55in the front,
00:56:56man and machine versus the racetrack,
00:56:57and you saw,
00:56:58you saw how hard,
00:57:00yeah we were right Murray,
00:57:00that's Johnny recovering,
00:57:02and then the experienced guy that he is,
00:57:04he knows he'll be flat flagged anyway,
00:57:06so go in the pit,
00:57:07but you saw Michael Schumacher,
00:57:08working very hard to keep his Ferrari,
00:57:11pointing in the right direction,
00:57:12on the way out of club,
00:57:13as we saw a good side shot there,
00:57:15Eddie Irvine,
00:57:16who is currently running in a strong fourth,
00:57:18and of course absolutely,
00:57:20no question of tyre changes,
00:57:22towards the grooves,
00:57:24they're lapping in 1.39 and a half now,
00:57:27compared with that magic figure of 1.34,
00:57:30where they could come in and change two grooves on,
00:57:33we've had a lot of rain since then,
00:57:35it's still extremely wet,
00:57:36I can't see it drying out,
00:57:38there might be changes if it dries out,
00:57:40to go back to intermediate,
00:57:41here is Mika Salo spinning,
00:57:43he lost that a long way before the exit didn't he,
00:57:45he got on the power way too early there,
00:57:47so Mika actually exiting the corner backwards,
00:57:50yeah Mika Salo with Mika Hakkinen coming through,
00:57:54I mean if that had happened a bit later,
00:57:57it might have been trouble for Hakkinen and Coulthard,
00:57:59here they are,
00:58:00with Coulthard behind Barrichello,
00:58:03lapping him again,
00:58:04Robert Barrichello is in 14th place,
00:58:07moves out wide,
00:58:08lets David Coulthard through,
00:58:10and inevitably David will have lost time,
00:58:14as we look at Michael Schumacher,
00:58:16still in that third position,
00:58:18it seems like Hakkinen is a little bit happier now,
00:58:21maybe it's raining that bit harder,
00:58:22you can see quite a lot of roots and tails,
00:58:24coming out of the back of the cars,
00:58:25as they go down the straights at top speed,
00:58:27look at the water pouring off the tyres of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari,
00:58:31but it seems as if Hakkinen now is slightly more comfortable,
00:58:34and the gap is back up to 1.7 seconds for David Coulthard,
00:58:38and although we've got two McLarens and two Ferraris in the top four places,
00:58:44they're in the wrong places as far as Ferrari are concerned,
00:58:47because with McLaren running first and second,
00:58:50they're on a potential 16 Constructors World Championship points,
00:58:54to extend their 11 point lead over Ferrari,
00:58:58Ferrari of course are on seven points at the present moment,
00:59:03for third and fourth positions from Schumacher and Irvine,
00:59:08and naturally it's not doing anything for David Coulthard's World Championship chances,
00:59:12because at the present moment,
00:59:14the gap between him and Vika Hakkinen is increasing by four points.
00:59:18Yeah, the Ferrari is full wet now,
00:59:20they really, Coulthard will be struggling to hang on to that McLaren,
00:59:23it really is raining hard,
00:59:24you can see full wet going on the Minardi there,
00:59:27not that it'll have a big effect on the outcome of this race,
00:59:30but look now at the amount of water on the track,
00:59:33and that's why Hakkinen is beginning to ease away,
00:59:35up to 2.6 seconds now,
00:59:37but it can soon, if it just slows down,
00:59:39this track dries so quickly.
00:59:42So there is Coulthard,
00:59:43coming down towards us now,
00:59:45behind Rubens Barrichello's White Stewart,
00:59:48is Michael Schumacher,
00:59:50third in the Ferrari.
00:59:54He's had a couple of third places already this season,
00:59:56that's not what he's looking for,
00:59:58he's looking to at minimum split the McLarens,
01:00:01and obviously to beat both of them if he possibly can,
01:00:04and I must say that this is surprising me,
01:00:07I expected Schumacher with his acknowledged range superiority,
01:00:11to be going better than he has done.
01:00:13Look how hard Mick is driving,
01:00:14that's not, that's Rosset there,
01:00:15he's not going to get out of there,
01:00:17never, never, never,
01:00:17I think that cop coming out the first corner,
01:00:20and, uh, and, uh,
01:00:23I don't know, don't absolutely understand
01:00:25how I know all these gravel traps so well,
01:00:26it's not that I've been in one of them before.
01:00:28But he's 9 seconds off the pace,
01:00:30Ricciardo Rosset,
01:00:32he's having a terrible season,
01:00:33and, uh,
01:00:35there are some people who think the Tyrrell team
01:00:37would like to replace him with someone else,
01:00:39but are not able to,
01:00:40Paul Marriott,
01:00:41so he's, he's hanging on,
01:00:43you can't blame him,
01:00:44he wants to drive in Formula 1,
01:00:46and that, of course, is, uh,
01:00:47a Minardi that's gone off,
01:00:48that's, uh, not the Tyrrell we're looking at,
01:00:50that's Esteban Suero,
01:00:52so all of a sudden,
01:00:53the Ross is increasing,
01:00:55with Rosset out and Suero fast,
01:00:58as well as Herbert,
01:00:59Salo,
01:00:59Frentzen,
01:01:00and Hill,
01:01:01and we're on lap 33 out of 60,
01:01:04over half distance,
01:01:05in very difficult,
01:01:07but not appalling conditions,
01:01:09I've seen it a lot worse than that,
01:01:11although not for one moment suggesting
01:01:12that it's easy to drive at Silverstone
01:01:14in these conditions,
01:01:15just look at the water that's coming up
01:01:17from behind,
01:01:18Hakkinen's McLaren in first place there,
01:01:21and he's on his 33rd lap,
01:01:23and he's now three and a half seconds
01:01:24ahead of Coulthard,
01:01:26the gap has increased,
01:01:27and Michael Schumacher is dropping back,
01:01:3013 seconds,
01:01:31Eddie Irvine is 22 seconds behind Schumacher,
01:01:34but if Coulthard can keep it together
01:01:36until lap 40,
01:01:37and then he can have a set of full wets,
01:01:40but you can see it's still spotting the rain,
01:01:42but David,
01:01:43everything's okay on those intermediates,
01:01:45but he just can't push as hard as Mika Hakkinen,
01:01:48you can see Mika has been attacking those braking areas,
01:01:51attacking the throttle,
01:01:52and David having to be a little more careful.
01:01:55Here are the two Benettons of Alexander Voortz
01:01:58in eighth position,
01:02:00and Bissi Keller behind him,
01:02:04now there's been talk in the pit lane
01:02:06that Ron Dennis,
01:02:09the boss of McLaren,
01:02:10is favouring Mika Hakkinen,
01:02:13and he was tackled about this,
01:02:14and he came out at the press conference,
01:02:16and he said,
01:02:17yes, of course,
01:02:18there is a very strong emotional attachment
01:02:21between Mika Hakkinen and myself,
01:02:23he's been with the team since 1993,
01:02:26he had an appalling crash at Adelaide,
01:02:29he's recovered from that,
01:02:30he's driven magnificently,
01:02:32but I promise you,
01:02:34that whilst there is that emotional attachment,
01:02:36there is no question of him getting favourable treatment
01:02:39in terms of the cars and equipment,
01:02:42he said it doesn't make any difference to me and to McLaren
01:02:44whether it's Coulthard or Hakkinen that wins,
01:02:47but Mika Hakkinen has had the edge
01:02:49over David Coulthard all season.
01:02:53So, it's lap 34,
01:02:56we're going to take a break from Silverstone,
01:02:58but we will be back shortly.
01:05:06So,
01:05:23you're watching Ralph Schumacher
01:05:26in the Jordan,
01:05:27in the points,
01:05:28is this going to be the first race this year
01:05:31in which the Jordan team,
01:05:32which is based at Silverstone,
01:05:34just across the road from the main gate of the circuit,
01:05:38scores its first World Championship point of 1998.
01:05:42If so, it certainly won't be going to Damon Hill,
01:05:45who was the first retirement when he spun off,
01:05:47but Ralph Schumacher is in sixth place,
01:05:50his brother, Michael, is third.
01:05:52Well, David Coulthard,
01:05:54faster than Hakkinen,
01:05:55he's eased off a little bit,
01:05:56there is less water on the track,
01:05:58and now David's intermediates will come back to hit him,
01:06:00so, 3.7 seconds,
01:06:03which is the difference between Coulthard and Hakkinen,
01:06:05Coulthard is slightly faster at the moment.
01:06:07On the top six,
01:06:09two are catching the man in front,
01:06:11Coulthard is catching Micah Hakkinen,
01:06:14although he's 3.7 seconds behind him,
01:06:17and Alessi is catching Irvine,
01:06:19although he's 21 seconds behind him.
01:06:23Now, there is Ralph Schumacher,
01:06:24behind, now that's Schumacher,
01:06:27and he's got past Takagi,
01:06:30as the Williams goes through,
01:06:32driven by Jacques Villeneuve,
01:06:34and Villeneuve there,
01:06:36the winner last year,
01:06:37the winner the year before,
01:06:38no question of a hat trick for him in 1998,
01:06:41unless we get some absolutely astounding developments
01:06:45in the last 24, 25 laps,
01:06:47which is what we are into now,
01:06:49we're on lap 36 out of 60.
01:06:52The fastest lap, of course,
01:06:55is still that put up by Michael Schumacher,
01:06:57on the 12th lap,
01:06:58135 points, sir.
01:07:00Ralph into the pit lane for his second stop,
01:07:02not very early last time around,
01:07:04so Ralph, now for some more fuel,
01:07:07interesting to see what time he puts on.
01:07:09Oh, look out!