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00:00:00with ITV Sport live at Interlagos Sao Paulo where the Brazilians are out in huge numbers supporting
00:00:07the hometown boy Rubens Barrichello 113 races without a victory can Rubinho be a winner at
00:00:15last let's join Martin Brundle and first of all Murray, Murray Walker well can he well of course
00:00:21he can but will he that's another thing altogether fourth on the grid half a second covers all four
00:00:29McLarens and Ferraris and believe it or not a further three-tenths of a second covers the next
00:00:3711 places on the grid Vika Häkkinen up there again 23 times he's been in pole position but
00:00:45the question look across at the background of the city of Sao Paulo and you can see a heavy
00:00:51overcast there is it going to rain I forecast rain for the qualifying yesterday and it happened
00:00:58I didn't forecast that the circuit was going to come to pieces around everybody and I'm pretty
00:01:02sure that's not going to happen again today but there is a possibility of rain this afternoon
00:01:08not heavy rain we had light precipitation I think it's called earlier this morning
00:01:14the track is perfectly all right now but as ever anything could happen it's going to be a long
00:01:20hard day I think for the drivers especially if most of the race is run in dry conditions they're
00:01:26all trying to find ways of supporting their neck so you've heard about it earlier on in the program
00:01:31and it's not that easy to do because the regulations state that the area around for
00:01:36example Mikko Häkkinen there is carefully controlled and with a certain amount of deflection
00:01:42in the foam it's it doesn't just happen by chance there's a lot of regulations to control that and
00:01:48therefore they're not allowed to introduce too many things to support their heads and then if
00:01:52you start having straps in fact I think I can see one there on Kulthar's helmet you start putting
00:01:57straps you wrap them underneath your arm and put them on the side of the helmet but it really helps
00:02:01you going around left-handers but it restricts your view going around right-handers so there's
00:02:05no elegant solution to that at all but it's going to be a tough race physically traditionally here
00:02:11physically anyway but as we've said before with the new track service a lot a lot more grip
00:02:16I'm expecting them also to do quite a long first run I think with the new speed limit in the pits
00:02:22and the nature of the pit lane here most of them I think will be doing one stop through the race
00:02:28so you can expect him going quite a long way and I think it's going to be close between the first
00:02:33four cars they should scamper away a little bit Murray and then as you pointed out the rest of
00:02:37them there's nothing to choose between them isn't that's right and let's not forget that Eddie Irvine
00:02:41in the Jaguar is up there in sixth position Jenson Button in only his second Grand Prix
00:02:46is an amazing ninth he started 21st in Australia and he's ahead of his teammate the very experienced
00:02:53Ralph Schumacher who we have all regarded as one of the great young up-and-coming drivers and
00:03:00he is about 25 years old while he's he's been upstaged by a younger and more up-and-coming
00:03:07driver in his team Jenson is just 20 years old and it's very much a baptism of fire here
00:03:13and it'll be the first time of course for him that he started a Grand Prix uphill uphill and
00:03:19in the pack and I'm assuming he's got some kind of mechanism to stop his car rolling backwards
00:03:25there's quite an incline there on the grid I don't know whether you could see that probably
00:03:28too many people around when when I was down there with the camera but and also Jenson's got a head
00:03:34into the first corner for the first time amongst some front-running Grand Prix cars in the middle
00:03:39of the pack so uh good good challenge for him but sensational performance I read somewhere he
00:03:44thought he'd be out qualifying Ralph Schumacher by the middle of the season which I thought was
00:03:48a touch ambitious pretty cool given Ralph's speed and here we are in race two and he's done it
00:03:52already and more to the point he looked like he was going to qualify Ralph all weekend he's always
00:03:58despite having lost two engines he's always had the edge on Ralph around this circuit so uh
00:04:03spectacular performance there from Jenson and uh he's now really got to bide his time in the middle
00:04:08of the pack he's going to be quite angry up there well you've just seen Michael Schumacher who came
00:04:12out of the pit lane he's been in and out as usual very late indeed he left it until just two minutes
00:04:18before the pit lane closed at quarter to the hour so they've been making some last minute adjustments
00:04:24and probably checking the fuel and topping it up of the Ferrari I'm expecting the one stoppers to
00:04:30start coming in round about lap 45 out of 72 and those brown marks on the circuit are not dust those
00:04:39are scuff marks from the wooden planks underneath yeah Santa's car they're smoking quite badly on
00:04:44the line maybe just needs to get some revs up and uh clear the cylinders a bit but uh
00:04:50Formula One engines are so finely manufactured that's unusual we've got I think we've got some
00:04:56cars uh not got away from the grid now so uh we've got we've got several cars Murray stuck
00:05:03on the grid well in theory they are they're allowed this year to catch up and regain their
00:05:09rightful grid position which they weren't allowed to do before I remember Michael Schumacher getting
00:05:14the black flag yes Martin I think that I think it's a bit of a gray area there really the main
00:05:18the main pack the main thrust of the grid has gone it was a Jaguar I think of um John
00:05:25Johnny Herbert was strapped behind them one other car then you saw the Bennett on there which is
00:05:28passing us now it's Alexander Wurtz and I think the three of them should have to start at the back
00:05:35of the grid because they were they were so well well laid away that I don't think they'll be allowed
00:05:40to it is a bit of a gray area in the rule book and I was asking about it only the other day funnily
00:05:45enough what is the situation if more than one car gets held back because there's a rule if the pack
00:05:52has gone and you then can't regain your position you have to start at the back but of course what
00:05:57deemed what constitutes the rest of the field if there's two still behind you you're not the last
00:06:01one over the line temperature creeping up a little track temperature 33 degrees but it was 42 degrees
00:06:08on Friday afternoon as Micah Hacken and leads David Coulthard in the red Ferrari Michael Schumacher
00:06:15followed by the Brazilian hero Rubens Barrichello there's Fisichella Eddie Irvine in the Jaguar
00:06:22the first Jordan is Heinz-Harald Frentzen that was the Villeneuve's VAR and bringing up the back you
00:06:29can see Mazzacane the Argentine oh he's not because he is Wurtz you just saw the blue Benetton
00:06:36incidentally I remind you 20 cars starting this race not 22 with the unfortunate but very sensible
00:06:44and brave withdrawal by Peter Sauber of his two Sauber cars after that weak breakage with
00:06:51Micah Sarlow yesterday so the two Prost cars are starting with Jean Alessi and Nick Heidfeldt for
00:06:59his second Grand Prix Alessi in 15th position very disappointing for him because he was sixth fastest
00:07:05on Friday morning and the Prost was looking very good after having been flown back from Australia
00:07:11to Silverstone for testing and then out to Brazil yes look and there is Johnny Herbert
00:07:17he has regained his position actually Wurtz has stayed at the back of the pack but the other two
00:07:21it was Wurtz that stalled and then blocked the other two from getting away so Johnny's obviously
00:07:26chosen to say hey I'm gonna that's not my fault I'm gonna take my normal grid position 72 laps
00:07:33it's going to be a long very hard very hot race you saw all the yellow lines across the track where
00:07:38the cars have been bottoming out there we shot before this one and it's really pounding the
00:07:44drivers coming into the pit lane Martin on the right didn't see who it was quite possibly Wurtz
00:07:50because he's having been having problems all today and all through the practice period it is Alexander
00:07:55Wurtz into the pit lane whether or not he'll be able to start from the pit lane two lights
00:08:00three and the Brazilian Grand Prix is go nice one Hakanen Schumacher gets ahead of Kulthar
00:08:10Schumacher attacking at the first corner and Schumacher goes to Mika Hakanen and Barrichello
00:08:16is still behind David Kulthar and Eddie Irvine is up into fifth position beautiful start by Eddie
00:08:23Irvine gets ahead of Fisichella up into the fifth position as they come down the straight this is
00:08:28where Schumacher will attack as they come down into late descent Hakanen is having nothing of it
00:08:34it's still McLaren Ferrari McLaren Ferrari they've all got round the first part of the lap unscathed
00:08:40and Eddie Irvine in the Jaguar holds on to fifth position yes David Kulthar bogged down on the
00:08:46start line got away poorly that gave Michael Schumacher an easy run Wurtz does start the race
00:08:51I think he's not understood the regulations there came into the pit lane but Michael Schumacher
00:08:57looking particularly aggressive and menacing in the early stages Eddie Irvine got a good start
00:09:01had an enormous slide in turn three collected it all together and they're in a strong fifth
00:09:08position Jenson Button has dropped down a little bit to 12th place well that's not surprising he's
00:09:14gone down from 9th to 12th the first start with the pack and there he is ahead of the arrows of
00:09:20Jos Verstappen has coming through to complete the first lap out of 72 it's the two rivals again
00:09:27as ever and Schumacher's going for it he'll get through and Schumacher leads Michael Schumacher
00:09:36attacks and gets through now the Ferrari is handling beautifully here and Barrichello too
00:09:42sorry Murray Barrichello passing uh Kulthar absolutely the two McLarens have each been
00:09:47passed by their equivalents in the Ferrari team and if Michael Schumacher can get ahead here he's
00:09:54obviously going to be in a tremendously strong position it's still Eddie Irvine in fifth but
00:09:58look at the gap that's developing between Irvine in the green Jaguar and Fisichella in the blue
00:10:05Benetton well Michael Schumacher is in a real up and at it mood attacking right from the beginning
00:10:12into turn one on the first quarter and now he's starting to stretch his lead now is this an
00:10:17indication of how nimble the Ferrari is or is it possibly an indication of the fact that he's on a
00:10:23lighter fuel load could be we'll have to see how that one shakes out but Michael said he didn't
00:10:27care about being in third and well he's certainly proven that to be the case hasn't he passed Kulthar
00:10:31off the line and then really Hakkinen couldn't place his car anywhere that would stop Michael
00:10:37Schumacher with a good slingshot a good toe coming up the inside Hakkinen probably should
00:10:41have defended on the left and made Michael go the long way around I just knew Michael somehow
00:10:45was going to pass that McLaren under braking and look at the way he's scampering away it's
00:10:50two seconds lead and out he's going one of the course cars is the uh health car wasn't it but
00:10:57I think he positions himself down at the bottom of the hill somewhere so I don't think the uh
00:11:02the uh that Mercedes estate car is going to come onto the racetrack well this is an
00:11:07here's a replay of Michael Schumacher at late descent on the previous lap diving through on
00:11:13the inside of Mika Hakkinen and you're a brave determined man who can do that because Mika
00:11:18Hakkinen is right on top of his form this season he showed us that while he was going in Australia
00:11:24only to retire as did his teammate David Kulthar and of course as a result of Ferrari finishing
00:11:30first and second at Melbourne they're leading the Constructors Championship with 16 points
00:11:35and McLaren have yet to score so it's absolutely vital to the working team who've been trying so
00:11:42hard and got such a superb Adrian Newey designed car but they get to grips with the Ferraris
00:11:47so Eddie Irvine there Jaguar still in fifth position now look back there's Fisichella
00:11:54behind Fisichella it's Fredson and Trulli behind Trulli is Zonta he's ahead of his teammate Jacques
00:12:02so the BARs are going extremely well they qualified in 8th and 11th places with Zonta
00:12:09ahead of his teammate Jacques Villeneuve and there is Rubens Barrichello into the Senna S as Ron Dennis
00:12:15watches yes and to keep you up to speed on now this is Michael getting in the slipstream and uh
00:12:22no this must be Barrichello when he passed Kulthar yeah when when uh it was out of our
00:12:28initially Kulthar does try to defend the inside line the Ferrari's just got too much straight
00:12:33line speed for him let me give you a little identification tip look at the top of Barrichello's
00:12:37helmet but his helmet is very like Schumacher's except that it has a star right at the top of it
00:12:43so that should give us an identification for help so Michael Schumacher in the lead now by an
00:12:50incredible 3.4 seconds on lap 4 out of 72. Michael Schumacher stretching his lead all the time
00:12:581 minute 16.6 was Michael Schumacher's fastest lap so far and that compares with the lap record
00:13:05here of 1 minute 18.4 so he's well and truly broken the lap record already but of course to
00:13:12be fair to everybody about two seconds of that is going to be accounted for by the resurface track
00:13:18as we ride with Rubens Barrichello and ahead of him is Mika Häkkinen now the gap is only one second
00:13:25and Barrichello is actually catching you can see it visually he's catching the McLaren of
00:13:32Mika Häkkinen the double world champion and pulling away well away from David Kulthar
00:13:38he is now nearly three seconds ahead of Kulthar as Rubens Barrichello driving in only his second
00:13:44race for Ferrari closes up on the rear wing of Mika Häkkinen's McLaren Mercedes wonderful drive
00:13:53as Jensen to give you updated on Jensen Button he's dropped another couple of places we haven't
00:13:58seen it but somewhere along the line Jean Alessi is scorching through the field he's now up to 11th
00:14:04as Jensen following teammate Raul Schumacher they're 13th and 14th okay now you watch Barrichello
00:14:10and Häkkinen in third and second places here are the top 10 on lap 5 out of 72 Schumacher now
00:14:17leading by an amazing four seconds Mika Häkkinen second Rubens Barrichello and David Kulthar
00:14:23there they are Kulthar in fourth position Barrichello in third place Eddie Irvine is
00:14:31three seconds behind Kulthar in fifth position and ahead of Fisichella by two seconds
00:14:37Jarno Trulli is seventh Fredson is eighth Joss Verstappen in the arrows a magnificent
00:14:42night and Barrichello is again showing his nose to the McLaren in front of it Häkkinen yes
00:14:49really stalking Häkkinen now that Ferrari's got tremendous straight line speed especially
00:14:53when it's in the slipstream of a McLaren they're running virtually top level of downforce here as
00:14:58they do at most circuits these days and obviously the McLaren punching quite a hole in the air
00:15:03and both Ferraris able to get a good slingshot on that I don't think it'd be too long before
00:15:08Barrichello is having a go at Häkkinen for real into turn one Kulthar miles off the pace for some
00:15:15reason down in fourth place losing something over two seconds a lap so hopefully he hasn't
00:15:20got a problem but certainly way off the pace at the moment I have to say I'm unashamedly amazed
00:15:26at this because the McLaren and the Ferraris were very very close oh and a tougher smoke from the
00:15:32rear of Mika Häkkinen's car that was engine and not tires has he got a problem well we're back
00:15:39again with Barrichello now as he comes up to the Jungkau they're climbing climbing look at the
00:15:44grandstand up there that's see how see what the gradient is here at Interlagos this magnificent
00:15:50circuit as he comes up he's building up to 190 miles an hour the gap between him and Häkkinen
00:15:58on the previous lap was about three-tenths of a second it's still that as Häkkinen turns in
00:16:04but now Michael Schumacher with another lap record leads by six seconds and David Kulthar
00:16:11is obviously unhappy about something he stalled at the start now is this where Barrichello is going
00:16:16for now he's not anywhere near close enough but Kulthar's on different tires I think to the front
00:16:20three that may be costing but he has now got into the one minute 17th and that's still a second and
00:16:24a half slower than Schumacher we'll have to wait and see when Schumacher comes in for a pit stop
00:16:29but the four of them now pulling quite quickly away as we expected from Irvine and Fisichella
00:16:35and the two Jordans giving good chase of Eddie Irvine and Mika Häkkinen once again locking up
00:16:40his wheels and is this a position change that's the Jordan going ahead of Fisichella that's
00:16:45Jarno Trulli going up to sixth position by passing Fisichella in the Benetton now we haven't really
00:16:52talked very much about tires Bridgestone as ever have got two compounds here a medium one and a
00:16:58softer one and if the circuit had been damp it might just about have favored the people on the
00:17:03softer compound including David Kulthar that is not the case it is hot and it is dry so the people
00:17:10on the harder tires are going to benefit and they include Michael Schumacher, Mika Häkkinen, the two
00:17:17Williams cars which are pretty well down the field now Michael Schumacher is the lead
00:17:23Williams in third sorry Ralph Schumacher as Häkkinen in second place and Michael Schumacher
00:17:31on that lap now Barrichello's got a sniff look but down into turn three is very risky I have to tell
00:17:36you it's so bumpy on the way in it's always been bumpy and slippery there whatever service they've
00:17:41had done and Barrichello thinking better of it Häkkinen defending the line well Michael Schumacher
00:17:46virtually two seconds faster than anybody else on that last lap yeah one minute 15.9 that is
00:17:562.4 seconds faster than the previous lap record and there is no doubt at all in my mind that
00:18:02Mika Häkkinen in the silver and black McLaren Mercedes is holding up to Rubens and Barrichello
00:18:10you saw the Brazilian trying valiantly to get past the McLaren and the meantime of course
00:18:16Michael Schumacher is taking advantage of a clear track and the fact that these two are holding up
00:18:21each other to extend his lead which is now nearly eight seconds and that means a second a lap yeah
00:18:27Wurz is stopped out on the track somewhere we saw some smoke coming out of the back of the car so
00:18:32Alexander Wurz's awful afternoon is now over there's the proof as the fire extinguishers go
00:18:40off and this will not be a meeting that Wurz remembers with any affection he's had awful
00:18:46problems all the time James Allen what's the news well Mary Ferrari's pace here is not at all what
00:18:51we expected there was six tenths of a second difference per lap between a one-stop and a
00:18:56two-stop fuel load and Michael Schumacher's pace seems to be a great deal faster than that it's a
00:19:01much much bigger gap it's mystifying he's definitely a lot lighter because Häkkinen isn't hanging
00:19:05around he's lapping comfortably in the 117s but what's interesting you were saying Martin that
00:19:09Ferrari's are quick on the straight here last year one of the reasons they weren't competitive
00:19:13is they were eight miles an hour slower on the straight that's obviously not the case this year
00:19:17and that's why they're going so quickly I think they're taking a bit of a risk here guys I think
00:19:21they're thinking we're 16 points clear in the championship the McLaren's might break and they're
00:19:25going for it in the early stages of the race strategy wise I don't know what's going through
00:19:28Ross Braun's mind at the moment but uh it's obviously it's pretty fertile at the moment
00:19:33yeah and where they're really making the time James is not only how they pass down the straight
00:19:36but this second section they've just completed Michael Schumacher is just absolutely crucifying
00:19:43them in that sector and he's always been good there whenever he's driven at this racetrack
00:19:48it's a balancing act I think his agility and his commitment to the corners really seems to pay off
00:19:53through the middle part of this lap uh Barrichello closes right up as they go into turn one and now
00:19:59the Senna S you can see the positions for the first four yourself that's Hakanen and Barrichello
00:20:07now behind them David Coulthard is 17 seconds now behind Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine
00:20:15is seven and a half seconds behind Coulthard still in fifth position for Jarno Trulli is the man to
00:20:21watch there he is in the yellow Jordan because Trulli has come through the field he started well
00:20:27down after having all sorts of problems in 12th position he's now up into sixth place he's gained
00:20:33six places and he's closing up on the green Jaguar of Jarno of Eddie Irvine 1.2 seconds between them
00:20:41at the present moment they're stretching their lead over Fisichella in seventh place and the next
00:20:47battle is again one that oh and off goes the replay of the Benetton
00:20:56retiring and and Eddie Irvine is really having to push the Jaguar now because he can see that
00:21:04yellow Jordan big in his mirrors by the way Jenson Button is in 13th place having a battle with his
00:21:11teammate Ralph Schumacher who is catching Zonta who is in 11th place Johnny Herbert is in 15th
00:21:17position in the second Jaguar so he's gained two places he started 17th over the line Eddie Irvine
00:21:24Jaguar Jarno Trulli Jordan and they are fifth and sixth as you can see Eddie constantly locking
00:21:30brakes and he's working harder in the cockpit than Trulli is that's for sure and I would expect
00:21:37Eddie's tires to be going away much quicker than Jarno Trulli's and we know how super fit Trulli is
00:21:42he's going to be a force to be reckoned with I think later in the race Jarno Trulli doing a great
00:21:47job there for Jordan well Michael Schumacher and you're watching Barrichello now Michael Schumacher
00:21:5311 seconds ahead of this battle joined Ferrari in 1996 with the declared aim of helping the team
00:22:01back to Ul and Heidfeld a blown engine there and it's the Peugeot of Nick Heidfeld who was down the
00:22:09field he'd already been lacked he was down in 19th position so that's the second retirement
00:22:15Woods is out Heidfeld is out the two salvos didn't start so there are 18 cars and drivers
00:22:22left in the Brazilian Grand Prix and we are now on lap 12 out of 72 with the man you're looking at
00:22:29Michael Schumacher a massive massive 12 seconds ahead of Mika Häkkinen he's keeping up this
00:22:38searing pace and pulling away at the rate of one second a lap and if only Barrichello could get
00:22:43past Häkkinen there they are I think he would ease away from the McLaren Mercedes too and as I
00:22:51was saying earlier on this absolutely mystifies me because the McLarens and the Ferraris were so
00:22:57close all through practice and qualifying and this morning there was only five thousandth of a second
00:23:04between Michael Schumacher and Mika Häkkinen that I expected them to be scrapping together on
00:23:09the circuit that's Irvine still fifth trolley still sixth and in seventh position this is
00:23:16something new and different Jos Verstappen from Holland in the arrows yeah Verstappen has promised
00:23:22to put in a good performance here since the very first laps of Friday morning and going extremely
00:23:27well as you say in seventh place another big mover is Jean Alessi I saw him out of the window out
00:23:32break Frentzen down into turn one he's up to ninth and lapping very very quickly catching Fisichella
00:23:38he's currently in eighth so Alessi on the move too well I mean Schumacher's speed is so
00:23:46tremendous in comparison with the superb opposition behind him but I'm asking myself
00:23:51what could possibly account for it I can't see any conceivable reason why he should be having
00:23:56a two-stop strategy but it might be that he's on a lighter fuel load is that Alessi
00:24:03that's Alessi now out of the race spoke a bit too soon didn't he he was absolutely flying
00:24:07what a shame that means both the Prosts are out for an early bar and it was Alessi's car
00:24:14of course earlier on today in the final half hour warm-up this morning four hours before the race
00:24:20but shed its rear wing and caused a great deal of concern like the Saubers yesterday yes how he
00:24:26didn't spin off and have a huge accident I will never know I was speaking to a couple of drivers
00:24:30about and we're all scratching our heads how Alessi got away with that one this morning but
00:24:35a new lap another new lap record for Michael Schumacher now won 15.7 but Hakanen, Barrichello
00:24:42and Coulthard now establishing themselves in the 16s quite regularly so it's their evening
00:24:48out but Michael is still romping away have you got any theories on Michael's speed yes he's a
00:24:53fantastic driver yes this year's Ferrari is very special but I didn't expect it to be as special
00:24:59as this yeah nobody expected this and especially McLaren I'm absolutely sure as he's done yet
00:25:04another new lap record on a 1.15.6 this time around I mean he's just in a league of his own
00:25:10isn't he well all right let's discuss it two-stop strategy but as James pointed out the difference
00:25:15between a one-stopper and a two-stopper is still nothing like it's probably six or seven tenths
00:25:20of a second for a lap nothing like this kind of pace but let's take a break
00:27:20so
00:27:35lap 15 and Barrichello is second and there he is ahead of Micah Hakanen that's Michael that
00:27:44one but a new another new lap record for Michael now on a 15.3 hopefully we're going to get a
00:27:49replay of how Barrichello did it got in the slipstream of Hakanen look this is the pit straight
00:27:55and Hakanen didn't defend early enough Barrichello even with time to come back onto a more normal
00:28:00racing line and using there's the response from the crowd and they're using the prodigious
00:28:05straight line speed of that Ferrari to great effect and Michael Schumacher Barrichello has
00:28:10picked up in speed now but he's still some eight tenths of a second slower than this the leading
00:28:15man now 16.8 seconds in the lead well there is no there's not a needle match between
00:28:22Michael Schumacher who is leading and Rubens Barrichello is second they get on extremely
00:28:27well together but one of the journalists yesterday was ill-advised enough to ask Michael Schumacher
00:28:33if he would let Rubens Barrichello win his own Grand Prix in his native country of Brazil and he
00:28:39got a very terse answer from Michael Schumacher Michael like all of them is a racing driver and
00:28:45he wants to win but he's closing up now Gaston Mazzucane the Argentine driver in the Minardi
00:28:52who is 17th and last moves over and lets Schumacher through and Schumacher's leading Barrichello and
00:29:00there is Irvine losing his position to Jarno Trulli who is now in fifth position so the battle
00:29:09continues between the Jordan and the Jaguar as you watch the Ferrari on lap 17 out of 72
00:29:17Schumacher leading Barrichello with Ferrari's first and second and news from James Allen
00:29:22yeah Murray I think I figured out what's going on here from Ferrari there really was an awful
00:29:25lot of pressure going from Ross Broad for Rubens to get past Mika Hakkinen he's not famous for his
00:29:29overtaking Rubens but he desperately needed to get ahead of Hakkinen because Michael has to build
00:29:33enough of a lead to be able to make an early stop and get back ahead of the McLaren driver and he's
00:29:38going to need about 26 seconds to do it at the moment he's only got 17.2 so it's critical that
00:29:42Rubens should get ahead of him and be able to slowly hold up Hakkinen ease the pace off although
00:29:46looking at Rubens he's going like a rocket ship himself but this is a very unusual strategy by
00:29:50Ferrari and I think they're gambling on McLaren breaking in the later part of the race because
00:29:56Mika Hakkinen don't rule him out here you know if he can keep the pace up on a one-stopper he will
00:30:00be there at the end but what Ferrari are doing is pushing McLaren either into breaking or making a
00:30:04mistake and it's stick with it folks because strategically and tactically this is going to be
00:30:08one of the most exciting Grand Prix's you will ever have seen yes but they've got enough straight
00:30:13line speed I think James even at the end of losing track position Ferrari got enough straight line
00:30:17speed as we've seen twice already now to uh to make a pretty solid move on the McLarens well
00:30:24thanks for that anyway James because there was obviously something unusual happening in the
00:30:30refueling area for Michael Schumacher to be pushing as hard as he is now remember what Schumacher
00:30:37did to Hakkinen in Malaysia last year he got ahead led the race let Irvine through then held
00:30:45up Mika Hakkinen now it looks as though Rubens Barrichello is playing the Schumacher role
00:30:51by holding up Hakkinen so for the second time in the very recent future Mika Hakkinen has got
00:30:58the depressing sight of a red Ferrari in front of him and holding him up but this time it's Rubens
00:31:03Barrichello as opposed to Michael Schumacher that you're looking at now Schumacher leading the race
00:31:09and Barrichello by 17 and a half seconds Mika Hakkinen has dropped back he's now three seconds
00:31:16behind Rubens Barrichello David Coulthard is in fourth position nearly half a minute behind the
00:31:22leader Jarno Trulli is fifth Eddie Irvine is sixth and he's dropping back in the Jaguar but
00:31:28he's still in the points but Irvine in sixth place is being caught by Jos Verstappen Fisichella
00:31:34is ninth Heinz-Harald Frentzen is in sorry Fisichella is eighth Frentzen is ninth Riccardo
00:31:41Zonta is in 10th position and Villeneuve is out of the race Jack Villeneuve parked the BAR there
00:31:49Villeneuve who was in fourth position in Melbourne to score his first world championship points for
00:31:55BAR has got yet another depressing retirement he's had a lot last year this year of course
00:32:02they've got the Honda engine now lap 20 for race leader Michael Schumacher who is making this a
00:32:09demonstration now there is the man that James has just been talking about look on their TV screens
00:32:14Murray did you see the Ferrari mechanics coming out into the pit lane so it is a very very early
00:32:19stop for one of the Ferrari drivers presumably it's Michael Schumacher but they can't possibly
00:32:25be thinking of three stops surely then that might they might stop us scratching our heads
00:32:30about this incredible pace but that's very very early in the race but we're barely much
00:32:37over quarter distance well it could equate amazingly with a three-stop strategy which
00:32:41would be roughly round about laps 15 30 and 45 in this 72 lap race and that would also explain why
00:32:49they're climbing that long long hill up to the start finish line with so much more speed than
00:32:54the McLarens and why of course they both got off the line very well too but remember the
00:32:59tribute that Rubens Barrichello paid to Ross Brawbs tactics after the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne
00:33:06he said he'd heard a lot about them and now he has experienced them
00:33:10because by putting him on a two-stop strategy in Melbourne I think Michael I saw him
00:33:16yes Michael is in the pit lane so look he's desperately trying to slow that car down to 80k
00:33:22James tell us about it well the critical thing now is look how long the fuel hose is on for
00:33:26if it's about six seconds he's three stopping if it's eight seconds he's two stopping and if it's
00:33:31anything like 10 well who knows what he's doing he's putting fuel in guys
00:33:37okay so he's going to go quite long with this middle stint now it's going to be very very
00:33:41interesting in the middle part of this and the second half of this race lap 21 then Michael
00:33:46Schumacher exits the pit lane and of course he has lost the lead and there is Rubens Barrichello
00:33:55who is now leading his own Brazilian Grand Prix here at Interlagos the crowd is obviously
00:34:02ecstatic about it but they probably don't realize what a crafty pit strategy the Ferrari team is
00:34:09running Vika Häkkinen in very very close proximity to Rubens Barrichello by which I mean about
00:34:17three seconds there he is in the background is in second position but Michael Schumacher should
00:34:22have and I'm not sure whether he did regain the track in third position ahead of David Fulbar
00:34:29we'll soon know yes and the reason why we're timing so closely why the the fuel filler was
00:34:33on obviously it runs at 12 liters per second we can then calculate how long that Ferrari can go
00:34:40roughly and I think James is absolutely right it's a two stopper with a very short first stint
00:34:45and a lot and the next two legs will be somewhat longer to give them track position and to get
00:34:51them past those McLarens although they were tucked up behind on the start line bad news for
00:34:56the BAR people of Brackley who I know everybody who works in the factory goes in to watch the
00:35:03television and they will have known how well their drivers did in Melbourne sad news for them that
00:35:08Jack Villeneuve is out of the race but Riccardo Zolta who qualified in eighth position higher
00:35:13than he's ever qualified before is still in the top 10 he's in 10th place if you watch the Ferraris
00:35:20at the end of the straight when they're getting very near top speed about 190 miles an hour
00:35:24you're seeing vortices coming off the rear wing end fences there's definitely getting some moisture
00:35:29in the end looking out looking pretty dark over there but maybe they'll have enough time to get
00:35:33this race completed before we have any late afternoon rain but watch next time they're
00:35:38coming down the pit straight because there's certainly that was not happening in the early
00:35:42stages of the race well now Michael Schumacher is in third position he did get back into the
00:35:48track onto the track before David Coulthard had come through and now Roberts Barrichello
00:35:53is being brought in Irvine is out of the race he stopped somewhere in the middle section
00:35:58you're watching Barrichello about to flash left and uh past the into that new into that new pit
00:36:06entry there's three lines there now they've got to slow down by the second one of them
00:36:11and uh Barrichello in and that's both Grands Prix's that he's driven for Ferrari he's been
00:36:16in the lead of at some point or another because he led for a while in Melbourne didn't he just
00:36:20before he made his second stop Michael let him through and again quite a lot of fuel going in
00:36:26and a nice stop for Rubens and up to 80 k's 50 miles an hour against quite a long pit lane
00:36:32there's a white line just after the dotted white line at the end then he can nail it well new race
00:36:38leader we've had three of them Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello and now Mikko Häkkinen
00:36:44I don't know if he's been used by everything that's been going on because no one expected
00:36:48both Ferraris to have come in for their first fuel stop by lap 23 which they have done Rubens
00:36:55Barrichello must have taken on virtually the same fuel load as Michael Schumacher their time was the
00:37:02same within a few tenths and now Mikko Häkkinen with a clear track in front of him but then he
00:37:07had a clear track virtually in front of him before has really got to go for it his last lap time
00:37:12was 1 minute 16 seconds he's got to improve on that and certainly in comparison with Michael
00:37:19Schumacher's fastest lap of 1 minute 15.3, seven tenths of a second faster than Häkkinen has been
00:37:26able to go thus far as the Finn crosses the line in the lead into lap 25 out of 72 yes but remember
00:37:34Häkkinen now has probably marginally less fuel than Michael having just been in the pit so
00:37:40Häkkinen now has the lighter car to play with not by much I would imagine because of the Ferrari
00:37:46strategy but Häkkinen does indeed lead Michael Schumacher 6.7 seconds behind him but in fact
00:37:52gaining three tenths on him on that particular lap now we could have a fairly static period now
00:37:57because we're on lap 25 I would expect Mikko Häkkinen on a one-stop strategy to come in at
00:38:04about 20 laps time Michael Schumacher is 6.7 seconds behind him in second place but catching
00:38:11the McLarens off spins Eddie Irvine oh dear and loses his right front wheel fell off rather easily
00:38:20didn't it but an impact there into the wall of course Eddie just locking the rear wheels under
00:38:25braking and downshift and put the opposite lock in but couldn't stop the Jaguar from swapping ends
00:38:31and as you saw the resultant damage clearly now we understand why
00:38:34Eddie Irvine is out of the race and lap 24 Häkkinen leads we're going we'll be back
00:40:32so
00:40:51rather more than one third race distance completed at Interlagos we're on lap 26
00:40:57out of 72 the third race leader Mikko Häkkinen is out on his own but he has stopped it's 71 laps
00:41:06incidentally and Mikko Häkkinen leads by 9.2 seconds and he's actually getting quicker and
00:41:14quicker he's within three tenths of Michael Schumacher's fastest lap Schumacher second
00:41:20Kulthar third Barrichello Trulli and Verstappen watch Häkkinen's heads look look resting it on
00:41:26the whether he's resting it or whether the neck muscles have gone already but he's doing some
00:41:30pretty stunning lap times maybe Mikko is just saving his neck for later on in the race but
00:41:36already is uh is struggling a little bit in those left-handers but Jenson Button is in 11th place
00:41:43and really once again matching Ralf Schumacher for pace who's currently just ahead of him in 10th
00:41:49they're chasing down Zonta yeah and they're both as you rightly point out catching the Brazilian
00:41:55who is in ninth place and actually Button is catching Schumacher it's a very close run thing
00:42:00between the two BMW Williams in 10th and 11th places and a puff of smoke from the back of the
00:42:07Ferrari there Rubens Barrichello slowing down and it looks as though he's out of the race he is out
00:42:13of the race lap 27 and Rubens Barrichello's engine has almost literally blown its valve
00:42:20what about Michael Schumacher if one Ferrari engine goes the other can
00:42:24and Mika Häkkinen having overcome that filter problem with the air valves in Australia has
00:42:34got a strong Mercedes engine behind him and it's between him and Michael Schumacher now
00:42:40both on very different strategies as David Coulthard moves back into third position
00:42:46and Jarno Trulli will soon be up into fourth position in the Jordan ahead of Jos Verstappen
00:42:54and Fisichella who will be fifth and sixth but they're not at the moment because Rubens
00:42:59Barrichello has still got track position albeit much much slower so what a what a race of
00:43:06development second Ferrari engine to go this weekend and that obviously is Barrichello
00:43:12recovering to the pits the car stopped smoking now for whatever reason he certainly is going to
00:43:17be out of the race of course and the main thing he's got to do is make sure they don't park in
00:43:22the pit garage if Michael has to come in in a hurry but in the pit box but Rubens look undoing
00:43:27his James yeah he's switched the engine off there's a lot of smoke coming out of the back of
00:43:31the car the Ferrari mechanics now have a problem because obviously there's nowhere for them to put
00:43:35the car at the moment because the garage is full of tires and fuel rigs so there's a big debate
00:43:39going on as to whether actually going to stick it get it out of the racetrack but an immense
00:43:42disappointment on the part of Rubens it's really a very very unfortunate by the way guys I've done
00:43:47a bit of maths here and I reckon Michael's gonna have to stop again on lap 52 which by my calculations
00:43:51is just after Hakkinen makes his one and only stop so it's that's where it's all gonna kick off
00:43:57in that kind of period around 45 to 52 whoa loads of smoke out of the back of Rubens's car that
00:44:02doesn't smell very nice I can tell you well there's a big problem with Zonta's car as you talk James
00:44:08they can't get the right front tyre and wheel on properly and the nut to lock but the lollipop
00:44:15goes out of the way but Zonta is still there has he stalled the engine but up front Mika Hakkinen
00:44:22is pulling away from Michael Schumacher I don't know whether Schumacher's got a problem
00:44:26but Hakkinen is now 12 seconds in front of the Ferrari there is the race leader Mika Hakkinen
00:44:34leading Michael Schumacher by 12 seconds so he's increased his lead by five seconds David
00:44:40Coulthard is about four tenths of a second off Schumacher's pace and 1.2 seconds slower than
00:44:47Mika Hakkinen as the Ferrari mechanics look plaintively at the back of Barrichello's car
00:44:54obviously there was a momentary fire there because they've got the extinguisher out
00:44:58and they're mopping up the remains now we're on lap 30 yeah what happened is the breather pipe has
00:45:04to be fed back into the airbox and often when they blow a big time you get crankcase pressure
00:45:09and it puts oil back into the system to get re-burned so that's probably what's happened
00:45:14there when they switched off that Ferrari and oil a little oil fire but Hakkinen is the one
00:45:19making the speed as you pointed out Murray now 12.7 seconds up Coulthard still struggling a bit
00:45:25on pace but in a very solid third position truly we saw stopping a 9.5 second stop he's on a two
00:45:32stopper now so if these McLarens are one stopping they're actually looking in pretty good shape
00:45:37yeah it's turned around quite quickly hasn't it and they're certainly looking good as far as the
00:45:41Constructors' Championship is concerned as there's a bit there's the fuel the fuel flat there of the
00:45:47Ferrari has come undone but McLaren if they keep going of course they're going to close up on
00:45:53Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship a bit because they're going to both be in the points
00:45:58assuming they both finish and they're slowing right down slowing right down into the pit lane
00:46:04comes the race leader yeah it's Hakkinen Mika Hakkinen now he's got to hit that limiter and slow
00:46:12down to 80 kilometers an hour I don't think he had much slowing down to do Murray he's got a problem
00:46:17he came out of Jungkau quite slowly I thought and on a bit of a strange line and uh look they're
00:46:22not ready for him but I think his engine is dead anyway I suspect he'll swing that straight in the
00:46:27pit carriage and he does wow for the second race in succession Mika Hakkinen fails to score a point
00:46:34and back into the race lead goes Michael Schumacher with now David Coulthard in second position
00:46:42but a long way behind the Ferrari and Jos Verstappen moves up into what if Jos Verstappen
00:46:51is going to be in fourth position conceivably very shortly in third out of the race there
00:46:57is Hakkinen visor up you're not not a happy man you're right Verstappen's third Murray
00:47:02that's going to put young Jensen up into ninth place as well yeah let's quickly run through them
00:47:08lap 31 out of 72 top 10 Schumacher leads David Coulthard is second Jos Verstappen superb in the
00:47:17super tech powered arrows as Mika Hakkinen goes back into the garage Jos Verstappen in third place
00:47:24potentially on a podium Fisichella fourth Heinz-Harald Frentzen fifth Jarno Trulli sixth both
00:47:31both Jordans then in the top six places seventh is Ralph Schumacher in the BMW Williams eighth is
00:47:37Pedro de la Rosa in the second arrows great race for arrows ninth position Jensen Button
00:47:4310th Johnny Herbert in the Jaguar and news from James Allen well Murray on what has been a really
00:47:50invigorating day for Grand Prix racing very very exciting and very unfortunate for Mika Hakkinen
00:47:55he just came out onto the pit lane having parked his car up with the engine dead and waved to all
00:48:00the Brazilian fans who've been whistling at him booing at him and throwing coins at him throughout
00:48:05the weekend he was saying thank you very much and they cheered him it was a fantastic moment
00:48:09well he's a thoroughly decent bloke Mika Hakkinen and my heart goes out to him
00:48:14and to McLaren it's a bad race for them just one car left and their
00:48:20Constructors Championship hopes of closing up have gone this is a replay of the fire extinguishers
00:48:26going on Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari and those two upward facing exhaust pipes lap 32 out of
00:48:3571 so still a long way 39 laps still to go but Michael Schumacher basically has got to keep it
00:48:43going David Coulthard is lapping tenth for tenth at the same time as Schumacher now but the gap
00:48:51between them is over eight and a half seconds and I just hope for the sake of arrows and their new
00:48:58sponsor and everybody else at Lee Field and everyone who's associated with them that the
00:49:04Dutchman coming back into Grand Prix racing after having been out of it last year he drove for
00:49:09Stewart the previous year could keep the arrows going it would be wonderful to see a new construct
00:49:14or an old constructor doing well in Formula One again arrows then third Benetton Fisichella fourth
00:49:22Frentzen Jordan and Trulli Jordan fifth and sixth 14 are left out of the 20 that started
00:49:29yes pushed up and a half a minute behind but actually matching the pace virtually of the two
00:49:34cars ahead of him which of course is Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard looking down the
00:49:39field uh Frentzen obviously deciding to go for a one-stopper in that Jordan that's put him ahead
00:49:44of Trulli his teammate and Trulli's pace not that spectacular actually in sixth Ralph Schumacher
00:49:51seventh and DeLorean somebody's uh engine I'd imagine an engine problem there so uh I think
00:49:57it's a Jordan is a Jordan or a Minardi yeah it's it's Chenet it's Mark Chenet in the Minardi out
00:50:05of the race from 11th position sorry for him because Gustave Brunat had designed a very tidy
00:50:11motor car but incidentally uh Barry Keller went out of the race with a hydraulic problem in the
00:50:17Ferrari yes that um David Coulthard second place it's a really nice touches on that Minardi the
00:50:24way it's been designed and the little aerodynamic tweaks that's that's a very very nice little car
00:50:29and not too bad engine in the back of it I think with a front running engine that could be seriously
00:50:33quick and uh we're seeing it this year but look at the arrows up there in third place with a you
00:50:39know a reasonable engine albeit nothing like the power or the low weight of the main contenders
00:50:45they've still put together a very very competitive package track temperature is the same as when the
00:50:51race began 32 degrees I hypothesized about the possibility of rain I have to say it certainly
00:50:58doesn't look like it at the moment uh the sun is out it's overcast a bit but the sun is shining
00:51:04through you can see shadows on the circuit that's a good sign I think Coulthard's got a gearbox
00:51:10problem of some sort because let's listen to him if we get the engine noise
00:51:16yeah he's not changing gear we'd expect him to he should have made at least two shifts up that hill
00:51:21already and I noticed it on a slower corner earlier too I suspect he's got some kind of problem
00:51:27in the lower gears which won't be too helpful on the pit stop and not unknown with McLaren because
00:51:34they in common with some of the other teams have had the gearbox problems in the past
00:51:38as you look down on what has proved to be thus far and historically a very strong Ferrari very
00:51:46that's Michael Schumacher very unusual that Barrichello went out because Ferrari have finished
00:51:52both cars in race after race after race which largely accounted for success in winning the
00:51:59Constructors Championship last year but well maybe Coulthard is still marginally quicker than
00:52:09Schumacher as A. Hacken and Mikko's wife plaintively watches as Mikko stalks by
00:52:17to take his helmet off not not at all happy and who can blame him he's the reigning world champion
00:52:22he wanted to defeat Michael Schumacher and become only the second driver to win
00:52:28third driver to win three championships in succession and he's not he's not going to
00:52:35do that unless he improves considerably he's got no points and Michael Schumacher
00:52:42if he stays where he is will be on 16 at the end of this race will be on 20 at the end of this race
00:52:47this looks like a good time to take a break
00:54:47so
00:55:03are watching the remorseless Michael Schumacher in the lead in the Ferrari David Coulthard is
00:55:10edging up on him the gap has come down from some nine seconds to 7.6 seconds in spite of the fact
00:55:18that Martin is hypothesizing that Coulthard may have some sort of a gearbox problem Jos Verstappen
00:55:24who was a magnificent third in the arrows has come in and taken on more fuel and tires and has
00:55:29dropped down he's still running that's Fizzy Keller in third position in the Benetton the man who is
00:55:35in fifth place in Australia the revived Benetton team which has now been bought by Renault and will
00:55:41become Renault in the year 2002 but it's a wonderful foundation for Flavio Briatore their
00:55:48ex-boss who's come back so Fizzy Keller in third position hides Harold Frentzen and Trulli in the
00:55:55two Jordans fourth and fifth have gone ahead of Verstappen so has Ralph Schumacher in the BMW
00:56:02Williams is now in the points and Jenson Button is still just behind Schumacher he's in seventh
00:56:09position as off goes the arrows and regains the position that's Jenson Button behind him
00:56:17that was Jenson Button getting past Pedro de la Rosa well it's all happening here and there is
00:56:24Mike Coughlin again with the thumbs up the double thumbs up the technical director of arrows
00:56:32out goes Pedro de la Rosa who's obviously lost track places
00:56:38now Fizzy Keller on his own a superb driver who's paid an absolutely mammoth amount of money
00:56:46for his future potential by the Benetton team which as I was saying will become Renault in the
00:56:52year 2002 and he did extremely well in Australia and Melbourne he's doing extremely well here
00:56:59but he's 46 seconds behind Michael Schumacher and there is the charging Heinz Harold Frentzen
00:57:06Frentzen now you're looking at the battle now but for fourth position between third position
00:57:13between Fizzy Keller there and Heinz Harold Frentzen the German in the Jordan who failed to
00:57:18score in Australia and hopefully you'll see a flash of another yellow car in the background
00:57:24but you don't if you had it's Jarno Trulli but he's 15 seconds behind Heinz Harold Frentzen
00:57:31Frentzen the man who finished third in the world championship last year
00:57:37and what a transformed driver he is after his two years with Williams he's he's literally mentally
00:57:45home with the Jordan team very very happy there he showed it by winning two races last year
00:57:51Michael Schumacher scything his way through the field yes of course the driver's yet to stop we're
00:57:57now 39 laps into this motor race Kuhlfahrt in second Fizzy Keller third Frentzen in fourth
00:58:03Ralph Schumacher sixth Jenson Button seventh and Johnny Herbert have all yet to stop and
00:58:10that will just be Zonta locking his left front on the way into
00:58:14Curva 1 as we rejoin what must be Michael Schumacher of course as Barrichello is out of
00:58:20the race with a blown engine 12 left out of the 20 that started because Wurz is out
00:58:27Heidfeld is out Alessi is out both the crossed cars are out Jack Neill now went out pretty early
00:58:33in the BAR Eddie Irvine retired when he spun off and lost the wheel Rubens Barrichello of course
00:58:40out in the Ferrari and I expect now a lot of Brazilians will be on their way home as a result
00:58:45of that hydraulic problem Mika Häkkinen has retired from the race lead no points for him
00:58:53Marc Genet has just retired Riccardo Zonta is the 12th and last man to be running in this race he's
00:59:00been lapped twice Gaston Mazzucane in the Minardi is 11th he's been lapped so is De La Rosa so is
00:59:08Josper Stappen who's in ninth position Johnny Herbert is running in the second Jaguar and he's
00:59:14worked his way up as a result of his skill the Jaguar speed and failures of the people in front
00:59:20of him from 17th on the grid to eighth in the race Jenson Button is the second British driver
00:59:26in the top 10 because he's in seventh place looking good for a point because who knows
00:59:32whether all the six ahead of him are going to finish this race but he's got Verstappen and
00:59:37De La Rosa behind him at the moment who have made their first pit stop and we know it takes about
00:59:4128 seconds so Jenson in with the shot at some point if they keep falling out the way they are
00:59:47at the moment that's for sure but Michael Schumacher climbing the hill there's some water or something
00:59:51there he keeps splashing through just partway I don't know where that's coming from but now taking
00:59:57a completely different line down the pit straight he normally ducks in near the pit lane and now
01:00:02he's chosen to go right to the outside but they've all been complaining about these buttons on the
01:00:07pit straight you know but they can always lift the back of the car up as well that is an option
01:00:11that's available to the team they don't have to run them on the deck look at this Schumacher in
01:00:16sixth position and behind him sorry Jarno Trolli in fifth position then Schumacher Ralph Schumacher
01:00:25in a sixth position not very far behind Schumacher is Jenson Button and Schumacher is attacking
01:00:32Schumacher in the BMW Williams attacking the Jordan with its Mugen Honda engine in front of
01:00:38him and going to get in trying to get an improvement on his points position he's currently in sixth
01:00:45place for one world championship point and remember he finished third in Australia and BMW came into
01:00:52Grand Prix racing after having been out of it so long not expecting to do well in Australia
01:00:58was stupefied and delighted as they're doing jolly well here too Princeton in for a pit stop
01:01:03from fourth position and remember it was that I think it was the Williams BMW that went the longest
01:01:10they made the longest stint in Melbourne I think they've got the biggest fuel tank in that
01:01:14Williams Ralph Schumacher told a German journalist this is the best racing car I've ever driven
01:01:19and I think when they get a bit more development on that engine those Williams later in the season
01:01:24are going to be quite a force the blue flags waving to the Minardi to tell the driver to move
01:01:31over and let Michael Schumacher through as we look at David Coulthard and the gap has increased now
01:01:40Schumacher is 10 seconds ahead of Michael Schumacher and he's sorry ahead of David Coulthard
01:01:46and he's just lapped 1.6 seconds faster than the McLaren I have to say that this is a terrible
01:01:52race for the McLaren I don't think so yet Murray I think we have to wait and see Hackingham was
01:01:56going pretty strongly they've both got to come in again yeah we saw Coulthard actually passing
01:02:01a car on that lap so I think what Michael did there was with a bit of clear air just decided
01:02:06to put a couple of very swift ones in there he is as that obviously must be for David Coulthard
01:02:12and that's Schumacher in Megalo coming up to climb the hill the TV camera really loses
01:02:20the impact of just how steep that hill is there Coulthard bang on target for a one-stop strategy
01:02:27he's on his 43rd lap we expected him to come in round about lap 45 that's exactly what he's going
01:02:34to do you can see the vortices streaming from the rear of Michael Schumacher's wing as into
01:02:40the pit lane comes David Coulthard hits the speed limiter slows down to 80 kilometers an hour
01:02:48sees the black clad McLaren mechanics in front of him and I would expect him to complete this
01:02:55stop in about eight or nine seconds up goes the lollipop out goes David Coulthard and he will
01:03:03have retained his second place because Fisichella has yet to come through in the Benetton as I speak
01:03:10to you and you watch Michael Schumacher on lap 44 out of 72 leading now by an increased margin
01:03:17and a dramatically increased margin but remember he has still got to stop yes Fisichella was some
01:03:2338 seconds behind Coulthard so uh I think Coulthard will maintain that second position
01:03:28as Michael approaches the scrap for uh fourth currently fourth fifth and sixth which is truly
01:03:34Ralph Schumacher and Jenson Button so uh that you know Michael's about to lap the uh the current
01:03:41point sitters oh did you get that Jenson Button is in the points he was in the points in Australia
01:03:48he worked his way up from 21st on the grid to fourth in the race he was holding a very secure
01:03:54looking sixth position when he's entered let go and he is now in the points again as we go to Louise
01:04:01Goodman yeah I was hoping to bring you an interview with Mika Hakkinen at this stage
01:04:04but I'm afraid I can't he's walked out without speaking to anybody jumped in his car and left
01:04:09the circuit it's very unusual for Mika even in his biggest disappointment he'll stop and have a
01:04:14have a chat to the press we saw him waving to the crowds when he got out of the car but I think
01:04:17he was just trying very hard to mark his disappointment he's a bitterly upset man
01:04:22thank you Louise hardly surprising because he's seeing the possibility and I have to say the very
01:04:28strong possibility as you look at the BMW Williams team mechanics in the pit lane of leaving this
01:04:35circuit with no points and waiting for Michael Schumacher to win the second race in succession
01:04:41and put himself on 20 world championship points as Rubens Barrichello waves to the crowd and
01:04:47Ralph Schumacher is right on the tail of Ioannou Trulli and behind Schumacher is Jenson Button
01:04:53fourth fifth sixth you're looking at one of those Williams is going to go in this lap it's Button
01:04:58for the looks of it Button making his stop he was just about to experience his uh being lapped for
01:05:02the first time in a Grand Prix and he's missed that by Dentner going down the pit lane Michael
01:05:08carrying on of course on the racetrack if they're a long long way down look and uh it's quite easy
01:05:13to see his mechanics all dressed in white so uh this will be the second pit stop of Jenson Button's
01:05:19Grand Prix career should be quite a long refueling away nicely no panic he wasn't revving it I mean
01:05:27very very calm gigantically mature young man Jenson Button with just one season of Formula
01:05:35Three racing behind him before he got this astounding promotion and obviously very well
01:05:41deserved and worthy promotion to the Williams team in a contest with Bruno Junqueira the
01:05:48Brazilian driver Johnny Herbert accelerates out of the pit lane now he was in ninth position I
01:05:54think he will have lost it to Pedro de la Rosa now here are the positions on lap 46 as you watch
01:06:00Michael Schumacher coming up behind his brother Ralph in the Williams to lap him and Ralph
01:06:07Schumacher is fifth Jarno Trulli ahead of both of them in fourth position and Michael surges past
01:06:15as Ralph goes into the pits so I'll keep those positions just for a little while we'll let this
01:06:23settle down and then call them to you but for sure it's Schumacher Michael lap 47 leading Kulfhard
01:06:30by nearly 41 seconds and Fisichella by nearly 55 seconds yes quick turnaround there for the
01:06:37Williams team to pit one after the other they're obviously going to get Ralph Schumacher's tires out
01:06:41use his the correct volume of fuel to go in his car that'll be weighed and carefully monitored
01:06:48but Ralph again with another frontless pit stop from the Williams team Schumacher coming up to lap
01:06:54the man who is in fourth place and Jarno Trulli moves over and lets him through this if Schumacher
01:07:00finishes this race he's on lap 47 out of 71 it's going to be a monumentally crushing victory
01:07:08he's got to catch Fisichella now he's about 25 seconds up the road so it's going to take him
01:07:15some time to do that indeed he probably won't but if he's lapped everybody except Kulfhard
01:07:20and Fisichella at the end of this race he's going to be a very happy man in this Ferrari which he
01:07:26says is the best he has ever driven I was saying earlier on he joined Ferrari in 1996 with the
01:07:32declared intention of helping them to win the drivers construct the drivers championship and
01:07:38it looks as though he's well on his way at the moment to doing that now we are well on our way
01:07:43now to going for a break
01:09:4351 lap race and you're looking at the battle between Jos Verstappen from Holland in the
01:10:01orange arrows and Jensen Button in the white BMW Williams they're fighting for
01:10:08seventh position and how Jensen is pushing this may only be his second Grand Prix in comparison
01:10:17with Jos Verstappen and it's his 42nd Grand Prix but Jensen is driving like the veteran that he
01:10:25is not in Formula One and he's pushing the Dutchman very hard indeed a very good comparison
01:10:31incidentally between the latest super tech v10 engine which is in the arrows and BMW's new engine
01:10:40in Formula One and Ralf Schumacher said that the BMW engine was as good as the super tech but he
01:10:47was testing it but we're certainly getting the proof visually now that he was quite right
01:10:52Button is holding Verstappen yes if you've joined us uh late give you a quick rundown of what's
01:10:58happened so far the two McLarens on the front row of the grid uh Kulthar away a little slowly
01:11:03Michael Schumacher from third place immediately into second then used a low fuel load at the very
01:11:08beginning of the race to surge past Mika Häkkinen into the lead Barrichello then did the same and
01:11:15it looked very strong for Ferrari of course then they pitted very very early Barrichello's engine
01:11:19letting go and then some kind of drama on Mika Häkkinen that left Schumacher and Kulthar
01:11:24well clear out front Fisichella's uh currently in third place he has yet to stop he's 51 laps into
01:11:32the race has not stopped for fuel Eddie Irvine spun off in the Jaguar no other major incidents really
01:11:40Martin you were suggesting that David Kulthar who is second nearly 50 seconds behind Schumacher
01:11:47might have a gearbox problem Schumacher is lapping nearly two seconds faster than him
01:11:52and Jarno Trulli is lapping a lot faster than Kulthar this is uh Schumacher's second stop about
01:11:58to happen he's got a 48 second lead he's just pushing and having fun really I think he's just
01:12:03enjoying himself out there but uh so plenty of time to drop into the pits and providing there's
01:12:08no problems of course get out in front of Kulthar yes and I think Kulthar definitely got a gearbox
01:12:14problem because also when he left the pits he was revving it like crazy to try to get it away but
01:12:20I may be wrong on that his pace is reasonable but he can't match Michael Schumacher James well you
01:12:25know Martin Ferrari haven't won in Brazil for 10 years now Alain Prost back in 1990 and it's certainly
01:12:32been a very long wait if Michael could keep it going he'll go to him with a 20 point lead over
01:12:35Hakim 7.7 second stop entirely according to plan very neat and tidy by the Ferrari crew and you
01:12:42have to say Martin a fantastic strategy by Ross Brawn today I mean neither you nor I when we're
01:12:47talking about it before could see really anything other than long first one stop races long first
01:12:52stints and it's just it's just been absolutely tremendous but I do think it was relying a bit
01:12:57of a gamble by Ross relying on the possibility McLaren would break well they had to react to
01:13:02the fact they were behind the two McLarens on the start line so imagine what they'd do if they
01:13:06started on the front and they could probably choose a different strategy but any in any event
01:13:11is working very nicely for Michael and when he needs to see as soon as he sees Kulthar in traffic
01:13:16Michael just puts in the low 15s then he put in that incredible one minute 14.7 for what must be
01:13:23his eighth or ninth new lap record of the race and now finally Fisichella brings the Benetton in
01:13:29for what will not be a lot of fuel to take him to the next 20 laps to the end of the race
01:13:33it needs not to be because Jarno Trulli is 27 seconds behind him and Fisichella bearing in
01:13:41mind that he's had to slow down and now speed up again and there goes there goes Jarno Trulli
01:13:46past me as I talk I think Trulli is going to get past Fisichella and take third position
01:13:51but we'll need to watch it on the monitor to tell you meantime you're looking at Schumacher lap 52
01:13:56out of 71 46 seconds still ahead of David Kulthar but I wish we could have a look at this battle
01:14:03between Fisichella and Trulli for third position. I think Fisichella will stay ahead of him
01:14:09because it's quite a it's quite a bit shorter the pit lane runs around the inside of the corner
01:14:14that Schumacher is now going through so I'll be surprised if Trulli could get past Fisichella
01:14:20there certainly won't be much in it though. Well there's 12 people left in this race on lap 53 out
01:14:25of 71 and Michael Schumacher has got a commanding lead he really basically just has to keep the
01:14:31Ferrari rolling at a satisfactory speed and not lose his concentration and Michael Schumacher
01:14:37is an experienced enough campaign not to do that. If this is confusing you this is a montage of
01:14:44Rubens Barrichello from much earlier in the race quite why it's coming in there I can't tell you
01:14:48but I can fairly irrelevant. We're in Brazil. Well yes okay but I wish they wouldn't keep doing that because it
01:14:55sort of makes you scratch your head for a moment when they when a driver suddenly appears back in
01:14:59the race that dropped out some time ago but Michael Schumacher when it all settled out when he rejoined
01:15:05the track after that second stop of his had a 24.4 second lead over David Coulthard. Well this is
01:15:11Michael Schumacher for sure and Johnny Herbert rolls into the pit he's in 10th place four places
01:15:19off a world championship point but just to keep you right in the picture on lap 54 it's Schumacher,
01:15:25Ferrari and Johnny Herbert retires. Retirement for the second race in succession sadly for both
01:15:32the Jaguars both out in Australia both out in Brazil and that means to say that Gaston Mazzacane
01:15:40will move up into 10th position. Now the other nine in the 10 places on lap 54 Michael Schumacher
01:15:46you're looking at him leaning by getting on for half a minute from David Coulthard. David Coulthard
01:15:52is a good half minute ahead of Fisichella who is third. Jarno Trulli is two you're quite right
01:16:00Martin Fisichella stayed ahead thanks to the pit lane situation. He's leading Trulli by two seconds
01:16:07but Trulli is catching the Benetton. Fifth is Heinz-Harald Krensen so both the Jordans unlike
01:16:13Australia are in the points. Ralph Schumacher in the BMW Williams for the second race in succession
01:16:18is in the points. He's been lapped but he's ahead of Jos Verstappen who has got Jenson Button
01:16:25virtually attached to his gearbox in eighth position. Ninth is Pedro de la Rosa both the
01:16:30arrows are running well and in 10th position now is Mazzacane. Zonta in the VAR is 11th and
01:16:40the last runner nine retirements. Michael Schumacher is amazing happened to be on the same plane as him
01:16:45on the way home from Melbourne and we sat chatting away about old times and all sorts of things
01:16:50for over three hours we were talking about goodness knows what he never once mentioned the
01:16:56race that he just won. He does not look back on and say hey did you see the bit where it wasn't
01:17:00my car good today it's just all boxed up sorted out onto the next one he would never consider
01:17:06talking about one of the races he's been in it's just so under control for him. Well if Schumacher
01:17:12wins this race and if is a pretty long word in Formula One it's Formula One spelled backwards
01:17:18as I've said before it will be his 128th Grand Prix anyway but it would be his 37th Grand Prix
01:17:26win and he's very close now to Ayrton Senna as the second highest point scorer of all time in Formula
01:17:35One. Senna scored 614 points if Michael Schumacher wins this race he will have scored 590 points
01:17:45and I think he's got the highest ratio of podium finishes to starts in the history of Formula One
01:17:54and he's still got years ahead of him very depressing prospect for the competition
01:17:59not the least Mika Häkkinen lap 56 Schumacher in the Ferrari he said this is the best one he's
01:18:07ever driven it was designed as were the others that Michael Schumacher has driven oh this is button
01:18:13I think is it button passing trolley or is it I think it's Schumacher and Frentzen I think you'll
01:18:19find that's Ralph Schumacher getting past terrific if it is or is that is that a Minardi so difficult
01:18:24to tell they look such similar colors from a long shot but certainly Ralph Schumacher no
01:18:31it wasn't Frentzen's too far ahead of Ralph Schumacher so that was just a Ralph lapping
01:18:37Mazzucati I would imagine that makes sense Mazzucati is down he's four laps adrift now
01:18:43in his second Grand Prix
01:18:48well this is now a motor racing demonstration of the very highest quality as you look down on the
01:18:56McLaren Mercedes of David Coulthard the only one left in the race 26 seconds behind Michael Schumacher
01:19:05matching the Germans race and lap time that's a Williams going slowly isn't it I think it's Ralph
01:19:10isn't it I think I think I saw the yellow and red on the helmet of Ralph but uh so uh that is Ralph
01:19:18possibly Ralph Schumacher out of sixth place I hope it wasn't Jensen out of eighth place but
01:19:23I'm fairly certain it was Ralph's crash helmet if you're right and I think you are that means to say
01:19:28that Verstappen will move back into the points and Button will be one place off the points
01:19:34Jensen Button has yet to finish a Grand Prix now what's this oh this is Pedro de la Rosa retiring
01:19:41or is he no he's kept it running he's just recovering his knee back onto the racetrack
01:19:45from a spin ninth position and he's uh sufficiently far ahead of Riccardo Bizzotto who's tenth
01:19:52to keep that place provided he hasn't done any damage and got any muck in the side pods and
01:19:57overheat the engine they can stamp on the brakes and get rid of the gravel that's in the side pods
01:20:02but uh this must be truly second stop coming up he's on a different strategy do with teammate
01:20:06Frentzen uh that was just pure tiredness from de la Rosa uh I would imagine it just a silly
01:20:12mistake on the exit of Ferradura yes it is truly coming in for that second stop Jordan
01:20:17obviously deciding to put one driver on each of the two reasonable so there goes Frentzen Martin
01:20:25through past Trulli into fourth position but Trulli will retain the fifth position for the
01:20:33Jordan team albeit losing one place for himself Jordan look as though they're going to get both
01:20:38cars home they had two very trivial things stop them in Australia from what was potentially going
01:20:47to be a great race a broken exhaust pipe and a hydraulic problem and uh what's going on here
01:20:54this is Jensen Button diving through look at that that's Jensen Button taking Jos Verstappen
01:21:01and uh moving into he's in seventh position as Verstappen fights back well Jensen's look
01:21:10there he goes again well first second Grand Prix for Jensen Button and is he pushing
01:21:17don't see too many people overtaking in there that's a brave move from Jensen
01:21:21Jos understanding uh that he was there and really having to give him a bit of space and yes
01:21:27Button did get past in the seventh place I thought I saw a Williams going slowly well
01:21:31I think it's in the sixth place but it hasn't materialized yet I don't know which one it was
01:21:35I felt sure one of them was uh moving along quite slowly but uh anyway they both appear to be lapping
01:21:41in reasonable speed right well we'll take a deep breath now and sort it all out as you watch Michael
01:21:47Schumacher completing his 58th lap out of 71 with a commanding lead now there's going to be 24 seconds
01:21:56before David Coulthard comes through as you look through the visor into the eyes of Michael Schumacher
01:22:03and if David Coulthard comes through and Jean Toup the Ferrari boss watching the monitors on the pit
01:22:10lane and that is Fisichella who has got Coulthard sandwiched between him and Schumacher
01:22:16so Schumacher leads Coulthard second you're looking at Fisichella in third position
01:22:21Heinz-Harald Frentzen has moved up into fourth place as a result of Trulli coming into the pits
01:22:26now Trulli is still as far as I know ahead of Ralph Schumacher who is just ahead of Jensen Button
01:22:34so the BMW Williams cars are sixth and seventh as we see Fisichella go over the line now there's
01:22:42going to be another 15 seconds before Frentzen in fourth place and then we'll keep you tuned
01:22:48on the remaining places interesting to see what Jensen can do now tucked up behind Verstappen he
01:22:52lost 12.8 seconds to Ralph Schumacher his teammate ahead of him and he's pulling him in about a half
01:22:58a second a lap my David Coulthard is catching Michael Schumacher the leader by over two seconds
01:23:04on the last lap I'm pretty certain it's because Michael's cruising a bit he won't be able to
01:23:09cruise that much to the end of the race otherwise Coulthard will be all over him because we're on
01:23:14lap 60 out of 71 so David's got to push very hard indeed even if he can close up now we're looking at
01:23:23the Jordan
01:23:27Frentzen just Harold Frentzen in fourth position Frentzen taking it pretty hard
01:23:33we're going to take it easy because we're going for a break but we'll be back
01:25:52it's come down from 18 seconds to 14 seconds and Michael Schumacher seems to be doing a lot more
01:25:58than cruising he looks visually as though he may be in trouble and there are 10 laps to go
01:26:04including the one he's on listen a couple of very lazy downshifts again they're into Ferradura
01:26:10Michael lost four seconds to Coulthard on the last lap and that that's more than just cruising he's
01:26:16not he wouldn't allow Coulthard to get that much of a look at him I don't think he would want to
01:26:21play games of look try and catch me then I'll show you just how fast I am and certainly his
01:26:27downshift pattern is very very strange as Michael this lap is looking faster than the last one in a
01:26:34one minute 20.4 that's six seconds off the new lap record that he said earlier in the race but
01:26:39accelerating away up the hill now and he's lost eight seconds of his lead to David Coulthard
01:26:45as that traffic just showed you but it was 14.2 seconds and now just hang on a minute James
01:26:54and I'll give you the type of gap between them when David Coulthard goes over the line
01:26:59which he has now done he's about to do I'm sorry it was 14.2 seconds Schumacher's on his 63rd lap
01:27:07but Coulthard has only closed up by less than a second on that lap James I'm sorry yeah it's
01:27:12an interesting situation where I've been monitoring it just for the last six or seven laps Ross
01:27:16Braun actually came off the pit wall about six laps ago and went around the back of the garage
01:27:20to have a look at the telemetry screens and he's still there which is highly unusual for Ross he
01:27:25normally stays on the wall throughout the entire race there's definitely something going on with
01:27:28Michael but you remember here last year Mika Hakkinen was leading this race and he had a
01:27:32gearbox problem but they managed to put it into a sort of safety mode so the thing kind of the
01:27:37computer let the gearbox work but it wasn't working in its optimal performance I just wonder whether
01:27:41that's what's happening with Michael I think Martin's absolutely right this sounds like it's
01:27:45some sort of gear shift situation but Ferrari look relatively calm I'm in their garage at the moment
01:27:51and all the mechanics don't look too flustered so it seems to be under control that he's done
01:27:55just under 17.5 as opposed to 16.7 for Coulthard so not yet a crisis but we'll keep on top of it
01:28:01yes you're right James he suddenly found three seconds again but I'm looking straight out of
01:28:06the window at David Coulthard's board and it says push on the bottom of it they want to try and
01:28:11wring that Ferrari out if it does have a problem but let's Michael's done a 17.4 this time around
01:28:17so he has got enough of a lead in his pocket just if uh down to 12 seconds sorry yeah if uh if he
01:28:25carries on to that kind of pace towards the end of the race so now it's down to Coulthard to really
01:28:29push and try to uh force any problems Coulthard's neck looks like it's gone a little bit there's
01:28:35virtually I don't think there's a driver out there with a possible exception of Michael Schumacher
01:28:39that can keep his head up in the left handers as you see eight laps remaining
01:28:44and Michael Schumacher provided provided provided he can keep doing what he is doing
01:28:50looks to me as though he is all right but it's nip and tuck Coulthard that you're watching
01:28:56closing up on the Ferrari but probably not fast enough he's 30 seconds ahead of Fisichella's
01:29:02Benetton who is 10 seconds ahead of Frentzen but Frentzen in the Jordan is catching Fisichella
01:29:08in third place Jarno Trulli is in fifth position but not making any impression on his teammate
01:29:14ahead of him Ralph Schumacher has been lapped in the BMW Williams but is in the points still
01:29:20Jenson Button is seventh, Verstappen is eighth, Della Rosa is ninth, 10th is Zonta, 11th is Mazzacane
01:29:26here is Michael Schumacher now into his 65th lap seven laps to go including the one he has just
01:29:35started and where is David Coulthard over the line 11.7 seconds he's taken seven tenths of a
01:29:42second down the Michael Schumacher he's not improving enough yes well that one minute 20
01:29:48that Michael did was not because he had to I think because now he's back in the low 17s again
01:29:54and he's much more aggressive on the throttle so he may have just been talking to the team through
01:29:59those couple of laps where he lost you know six or seven seconds in total to understand the problem
01:30:05they may even have asked him to switch something around in the cockpit switch on a different system
01:30:10or whatever and Michael is definitely back up to a more reasonable speed amazing what you can
01:30:16do with the modern electronics but whatever it's going to be pretty close between Michael Schumacher
01:30:22who comes out up to the Jungkau as David Coulthard continues to attack there is the Ferrari
01:30:29leading out of the last left-hander to go through and into his 66th lap
01:30:37five laps to go P1 place one 11.7 seconds ahead of David Coulthard is what the board says to him
01:30:47and of course he's probably talking to his people on the pit lane through the radio in the Ferrari
01:30:54but he is I have to say looking pretty good at the present moment because David Coulthard as you
01:31:01watch Heinz-Harald Fenson lock up in fourth position David Coulthard only took two tenths
01:31:08of a second out of Schumacher's lead on that lap it is 11.5 seconds Fisichella still third well
01:31:17Benetton are going to be very pleased with this race after a very satisfactory Australia
01:31:23with their new car fifth position for Fisichella. Butz of course was the first retirement of the race
01:31:30in the second Benetton and as far as constructors are concerned there is one Ferrari left Schumacher
01:31:37one McLaren left Coulthard one Benetton left Fisichella two Jordans left and they're both in
01:31:43the top six Frenson and Trulli two BMWs left Schumacher is sixth Button is seventh 15 seconds
01:31:51behind his teammate two arrows left for Stepan and De La Rosa eight for nine one BAR Ricardo
01:31:59Zonta hang on in Brackley it looks as though your man is going to be in the top 10 and one Minardi
01:32:05Gaston Mazzucane is 11th and last. Yes Frenson is launching a fairly mighty attack on Fisichella
01:32:11in third place would be a good return for Flavio Briatore to the Benetton team if they get a podium
01:32:17and I'm sure he'll take a little bit of the credit knowing Flav but they've got to hang on
01:32:22yet because Frenson took a full two and a half seconds out of Fisichella last time around the
01:32:27gap now down to just 6.8 for that final position providing the two ahead of him ahead of them keep
01:32:34going the final position on the podium. Yeah but Coulthard is again attacking too lap 67 out of 71
01:32:43and Coulthard hacked time out of Schumacher's lead which at the end of the
01:32:49lap that he's on now at the end of the lap he's on before is 9.7 seconds so David Coulthard
01:32:56who was so happy with the handling of the McLaren now sees an opportunity to improve his position
01:33:03in the McLaren team in comparison with Micah Hacken and who retired so long ago and these
01:33:09are going to be the first year 2000 world championship points for McLaren if I don't
01:33:14know what they're showing us I think it was Wolfgang Sattling actually the public relations
01:33:20man from the Mercedes team climbing up the ladder there I think it was uh the chap with the checkered
01:33:25flag wasn't it Mary oh I apologize but anyway David Coulthard is now on his 68th lap with three to go
01:33:34after this one and uh nine seconds behind Michael Schumacher looking good for Ferrari
01:33:41for their second race win in two races in the year 2000 here he is
01:33:50it's in another 10 for what he's looking good now just look at the body language of the car
01:33:57I don't know which bit you're looking at particularly there Mary which bit of the
01:34:00body work the whole stance of the car on the circuit the speed he's going the lines he's
01:34:06taking look to me as though he's in a good race winning position because he's now coming through
01:34:12to complete his 68th lap and it's a 71 lap race he's got three laps to go at the end of this one
01:34:18and uh we'll check on how far behind David Coulthard is as the 11 runners go through
01:34:26and the Ferrari people have almost literally got their fingers crossed 68 laps completed for
01:34:33Michael Schumacher behind him you see the two BMW Williams of Ralph Schumacher and Jenson Button
01:34:42and you can see how close Jenson is to his teammate I hope he's not going to try and
01:34:47get past Ralph Schumacher assuming that the German hasn't got a problem because he's not
01:34:52going to be at all popular if both William BMW Williams ended up off the circuit as a result of
01:34:57a passing move I think I think you find that's Ralph Schumacher chasing down Zonda who's behind
01:35:03him because Jenson is falling away he's now 17 seconds behind Ralph at this time but there's
01:35:10no doubt about it Jenson's doing a much better job than the man he replaced to all of our
01:35:15amazements last year um Alex Zanardi yeah very sad that but now just two laps almost for Michael
01:35:24Schumacher he exits the duckbill in second gear drops downhill into turn 11 Megulo starts to
01:35:32climb now round turn 12 the left-hander now the pedal goes down up to Jungkau the left-hander
01:35:39where Alain Prost went off in the lead in the wet in the Williams in 1993 turn 14 across the finish
01:35:48line and Michael Schumacher is now on his 70th and last lap but one as David Coulthard continues
01:35:58to carve into his lead it is down to 6.7 seconds it's going to be a lot closer than I thought it
01:36:05was but as I've said many many many times in the past catching is one thing getting past it's quite
01:36:11another particularly when the man in front of you is Michael Schumacher who lost last year's race
01:36:16to Mikko Häkkinen by just five seconds and of course David would uh David Coulthard would have
01:36:21to clear those two cars behind Michael Zonda and Ralph Schumacher before he could even get a look
01:36:27at the gearbox of that Ferrari I think Michael was definitely uh there was some little drama
01:36:32going on in the middle of the race maybe it was to give us all a bit more excitement
01:36:35but now Michael's car as he said is fully up to speed well he certainly did that round the
01:36:40duckbill again down to the Megulo again starts to climb again up to the Jungkau this is the end of
01:36:49the 70th lap coming up and the start of the 71st and last 2.7 mile lap at Interlagos which has not
01:37:00been a satisfactory circuit for Michael Schumacher in the last year or so but he's won twice here
01:37:07already he won in 94 he won in 95 he was second last year he was third in 98 it was just 1996
01:37:16that was a bad year for him his first year with Ferrari and it really does look as though Michael
01:37:23Schumacher is going to make it 10 points in Brazil as he made it 10 points in Australia
01:37:30to increase his lead in the World Championship Rubens Barrichello out of the race of course
01:37:37was second in Australia and Ferrari are going to increase their Constructors Championship lead as
01:37:45well a copybook magnificent race for Michael Schumacher and yet another indication proof
01:37:53of the incredible tactical skill of Ferrari technical director Russ Braun who's called it
01:38:01right yet again with another unique strategy which fooled all of us and Schumacher makes the last
01:38:10climb at Interlagos and sets his sights in the Ferrari to cross the line at 190 at 180 miles an
01:38:20hour and he does so Michael Schumacher wins in Brazil two races two wins 20 World Championship
01:38:29points David Coulthard finishes 4.3 seconds behind him an even closer finish between Ferrari and
01:38:38McLaren than last year but last year it was a McLaren that won and a Ferrari second this year
01:38:45the tables have been turned and Michael Schumacher's confidence in the car himself and his championship
01:38:53chances have been more than underlined David Coulthard then in second place we just wait for
01:38:59Fisichella to come home and complete the podium there he is Fisichella finishes third for Benetton
01:39:07great race for Ferrari except for Barrichello of course excellent race for Benetton yes Frenton
01:39:14just 2.3 seconds behind in the end of the race not quite enough laps left for him to
01:39:19get up behind Fisichella Ferrari mechanics well they're on a roll aren't they two wins from two
01:39:26that's already uh 26 points in the bag before we even head back into Europe yeah and uh I just
01:39:34looking trying to work out in my mind what the constructors championship is behind uh Williams
01:39:39of course they've got a world championship point um five world championship points to Jordan for
01:39:46their fourth and fifth places from the heights Harold Frentzen and Jarno Trulli four world
01:39:52championship points for the sole Benetton to finish in third place that of Giancarlo Fisichella
01:39:59but Michael Schumacher continues commandingly to lead the world championship for drivers
01:40:05and Ferrari do the same thing in the constructors world championship a really really interesting
01:40:11and probably very very significant race in Brazil my heart goes out to Rubens Barrichello and to
01:40:18Brazil because if there's one thing that people here wanted to do was to see their Rubino do well
01:40:24he's never done really well on his home circuit on his home country and sadly yet again he has not
01:40:32done so well Ralph Schumacher finished sixth to get the final point you won't be seeing him racing
01:40:38across the line because they were lapped of course they cannot finish the uh the next lap then uh
01:40:44the leader went over the line so all those laps behind Michael Schumacher Ralph in sixth Jenson
01:40:49Button seventh Verstappen eight de la Rosa ninth Zonta tenth and the last runner Mazzucato
01:40:55the funny thing is that uh oh James uh James Hallam with Ross Braun Ross what an unbelievable
01:41:02grand prix first of all did Michael have some sort of problem in the mid 50 laps somewhere around there
01:41:06yeah the car wasn't so good then for some reason we're not sure why but uh when we wanted to push
01:41:11it couldn't and then on the next set of tires it came good in fact it was all right towards the end
01:41:15of that stint but there was a little period in the middle when things weren't working very well
01:41:19now I know that you're going up to the podium now because you're the guy who put amazing strategy you
01:41:24must be really pleased with that well we tried something because obviously they were in front
01:41:27of us they make good starts it was good to see some overtaking anyway well everyone in England's
01:41:31proud of you Ross great day I was talking about the BMW situation because they've got what is
01:41:38regarded as an old-fashioned engine for their re-entry to their grand prix racing in comparison
01:41:44with the Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz engines and the Honda engines in particular but they've been
01:41:50jolly successful with it uh Ralf Schumacher third position on the podium in Melbourne and now
01:41:58another point here in Brazil and Jenson Button finishes his second grand prix in his short career
01:42:06and he's finished it just a few seconds behind uh Ralf Schumacher as Michael talks to David
01:42:13Coulthard that's Jos Verstappen in the black overalls with the orange lettering he can be
01:42:18very pleased with himself actually eighth position and Ross Brawn there and Michael Schumacher
01:42:24embrace for the umpteenth time they make a tremendously powerful partnership they were
01:42:29together at Benetton and one of the first things that Schumacher did when he joined Ferrari in 96
01:42:35was to persuade Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne from Benetton to join Ferrari and the results speak
01:42:42for themselves well not a great day for the Brazilian fans there who are already flooding
01:42:47out of the grandstands and heading home Diniz didn't even start as you know Sauber's pulled
01:42:52out of the race Zonta their best runner in 10th and last but one Barrichello blowing up really
01:42:59not a good day for the Brazilian drivers and their very energetic fans well on the left Jenson
01:43:06Button with his hand to his face can proudly say he has finished his first Grand Prix for BMW Williams
01:43:13and he's finished it in seventh place just one point off the points one place off the points
01:43:18just to remind you they're queuing up to be weighed to check the cars will be weighed later on and
01:43:23they check the weight of the drivers to make sure there's no great variation from when they weighed
01:43:28them at the beginning of the season a few people were known in the early days of this weighing
01:43:33system to take on several liters of water for a false weight so now this is the system put into
01:43:38place to make sure that the weights are very accurate and then obviously there's a period
01:43:43of time now while the cars are in Parc Fermé and they have to be checked for legality so let's
01:43:48recap yet another victory for Michael Schumacher it is his 37th Grand Prix win to move him even
01:43:57closer to the top point scorers of all time Alain Prost and the great Ayrton Senna another win for
01:44:04Ferrari Michael Schumacher extends his drivers championship lead Ferrari extend their constructors
01:44:11championship lead Ferrari have now got 26 points in comparison with McLaren and Benetton who tie
01:44:19for second place on six Williams and Jordan tie on five points for fourth position and B.A.R. are
01:44:26on fourth position on four points for sixth place so Ferrari looking mighty mighty strong
01:44:34and Michael Schumacher is 14 points ahead of Barry Kello in second position and David Coulthard
01:44:43is on the same number of points the podium in the center Michael Schumacher winner in Brazil
01:44:49on the left David Coulthard second for McLaren on the right Vissi Calla third for Benetton
01:44:56three very happy men and Ross Brawn on the left is going to take the constructors trophy for Ferrari
01:45:03as the Italian national as a German national anthem sounds out for Michael Schumacher
01:45:33so
01:45:39so
01:45:52so
01:46:02quite a solemn Michael Schumacher breaking into a smile there
01:46:06it's the Italian national anthem for Ferrari
01:46:22so
01:46:52so
01:47:09well one of the greatest drivers of all time no doubt Michael Schumacher
01:47:13I think he's going to receive his trophy from one of the greatest footballers of all time
01:47:18the great Pele on goes the mandatory cap so Ferrari on a roll Pele gives the magnificent
01:47:29trophy to Michael Schumacher McLaren have got a lot to do but knowing them they won't give up
01:47:36they'll fight back and Mercedes and everybody associated with them they may be down a bit
01:47:42after Australia and Brazil but they will be in there developing and improving the car
01:47:48with the knowledge that there are still 15 Grand Prix to go and anything can happen in this season
01:47:54which has begun so well for Schumacher and for Ferrari Ross Brawn on the left takes the
01:48:00constructors trophy will be presented by Reginaldo Bufessal president of the CBA but as you heard
01:48:07that David Coulthard receives the award for second place 4.3 seconds behind Michael Schumacher
01:48:15six world championship points he said on the line didn't he I'll have some points today is what I
01:48:20need today so he'd be moderately satisfied I would think but just 4.3 behind Michael
01:48:26although Michael was definitely pacing himself towards the end there was a bit of a spat between
01:48:31Ferrari and McLaren in the form of Ross Brawn for Ferrari and Ron Dennis for McLaren after
01:48:38Australia when Ron Dennis criticized the Ferrari strategy and Ross Brawn said I don't think Ron
01:48:44Dennis understands it well it was a new strategy today and it succeeded for Ferrari
01:48:52thank you Murray and thanks to Martin as well I should tell you there is a superb night ahead
01:48:57of you here on ITV Coronation Street coming up next the return of Chris Tarrant and Millionaire
01:49:02plus a Robson Green special but we will be right back to wrap up the Brazilian Grand Prix
01:50:33and Giancarlo Fisichella Michael fantastic result fantastic race and a fantastic start
01:50:38talk us through your first lap yeah I mean we made definitely some improvements to our
01:50:43start strategy I think we we got the hand on that and I almost was able to catch Mika straight away
01:50:52but I didn't want to take too much risk and obviously he was not too keen to let me by
01:50:57which luckily through our strategy we were able to to do that in right after the first lap was
01:51:03quite entertaining I mean it doesn't happen too often that you have between the leaders
01:51:08a real fight and overtaking so I enjoyed that it was a long time ago talking about your strategy
01:51:13you came in for your first pit stop just as you hit the traffic was that coincidence or was that
01:51:18a change of strategy it was a change of strategy honestly yeah I mean we wanted to use the situation
01:51:24and I think it did work fairly well we we had a bit of vibration in in the second turn the the
01:51:31tyre had turned again like in Melbourne and the rim caused a little bit of upsetment to to the car
01:51:38wasn't handling as perfect but we were prepared for staying out very very long at the second
01:51:43stop so in my view it would have worked out now about 15 laps in the end you had a couple of very
01:51:49slow laps I mean I think four seconds slower than normal was there a small problem we we had a
01:51:53little problem towards the end which we just took care I mean I I guess it wasn't necessary to to
01:52:00drive that slow but I mean we had the lead and we had so much margin so I just took it very easy
01:52:05I was able to respond anytime and which bit the car was giving the problem ask the team thanks
01:52:12Michael David congratulated on your second place getting six points to kick off your championship
01:52:15but you seem to have a very lonely race is that how it was yeah no it was um first of all I didn't
01:52:22get my start quite right I was all hooked up ready to go but the lights didn't change quite
01:52:26when I wanted them to so that meant I hesitated and that's obviously where I lost some time there
01:52:32and then very early on I lost third gear so I did the whole race using only fourth and upwards
01:52:37and obviously the first two sectors or the first sector I should say you don't lose too much time
01:52:42but middle sector and the last sector I was very slow out the last corner and obviously even though
01:52:47Ruben's made a mistake on the second lap or third lap whenever it was he was still easily able
01:52:52to tow past me on the straight because I was slow onto it now there's been a lot of discussion in
01:52:55the press over the last couple of weeks is who's got the faster car McLaren or Ferrari do you think
01:52:59we've seen today that Ferrari are quicker well I think you you need to uh you know why do we have
01:53:06to decide today I think you need to look and wait at the end of the season and then you can decide
01:53:10people are so impatient today you know and people just want want want but are you happy with the
01:53:14performance of the car today considering no I'm not because uh I lost the gear and to get the
01:53:19maximum out of the car uh you need to to have all the gears you know to not use third and second for
01:53:26the race is just not at all a quick way to drive and I lost the radio as well so it meant that I
01:53:31couldn't relay the information to the team had to pay attention uh yeah I had to pay attention
01:53:38obviously for the board very closely to make sure I got my stop right uh so all in all it was a very
01:53:43difficult race but to get six points out of this sort of situation uh I have to say I'm quite happy
01:53:48with because I could see I could feel fourth starting to go about 20 laps from the end and
01:53:53then I just started to be very careful with the down changes and the rpms of which I was using it
01:53:59and so from that point of view I'm happy I was able to get the car home I mean do you know what
01:54:02happened to your teammate you know what happened to Mika well as I mentioned a few months ago I
01:54:06never had a radio so I haven't had a chance since coming out the car going to podium and coming here
01:54:10so uh no I don't thanks David Giancarlo Renault took over the team just a few days ago and you're
01:54:16suddenly on the podium you must be delighted yeah sure it's a great result I'm very pleased
01:54:21for this third place um it was my target to be honest I already yesterday understood the
01:54:28possibility to get on the podium so I would like to say thank you very much to to to the Benetton
01:54:34team and help to to have a better car even in the future and uh for that I am very confident
01:54:42now you ran a very very long first stint 50 laps what were the tactics behind that
01:54:47yes at the beginning I was in trouble because the car was very difficult to drive with a lot of fuel
01:54:56it was so much heavy and there was a lot on the steering and sometimes even snap over steering
01:55:01but then after 15 20 laps there was a very good behavior and I pushed so hard and I gained my
01:55:09third place for that and Giancarlo Michael for the last six years the winner of this Grand Prix
01:55:14has gone on to win the world championship he won the first two races is he in the bag already
01:55:19I mean I was told that who wins the first race like Melbourne who's winning the championship now
01:55:24you tell me who is winning Brazilian is winning the championship so out of your prediction uh I
01:55:29can go home and don't need to drive the rest of the year I guess so I don't care honestly about
01:55:34this statistic because they're worth obviously not very much they've proven too many times wrong
01:55:41now obviously we're next off to Imola which is Ferrari's virtual home circuit will be some
01:55:45changes on the car for there yeah no we have consistent development uh obviously in program
01:55:51and we suspect to to have a improved version of the Ferrari in Imola thank you Michael now
01:55:58word from yourself and Giancarlo your own languages Michael
01:56:58thank you Michael and Giancarlo