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00:00:00That's one of the men who's going to be trying to stop him, Mika Häkkinen, and of course, not only Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari,
00:00:07but Barry Kellow, Rubens Barry Kellow, in the second Ferrari.
00:00:11The front row of the grid, the four fastest drivers, the four best cars,
00:00:16two Ferraris, two McLarens, but let me mark your card straight away.
00:00:20Two men to watch particularly at the start.
00:00:23Ralph Schumacher, who is in fifth position on the grid, in the Williams BMW,
00:00:28behind Mika Häkkinen, and Jacques Villeneuve in the BAR.
00:00:32You've just been hearing from Martin and from Villeneuve himself.
00:00:36They're both demon starters.
00:00:38We've seen a lot of that this year, and we could be seeing it again here.
00:00:42I think tactics are everything this afternoon, Murray.
00:00:45I think that we could well see two Ferraris that are going to be very active in the early part of this race.
00:00:53I think there could be completely different strategies between McLaren and Ferrari,
00:00:58in how they're going to run this, how they're going to try and anticipate the weather.
00:01:02So, we could see quite a strange first few laps, I think, as they shape up.
00:01:09Kunstad's fine, a bit of adrenaline running through those cracked ribs, he'll be alright.
00:01:13And Häkkinen certainly seemed on a mission in this morning's warm-up.
00:01:16I don't think Michael Schumacher really was that disappointed with second on the grid.
00:01:20He's on the harder tyre, suits his driving style, suits the balance he wanted in the car.
00:01:25And we know them to be about two to three tenths slower on one flying lap than the softer tyre.
00:01:31So, I think he felt that front row of the grid was probably just fine.
00:01:35So, Michael is alright.
00:01:37They've been changing the wings, the downforce settings down on the grid.
00:01:40They're relying a lot this afternoon on their weather forecasters,
00:01:43and I think they've taken positions that could be quite significantly different as to how they want to run this race.
00:01:50I agree with that entirely, because only four drivers are on the harder compound Bridgestone tyre.
00:01:56They've got a super soft tyre here for the first time this year.
00:02:00And the soft tyre, which is actually the harder one here today,
00:02:04is being used by both the Ferrari drivers, Barry Kello and Michael Schumacher,
00:02:09by Jacques Villeneuve and by Jos Verstappen.
00:02:12And I certainly know in the case of the Ferraris that, as Martin has said,
00:02:15it's because they just get a better balance on the car.
00:02:19They tend to go off after about ten laps,
00:02:22so Michael Schumacher will be looking to get ahead as soon as this race begins.
00:02:26But in order to do that, he's got to pass David Coulthard.
00:02:29Yes, Michael Schumacher there, look, with a virtually brand new set of tyres.
00:02:33We saw as you were talking there, they ran it. Is that Coulthard's front left?
00:02:36Yeah, it looks like it's ready to be thrown away before he even starts the race.
00:02:40Now, that's because of the grooved tyres.
00:02:42Some of the teams are finding that the further they run, the better the tyres,
00:02:45particularly as the track must surely be a little bit damp.
00:02:48One problem Coulthard's got, I was just looking at it,
00:02:50is that just in front of him, Michael Schumacher is charging away there.
00:02:54But David Coulthard has got two black patches, you saw them briefly,
00:03:00that have been painted out. It's quite a shiny paint on top of it.
00:03:04And I think it's a little bit unfair for those on the front of the grid, actually.
00:03:08They've got to go over that whilst they're still trying to control the wheelspin.
00:03:11But nonetheless, at least he's on the grippy side of the track.
00:03:14His teammate behind him. I saw the pair of them having a good chat,
00:03:17although they've both got their helmets on at the time,
00:03:19before they finally jumped in their cars.
00:03:22And I think they know they've got to do a little bit of team riding
00:03:25before they can sort themselves out mid-race.
00:03:28So, as ever, the start is going to be absolutely vital.
00:03:33It's comparatively smooth, this track.
00:03:36Not as much tyre wear as there is at a lot of them.
00:03:40I'm expecting most of them to make just one stop.
00:03:43Some of them may be making two.
00:03:46And that is the slowest corner on the course that we're looking down on now.
00:03:50The Dunlop Curve.
00:03:51But it bears repeating again that the weather...
00:03:54You can see that heavy rain cloud above you on the left.
00:03:57Well, we're moving away from it now.
00:03:59But there are clouds all the time over the Nürburgring.
00:04:02It's just like the Spa circuit in Belgium.
00:04:06The weather is totally unpredictable.
00:04:08It could be dry, bright blue skies one minute,
00:04:11a heavy cloud of pouring rain the next.
00:04:14And that's what we expect this afternoon with an 80% certainty of rain.
00:04:19It's one thing the drivers have got to remember.
00:04:21And it's always difficult to come into the pits,
00:04:23especially if you're at the sharp end of a race.
00:04:25And it takes about a half a minute, really, to come in, get new tyres and go.
00:04:30But if you're, say, taking three laps on the wrong tyres,
00:04:34it's very easy to lose more than 30 seconds
00:04:37or even fall off the road in a silly accident into the gravel trap.
00:04:42So you really have to have the strength of mind to say,
00:04:45right, I'm going to go in. I know I should be on different tyres.
00:04:49Even if I'm going to use them for five or seven laps,
00:04:52it's better to use them than lose that extra time.
00:04:55But the other situation is, when you're trolling along at 150 miles an hour,
00:04:59the little sprinkling of rain that's out there at the moment,
00:05:01we feel walking around, is streaming off of your visor.
00:05:05And it's very difficult to judge just how much rain is coming down
00:05:09until there's standing water.
00:05:11So, out of the Lidl chicane, out of Turn 13, the last on the circuit,
00:05:18which, by the way, is a 2.8 mile lap.
00:05:21David Coulthard in pole position for the first time this year,
00:05:25for the ninth time in his career.
00:05:26There's his chief rival, Michael Schumacher, behind David Coulthard.
00:05:31There is Mikko Häkkinen behind Mikko Häkkinen,
00:05:33the man I told you to watch.
00:05:35Look on the right, the third car back, Ralf Schumacher.
00:05:39When they're all on, they'll go out, there'll be a pause,
00:05:42and the race will be go!
00:05:44Good one by David Coulthard and Mikko Häkkinen!
00:05:47Streets between the two of them, is that what they were talking about?
00:05:50Is that what they were talking about?
00:05:52And Rubens Barrichello challenging.
00:05:54So, Michael Schumacher in second position between the two McLarens,
00:05:59and then Barrichello off goes one of the Jordans,
00:06:02and somebody's trolling along at the back.
00:06:05It is Marc Genet in the Minardi, who's had a very late start,
00:06:08but unlike last year, when Pedro Diniz went off,
00:06:11and that is Trolley, Jarno Trolley,
00:06:14who was starting about in eighth position,
00:06:16and it looks as though he's out of the race already.
00:06:19So, it's McLaren Ferrari, McLaren Ferrari.
00:06:22And then, behind, you can see them as we ride,
00:06:26with Heinz-Harald Frentzen now,
00:06:29and they're climbing up out of the Dunlop curve,
00:06:33up towards the left and right at turns eight and nine,
00:06:37up to the big curve, the sweeping right-hander,
00:06:39that is turn ten.
00:06:41And now, then, the Vidal chicane.
00:06:44So, they're pretty well spread out,
00:06:46as they come towards us now,
00:06:48with Mikko Häkkinen leading Schumacher,
00:06:50with David Coupard down from first on the grid to third in the race.
00:06:54Rubens Barrichello started fourth.
00:06:56He is still in fourth position,
00:06:59but in fifth position, it is Jacques Villeneuve.
00:07:02Remember what I told you?
00:07:04He has already gained four places.
00:07:06A magnificent start.
00:07:08Yes, great start from Villeneuve.
00:07:09The one, the car that rocketed away was Mikko Häkkinen.
00:07:12I was watching them.
00:07:13They're right outside our window for the start,
00:07:15and Coupard got away well.
00:07:17Michael Schumacher, not so well.
00:07:19But then, Coupard lost a bit of ground on the upshift to second.
00:07:22Häkkinen just catapulted through.
00:07:24I'm sure we'll see a replay at some time from the German producer here,
00:07:29but I really would like to see that again.
00:07:30But I'm absolutely sure, now that the first four cars on the track
00:07:35have got completely different fuel loads.
00:07:38Yeah, and this morning, Mikko Häkkinen was nine one-thousandths of a second slower
00:07:44than Michael Schumacher's Ferrari.
00:07:46That's how closely matched these cars are.
00:07:49Now, we are on lap two out of 67 laps is this race.
00:07:55And Jean Alési is in 14th position,
00:07:58the man we're riding with, chasing Jenson Button in the Williams
00:08:03as Villeneuve goes through.
00:08:05Behind Villeneuve is Ralf Schumacher, who has been passed by the Canadian.
00:08:10Fisichella is in seventh place.
00:08:12Eddie Irvine is in eighth position in the Jaguar.
00:08:15So, this start, and Michael Schumacher is now really challenging Mikko Häkkinen.
00:08:21Yes, Michael Schumacher designed that corner when they changed the circuit.
00:08:24He loves that kind.
00:08:25We've seen him win races by overtaking into that Vidal chicane.
00:08:28It just suits his attacking driving style completely.
00:08:32So, Michael will be shaping up there whenever he gets half a chance
00:08:35to have a look down the inside of Häkkinen.
00:08:37And he's the fastest man on the track.
00:08:39One minute 22.6.
00:08:42Michael Schumacher has just gone round in 1.4 seconds
00:08:46than the fastest lap last year, which was done by Mikko Häkkinen.
00:08:50And Ralf Schumacher is hanging on behind Jacques Villeneuve.
00:08:54Here they come behind us.
00:08:55There's Villeneuve, Schumacher, Fisichella.
00:08:58But Michael Schumacher is now on a charge.
00:09:01Here is the proof as they come up towards us.
00:09:04There's Jenson Button having a bad start.
00:09:06Now dropping down another place on that last lap.
00:09:09Down to 14th.
00:09:10Johnny Herbert down in 18th and running last but two.
00:09:15Here's a replay of the start.
00:09:16There's the wheel spin.
00:09:17I can see black lines outside my window off the grid.
00:09:20Here we go now.
00:09:21And Häkkinen just got the absolutely perfect start from third on the grid.
00:09:26The others are away reasonably well.
00:09:28Look, and just rockets through the middle.
00:09:31We heard that Frentzen has blown up somewhere around the racetrack
00:09:33as we're watching this replay.
00:09:35And look at that.
00:09:36The perfect getaway from Häkkinen.
00:09:37How he and Michael Schumacher didn't touch, I'll never know.
00:09:41And then Kulthard having to defend what became first down to third
00:09:45from Barrichello.
00:09:47Well, let's repeat the fact as you watch the Sauber of Pedro Diniz go off the track.
00:09:52And here is Frentzen retiring.
00:09:54And his teammate Fiano Trulli is already out of the race.
00:09:58Well, you can see what the problem is there.
00:10:00His Mugen Honda engine has obviously had enough already.
00:10:04So both Jordans are out of the race.
00:10:06And we're only on lap four now as Frentzen waves to his countryman.
00:10:11And Häkkinen comes towards us.
00:10:13Schumacher second, Kulthard third.
00:10:15And look at the way that Michael Schumacher is pushing the McLaren in front of him.
00:10:19And I remind you, Michael Schumacher is on the harder tyre.
00:10:23Mika Häkkinen's got a beautiful balance on the softer Bridgestone.
00:10:27And he's definitely got the advantage at the present moment.
00:10:30Notwithstanding the fact that Michael Schumacher has made the fastest lap.
00:10:34In seventh position behind Ralf Schumacher, it's Fisichalla.
00:10:37Eighth is Eddie Irvine.
00:10:39Ninth is De La Rosa in the arrows.
00:10:41Verstappen is tenth in the second arrows.
00:10:44And Schumacher is continuing to harry, harry, harry.
00:10:49Push, push, push.
00:10:51Get his front wing right under the rear wing of Mika Häkkinen's McLaren
00:10:55as they storm round this track.
00:10:57Now the record lap here is held by Heinz-Harald Frentzen.
00:11:01Just a whisker.
00:11:02Under 130 miles an hour in the Williams in 1997.
00:11:07Different specification then.
00:11:08The cars were faster.
00:11:10Very little in it now.
00:11:13And Schumacher is continuing to push.
00:11:15We're on lap four already.
00:11:17Yeah, Schumacher's got the faster car.
00:11:19And I'm sure his game plan did not include Mika Häkkinen
00:11:23rocketing off of third place on the grid.
00:11:25But I think now, if we're right about the fuel load on this Ferrari,
00:11:29Michael Schumacher really expected and needed
00:11:32to be zooming off into the distance.
00:11:34A man probably quite content at the moment
00:11:36is Kutas back there in third place.
00:11:39If he's running a lot of fuel.
00:11:40And I think it's a smart idea this afternoon.
00:11:42You need as big a window as possible
00:11:45to give you the best chance of needing to come in for fuel
00:11:49when it starts to rain.
00:11:50So it's worth carrying a bit more fuel
00:11:53to widen that window, if you understand me.
00:11:55Did you hear what Martin said?
00:11:57Not if it starts to rain, when it starts to rain.
00:12:00Because we're virtually certain that it's going to do so.
00:12:03And the teams have been frantically revising their strategies
00:12:06to take account of that.
00:12:08Well, Mika Häkkinen will be quite happy.
00:12:10I think he's got a good balance on the softer tyres.
00:12:13He's leading the race.
00:12:14He can take his line wherever he likes.
00:12:17And Schumacher's got to make him make a mistake
00:12:19before he can get past.
00:12:20And Mika Häkkinen, twice a world champion,
00:12:23is not going to do that.
00:12:24Well, that's two camera angles
00:12:25where I've seen spots of rain on the lens.
00:12:28So for sure, it's getting a little bit damper
00:12:30looking out of the window.
00:12:31No signs of umbrellas out here with the crowd at the moment.
00:12:34But Michael Schumacher appears to have
00:12:37a much better handling car at this stage of the race.
00:12:40The first two are stretching away slightly from the second two.
00:12:44Häkkinen leads Schumacher.
00:12:46There they are.
00:12:47And David Coulthard is two seconds behind them
00:12:50with Rubens Barrichello tucked under his wing.
00:12:52Jack Villeneuve is six seconds behind Barrichello.
00:12:55Fisichella is right behind Villeneuve in sixth position.
00:12:59Ralf Schumacher is 11 seconds behind the leader
00:13:03in seventh place in the Williams.
00:13:04Then it's De La Rosa.
00:13:06And hello, what's happening here?
00:13:08Off goes the salvo again.
00:13:10And this time, again, it is Pedro Diniz.
00:13:12He does not like this circuit.
00:13:14He treated it very badly at the start last year.
00:13:17He's been off twice already.
00:13:19But after last year, he's a very lucky man to be alive.
00:13:21And we've got news from Luis Goodman.
00:13:23Yeah, I'm standing here with Jarno Trulli.
00:13:25Jarno, we saw your teammate go out with an engine failure.
00:13:27What happened to you?
00:13:28I'm really disappointed because I had a very good start.
00:13:32I was trying to overtake Ralf on the straight.
00:13:34And suddenly, I hit from the back.
00:13:36And probably Fisichella lost control of his car
00:13:39and just didn't lift off.
00:13:40And it just hit me on the back.
00:13:42So the car was damaged to the tire.
00:13:44It's a shame because I had a good start.
00:13:46And I can't believe that we did that.
00:13:49Difficult day for the team.
00:13:50Bad luck, Jarno.
00:13:51Well, Jarno Trulli was sixth on the grid.
00:13:53Fisichella was seventh on the grid.
00:13:55There have been quite a lot of complaints yesterday
00:13:57in practicing about people holding other people up.
00:14:00But very, very bad luck for Jarno Trulli
00:14:03as the leaders come through and go into their seventh lap.
00:14:07And now Michael Schumacher is pushing again.
00:14:10He's just had the fastest first sector of all this afternoon.
00:14:14This circuit, like all of them, is split up into three sectors.
00:14:19But David Coulthard is now as Fisichella attacks.
00:14:23Fisichella in the blue Benetton is attacking Jacques Villeneuve.
00:14:28That's what you're looking at now.
00:14:29Fighting for fifth position.
00:14:31And behind them, look at the orange arrows of Pedro de la Rosa.
00:14:35He's in seventh position ahead of Ralf Schumacher.
00:14:38The arrows are going magnificently here.
00:14:41They were the fastest cars of all in a straight line in Spain.
00:14:44Jos Verstappen and Pedro de la Rosa.
00:14:47They've been going extremely well here.
00:14:49It's a very, very tiny motor car.
00:14:52It's powered by the Supertec engine.
00:14:54Pedro de la Rosa is now showing,
00:14:56after a full season of Grand Prix racing in his first year, last year,
00:15:00that he is a very good driver.
00:15:02He's got a very good car.
00:15:03To prove it, he is in seventh position.
00:15:07Yes, I don't know what happened to Ralf Schumacher.
00:15:09I think off screen he's had some kind of drama.
00:15:11He's back down in eighth position.
00:15:13So now, as you rightly point out, Mario,
00:15:15it's Fisichella, look, giving Villeneuve a very, very hard time.
00:15:19With the two arrows, or certainly one of them still there,
00:15:21at de la Rosa in seventh.
00:15:23And that car's been going well all through the practices.
00:15:26Oh, it looks as though Mikko Häkkinen is going to be able to stave off Michael Schumacher.
00:15:31When are we going to be getting pit stops?
00:15:33Well, if I'm right, and they're one-stopping most of them,
00:15:36it'll be roundabout lap 33, but could be a lot later, depending on fuel load.
00:15:41Yes, a new fastest lap of the race from Coulthard in third place.
00:15:45So he's clearly finding, as his fuel load goes down,
00:15:48his balance is coming back to where he needs it.
00:15:50Häkkinen and Schumacher level-pegged at the front on a 1.22.3.
00:15:55Now, I have to say, Martin, I'm a bit disappointed this year,
00:15:59in comparison with expectations, with Rubens Barrichello.
00:16:02Yes, he was second in Australia, and he was third in Spain,
00:16:07but he just doesn't seem to have been on it the way that Michael Schumacher has been.
00:16:11We're riding with Barrichello now.
00:16:13He's in fourth position in the Ferrari,
00:16:16and he's one and a half seconds behind David Coulthard's McLaren,
00:16:20which is the car that you can see ahead of us.
00:16:23And Rubens just does not seem to have been able to get the balance right on the Ferrari.
00:16:28I've got absolutely no doubt that the cars have got equal specification.
00:16:32And there you see Schumacher's Ferrari.
00:16:35You can see that he's still right up with Micah Häkkinen.
00:16:38They're coming through to complete the eighth lap now in this 67-lap race.
00:16:44Häkkinen leads Schumacher.
00:16:46They are 2.2 seconds ahead of David Coulthard, just going over the grid now.
00:16:50Barrichello in the background is fourth.
00:16:52The next man through is Jacques Villeneuve.
00:16:55Sixth position is Fisichella.
00:16:56They are still virtually tied together.
00:16:59Yes, another new fastest lap.
00:17:00Now, this time Michael Schumacher, but it's very, very close, still at 22.2.
00:17:05So Schumacher edging ever, ever closer to Häkkinen.
00:17:09And really, there's not much there.
00:17:11The first four are 22.2, 22.2, 22.4, 22.3,
00:17:15and then they're well over a second a lap quicker than the rest of the field.
00:17:19Now, it's my belief, as I said earlier on,
00:17:21that these harder tires start marginally to deteriorate in terms of performance,
00:17:27not in terms of construction.
00:17:29After about ten laps, well, Schumacher is still in that second place.
00:17:33We're on lap nine now.
00:17:34And those softer tires of Micah Häkkinen are going to start coming in
00:17:38as Schumacher has a look nearly to confound me.
00:17:42But Micah Häkkinen knows he's there.
00:17:43He can see that scarlet blob in his right and left mirrors
00:17:47as the McLaren twists and turns around this Nürburgring.
00:17:51Well, we've seen Michael Schumacher hounding Häkkinen before,
00:17:54and he has not been able to force him into a mistake.
00:17:58Maybe the Häkkinen of the old days would have,
00:18:00but this Micah Häkkinen, I have to say, is very, very rare.
00:18:04You see him making unforced errors.
00:18:07So Michael is darting around the track,
00:18:09just trying to distract him at any possible opportunity.
00:18:12133 Grand Prix behind Micah Häkkinen,
00:18:16and he's got a lot of experience with Lotus originally.
00:18:19Here is Kulfharn third, Barrichello fourth,
00:18:22and Sauber are readying their wheels and tires for a stop.
00:18:27Now, is it going to be for Micah Salo, who is in 15th position,
00:18:31or Pedro de Liniz, who is 19th?
00:18:34And look at De la Rosa in the orange arrows.
00:18:37De la Rosa right up behind Jacques Villeneuve.
00:18:39De la Rosa is 7th, Jacques Villeneuve is 6th,
00:18:42and Fisichella has moved up into 5th position in the Benetton.
00:18:46It's fast and furious behind the two batches of two
00:18:50which are leading this European Grand Prix.
00:18:53Häkkinen, Schumacher is the first batch of two.
00:18:56Kulfharn, Barrichello is the second.
00:18:58And then Fisichella, Villeneuve, De la Rosa together.
00:19:01Yes, I saw Kulfharn make a mistake in the first sector of this lap,
00:19:04but there's definitely more rain coming down at the moment.
00:19:07And Barrichello right up the gear, but he's not in view.
00:19:10But Barrichello, you're watching Häkkinen and Schumacher.
00:19:13Just behind that is Kulfharn,
00:19:15just ahead of the sister Ferrari of Michael Schumacher.
00:19:18Rain right behind him, so definitely more rain coming down.
00:19:22And I'm looking to see if Barrichello made any kind of move
00:19:27on Kulfharn for third and fourth place.
00:19:29Now, we had a Formula 3000 race yesterday, absolute mayhem.
00:19:33When the rain came down, this place turned into a skating rink.
00:19:37The asphalt is smooth,
00:19:39and these tyres have got minimal grip when it gets wet.
00:19:42And you've got to have a feather touch on the throttle.
00:19:45800 horsepower behind each of these drivers.
00:19:48And they're absolutely on the ragged edge of sticking on the circuit
00:19:52when it's dry, never mind when it's wet.
00:19:54And you saw confirmation of what Martin said.
00:19:57Barrichello is right up with Kulfharn.
00:19:59And the Ferrari is definitely working better in these tricky conditions.
00:20:03Both Ferrari drivers able to put.
00:20:05And this is how Fisichella took Villeneuve.
00:20:08Villeneuve couldn't find traction out of the Vidal, into the Coca-Cola.
00:20:11The last turn, Fisichella, neat, tidy, smooth, decisive, right up the inside.
00:20:16And as we know now, Dallarosa then starts applying pressure to Villeneuve.
00:20:20James, what can you tell us?
00:20:22Well, Martin, of course, Michael Schumacher is on the heart of the two tyres.
00:20:26And we saw last year as the rain falls and you get more and more standing water,
00:20:30they perform much worse than the super soft tyres that Schumacher has on.
00:20:34So at the moment he's doing well, but as more rain falls,
00:20:37and I can tell you it's falling more and more steadily now.
00:20:39Tremendous atmosphere here.
00:20:41Yeah, James, Michael's got a real run on Hacken.
00:20:44And Hacken is going to have to defend his line.
00:20:46Otherwise Schumacher is going to outbrake him.
00:20:48Well, you made that too easy there, Mike Mika.
00:20:50You had to defend that 400, 500 metres, 300, 400 metres earlier.
00:20:55Too easy for Michael Schumacher.
00:20:57No good having a look now.
00:20:59Well spotted, Martin.
00:21:00Beautiful, beautiful drive by Michael Schumacher,
00:21:04who has to make...
00:21:06Hacken then gives way.
00:21:08The Ferrari mechanics wave in delight.
00:21:10So now it is Ferrari, McLaren, McLaren, Ferrari.
00:21:14And that yellow and red flag is to indicate that the circuit is getting wet.
00:21:19They'll know that.
00:21:20They'll see these raindrops coming towards them and bouncing on their visors.
00:21:23And now remember, Michael Schumacher is the absolute rain master of Formula 1.
00:21:29One of the greatest drives I've ever seen as we see this replay of Michael Schumacher
00:21:34diving up the inside of Mika Hacken and who has to stay out.
00:21:38Tuck in behind the Ferrari as they come into the chicane.
00:21:43And that is where Michael Schumacher brilliantly, brilliantly passed
00:21:47John Lacey's Ferrari years ago when Schumacher was with Benetton
00:21:52to win the European Grand Prix
00:21:54because Schumacher has won this race twice already,
00:21:5794 and 95.
00:21:59So you'll see the red and yellow striped flags waving,
00:22:01normally referred to as the oil flags,
00:22:03but actually it's the slippery track flag.
00:22:05And Michael Schumacher, he may have slightly harder compound tyres on,
00:22:09but he is excellent in this kind of situation,
00:22:12second guessing how much grip there's going to be in a corner before you arrive.
00:22:17And now when they're passing over some sections of the track.
00:22:20Now this is Barrichello behind Coulthard.
00:22:23Does he have a go at the inside into Turn 1?
00:22:25This is a replay, but I don't know the outcome.
00:22:28I'm assuming Coulthard on the better line into the corner.
00:22:31No, Barrichello's gone through.
00:22:33Where's Coulthard?
00:22:34We're not showing Barrichello in third place on the computer at the moment.
00:22:38You'll have to go through the next section.
00:22:39So maybe it's Ferrari 1 and 3, McLaren 2 and 4 now.
00:22:43Well, let's have a look.
00:22:44It is.
00:22:45It is because Barrichello has passed David Coulthard.
00:22:50And that is a confirmation of the fact that in these weather conditions,
00:22:55the Ferraris have got the better handling.
00:22:57Now in recent years,
00:22:59there was no doubt about the fact that the McLaren had got the faster car.
00:23:02Ferrari have been working and working and working to improve their car.
00:23:07Let's have a look and see what's happening here on this replay
00:23:10as Off spins the arrows of Pedro...
00:23:15Jos Verstappen!
00:23:16Jos Verstappen, the Dutchman who was down in 14th position,
00:23:21and that lets Micka Salo in the Sauber through ahead of him.
00:23:24Look at this, Murray.
00:23:25Michael Schumacher nearly three seconds faster on the previous lap
00:23:29than Micka Hakkinen.
00:23:31So that's absolutely incredible.
00:23:32They've obviously put...
00:23:33Off goes the Minardi.
00:23:35Junaid and Jonny Herbert, you'll notice,
00:23:37last year's winner, this year in the Jaguar,
00:23:40has come in for a very early stop.
00:23:43He's decided, I presume, to go on to rain tyres.
00:23:47Now we are on lap 13 out of 67.
00:23:50There you see Herbert exiting.
00:23:53It doesn't look to me as though he is on rain tyres.
00:23:55It's very difficult to tell when the wheels are rotating as quickly as they are.
00:23:59But just look at the lead already that Michael Schumacher,
00:24:02having passed Micka Hakkinen, has built up over the McLaren driver.
00:24:06And Rubens Barrichello in the second Ferrari is catching Hakkinen.
00:24:10He was about five seconds behind him.
00:24:12He's now 3.3 seconds.
00:24:14There is Hakkinen looking visibly, to me,
00:24:17slower than Schumacher and Barrichello
00:24:20as he rounds turn 13, followed by David Coulthard.
00:24:23Yes, now remember what I said at the beginning of the program,
00:24:26that if you go three or four laps losing 10, 12 seconds a lap,
00:24:30then you may as well be on the other tyres.
00:24:32Which they're doing.
00:24:34They're now 14 seconds off the dry pace that they started this race at.
00:24:39Maybe they should be in, coming in.
00:24:41Yes, I think they should now be in, getting some wet tyres on.
00:24:44But a lot of them are hanging on.
00:24:46Now is the moment for some wet tyres.
00:24:48But the problem is second-guessing the weather.
00:24:51Will it stop raining and dry out immediately?
00:24:53I think they should now be in for wets, and I'm expecting them any time soon.
00:24:57As De La Rosa, seventh challenger,
00:24:59here is Verstappen coming in in the arrows.
00:25:02Behind him, Mikasalo in the Sauber.
00:25:05And behind David Coulthard, who is in fourth place,
00:25:08Fisichella is on his own in the Benetton.
00:25:10But what a struggle behind him,
00:25:12as off spins again the Minardi.
00:25:15This is a replay of Marc Genet.
00:25:17Jacques Villeneuve, De La Rosa,
00:25:19Eddie Irvine in the Jaguar,
00:25:21and Ralf Schumacher are absolutely together on the circuit,
00:25:24fighting for sixth position.
00:25:26They're sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth,
00:25:29but four car lengths covers them.
00:25:31As Genet, who has spun off and lost his front wing, you see,
00:25:34comes in for a new nosecone and wing assembly.
00:25:38Michael Schumacher leads on lap 14,
00:25:41out of 67, 53 laps to go.
00:25:44Well, Schumi stayed on the racetrack.
00:25:46I mean, I can't see where the weather's coming from,
00:25:49but Schumi's decided to stay.
00:25:51He's barely on the throttle as he comes over the line.
00:25:53Let's see his lap time.
00:25:55It's a 41.
00:25:57That's 19 seconds slower.
00:25:59It takes you 30 seconds to make a pit stop.
00:26:02Okay, you've got to do another 30 seconds
00:26:05to come in and change the tires again.
00:26:07And what was going on there, Murray?
00:26:08No, Ralf Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher,
00:26:10doing the same as his brother, as Petrodin is, spins off.
00:26:13This is what the rain is doing.
00:26:15In comes David Coulthard from fourth position.
00:26:18But Ralf Schumacher's doing like his brother.
00:26:20He's driving magnificently in the wet.
00:26:22He's gone ahead of Jacques Villeneuve
00:26:24up into sixth position.
00:26:26David Coulthard goes out in about 7.4 seconds.
00:26:32And, of course, he's got a new set of tires on lap 15.
00:26:36And David Coulthard exits the pit lane
00:26:39as Fisichella comes through,
00:26:41still on his original tires in fifth position.
00:26:44Now, this race is going to be a commentator's nightmare
00:26:47from now on, as Kars Poir in and Eddie Irvine in the Jaguar
00:26:50comes out behind de la Rosa, still.
00:26:54I think it's going to be a commentator's dream, to be honest, Murray,
00:26:56because we're going to see action all through the afternoon.
00:26:58That is true.
00:26:59As these people guess, second guess, change their minds or whatever.
00:27:03But certainly on those lap times,
00:27:05they're better doing two or three laps on the wet.
00:27:08The wet rubber can often be harder than the dry rubber.
00:27:11But because it's got a lot more cuts in it,
00:27:13the tread moves around, the blocks move around,
00:27:16generates more heat.
00:27:17It's a different type of compounding
00:27:19that gives more grip in cool conditions.
00:27:21So we know the Ferrari mechanics are out in the pit lane, too.
00:27:24I think they'll have to respond to...
00:27:27Yes, and that is Michael in the pit lane,
00:27:29coming through what is a very slow last corner
00:27:32and then over the white line
00:27:34at just 80 kilometers per hour.
00:27:36He's got to hit the button.
00:27:37And there are his team.
00:27:38He's got to hope he doesn't run over them,
00:27:40as he did in Spain.
00:27:41But that was not his fault in the Catalunya Grand Prix.
00:27:45And I don't know if James is there.
00:27:47And behind him is Mika Häkkinen.
00:27:49So they come in first and second.
00:27:52Häkkinen stops.
00:27:53There he is in the background.
00:27:55There is Fisichella coming in.
00:27:57So all the leaders are coming in now.
00:27:59And you watch Schumacher exit after 12.1 seconds.
00:28:03That's a very long stop.
00:28:05How does Mika Häkkinen's time compare?
00:28:07Problem for Häkkinen's car, Murray.
00:28:09Long time putting the right rear on.
00:28:11So Häkkinen quite slow away.
00:28:13Now something's coming.
00:28:14He'll beat that out of the pit lane.
00:28:16So I think he lost just a few seconds there
00:28:18while they had a slight drama.
00:28:20And look, Coulthard is right up there
00:28:22with Michael Schumacher.
00:28:23Coulthard, who has stopped?
00:28:24Michael Schumacher has stopped.
00:28:26Schumacher is now just ahead of David Coulthard
00:28:29as they come up behind Jenson Button.
00:28:31Jenson Button in the Williams.
00:28:34Now Michael's on his out lap.
00:28:36He doesn't know how much grip there is.
00:28:38Coulthard's now on his first flying lap.
00:28:40And that's why Michael's having to defend
00:28:42quite aggressively there with David Coulthard
00:28:45whose tyres are that bit warmer,
00:28:47and he's got more knowledge of the racetrack.
00:28:49So lap 16.
00:28:50Here is the order at the present moment
00:28:52as you watch Schumacher and Coulthard
00:28:55and Jenson Button keeping his Williams in between them.
00:28:58He's let Schumacher through.
00:28:59He's refusing to be passed by David Coulthard.
00:29:02This is costing Coulthard dear in the McLaren
00:29:05as Jenson Button fights for position
00:29:08and to avoid being lapped, which he has now been.
00:29:11No, that's for position, Murray.
00:29:12Because he hasn't been in, Button,
00:29:14although he's on the wrong tyres,
00:29:15Button is actually in 7th place.
00:29:17Coulthard's taken that 7th place away from him,
00:29:19but he is on wet.
00:29:21But it has, as you pointed out, cost him dearly
00:29:23and that will obviously be Rubens Barrichello's stop.
00:29:26Here he comes now.
00:29:27He should peel into the...
00:29:28Oh, even a job getting in the pit lane, look.
00:29:30You can see how slippery it is.
00:29:32It's a long, long drag into the pit lane.
00:29:35Look for the yellow line where they hit the red limiter
00:29:38to slow them down to the mandatory 80 miles an hour maximum.
00:29:41That is it.
00:29:43Now, Barrichello looks for his pit crew.
00:29:45Remember what happened last week,
00:29:47the week before last in Spain.
00:29:49It's the new Ferrari fella in place of Nigel Stepney
00:29:52who, with his broken ankle, will be watching this race.
00:29:55He's done an immaculate job so far.
00:29:57And that's a good stop by Rubens Barrichello.
00:30:007.2 seconds.
00:30:01And behind him there is Ralf Schumacher.
00:30:04That could put Barrichello in the lead of this motor race.
00:30:07I don't know.
00:30:08I haven't seen Schumacher and Coulthard come over the start-finish line.
00:30:13It's totally upside down at the moment.
00:30:16But I wonder if that put Barrichello out in front of the race.
00:30:20I think you're right, Martin.
00:30:21It's so easy to get it wrong, though.
00:30:23I think we'd better be very, very cautious
00:30:25until we see how things are settling down,
00:30:28if they settle down.
00:30:30Because, as I said, there's cars flying in and out of the pits
00:30:34as the weather conditions deteriorate.
00:30:36It's wet out there,
00:30:37but it's not lashing down with rain like it did last year.
00:30:41It could well stop and the circuits start to dry out.
00:30:45That is exactly what happened in the Formula 3000 race yesterday,
00:30:49which went all topsy-turvy when the rain came down.
00:30:52So, lap 17 out of 67.50 to go.
00:30:55We've had action enough already.
00:30:58And look coming towards us.
00:30:59Previous race leader, Michael Schumacher,
00:31:02now on a new set of Bridgestone boots.
00:31:05Behind him is Mika Häkkinen.
00:31:07They exit the chicane again
00:31:10as Alexander Wurz in 16th position in the Benetton
00:31:14goes off-circuit, across the grass,
00:31:17over the sawtoothed rumble strip,
00:31:20which can be very damaging indeed.
00:31:22Right.
00:31:23Barrichello must have had some kind of problem on that in-lap
00:31:26because he actually is some way behind.
00:31:28So now it is Schumacher, Coulthard,
00:31:31and then Häkkinen you can see in the distance, Murray.
00:31:33In third position.
00:31:35So, it's Ferrari, McLaren.
00:31:38McLaren and Pedro de la Rosa
00:31:40coming towards us in fourth position.
00:31:43Wonderful.
00:31:44In the points, it's a long time since they've been there.
00:31:46Fisichella is fifth.
00:31:48Button is sixth.
00:31:49There's a lot more to come,
00:31:50but we are leaving for the moment.
00:34:02Lap 19 out of 67.
00:34:05What a motor race this is
00:34:07as Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari
00:34:09leads David Coulthard by seven seconds.
00:34:11But Mika Häkkinen and the second McLaren
00:34:13is catching Coulthard.
00:34:15A fantastic battle for fourth place
00:34:17between Pedro de la Rosa in the Arrows
00:34:20and Fisichella in the Benetton.
00:34:23And Eddie Irvine is in sixth position for Jaguar.
00:34:26In the points for Jaguar.
00:34:28Joss Verstappen, Arrows, Barrichello, Ferrari
00:34:31down in eighth position.
00:34:32Johnny Herbert, the second Jaguar,
00:34:34in the top ten.
00:34:35He is ninth and tenth is Ralf Schumacher.
00:34:37Yes, well, whatever kind of problem
00:34:39Barrichello had on his in lap,
00:34:40that's put him down in eighth as you've seen.
00:34:42And just coming up now to pass Verstappen
00:34:45and Verstappen may just cut across his bar there.
00:34:48And Barrichello realizing that
00:34:50and giving him plenty of space.
00:34:51He's going to get a better drive out of the corner.
00:34:53And now Schumacher.
00:34:55Plenty of space.
00:34:56He's going to get a better drive out of the corner.
00:34:57And now surely the next corner is Barrichello's
00:35:00to take seventh place.
00:35:01He's got more grip now.
00:35:02Verstappen's not going to make it that easy for him.
00:35:04Nice piece of driving, Joss.
00:35:06So Barrichello's going to have to work
00:35:08to come through the field.
00:35:09The man who's taking it too easily,
00:35:11he's too cautious,
00:35:12is Coulthard in second place.
00:35:14Remember Murray, he went off in this,
00:35:16leading this race easily last year
00:35:18by pushing too hard in the wet.
00:35:20Right now, I don't think he's pushing hard enough.
00:35:22He's losing a couple of seconds a lap
00:35:24to Michael Schumacher.
00:35:25And Hakkinen is catching him
00:35:27about a second and a half a lap.
00:35:28This is fantastic motor racing.
00:35:30Sixth on the right,
00:35:31Eddie Irvine, Jaguar.
00:35:33Joss Verstappen, seventh.
00:35:35Rubens Barrichello in the Ferrari, eighth.
00:35:37Now they are fighting each other.
00:35:39I can hardly believe my ears after Spain
00:35:41when I heard people complaining
00:35:43about the two Schumacher brothers,
00:35:45Ralph in the Williams and Michael in the Ferrari,
00:35:49having a battle for position.
00:35:51It was great motor racing
00:35:52and that's exactly what we're seeing here.
00:35:54Absolutely on the limit.
00:35:56As David Coulthard is being caught,
00:35:58as Martin's told you,
00:35:59by Micah Hakkinen, James Allen.
00:36:01What's the news?
00:36:02Sensational atmosphere down here in the pit lane today.
00:36:04Murray just looking at the pit stops.
00:36:06Coulthard stopped for 7.4 seconds.
00:36:07That's not a lot of fuel to go on board,
00:36:09but I think he had quite a bit to start.
00:36:11Now Schumacher stopped for 12 seconds.
00:36:13That's enough fuel for 35 laps,
00:36:15but he had very little fuel at the start.
00:36:17So they're roughly on the same sort of fuel load
00:36:19at the moment.
00:36:21Hakkinen's problem was getting the wheel nut
00:36:23back onto the right rear tyre.
00:36:24It's cost him dear about four seconds,
00:36:26but on a day like today,
00:36:27with such strange and changeable conditions,
00:36:30it might not be the end of the world for him.
00:36:32But obviously Ferrari and McLaren
00:36:34both think it's going to rain now
00:36:36for quite a long time,
00:36:37at least the next half an hour or 40 minutes.
00:36:39This race is far from over
00:36:40and we definitely will have more pit stops.
00:36:42And Hakkinen goes through,
00:36:44passes David Coulthard.
00:36:46Hakkinen's been lapping two seconds a lap
00:36:48faster than his teammate.
00:36:49He's got the bit between his teeth now.
00:36:51He's going for it.
00:36:52He's back into second position.
00:36:54David Coulthard there,
00:36:55the pole position man,
00:36:57goes down to third position.
00:36:58But Mika Hakkinen is some 12 seconds behind
00:37:02race leader Michael Schumacher
00:37:04on lap 21.
00:37:06David Coulthard was looking down in the cockpit
00:37:08there at some point,
00:37:09but normally he's the man in the rain.
00:37:11He's normally absolutely flying.
00:37:13Remember Manicor last year,
00:37:14where he just scampered off into the distance
00:37:16and even here.
00:37:18And look, Coulthard,
00:37:19I think he knows that his teammate
00:37:21was much faster than him.
00:37:22Gave him plenty of space to pass him
00:37:25going up into turn seven.
00:37:27So Coulthard may be carrying some kind of problem.
00:37:30Normally he is faster than that on a wet track.
00:37:33Yeah, I remember that Mike David Coulthard
00:37:35has actually got three broken ribs.
00:37:38He's recovering from them.
00:37:39He's a lot better than he was in Spain.
00:37:41But the fact is that he's got three broken ribs
00:37:44and it's a tremendously demanding situation
00:37:47physically that it's in now.
00:37:49As the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher
00:37:51scythes its way through the field.
00:37:54He is now up behind Pedro Diniz,
00:37:56who is 18th.
00:37:58He's lapped Mazzacane.
00:37:59In fact, he's passed Pedro Diniz.
00:38:01Yes, I think Coulthard lost five seconds
00:38:03on the last lap, Marius.
00:38:04I think his problem is
00:38:06more than a few spare ribs in there
00:38:08that are not doing their job.
00:38:10So Coulthard carrying some kind of drama in the car.
00:38:14James, what can you tell us about David?
00:38:16Well, what I can tell you
00:38:17is that the last time by,
00:38:18David came quite close to the pit wall.
00:38:20Adrian Newey, the chief designer,
00:38:22came off the pit wall
00:38:23and looked down Lento over the side
00:38:25to have a very close look.
00:38:26I think it was at the front wing of the McLaren
00:38:28to see if there was any damage.
00:38:29I saw him tap Dave Ryan there.
00:38:31Whoa!
00:38:32Sorry, James, that was Schumacher
00:38:34getting it sideways.
00:38:35Carry on.
00:38:36I saw him...
00:38:37This is amazing, isn't it, Barry?
00:38:39I saw him tap Dave Ryan
00:38:40who runs Coulthard's race effort
00:38:42on the shoulder and say,
00:38:43it's okay, Coulthard's car is okay.
00:38:45Well, it may be okay,
00:38:46but it's not quick enough
00:38:47to hold that second position.
00:38:49We're on lap 23 now.
00:38:51Now, this is going to be a replay
00:38:53of Rubens Barrichello
00:38:55coming up behind Pedro de la Rosa
00:38:58and Eddie Irvine
00:38:59to try and gain track position.
00:39:01I've said so far...
00:39:02It's Verstappen, actually.
00:39:03I apologize.
00:39:04I said that Barrichello
00:39:07has been the disappointment
00:39:08of this race for me so far
00:39:10because he is down in seventh position.
00:39:13Well, he's moved up a place there
00:39:15and the race order is Schumacher
00:39:17leading Häkkinen.
00:39:19As you see,
00:39:20Barrichello diving through inside
00:39:22Verstappen's arrows.
00:39:24Now, the arrows are in eighth position
00:39:26and fifth position.
00:39:27De la Rosa is in the top six.
00:39:29And the top six are
00:39:31Michael Schumacher,
00:39:3212.7 seconds,
00:39:34Micah Häkkinen,
00:39:354.8 seconds,
00:39:37David Coulthard,
00:39:389.3 seconds,
00:39:39Fisichella fourth,
00:39:411.3 seconds,
00:39:43sorry, 6.5 seconds,
00:39:45Rubens Barrichello
00:39:47and then Eddie Irvine
00:39:48is still there.
00:39:49Johnny Herbert is still in the top ten
00:39:51for Jaguar.
00:39:52Now, Johnny Herbert is fighting
00:39:54to maintain his place in the Jaguar team
00:39:57next year.
00:39:58He really wants a good result.
00:40:00Well, of course, he always wants one.
00:40:02And last year, he got one here
00:40:03because he won the race
00:40:05in appalling conditions.
00:40:07Look at the track.
00:40:08Look at the distance
00:40:09between Schumacher
00:40:10that you've seen go through
00:40:11and here is Micah Häkkinen.
00:40:13Comparative lap times.
00:40:15Well, Häkkinen is lapping
00:40:17nearly two seconds faster
00:40:18at the present moment
00:40:19than Schumacher.
00:40:20This lap's about the same, though.
00:40:22And remember,
00:40:23Michael had to pass the car
00:40:24on the previous lap
00:40:25and he got well out of shape
00:40:27as we saw for ourselves.
00:40:28So, I think at the end of this lap,
00:40:30we'll see Michael has done a 30.4
00:40:32and Micah a 30.5.
00:40:34So the gap remains
00:40:35around 12.9 seconds.
00:40:37Well, interestingly,
00:40:39in terms of the Constructors' Contest,
00:40:41which Ferrari lead McLaren
00:40:43by seven points,
00:40:45both the Ferrari
00:40:47and the McLaren teams
00:40:48are on ten points.
00:40:50That's a replay
00:40:51of Michael Schumacher
00:40:52going into the chicane
00:40:53and nearly, but not,
00:40:55losing it.
00:40:56Michael Schumacher
00:40:57is on a potential
00:40:58ten World Championship points
00:41:00and that would increase his lead
00:41:02over Micah Häkkinen.
00:41:04We're going for a break.
00:41:09We're going for a break.
00:41:39We're going for a break.
00:42:09We're going for a break.
00:42:10We're going for a break.
00:42:11We're going for a break.
00:42:12We're going for a break.
00:42:13We're going for a break.
00:42:14We're going for a break.
00:42:15We're going for a break.
00:42:16We're going for a break.
00:42:17We're going for a break.
00:42:18We're going for a break.
00:42:19We're going for a break.
00:42:20We're going for a break.
00:42:21We're going for a break.
00:42:22We're going for a break.
00:42:23We're going for a break.
00:42:24We're going for a break.
00:42:25We're going for a break.
00:42:26We're going for a break.
00:42:27We're going for a break.
00:42:28We're going for a break.
00:42:29We're going for a break.
00:42:30We're going for a break.
00:42:31We're going for a break.
00:42:32We're going for a break.
00:42:33We're going for a break.
00:42:34We're going for a break.
00:42:35We're going for a break.
00:42:36We're going for a break.
00:42:37We're going for a break.
00:42:38We're going for a break.
00:42:39We're going for a break.
00:42:40We're going for a break.
00:42:41We're going for a break.
00:42:42We're going for a break.
00:42:43We're going for a break.
00:42:44We're going for a break.
00:42:45We're going for a break.
00:42:46We're going for a break.
00:42:47We're going for a break.
00:42:48We're going for a break.
00:42:49We're going for a break.
00:42:50We're going for a break.
00:42:51We're going for a break.
00:42:52We're going for a break.
00:42:53We're going for a break.
00:42:54We're going for a break.
00:42:55We're going for a break.
00:42:56We're going for a break.
00:42:57We're going for a break.
00:42:58We're going for a break.
00:42:59We're going for a break.
00:43:00We're going for a break.
00:43:01We're going for a break.
00:43:02We're going for a break.
00:43:03We're going for a break.
00:43:04We're going for a break.
00:43:05We're going for a break.
00:43:06We're going for a break.
00:43:07We're going for a break.
00:43:08We're going for a break.
00:43:09We're going for a break.
00:43:10We're going for a break.
00:43:11We're going for a break.
00:43:12We're going for a break.
00:43:13We're going for a break.
00:43:14We're going for a break.
00:43:15We're going for a break.
00:43:16We're going for a break.
00:43:17We're going for a break.
00:43:18We're going for a break.
00:43:19We're going for a break.
00:43:20We're going for a break.
00:43:22Lap 26.
00:43:24Look at this replay of Michael Schumacher leading the race by 16 seconds, recovering
00:43:30from that half-spin and keeping ahead of Mika Häkkinen second.
00:43:35David Coulthard is now 25 seconds behind the race leader and being caught by fourth-placed
00:43:41Fissi Keller.
00:43:42Fifth is Rubens Barrichello storming his way up from eighth in the second Ferrari.
00:43:47Pedro de la Rosa is sixth for Arrows in the points.
00:43:50Eddie Irvine is seventh for Jaguar.
00:43:52Jos Verstappen is eighth for Arrows, so both the Arrows are in the top eight.
00:43:57Johnny Herbert is now in tenth position because he's been caught and passed by Ralf Schumacher.
00:44:03Now, Jenson Button is in 14th position.
00:44:08Retirements, only two so far, and sadly, it's the two Jordans.
00:44:13Jarno Trulli went out right at the beginning, and Heinz-Harald Efrensen had a major engine
00:44:18blowout, and he went out very early indeed.
00:44:22So, Michael Schumacher, the reign master of Formula One, the man who's shown us time and
00:44:27time again what a genius he is in the wet, like the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona,
00:44:33like the Monaco Grand Prix, is now in a secure first position and lapping faster than the
00:44:40man you're looking at, the twice world champion Mika Häkkinen.
00:44:44Yes, the McLarens are off the pace in the wet conditions, no doubt about it.
00:44:48The man to watch is Barrichello, who's scything his way back up the field.
00:44:51Wozzeigh is now fifth, catching Fisichella ahead of him at 1.3 seconds a lap, and the
00:44:58pair of them are catching David Coulthard, who is just eight seconds behind Mika Häkkinen.
00:45:04So, the two McLarens have got to find some kind of pace in these tricky conditions if
00:45:08they want to keep anything near to these podium positions at the end of the day.
00:45:12Well, I've seen much, much worse conditions than this in the wet, and I'm not belittling
00:45:18the conditions now, but we're not getting those gigantic roosters.
00:45:22Well, we are, as I talk now, and the Ferrari goes into some pretty deep water, but it's
00:45:28raining steadily, it is not lashing down, and Michael Schumacher, with a clear track
00:45:33in front of him now, is lapping at about 1.29.1, which is almost a full second faster than
00:45:40Mika Häkkinen, and this is where the fact that Michael Schumacher is the best of the
00:45:46day is very much underlined.
00:45:49And there is, you can see the arrows being chased very hard indeed by Ralf Schumacher's
00:45:55Williams, that's Verstappen in eighth position, Ralf Schumacher in ninth position, behind
00:46:00them is Johnny Herbert, ahead of them is Eddie Irvine, and we're hearing news that Schumacher
00:46:09may be coming in, Ralf Schumacher may be coming into the pits, this is the 28th lap.
00:46:14This is what I was talking about, having enough fuel on board to have a decent window, because
00:46:19there's nothing worse than having to come in to change your tyres, and then several
00:46:23laps later coming in again to put fuel in the car, it's a double negative, but often
00:46:28there's no way round it, unless you've run the car just ridiculously heavy in all conditions.
00:46:34And now with Barrichello into fifth position and on a potential two world championship
00:46:40points, Ferrari have got potentially more points for the Constructors' Championship
00:46:45here in Europe than McLaren have.
00:46:48Barrichello is doing a superb job, and so is Verstappen, because Verstappen in the orange
00:46:53arrows, pursued by the white Williams of Ralf Schumacher, who tries to go through on the
00:46:58inside and has to run wide, as Verstappen retains his line, they're both closing up
00:47:04on Eddie Irvine and the Jaguar, who's holding that seventh position, it's quite conceivable
00:47:10that here for the first time in the year 2000, well first time ever, we're going to see a
00:47:15Jaguar get a Formula One World Championship point, fingers crossed.
00:47:19The problem is for the driver in front, unless you're in a very slow corner where the spray
00:47:24just curiously just fades down and all of a sudden you can see what's going on around
00:47:28you and see something in your mirrors, at any kind of speed over let's say 70, 80 miles
00:47:33an hour, you cannot see a thing behind you.
00:47:36So if a driver takes a stab at you unexpectedly, it's so easy for you just to drive in and
00:47:42take your normal line, especially in these conditions where you're really needing maximum
00:47:47concentration on the few metres of track ahead of you, rather than in the dry where you're
00:47:52looking down the road a little bit further.
00:47:55Well, 16 seconds is the gap now between the man you're watching, Michael Schumacher, he
00:48:00has already won three Grand Prix this year, there is Micah Hacketton who's won one, Schumacher
00:48:06of course did the hat trick, got the treble, the first three races in Australia, Brazil
00:48:12and the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
00:48:15Then David Coulthard won at Silverstone in those appalling weather conditions for the
00:48:21people who were trying to get there, although the track was dry, remember that, this is
00:48:25the first wet race we've had this year, and then Micah Hacketton won in Spain, so it's
00:48:30three to Ferrari, two to McLaren so far, and the World Championship well and truly alive
00:48:37but not this race for Micah Sarlo, because he is out of it from 13th position, his teammate
00:48:44Pedro Diniz, 17th now, has been lapped.
00:48:48Something yellow in the gravel trap there as well, but I don't think it's a piece of
00:48:52Sarlo, I think it must be a piece of somebody else.
00:48:54I think it's his nose, I was going to say it's his nose curve, but it's off something
00:48:59else.
00:49:00Maybe he was early in the race, but there's no way out of there in a Formula 1 car, that's
00:49:04for sure.
00:49:05Micah Sarlo in a much improved Sauber this year, so their usual problem is that they
00:49:12start well and then start to deteriorate with a lack of development, but they've changed
00:49:17the management personnel and the technical personnel at In Wil in Switzerland, and things
00:49:22were actually looking much better for Sauber, but not here at the moment, as David Coulthard
00:49:27in 3rd position is seeing, or will be seeing soon, Giancarlo Fisichella in Benetton, the
00:49:34man who was 2nd in Brazil, getting closer and closer to the McLaren.
00:49:39There's about half a second in it, that yellow car is Mats Akane, who has been lapped, coming
00:49:46towards us now, there is Fisichella, and behind him Rubens Barrichello.
00:49:51Now Barrichello, I remind you, has come up from 8th to 7th, from 7th to 6th, from 6th
00:49:57to 5th, and that's where he is now, and he's having a go at Giancarlo Fisichella's Benetton
00:50:03to move up into 4th position and get himself another World Championship point if he can
00:50:07stay there.
00:50:08Rubens Barrichello, of course, is no slouch in the wet, remember how well he did at Monaco,
00:50:18as Eddie Irvine battles with Jasper Stavangeros, and off they go, and that's Irvine and Schumacher.
00:50:27Ralf Schumacher out of the race, Ralf Schumacher out of the race as he was hit, now he's quite
00:50:33calmly going on, having lost the wing at the back of the Williams, he's going to go
00:50:38on and go back to the Williams pit, and Eddie Irvine is out of the race as a result of that
00:50:43coming together.
00:50:44Yes, they've both lost their rear wing, but it's not like going in for a new front wing,
00:50:4718, 19 seconds and a few bolts, the rear wing is fixed much more rigidly, and in a more
00:50:54complicated way to the car, and effectively, this is how it all started, look, with Verstappen
00:50:59defending his line, Irvine having to get out of it, they just touch, look, Irvine spinning,
00:51:04Ralf almost really just an innocent bystander, and just clips the rear wing as he spins around,
00:51:10and you can see then Johnny Herbert slicing through, so Ralf there, he probably should
00:51:15have seen this one coming a little bit more, but Eddie getting in deep, Verstappen, we've
00:51:19seen that this afternoon, he just simply will not yield to anybody, and Ralf spinning off
00:51:24in sympathy and losing his rear wing, and that contact, as we see later on, made the
00:51:29rear wing of the Jaguar of Irvine also fall off.
00:51:32And it means that Johnny Herbert has moved up two places, he's only, oh, and that is
00:51:38Vios Verstappen, no right front wheel.
00:51:42That's a big crash he's had, when we see a replay of that, but I suspect it's coming
00:51:46down to the V-Doll, that may mean a safety car, it could be into safety car scenario
00:51:51here.
00:51:52It's going to be very tough for Michael Schumacher if that is the case, and I believe it will
00:51:56be, because they will have to drag that car off the circuit with one wheel missing as
00:52:01Verstappen runs in.
00:52:03It will mean that the hard-won 17-second lead that Michael Schumacher currently has over
00:52:10Hacken, and let's have a look and see what happens on the replay here, as Eddie Irvine
00:52:14loses the rear wing-less Jaguar, no downforce of course, so there would be no grip at the
00:52:20back, it just spins out and into the gravel track.
00:52:23Eddie would not have known his rear wing had gone missing as he went into that corner,
00:52:27he'd have been more surprised than anybody when that happened.
00:52:31We've just got no signs of any safety car, so maybe they're happy to recover that car
00:52:36under waved yellows, and with Marshalls on the track you get waved yellows, so the drivers
00:52:42know there are not just machines, or slow machines around, or damaged cars, there are
00:52:47actually people around too, but at the moment they're covering it under the waved yellows.
00:52:52And a waved blue flag is being given to Riccardo Zonta in the B.A.R. in 12th position, and
00:52:59that means there's somebody faster coming up behind you who wants to let you get out
00:53:03of the way, and that's ever likely to be Michael, well it is now, Michael Schumacher is past
00:53:09Zonta.
00:53:10So, here we are, lap 32, which is just about getting on for half distance, Michael Schumacher
00:53:16that you're looking at, with no signs of the safety car coming out, so he's in mental
00:53:21relief, not that he'll know about it, he's 18 seconds ahead of Hakkinen, who is 19 seconds
00:53:26ahead of Coulthard, who is 7 seconds ahead of Fisichella, who has got Barrichello right
00:53:33behind him in 5th place.
00:53:35De la Rosa in the arrows, he's still in the points at 6th, Johnny Herbert, Jaguar, is
00:53:397th, and remember he won the race last year for Stewart, Jacques Villeneuve is 8th, Velati
00:53:44is 9th, Button is in 10th position, Alexandre Lavoie is 11th, and Riccardo Zonta, 12th,
00:53:50has been lapped.
00:53:51One of those days for Jenson Button to hang around, because he could get a point, even
00:53:54though he's had a difficult race, I think there was some kind of drama on one lap where
00:53:57he lost something around a minute and a half in the first section of one of the laps, but
00:54:02he hangs around, he might still get a point or two this afternoon.
00:54:05You saw a rider on the back of a scooter while Murray was talking, I think that was a quick
00:54:10shot of Ralf Schumacher getting a lift back to the pits, he clearly decided, and Barrichello
00:54:15is through, Barrichello is past Fisichella, and now he will just hone in on Coulthard,
00:54:20who's clearly nursing some kind of drama, because he's 2 to 3 seconds off the pace of
00:54:25the leaders, and Barrichello will now just zoom in to the back of Coulthard's McLaren.
00:54:31And as I've said before, we can surmise that David Coulthard in 3rd place has got a problem,
00:54:38we don't know what it is, Ferrari will know of course, McLaren will know of course, because
00:54:43they will be in radio contact with this as a replay, as they come up to the chicane of
00:54:48Fisichella, seeing Barrichello dive up the inside of him, the Italian yields and away
00:54:56they go.
00:54:57So, that is the position with Rubens Barrichello now up into 4th place on lap 33, half distance,
00:55:04come back soon after the break.
00:55:342nd place
00:55:403rd place
00:55:464th place
00:55:525th place
00:55:586th place
00:56:047th place
00:56:108th place
00:56:169th place
00:56:2210th place
00:56:2811th place
00:56:3412th place
00:56:4013th place
00:56:4614th place
00:56:5215th place
00:56:5816th place
00:57:0417th place
00:57:1018th place
00:57:1619th place
00:57:2220th place
00:57:2821st place
00:57:3422nd place
00:57:4023rd place
00:57:4624th place
00:57:5225th place
00:57:5826th place
00:58:0427th place
00:58:1028th place
00:58:1629th place
00:58:2230th place
00:58:2831st place
00:58:3432nd place
00:58:4033rd place
00:58:4634th place
00:58:5235th place
00:58:5836th place
00:59:0437th place
00:59:10But not quite yet.
00:59:12Well, let's have a look and see what's happening with Mika Häkkinen in the McLaren.
00:59:17He's not as good in the wet as Michael Schumacher is, which is not to say that he is not good.
00:59:23But, it's Michael Schumacher all the way at the present moment looking good, but if I say that, he will hit a problem.
00:59:31He's easing away from Riccardo Zotto, he has already passed, as we go back now to David Coulthard in 3rd position.
00:59:39But he's about 40 seconds behind Michael Schumacher, or was before the German came in for his second pit stop.
00:59:47So Schumacher has stopped twice, he's the only one of the top men who's stopped twice apart from Rubens Barrichello.
00:59:55So both the Ferraris have stopped and are going through to the end of the race without a further planned stop.
01:00:02Strange as it may seem, your biggest enemy on an afternoon like this is not the drivers in the other cars,
01:00:08it's those white painted lines that delineate either side of the racetrack.
01:00:13Put a wheel on those as you go into or leave a corner and you'll be facing the wrong way sooner than you dare imagine.
01:00:20Well now it's up to Michael Schumacher to really go for it, because Häkkinen is leading the race by about 20 seconds
01:00:27as a result of the fact that Schumacher has stopped a second time and that he, Häkkinen, has not.
01:00:33We don't know what the respective fuel loads at the start of the race were for Schumacher's Ferrari and Häkkinen's McLaren,
01:00:41all that matter for David Coulthard's McLaren that we're looking at now.
01:00:45But Fischke Keller is in 4th position, behind David Coulthard in your picture at the present moment.
01:00:52Pedro de la Rosa is 5th, Rubens Barrichello as a result of his stop is down to 6th position,
01:00:58but is again catching the arrows very rapidly indeed.
01:01:02Johnny Herbert hovering just outside the points in the Jaguar.
01:01:06It would be poetic justice if Herbert is the first man to score a World Championship point for Jaguar,
01:01:14as he was the first indeed the only man to score a World Championship win for the Stewart team,
01:01:20which has metamorphosized itself into Jaguar.
01:01:24Jacques Villeneuve is 8th, Jenson Button is now in the top 10 at 9th position,
01:01:28Alexander Voigt is in 10th position.
01:01:31There are 15 drivers still left out of the 21 who started,
01:01:36because remember, Nick Heidfeldt, the German in his home country,
01:01:40driving for Prost was not able to start because his car was found to be 2 kilos underweight at the end of qualifying
01:01:48an absolutely unintentional mistake.
01:01:52And we're now on lap 38.
01:01:56Now, David Coulthard is lapping marginally quicker at the present moment than Hakanen and his teammates,
01:02:03but Hakanen is some 10 seconds ahead.
01:02:06Do you know what's happening with Michael Schumacher?
01:02:08He didn't pass the car on the last lap, he's still got Zonta behind him.
01:02:12That's the resultant damage of Verstappen's accident.
01:02:16We still haven't seen a replay as to how he managed to bin his car quite in that fashion.
01:02:21But as you say, Coulthard is actually faster than Schumacher too at the moment,
01:02:25so since Michael changed to this set of tires, he hasn't really had a blistering pace yet.
01:02:31It's strange, but when you change tires, it can dramatically affect your performance.
01:02:38As I've said before, tires are now the only hand-made thing in the church,
01:02:44in the sense that humans construct them on a motor car,
01:02:48and they are laboriously built up ply by ply by an operative,
01:02:53and as a result of that, you can get marginal differences from one set of tires to another,
01:02:57and marginal differences in the tire can make more than marginal differences to the performance of the car on the track.
01:03:04Yes, and of course, we know Michael took on 11.8 seconds worth of fuel to see him to the end of the race,
01:03:09but nonetheless, it's not enough to justify this kind of lap time difference,
01:03:14although of course, the extra mass in the car to turn it, accelerate it and slow it down in the wet conditions,
01:03:20it does have a more dramatic effect than in dry conditions,
01:03:24but sometimes, strangely enough, it can also settle the car down and make it handle and go better.
01:03:30Well, the conventional wisdom is that you need about 20-25 seconds lead to get into your garage,
01:03:39having slowed down, take on a new set of tires and wheels and get out again still in the lead,
01:03:45and that's about what Mika Häkkinen has got now.
01:03:48Have McLaren got some fiendish master plan up their sleeves,
01:03:53which is going to enable Mika Häkkinen to win two races in succession.
01:03:57The twice world champion last year and the year before.
01:04:01He's 25 seconds ahead on the previous lap.
01:04:04He's coming up to complete his 39th lap now, enter his 40th lap.
01:04:10And I remind you, 25 seconds to the nearest one-tenth was the lead he had over Michael Schumacher.
01:04:16Is that increasing or not as he closes up on Alexander Fuchs in 10th position to lap the Benetton?
01:04:24So, Häkkinen leads, Schumacher second, Coulthard third, Fisichella in the Benetton,
01:04:30catching David Coulthard just as Mika Häkkinen is catching his teammate, Fisichella's teammate,
01:04:37Woods, and Michael Schumacher has still...
01:04:40There he goes, over the line now, and the gap has increased.
01:04:44Mika Häkkinen is pulling away on his lighter fuel load from Michael Schumacher
01:04:51at about one and a half seconds a lap.
01:04:54And he's got very nearly now the window that he needs to get in,
01:04:59change tires and wheels and get out still in the lead.
01:05:02That's the Williams pit crew all ready to receive either Jenson Button
01:05:07or just checking whether Ralph Schumacher is out of the race
01:05:12as a result of that coming together with Eddie Irvine.
01:05:15In fact, here are the retirements in the order of retirement.
01:05:18As you watch, fourth place Fisichella at his pit stop.
01:05:22Jarno Trulli and Heinz-Harald Fritzen both out very early.
01:05:25Now the arrows go through of Pedro de la Rosa to take fourth position.
01:05:30Salo is out, Schumacher-Ralph is out, Verstappen is out, Eddie Irvine is out.
01:05:35There is Fisichella joining the pits.
01:05:38Pedro de la Rosa has gone through, there he is in fourth position.
01:05:43So a terrific drive by Pedro de la Rosa.
01:05:47And everybody in Arrows will be keeping their fingers crossed
01:05:50because they have yet to score a world championship point this year.
01:05:54To give Mika Hakkinen track position when he makes his necessary one more stop,
01:05:58I think he needs over half a minute.
01:06:00You see the end of Jenson Button's second stop of the afternoon
01:06:04and again full to the end of the race, of course.
01:06:07But I think Mika Hakkinen... Whoops, Jenson, calm down a bit.
01:06:10I think Mika Hakkinen needs well over half a minute
01:06:15to make sure he's got track position on Michael Schumacher.
01:06:18Michael Schumacher has just pegged the gap back a little bit.
01:06:20I hope Jenson's seen him coming, and he has.
01:06:23Yeah, and you probably noticed that as Jenson Button exited the pit lane,
01:06:27the fuel filler flap was still up.
01:06:30That is because the new electronic regulations require the fuel flap to be up
01:06:37and the taillight to be flashing until second gear has been engaged.
01:06:41Yes, and Mika Hakkinen is being held up, the race leader.
01:06:44Now he's let him through.
01:06:45That has cost Hakkinen quite a lot of very crucial time at this part of the race,
01:06:50where, as I said, he needs a window to make his pit stop
01:06:53and get out ahead of Michael Schumacher.
01:06:55He's had two very, very poor laps following Fisichella.
01:06:59Yeah, it's lost him at least a couple of seconds.
01:07:03The lead of Mika Hakkinen that you're looking at has come down
01:07:06from 27 seconds to about 25 seconds.
01:07:11It's going to be a very close run, that thing.
01:07:14Lap 41, 67 lap race.
01:07:16Hakkinen leads Schumacher.
01:07:18Courtois is still third, being caught by de la Rosa,
01:07:21but only at the rate of about a tenth of a second a lap.
01:07:24Barrichello is still fifth, but he's right behind de la Rosa
01:07:28and will, I soon predict, be up into fourth place again.
01:07:31This is Wurz coming in from top ten.
01:07:34And Louise, good.
01:07:37So, there is Alexander Wurz.
01:07:40Ninth position when he came in.
01:07:42Jenson Button, I think, may well get that ninth position back.
01:07:48He was ahead of Wurz before he came into the pits.
01:07:51And Johnny Herbert in seventh position, in eighth position,
01:07:56because Theo Loebs got ahead of him,
01:07:58is about to be lapped by the flying Finn, as he calls himself,
01:08:03Mika Hakkinen.
01:08:04And news from Louise Goodman, who's with Eddie Irvine.
01:08:07Yes, I am now.
01:08:08Thankfully, this rain getting into my electrics as well as everything else.
01:08:11Eddie, titled back there,
01:08:12were you aware that the fact that you'd lost your rear wheel?
01:08:15I didn't look in the mirrors.
01:08:17I checked the rear car, everything looked OK,
01:08:19but obviously it wasn't.
01:08:21And then I obviously went down the next straight.
01:08:25I'm surprised, because normally you'd notice the rear being very, very light,
01:08:28which it wasn't, so, strange.
01:08:30Running strongly until then,
01:08:31though the team seemed to have pulled off their performance this weekend.
01:08:34Yeah, we haven't been bad.
01:08:35You know, this sort of circuit suits a car that's a bit light on the rear end,
01:08:38and the qualifying went reasonably well,
01:08:40and I think the race was going reasonably well.
01:08:42The wet, we definitely had a call on dry settings,
01:08:46which wasn't exactly ideal, but it was hard work.
01:08:50It was really hard work.
01:08:51The rear end kept going all the time,
01:08:52so I was really working hard to stay where I was.
01:08:54Cheers, Eddie.
01:08:55Johnny Herbert, Eddie Irvine's team-mate,
01:08:58coming into the pits from 8th position
01:09:01for his second stop of the day.
01:09:06Consistent rain now, Murray, really.
01:09:08Not everywhere.
01:09:09I don't expect a lot of standing water or aquaplaning,
01:09:12especially online.
01:09:13I think if they move offline, you see a little bit more of that.
01:09:16But it tracked the drains reasonably well,
01:09:18though it's just a question of staying in those wheel tracks.
01:09:22The cars, they lose about 5, 6 miles an hour down the straights
01:09:25as we see a Lacey coming up the inside of...
01:09:29Alexander Burts.
01:09:30And that is actually for position, for 10th position.
01:09:32They're a lap down between them.
01:09:34But lifting all that water up into the air,
01:09:37the tyres are lifting bucketloads of water into the sky, effectively,
01:09:40and that takes a lot of energy, a lot of power,
01:09:43and you lose quite a lot of straight-line speed because of that.
01:09:46Now, Hick Hackenden's got his word cut out
01:09:48because he's coming up to Jacques Villeneuve,
01:09:50who is 7th,
01:09:51who is trying to get past Fisichella's Blue Benetton in 6th position.
01:09:55And Villeneuve will be concentrating on getting past Fisichella,
01:09:59not on letting Hick Hackenden through.
01:10:01Now, there's very little difference between their lap times,
01:10:04but every tenth of a second that Hick Hackenden loses to Michael Schumacher,
01:10:08who's 25 seconds behind him now,
01:10:11he's going to be absolutely critical when the fin comes in for his second,
01:10:15we presume, and last pit stop.
01:10:17Because I can't believe he is not going through.
01:10:20We're on lap 43 now out of 67.
01:10:22So, Fisichella there, 6th position, Villeneuve, 7th,
01:10:26Hick Hackenden leading the race,
01:10:28but he's got to get past these two
01:10:30because he's being held up.
01:10:32Doesn't look much, but he is being held up
01:10:34as Villeneuve goes for Fisichella
01:10:36and throws up an enormous amount of spray in Hick Hackenden's face,
01:10:41obscuring the fin's visibility.
01:10:43Now, it's 25 seconds between Hackenden and Villeneuve,
01:10:48or was when this lap started.
01:10:50I predict it's going to be a lot less than that at the end of this lap
01:10:54because Schumacher is lapping in about 1 minute 30.9,
01:10:59Villeneuve is lapping in 1 minute 33.8.
01:11:03Yes, McLaren's decision to start the cars fat with fuel
01:11:06looks very smart at the moment,
01:11:08but this is the stage of the race where Hackenden needs to be capitalizing on that
01:11:11while the Ferraris, effectively right now, have a higher fuel load
01:11:15as the McLaren one is running down,
01:11:17and he's gone for the inside, Villeneuve's seen him,
01:11:19an ex-world champion himself across Villeneuve,
01:11:21and smart enough to know what's going on around him.
01:11:24Fulchard massively off the pace,
01:11:26I don't know how he's keeping 3rd place.
01:11:28I think McLaren should get him in the pits,
01:11:31maybe change his tyre pressures or something,
01:11:33give him a bit more pressure if he's aquaplaning or whatever,
01:11:36if he is struggling on any standing water,
01:11:38although, as I said, there doesn't appear to be much to me,
01:11:40but Fulchard struggling for lap time,
01:11:42he really should come in and have another set of tyres.
01:11:45And I was so wrong about Pedro de la Rosa replay of Hackenden lapping Villeneuve.
01:11:51Now, I was so wrong about de la Rosa and Barry Keller.
01:11:54I said Barry Keller would rapidly regain the 4th place he'd got
01:11:58by passing de la Rosa after the pit stops,
01:12:01he's not done so.
01:12:02De la Rosa from Spain in the arrows is holding 4th position,
01:12:07and he's not only that, but he's catching David Coulthard
01:12:10at the rate of about 1.5 seconds a lap.
01:12:13He's 27 seconds behind him at the present moment,
01:12:16and Rubens Barrichello is not closing the gap
01:12:19as Hackenden goes through and passes and laps Fisichella.
01:12:24So, Hackenden is only 5 people on the same lap now,
01:12:29and that is lap 45.
01:12:31Hackenden, Schumacher, and the gap is down to 22 seconds.
01:12:36It's bad news for Micah Hackenden.
01:12:39The gap is down for 22 seconds,
01:12:41so as a result of being held up,
01:12:43Hackenden has lost nearly 3 seconds.
01:12:46Coulthard is 3rd, de la Rosa is 4th,
01:12:48Barrichello is in 5th position,
01:12:51and those are the only 5 on this lap.
01:12:54Yes, he's lost 3 seconds, but that's like a net 6 or 7,
01:12:57because I think at this stage of the race,
01:12:59you would expect him, he was, until he caught that traffic,
01:13:02pulling away.
01:13:03Now, that's clearly the McLaren mechanics in the pit lane.
01:13:06I'd be surprised if they're going to bring Micah in,
01:13:08unless he just has to have fuel,
01:13:10otherwise they'd let him use that clear air.
01:13:13Does he come in the pit lane? Yes, he does.
01:13:15It is for Micah Hackenden, so unfortunately for him,
01:13:18he clears the traffic just as he has to come in for fuel.
01:13:22He's clearly got not enough fuel to go any further,
01:13:24so James is waiting for him.
01:13:26Colossal frustration down here in the McLaren garage.
01:13:29They really are upset.
01:13:30That traffic has really messed up their race effort,
01:13:32but to be honest, he was going to need about 40 seconds anyway
01:13:35to get it back out ahead,
01:13:36looking at what happened with Michael when he made his stop
01:13:38and how much time Hackenden made up on him,
01:13:40so it's not a bad stop so far.
01:13:42That's the fuel to the end of the race.
01:13:44Slow getaway, trying to find his gear.
01:13:46Schumacher through, James, I'm sorry.
01:13:48Schumacher has passed Micah Hackenden in the pit lane.
01:13:51Here is Michael Schumacher regaining the lead.
01:13:54There on the left is Micah Hackenden
01:13:56back again into 2nd position.
01:13:59So that held-up period really, really did cost Micah Hackenden a lot of time.
01:14:07Well, it's a new adventure now for Hackenden.
01:14:09How do these tyres feel now?
01:14:11A little bit of extra fuel,
01:14:12but we know both cars must have identical fuel levels,
01:14:15give or take a kilo or two,
01:14:17to get to the end of the road race
01:14:19as Coulthard comes in too from a distant 3rd place.
01:14:23So Coulthard in for his 2nd stop,
01:14:26and I expect now Michael Schumacher
01:14:28to pull away another second or two in these first two laps
01:14:32before then we see which one of them,
01:14:35if Hackenden can close that gap down.
01:14:36A decent stop there from Coulthard.
01:14:38That was critical.
01:14:39Can he get back out ahead of de la Rosa and Barrichello?
01:14:43Well, here's de la Rosa and Barrichello.
01:14:45Here they come out on the right.
01:14:46There is David Coulthard on the left,
01:14:48and de la Rosa goes through, and Barrichello goes through.
01:14:51So David Coulthard has lost 2 places.
01:14:54He's gone down from 3rd to 5th,
01:14:56and the magnificent Pedro de la Rosa in the orange arrows.
01:14:59Here he is coming towards us.
01:15:01He's up into a podium position.
01:15:04Well, he's got a World Championship point in the past.
01:15:07Last year he got one,
01:15:09but the possibility of him finishing on the podium
01:15:13in 3rd position is a really, really exciting one.
01:15:17Something that Formula 1 really needs.
01:15:19Yes, we didn't see de la Rosa stop to my knowledge,
01:15:22and I don't know how long or exactly when he stopped in this race.
01:15:27He is the only one of the front runners that's had one pit stop,
01:15:31which is entirely feasible,
01:15:33but we'll try and look into which lap de la Rosa stopped on.
01:15:37Yes, I was expecting when this race began,
01:15:39you're looking at Barrichello now,
01:15:41and Barrichello is in 4th position.
01:15:44I was expecting when this race began for most of them to stop once.
01:15:48In fact, it's just the opposite.
01:15:50They've stopped twice.
01:15:51There's once for fuel and once for tyres really,
01:15:53but we think de la Rosa stopped about lap 15,
01:15:56so I'm reasonably certain he will have to stop again.
01:16:00And there's Coulthard now down to 5th place,
01:16:03and the slow lap times in the middle section of the race
01:16:06has cost him a podium place for sure.
01:16:08Well, David Coulthard could regain one place
01:16:12if Pedro de la Rosa comes in, which seems unlikely.
01:16:15I don't see that David Coulthard could gain two places
01:16:18and finish on the podium.
01:16:20It's looking more and more as though it's going to be a Ferrari victory
01:16:24with a Ferrari 3rd place, Michael Schumacher winning the race,
01:16:27Rubens Barrichello being in 3rd place,
01:16:30sandwiching Mika Häkkinen,
01:16:32which would help enormously Michael Schumacher's lead
01:16:35over Häkkinen in the Drivers' Championship
01:16:38and Ferrari's lead over McLaren in the Constructors' Championship.
01:16:43But there are still 20 laps to go.
01:16:46The leaders are on their 47th lap now
01:16:49as the Ferrari goes through.
01:16:52So, we've got a bit of a lull in this terrific race,
01:16:56so leave us and rejoin us later.
01:18:49LAP 49
01:19:12Lap 49, Pedro de la Rosa having driven magnificently
01:19:17in 3rd position, comes in for his 2nd pit stop.
01:19:20Barrichello is up into 3rd, Ferrari's 1st and 3rd,
01:19:23sandwiching Mika Häkkinen, news from Louise Goodman.
01:19:26Yeah, down in the areas, Gareth, I can tell you they're loving this,
01:19:28and well they would.
01:19:29De la Rosa running a very strong 4th,
01:19:31when you bear in mind that his car is fully set up for the dry condition,
01:19:35it really puts into perspective the guys doing a great job.
01:19:38They've been constantly monitoring the weather,
01:19:40it didn't vary really right until the end of the race,
01:19:43but he's in 5th,
01:19:44he flew off with proof at the end of the race,
01:19:46and hopefully he's going to keep that 4th position.
01:19:48Yeah, he was half asleep on his pit stop though,
01:19:50I think it threw him, they did not change his tyres,
01:19:52which is a smart move, they just went to fuel him.
01:19:54As he gets lapped by race leader Michael Schumacher,
01:19:57and de la Rosa very dozy and getting away.
01:20:00I think he thinks it's Barrichello.
01:20:01He probably couldn't understand why his car wasn't up in the air,
01:20:06the team quite smartly thought,
01:20:07the tyres are not going to wear out, just leave them on,
01:20:09go for a quick splash and go,
01:20:11and de la Rosa's slow away,
01:20:13but we now know he's got enough fuel of course,
01:20:15to the end of the race,
01:20:16as you're watching Marc Genet in the Minardi.
01:20:19From 13th position, retiring from the European Grand Prix.
01:20:23Lap 50, 17 to go,
01:20:25Michael Schumacher leads Mika Häkkinen,
01:20:28that you're looking at, by 13 seconds.
01:20:30Rubens Barrichello in the second Ferrari,
01:20:32back to 3rd position,
01:20:3460 seconds behind his teammate who is leading.
01:20:37Up into 4th position comes David Coulthard,
01:20:40to 5th position comes Fisichella,
01:20:42de la Rosa, I'm not sure whether he is down to 7th,
01:20:46letting Johnny Herbert up into 6th,
01:20:48or whether the Arrows is still in the points for 6th position,
01:20:52we'll know very shortly.
01:20:54But behind them, Jenson Batten is in 8th position,
01:20:57ahead of Alexander Wurz and Riccardo Zonta.
01:21:00Everybody up to 6th position has been lapped,
01:21:04and there are now 17 laps to go.
01:21:07Yes, the German producer is not showing it to us at the moment,
01:21:10but Jenson Batten is all over the back of Johnny Herbert,
01:21:13like a bad suit,
01:21:14and this being Jenson's first wet race, of course,
01:21:17so he's stayed on the black stuff so far, Jenson,
01:21:20and a good scrap going on with Johnny Herbert,
01:21:23and there's a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for Jean Alési,
01:21:27some incident that we certainly haven't seen,
01:21:29so Alési with a 10-second stop-and-go,
01:21:32and he is currently 12th.
01:21:34Well, this is 7th to 10th, just look at it,
01:21:36Johnny Herbert, Jenson Batten, Alexander Wurz,
01:21:39Riccardo Zonta in, respectively, the Jaguar,
01:21:42the Williams, the Benetton, and the VAR.
01:21:45Johnny Herbert holding them up a bit.
01:21:47You've heard from Martin how valiantly Jenson Batten is trying
01:21:50to get ahead of his countryman, Johnny Herbert,
01:21:53but Johnny is looking for a world championship point,
01:21:56and he possibly needs one more than anybody else in this race,
01:21:59because, as I said earlier on,
01:22:01there has been talk about his position in the Jaguar team next year
01:22:06being under threat.
01:22:08If he can get a point here, as he won the race for Stewart last year,
01:22:12it would help him enormously.
01:22:14Now, Zonta comes in, he's peeled off from the back,
01:22:17he's coming for his second pit stop in the VAR,
01:22:20and, of course, that's reduced the battle that was ahead of him to three men,
01:22:24Johnny Herbert and Batten and Wurz.
01:22:27Well, that was pretty gormless as well, he just wandered into his pit,
01:22:30he's not in the centre of it at all, ran into his jack, man,
01:22:34into the jack itself.
01:22:36Just wake up.
01:22:38Boy, you can see how the cars are slipping and sliding in these conditions.
01:22:43Just imagine being in the car, an enormous noise going on behind you,
01:22:48you're fighting for grip, there's 800 horsepower being pumped out,
01:22:52just the merest whiff of too much throttle and you could be off the circuit.
01:22:57And we're seeing again, as we have seen so many times in the past,
01:23:01how superlatively good Michael Schumacher is in the wet.
01:23:05Now, that's the Ferrari pit crew coming out.
01:23:08Now, I wonder if they short-filled Barrichello's car,
01:23:11because seven seconds, in my view, was not enough,
01:23:14and what is that going on?
01:23:16That's Diniz taking Zonta, who's just made a pit stop for 10th place,
01:23:21but I'm wondering why Ferrari can really, I think,
01:23:25we know Michael took 11.8 seconds of fuel,
01:23:28I think it, yes, it's Barrichello, look, coming in.
01:23:31I was right about that, I just didn't think they put enough fuel in his car,
01:23:34and this plays back into Coulthard's hands,
01:23:36but he doesn't appear to have any speed to do anything about it.
01:23:39Well, I'm just watching the road as you're watching Barrichello coming into the pit lane
01:23:44to see whether David Coulthard comes through and retakes that third position.
01:23:49He was 19 seconds behind the Ferrari, it's going to be mighty close,
01:23:53but there's only just a little fuel gone in, and Barrichello exits the pit,
01:23:57and Coulthard is yet to go through, there he is!
01:24:00Watch it, watch the exit!
01:24:02Barrichello is going to come out, and I think David Coulthard is going to get ahead of him,
01:24:06and he's done so, there he is, David Coulthard, third position.
01:24:10So, it is Ferrari leading Schumacher, McLaren second, Häkkinen,
01:24:15McLaren third, Coulthard, Ferrari fourth, Barrichello,
01:24:19Fisichella is fifth, and Pedro de la Rosa is still sixth ahead of Johnny Herman.
01:24:24I think Barrichello will be asking some serious questions at the end of this race
01:24:28to understand what on earth they were doing.
01:24:31Why didn't they put a dozen seconds of fuel in his car,
01:24:34like they did Michael Schumacher at the same point of the race?
01:24:38Very bizarre, maybe they had a refueling rig problem or something,
01:24:41but clearly they just didn't get enough fuel in that car at that crucial stop.
01:24:46You are right, but it is very strange, because as we've said many, many times,
01:24:50Ross Brawn is the master tactician in Formula 1.
01:24:54Seems strange that he would get it wrong, but maybe there's more to it than meets the eye.
01:24:59Anyway, we're on lap 53 now, and Barrichello knows he's got to really get the hammer down.
01:25:07The gap between himself and David Coulthard I would estimate at about 10 seconds.
01:25:13I won't know until the end of this lap, but it must be something like that.
01:25:18And he's got ahead of him, Fisichella.
01:25:21That's Michael Murray, sorry to butt in, but that's Michael coming up to lap Fisichella.
01:25:27So Barrichello is, I think, some way down the road from Fisichella,
01:25:31but he's now got a job on to catch Coulthard.
01:25:34Barrichello, I think, has got the faster pace in the wet today, doesn't he?
01:25:37In fact, thinking about it, he has.
01:25:39Can he get back at Coulthard in the remaining laps of this race?
01:25:42Has Coulthard got any kind of margin left in his pocket?
01:25:45Whatever problem he's carrying, he's got to find some more speed from somewhere.
01:25:49Well, Michael's lapping about two seconds faster than Fisichella.
01:25:53We'll see, hopefully, how he copes with it.
01:25:55And we see David Coulthard now looking good for that third position,
01:26:01which would give McLaren 10 World Championship points in the Constructors' Championship
01:26:06if he stays where he is.
01:26:08So that's Coulthard's board then.
01:26:09Look, P3, 14 laps to go, plus 8.4.
01:26:12And they've read that off the same computer that we give you the information from
01:26:15as they've checked it out at the first sector on the lap that they're on.
01:26:19So it's the earliest piece of information you're going to get,
01:26:22and they're already getting that on the board for Mrs. Hakkinen now
01:26:26coming up to lap De La Rosa,
01:26:29who is in sixth position.
01:26:31And off goes Zonta, the other B.A.R.,
01:26:35down there in the gravel strip, and he's beached it.
01:26:38The rear wheel's spinning, they're off the gravel, so he won't get any purchase.
01:26:42I hope the safety car will not come out,
01:26:45because he's judged to be in an unsafe position.
01:26:48But it's going to be mighty difficult to remove him
01:26:51unless they've got a crane truck that can lift him off,
01:26:55because they can't tow him out backwards,
01:26:57and they certainly can't tow him out forwards,
01:26:58because they would be on the tarmac.
01:27:00Here's a replay of what happened to Ricciardo Zonta.
01:27:02He would have snatched the front brake on the way in,
01:27:04run wide, and tried to power his way back onto the racetrack,
01:27:07and beached it on the kerb.
01:27:09Again, a very, very tricky position.
01:27:12The drivers must respect the double-waved yellows.
01:27:16They must slow down, but they don't always,
01:27:18especially in the closing stages of a Grand Prix.
01:27:21How much do you slow down?
01:27:22How much is a little bit slower?
01:27:24That's the problem.
01:27:25And it's so easy for another car to snatch a brake and go in there,
01:27:29and that must be physics.
01:27:31So it's Wurtz taking a shortcut that won't pay off.
01:27:35Trying to catch Jenson, trying to get past Jenson Button,
01:27:39and failing to do so.
01:27:40Now, a word about Button.
01:27:42We know that he's under pressure, just as Johnny Herbert is,
01:27:45because Frank Williams, to a lot of people's surprise,
01:27:49doesn't seem to be as enthusiastic about Button as we thought he might be.
01:27:54But Jenson, again, is in a first.
01:27:57It's his first wet Formula One race,
01:27:59and although he started well...
01:28:01And Faganen, hand out! What's that mean?
01:28:03That's Mick's very clever way of saying,
01:28:05look, I really am slowing down.
01:28:07I'm extra slowing down.
01:28:08Look, I've even only got one hand on the steering wheel.
01:28:10Quite a smart move there from Mick.
01:28:12He has respected the flags.
01:28:14He does, like all the drivers, he does respect the job that the marshals do.
01:28:17They risk their lives for our safety,
01:28:20but he's making sure that the FIA,
01:28:23that the people who control the race see it without question.
01:28:28Yeah, good thinking.
01:28:29He was doing it, of course, because he had seen Zonta's car in the gravel.
01:28:34As we watch the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello,
01:28:37now we'll see whether he's catching David Coulthard.
01:28:40The gap was 8.5 seconds between Barrichello in fourth position and Coulthard in third.
01:28:47But he is catching him, but not quickly.
01:28:508.3 seconds as we leave the Nürburgring.
01:28:56That's just a quick replay there of Hakkinen just demonstrating to...
01:29:01He's not really talking to the marshals on the corner.
01:29:03He's talking to the stewards of the race who are watching this on TV.
01:29:06Now we'll go to the break, back very shortly.
01:30:06RUBENS BARRICHELLO
01:30:36RUBENS BARRICHELLO
01:31:07RUBENS BARRICHELLO
01:31:21Ten laps to go.
01:31:22Are Ferrari going to make it their fourth win of the year?
01:31:26And even more interestingly, from their point of view,
01:31:29are they going to have third place as well?
01:31:32It looks as though the former is yes, it looks as though the latter is no.
01:31:36Michael Schumacher leads Hakkinen by a decreasing margin of 7.6 seconds,
01:31:42with David Coulthard being caught by Barrichello, but not fast enough.
01:31:46Fisichella is fifth and de la Rosa is sixth.
01:31:49I hate to disagree with you, Murray, but I think Barrichello is plenty fast enough
01:31:53to catch David Coulthard at the moment.
01:31:56But amazingly, Barrichello is about to be lapped by his teammate.
01:32:00And at this level of the game, that is the ultimate embarrassment,
01:32:05even though, clearly, whoever decided Barrichello's strategy,
01:32:09it's definitely not helped him on the afternoon with that extra pit stop.
01:32:12But Barrichello about to be lapped by teammate Michael Schumacher,
01:32:16and that gives you a pretty good indication of just how well Schumacher and Hakkinen
01:32:20have been going this afternoon in these treacherous conditions,
01:32:23because they're lapping for the fourth place man.
01:32:26You may be surprised to have seen Pedro Diniz move over and let Vuerts through
01:32:31when they're running next to each other in position.
01:32:35But it's Fisichella going through now. He's in fifth position.
01:32:40And now Hakkinen goes through and laps again the Sauber of Pedro Diniz.
01:32:46So Giancarlo Fisichella has been lapped.
01:32:50Here is Vika Hakkinen storming up behind him on the 58th lap out of 67.
01:32:55This has been a terrible lap for Vika Hakkinen.
01:32:57He's lost over two seconds passing the Sauber on this lap to Michael Schumacher.
01:33:03And this is why, look, you have to hover.
01:33:05You can't just drill it in there just in case he turns in on you.
01:33:09You've got to be more positive if you're letting somebody through
01:33:11and give them more than a car and a half to go at.
01:33:14And Michael has now lapped Barrichello.
01:33:16That's not going to help Barrichello's cause much,
01:33:18unless Michael can also lap Coulthard and hold him up in some way,
01:33:22which he's more than capable of doing and understanding.
01:33:27But he's only ten seconds ahead of Vika Hakkinen,
01:33:30so he hasn't got that much of a comfort zone.
01:33:33I remember once when Michael Schumacher actually backed off
01:33:37as he was winning a race to help his brother,
01:33:40who was then driving for the Jordan team.
01:33:42No question of that, of course, at this race,
01:33:45when Vika Hakkinen is treading so comparatively closely on his heels.
01:33:49Watch by Ron Dennis on the McLaren pit lane position.
01:33:53This happened to me in Hungary when I was driving for McLaren.
01:33:56I was running third and I let Michael ease past me,
01:34:00trying to hide my problem, but he spotted that I'd got a problem,
01:34:04backed off, he made me unlap myself,
01:34:07and then his teammate overtook my stricken car on the very last lap
01:34:11and booted me off the podium.
01:34:13That was Verstappen, as it happens, when they were both at Benetton.
01:34:17So Michael is very good at thinking about what's going on around him.
01:34:21Yeah, people think that you just jump in the racing car
01:34:24and go absolutely flat out.
01:34:26You're probably at about 90% of your potential
01:34:30and you're thinking, thinking, thinking all the time,
01:34:33and the actual racing actions are, if not automatic, getting that way
01:34:38when you're at the level of people like Schumacher,
01:34:41Ralf and Michael and Vika Hakkinen are at.
01:34:44So, we're into the 60s now.
01:34:47Lap 60 out of 67,
01:34:50and if this race concludes the way it is now,
01:34:54and Barry Callow is continuing, as Martin's rightly pointed out,
01:34:59to close up on David Coulthard,
01:35:01not terribly quickly, but he is getting closer all the time.
01:35:04It's going to be Ferrari's first and fourth,
01:35:06but it might be Ferrari's first and third.
01:35:08Yes, Barry Callow, curiously, lost a lot of time on the last lap
01:35:11being lapped by his teammates.
01:35:13That didn't help his cause very much
01:35:15and definitely played into David Coulthard's hands,
01:35:17but Barry Callow still has got the speed,
01:35:20but he's going to be somewhat deflated
01:35:22seeing another Scarlet car whiz past him.
01:35:25So, let's assume that Michael Schumacher wins at this race.
01:35:29He's... Whoa!
01:35:31That's the white line I was telling you about.
01:35:34He might do it if there's much more about it, it gets worse.
01:35:37But let's assume he wins it, Martin.
01:35:39Is it going to be Michael Schumacher's skill
01:35:42or the Ferrari's performance
01:35:44or the Ferrari team's strategy?
01:35:47I think it's a combination of everything,
01:35:49but I think Michael has been pretty supreme this afternoon.
01:35:52His strategies have been different,
01:35:54but I don't think there's been much of an advantage.
01:35:56They both pitted roughly at the same time for wets
01:36:00and refuelling, etc, etc.
01:36:02So you have to say, on the afternoon,
01:36:04Michael has made a better fit of it.
01:36:06I think right from the beginning,
01:36:08as soon as it started to spit the rain,
01:36:10the Ferrari was better suited to the tricky conditions.
01:36:13Well, it's going to be mighty close for third position
01:36:16because Barrichello has nipped another second
01:36:19out of David Coulthard's lead over him.
01:36:21David Coulthard is third,
01:36:23and Barrichello's got the gap down now to six seconds
01:36:27with six laps to go, including the one they're on.
01:36:30Yes, that's very, very interesting
01:36:32because to get to Michael Schumacher,
01:36:34Hakkinen has got to lap Schumacher's team-mate
01:36:37and to keep...
01:36:38I mean, Hakkinen's really homing in on Schumacher at the moment.
01:36:41To keep Hakkinen away,
01:36:43he's got to leapfrog Hakkinen's team-mate to lap him.
01:36:46So Coulthard might come into play in this race yet,
01:36:49and also Barrichello can do a pretty good job
01:36:52of spoiling Micka Hakkinen's race.
01:36:55Either which way, I think it could play into Coulthard's hands
01:36:59and we could see a little bit of argy-bargy
01:37:01with people unintentionally, in inverted commas,
01:37:04holding other people up.
01:37:06What we don't know, of course,
01:37:08is to what extent, if any,
01:37:10Michael Schumacher has got something in reserve.
01:37:14He knows that Hakkinen's closing up on him.
01:37:16He's in touch with his team by radio.
01:37:18He'll be getting pitfalls.
01:37:20What he's now got in reserve is Rubens Barrichello as rear gunner.
01:37:23So Ferrari may have pulled Barrichello into that position
01:37:26and Michael Schumacher may not even have to risk
01:37:29passing David Coulthard.
01:37:31So, lap 61.
01:37:34The race order. Schumacher, Hakkinen, Coulthard.
01:37:37The remaining three in the points.
01:37:39Rubens Barrichello, who's now 5.3 seconds behind Coulthard.
01:37:44Fisichella in the Benetton, looking good for another points finish.
01:37:48Pedro de la Rosa keeping his fingers crossed
01:37:50for the first point for Arrows of this season.
01:37:53Johnny Herbert is seventh, and there he is,
01:37:56followed by Jenson Buttons, Williams, eighth,
01:37:59and Alexander Woods is Benetton, ninth.
01:38:02David Coulthard's about to catch this little gaggle,
01:38:05having a squabble.
01:38:06So, Coulthard now, who's still really under pressure.
01:38:10He's got Schumacher homing up behind him to lap him.
01:38:13Barrichello just behind that.
01:38:14Now just 5.3 seconds adrift.
01:38:17How David Coulthard is in third position this afternoon,
01:38:20I'll never know, with whatever his problems are,
01:38:23whatever the reason, his lack of pace.
01:38:26But he's going to have to work hard to defend that.
01:38:28Look, Coulthard now has Michael Schumacher,
01:38:31the race leader, behind him.
01:38:33So, lap 62, and if anybody in the first six
01:38:38goes out of this race,
01:38:40the car that you're looking at in the lead here,
01:38:42seventh place, Johnny Herbert,
01:38:44and here is the Ferrari.
01:38:46Coulthard yields.
01:38:47Coulthard had to yield, so blue flags are waving.
01:38:50Wave blue flags for car two, it says on the computer.
01:38:53So he'd obviously passed at least four of them,
01:38:55and he had to yield, otherwise he'll be given a stop-go penalty.
01:38:59So, through to complete the lap goes Michael Schumacher.
01:39:04He's into his 63rd lap now as the Johnny Herbert Jaguar.
01:39:09Button, Williams, Wurz, Benetton, battle continues,
01:39:13being caught by Michael Schumacher to lap him.
01:39:15Yes, this is Coulthard yielding.
01:39:17He has to do that to let the race leader through.
01:39:19He has been lapped.
01:39:20Now Barrichello just 2.3 seconds behind third place man Coulthard.
01:39:25Hackenden just 5.9 behind race leader Michael Schumacher,
01:39:30but we know he's got to clear his own teammate
01:39:33and Michael's teammate to get to him.
01:39:36And Michael Schumacher passes Wurz's Benetton,
01:39:39so he's passing these people which Hackenden behind him has then got to pass.
01:39:44So, lap 63, just four laps to go at the end of this one.
01:39:49Michael Schumacher keeping it on the field,
01:39:51he's got his on the tarmac in spite of these appalling mist clouds in front of him.
01:39:56And Jenson Button now, is he going to turn across?
01:39:59Yes, he does.
01:40:00Michael Schumacher backs off very sensibly
01:40:02and Button holds the Ferrari back.
01:40:05This is a look at Hackenden.
01:40:07So, and Coulthard in the McLaren.
01:40:10It's mighty close and there's only four laps to go
01:40:13and there is just two people on the same lap at the present moment.
01:40:18Michael Schumacher and his Finnish rival Mikko Hackenden in second place.
01:40:23And Jenson Button lost out badly there.
01:40:25He's lost a place to Wurz, so he goes down into ninth.
01:40:28But look, look at Barrichello trying to get up the inside of Coulthard.
01:40:31They're both being held up by the scrap that's going on.
01:40:34Another, a further lap.
01:40:36They're lapping, they're already a lap down themselves.
01:40:39The other people getting in the way are two laps down,
01:40:41but Coulthard got a reasonable run out of the corner.
01:40:44Where is Barrichello in that spray?
01:40:46Still behind him, look.
01:40:48Yeah, remember Spain, remember the way that Rubens Barrichello
01:40:51nipped past the Schumacher brothers.
01:40:53But then he had Michael helping him by holding Ralf out
01:40:56and there the Ferrari flying past.
01:40:59That's Michael Schumacher in the lead,
01:41:01flying past Johnny Herbert to lap the Jaguar in seventh position.
01:41:06So, keep this order in your mind.
01:41:09Schumacher leading, Hackenden second, Coulthard third,
01:41:12Rubens Barrichello right behind him.
01:41:14Fisichella is fifth, Herbert is seventh,
01:41:16and they're virtually together on the track itself.
01:41:22Even the camera can't see hardly now, look.
01:41:25You do, the visors do get penetrated with water.
01:41:29You start peering through little holes in the end,
01:41:31trying to just pick out the kerbs and breaking points.
01:41:34Michael dangerously close to the edge of the track again.
01:41:37But the vital thing is that Michael Schumacher
01:41:40has now cleared the people he was lapping
01:41:42and has got an open track in front of him.
01:41:45He can see where he is going.
01:41:47He's on his 64th lap.
01:41:49He's got three laps to go at the end of this
01:41:52to make it the fourth Ferrari win of the year 2000.
01:41:55As Alexander Wurz comes up behind Johnny Herbert's Jaguar
01:41:58and has a go.
01:41:59Wurz trying to improve his reputation this year.
01:42:03Yes, and Coulthard slow out of the V-dot.
01:42:06They're going to touch, surely.
01:42:07Oh, off they go.
01:42:08That's tragic for Johnny Herbert,
01:42:10but he's kept it on the island.
01:42:12Brilliant.
01:42:13Now, has he got the engine running?
01:42:15But that's cost Wurz his place,
01:42:17but it may be that Jenson Button now, where is he?
01:42:21Well, there is Davy Coulthard with Barrichello right behind him.
01:42:24They are third and fourth,
01:42:26but we need to look back down the field a bit.
01:42:29Wurz is out of the race.
01:42:31Yes, so that actually cleared the way a bit for Coulthard,
01:42:35but I think Barrichello is much quicker under braking,
01:42:39and surely he's going to nail Davy down into the V-dot later in this lap.
01:42:43Davy's going to have to keep to the inside and make a...
01:42:46This is a replay of Barrichello trying to...
01:42:48No, in fact, the camera then cuts away.
01:42:50Look, you're just always going to run wide,
01:42:52and I think Johnny must have known the laws of physics there
01:42:56that the Benetton was surely going to come towards the outside of the corner,
01:43:00should have given him a little bit more space.
01:43:02Well, it actually hasn't helped Johnny Herbert
01:43:06because he is still not in the top six.
01:43:10As a disconsolate Alexander Wurz walks in to make an explanation.
01:43:15Notice he's got one blue boot and one red boot.
01:43:18That's his good luck symbol.
01:43:20Hasn't done him much good in this race.
01:43:22Michael Schumacher on lap 65.
01:43:25Ten seconds now ahead of Mikko Häkkinen
01:43:28as a result of weaving his way through the traffic better than the Finn.
01:43:32Is looking very, very good indeed for his fourth win of the year.
01:43:36Button is out of the race.
01:43:38I can see on the computer, car 10 has stopped.
01:43:40So Jensen Button is out of this race.
01:43:43And look, there is the dice for third place as they go over the line.
01:43:47So Barrichello can't find a way through the spray.
01:43:50He didn't find a way of the inside into Vidov.
01:43:52And Kulthar has to somehow hang on for one more lap.
01:43:55Crucial for David.
01:43:56While he's struggling with his injuries or whatever he's got to carry,
01:44:00he needs to maximize his points in this race.
01:44:02He cannot afford to yield that place to Rubens Barrichello.
01:44:06Well, David's had a first.
01:44:07He's had three thirds, one of which was disallowed.
01:44:10He's had a third.
01:44:11He's driven magnificently this season.
01:44:13He's third in the World Championship.
01:44:15If he can stay ahead of Rubens Barrichello on this final lap,
01:44:19it's going to help him on this last lap for one.
01:44:22It's going to help him as the Ferrari technicians look anxiously at their monitors.
01:44:26And Michael Schumacher is on his 66th and last lap but one.
01:44:32That was the Ferrari.
01:44:34Now, the next car up will be Mikko Häkkinen's McLaren.
01:44:37There it is.
01:44:39And David Kulthar.
01:44:41And behind him is Rubens Barrichello.
01:44:45So Barrichello, I think his best chance is at the next corner after this.
01:44:49If he's got... Häkkinen's given up.
01:44:51Häkkinen's satisfied with second place.
01:44:53He's now 13th second.
01:44:54He realizes he's not going to leapfrog those two in the time available.
01:44:57And Barrichello just nowhere near close enough,
01:45:00even though he's much stronger on the brakes into this Vidal.
01:45:03So now Kulthar knows where his strengths and weaknesses are.
01:45:06Barrichello's got better traction.
01:45:08We've seen him overtake cars out of this chicane all afternoon.
01:45:11But Kulthar knows he's got to have just enough distance into Vidal,
01:45:14and he's guaranteed then this podium position.
01:45:17But now, can Barrichello get a run up?
01:45:19There's a lot of grip up to the inside of Turn 1 in the rain here.
01:45:23It is amazing how late and deep you can go on the brakes.
01:45:26Barrichello, I expected him to pop out of the spray,
01:45:29but he just couldn't do so.
01:45:30Strong engine there in Kulthar's car.
01:45:32Barrichello driving absolutely blind,
01:45:35and total faith in the car in front.
01:45:38Well, these two are not going to go the full race distance.
01:45:41Only Michael Schumacher, who is now on his last lap,
01:45:44and Mikko Häkkinen are going to do that.
01:45:47But it certainly looks like being Ferrari, McLaren, McLaren, Ferrari.
01:45:52Because look, on this last lap for him,
01:45:56David Kulthar is staying ahead of Rubens Barrichello
01:46:00as they exit Turn 5 on this 13-turn corner track.
01:46:07And Michael Schumacher comes out of Turn 8 with the German horns,
01:46:12the air horns blowing, the flags are waving.
01:46:15Schumacher is their hero,
01:46:17and you can see Ferrari flags all around the track.
01:46:20A magnificent, if he gets there and he hasn't got far to go,
01:46:24the Ferrari mechanics already crowding the pit lane.
01:46:27And Michael Schumacher is coming in to win his fourth race of the year
01:46:32to extend his world championship lead over Mikko Häkkinen
01:46:36by a further four points.
01:46:39From 14 points to 18 points, Schumacher wins in Germany.
01:46:46And Kulthar, I think, is going to maintain the third.
01:46:48He took a second somewhere out of Barrichello,
01:46:50and there's Kulthar, third, Barrichello, fourth.
01:46:53And curiously, second-place man coming over the line now,
01:46:56nearly a lap ahead.
01:46:58So Häkkinen is slightly disconsolate,
01:47:00Cruz over the line, great drive from Michael Schumacher.
01:47:03And with Pedro de la Rosa in sixth position in the arrows
01:47:09behind Fisichella in fifth place,
01:47:12it means to say that Arrows,
01:47:15magnificently in their newly-livered bright orange motorcar,
01:47:20have finished in the points for the first time this year
01:47:24to give Pedro de la Rosa his second world championship point
01:47:28in his second year of Grand Prix racing.
01:47:30A very, very happy Ferrari team.
01:47:33Well, McLaren have got ten world championship points
01:47:39to Ferrari's 13.
01:47:41It could have been worse,
01:47:43but the fact remains that the gap in both championships
01:47:46between Schumacher in the drivers
01:47:48and Ferrari and McLaren in the constructors
01:47:51has increased.
01:47:53In fact, now, Michael Schumacher
01:47:55is on 46 world championship points to Micah Häkkinen's 28.
01:47:59David Kulthar is still third.
01:48:01Rubens Barrichello is in fourth place, as he was before.
01:48:06Ralf Schumacher is still fifth,
01:48:08and Fisichella is still in tenth position.
01:48:11Well, as ever in Grand Prix racing, in Formula One,
01:48:17a wet race, particularly one that starts off dry
01:48:20and becomes wet all the other way around,
01:48:22has turned out to be immensely exciting and dramatic.
01:48:26And it really does look as though the tide,
01:48:29after all these years, has turned for Ferrari,
01:48:32led by the little man that you see
01:48:34walking into the Ferrari garage,
01:48:36Jean Toute, the Frenchman,
01:48:38who recruited Ross Brawn, the Englishman,
01:48:41Rory Byrne, the South African,
01:48:43Michael Schumacher, the German,
01:48:45to help him bring Ferrari back to the front,
01:48:48and he's certainly done it here.
01:48:50Important day for Ferrari,
01:48:51because clearly McLaren were gathering pace
01:48:54and coming back at them with some energy
01:48:57after those dominant three wins by Michael
01:48:59in the first three races.
01:49:00And Ferrari today have nailed that.
01:49:02They've stopped that march,
01:49:04and I think it was a very significant day
01:49:06in this year's World Championship.
01:49:08Yes, and the thing is that in recent years,
01:49:11Ferrari has started off the season
01:49:14not as well as McLaren,
01:49:16but have closed the gap as the season went on.
01:49:19This year, it's been just the reverse.
01:49:21They started off tremendously strongly
01:49:23with those three successive victories,
01:49:26then lost the next two races to David Coulthard
01:49:29for McLaren and Micka Hakkinen for McLaren,
01:49:32and have now won the sixth.
01:49:34There's 17 races in the series.
01:49:36We've got a new race in America,
01:49:38the 15th race of the year
01:49:40in the third week of September,
01:49:42and it looks as though the championship
01:49:44is going to get more and more exciting,
01:49:47because McLaren at Woking
01:49:49with Mercedes-Benz power
01:49:51will not give up.
01:49:52Led by Ron Dennis,
01:49:54they've got years and years of experience,
01:49:56and they know that the championship
01:49:59is never over until it's over.
01:50:01Michael Schumacher giving his distinctive pumping action
01:50:05from his two fists,
01:50:07and Micka Hakkinen draws alongside him.
01:50:09McLaren now...
01:50:11Ferrari are now on 62 World Championship points
01:50:16to McLaren's 52,
01:50:18so they've extended their Constructors' Championship lead
01:50:21by four points,
01:50:23with Williams still holding on in third place.
01:50:25When Micka Hakkinen watches a replay of this race,
01:50:29he's going to be disappointed
01:50:31and looking the other way
01:50:33when he sees how Michael Schumacher overtook him
01:50:35earlier in the race.
01:50:37I think he's going to be very disappointed with himself
01:50:39that he yielded, he allowed,
01:50:41he gave Michael so much space,
01:50:43and that was a critical point there,
01:50:45because then it allowed Michael to get off
01:50:47and build a lead,
01:50:49and Micka really will not enjoy that moment on the video.
01:50:52Well, just a statistical point,
01:50:54but it is of some real significance
01:50:56in winning this World Championship race
01:50:59and getting ten World Championship points.
01:51:02Michael Schumacher has moved up
01:51:04ahead of the late, great Ayrton Senna
01:51:07to the second-highest World Championship points
01:51:10scorer of all time.
01:51:12He now has 618 points
01:51:15and has been bested so far
01:51:17only by four-times World Champion Alain Prost,
01:51:21who is here to see his Prost team driver,
01:51:25the only one, Jean Alési,
01:51:27finish in ninth position
01:51:29with Nick Heidfeld not being allowed to start the race
01:51:31due to his car being underweight
01:51:33at the end of qualifying.
01:51:35So, the results of the European Grand Prix
01:51:38at the Nürburgring,
01:51:40a Ferrari triumph, Michael Schumacher wins
01:51:42from the two McLarens of Micka Häkkinen
01:51:44and David Coulthard,
01:51:46and his teammate Rubens Barrichello fourth.
01:51:49Giancarlo Fisichella for Benetton
01:51:51has got two World Championship points for fifth place.
01:51:54De La Rosa a magnificent single point,
01:51:57their first this year for Arrows.
01:51:59Pedro Diniz in seventh place for Sauber.
01:52:02Gaston Mazzacane, the Argentine driver,
01:52:06in eighth position for Minardi,
01:52:08ahead of Jean Alési.
01:52:10Jenson Button is going to be classified tenth,
01:52:14although he's five laps down.
01:52:16Johnny Herbert will be classified eleventh
01:52:18after his retirement, and Alexander Wurz twelfth.
01:52:21And then all the rest have retired,
01:52:23particularly, notably, and very sadly
01:52:26for what's turning out not to be a good season for them,
01:52:29the two Jordans of Jarno Trulli
01:52:32and Heinz-Harald Fredsen.
01:52:34Jordan were third in the Constructors' Championship
01:52:36last year, they're down in fifth position this year,
01:52:39and they're some 53 points behind Ferrari.
01:52:43Not at all a happy Germany
01:52:45for Eddie Jordan and his team.
01:52:51Well, there you are,
01:52:53the photographers crowding out onto the circuit now,
01:52:56waiting to see the three top men,
01:52:59Schumacher, Hakkinen and Coulthard.
01:53:02And let us remember that David Coulthard
01:53:05for the second race in succession
01:53:07has been driving, carrying a very unpleasant and painful injury,
01:53:12that is to say three cracked ribs.
01:53:15You need to be very, very fit
01:53:17and as well as being gigantically determined
01:53:20to be a Grand Prix driver,
01:53:22and he's certainly every bit of that.
01:53:24Twenty-one starters, nine finishers,
01:53:26and to add insult to injury,
01:53:28they're now going to stand on the podium
01:53:29and get even more wet,
01:53:31but I don't think they'll mind too much.
01:53:33I think Schumi's going to be the happiest man up there,
01:53:35Hakkinen, he's going to be disappointed
01:53:38to lose more ground to Michael Schumacher,
01:53:40and that's Mrs. Michael Schumacher we're looking at now.
01:53:43Coulthard, I think, will be amazingly relieved
01:53:46and surprised to end up in third place in this Grand Prix.
01:53:51Karina Schumacher,
01:53:52there are two little Schumachers at home in Switzerland,
01:53:56where the gigantically wealthy Michael Schumacher
01:54:00lives for all sorts of reasons,
01:54:02not the least of which, I suspect,
01:54:04is that it helps him from a taxation point of view,
01:54:06nothing wrong with that.
01:54:08Michael Schumacher, then, in the background.
01:54:11In a slow motion, with a fist up,
01:54:13that distinctive and familiar sign
01:54:16that we have seen in the past
01:54:18adds yet another victory to his tally.
01:54:21That's his 39th Grand Prix win.
01:54:24He's been on the podium 76 times
01:54:28in his 132 Grand Prix.
01:54:31He's been on the podium for well over half the races
01:54:34in which he has competed.
01:54:36One race for Jordan,
01:54:38then for Benetton, where he was a double world champion,
01:54:41and now for Ferrari.
01:54:43Is he going to be this year's world champion?
01:54:46He could be!
01:54:48Michael Schumacher, the distinctive Schumacher leap,
01:54:51looking as ever delighted.
01:54:55And in Germany, the German national anthem.
01:55:06ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS
01:55:36ORCHESTRAL MUSIC CONTINUES
01:55:55A German driver won the race.
01:55:58An Italian car won the race.
01:56:01Ferrari, Italy.
01:56:06CAR ALARM BLARES
01:56:28SHUSHING
01:56:36ORCHESTRAL MUSIC CONTINUES
01:56:43CAR ALARM BLARES
01:57:00CAR ALARM BLARES
01:57:03Michael Schumacher from Germany
01:57:06wins the European Grand Prix in Germany
01:57:10and will receive his trophy appropriately
01:57:13from the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,
01:57:16Gerhard Schroder.
01:57:18And Mr Romano Prodi, which is interesting.
01:57:22Obviously, a bit of a healing of the ways
01:57:24between Formula One and the European Commission.
01:57:26But Michael Schumacher, I think, more delighted on the podium
01:57:30than I've ever seen him before.
01:57:32With very good reason, too,
01:57:34because he feels that this is his year again,
01:57:38after working so hard for Ferrari since 1996,
01:57:43and that Michael Schumacher's engineer
01:57:47rightly receiving the Constructor's Trophy.
01:57:50David Coulthard looking as though he's in a bit...
01:57:54Michael... Micah Hakkinen lifting his trophy.
01:57:57And David Coulthard looking a bit won,
01:58:01and well understandably, as he contains his chest.
01:58:05Must be very painful indeed.
01:58:07So, a great European Grand Prix.
01:58:11David Coulthard rightly kept well away
01:58:14from the champagne festivities in the past race or two.
01:58:19But he's getting in there this year,
01:58:22and that is good to see.
01:58:24So, Ferrari win, Schumacher win,
01:58:27but McLaren are still there.
01:58:32Thanks, Murray. Thanks to Martin Brundle as well.
01:58:34Well, we told you so. What a compelling race.
01:58:37Four out of six now for Michael Schumacher.
01:58:40His army, over 100,000 of them, will need the Nürburgring.
01:58:45Very cold, absolutely soaking, but glowing inside.
01:58:50We will be right back.
01:58:54MUSIC PLAYS
01:59:24CHEERS