Formula-1 2000 R11 German Grand Prix
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00:00:00Hockenheim over a hundred thousand people packed into the stadium section
00:00:04craxons and firecrackers at the ready primed to celebrate a Michael Schumacher
00:00:09victory but the championship leader has to get past the pole sitter Britain's
00:00:13David Coulthard let's join Martin Brondle and say a very good afternoon to
00:00:16Murray. Murray Walker. Good afternoon Jim good afternoon everybody well this is
00:00:21very literally the calm before the storm it's all quiet down on the grid the
00:00:29drivers are there the mechanics are there those people are privileged to be
00:00:34with them will soon be moved away when I say it's the quiet before the storm it
00:00:39could be in two ways first of all the storm of the race itself and then the
00:00:44big question mark is there going to be a storm weather wise certainly not we hope
00:00:50like Friday because that was quite incredible the pits were awash with
00:00:55water the tunnel which joined the far side of the track to the paddock was
00:01:01four feet deep in water it took the combined efforts of all the fire
00:01:05brigades around here a long time to get the water clear and we know that there's
00:01:10a possibility of rain this afternoon and this place is very very dangerous indeed
00:01:16when it's wet because the course goes slashing its way through dense pine
00:01:21forest once they've turned out of the stadium section that you're looking at
00:01:25now and those tall pines hold the water the wind can't get through to clear the
00:01:31droplets away and visibility is virtually nil Martin you've done it yes
00:01:39it's I have to say Hockenheim in the rain it's you know how much I miss
00:01:43driving it's one of the few days where I'd rather be up here cuddling you
00:01:46Mary than on the grid or in a Formula One car but don't take that the wrong
00:01:50way and I've spoken to three teams down on the grid and anywhere between 20 past
00:01:57the hour and 22 is when they're expecting it to rain so 20 past 2 here
00:02:02locally up to 20 to 3 they're expecting to be spitting with rain lightly at the
00:02:07beginning of the race which it is indeed doing as we speak but very very lightly
00:02:11we've got a track temperature of 21 degrees centigrade so it just burns away
00:02:16quite quickly and we think that Coulthard and Schumacher at least added
00:02:21extra wing on the grid to allow for and I think the teams will also add a bit of
00:02:24fuel Mary to try to give themselves a bigger window of when they can take that
00:02:30pit stop to adjust it according to the rain if indeed all these weather
00:02:34forecasts are right and it does rain later on I'd imagine them coming in
00:02:38around lap 25 ish safety car leaves the grid now which is all part of the
00:02:44procedure that will go around to the back and so we know that there are no
00:02:51hindrances around the track and the procedure is well underway to get this
00:02:55German Grand Prix going Mary it's quite ironic that the man who has been
00:03:00complaining so much about Michael Schumacher cutting across him at the
00:03:04start of races and particularly the Austrian Grand Prix David Coulthard is
00:03:08in pole position and next to him or at least just a little bit further back on
00:03:13the front row is the man he's been complaining about Michael Schumacher so
00:03:18again we've got McLaren in pole position it's the 10th time that David Coulthard
00:03:23will have started from pole position in his career and just there you see
00:03:28Michael Schumacher who's got more pole positions of the current drivers than
00:03:33anyone else 27 of them and Mika Häkkinen the man who is third in the
00:03:37World Championship and who Michael Schumacher still insists on regarding as
00:03:42his chief rival for the World Championship notwithstanding the fact
00:03:46that David Coulthard is six points behind him and Häkkinen there is eight
00:03:50points behind him Häkkinen in fourth position on the grid
00:03:55I heard a Porsche driver saying from the Porsche Super Cup race earlier on today
00:04:00who started on the right-hand side of the grid
00:04:02Bernd Mailander who's actually also the safety car driver in Formula One heard
00:04:07him saying it's incredibly slippery on the right-hand side there's a lot of
00:04:11debris a lot of tire rubber that is a part of the track that is simply not
00:04:15used here at Hockenheim that's the left-hand side you're looking at from
00:04:19Fizik Heller's car on the second row Michael Schumacher there is on the
00:04:23right-hand side of the grid and he said there's so little grip over there you
00:04:26just never come down there because it's such a fast turn one here shortly
00:04:31afterwards so all the running done down the left-hand side but that won't
00:04:35necessarily stop Michael Schumacher from getting away well
00:04:39and the race start of course this is the formation lap
00:04:43and the car stalled on the grid there right at the back it looks like Jenson Button to me
00:04:49it is indeed Jenson Button's Williams he's stalled on the grid and as
00:04:55everybody has passed him that means to say that he will have to join from the
00:05:01back he may even have to start from the pit lane if they don't get the car going
00:05:04quickly yes sort of thing I'd have expected Jenson to do early on but not
00:05:08this far into the season but it may not have been his fault sometimes the clutch
00:05:13clearance is so tiny on these cars and if it drags a little bit you pop it into
00:05:17first gear and it just kills the engine there's a tiny tiny flywheel on these
00:05:21Formula One engines that rev to the best part of 18,000 rpm and they're so so easy
00:05:27to stall but Button away as you say Murray he can catch the field up very
00:05:31easily that's no problem as long as he knows the rule book that he must stay at
00:05:36the back and I'm sure the Williams team will be reminding him of that yeah now
00:05:40there's two things to watch in this race in particular there's the race at the
00:05:44front of course Kulfhard, Schumacher, Mika Häkkinen and hopefully Fisichella up
00:05:49there in the Benetton there he is and I remind you that starting from 17th
00:05:54position is Heitz Harald Frentzen who was on the front row of the grid in the
00:05:58Jordan last year and finished third in the race and in 18th position is the
00:06:03Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello and they're going to be scything their way
00:06:07through the field probably on a very very light fuel load yes I think
00:06:12Fisichella there in third place on the grid could be a thorn into the side of
00:06:15Häkkinen, Häkkinen who also starts from the right-hand side the supposedly
00:06:19slippery side really must leapfrog Fisichella early on and Mika was talking
00:06:24to me just 45 minutes ago saying what do you think's gonna happen you know how do
00:06:28you think those guys are gonna get away on the left-hand side of the grid so I
00:06:31think it's quite a concern for Mika that if he gets tucked up behind the
00:06:34Benetton then Kulhard and Michael Schumacher can scamper off into the
00:06:39distance and the Sun is well and truly out now the track temperature has risen
00:06:46just a little bit so that's a good sign let's hope it's a dry race it makes so
00:06:51much difference to everybody and particularly here at Hockenheim
00:06:54yes it was it summed up the whole weekend when with the umbrellas on the
00:06:58grid one moment they were covering the drivers from spitting rain and then it
00:07:01was beating down sunshine that the umbrellas were for so we were with
00:07:05Fisichella there on car camera be nice if we could have a ride with
00:07:10Frentzen or Barry Keller particularly Barry Keller because he's got an on-car
00:07:14camera and it'll be interesting to see him fighting his way through the field
00:07:19so they line up now in the usual 11 rows two cars the left-hand side of the grid
00:07:27is the pole position and there is the man in pole position for this 45 lap
00:07:32race David Kulhard the Ferrari pit the garage and they're all getting into line
00:07:39now yes I notice Kulhard hasn't pointed his car towards the Ferrari at all he's
00:07:43expecting I would imagine to stay down the left-hand side of the track and not
00:07:47have to go over and cover his line against Michael Schumacher it's crucial
00:07:51how they all get away three lights four lights five lights and in Germany it is go
00:08:00Schumacher and Kulhard gets away Schumacher tucked up behind him and hanging and goes round and straight into the barrier goes the Benetton and there's a Ferrari down there as well
00:08:12that must be Rubens Barrichello that must be Rubens Barrichello or is it
00:08:17Schumacher it's Schumacher incredible and Fisichella they started third and
00:08:23second on the grid and Michael Schumacher is out of the race before it's
00:08:27hardly begun and the McLarens are already first and second with the
00:08:32Fredson and with the Jordan of Jarno Trulli up in third position an
00:08:37incredible development and Michael Schumacher is again going to score no
00:08:42World Championship points and it's such a long lap in the second longest lap of
00:08:47the year they'll easily be able to clear those cars before the pack gets around
00:08:51for the first complete flying lap of the day those cars will be cleared out of
00:08:56the way disaster for Michael Schumacher yeah but Rubens Barrichello is already
00:09:00slashing his way through the field and Fisichella and Schumacher talk to each
00:09:04other as we look down on this 200 mile an hour plus a straight Rubens Barrichello
00:09:10there he is you just saw him coming towards us in the Ferrari it's
00:09:14McLaren leading McLaren in second place the Jordan in third position and the
00:09:19lead driver is Mika Häkkinen with David Coulthard tucked under his gearbox and
00:09:24Della Rosa in the arrows who's been going so well he's in fourth position
00:09:28and the two Jaguars of Eddie Irvine and Johnny Herbert are up there both of them
00:09:34in the points fifth and sixth at the moment yes unless Herbert's past Villeneuve
00:09:39Herbert seventh according to the screens but Häkkinen got a flying start
00:09:43Michael got away well too but seemed to stutter yellow flags are out on the
00:09:47start-finish line here just to tell the drive wave yellows to tell the drivers
00:09:51they're recovering those cars no sign of a safety car no sign of a red flag and
00:09:55Michael Schumacher is out of the race for sure and Barrichello has already
00:10:01gained eight two places he's up from 18th on the grid to 10th to those
00:10:07there he is putting out you see and passing Zolta in the B.A.R. coming up
00:10:12behind Jack Villeneuve in the other B.A.R. for Ferrari now and for Italy and for
00:10:17Brazil it's all down to Rubens Barrichello I think I just saw Johnny
00:10:22Herbert passing Irvine too the Jaguars are running liners third in fifth and
00:10:26sixth they did clear Villeneuve as has Verstappen now who's eighth but yes
00:10:31Johnny Herbert now the leading Jaguar in fifth place but look you see that look at
00:10:37the look at the arrows there surging through and Jos Verstappen who started
00:10:42well down through the field is up into seventh position these arrows are the
00:10:47revelation of this meeting because Pedro de la Rosa start here he goes again
00:10:52Verstappen really in the slipstream there of Irvine he now has track position
00:10:56surely he'll out break Irvine he's passed him already Verstappen up into
00:11:00sixth yeah and I reckon Jos Verstappen may be on a two-stop strategy this
00:11:04arrows is incredibly quick it's very very slippery indeed the aerodynamics
00:11:09are superb and the supertech engine is good here's a replay of the start now
00:11:12here we go Kuthard away moderately well Schumacher I saw out of the window
00:11:15getting away well then stuttered and Hakkinen just drove right through the
00:11:18middle now look Schumacher came across and really blocked Fisichella out
00:11:23Schuey did not realize Fisichella was there did not give him any space and I'm
00:11:28afraid Michael you cannot blame that on Fisichella look he's moved across onto
00:11:32his line and then break so Fisichella quite late into the corner but that was
00:11:37at least 50-50 Michael gave him no space yeah but a lot of the cynics will be
00:11:42saying that's Michael Schumacher has come up and he's had payback time for
00:11:46the things they've been blaming it for in the recent past but meantime it's
00:11:50looking great for McLaren first and second Trulli is third de la Rosa is
00:11:55fourth and look at Barrichello Barrichello out past Eddie Irvine who is in
00:12:00seventh position and there we're riding with the Barrichello now as Irvine
00:12:05fights back well that was astonishing Irvine had more straight line speed now
00:12:08turns in on Barrichello which he was entitled to do but Barrichello got up
00:12:13alongside and when the drag really cuts in well over 200 miles an hour Irvine
00:12:18started pulling ahead that Ford engine the Cosworth engine has got massive
00:12:22grunt it's an improved version with more power and it's certainly showing up here
00:12:27looks as though they've got the setup right for the two Jaguars as Rubens
00:12:30Barrichello that we're riding with now chases Eddie Irvine's green Jaguar which
00:12:35is behind Jos Verstappen and Johnny Herbert is up into fifth place so
00:12:40Hagenen, Coulthard, then Trulli behind him de la Rosa there is Johnny Herbert
00:12:46followed by Verstappen and Eddie Irvine well the good news so far for Britain is
00:12:53that the Jaguars are well up yes and now Barrichello's got a much better run on
00:12:58Irvine earlier on in the straight now let's see the drag cut in can Barrichello
00:13:02make it stick this time yes he's got the line up the inside Irvine just falling
00:13:06back down the field at this stage and that's Eddie Irvine of course who won
00:13:10this race brilliantly for Ferrari last year thanks to the support of his
00:13:14teammate Mikasalo who was replacing Michael Schumacher after the German had
00:13:19broken his leg in Britain coming through now to complete lap 3 Mika
00:13:23Hagenen leads David Coulthard the gap between Coulthard and Trulli is 1.3
00:13:29seconds but again as in Austria Pedro de la Rosa who was superb in qualifying is
00:13:35magnificent here look at the orange arrows there's a big gap between it and
00:13:40the green Jaguar of the red-helmeted Johnny Herbert who's got Verstappen
00:13:44behind him and Verstappen has got Barrichello ready to pull out and in the
00:13:48Ferrari and try to get up into the top six if in the red Ferrari Barrichello
00:13:54could get past the orange arrows there of Jas Verstappen the Dutchman who was
00:13:59not in very good odor this morning because in the warm-up he drove it to
00:14:02Jacques Villeneuve's BAR yeah very silly accident on the out lap first thing this
00:14:06morning and the damaged both the arrows and Villeneuve's BAR quite extensively
00:14:11and he had to go and apologize that's for sure look Verstappen again
00:14:14struggling to slow the arrows down I think they've got tremendous straight
00:14:18line speed but struggling a little bit into the braking area and Barrichello
00:14:22lines up his next victim but this one's got more straight line speed than the
00:14:26Jaguar he's already overtaken of Irvine yeah we've learned here that next year
00:14:31arrows are going to have the Peugeot engine exclusively and that will do them
00:14:36no harm whatsoever so they're in great shape but McLaren are in even better
00:14:42shape because they are a potential 16 World Championship points at the present
00:14:46moment with Mika Häkkinen fitting for 10 of them to win the race but we're
00:14:51now on lap 4 it's a 45 lap race so we've gone about 1 tenth distance 1
00:14:56eleventh distance. Coulthard on a very fast lap at the moment edging up a
00:15:00couple of tenths at each section on Mika Häkkinen interesting problem here for
00:15:04the McLaren bosses Murray they've got two drivers that can take the
00:15:07championship as they had 10 years ago with Senna and Prost but now with
00:15:11Schumacher out of the race once again what are McLaren going to do about their
00:15:15front two who are now just 6 tenths of a second apart and truly is hanging on
00:15:20remarkably well there in the Jordan as is de la Rosa in the Arrows
00:15:24yeah I think I think Pedro de la Rosa is absolutely magnificent the young
00:15:29Spaniard well he's 29 years old but this is only his 26th Grand Prix and he's in
00:15:35a car which up to now has not been expected to be at the front of a Grand
00:15:38Prix as it is now watch Schumacher on the left of this replay you see
00:15:44there Häkkinen comes straight between him and Fisichella Schumacher moves across
00:15:48hits Fisichella the Italian goes onto the gravel into the tar wall we're with
00:15:53Fisichella now and watch this enjoy enjoy your first Formula 1 accident
00:15:58fully on board as we stay with this camera shot all the way here comes
00:16:02the Barry look there's nothing you can do jumping on the brakes bang and the
00:16:06tyres and conveyor belt come into the cockpit once again we see now watch
00:16:10Häkkinen from fourth place hook it up and just drive beautifully through the
00:16:13middle as Coulthard defends his line and Schumacher watching Coulthard moves
00:16:18across the track and unaware that Fisichella is there I mean he should
00:16:22have allowed for that I really can't think Michael has too much to gripe
00:16:25about as the Ferrari team put their head in their hands yes I don't think they
00:16:30can gripe too much about Fisichella there that's Willy Weber with his head
00:16:33in his hands the man who's guided the career of Michael Schumacher he's the
00:16:37only team manager to have his own Learjet plenty of the drivers do but
00:16:42Schumacher is so wealthy but even on 20% of his income Weber can run a Learjet
00:16:48now look at this it'll be Barrichello I assume overtaking Verstappen and he
00:16:52makes it stick into the second chicane so Barrichello now is up to sixth place
00:16:59from 18th he's made 12 places on this the sixth lap James Allen Murray you saw
00:17:05the Ferrari mechanics there with their heads in their hands completely
00:17:07contrasting reaction of McLaren they feel that's payback time for what
00:17:11Schumacher did to Coulthard and Hakkinen at the start in France they've had this
00:17:15terrible farrago between them and Coulthard taught Schumacher a lesson in the
00:17:18toughest possible terms they're absolutely ecstatic down here well it's
00:17:22all down to Barrichello now look at him attacking attacking the Jaguar in front
00:17:26of him now the Brazilian no and he's going through on the inside he forces a
00:17:30brilliant move there he forced Johnny Herbert wide and he's now up into fourth
00:17:35place and Herbert has got Dallarosa behind him in sixth position Nigel
00:17:39Stepney on the right now there go Herbert and leading them both is
00:17:43Barrichello so he's up into fourth and and attacking again Dallarosa having a
00:17:50go at Herbert that's Verstappen having a go at Herbert and Johnny was on the defensive I
00:17:54think Barrichello surprised him at the inside into the first chicane textbook
00:17:58maneuver there from Rubens Barrichello brilliant driving at the moment and
00:18:02Johnny then on the defensive it gave Verstappen a run at him Johnny managed
00:18:06to fend that one off and look how quick and Verstappen won't get through there
00:18:10now but look how quick Barrichello is moving away from them yeah this is an
00:18:14example of how they slow each other up because Barrichello was 1.2 seconds
00:18:18slower than Hakkinen and Coulthard with a clear track in front of them and he is
00:18:23now in that position there he is but with Johnny Herbert Hakkinen leading
00:18:29Coulthard second Jarno Trolli still in the Jordan 2.4 seconds behind David
00:18:35Coulthard who is one second behind Mecha Hakkinen this race has got a long way to
00:18:40go yet we're on lap seven I think there could be a lot of action yet I saw when
00:18:44they we were on board with Barrichello they were moving the film protecting his
00:18:48camera shot and it was raining slightly remember it could well still rain in the
00:18:53next half an hour in this race and I think we could see quite a lottery at
00:18:57that point as to who can stay on the track and if and when they come in and
00:19:01this is another shot then of Barrichello passing Johnny Herbert into the first
00:19:06chicane Johnny beginning to turn in and had to turn back out again great move
00:19:10there from Rubens and Johnny Herbert is still in the points in sixth position so
00:19:15let's have a quick look at the top ten it's the two McLarens Hakkinen and
00:19:18Coulthard then Jarno Trolli's yellow Jordan look for it it's getting further
00:19:23and further back there it is in the distance
00:19:25Della Rota in the arrows is fourth and Barrichello is fifth in the Ferrari
00:19:29sixth is Johnny Herbert and seventh is Jos Verstappen both the arrows in the top
00:19:34seven Eddie Irvine eighth, Jacques Villeneuve is ninth and his teammate
00:19:38Riccardo Zonta is tenth remember what Craig Pollock was saying about the BARs
00:19:43they're both in the top ten yes Barrichello now he's got some clear air
00:19:47be interesting to see his lap times Murray remember he's really only just
00:19:5111.2 seconds behind Hakkinen who's leading the race so Barrichello if he's
00:19:56got a strong pace can still come through and do some damage for Ferrari
00:20:00this afternoon yeah he's closed the the gap from 1.2 seconds a lap longer to
00:20:050.6 of a second longer and look at the way stretching away now from the
00:20:09powerful Jaguar of Johnny Herbert there is Jos Verstappen the Dutchman behind
00:20:15him and Tom Walkinshaw will be really delighted at the way his team is going
00:20:20here at Hockenheim Johnny sort of launches his Jaguar into the corners
00:20:24very aggressive turning to almost all the corners around the racetrack quite
00:20:29strange in fact but it seems to be working for him up there in sixth place
00:20:33now they come out of the stadium they're turning it into the long straight now
00:20:37which is the start and finish straight into turn one and then the rest of the
00:20:41course is made him into four legs separated by chicanes and at each of
00:20:46those legs they're on full throttle for at least 14 seconds that's the answer
00:20:51look Barrichello fastest lap on a 45.3 and the gap now down to 11.1 seconds to
00:20:57Hakanen so Barrichello has a very fast Ferrari but how much fuel does he have
00:21:02on board yeah exactly fourth in the world championship at the moment behind
00:21:06Micah Hakanen, Coulthard and championship leader Michael Schumacher but I don't
00:21:11think he's going to be leading at the end of this race as we go to a break
00:23:21lap nine and this is a replay of heights Harald Fredsen surging up from 17th on
00:23:34the grid into the position he's in now eighth position and Jos Verstappen has
00:23:40got the Jordan right behind him now and the men to watch at the moment are
00:23:45Barrichello who is the fastest man on the track fifth and catching Dallarosa
00:23:50there is the second orange arrows Van der Verstappen in a seventh place with
00:23:56Fredsen behind him yes Fredsen I see mr. chicane at some earlier on at 14.06
00:24:01earlier on the race if they're going to penalize him they'll have to penalize
00:24:03him very soon and he looks like he's got away with that at the moment he's flying
00:24:07through the field Dallarosa Verstappen in the arrows has lost a major part of
00:24:12his engine cover which will be affecting the aerodynamics and it's left debris on
00:24:16the track now it was Verstappen himself that ran over a piece of debris this
00:24:20morning going down towards turn one as Fredsen lines himself up and surely can
00:24:25break late enough to take the line down into the first chicane yes he can and it
00:24:30was Verstappen who touched a little piece of debris this morning and his
00:24:33front tire exploded immediately it's highly critical round here remember that
00:24:38it was Hakkinen who went out of the race last year with a delaminated tire the
00:24:42tires are under severe pressure and Verstappen's got a problem with that
00:24:46engine cover missing and now Fredsen is up into seventh place and you see from
00:24:51another angle Fredsen getting the track position getting the line and not
00:24:56snatching his brakes taking a good clean run well Heinz-Harald Fredsen the German
00:24:59in a German in Germany at Hockenheim is now in seventh position his next to
00:25:05target is the man in the red helmet the green Jaguar Johnny Herbert who is
00:25:09announced that he's leaving Formula One at the end of this year and going to
00:25:12race in champ cars in America is he going to be able to retain his sixth
00:25:16place I don't think so much longer incredible lineup of cars isn't it look
00:25:20from Herbert through to all the way through there to Ralph in fact Jenson
00:25:25Button in 19th so you've got from 6th to 19th pretty much all line of stern yeah
00:25:31so who are they Herbert 6 there he is there is Fredsen behind him in 7th then
00:25:36it is Eddie Irvine in the Jaguar Villeneuve and Zonta virtually together
00:25:42and here is Rubens Barrichello in the Ferrari who's come up from that 18th
00:25:47position we're riding with him now as he turns out of turn one going at 200 miles
00:25:52an hour up to the Clark curve the right to left right to chicane closing on
00:25:57Pedro de la Rosa's arrows hand over fist this is the V10 Ferrari engine versus
00:26:04the super tech engine V10 in the arrows the arrows is incredibly quick at race
00:26:11after race this year on the section times the arrows has been the fastest
00:26:15car but Barrichello now has really got his dander up he's fought his way
00:26:21through magnificently and he's coming now into the Ost curve right at the top
00:26:26of this boomerang shaped circuit through the right the left the right again they
00:26:31exited at about 130 miles an hour and build up to nearly 220 miles an hour as
00:26:37they come down to the center curve and there goes Heinz-Harald Fredsen past
00:26:42Johnny Herbert he's in the points Fredsen is in the points his teammate
00:26:47Trulli is in third position the top six from Fredsen upwards are Fredsen 6
00:26:53Barrichello and de la Rosa 5th and 4th Trulli is third David Coulthard and
00:26:58still only 1.6 seconds away from each other and nearly 8 seconds ahead of
00:27:03third-placed Jarno Trulli but this race is by no means finished what strategies
00:27:07are they following watch Barrichello this is the stadium section they're
00:27:12coming up now to turn 14 the right-hander they take that at 90 miles
00:27:16an hour exit at about 90 miles an hour where they are now and then accelerate
00:27:22up to nearly 185 miles an hour there is Trulli third watch Barrichello
00:27:30so it is the Brazilian against the Spaniard and Pedro de la Rosa has covered
00:27:38himself in glory in the last couple of races he's doing so again yes and look
00:27:42Barrichello's got a sniff of a slipstream but we know just how fast that
00:27:46Arrows is in a straight line but Barrichello we know is excellent on the
00:27:49brakes into turn one but he can't have a go from there he'll simply slam into
00:27:52the side of the Arrows but can he get some traction out now and well that
00:27:57Arrows is really handling well isn't it really hasn't got Barrichello doesn't
00:28:01have much an advantage over it but he has clearly got the best braking car on
00:28:05the racetrack at the moment we'll see how good it is when he gets anywhere
00:28:08near the McLaren he's showing it well there isn't it easily through that is so
00:28:12bumpy doesn't show from anywhere from a camera angle it's so bumpy down there
00:28:17and I can't it looks so easy and I can't tell you just how hard it is at 210 215
00:28:23miles an hour to pick a braking point right alongside another try driver
00:28:27trying to do exactly the same thing at the same time you are watching a truly
00:28:32truly great great drive by Rubens Barrichello I say again he started 18th
00:28:37he's now in fourth position and the yellow car is Janoviano Trulli as we
00:28:42rejoin on a replay Rubens Barrichello diving up the inside of Pedro de la Rosa
00:28:48making it look so easy the Spaniard has to give him room and Rubens
00:28:54Barrichello maintains his line perfectly the Ferrari mechanics not looking over
00:28:59impressed but they jolly well should be and look at this battle behind them it's
00:29:04the two Jaguars and Eddie Irvine now is attacking Johnny Herbert as Zonta
00:29:11votes Deniz and behind him the two Prosts of Alessi and Heidfeldt Nick
00:29:19Heidfeldt by the way is in 14th position man on the move Heinz-Harald Frentzen in
00:29:24sixth place just down a 144.9 easily the fastest lap of the race so it's
00:29:30Frentzen now with a clear air in front of him can he catch Pedro de la Rosa and
00:29:35how quickly so Frentzen and Barrichello started 17th and 18th now up to 4th and
00:29:416th and flying yeah and he's lapping two seconds faster than de la Rosa he's 10
00:29:47seconds behind him so in about five laps time Frentzen if he keeps going the way
00:29:51he is now will be right up with the fifth placed arrows as you look at the
00:29:57German now 144.9 the fastest lap of the race the fastest lap last year was
00:30:04145.2 so Frentzen is faster this year than David Coulthard who made the fastest
00:30:11and record lap at Hockenheim was last year you're looking at you were looking
00:30:16at the new lap record holder here is the race leader Micah Hacken and McLaren
00:30:20David Coulthard McLaren still just over a second between them on this the 13th
00:30:25lap and out goes Johnny Herbert in the Jaguar well Johnny's bad luck seems to
00:30:31stick with him whatever circuit he is at and whatever country he is in and the
00:30:37Jinx has struck again he is out of the race and that means to say up into 8th
00:30:42place goes Eddie Irvine to 9th place goes Jacques Villeneuve to 10th place
00:30:47goes Ralf Schumacher in the Williams his teammate Jenson Button is down in 19th
00:30:52position having a tremendous battle with Jorna Laces-Prost and Marc Genes-Minardi
00:30:58that's one of those moody slow-mo replays they like to show here that was
00:31:01truly bouncing across the curbs that everything you noticed his rear wheels
00:31:05were completely off the ground Frentzen is on another flying lap and a 44.7
00:31:11this time around so Frentzen is catching De La Rosa in front of him at one and a
00:31:15half seconds per lap and he's 8.4 seconds back De La Rosa 5th Frentzen 6th
00:31:21and there's currently just 1.2 seconds as you can see between Hacken and Coulthard
00:31:25you know the car language of those two Hacken and Coulthard makes it look very easy indeed
00:31:32what's going through David Coulthard's mind mind what's going through his mind is why can't I get
00:31:37the power on out of the chicanes I've watched him on several chicanes now
00:31:41through the race he just can't seem to apply the power and here's Trulli and
00:31:45Barrichello with Trulli already look just a few meters behind him Barrichello
00:31:50absolutely flying we're on the 14th lap of the race and he's really in good
00:31:55shape in the next few chicanes to I think pass Trulli yeah if he gets past
00:32:00Trulli he's then gonna have a real battle on his hands he's up from 18th to
00:32:04third soon if he gets past Trulli but he's actually lapping slower at the
00:32:08present moment than the two race leaders Hacken and Coulthard who are some 10
00:32:12seconds ahead of him and Barrichello's right up behind the gearbox of Trulli
00:32:16just waiting in the moment to bob out from behind it as they turn into the
00:32:21stadium section that is turn 11 at this 15 corner circuit they're at turn 12 now
00:32:27accelerating up to 90 miles an hour from 60 on the apex of the previous corner
00:32:33and Jarno Trulli can see that scarlet Ferrari big big big in his mirrors yes
00:32:38it's awful when you've got a car behind you you know is fast and he's bearing
00:32:41down on you Trulli's getting a little bit untidy in his defense and running a
00:32:45bit wide I think Barrichello won't spend too long behind Trulli before he
00:32:49finds a way through he'll get a better drive out of a chicane or a corner and
00:32:53then for sure he can nail Trulli on the brakes it may even be as soon as down to
00:32:58the first chicane Trulli not defending his line yet now Barrichello makes the
00:33:02move the perfect slipstream and Barrichello will go through under
00:33:06braking surely and he does remember what I said about a great great drive
00:33:10there is confirmation and underlining of it but de la Rosa and Verstappen are
00:33:15both catching Trulli as well Trulli is not going as quickly as he can as he has
00:33:21done in the past because you can see de la Rosa in the orange arrows is getting
00:33:25closer to the yellow Jordan in the background but now Barrichello up into a
00:33:30magnificent third position just the two McLarens ahead of him but they're 12
00:33:35seconds ahead yes it's 13.9 seconds last time around and I think Barrichello's
00:33:40done a sterling job to get from 18th to third and only lose 13.9 seconds to the
00:33:45leader so the race is set James what can you tell us? Well Martin I said at the
00:33:49top of the show I thought that the Frentzen and Barrichello had nothing to
00:33:52lose really today by doing a two-stopper it's certainly spectacular track action
00:33:55the reason they're able to do this because the fuel two-stop fuel load is
00:33:5840 kilos lighter that's about 1.2 seconds a lap they should be faster than
00:34:02these heavy cars carrying a full one-stop fuel load so I think we're
00:34:06gonna unfortunately of course they've got a stop twice so we're gonna see
00:34:09plenty of this kind of action throughout this race well I tell you
00:34:12this Eddie Jordan must be keeping his fingers crossed because his team which
00:34:16was third in the Constructors Championship last year and had that as a
00:34:20target for this year to be third in that championship behind McLaren and Ferrari
00:34:24has slipped down to six this year they've had a rotten year but Trulli and
00:34:29Frentzen are both in the points with Jarno Trulli on a potential three points
00:34:35Heinz-Harald Frentzen on one point and if they can keep this up they're going
00:34:39to move up the championship possibly even to third position with ahead of
00:34:43Williams as you see a replay of Barrichello moving ahead of the young
00:34:48Italian Jarno Trulli who's got so much potential and is realizing it at Jordan
00:34:53lap 16 Hakanen and Coulthard still separated by just over a second 14
00:35:00seconds ahead of Rubens Barrichello who is two seconds now ahead of Jarno
00:35:04Trulli who is 1.4 seconds ahead of de la Rosa and four seconds ahead of
00:35:09Frentzen and Frentzen and de la Rosa are catching Jarno Trulli here are the
00:35:15leaders Coulthard slipped back slightly now 1.5 seconds the gap and you can see
00:35:21it there for yourself Hakanen's car working beautifully not having to fight
00:35:24it at all whether Coulthard's regretting putting a little bit more wing on on the
00:35:28start line we'll have to wait and see if it does rain before 22 as they predicted
00:35:33then he could be very grateful of it in a few laps time right now it's sunny as
00:35:37anything but looking over to the left there's a pretty big black cloud Murray
00:35:41whether it finds its way over to us or not we'll have to wait and see a lot of
00:35:44very happy unhappy Germans here with with Michael Schumacher out of the race
00:35:48right at the very beginning but a lot of other very happy Germans because it's a
00:35:52Mercedes-Benz engine that is powering the McLaren of Micah Hakanen and David
00:35:58Coulthard all the top brass from Mercedes-Benz and a lot of people from
00:36:02the factory and of course thousands of spectators are rooting for them yes
00:36:07hearing from the people sitting in our studio apparently there are people
00:36:10leaving the circuit already to shoot some Schumacher fans leaving the racetrack
00:36:14well you can hear the Rockets in the background they're usually far to
00:36:19signify some sort of celebration here at Tockenheim I don't know what they're
00:36:24celebrating at the moment from their point of view except of course the way
00:36:27the Mercedes are going and now Barrichello has really pulled the bung
00:36:31out he's just made the fastest lap of the race one minute 44.6 which is six
00:36:37tenths of a second faster than the previous lap record and he's carving the
00:36:41gap down between himself and Hakanen and Coulthard as we join him here in the
00:36:46Ferrari now he's doing very nearly 200 over 200 miles an hour at this point as
00:36:52he rips a visor off the rips a tear off from the visor of his helmet turns
00:36:57into the chicane right left right now look back look back there is Barrichello
00:37:06that is the visual gap between the flying Ferrari and the two McLaren
00:37:12Mercedes up ahead and Rubens Barrichello with three second places behind him
00:37:19already this year is that much ahead of Trulli who is that much ahead of
00:37:23De La Rosa who has got Fritz up right behind him Ferrari mechanics coming out
00:37:27into the pit lane so the Barrichello is extremely is extremely light so Ferrari
00:37:33mechanics out and Barrichello it must be for Barrichello of course Schumacher is
00:37:38buried in the wall they've cleared his car away from turn one and Barrichello
00:37:42will be in at the end of this lap so his pace is very strong pace really wasn't
00:37:47strong enough considering he's coming in at lap 17 I would have thought the
00:37:50McLaren's will go at least another seven to ten laps yet so that's how much
00:37:55more fuel they're carrying enough for a quarter of the distance of this race now
00:37:59you see it for yourself so Barrichello having to give up that third place they
00:38:03ran him like I suspect they might be doing the same with Frentzen to enable
00:38:07him to get through the traffic earlier on and then resume his race wherever he
00:38:11comes out he's like the people around him he's got to stop one more time yeah
00:38:15and of course that has let Jarno Trulli through in the Jordan and Barrichello
00:38:22has got it all to do again we'll wait for confirmation when we see them on the
00:38:28circuit but Rubens Barrichello now having stopped on lap 18 as you look at
00:38:35Eddie Irvine and now the Arrows and the race order at the present moment on lap
00:38:4118 out of 45 with a long way to go Mika Häkkinen and Davy Coulthard first and
00:38:46second separated by two seconds so Coulthard is dropping back Jarno Trulli
00:38:52goes up into a third position and it's time for us to go to a break
00:41:1145 and Jarno Trulli there he is the Italian in the Jordan is back in third
00:41:18position as a result of the stop of Rubens Barrichello who is in sixth place
00:41:23and sandwiched between Trulli and Barrichello are Pedro de la Rosa in the
00:41:29Arrows there he is and behind de la Rosa is Heinz-Harald Frentzen yes and while
00:41:35you're away Frentzen made his expected pit stop because of his lower fuel load
00:41:40at the beginning the race remember he started 17th came through the field had
00:41:44to pit at the end of lap 19 came out of the pits and just managed to stay ahead
00:41:50of Verstappen so Frentzen rejoins in sixth after a stop and Barrichello
00:41:55rejoins in fifth after his stop so now everybody is on a level playing field
00:42:00they've all got to stop one more time this afternoon well coming up for half
00:42:04distance this is a magnificent Tour de Force demonstration by the two
00:42:08McLarens they finished first and second in France with Coulthard ahead of
00:42:13Hakanen they finished first and second in Austria with Hakanen in front of
00:42:18Coulthard that was their fourth first and second of the season in 10 races it
00:42:23looks as though this is going to be their fifth in 11 races if it is it will
00:42:27give them 16 World Championship points and certainly give them their the
00:42:31revenge over Ferrari for having lost 10 World Championship points in the
00:42:36Constructors contest as a result of the problem they had with the label that
00:42:41you saw Martin talking about earlier on in Austria yes and Coulthard is going to
00:42:46be ruining that difficult start as a BAR passes a Benetton down there which must
00:42:53be let's see yeah I'm just trying to work it out well there's Verstappen
00:42:58there's Irvine behind him there is Jacques Villeneuve that is Ralph Schumacher
00:43:03and look at this lot with Alexander Wurz behind Zonta and Salo behind them and
00:43:09Salo is in 13th place in the Sauber behind him is Deniz in the Sauber and
00:43:16behind Deniz is Heidfeld so it that the McLarens are streaking away but it's
00:43:21look how close it is behind them this is almost go-kart racing that they're so
00:43:26close yeah Jenson Button is right in the back of this queue having a terrible
00:43:29afternoon because he stalled on the line started last he's last but one at the
00:43:34moment and barely able to keep the pace up at the back Matsukane is chasing him
00:43:39and he's I see from the computer he's Mr. Chicane at some point without penalty
00:43:43thankfully and Barrichello has just done a new fastest lap of the race which has
00:43:47taken him to within eight seconds of Pedro de la Rosa he's a massive 33
00:43:53seconds behind Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard but remember he has made his
00:43:59stop and they have not so when they come in and stop and refuel and take on
00:44:04four new tires and wheels it's going to be pretty close Häkkinen leads, Coulthard second, Trulli third, de la Rosa fourth and
00:44:10Rubens Barrichello in fifth place who was third is closing up with news from
00:44:15James Allen well Mario I've just been working it all out now with the fuel
00:44:18loads here Rubens Barrichello took off 50 kilos of fuel I reckon he'll stop
00:44:21again about lap 33 for a second stop and Frentzen about lap 34 in the meantime we
00:44:27expect the two McLarens and Trulli to stop around about lap 27 to 30 so don't
00:44:31go anywhere folks because this next phase is going to be absolutely
00:44:34fascinating it's clearly a McLaren race barring any mechanical misfortunes the
00:44:38key question now is which McLaren exactly is it going to be David Coulthard
00:44:42who is ahead of Mika Häkkinen and who is the double world champion from 1999 and
00:44:4798 there are no team orders in the McLaren team because the team's
00:44:52attitude is let the best man win until one of them is so far ahead of the other
00:44:58but the other cannot possibly regain a position and then the chap who is
00:45:03leading is favored but that's a long way off yet as we look at Zonta in 11th
00:45:09place Wurz behind him in the blue Benetton and behind Benetton behind
00:45:14Wurz is Mikasalo in the stadium sure I just saw a big flash of lightning over
00:45:20those trees to the left there out of the Coventry box Murray I'm sure I saw
00:45:23we had a lot of lightning through the last three days but some black black
00:45:27storm clouds out there whether they come this way or not as you can see the sun
00:45:30is still shining as the salvo mechanics are preparing Ralph Schumacher is in the
00:45:34pits too in at the end of lap 21 from 10th place not a great afternoon for the
00:45:42Williams BMW team no it's the BMW engines first Grand Prix appearance at
00:45:48Hockenheim for a very very long time the last time they were there was with the
00:45:54Brabham of Nelson Piquet in the turbo days and they're getting back into
00:45:59Grand Prix racing and this is the one of the circuits which is toughest of all on
00:46:04engines they're on full throttle for over 60 seconds in the lap those
00:46:09mechanics are brave in the pit lane no doubt about it a car coming towards them
00:46:14120 kilometers per hour 67 miles an hour imagine just sitting down there with an
00:46:19air gun in your hand and something's coming towards you the best part of 70
00:46:23miles an hour so Hacken and leads by 1.7 seconds truly a further 22.9 seconds
00:46:29behind de la Rosa fourth Barrichello fifth Frentzen rounds out the top six
00:46:34currently 47 seconds behind the leaders Villeneuve defends his position there
00:46:41against Eddie Irvine he's passed him somewhere in this lap we're going to
00:46:44take a short break
00:46:52to get away from him in the stadium Jack because he has more top speed than you so you have to get away from him in the stadium
00:48:41lap 24 in comes Jos Verstappen from that terrific fight for seventh position in the arrows he's had to ninth position he's had to yield it to
00:49:09Ricardo Zonta now and the orange arrows mechanics attack the car yes he was in
00:49:15seventh when he came in the the fact that he's so slow in the pit lane the
00:49:19other two passed him out on the racetrack so Verstappen was in a pretty
00:49:23solid seventh place and away he goes it seems like a relatively straightforward
00:49:27pit stop and Louise what could he tell us
00:49:32Michael once again you've gone out of the race in the first corner incident
00:49:35talk us through it from your perspective basically quite easy I was going for
00:49:40turning in for the corner from the outside line to get a nice exit for the
00:49:45long straight to make it a run at Coulthard and then I was bumped up from
00:49:50the back what part do you think that the McLaren's played in that incident
00:49:56basically I came from behind and he is the person to watch out for cars in
00:49:59front of him to run them over there is limits to what you can do and you have
00:50:05he clearly didn't do that good enough bearing in mind the controversy that
00:50:10there's been between yourself and David over start maneuvers were you kind of
00:50:13expecting him to pull a move on you like he did listen I'm out of race not
00:50:18because of David I'm out of the race for Fisichella when that's that's it what
00:50:22you can say about it thanks Michael yeah I've got a disagree
00:50:26slightly with Michael I understand what he's saying but he took the line he
00:50:29really closed Fisichella out he he went into Fisichella's face and Fisichella
00:50:33was unable to slow down it was no better than 50-50 in my view Mary I
00:50:38don't know where you're on that one well I agree with you you know I tend to
00:50:42stick up for Schumacher more than most people but I'm with you on this occasion
00:50:46and that's cost him another 10 points to the 30 he had already lost through
00:50:50failing to finish this year and you're looking now at Rubens Barrichello back
00:50:55with Pedro de la Rosa in the arrows he's caught and passed the arrows once
00:51:00already this year this race and he's gonna do so again to regain fourth
00:51:05places but remember in Austria de la Rosa lost a certain points position as
00:51:12the result of the breakage of an oil union which just cost a few pence look
00:51:17we've got a strange guy on this walking down the side of the racetrack in a
00:51:21raincoat on the grass and what on earth is he doing crossing the racetrack
00:51:27during the Grand Prix and clearly either a bit too much beer there or he's
00:51:32hit his head on something because he's not being sensible at all I don't I've
00:51:36never seen this before have you ever seen it well I've seen it I've seen a
00:51:41lunatic in Brazil just as the race was starting and finishing brushing out but
00:51:46that is very bad news indeed safety car so this will close the pack oh James
00:51:51yes safety car and everybody's reacting quickly we're gonna have everybody
00:51:54making their pit stops in the next few minutes Ferrari are reacting as well
00:51:58trolleys in now we're expecting who's going to come first McLaren this could be
00:52:01very painful for whichever is the second of the two McLaren's to make their stop
00:52:05and Ferrari are reacting as well they're going to bring Barrichello in and fuel him to
00:52:09the end amazing turnaround fantastic development this is that lunatic
00:52:13whoever he is is changing the complexion of the race on lap 26 out of 45 we're
00:52:19not seeing what is happening to him but as you there he is it he's got some sort
00:52:25of a Mercedes-Benz slogan on the back of his plastic Mac and this is going to
00:52:31cost somebody dearly to McLaren's running line is stirred one of them's
00:52:35going to have to queue in the pit lane it's a question of will they catch that
00:52:40safety cuts four and a quarter mile racetrack will they actually catch the
00:52:44safety car before they come around to the end of the lap the Jordan made good
00:52:49use of the situation and here comes Hakanen what's going to happen only one
00:52:53of them can be serviced at a time there's one pit garage per team one crew
00:52:58of 22 men Hakanen comes in Kulthar surely will have to come in if he goes
00:53:02around he's going to catch the safety car and end up at the back of the queue
00:53:07no Kulthar has to go around he's just got a hope and pray he doesn't catch
00:53:12that safety car before he gets round again he surely will well they've done
00:53:16what I would have expected they had to give preference to Hakanen and he's
00:53:19leading the race but the question now is are they going to catch that lunatic
00:53:23who's walking around the course and get him off it all sorts of things can and
00:53:27will happen as Mika Hakanen exits the pit lane and we're on lap 27 now
00:53:34remember Jarno Trulli who was third has come in and made his pit stop he was at
00:53:40the time some 30 seconds behind the McLaren's the safety car is there
00:53:44Kulthar is behind him Kulthar is going to end up last in this race when they
00:53:49restart and there's Barrichello in again but Kulthar has now got to do a slow lap
00:53:54behind the safety car then come in for a stop so the queue will go the snake will
00:53:59go past and Kulthar will end up right on the back of the queue disaster for Kulthar
00:54:05and Barrichello is out before Fredson there is Heinz-Harald Barrichello third
00:54:12on the track third in the race exits the pit lane before Heinz-Harald Fredson
00:54:18yeah they've made a desperate mistake by not allowing Kulthar to queue up and
00:54:22just simply wait to be serviced now he's got to come in for his stop and let and
00:54:29James what can you say well I was just about to say Martin why didn't he come
00:54:32in and queue up and I really think that's what Ron Dennis told the mechanics he
00:54:35was going to do I saw him come shooting off the pit wall and telling the tyre
00:54:39guys get DC's tyres ready as well because he's coming in as well and then
00:54:42he went just on straight past maybe it was a communication error maybe there
00:54:45was a little bit of everybody talking at the same time because there's such chaos
00:54:48down here but Kulthar has certainly paid a heavy price I said the guy from the
00:54:52clown who came in second was gonna lose out but I really didn't expect it to be
00:54:55this much and where is Mr. Halfwit now walking around the track we don't see
00:54:59him but this is yet another indication of something that I keep on saying that
00:55:03Formula One and motor racing are not just about the best driver they're about
00:55:08the best driver allied to the best car allied to the best team and the best
00:55:12backup and here comes the safety car towards us with David Kulthard who's
00:55:19potentially last in the race and there there you can see another additional car
00:55:25and whoever it is is going to be put into that car he's made his point
00:55:28whatever it is and I hope he feels happy about it I just can't imagine what is
00:55:35going on in his mind but my goodness it has now changed the race for our safety
00:55:40car Kulthard will have to come in now or will he stay out well he can stay out I'm
00:55:45sure he's got more fuel than me yes the mechanics are ready for him but if the
00:55:50safety cars going in this lap there's David trying to get himself as much
00:55:53space as possible yes he is coming in so the safety car staying on track now
00:55:58Kulthard's got a somehow stop but he won't be allowed back out of the pit
00:56:01until after the snake have gone past probably and disaster for Kulthard
00:56:06actually he's up into second place ahead of Rubens and Barrichello as the
00:56:10McLaren mechanics do the best they possibly can for David Kulthard who has
00:56:15been cruelly cheated on his position yeah crucial mistake there by somebody
00:56:20not allowing Kulthard to come in and cue I don't know it may have been him
00:56:24may have been a communication problem may have been a decision problem but
00:56:27look he's going to end up virtually at the back of the snake having been in a
00:56:31strong second place Hakkinen is at the front of the queue we saw him behind
00:56:36Kulthard we thought before Kulthard had to pit and there it is now look so where
00:56:40is Kulthard in the race Murray yeah but look at this you see it all tied up
00:56:43behind the race is in effect restarting as you see Micah Hakkinen leading
00:56:48Jarno Trulli second Rubens Barrichello third Della Rosa is fourth Fredson is
00:56:54fifth and David Kulthard there in sixth position it didn't work out quite as bad
00:56:58as I as I thought but bad enough for Kulthard because he's now at the back of
00:57:02that pack and of the really the front runners of the afternoon it's flip-flopped
00:57:07him right back there and the lights are still on on the safety car strange
00:57:11message here on the computer look Murray up maybe we'll never see that again
00:57:15man on track but ding-dong are we gonna see a race now lap 28 and you can see
00:57:20how close they are and remember Rubens Barrichello who's come up from 18th
00:57:25he's made his pit stop he's gonna have to make another one and that's the
00:57:28crumple mess that was Michael Schumacher's car when the race started
00:57:33behind it is the crumple mess that was Giancarlo Fisichella's car what an
00:57:39incredible German Grand Prix this is turning out to be lap 28 and Micah
00:57:45Hacken and leads a Yano trolley Rubens Barrichello is in third position
00:57:50De La Rosa is right behind him in the arrows and just ahead of heights how
00:57:54Frentzen and up into seventh position mysteriously and magnificently according
00:58:01to the computer in front of me and I'm waiting for confirmation on the track is
00:58:04Jenson Bunn well what about that for a development safety car Hacken and trolley
00:58:12Barrichello and De La Rosa Frentzen and Coulthard, Schumacher, Villeneuve, Zonta, Verstappen, Salo, Woertz
00:58:23well the computer cannot lie it is on this occasion a Jenson Bunn has got to
00:58:32come in and I confirm that there is rain on the way whether it's going to get
00:58:39here in time to wet the track before the end of this race which has nearly
00:58:43half its distance still to go remains to be seen a David Coulthard will be well
00:58:49and truly fired up now and a word from James Allen well of course the ten
00:58:53million dollar question here is was Coulthard told to stay out or was it his
00:58:56own decision what I can tell you is when he pulled away from his pit stop he made
00:59:00a very dismissive hand gesture with his left hand to the pit wall at McLaren so
00:59:03that may tell you that he doesn't think whatever the decision they made was the
00:59:06right one yes and the goal the golden rule is and the safety cars in the
00:59:11golden rule is that you only come in when you have clearance to do so you do
00:59:15not just wander in the pit lane of your own volitions but nonetheless at least
00:59:19Coulthard not too far down the field he has a chance to overtake and have a go
00:59:23watch Barrichello you're seeing the snake now and Barrichello can see the
00:59:28opportunity to get past trolley take second place get up behind Mika Hacken and
00:59:33behind them are Della Rosa and Frensen and you can see now Rubens Barrichello
00:59:39closing up and coming outside alongside Yardo Trulli and is he going through to second
00:59:43position the answer is no Trulli holds the inside line Barrichello fights fights
00:59:48fights ahead of Della Rosa and Frensen it's nose to tail snake formation round
00:59:54the circuit Mika Hacken and has got a clear track in front of him and he's
00:59:57making the most of it because he knows he's got to get the hammer down and get
01:00:01clear space between himself and Rubens Barrichello and Yardo Trulli and Yardo Trulli
01:00:07is undoubtedly holding up Barrichello and Della Rosa and Frensen as the rest
01:00:13switch back their way through the chicane down into the 200 mile an hour
01:00:18straight on lap 29 out of 45 and Mika Hacken and eases away a bit
01:00:26Zonta getting very close there to his teammate Vilna of locking up a wheel but
01:00:30everybody snatching and is that Coulthard getting ready to have a go at
01:00:36his first victim yes it is he's up behind Frensen but not close enough to
01:00:40have a go into the stadium the two BARs are still at it hammer and tongs
01:00:44Hacken and waltzing away up at the front yeah and of course David Coulthard is
01:00:49not amongst a lot of rabbits he's amongst some very very quick very
01:00:53talented extremely experienced Formula One drivers in mighty quick motor cars
01:00:58on a circuit where there are passing places but not all that many as Hacken
01:01:04and goes through now Trulli, Barrichello, Della Rosa, Frensen, David Coulthard in
01:01:11sixth position still in the points both the McLarens are in the points but not
01:01:16as commandingly as they were before that man came out on the track and hopefully
01:01:22he's on his way to clink now some recompense and down to the 200 mile an
01:01:28hour straight into the chicane again and just look at the way Mika Hacken is
01:01:32getting the hammer down and stretching away he's now two nearly three seconds
01:01:36ahead of Jarno Trulli and we've got a is that Jenson Batten no it's Ralph
01:01:41Schumacher, Schumacher and Verstappen, Verstappen had to go right around the
01:01:45outside obviously Ralph keeping the engine running up and away but he will
01:01:49now be effectively last and I saw Della Rosa look at look at this there's
01:01:57Schumacher, Vuets going through this is absolutely fantastic Formula One wheel
01:02:02to wheel nose-to-tail racing so Trulli, Barrichello can't get past the Jordan
01:02:09yet Della Rosa is right past the Ferrari there goes Jack Fielder then there's a
01:02:14gap this is Ralph Schumacher followed by Alexander Vuets and there's a and the
01:02:22cars whizzed through the frame and us didn't spot which ones they were two
01:02:25wheels off that's a nasty one that could be another pace car could be
01:02:29another safety car situation with so much debris safety cars standing by I
01:02:33see but that was it is but it's a Prost that's in the wall I don't know which
01:02:38one was with a Lacey yes a Lacey in the wall he's out of the car look so he's
01:02:44okay Donitz I think should be okay probably just talking on the radio
01:02:48and safety car has picked up Hacken and Hacken and will be caught by Jarno
01:02:54Trulli he has been Jarno Trulli will be caught by Rubens Barrichello he has been
01:02:58Rubens Barrichello will be caught by Della Rosa he has been and behind them
01:03:03Fredson and Coulthard and Jack Fielder in the BAR is now in seventh position
01:03:08ahead of his teammate Riccardo Zonta with Alex Fords in ninth position and
01:03:12Mikasalo in 10th place and let's have a look this is a replay yes let's see I
01:03:18think look Donitz cuts in look and Katten just drives into the side of a
01:03:22Lacey that's why Lacey was upset they were side-by-side Donitz went to take
01:03:27line with a Lacey completely in the way and there it is again surely Pedro knew
01:03:33he was there well Louise Goodman was talking to a Lacey earlier today and she
01:03:37said do you want rain in this race he said I want thunderbolts and satellites
01:03:44anything to help me that's his eighth retirement from 11 races in the Prost
01:03:50team which he had hoped to do well in his head is very well forward though
01:03:54yeah that's a big crash a very big crash it's well over 200 miles an hour and I
01:03:58don't think they'd quite made it to the braking zone as Donitz pulled over to
01:04:02take his line and just popped a Lacey's car up in the air which suggests they
01:04:07were little more than side-by-side I think Donitz was slightly ahead but they
01:04:10were still fundamentally side-by-side and a Lacey just smashing into the
01:04:16barriers and we know he's okay we know he's walked away but so no injuries to
01:04:20the drivers but a big and expensive accident so that's Donitz out of the
01:04:24race a Lacey out of the race Herbert Chewbacca and Fisichella as the
01:04:28marshals pick up the debris we're on lap 31 out of 45 safety car is out for the
01:04:34second time yes the tire tether still not managing to keep those wheels on
01:04:39board the cars but that was a violent accident they take about five tons of
01:04:42energy next year they're gonna have to have two of those tethers on in an
01:04:46attempt to keep these tires on and this will be a replay I think yes I think it
01:04:51was that was Ralph we know from earlier on he was hit from behind by I what I
01:04:57would assume to be Verstappen just had to go around yeah he wasn't part of the
01:05:02accident he had to go around and avoid it well it was a BAR that ran into the
01:05:06back of Ralph yeah and Ralph is back on the track now you've seen him dashing
01:05:09around but he's trying to catch up with the end of the snake behind at the
01:05:13safety car he's been into the pits for the second time presumably for a
01:05:17replacement nose as we look across the stadium at the safety car safety cars in
01:05:22this lap in at the end of this lap so two more corners for the safety car
01:05:26Hackingham will hold them back and then try and give himself a run through the
01:05:29last corner as they clear away the wreckage of that Prost and Hackingham is
01:05:34going for it already look he's already built a gap he caught truly sleeping
01:05:38there a bit yeah Hackingham had such a terrible German Grand Prix last year
01:05:42when first of all his fuel filler stuck and then secondly had a delaminated tire
01:05:47but he's well in command and off goes that's Alexander Wurz there's been
01:05:53another contact Wurz from down in the midfield goes off in the Benetton and
01:05:59that's the second Benetton of course looks to me as though he stole the
01:06:03engine he has he puts his visor up and he's on on the track hopefully the
01:06:08marshal and De La Rosa is having a go at Rubens Barrichello for third position
01:06:13again my goodness I mean people from Leafield and the Cotswolds area which is
01:06:19where Tom Walkinshaw has got his racing empire must be keeping their fingers
01:06:23crossed because it's a magnificent race for the Arrows and De La Rosa who did so
01:06:29well in Austria is doing even better here in Germany thanks to the superlative
01:06:34speed of the car it really is terrific and Wurz is out of the car running
01:06:39across the track out of the race another retirement and look he had contact down
01:06:42the field with what must be it's the Sauber of Salo so contact early on I
01:06:49don't quite how they managed to run into each other that early I think his car
01:06:52is still it is still on the start finish line safety car standing by again and
01:06:56it's not surprising it's on the racing line into turn one but no safety car at
01:07:01the moment but it is standing by and they're now just clearing Wurz's car
01:07:06across the across the grass as the snake comes into the stadium I think they'll
01:07:11get out of the way just in time well you may remember I was talking to Charlie
01:07:15Whiting before this program began the race director and we were talking at one
01:07:20point about the safety car this is the sort of decision he has to make and he
01:07:24always makes the right one so safety car clear Hakanen leads lap 33 45 lap race
01:07:32is looking very good for Mika Hakanen because Rubens Barrichello is the only
01:07:37bloke to me who can challenge him and he's still caught up behind Jarno Trulli
01:07:42incidentally both the Jordans are in the top six and the umbrellas are going up
01:07:48in this incredible race where we've had collisions where we've had a lunatic
01:07:53walking around the course we've had the safety car out it looked as though the
01:07:57weather was going to be good all through the race it looks as though now it is
01:08:00not going to be good all through the race and we face a situation where they
01:08:04could be coming in to change from dry weather tyres to rain tyres and then
01:08:10anything can happen at Hakanen. Yes they're a long way from home too I don't know how
01:08:14hard it's raining or where in fact those people are putting their coats on but
01:08:18the track looks relatively dry at the moment doesn't it? They're a good two miles
01:08:22from home. I'd be surprised if they pit at the end of this lap. The Ferrari mechanics are out and
01:08:27ready it's raining but it's not raining hard enough for wet but as I've said
01:08:31again it's four and a quarter miles the second longest track of the year Murray
01:08:36you can't afford to be out in the trees there on the wrong tyres if there's a
01:08:41downpour. Well yesterday's Formula 3000 race was decided by tyres because
01:08:46Thomas Schechter, world champion Jody Schechter's son, in only his second
01:08:52Formula 3000 race was brilliantly leading it and his teammate the
01:08:57Czechoslovakian Thomas Enger came in and changed from look at the rain look at
01:09:01the rain look at the rain and we can hear thunder here it's going to be a big
01:09:06one at Hockenheim it's going to be a big one and to finish what I was saying
01:09:10earlier on Thomas Enger came in and changed from wet weather tyres to dry
01:09:14weather tyres and he was he was lapping seven seconds a lap faster than the
01:09:19people who had gone ahead of him and he caught them all and he passed them all
01:09:22and he won the race the same thing could happen here the team managers will be
01:09:27looking up into the sky trying to make a decision about when they can best bring
01:09:31their men in look at the spots of rain on our television camera lens as in
01:09:35comes a Nick Heidfeld in the in the Prost and you can see that Micah
01:09:41Hacken and has not got all that much of a lead out goes the red and yellow flag
01:09:46which means trouble on the track in for in the form of some kind of moisture and
01:09:51it's not too difficult to guess what that is and Kulthard has passed Frentzen
01:09:55so Kulthard threw up into fifth place he's got to be careful he doesn't get
01:09:58too brave in remember he lost his wing here last year making a rash move on
01:10:03Salo who was driving the Ferrari at the time and cost himself a lot of points he
01:10:07can't afford that double shuffle in the pit stop cost Kulthard dearly today and
01:10:12he can't afford to trip over somebody here's a replay down into the first
01:10:16chicane again Frentzen there going to the middle of the track defending his
01:10:20line well there Frentzen but David saying so what you do that I'm going
01:10:24down the outside I'll break even later than you and a good clean move there
01:10:28from Kulthard that'll give him a lot of confidence to pass the rest of them and
01:10:31the oil well they call the oil flags but as you say it means slippery track ahead
01:10:36and Hacken and still up front by some 2.1 seconds from truly Barrichello the
01:10:41Ferrari mechanics raining hard here now Murray they're going to have to think
01:10:45about wet tires certainly quite soon if it carries on raining like this don't
01:10:49leave the room it's going to be terrific from now lap 34 11 laps to go rain on the
01:10:55circuit at Hockenheim and it's all potentially going to change flat engine
01:11:01big-blown engine for so hopefully he hasn't left a lot of oil on the track
01:11:07that is sort them out a nice emulsion of oil and water Eddie Irvine recovery he's
01:11:12pointing at the sky but you can't see that when you're doing 180 miles an hour
01:11:15driving past the start finish line and still the BAI Zalta Zalta has hit Jack
01:11:21Villeneuve who pirouettes through 360 degrees time and time again brilliantly
01:11:27keeps the engine running and accelerates away just as Ralf Schumacher in 12th
01:11:32position gets past him and Eddie Irvine has done a 180 as well and look at this
01:11:38they're going to come pouring into the pits now yes and then once again
01:11:42Coulthard's going to be at the back of the queue for McLaren they're all anybody
01:11:46with two cars running is going to have a queue of cars sitting at the pit lane
01:11:51they've got to come in at the end of this lap it's now wet enough here in the
01:11:55stadium I'm sure it just depends how wet it is down the far end some two odd
01:11:59mark doesn't look too bad does it really doesn't look too bad down there but
01:12:03they're in for quite a shock when they get down the end of the next straight
01:12:07it's raining hard here at the stadium as you see a replay of Janay's Minardi
01:12:14blowing up that's an oil fire shortly afterwards which clearly means that
01:12:18valves have had a chat with the pistons and the oil it's getting inside the
01:12:23cylinder and then the replay again of Eddie Irvine spinning off but what are
01:12:27they gonna and here's Villeneuve and Zonta this is a replay Zonta clips the
01:12:32right rear wheel of his teammates BAR remember I said last two weeks ago in
01:12:38Austria the worst thing that can happen is for two teammates to hit each other
01:12:41Alessi and Heidfeld did it in Austria for Prost and now Villeneuve and Zonta
01:12:47have done it in Germany for BAR Zonta and Villeneuve comes in they the two
01:12:52BARs have been threatening to run into each other for some laps and finally
01:12:55they achieved it as Hakkinen comes in early oh they're all coming in
01:12:59Barrichello is going on Barrichello is going on Rubens Barrichello carries on
01:13:04and takes the lead in the German Grand Prix but it's a bit of a false lead
01:13:08because he will have to unless he's taking a tremendous gamble which he
01:13:12obviously is that things will improve and that he can stay on his dry weather
01:13:17tyres we're on lap 36 out of 45 now Mikko Hakkinen is rejoining the race on
01:13:22rain tyres on wet weather tyres followed by Trolley and followed by De La Rosa
01:13:27wets are the way to go surely although it's still quite dry down the far and
01:13:31this is so confusing for the drivers and they've got to be careful they lose a
01:13:34lot of tyre temperature through going slowly on the damp parts and pressure
01:13:38but now they can build it back up again and well has Hakkinen gone slightly too
01:13:43early for sure they're gonna have to go on to wet soon it's raining quite hard
01:13:47down there there's a now plumes of water coming out of behind the cars as they go
01:13:51down the pit straight but look bone-dry at the Ostkurve and the Ferrari mechanics
01:13:56have got a set of wet weather tyres ready for Rubens Barrichello and David
01:14:01Coulthard is really flying as well now here comes Barrichello David Coulthard
01:14:06is up into second place in the race followed by Heinz-Harald Frentzen
01:14:10followed by Riccardo Zonta followed by Riccardo Zonta in the B.A.R. well my
01:14:16goodness I said this race was going to be blown wide open and it has been and
01:14:20the question now is is it going to stop raining in which case Barrichello may be
01:14:24able to stay out on dry weather tyres or is it going to get worse in which case
01:14:29Micah Hakkinen there will be laughing again and he at the present moment is
01:14:34he's got he's got the Jordan right behind him look at this they're into the
01:14:39stadium and out of it and Barrichello is going to come through in the lead yes
01:14:43Frentzen is more comfortable at the moment his cars working better than
01:14:46Coulthard he's putting him under pressure on the damp stuff Coulthard
01:14:49finding a bit of traction you cannot believe how easy it is to swap ends just
01:14:53put a millimeter too much throttle and Barrichello goes again and Coulthard
01:14:58goes again they're saying okay I'm happy with the grip at the far end and I'll
01:15:02put up with the slippery stuff at this end we'll go for another lap and there's
01:15:05the tyre blankets remaining on Barrichello's tyres as he leads the German
01:15:10Grand Prix lap 37 you're looking at Rubens Barrichello followed by David
01:15:15Coulthard we're coming back but we're going for a break
01:16:15you
01:17:15lap 38 out of 45 Jarno Trulli has had a 10 second stop go penalty presumably
01:17:36for speeding in the pit lane he was in seventh place out of the points but up
01:17:39front it's magic there's Rubens Barrichello still leading and they're all
01:17:43still on six at the front ends here Zonta is under investigation by the
01:17:47stewards presumably for running into Vilna we wait to see on that I just saw
01:17:51Coulthard going straight over the chicane at the first chicane taking the
01:17:55shortcut he may get a penalty for that he did not gain he's not overtake
01:18:01anybody but I don't think he saved the position either but Coulthard
01:18:05struggling a little bit with these conditions Frentzen all over him and
01:18:08Barrichello staying out front now and look how wet it is rooster tails behind
01:18:13the cars remember they are on slick tires and Zonta is staying with them and
01:18:17Coulthard really struggles now when he gets to the stadium area Frentzen all
01:18:21over him once again Frentzen attack attack attack that's that's Coulthard to
01:18:27McLaren in front of him but look now Hakkinen 1 minute 55 on wets Coulthard
01:18:32runs wide Coulthard runs very wide and Frentzen doing well
01:18:37and Frentzen they should be in this lap they're now slower than Hakkinen on
01:18:42wets Zonta goes off they Zonta in the water you can see they should be in this
01:18:47lap and Coulthard in Coulthard is in the pits but Frentzen goes through and
01:18:51takes second position he's taking a tremendous gamble so Frentzen goes up
01:18:56into second position here are the Ferrari mechanics take it second place
01:18:59he was David Coulthard in for wets but he's losing places there are going to be
01:19:04six laps left at the end of this race and it's going to be a quite incredible
01:19:08situation as a Mika Hakkinen attacks in the McLaren so good stop there for
01:19:15Coulthard 7.6 seconds I think Frentzen made a mistake somewhere because Hakkinen
01:19:20has now taken him for what will be second place Coulthard joining the track
01:19:24quite late though so Coulthard coming out with Ralf Schumacher that's ninth
01:19:28place for David Coulthard just won't work out for him today now Mika Hakkinen
01:19:33is lapping 1.2 seconds on the wet weather tires faster than Rubens Barrichello
01:19:37on dry weather tires and Barrichello is on lap 39 out of 45 but look Frentzen's
01:19:44got back past Hakkinen again so Hakkinen obviously losing some grip
01:19:49somewhere remember he's on wet tires on this dry part of the racetrack and
01:19:53incredible Hakkinen can't find any traction and then when they get to that
01:19:57did Frentzen make a mistake yes he did look he went across the chicane so he's
01:20:02yielded to Hakkinen and that's how Hakkinen got in front of him and then
01:20:07later on Frentzen retakes Hakkinen yeah I think it was a very sensible move of
01:20:12Frentzen's to let Hakkinen pass because he would have had to come in for a
01:20:16stop-go penalty at least for having benefited from going off but here is a
01:20:22man who is not going off at the present moment
01:20:25Rubens Barrichello is he going to win his first Grand Prix he's had second
01:20:30places for Jordan he said second places for Ferrari he's never won a Grand Prix
01:20:36and this is Rubens Barrichello's 123rd race he could be in the running as
01:20:43winner because he is not being caught by David Coulthard or Frentzen now look
01:20:49Hakkinen has just taken Frentzen and then pulled away about seven or eight
01:20:53seconds when they get into the wet stadium zone so it's a complete yo-yo
01:20:58around the track now let me just give you the positions lap 40 Barrichello is
01:21:03leading Hakkinen by 10 seconds David Coulthard is third and Heinz-Harald
01:21:08Frentzen is fourth, Mikasalo is fifth and Jenson Button is in sixth
01:21:13position and Frentzen is pulling out of the race Frentzen on the start finish
01:21:16line here with some problems so Frentzen is out of the race we're going to take a
01:21:21short break be back very quickly
01:23:28Lap 42 out of 45 I can hardly contain myself you're watching Rubens
01:23:39Barrichello who is staying ahead on dry weather tyres of Mika Hakkinen and on wet
01:23:45weather tyres the gap is 10 seconds and we have just seen Heinz-Harald Frentzen
01:23:50retire from the race we've seen Petra of Jos Verstappen pull out from seventh
01:23:55position the orders at the moment Barrichello leads Hakkinen by 10 seconds
01:24:00Coulthard is third Salo in the Sauber is fourth Jenson Button is in fifth
01:24:04position and Pedro de la Rosa in the arrows is eighth so this is what we've
01:24:08got as you see a replay of Verstappen going off backwards into the first
01:24:14corner of the stadium Hakkinen is losing three seconds to Barrichello out in the
01:24:19countryside where it's dry and then making it all back up in the stadium but
01:24:24it's pretty much status quo so Barrichello can stay roughly 10 seconds
01:24:28ahead of Hakkinen Hakkinen on the wet tyres cannot find any grip through the
01:24:33two chicanes Frentzen dropped out of the race while third so a technical problem
01:24:38for him somehow Barrichello is keeping that Ferrari pointing in the right
01:24:42direction on a wet track absolutely brilliant driving from Barrichello no
01:24:47doubt about it the lead is down to 9.5 seconds now Hakkinen cannot make the
01:24:52difference when he's got those wet tyres on who would ever have thought this when
01:24:58Michael Schumacher and Fisichella collided at the beginning of the race
01:25:02and the two McLarens streaked away until that very strange chap started
01:25:08wandering about the circuit and out came the safety car and as a result of that
01:25:12and all sorts of other things in this quite incredible Hockenheim German
01:25:16Grand Prix you're looking at Rubens Barrichello on lap 42 out of 45 leading
01:25:21Micah Hakkinen and maintaining the lead of just about 10 seconds and seemingly
01:25:26comfortable notwithstanding the fact that part of this circuit is dry part of
01:25:31the circuit is wet David Coulthard is in third position and McLaren are looking
01:25:36good for 11 World Championship points which is going to make them very good
01:25:41indeed and take him ahead of Ferrari in the Constructors Championship yes
01:25:45Coulthard has passed Salo somewhere out of sight of the TV cameras Jenson Button
01:25:50is in fifth place with a current two World Championship points in his pocket
01:25:54he can get to the end of the race de la Rosa finishing out the top six but once
01:25:58again Hakkinen is seven or eight tens up on this lap in the first section he'll
01:26:03lose in the second section he is ever so slowly catching Rubens Barrichello but
01:26:09it's very much a tale of a track of two parts yeah he's got if he's catching him
01:26:14at half a second a lap it's about all that he is doing and the gap is still
01:26:18over nine seconds so that's 18 laps and there's only four laps left in the race
01:26:24only three laps left very shortly because here comes Rubens Barrichello to
01:26:28complete his 42nd lap start his 43rd p2 three laps to go that is the sign that
01:26:34is going to be held out to Micka Hakkinen yes and Barrichello still
01:26:38keeping it pointing in the right direction remember he started this race
01:26:41in 18th position Michael Schumacher tripped up with Fisichella into the
01:26:46first corner of the first lap they were out immediately Johnny Herbert broke
01:26:49down early on then there are a series of incidents in the midfield cars tripping
01:26:54over they were running very close from 5th through to 19th a series of fairly
01:26:58big accidents including Jean Alessi one of them then the rain started coming
01:27:02down and just before that we had a strange guy wandering around the
01:27:06racetrack they had to bring out the safety car closed up the pack
01:27:10Coulthard lost out because he had to wait another lap only one pit facility
01:27:15per team and they're putting back down the field he's back up now to third
01:27:19place Hakkinen driving brilliantly until he pitted too early for his wets
01:27:24Barrichello has stayed out on those slick tires I suspect right now the
01:27:28right tire to be on is the wet tire but of course Barrichello didn't have to
01:27:32make that pit stop giving him track position and certainly all the ammunition
01:27:37he needs to take his first Grand Prix win not only for Ferrari but for himself
01:27:42yeah and you just saw Micka Hakkinen come flying around the corner but if
01:27:45Rubens Barrichello does win this race it will be richly deserved not only has
01:27:50he fought his way up from 18th to the lead but he genuinely is one of the
01:27:54nicest people in Grand Prix racing and he's taken a bit of flak this year
01:27:59because people didn't expect it to go better against Michael Schumacher than
01:28:03he has done but there is David Coulthard in a third position bearing down on him
01:28:09is Micka Salo on the left who has now got Jenson Button ahead of him so Jenson
01:28:15Button is up into fourth place and he's had two fifth places this year the young
01:28:20Englishman he's only 20 years old in his first season of Grand Prix racing and is
01:28:25potentially going to be replaced by Juan Pablo Montoya in the Williams team next
01:28:31year he's driving an absolute storm of a race he is a natural this is the first
01:28:38time he's driven at Hockenheim he's not used to driving in wet weather and just
01:28:42look at the way he's going he's pulling away from Micka Salo who is in fifth
01:28:47position and Pedro de la Rosa in the arrows who is in sixth place and Rubens
01:28:52Barrichello is now on his penultimate lap his last lap but one yes and remember
01:28:59Jenson's really kept his head well this afternoon he had a terrible first half
01:29:02of the race he started plumb last having stalled on the dummy grid was running
01:29:07last but one but now when the chips are down and everybody's having problems
01:29:11he's really cutting the mustard up there in fourth place just five seconds behind
01:29:16Coulthard ride with Rubens it's a joy and he's now 12 seconds ahead of and
01:29:22pulling away from Micka Hackenham on a lap 44 out of 45 and you know I have to
01:29:30say it again in Formula One anything can happen and it usually does and
01:29:35everything has happened in this quite amazing motor race Rubens Barrichello
01:29:41turns through the center curve he's coming down now at nearly 200 miles an
01:29:47hour to turn 11 out of 15 on his 44th lap out of 45 with a comfortable lead
01:29:54over that man Micka Hackenham double world champion and there behind Micka
01:30:00Hackenham you can see it's Coulthard I apologize I was going to say what's
01:30:05Jenson Button doing there? There is Jenson Button with Salo and Dallarosa
01:30:10and behind Dallarosa is Schumacher. Yeah Button 5.1 seconds behind last time
01:30:14over the start finish line and they're a bad even Stevens in the first section so
01:30:19I don't think Button's got enough laps left to do anything about Coulthard
01:30:22they're running similar pace and it's now Hackenham beginning to fade away
01:30:26those wets getting too hot Barrichello can hack it on the wet track with the
01:30:30slicks just squeezing that throttle oh so gently as he now heads into his final
01:30:36lap taking the go-kart line around the outside using all the old bits of tire
01:30:40and debris to find that extra grip that you have in these slimy conditions and
01:30:44the Ferrari mechanics running to the pit wall Murray. If you believe in Ferrari
01:30:49get down and pray because Rubens Barrichello is on his last lap in what
01:30:55looks like being a magnificent first ever and absolutely brilliant victory
01:31:03the gap between himself and Micka Hackenham has been reduced marginally
01:31:07but he's still over 11 seconds as you watch the Finn coming home for what
01:31:13looks like a certain six World Championship points which could have
01:31:17been ten. Yes talk about damage limitation certainly with Michael
01:31:21Schumacher out the first corner this is the best Ferrari could have hoped for
01:31:25is a virtuoso performance from Barrichello and he really has given it to
01:31:29them hasn't he those overtaking maneuvers albeit with a lighter car in
01:31:32the first part of the race were sensational and he had the confidence to
01:31:36stay out on the racetrack there's Michael Schumacher watching the action
01:31:40and the fastest man on the track by miles is actually Jenson Button who just
01:31:45took two and a half seconds out of cool time on the last lap and we're giving
01:31:48be giving him a real hurry up to the line for that final podium place and if
01:31:52I'm right with my mental arithmetic amazingly Michael Schumacher is still
01:31:57going to be leading the World Championship at the end of this race
01:32:01Rubens Barrichello is into the stadium for the 45th and last time he turns into
01:32:08the slow turn 12 left-hander he can almost feel a wonderful victory as he
01:32:15comes down to the last two right handers you are watching a sensational drive
01:32:22being completed with Rubens Barrichello from Sao Paulo Brazil winning for Ferrari
01:32:30and he's done it superb and look at the reception he gets
01:32:35Michael Schumacher and Corinna his wife are almost as pleased for Schumacher for
01:32:40Barrichello as he would have been for himself
01:32:42Mika Häkkinen finishes in third second position David Coulthard there is in the
01:32:49fourth if he's in the third position Jenson Button look at him closing up on
01:32:55the McLaren finishes higher in a Grand Prix than he's finished before two fifth
01:33:01places and now a fourth and Mika Salo is fifth with Pedro de la Rosa in sixth
01:33:07position both the Williams cars are in the top seven because Ralf Schumacher is
01:33:11in seventh place and John took the bus of Ferrari with Ross Brawn and the
01:33:17euphoric Ferrari team can hardly believe their luck but it was deserved well
01:33:24Rubens Barrichello has waited a long time for that first win but what a quality
01:33:29win when it came absolutely brilliant performance from 18th on the grid
01:33:34through one of the weirdest Grand Prix's you'll ever see rain shine a man
01:33:39wandering over the track safety cars he kept his head and then when he needed
01:33:44some confidence to take that first win he had it splashing around rooster tails
01:33:48coming out of the back of the car on slicks as he passed his pit each time
01:33:52and he stuck with it James Ross Brawn you're actually crying today what an
01:33:56extraordinary motor race and what's Rubens done for you today
01:34:02we talked about over the radio and we realized it was worth a chance and he
01:34:06said no let me go let's try it and it was just fantastic there was a few points
01:34:12when it was tough but then when we saw how much happening was struggling in t2
01:34:16we realized we could do it it's just a matter of not falling off and he's kept
01:34:19Michael in the championship of course yeah I guess yes I wasn't thinking of
01:34:23that but it was fantastic on a serious note there Ross what about the nutter
01:34:28that walked on the track that must never be allowed to happen again must it yeah
01:34:31yeah I mean it's obviously very very dangerous I mean the trouble is the
01:34:36public do have access particularly a place like this because it's in the
01:34:39forest just sum up in a few words for us the scale of Rubens Barrichello what he
01:34:47achieved out there today we had everything I mean had patience so he
01:34:51worked his way up through the grid we took a two-stop because we thought it
01:34:56was worth a chance and he called the decision for tires at the end to stay
01:35:02out and give it a go and he just drove a perfect race a magnificent turnaround
01:35:07well done Ross superstar Rubino Rubens Barrichello look at the joy on his face
01:35:13and in this incredible race Michael Schumacher who has not scored points for
01:35:19the last three races still leads the championship and Coulthard and Häkkinen
01:35:25are tying with each other two points behind Michael Schumacher 56 points for
01:35:31Schumacher 54 points for Coulthard and Häkkinen and Rubens Barrichello is only
01:35:3710 points now behind Michael Schumacher what this is this has had it all well in
01:35:42the next door comedy box are the Brazilian commentators and they are
01:35:46absolutely as you can imagine ecstatic that must be the first Brazilian driver
01:35:52Brazilian win since Senna won back in 93 for McLaren that's right and Luciano Berti
01:35:58the Jaguar driver who who substituted for Eddie Irvine so superbly in Austria
01:36:05is standing with just the width of a glass between us and is he a happy boy
01:36:09because he's a great friend of Rubens Barrichello's and lived until recently in
01:36:14the same house with the young Brazilian well Michael will be very pleased that
01:36:17certainly saved a part of his day at least and Rubens Barrichello waited a
01:36:22hundred and twenty three races for this win so well done to him there'll be I
01:36:28can't think of anybody who will not be happy about that in the Formula One
01:36:31party as I said earlier on he really is a charming person you don't hear a hard
01:36:36word about it from anyone with the possible exception of some McLaren
01:36:40well absolutely but but they won't be unpleasant words because he richly
01:36:46deserved that victory and to recap Rubens Barrichello wins the 11th race in
01:36:53this superb World Championship Series of the year 2000 by 7.4 seconds from
01:37:00Micah Hacken and he beat him fair and square you heard Ross Brawn saying that
01:37:05Rubens made the decision about whether he would stay on dry weather tires or
01:37:10come in for wet weather tires he made it right he beat Hacken and but McLaren
01:37:15had now leading the Constructors World Championship which is some recompense as
01:37:20a delighted Michael Schumacher joins a euphoric Rubens Barrichello who I do
01:37:26believe is in tears not strictly legal you're not allowed to be in the park
01:37:32for me but I don't think anybody will mind too much for Michael going in there
01:37:35and enjoying that moment Coulthard and Barrichello used to fight hammer and
01:37:41nail in the British Formula 3 championship because Barrichello just taking it from
01:37:45Coulthard and this is Barrichello's day lovely bit of sportsmanship from Micah
01:37:50Hacken and David Coulthard and one has to say that it might well have been a
01:37:56very different result had if that nutter had not taken it in his mind to go
01:38:00wandering about the track but you know it was it was the same for everyone and
01:38:05Rubens Barrichello saw his chances and he took it this young man who comes from
01:38:12Sao Paulo cut his teeth on kart racing he lives just a few hundred yards from
01:38:17the Interlagos circuit where he used to watch his heroes as a boy little
01:38:21realizing that he would become as good as them and he joins the greats not many
01:38:26people have won a Grand Prix race and our own James Allen is talking to
01:38:30Michael Schumacher to get his reaction but let's spare a word too for Jenson
01:38:36Button because whilst the Rubens Barrichello came up from 18th to win the
01:38:41race the best performance of the day Jenson Button cut him very close indeed
01:38:46he started 22nd and last there he is on the right of your pictures now standing
01:38:52on the scales and he finishes in fourth position for three world championship
01:38:57points Jenson Button fourth Mikko Saalef good for good for Sauber they've got two
01:39:03world championship points great for Arrows because they had only got one
01:39:09world championship point before today three world championship points I
01:39:14apologize so Arrows have had a great race too and in the Constructors
01:39:19Championship Ferrari actually still lead it to my surprise by four points
01:39:26they're on 102 points Ferrari and McLaren notwithstanding the second and
01:39:34third place that Hackett and Coulthard had are four points behind them and
01:39:38really as it has been for the whole year this Constructors Championship is just
01:39:43between two teams Ferrari and McLaren because Williams in third place and
01:39:49that's as a result of Buttons fourth position they're holding it are no less
01:39:55than 80 world championship points behind Ferrari yes you may be surprised because
01:40:00McLaren lost ten points this week Mary didn't they from the seal security seal
01:40:06from the Hackens car and the Austrian Grand Prix as Rubino enjoys his moment of
01:40:11glory and and so he should but feel a bit sorry for Jordan today truly was
01:40:15running so well for so long up there in third place then he got a stop-and-go
01:40:19penalty Frentz and then took up the baton and his car failed for some reason
01:40:25so Jordan going there now sixth in the world championship and going away with
01:40:28no points when they actually put in a very very strong performance Coulthard's
01:40:33third place that'll be quite bittersweet for him it'd be interesting to see what
01:40:36he's got to say about that pit stop early on when the safety car came out
01:40:40with the guy wandering around the racetrack and then of course he elected
01:40:44to stay out on slicks as did Barrichello then came in for the wet his car not
01:40:49working as well as the Ferrari for whatever reason in the wet conditions
01:40:52Barrichello really just peerless in those in those tricky conditions I've
01:40:57never seen a situation that's so cut and cut and dry excuse the pun where one
01:41:02part of the circuit is absolutely wet and the other side stays bone-dry all
01:41:07through the duration yeah I'm wondering what the FIA the governing body of
01:41:11motorsport are going to say to Hockenheim now about the chat wandering
01:41:14around the circuit this this this track is some 4.3 miles long and when you're
01:41:20out in the forest I don't see to be fair to Hockenheim that it's possible to
01:41:24police it and stop some lunatic climbing over the barriers but here's a man who's
01:41:28climbed right to the top yes thank you he is in tears and he does deserve to be
01:41:39where he is waving the flag of Brazil remembering his own great hero
01:42:29oh
01:42:51let it all out Rubino feel proud feel proud
01:42:58rewrite to the Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard, who've been there many times, hear the Italian National Anthem for Baroque.
01:43:28Wow, I thought I'd seen it all.
01:43:58I hadn't seen the combination of circumstances that we've had here at Hockenheim today, which have given us a truly memorable race, which has resulted in the World Championship becoming even closer than it was before.
01:44:15And we've still got the Hungarian, the Belgian, the Italian, the American, the Japanese and the Malaysian Grand Prix to look forward to and to savour in this wonderful year of Formula One, which just gets better and better all the time.
01:44:32So, Rubens Barrichello gets his trophy from Erwin Teufel, who's the Chief Minister of Baden-Württemberg, and Rolf Oberwerder gives Mika Hakkinen his, and David Coulthard gets his trophy.
01:44:51And of course, the Constructor's Trophy goes to Ferrari.
01:44:57And it's yet another victory for the Maranello team, unexpectedly after what happened to Michael Schumacher at the very beginning of the race, thanks to the skill, the determination and the racecraft, the brilliant racecraft of Rubens Barrichello, who celebrates his first win of the season and ever in his career, very fittingly.
01:45:23Thanks very much indeed, Murray, while not the Ferrari winner the majority of the Hockenheim crowd wanted, but he'll do for me and for the majority of the world of Formula One as well.
01:45:36A very, very popular victory indeed for Rubens Barrichello, worst day of the year yesterday for the Brazilian, his words, not mine, slightly different today.
01:45:47Barrichello, you know, he retired six times here out of seven races, and Rubens Barrichello in his 124th Grand Prix is a winner at last.
01:46:01We have plenty to talk about, a quite astonishing race, as Murray and Martin have been saying.
01:46:05Martin Brundle will be joining us in the studio, we'll have the views of Tony Jardim, we will hear from the top three and we hope to snatch a word with Jenson Button as well.
01:46:16Well done Rubinho, we'll see you shortly.