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00:00:00One formula one world championship the spanish grand prix at barcelona's catalunya circuit
00:00:0565 tiring laps over the next hour and a half described by martin brundle and murray walker
00:00:11now then murray i can't argue with your wet weather forecast at the moment
00:00:15will it rain said jim rosenthal while murray walker says yes it will but then maybe it won't
00:00:23you never know at this place it's so changeable you've heard the drivers and the team managers
00:00:30saying you never know what's going to happen at the catalunya circuit from one 10 minute period
00:00:34to the next and look at those skies now when we came here this morning it was clear blue skies
00:00:40bright sunshine the forecast for what it's worth is that it is going to rain and if it does of
00:00:47course this will be a terrific bonus for the people who are using traction control you've
00:00:52heard a lot about that you assume that they're all using it well they're not necessarily some
00:00:57of the teams and i think the williams bmw in particular team are in doubt about whether
00:01:04they're going to use it because williams and bmw have been pretty unhappy with their traction
00:01:09control so far we know that mika hacken and hardly used it at all for his sensational lap which gave
00:01:16him second position on the grid at the end of the qualifying period yesterday we know that michael
00:01:22schumacher and rubens barrichello are pretty happy with their system but it really is a journey into
00:01:29the unknown now yes i'm expecting some problems on the start today mary just watching the drivers
00:01:35at the end of the pit lane as they've been trying to get to grips with the new systems
00:01:39through the weekend they've certainly some of them been struggling mostly the guys actually
00:01:43in the second half of the grids but the ferrari system seems to need sorry i'm a little bit out
00:01:49of breath i've just run a long way the ferrari system seems to need a long time it's quite a
00:01:54long process they go through but the cars are getting away well but it surprised me to see
00:01:59michael schumacher finding the need to stop at the end of the pit lane when coming to the grid
00:02:04yeah to do yet another practice start he's done it so many times too in the qualifying
00:02:10the practice days and you put a lot of energy through the transmission driveshafts and that
00:02:14so you need to be a little bit careful especially with the clutch of course but the other thing
00:02:19mary is that in practice there was a problem with the weighbridge it seems and a lot of the cars
00:02:24were coming in at over 10 kilos overweight which about three and a half tenths of a second around
00:02:28this racetrack and it seems to me that those that were weighed were able to take 10 kilos of lead
00:02:34out and others weren't so i think the grid probably doesn't fully represent the speed of
00:02:39some of the cars so the first four i think are going to be very close well we will as ever see
00:02:46but at the present moment it would seem that most of them are going to use what they call
00:02:50launch control where in effect the driver presses a button and the system takes over at the start
00:02:56and blasts him off towards towards the first corner 14 corners on the circuit michael schumacher
00:03:03there is a double winner you saw earlier on his incredible win at barcelona in 96 when it was wet
00:03:10he won the previous year for benetton look at that you see that hill is just over my left shoulder
00:03:16and those clouds are getting lower and lower and when this race starts if rain comes down
00:03:22and damps the circuit they are on what we still call slick tires although they're grooved tires
00:03:28these days to put less rubber on the road there you are you can see mika hackenen's tires or you
00:03:33could just a moment ago mika hackenen has won this race for the last three years david kuhlfein has
00:03:39been second there he is for the last three years it's very much a mclaren circuit they were dominated
00:03:45by ferrari for the first two races this year in australia and malaysia they made their comeback
00:03:51in brazil and ferrari and mclaren are very very close there is spain's man fernando alonso in the
00:04:00european minardi he qualified a magnificent 18th and rubens barrichello's ferrari comes off the
00:04:07jacks and we wait now it's just a matter of seconds before the parade lap now i'd imagine
00:04:12they're going to switch off their launch control systems and try and lay as much rubber on the
00:04:16track as they can those that are thinking about it anyway trying to get a bit more rubber down
00:04:20because although they've got traction control launch control that is still a mechanism to
00:04:25control or minimize wheel spin if you can stop the wheel spin happening in the first place
00:04:29or to a lesser degree you want to do that so i'm expecting they'll some of them those that are
00:04:34thinking and kuhlthardt kuhlthardt's got a problem kuhlthardt is not moving oh now this means that
00:04:41david conifer if all the others get past him and david kuhlthardt doesn't start it means that he
00:04:46will have to start from the back of the grid and this is the man who with michael schumacher is
00:04:51leading the world championship drama to put it very mildly indeed and just about the worst thing
00:04:57that david could have hoped to have what he wouldn't have hoped it would happen it's really
00:05:01really bad news for the mclaren driver yes and the team would not be allowed onto the
00:05:06grid to start him up until the whole pack had gone past so kuhlthardt will start from the very
00:05:11back of the grid and after all that work all the testing practice qualifying it's all been wasted
00:05:18now there was a there was a ruling martin that if they could get their position back safely by the
00:05:24end of this parade lap they could adopt it no not if you've fallen completely to the back of the
00:05:29field uh if you're if you get away slowly marion you're in the pack still uh you can resume your
00:05:35normal grid position but not if the whole pack has gone past you well of two of one thing you
00:05:40can be sure david kuhlthardt is a fighter he's not going to take this line down he's going to
00:05:47come up behind taso marcos in the european minardi who was due to start last and they'll have to get
00:05:53past jenson button de la rosa in the jaguar who's starting 20th on the grid fizzy keller who is 19th
00:06:00and was very late out on the grid on the benetton reno incidentally and there's the yellow flags
00:06:05waving at the top left of the screen there kuhlthardt clearly as he put it in first gear ready for the
00:06:12dummy grid if you like to go around to the start proper he has stalled the engine for whatever
00:06:16reason and that's going to cost him dearly be difficult for him to get on the podium today
00:06:21points may still be a possibility because of the speed of the car that he's driving but
00:06:25overtaking around here is a nightmare onto this very long pit straight you can see now it's 135
00:06:32mile an hour corner and you just can't follow close enough to get a good run at the car in front of
00:06:37you now what this is going to mean a tremendous bonus for ralph schumacher who is fifth on the
00:06:42grid in the williams there's david kuhlthardt coming up to take his position and remember
00:06:46what an absolutely fantastic start ralph schumacher had in the last race of the year
00:06:51of san marino when he went into the lead by the first corner now he's got a spare space in front
00:06:58of him at the present moment he's just got rubens barrichello hackinnon and michael schumacher
00:07:03and ralph schumacher is a lightning starter so watch the right hand side of the grid when you
00:07:09look down the two rows several years since kuhlthardt will have started anywhere near
00:07:14the back of a formula one pack and he's got to go for it but he's got to be so careful not to trip over
00:07:23go go go in spain now michael schumacher gets away and his second behind him ruben
00:07:29barrichello is in third place challenging and sure enough ralph schumacher is right up there
00:07:35he is third from fifth on the grid ralph schumacher in the williams bmw moves up
00:07:41and barrichello is dropping back he thinks he's passed he's past schumacher again ralph schumacher
00:07:47has got jarno trulli in the yellow jordan behind him and the race order at the present moment
00:07:52michael schumacher leads mika hackin and leads rubens barrichello in fourth position there you
00:07:57can see ralph schumacher and behind him is jarno trulli so with david kuhlthardt fighting his way
00:08:04through the grid this of course is a 65 lap race lots of action to come yes and kuhlthardt had a
00:08:10reasonable start at the back the man who just did not get off the line is frentzen he got away
00:08:14plumb last thank god nobody ran into the back of him so it looks like frentzen's launch control
00:08:19didn't function or he hadn't got it plugged in properly and he is running well behind but also
00:08:25now i noticed i think kuhlthardt is at the back of the pack he's obviously tripped over somebody
00:08:29james complete chaos here in the mclaren garage they're only coming back with the pit equipment
00:08:33it's all been flung aside and they're all down there ready now for kuhlthardt with a spare nose
00:08:37he's had an incident i think the front wing's been damaged all kinds of parts and bits thrown
00:08:41everywhere trying to get ready they are now ready for david kuhlthardt though what a dramatic start
00:08:45and i think frentzen had some problems as well off the start line guys thanks james well rock
00:08:49rock luck for david kuhlthardt it's uh looking very tough indeed for him as schumacher goes
00:08:55through hackett are back on form it is eight races since mika hacken and won a formula one
00:09:02grand prix he's hungry for victory because he's well down in the picking order in the world
00:09:07championship he's in seventh position he's only got four world championship points in comparison
00:09:12with michael schumacher and david kuhlthardt on 26 and david kuhlthardt he comes into the pits
00:09:17right in front of me david kuhlthardt comes into the pits i'm looking across at him now
00:09:22and the mclaren mechanics working furiously you can see the back of the car up in the air
00:09:27there's a new nose going on in the front martin about 19 seconds to change that nose it's got
00:09:32special fasteners to enable them to do it properly but of course carries a massive load
00:09:36from the front wing and the downforce so it has to be fixed on securely and uh well we didn't see
00:09:42who he tripped over but kuhlthardt clearly had a fine start and got into sort of two-thirds of
00:09:47the way into the pack by turn one it's clearly running to the back of somebody yeah and he has
00:09:51to tour out of the pit lane of course because there's a mandatory speed limit there which you
00:09:55must not exceed and if you do you get a 10 second penalty across the time it takes you to slow down
00:10:00and come in and then speed up and get out again meantime on lap two you're looking at the second
00:10:05place man mika hackenden who is sandwiched between the two ferraris of michael schumacher
00:10:10six-tenths of a second ahead of him and rubens barrichello 1.4 seconds behind him now michael
00:10:17schumacher knows what the challenge is he puts down the hammer as he goes at 200 miles an hour
00:10:22into turn one pursued by ralph schumacher now in fourth position jarno trulli is in fifth place
00:10:28there is the white and blue williams there is the yellow jordan in sixth position an incredible
00:10:33sixth position because montoya the colombian has come up into sixth position and he started down
00:10:40in 12th place so montoya who had a very grotty qualifying and practice sessions on the friday
00:10:48and saturday he's signing his way through the field replay so uh front runners all got a good
00:10:54start you can see frentzen's jordan absolutely stationary he would later on spin his wheels and
00:10:59make a normal start and let's see if we can find out where coulthard had the problem i suspect he's
00:11:05gone in the back of bernaldi in the arrows because they both pitted at the end of the first lap and
00:11:11the camera's cut away now i can see coulthard two-thirds of the way down but uh there you're
00:11:15watching this barrichello uh back at the front making his way around the outside of turn two
00:11:20regaining that crucial third place yeah great move by rubens barrichello to get past ralph
00:11:25schumacher who had got past him ralph schumacher i suspect doing the start all on his very own
00:11:32operating his own clutch operating his own throttle and it certainly worked but not for
00:11:37long enough meantime i'm looking up into the skies the clouds are as low as they were before
00:11:42you can see on the right hand side of your screens that they're pretty low but no sign of rain yet
00:11:48and race leader michael schumacher is now 1.2 seconds ahead of mika hakkanen it is ferrari
00:11:56leading mclaren leading ferrari in third position the williams bmw on the top michelin runner
00:12:01because as ever this season the entry is split between two tire manufacturers bridgestone who
00:12:08have got most of the cars and michelin the french company returning to formula one and they won of
00:12:14course at the san marino grand prix their top runner at the present moment ralph schumacher
00:12:19in the williams bmw montoya is in sixth position and montoya hungry hungry hungry for success he
00:12:27led in brazil magnificently after passing the man you're looking at now michael schumacher with a
00:12:33sensational move at the left-hander of the senna s only to be nerfed by joss verstappen out of the
00:12:40race and a new fastest lap by david coulthard who's last in 22nd place some 55 seconds then
00:12:47is coulthard behind michael schumacher your current leader and the front three cars and
00:12:53this is going to be a three horse race now the front three cars are all lapping virtually at
00:12:57the same speed last time around and that suggests they're all on the same roughly the same fuel
00:13:03strategy well what we're expecting in this race as you look at david coulthard making his way
00:13:08up through the field he hopes and he was some seven seconds behind bernalde in the arrows who
00:13:15is 21st what we're expecting to happen is for most of the cars and drivers to have a two-stop strategy
00:13:22and if that is so they will come in round about laps 26 and 41 in this 65 lap race we're on lap
00:13:29five at the present moment and things are going to start changing them we're waiting to see if it
00:13:37does get wet because as i said earlier on traction control will benefit the people who've got it
00:13:44enormously because it will cut wheel spin yes and certainly as they get 10 or 15 laps into each of
00:13:49these dry stints the traction control will be working overtime mary tires go away very quickly
00:13:54here so many high speed corners strangely the average lap speed here about 125 miles an hour
00:14:00in the race it's probably only the 10th or 11th fastest lap of the year that we have through the
00:14:04grand prix world but the corners that are here are very very long and take their toll on the
00:14:11tires caught by then another new fastest lap of the race still very much at the tail end of the
00:14:15field he's lapping two seconds a lap faster than the man immediately in front of him you're watching
00:14:20sumac a leading at the end of the fifth lap with 60 laps still to go hacken and second barry keller
00:14:26third now david coulthard at the tail end of the field is lapping two seconds a lap faster than
00:14:32he's five seconds behind him at the present moment so in a couple of laps or so he's going
00:14:36to be on the tail of the arrows and surging past it and then he's got to tackle taso marquez in the
00:14:43european minardi yes so jensen button having a another miserable day so far sadly down in 19th
00:14:51place in the benetton already half a minute behind the race leader is jensen and really he's just
00:14:57going through a dismal period one eleventh race distance race order as you look at david coulthard
00:15:04now you can see this is a replay the front wing is totally missing off the and look at it tucked
00:15:11underneath he's got somehow underneath the right hand wheel that was a replay of course he's come
00:15:16in and had a new nose fitted and he's now three seconds behind bernalde we're on lap six which is
00:15:22one eleventh race distance michael schumacher leading hackerton by two seconds barry keller is
00:15:28another two seconds behind him ralph schumacher is lapping in the williams in fourth place at about
00:15:34one twenty three four that's about one point four one and a half seconds slower than the race leader
00:15:40jano trulli in the jordan is in fifth place and montoya is holding on to that sixth position
00:15:46and montoya is about 1.5 seconds behind trully and to remind you michael schumacher took one
00:15:52run less in qualifying yesterday than anybody else and he was very economical with tires
00:15:58through the free practice he has three sets of new tires of jaguar come coming together and that is
00:16:05pedro de la rosa in the in the jaguar and frentzen it's frentzen with him now they
00:16:13are just checking ah here is a replay that's uh into turn seven frentzen's gone up the inside
00:16:19and then couldn't uh couldn't help but run wide into de la rosa de la rosa of course this is his
00:16:26first race for jaguar it didn't last very long out of the event goes heights harold frentzen
00:16:31well jordan who had reliability problems last year certainly appeared to have overcome that this
00:16:37season and frentzen had finished in every race this year but certainly not this one
00:16:43de la rosa who had been expected to go to the prost team
00:16:50instead joined jaguar only for his race to retire on the seventh of the 65 laps and you can see
00:16:58michael schumacher is in the lead two seconds ahead of mika hackerton looking good he's got
00:17:03he's got the race under control at the present moment and so it's on lap eight out of 65
00:17:10schumacher leading hackerton by two seconds rubens barrichello is another two seconds further
00:17:15back in third place ralph schumacher is still third trotty is still fifth in the sole jordan
00:17:21and montoya is still in sixth position as we go for a break
00:19:40in spain de la rosa and frentzen have collided are both out of the race de la rosa in the jaguar
00:19:47and frentzen in the jordan and you were looking at david coulthard last man in the race at the
00:19:53present moment as a result of not being able to get away on the line he's caught enrique bernalde
00:19:59who is in 19th place and is now past him and michael schumacher on lap 10 and bernalde out
00:20:07now that's yet another retirement frentzen out de la rosa out jordan out uh jaguar out
00:20:15and now bernalde in the arrows and i wondered if they made contact we didn't see anything
00:20:20no i think there's a technical problem for bernalde on the side of the track but it was
00:20:24significant coulthard caught him at two seconds a lap and then followed him for three laps until
00:20:28he broke down so he's got his hands full coming through the grid his next target is taso marcus
00:20:33that might be a bit easier down the straight then he'll be cruising up to jensen button meanwhile up
00:20:38at the front it's absolutely stationary at 1.8 second gap then michael hacken in very much keeping
00:20:44michael schumacher true and honest in these early stages of the grand prix and that was
00:20:48new boy new boy jaguar pedro de la rosa uh walking back mark stewart jackie stewart's son in the
00:20:56there looking at the monitor in the jaguar garage and mika hackerman pursuing michael schumacher
00:21:03for all he is worth the gap is staying as martin said at a steady two seconds looks as though the
00:21:10fin cannot do anything about the german at the present moment will the positions change when
00:21:15they come in for their pit stops for the first time who knows who knows also whether what sort
00:21:21of a strategy they are on but at the present moment it certainly looks as though michael
00:21:26schumacher has got the race by the throat here is david coulthard this is a replay he's just passed
00:21:32on ricky bernalde in the arrows and there it is and off he goes so bernalde pulls off the track
00:21:39no drama there at all except for him of course out of the race so that's fredson retired de la
00:21:45rosa retired bernalde is out of the race david coulthard is making his way up through the field
00:21:51he will rapidly catch taso marquez in the minardi who is 18th but david's got a very very tall order
00:21:59indeed he desperately needs to get into the points i remind you as you watch jensen button here and
00:22:06he's with alonso in the other minardi now this is this is very significant but who's got a shoulder
00:22:13problem as you saw earlier on has got past the minardi that's fizzy keller so uh fizzy keller
00:22:19scrapping with alonso 15th and 16th but it's still a very significant situation when did you
00:22:25last see a minardi chasing a benetton for all it's worth yes and uh he alonso is actually
00:22:32sandwiched by the benetton fizzy keller there in 15th place then alonso jensen button in 17th place
00:22:40and uh benetton those of you are wondering if they're ever going to get it right the team that
00:22:45was so successful in 95 and 96 with michael schumacher there is jensen button in the background
00:22:50and news from louise goodman yes i'm going to have a chat with pedro de la rosa pedro a disastrous
00:22:55return to formula one for you martin brummel felt that that was perhaps an avoidable accident what
00:23:00was your view yeah i just saw it over in the very last moment and when i saw it i saw hanks i had
00:23:06nowhere to go it was too late i just tried to let him space but it was too late i didn't see him
00:23:11until when i was turning in then i turned to let him room but he just touched my rear wheel and then
00:23:16i i went off thanks pedro fernando alonso that we were talking about earlier on putting up a very
00:23:24brave fight indeed when you think of the budgets that benetton reno and european minardi have got
00:23:32it's a fantastic drive already by the 19 year old spaniard the youngest driver in grand prix racing
00:23:38yes interestingly of course he is contracted to flavio briatore in reno at uh at what will become
00:23:44the works reno team and at the moment he's sandwiching the two works cars albeit they're
00:23:49running 15 16th and 17th but alonso definitely a name you're going to hear a lot more of
00:23:54in the future as you watch mika hackett and approaching turn one and he's now on his 13th lap
00:24:01out of 65 pursuing michael schumacher and it was marginally quicker than him on the last lap
00:24:08but it hasn't made any real difference the gap is still two seconds a lap michael schumacher will
00:24:14of course know exactly what the score is excellent radio systems these days i wonder what the
00:24:20strategies are maybe james allen can tell us well murray i'm down in the mclaren garage at the moment
00:24:25and i'm expecting them to come into the first stop around lap 23 to 25 we're just looking through
00:24:30last year mika hackett and took a little bit more fuel on board at the start and went as far as lap
00:24:3526 the timing of the first stop absolutely crucial here and i reckon there could be a bit of bluffing
00:24:40going on as well you might see some mechanics coming out with the tires making it look as though
00:24:44they're ready to do a stop try and make the opposition blink first as martin would put it
00:24:48and then going back in again it's absolutely key when you put the new tires on here and as soon as
00:24:52we start to see a driver with new tires on going substantially quicker than he did before then
00:24:57that's when everyone will dive in massive drama last year of course michael schumacher leading the
00:25:03race from mika hackett and he came in for his first pit stop and got the lollipop man who lifts
00:25:10the board to tell him that all is clear behind him moved it a bit too soon michael schumacher
00:25:16blasted out of the pits as he was perfectly entitled to do and took with him nigel stepney
00:25:21the english chief mechanic at the time and damaged stepney's leg they had to put a substitute refueler
00:25:29in for michael schumacher and he made a bit of a mess of it second time round and there's news
00:25:34from louise yes i'm with hightower for instance let's get the other side of the story hi harold
00:25:38pedro said he didn't see you until it was too late is that how it appeared to you
00:25:44i don't know which helmet he's wearing if he's able to see on the side but it was clearly my
00:25:48corner i was on the inside and uh this is front wheel he touched my rear wheel
00:25:54it's pretty obvious that that was my corner in this in this moment but nevertheless a race an
00:26:00accident uh uh happened also because uh i didn't have a very good start a rather unhappy high trail
00:26:09front wheel franson back to you murray yeah pretty magnanimous heights how franson it's
00:26:13a normal situation it was his fault no don't be ridiculous it wasn't his fault you know
00:26:19everybody says it was the other bloke's fault so you're looking now it's continuing at fissi
00:26:24keller in 15th position being chased by fernando alonso and they're pulling away from jenson
00:26:30button i'm looking and alonso having a look at fissi keller he's going for that 15th place
00:26:37quite understandably the spanish producer is favoring his spanish countryman and we're seeing
00:26:42a lot of alonso we're going to see a lot of this young man in the future too because he is a very
00:26:48accomplished driver and it's lap 15 now in spain already 15 laps have gone by 5050 laps to go
00:26:57including at least two pit stops for the majority of the contestants michael schumacher who's won
00:27:03here twice he's been twice third position here he was fifth last year i was saying that when he'd
00:27:10made his second pit stop last year the fueler was the new fueler after stepney had been hurt
00:27:16was a bit slow on the uptake and then michael schumacher had a puncture problem as well but in
00:27:22spite of that he finished in fifth position and got two world championship points every point
00:27:27counts he's 26 points at the present moment and david kuhlfein who's sharing the lead with him
00:27:32is now in 18th position he's got past taso marquez and his next target is jenson button
00:27:39followed by alonso followed by fissi keller so that's going to be very interesting indeed when
00:27:44he closes up on them brilliant cat and mouse game going on in the front michael puts another
00:27:50new fastest lap in and mick immediately just cruises into the same lap time and just pegging
00:27:56that gap still at 1.8 seconds as you can now see on the bottom of your screen and really these two
00:28:02we've seen this so many times before haven't we these two just slugging it out at the front two
00:28:07car race i mean you can see the gap between them 1.5 seconds 1.7 seconds two seconds but they're
00:28:14pulling away all the time from rubens barrichello the other ferrari driver who's holding his third
00:28:20position he is now 6.7 seconds behind michael schumacher and about eight seconds in front as
00:28:27we ride with now yoss the staffan in the arrows he is in 12th place pursuing the gifted kimmy
00:28:35reikkonen the new young finn 21 years old who is driving for sauber having come up straight up from
00:28:43reno now down to turn one he's doing about 200 miles an hour as he backs off the right the left
00:28:49it starts to climb now then he goes into the very very long double 19 turn three fourth gear about
00:28:56125 miles an hour then there's a bit of a straight before the end of the first sector of this three
00:29:03sector course into turn four and the staffan goes into turn four we go into a break
00:29:33uh
00:30:03so
00:30:18uh
00:30:34so
00:30:42oh
00:31:03so
00:31:25in the mclaren as michael schumacher now is cutting his way through the field he's just
00:31:32lapped taso marquez on lap 18 out of 65 marquez in the european minari is last and there goes
00:31:40hackinan through to lap him now hackinan has closed up a bit on michael schumacher as a result
00:31:45of the german mapping the brazilian yes michael's lost nine tenths of a second in the middle part
00:31:50of that lap he previously put a couple of really hot laps in the build up to 2.3 second lead now
00:31:56down to 1.6 and also managed alonso made a pit stop he's on a three stopper this afternoon
00:32:05kutat then quite easily making his way past fizikela next target luciano berti in the
00:32:12prost in 14th place coming up to one third distance michael schumacher leads the spanish
00:32:18three as in comes the denaton for the first of its scheduled stops now jenson bunt is now last
00:32:27in the race fizikela has been passed and has still got uh taso marquez well behind him and alonso and
00:32:36out goes jenson bunt that's his first stop it was on lap 19 out of 65 schumacher leads hackinan by
00:32:431.5 seconds barrichello 6.3 seconds third ralph schumacher in the williams bmw is 14
00:32:5114 seconds behind his brother fifth is jano trolley we haven't seen juan pablo montoya
00:32:58the second williams bmw driver but he's very much in this race he is in the points he's yet to finish
00:33:04a grand prix never mind score a world championship point and he will be desperately hoping that this
00:33:10is the time when he breaks his duck scores a point over the line goes schumacher fastest lap
00:33:15of the race so far 121.832 well inside the previous lap record of 1 minute 24.2 so he's
00:33:27broken the lap record by some 2.2 seconds the result no doubt of the superior rubber because
00:33:35both the michelin and the bridgestone companies are running softer compounds here than they would
00:33:41have had at that time and here is the other european minardi it's taso marquez now alonso
00:33:49has been in so marquez is clearly on a pre-stock strategy as well that credit coming up to one
00:33:56third distance second mika hackinan there he is three times a winner the last three years in fact
00:34:032099 and 98 and his course world champion in 1998 and 99 but he's chasing the current world champion
00:34:13michael schumacher and it is absolutely clear that mclaren have got their car right after the
00:34:20problems they had in australia and malaysia the first two races of the year and the people that
00:34:26were discounting mika hackinan and saying he's passed it well it was so ludicrous that it was
00:34:32not even worth considering but how wrong they were look as jano trulli now fifth position in
00:34:39the yellow jordan has got juan pablo montoya right on his gearbox the colombian is a real hard
00:34:48charger and he is charging yes we've seen truly locking up virtually every time we've caught a
00:34:53glimpse of him and montoya having a much stronger race than he has qualifying in fact and he has
00:34:58for a couple of grand prix now so montoya on a charge and we know how aggressive he can be
00:35:04that he gets a half a chance of a pass yeah montoya i remind you started 12th on the grid
00:35:10now he has got well ahead of olivier pannis and look at the way he's sliding that car people said
00:35:16you couldn't slide a car with tracks and control i'm not sure whether williams are using it i
00:35:21suspect they're not in which case it is a bit of right foot driving that montoya is doing he's
00:35:27also gone ahead of heidfeldt in the sauber who's down in eighth position he's gone ahead of jack
00:35:34vilner who started in front of him and is now in seventh place and montoya is challenging jano
00:35:40trulli from italy in the jordan you saw him earlier on talking to lee's goodman when they
00:35:46were out in the jordan honda powerboat but they're two seconds a lap slower than the leaders and i
00:35:51can't help but think that truly and who's that off ralph schumacher ralph schumacher who was
00:35:58fourth so out on the race he's not going to get back in the race he's beached it
00:36:03the bottom of the car the undertray is resting on the gravel he must have just slid off the circuit
00:36:10out of fourth position up into fourth place comes jano trulli up into fifth place comes montoya
00:36:16up into the points comes jack vilner in the bar pursued by heidfeldt and eddie irvine and
00:36:23into the pits come the jordan and the williams absolutely together yes a quite early stop then
00:36:30at the end of lap 22 so they're coming in absolutely together current fifth and sixth
00:36:36place man in reality fourth and fifth now that ralph schumacher i think fell off all by himself
00:36:41it's made a driving error who's out first oh and it's montoya yeah montoya's got ahead
00:36:47montoya's got ahead brilliant bit of pit work by the williams team and mechanics and montoya
00:36:54has gained a place this is a replay it's in the downshift mario you break very very late into that
00:36:59corner you get a huge weight transfer forwards got to come down five gears and suddenly you just
00:37:05snatch the rear wheels and uh it's like a pendulum as soon as the mass behind you gets to a certain
00:37:10angle absolutely no amount of steering correction or whatever will bring it back and ralph then
00:37:15beats and out of the race fissi keller in the benetton about to be engulfed by michael schumacher
00:37:22race leader 14th is lapped by first and mika hakkanen is being held up because but in front
00:37:30of mika hakkanen is the arrows there you see and he's passed it now and now he has got to get past
00:37:37fissi keller in the benetton as michael schumacher sprints away the gap is still
00:37:431.8 seconds or was at the end of the previous lap they're on lap 23 out of 65 yes the problem
00:37:49you always have leading any motor race is if you're coming when you're coming through the
00:37:53back marker you're tending to wake them up and alert them and then we're we're barely a third
00:37:58into the race and they're being lapped so then they're much more aware for the next man coming
00:38:02through and where i can hear you saying is david kulfard the answer is that he's passed fissi
00:38:08keller you saw that happen he's 13th at the present moment but he's 11 seconds behind luciano
00:38:14vertis frost in the 12th position he's lapping about 1.4 seconds a lap faster so it's going to
00:38:21take him some time to catch him and then he's got to get past trulli and alessi and montoya and
00:38:26reichmann and pannis if he's to get into the points but the good news for british enthusiasts
00:38:32jaguar enthusiasts is that eddie irvine is now in sixth position ferrari into the pits come
00:38:38schumacher yep schumacher in the pits this time in early stop james yeah bang on time actually
00:38:43we said lap 23 and this is exactly what he did last year he stopped on 23 and hacked and stopped
00:38:49on 26 watch how much fuel goes in should be about 7.6 seconds worth that's a bang on target for a
00:38:54two stopper the clock i'm just waiting to see yes about 8.2 seconds i timed it 8.2 guys so
00:39:01bang on target for a two stopper perhaps a reasonable amount of fuel for a middle stint
00:39:05let's wait and see what hackinton does yeah let's because michael schumacher rolls majestically out
00:39:11of the pit lane gives it bags of welly as he crosses this line which indicates that he is
00:39:16clear of the mandatory speed limit area and gets back into the race a smile on the face of the
00:39:23mclaren people because they know then that if they can do another three laps let's say
00:39:28whatever they can do suggest their car is carrying about two tenths of a second more fuel
00:39:34than the ferrari on on the weight so uh avila making he was in fourth place at that time
00:39:41making a good eight second stop there so hacking and now needs to pull out some banzai almost
00:39:47schumacher-esque mid-race laps indeed he does and the fastest lap we have so far is schumacher 121.83
00:39:57mark that and hackinton leads the race michael schumacher is second still ahead of rubens
00:40:02barrichello deal nerve is fourth heidfeldt is up to fifth eddie irvine is still six catch a
00:40:07load of that 121.6 over the line then a new new lap record from mika hackinton and he's doing
00:40:14exactly what he has to do you've got to wonder why he didn't push a bit harder earlier because
00:40:18he wasn't in the dirty area of the ferrari he was holding station about two seconds behind
00:40:22now he's got to maximize whatever fuel load he's got in that car yeah this is a classic bit of
00:40:28motor racing you are watching race leader goes in new nose cone for the benetton of
00:40:35giancarlo fisichella he's had a coming together with something or other he was down in 15th place
00:40:42which means to say that alonso who fought him so hard even though he's had a pit stop will
00:40:47probably be back in front of him now you remember that previous lap of mika hackinton's 121.6
00:40:55let's see how this one stacks up he's just done the fastest lap of the race if he can keep it
00:41:01going like this when he comes in to make his pit stop which should be shorter than michael schumacher
00:41:07by virtue of the fact he's got to take less fuel on it's going to be very very close indeed for the
00:41:12leadership of the spanish form three and not another clutch problem surely for the beer i
00:41:18remember it was a builder wasn't it getting parked in the pits and this time around panis having some
00:41:25kind of a problem maybe just stalled it should be a computer-controlled anti-stall system and
00:41:30eventually prevents that and it's barrichello in this time around from
00:41:35from second position because he got ahead of his teammate michael schumacher the ferrari mechanics
00:41:43already beautiful controlled stop now michael schumacher stopped took 8.7 seconds on go a set
00:41:50of new boots the fuel filler is still in steps well back no clerk can't tell you what the time
00:41:56was but it looked like a very good clean stop to me 121.1 for michael schumacher using those brand
00:42:04new tires i was starting to tell you about early in the race he's been so smart this weekend he's
00:42:08the only man with three new sets of tires available some of the others only one new set available to
00:42:13them and now at a crucial stage of the race it's michael despite the fuel load managing to pull out
00:42:20the stunningly quick times and he's even quicker than hackens best efforts to close that gap right
00:42:26now and he's seven tenths of a second faster than his teammate david cool father you're watching now
00:42:31who's clawed his way up to 11th in the race after having started 22nd he crosses the line
00:42:38to complete his 25th lap into his 26th lap of michael schumacher the fastest man on the race
00:42:46when mika hacken comes in it is going to be dynamite who gets past the finish line first
00:42:52when mika hacken and comes out of the pits will it be him will it be michael schumacher the one
00:42:57who does will be the race leader you touch and go because i don't think michael's stop was
00:43:01particularly spectacular but that 121.1 certainly was and he's on another reasonable lap right now
00:43:08i think he's had to pass a car through this middle part so it's going to be very very close depends
00:43:12on the quality of hacken's in lap which we can't time and of course the quality of the pit stop
00:43:18itself but if i had to put my money on it i would say michael's still effectively just in the lead
00:43:24of this race cool start up to eighth place but mostly because there's been a spate of pit stops
00:43:30of cars in front of him but making his way reasonably nicely through the pack yeah david's
00:43:34had a stop of course but it wasn't his expected fuel stop early on in the race he had that problem
00:43:41and now mika hacken and here he is closing up on tail enders again who will delay him a bit this is
00:43:47lap 27 it's two laps since michael schumacher was in and he is now in second place ahead of
00:43:54rubens barrichello as a result of the brazilian stop and michael schumacher is 23 seconds behind
00:44:00hacken and it really is going to be close mclaren pit stop this time around and hacking it in hacking
00:44:07it in the pit lane james are you there yes i'm waiting for mika hacken and now of course it's
00:44:12the opposite of japan last year folks because mclaren know exactly how much fuel went into
00:44:16that ferrari so they know how long michael will race for they've got to get mika out in my view
00:44:21he needed 25 seconds to be safe so it's going to be very close indeed the tires he's putting
00:44:26on are not new there's a delay getting the hose off it's not a great stop by hacken and i'm looking
00:44:33for michael schumacher there he goes over the line as hacken and is trundling out michael
00:44:38schumacher there he is in the background he just saw him he's retaken the lead michael schumacher
00:44:43crosses the line and retakes the lead as mika hacken and comes out of the pits now again in
00:44:50second position so that searing lap that schumacher put in has done the trick lap 28 race order
00:44:58michael schumacher three times world champion leads the spanish grand prix which is already
00:45:04won twice from mika hacken and ruben barrichello and up into fourth position juan pablo montoya
00:45:11and the williams bmw ahead of jacques villeneuve and yano trini montoya having a great afternoon
00:45:18then so he cleared trini in the pit stops and i think when villeneuve stopped a little bit later
00:45:23montoya's passed him too so a genuine fourth place then now for montoya but schumacher retains the
00:45:29lead that double pull they had to take on the fuel hose and uh his sprinting one minute 21.1 lap
00:45:37has enabled him to very much stay in the lead of this race like james i wondered if mclaren might
00:45:43short fill mika hacken and just to get himself track position but uh maybe that would have been
00:45:47a bit of a false dawn anyway and uh well the cat and mouse game is back on yeah it's very easy to
00:45:53make the decisions for somebody else when you haven't got the responsibility i'm surprised too
00:45:59it would have seemed a fairly sensible thing to do but now bertie in 14th position who is now two
00:46:05places behind his teammate giorno lacey in his first race for prost is being caught to be lapped
00:46:12by race leader michael schumacher and there in second place mika hacken in the mclaren and
00:46:18mclaren are coming out into the pit lane that will be to bring david coulthard in on lap 29
00:46:26for his first fuel and tar stop as opposed to the new nose cone stop which he had early on in the
00:46:33race after his collision so schumacher leads it's lap 29 the gap is two and a half seconds
00:46:40which is as much as if not slightly more than it has been ferrari leads mclaren leads ferrari with
00:46:46barrichello williams bmw in the points with montoya bar in the points with jack villeneuve
00:46:54who's yet to finish in the points this year and david coulthard you see in the pits now he came
00:47:01position only 1.9 seconds ahead of eddie irvine so the jaguar will have got track position
00:47:08and moved up into that eighth place probably kimi raikkonen in his wheel tracks will have
00:47:13gone up as well i'm waiting to see confirmation of that as they go past us as schumacher comes
00:47:19through to complete another lap now closing up on jasper staffen in the other arrows who is in 13th
00:47:25position 80 80.6 seconds behind michael schumacher immediately ahead of him on the track
00:47:34which means to say that michael schumacher is some three miles effectively ahead of the arrows
00:47:40on the 30th out of 65 laps well mika hakkanen really has got it now he's looking good for a
00:47:50minimum of six world championship points to add to the four that he's got already every little
00:47:56helps he's got so used to winning races and as i said earlier on it's eight races since he did so
00:48:04yes so those new tires that michael's got up his sleeve give him an advantage for about the first
00:48:09two or three flying laps and of course that's going to be critical as it's neck and neck between
00:48:15the ferrari michael schumacher mcclaren of mika hakkanen we'll be back shortly
00:49:45so
00:50:00oh
00:50:15so
00:50:32this is half distance at the catalonia circuit for the spanish grand prix and you're looking
00:50:39at michael schumacher who's just edging away from the car you're looking at now that of
00:50:46mika hakkanen the gap has increased from about 1.8 seconds to 2.9 seconds on his previous lap
00:50:54michael schumacher who's scything his way through traffic was seven tenths of a second faster than
00:50:59mika hakkanen that has improved the gap between the two of them rubens barrichello is still there
00:51:06it's looking very good for ferrari again in this race it's perhaps slightly early days to be
00:51:12talking about championship points in this race but at the present moment ferrari are on 14 world
00:51:19championship points in the constructors contest compared with six for mcclaren because hakkanen
00:51:26in second place is the only point scorer for the team at the moment david couvard is down in 11th
00:51:32place and he's got to gain another five places before he could be in the running for one world
00:51:38championship point absolutely terrible luck for the scotsman who had driven so brilliantly
00:51:44in the first four races of the year a win two second places and a third place on the podium
00:51:49in every race and then he had that problem of not being able to get away on the line as a result of
00:51:55which he had the start at the back of the grid which shot himself in the foot very thoroughly
00:52:02indeed michael schumacher now coming up to taso marquez to lap him for the second time
00:52:08this is the 33rd lap so if he keeps this up he's going to be about four laps ahead of the brazilian
00:52:16and marquez is soldiering on he was the last to qualify he is the last in the race let's hope he
00:52:22doesn't get in the way he does not do so and michael schumacher laps him continues on his
00:52:28seemingly victorious way lap 33 out of 65 over half distance then and ferrari looking very good
00:52:36indeed williams bmw still looking good in spite of the fact that ralph schumacher spun off earlier
00:52:43on and montoya is in that fourth place bar still on two world championship points for jack
00:52:51milner whose teammate panis started in front of him but is now in 10th position compared with
00:52:58fifth place and the jordan of yano trolley is still in sixth position and the remaining lot
00:53:04in the top 10 are heidfeld 7th ervine jaguar 8 reichanen in the second salvo is 9th so both
00:53:11the salvos are in the top nine and olivier panis is 10th next man down the track at the moment for
00:53:18michael schumacher is kuthar 11th place man who's currently 75 seconds behind as he's trying to find
00:53:24his way through the pack and he's going to find it harder now is david kuthar because the runners
00:53:28in front of him panis reichen and ervine heidfeld there albeit a second lap slower they're very fast
00:53:34cars and they're going to be so difficult for him to overtake in a way if the lead has come through
00:53:39and push the pack around it may give him a better chance to make up places as ironic as it seems if
00:53:46he will also he may be lapped at the same time kuthar better be hoping i suspect that it's going
00:53:50to rain this afternoon before the race is finished louise uh get a word from ralph schumacher here
00:53:55ralph i know williams have had some problems with their electronics this weekend did that contribute
00:54:00to her accident or was it just a simple mistake no i don't know yet i mean it's it's uh pretty
00:54:05early to say now i mean strange was i was totally straight i touched the brakes and all of a sudden
00:54:11the rear came out so uh there was something quite strange well rather i locked the rear simply the
00:54:16rear brake or um something else was wrong we have to check that because i i wouldn't say that you
00:54:22usually spin at that position a bit of a contrast to last weekend for the last race i mean these
00:54:26things happen um you know it was a shame because i wasn't relatively stable fourth position i was
00:54:32catching up barrichello again so it's a shame you have to be very phlegmatic in this business martin
00:54:38ralph schumacher brilliant win for the first time in italy two weeks ago off the circuit this time
00:54:45take the rough with the smooth it's a 17 race championship and you can jump and scream and
00:54:50shout all you like it will not drag a formula one car out of a gravel trap and we'll have to
00:54:54wait and see why he went off the road and uh this is the remaining jordan in the race of trulian and
00:54:59i don't understand truly he has some kind of mindset in a race where he seems to pace himself
00:55:04he doesn't seem to really thrash that car for all it's worth and once again he is now falling back
00:55:12and villner have cleared him although he's keeping villner within his sights and truly never
00:55:17seems to fully deliver his potential mario you're absolutely right there there is jack villner who
00:55:24as i said in qualifying yesterday has made a massive personal investment in terms of his
00:55:29his money and his time and his ability in joining bar the new team a couple of seasons ago dreadful
00:55:36first season in 1999 a better one last year but things really haven't gone terribly well for jack
00:55:44villner he's still to score a world championship point this year his highest position was seventh
00:55:49place in brazil and we're back again now looking at not michael schumacher in the lead but the man
00:55:57who is 16 seconds behind him in the other ferrari rubens barrichello who is third in the world
00:56:04championship behind championship leader michael schumacher and david koulthard who are still
00:56:12equally in the lead it doesn't look as though they're going to be at the end of this race if
00:56:16michael schumacher keeps going the way he is on that potential 10 world championship points of
00:56:22david koulthard not scoring any in which case i'm just working out no rubens barrichello would not
00:56:29be able to move up into second place but he would only be a few points behind in that case
00:56:36so michael schumacher there
00:56:40undoubtedly the best grand prix driver of the day comes through to complete another lap that is the
00:56:46end of his 36th lap interlap 37 65 laps he's pacing himself now because he's increasingly pulling away
00:56:56from hacken and on the previous lap he increased the gap by just two tenths of a second doesn't
00:57:02sound much i know but if you multiply two tenths of a second by 65 laps it comes to quite a few
00:57:08seconds at the end of the race and the car's working beautifully michael really not having
00:57:13to push too hard you sense he's hacking and it's just about hanging on up front there rather than
00:57:19michael being under any kind of pressure and that's why he's edging that 3.7 second lead he
00:57:25has now he can be more confident in the back markers and he can just look he's hardly working
00:57:30in the steering wheel at all really cars working beautifully you know there was a media frenzy
00:57:35after the first two races of the year which were commandingly won by schumacher in the ferrari
00:57:42and the gist of their message was oh what a dull season it's going to be because ferrari and michael
00:57:47schumacher are going to be unbeatable or david koulthard proved him wrong with that brilliant
00:57:52win in brazil and then his brother ralph proved them wrong with that brilliant win at the san
00:57:58marino grand prix in italy and then the media were saying oh it's all up for ferrari they're
00:58:04over the hill well michael schumacher said yesterday you could get things wrong and they've
00:58:10got things wrong we've had one or two problems in the last two races but believe me we've lost none
00:58:15of our ability none of our speed none of our togetherness we've still got ross braun we've
00:58:21still got rory burn we've still got paolo martinelli who is the engine man we've still
00:58:26got our brilliant team manager jean tourne and although he didn't say it of course they've still
00:58:32got michael schumacher and those five men together make an absolutely brilliant partnership and
00:58:38they're proving it in this race lap 38 four seconds no sorry 3.6 seconds ahead of mika
00:58:45as we look at kimi raikkonen the fen in the salva the sensation of the year 2001
00:58:53chasing eddie irvine's jaguar in eighth position the green jaguar the only one left in the race
00:58:59de la rosa of course out after that coming together with heights harold franson early
00:59:04in the race they were the first two retirements bernalde out in the arrows ralph schumacher out
00:59:10in the williams and on lap 38 michael schumacher leads mika hakkinen by 3.6 seconds rubens barrichello
00:59:18by 18 seconds montoya by 45 vilnerv by nearly 50 and jarno trulli by 52 seconds we're going for a break
00:59:28we'll be back
00:59:40so
01:00:10so
01:00:22so
01:00:40so
01:00:52so
01:01:10so
01:01:24so
01:01:40so
01:01:50so
01:02:04so
01:02:10so
01:02:16so
01:02:22so
01:02:28is
01:02:46four retirements as a result of which there are 18 cars left in the race jensen button has been
01:02:52lapped twice in the benetton renault and is 18 and that is mika hacken yes if you missed the start
01:02:59of the race you'll need to know that david coulthard stole on the dummy grid and then at the
01:03:05start of the race managed to trip over bernalde in turn three or four lost his front wing so had
01:03:11to make a lengthy stop i was running plum last by some margin and we don't know if it was a mistake
01:03:17or a technical problem of him on the line but it certainly spoiled his afternoon as you watch truly
01:03:22leaving the pits after taking on board 9.4 seconds worth of fuel european minardi there
01:03:28can't see the driver must be along so he's in the pit according to the computer martin
01:03:36in this particular event on this particular circuit the traction control that we've heard so
01:03:41much about probably won't make all that much difference compared with somewhere like monaco
01:03:47um i think it will make a big difference mary i've been listening to how much traction control
01:03:52they're using uh through the corners on this you can you can't hear so much in turn four
01:03:58there's some smaller corners later in the lap where it's really banging and popping and splattering
01:04:04it sounds like a lot of gravel in a five gallon drum being washed around it's an awful sound
01:04:09and a crime to make a formula one car sound like that in my view but i think they're leaning on it
01:04:14quite heavily and it can be a killer for the engines of course because they're spinning at
01:04:20some 18 000 rpm yep yeah absolutely you heard you heard hacken his car splattering that montoya in
01:04:26for his second scheduled stop of the afternoon and leonard leonard's in there as well and they
01:04:34were fourth and fifth and montoya gets out and leonard is held and has failed to make any
01:04:42impression on the williams bmw on that pit stop and mika hacken is now over four seconds behind
01:04:50michael schumacher i don't know whether we can learn anything from this in terms of the relative
01:04:55strengths of ferrari and schumacher and hacken and mclaren if we can it is that ferrari are
01:05:02marginally stronger because schumacher at the wheel is just steadily inching away and increasing
01:05:10over the flying fin as he signs himself into the pits because of an adjustment of the front wing
01:05:16there it's giancarlo fisicala revving the engine 16th position and i keep on saying this but it's
01:05:26a bad race for benetton not that they really expected anything else they're down in 16th and
01:05:3218th positions out of the 18 people who are in this race and meantime at viri chateaune
01:05:39on the outskirts of paris the renault technicians at renault sport are working furiously to improve
01:05:46the horsepower of their v10 111 degree engine and my goodness they need to and ferrari as you saw
01:05:54for yourselves are getting ready to bring i imagine race leader michael schumacher in for
01:05:59his second stop just about bang on target last year mika hacken and came on a lap 41 and lap 42
01:06:06here is up goes the filler cap and the refueler it just waits and bang a beautiful stop michael
01:06:18schumacher stops millimetrically perfect so that the fuel filler can slot in brand new set of tires
01:06:26then for michael and that was the stop that cost him this race last year when they had
01:06:30the fuel problems and the lollipop went up too early but no such problems for michael this time
01:06:35around and surely now barring problems and he's driving so easily and so smoothly anyway i don't
01:06:40think he's near the limit at all yet of his performance this afternoon surely michael
01:06:45schumacher now has this race in the bag yeah you can tell from the car language that michael schumacher
01:06:51is very well within his limits he is on lap 44 now like mika hacken has gone through of course
01:07:00and there he is he's coming up to jacques villeneuve who is in eighth position in the
01:07:05bar so we're getting the second fuel stops now just about absolutely bang on target i was expecting
01:07:12them round about laps 23 and 41 and that's more or less when they have come in and uh well mika
01:07:18clearing the bar easily there and just to add more pain to the hacken and camp he's had a pretty
01:07:26difficult lap just where he needs to be sprinting he's caught a gaggle of cars as button is in for
01:07:31his uh second stop of the afternoon so jensen button then and each time he comes in they're
01:07:37having to stick the fuel flap filler down that's what they were doing last time around with a bit
01:07:41of helicopter tape and that's why uh they lost so much time there's currently up in seventh place
01:07:47but yet to stop again yeah david coulthard currently up into seventh place and that is
01:07:52one place off a world championship point as he closes up on the sixth place man juan pablo montoya
01:08:00but as you rightly point out martin as barry kellow comes in for his stop david coulthard has
01:08:06yet to do the same thing hear that engine racing in the background out he goes nice smooth one
01:08:14you didn't see it but the the filler cap over the main orifice closes automatically as the driver
01:08:22changes up into gear into a higher gear out back onto the track goes rubens barry kellow looking
01:08:29good for four world championship points joining behind giancarlo fisichella and ahead of luciano
01:08:39who is in 13th position here is hekkinen and it's lap 45 out of 65 and i say again the retirements
01:08:49in the order that they left the race frentzen and della rossa i i put them together because
01:08:54they went out together it was a collision they're both perfectly okay each blaming the other
01:09:00bernalde out in the arrows ralph schumacher out in the williams and into a point place goes david
01:09:07but now he is in the pits there he is next stop kukar early he's getting held up behind montoya
01:09:13so i think they've reversed the two mclarens around kukar getting well out of shape two or
01:09:18three times into that corner he's had a moment through this afternoon under braking but i think
01:09:23they've decided to pit him early so in a hope he can clear montoya and get genuinely up into the
01:09:29points yeah and in the past the championship has been won by not one point but by half a point in
01:09:371984 mickey lauda in the mclaren beat alan prost his mclaren teammate at the portuguese grand prix
01:09:47to get the extra half point that was needed and the reason that there'd only been half a point
01:09:55in it is that in the monaco grand prix that year the race distance was cut short as a result of
01:10:01which only half points were awarded and poor alan prost lost the world championship by
01:10:07just half a point he went on of course to win eventually in 1993 his fourth world championship
01:10:15only one man in the history of formula one has done better than that the great juan manuel
01:10:20who won it five times for four different constructors lap 47 mika hakkanen
01:10:27michael schumacher out in front ahead of rubens barrichello eddie irvine was up into fourth
01:10:34position in the jaguar but is now in the pits as mika hakkanen is leading the race by 21.4 seconds
01:10:41of course yet to come in for a stop so we know that to be around 25 seconds will stop he'll have
01:10:48take on less fuel than michael schumacher because he needs less in this stop to get to the end of
01:10:53the race but i don't see it being anything like enough hakkanen doesn't have the speed now
01:10:58and clearly michael cannot have any more pit stop problems there's no way there's nothing
01:11:04available no tools available to mclaren now to springboard hakkanen into the lead of this race
01:11:11no and it means that there's a lot of very hard work to do how the fortunes can change in formula
01:11:18because look at how dominant mclaren were in 98 and 99 with ferrari nevertheless winning the
01:11:26constructors world championship in 1999 which they repeated last year when michael schumacher took the
01:11:33drivers championship for the third time in his career the first time for ferrari and now without
01:11:39a doubt ferrari have got the edge over the great mclaren team and p1 goes out the board to
01:11:47mika hakkanen he knows he's in the lead but he also knows he's got to come in and he also knows
01:11:52that michael schumacher has already done so the lead now is just a whisker under 23 seconds
01:12:00mika hakkanen leading the spanish grand prix on lap 48 not entirely sure i understand mclaren's
01:12:07philosophy this afternoon in that clearly mika hakkanen is always going three to four laps
01:12:11longer than michael schumacher therefore carrying more fuel a heavier car almost all afternoon
01:12:18and i really don't see how that could pay off especially as the tire degradation here is
01:12:23enormous and a new set of tires is always going to keep michael somewhere in the lap time window
01:12:29that he needed to be in so still wondering maybe if they could have short-filled hakkanen in the
01:12:34middle sector of the race and try to bring him into play as it were well remember what i said
01:12:39earlier on when i was talking to jim in the studio is it going to rain yes it is i said but
01:12:46maybe it won't well it hasn't it's still as dry as a bone here the clouds are still as black as
01:12:52ever overhead but they've yet to discharge any of their cargo it was a beautiful day on thursday
01:12:58when we came here it was excellent on friday the first day of practicing it was excellent yesterday
01:13:04for practicing and qualifying it's been dull today but it's still dry
01:13:09mika then going a long way on this didn't have him been talking about how much fuel he's got on
01:13:14board he really had a lot of fuel on board he's now into the 49th lap his lead is up to 23.5
01:13:22seconds now so a critical stage here and uh that's barrichello with a problem is it yeah looks like
01:13:29i wondered if there was anything anything significant you saw adrian newy there in the
01:13:33black cap and the mclaren uniform who is the team's designer talking to pat fry who is the
01:13:40top man on the strategy side i think it's got a broken suspension mary a broken right rear
01:13:46suspension that's why he's left front in the air that's not a puncture we we think he's been off
01:13:51but whether it's cause or effect i don't know i suspect suspension failure would be a cause and
01:13:57that'll be a great worry for ferrari mika hacken meanwhile let me just say they've got no tools to
01:14:02get him in front is on a bit of a charge has he got enough fuel can he go far enough to close up
01:14:08what was a 4.7 second gap before michael schumacher pitted james yeah we shouldn't get too distracted
01:14:14by this barrichello thing because significant as it is that he's gone off as you say martin it's
01:14:19now 24.6 seconds this gap from hacking into schumacher you were saying you didn't quite
01:14:23understand their strategy the strategy of the clarence team possibly i think it is that the
01:14:28traffic would come into play and michael schumacher is now stuck behind montoya in particular and other
01:14:34traffic and cars in the way we're not far away from hacking and stop it's going to be very close
01:14:38indeed because he'll only be stationary for about just over six seconds and it could be just a
01:14:43second in it will decide this grand prix yeah that's thank you james a very silly thing i've
01:14:47just seen and they they've changed the tires of barrichello but surely it's a it's a failure it's
01:14:53a rear suspension failure not just a question of a puncture and they've sent him on his way again
01:14:58yeah i wondered i i wondered whether we were saying any uh i wondered whether that was a
01:15:06replay martin or eddie irvine out of the race eddie irvine in the jaguar retires his teammate
01:15:14pedro de la rosa has already done so eddie irvine who was in a an excellent for the jaguar team this
01:15:21year eighth position he's finished in 11th place and that's the only race he finished in in
01:15:26australia but meantime mika hackinnon is going quicker than ever as his fuel load decreases and
01:15:33he puts the hammer down and i can see them i can see the mclaren mechanics out in the pit lane now
01:15:39without a doubt mika hackinnon is going to be coming in at the end of this lap but he done so
01:15:44and he comes in with a 26 second lead it's going to be mighty close yes it is i don't know what's
01:15:49going on with michael schumacher out there but james tell us through about a pit stop fantastic
01:15:54atmosphere down here it's just come towards mclaren in the last literally the last two laps
01:15:58michael schumacher's just dropped off the pace maybe traffic whatever hackett's put the hammer
01:16:02down slight delay but a nice stop by hackett it's going to be very very very close yeah i'm looking
01:16:07for michael schumacher and he still hasn't gone through unlike the last time and mika hackinnon's
01:16:12coming down to the end of the pit lane michael schumacher just is into the straight and mika
01:16:17hackinnon is going to get the lead he does so there is mika hackinnon and he's in the lead
01:16:21as michael schumacher comes out to lap jasper staffan it's going to be a fantastic last 15
01:16:27laps of this race because michael schumacher has done his stops mika hackinnon has done his stops
01:16:34mika hackinnon is on a newer set of tires and will therefore have greater grip grip
01:16:40and rubens barrichello in my sight as i look across the pit lane rolls out of the race into
01:16:46the garage and montoya in the williams moves up into a podium position third place what a
01:16:52development i can't believe ferrari didn't see that uh the team didn't see barrichello's real
01:16:57problem on the tv screens but how wrong was i about mclaren not having the tools to get hackinnon in
01:17:02front and i really don't know what happened to michael's laps he had two or three very very slow
01:17:08laps it must have been through the traffic meanwhile mika had got a lot of fuel on board
01:17:14did put on a big spurt and it's as james said over the course of two or three laps this race
01:17:19just completely turned around yeah the last race mika hackinnon won was the belgian grand prix last
01:17:25year he's gone through italy and america and japan and malaysia and australia and malaysia again and
01:17:32brazil and san marino without a victory is this going to be the one that breaks the
01:17:38breaks the position for him well he's in the lead now you can look back down the track and see
01:17:43michael schumacher the gap was 3.5 seconds now they've completed a lap after mika hackinnon has
01:17:51done his stop and we will start to see whether schumacher can make up any ground it is lap 52
01:17:57it is a 65 lap race montoya is third fielder is fourth trolley is in fifth place nick heidfeld
01:18:04looks as though he is going to score another point this season he's already finished in third place
01:18:10in brazil fourth place in australia he is in sixth position for sauba at the present moment
01:18:15as you look at this replay of rubens barrichello with his left front wheel up in the air now i
01:18:22wondered martin when we saw him go off whether it was a replay and that might have caused the
01:18:27problem before he came into the pits no well i don't know i didn't see the full stickers that's
01:18:32a replay of irvine's jaguar and blowing up he parks it right underneath the stand of the team
01:18:38bosses so they'll smell the oil burning unfortunately steps out walks directly into
01:18:43his carriage didn't see the barrichello sequence other than we saw him get out of shape under
01:18:47braking i'm pretty sure that that's uh that it's the rear suspension failure that put him off the
01:18:53road and meanwhile michael schumacher's pace has definitely slowed down michael schumacher
01:18:59lapping nowhere near what he was before some 1.4 seconds slower than his fastest lap of the race
01:19:06at the moment so the next question is can david cool part who is in seventh place catch and pass
01:19:12nick heidfeldt he's lapping about one second a lap faster than the german but he's six seconds
01:19:20behind him it could well be that that david kuchar will be in the pits we're leaving spain
01:19:27but as ever we will be returning
01:19:42so
01:20:00so
01:21:12I don't know what you're talking about.
01:21:14I don't know what you're talking about.
01:21:16I don't know what you're talking about.
01:21:18I don't know what you're talking about.
01:21:20I don't know what you're talking about.
01:21:22I don't know what you're talking about.
01:21:24I don't know what you're talking about.
01:21:26I don't know what you're talking about.
01:21:28I don't know what you're talking about.
01:21:30I don't know what you're talking about.
01:21:32I don't know what you're talking about.
01:21:34I don't know what you're talking about.
01:21:36I don't know what you're talking about.
01:21:38I don't know what you're talking about.
01:21:41Look at this, Emeka Hakkinen leading the Spanish Grand Prix on lap 55
01:21:46and he has just left Jarno Trulli who is in 5th place as we join Louise Goodman.
01:21:51Who's with Eddie Irvine. Eddie, we saw your engine failure.
01:21:54Disappointing for you because you've had a strong afternoon up till then.
01:21:57Yeah, it was as good a race as we could have done really.
01:22:00We were just too slow, you know, really.
01:22:02If you qualify 13th at this place where you're limited on strategy
01:22:07and overtaking is impossible, to do well is pretty difficult.
01:22:12We had a great software guy for the start.
01:22:17I can't claim a good start anymore.
01:22:20Some anonymous person in the Cosworth truck did a good job today.
01:22:24I made up a few places there and then we had the right strategy for our situation.
01:22:28We just need to make the car quicker so we qualify closer to the front
01:22:31and then we can do something.
01:22:33Thanks, Eddie.
01:22:34And to cheer everybody up at the Catalunya Circuit.
01:22:37The sun has broken through.
01:22:39You are seeing sunshine on the tarmac now,
01:22:42especially in the start and finish area,
01:22:44which Mika Häkkinen is approaching to go through and complete his 55th lap,
01:22:49into lap 56 in this 65 lap race,
01:22:53leading Michael Schumacher by an increased margin of nearly 7 seconds.
01:22:57That is Montoya, who is 3rd, 3 seconds ahead of Wielner.
01:23:02Michael Schumacher then now some 2.5 to 3 seconds a lap slower
01:23:07than his new lap record of a 1.21.1 earlier in the race.
01:23:11So, at a crucial stage, just around the pit stop area, Schumacher's got a problem.
01:23:16I can only speculate, maybe the team have told him to slow down a bit
01:23:20because we've seen his teammate, Barrichello, have a suspected suspension failure.
01:23:25And quite clearly, Michael all of a sudden is on a cruise.
01:23:29I can't see any problem with his car, I can't hear any particular problems.
01:23:33I was looking at the tyres, wondering if he'd picked up some blisters
01:23:36with those very fresh tyres, pushing them hard.
01:23:39His tyres look absolutely fine too, so we don't know what Michael's problem is,
01:23:43but it's surely lost him this race.
01:23:46Well, you're looking at Juan Pablo Montoya,
01:23:48who in his 5th Formula 1 Grand Prix of his career
01:23:52looks as though he's not only going to finish the race,
01:23:55but in the process finish on the podium in 3rd position
01:23:59and score 4 World Championship points, the first points of his career.
01:24:04He failed to finish in Australia, Malaysia,
01:24:07brilliantly led in Brazil until he was taken out by Josper Stappen
01:24:13and failed to finish at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
01:24:17Well, he's on lap 57 now, it's a 65 lap race,
01:24:21so there are 8 laps still to go of this 3-mile circuit,
01:24:2524 miles about, and James Allen has got news for us from the pits.
01:24:29Yeah, I'm standing down here waiting for Rubens Barrichello.
01:24:32He's just finishing up an interview with somebody else.
01:24:34I'm going to try and find out from him if he has any idea.
01:24:36Rubens, can you tell us, first of all, what your problem was?
01:24:39Was it a suspension failure?
01:24:40Yeah, I had a suspension failure.
01:24:42I thought it was a puncture because I came in for that
01:24:45and then they changed the tyre and it was just like that.
01:24:48When I brake for turn 7, the car went just straight
01:24:51and I would say the rear suspension let me down.
01:24:54At the same time, Michael's pace dropped off by about 2 seconds a lap.
01:24:57It's handed the lead to Hakkinen and now Michael is lapping in the 1 minute 24s.
01:25:01Have the team told him to slow down because of your problem?
01:25:03Well, I haven't spoke to Ross, but we're very much together on the team
01:25:08and so whatever happens to Michael, Ross let me know
01:25:14and I always try to change things around.
01:25:16So I would say that could be the reason why.
01:25:19Thanks very much, Rubens.
01:25:20Well, Rubens, second retirement in five races this year.
01:25:23He failed to finish in his home country of Brazil,
01:25:26but a bitter disappointment for him.
01:25:28And Michael Schumacher there has just lapped Luciano Berti for the second time.
01:25:34Berti in his first race for France has Micka Hakkinen leading the race now
01:25:38by over 12 seconds, goes into another lap.
01:25:44In the closing stages of the Spanish Grand Prix,
01:25:46which certainly looks as though it has seen a turnaround in the Constructors' fortune.
01:25:52Coulthard now then just 8 tenths, that's Hakkinen of course,
01:25:55but Coulthard now just 8 tenths of a second behind Heidfeld,
01:25:58the current 6th place man, and he badly needs a point or two this afternoon.
01:26:02The next man, if he passes Heidfeld, will be truly another 7.5 seconds down the road.
01:26:08So suddenly it's all turning around nicely for the McLaren team.
01:26:12Michael Schumacher now effectively just about the slowest man on the racetrack.
01:26:17Now he's down in the late 1 minute 25s and the lead is up to 15 seconds.
01:26:23Yeah, and it's, as you say, looking good for McLaren,
01:26:26particularly in the Constructors' Championship,
01:26:28because they're on a potential 11 Constructors' World Championship points
01:26:32compared with 6 for Ferrari to close the gap from 10 points for Ferrari's advantage
01:26:38to 5 points if they finish where they are.
01:26:42I always make that caveat because in the closing stages of a Grand Prix,
01:26:46all sorts of things can happen.
01:26:48Now that was a bad effort there for Villeneuve, not by him.
01:26:51He was very courteous to let the leader through.
01:26:54And he was only just over 2 seconds behind Montoya, was Villeneuve,
01:26:59but he lost an awful lot of time.
01:27:01He was very courteous and Hakkinen seemed to be taking forever
01:27:03to actually clear him and get out of the way.
01:27:06I'm going to be most interested at the end of this race
01:27:08to hear what Michael Schumacher says in the drivers' interviews.
01:27:12Here he is being taken by David Coulthard.
01:27:16That's Coulthard unlapping himself, Murray.
01:27:18So Coulthard, current 7th place man,
01:27:20unlapping himself on the ever slower Michael Schumacher.
01:27:24And David Coulthard still in his 7th place, still behind Nick Heidfeld.
01:27:29He'll be hanging on grimly.
01:27:31Heidfeld with the Ferrari engine badged as a Petronas in his Sauber.
01:27:37The team that's made the most progress this year
01:27:40in comparison with last year and it's us.
01:27:43And it's still on lap 59, Hakkinen, the gap, 17 seconds to Schumacher.
01:27:49The Williams BMW of Montoya in 3rd position.
01:27:52Then the BAR of Villeneuve, the Jordan of Trulli
01:27:55and the battle between Heidfeld's Sauber and Coulthard's McLaren
01:27:59for that 6th place and the last world championship point.
01:28:02Well, there's the man who knows exactly what Michael Schumacher's problem is,
01:28:06Ross Braun.
01:28:07And he's up on the pit wall and clearly is not about to tell us or anybody else.
01:28:13And that's how close Coulthard is now to Heidfeld.
01:28:16But Heidfeld's got a good car around here.
01:28:18You can hear them popping and splashing away on the traction control.
01:28:21Listen to them.
01:28:22Yeah, he's got...
01:28:25And his only chance really is to keep close through turn 13
01:28:29and hope he can get him at the end of the straight.
01:28:32But Heidfeld's Ferrari engine in the back of that car
01:28:35is giving out pretty good power as well.
01:28:37Coulthard then not close enough at the moment for a tow.
01:28:40Can he pick it up in the second half of the straight? I don't think so.
01:28:42Much more experienced driver.
01:28:44112 Grand Prix to 21 of Heidfeld.
01:28:49Heidfeld, who is the man who won the Formula 3000 championship
01:28:53a couple of years ago,
01:28:54drove for the Cross team when it was just about at its lowest ebb last year.
01:28:59And his confidence was very low.
01:29:01He's got it right back with a very fine motor car,
01:29:04this Ferrari-powered Sauber.
01:29:06And he will know that he's got to hang on to that place that he's got now
01:29:10by keeping David Coulthard back somehow or other fairly.
01:29:13And just look at the way that Coulthard is harrying him.
01:29:16And Heidfeld has got to hang on for at least five laps like this
01:29:20because this is lap 60.
01:29:22It's a 65-lap race, as I keep saying.
01:29:25And they're coming up now to Jenson Button,
01:29:27who is down in 15th place.
01:29:29And if either of them puts a wheel wrong there, the place could change.
01:29:33Heidfeld's got to decide where he can attack Button.
01:29:36But we'll see them coming up in his mirrors
01:29:38and we'll realise that he's being lapped.
01:29:40And I'm sure we'll move over and let them through.
01:29:43But if he hesitates and Coulthard can see an advantage,
01:29:46he can dodge out from behind Heidfeld and take the place.
01:29:49Yes, this is an interesting situation.
01:29:51You've got lapped cars lapping other cars that are at least two laps down.
01:29:56But look, Coulthard very, very close behind Heidfeld.
01:29:58Can he stay there through that last turn?
01:30:00He's much closer this time around.
01:30:02And surely now he's in the sweet spot for a good slipstream.
01:30:05Heidfeld beginning to cover.
01:30:06Coulthard going for some slipstream off the back of the Button Benetton.
01:30:11And yes, he had a double helping of slipstream down there.
01:30:14Smart thinking by David Coulthard.
01:30:16Saying, OK, you want to block that way.
01:30:18I'll go and use his slipstream instead.
01:30:20And into the point scoring position.
01:30:22And who would have thought that could have happened when this race began?
01:30:25When David Coulthard failed to get away,
01:30:28had to go round the formation lap, catch the others that lapped,
01:30:32could start last in 22nd place behind Tarso Marquez Minardi,
01:30:37European Minardi.
01:30:38And he's fought his way up into the points with a magnificent fighting drive.
01:30:43He's now in sixth position for a world championship point.
01:30:46Can he catch Piano Trolli ahead of him?
01:30:49I very much doubt it because there's about seven seconds
01:30:52and there's only four laps to go.
01:30:54But Coulthard didn't help himself, of course,
01:30:56when he knocked his front wing off
01:30:58and had another 22nd pit stop at the end of the first lap.
01:31:01So he's pretty much spoiled his own afternoon there, I think,
01:31:04as David Coulthard made a good fist at coming back through the finish.
01:31:08Well, a searing new lap record for Michael Schumacher,
01:31:11which beats... Oh, here's a replay.
01:31:14Watch David Coulthard timing it to perfection,
01:31:17dodging out from behind the rear wing of the Benetton to move ahead.
01:31:22And yes, says Bob McMurray on the left
01:31:25as his man moves up a place into the points.
01:31:29Lap 62.
01:31:31And here he is, David Coulthard,
01:31:34who was second in Australia, who was third in Malaysia,
01:31:37first in Brazil, second at the San Marino Grand Prix.
01:31:41Looks as though he's going to make it world championship points
01:31:44in the first five races of the year.
01:31:48There's truly then seven seconds ahead of him.
01:31:50And this, amazingly, is Mika Hakkinen about to lap
01:31:53third-place man Montoya in the BMW Williams.
01:31:57So Hakkinen then will have lapped everybody
01:31:59except Michael Schumacher, who's now a full 28 seconds behind him.
01:32:04Yeah, Mika Hakkinen, very, very relaxed and chatty and cheerful this year.
01:32:09And some people were saying that after two...
01:32:12Oh, here's a replay.
01:32:14Yeah, that's a replay, I think, of yet another car
01:32:16unlapping himself, Prost unlapping himself.
01:32:18So now we're getting a feel for Michael's problem.
01:32:21It's a speed-related, it's an engine power-related problem,
01:32:24and quite clearly not using full throttle.
01:32:27Maybe he's low on oil pressure or something like that.
01:32:29James, what can you tell us?
01:32:30I can't tell you about the Schumacher situation.
01:32:32They're keeping their cars very close to their chest,
01:32:34but we will get a word, hopefully, with Ross Brawn at the end of this race
01:32:37and tell you exactly what the problem is.
01:32:39What I can tell you is that last time by McLaren handed a board out
01:32:41to Mika Hakkinen saying he won easy.
01:32:45I've been here so many times and seen that board handed out
01:32:47to Mika Hakkinen, particularly at this racetrack.
01:32:49He's enjoying himself. He's in the lead.
01:32:51He's back. He's really bouncing back.
01:32:53And they want him to slow down and not throw it all away.
01:32:55Yeah, I was saying, it's a very cheerful and chatty Mika Hakkinen.
01:32:58A lot of people were saying, well, he's relaxing.
01:33:00He's won the World Championship. He's lost his urge.
01:33:04How wrong. How very, very wrong.
01:33:07No question of that at all. He's fighting as hard as ever.
01:33:10He's on his 63rd lap now, just two laps to go,
01:33:13and he's going to walk this race.
01:33:15Michael Schumacher is not in danger of losing his second place
01:33:19if he can finish the race because Montoya has been lapped
01:33:22and is 56 seconds behind the race leader
01:33:25and 24 seconds behind Michael Schumacher.
01:33:28Yes, Schumi now is a full seven seconds per lap slower
01:33:32than he was going earlier in the race.
01:33:34So, as I say, I'm pretty sure it's an engine-related problem now
01:33:37for Michael Schumacher.
01:33:39Traction control related? We're looking for straws now.
01:33:43Well, it could be because during the traction control phase,
01:33:46the cylinders are cut, the mixture, the spark is changed.
01:33:51Butterflies are sometimes moved. It's quite a complex situation.
01:33:54Michael really, really going slowly now.
01:33:57Alternatively, it could be something like a hydraulic pressure, Murray,
01:34:01or an oil pressure situation where he just wants to coast.
01:34:05He does have a half a minute in his pocket to third-place man,
01:34:08but he's going to need it if he has many more problems than this.
01:34:11Just look at the way that Kimi Räikkönen there in ninth place
01:34:14in the Sauber Petronas has gone past the second-place man,
01:34:18Michael Schumacher.
01:34:20But Mikko Häkkinen is not far off now,
01:34:24completing his 64th and starting his 65th and last lap.
01:34:30And over the line goes the Ferrari.
01:34:32So it's just hang on as far as Schumacher is concerned.
01:34:36He knows that if he can just finish this race,
01:34:38he's going to have done the next best thing to winning,
01:34:40and that's to finish in second place
01:34:42and get the six World Championship points that can matter so much.
01:34:46That's Nigel Stepney, the man who Schumacher hit last year,
01:34:50nearest to the camera,
01:34:51and then down the road, down the gantry of the Ferrari,
01:34:54some very calm but no doubt very worried people,
01:34:58because they know that he's got to hang on for that last five laps or so.
01:35:02And it's going to be a wonderful return for Mikko Häkkinen
01:35:05after some many races in the wilderness as far as he's concerned.
01:35:10And he has lapped Juan Pablo Montoya
01:35:14and is coming out of the last corner of the lap
01:35:18to start his 65th and last lap of the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix.
01:35:25This is the man, Mikko Häkkinen, who won in 1998, 1999,
01:35:31and last year, if he can just do this last two and a half miles or so,
01:35:36he is going to have won this race four years in succession.
01:35:41He's slowing down. He's slowing down, Murray.
01:35:43I thought I heard it rattling as it came past the pits last time.
01:35:46Mikko Häkkinen is slowing right down. Is he out of fuel?
01:35:50Oh, this could be absolutely fantastic.
01:35:52He's got to finish this last lap.
01:35:54Meantime, Michael Schumacher at reduced speed
01:35:57will be closing up on him.
01:35:59And there is Schumacher starting his last lap
01:36:02as Mikko Häkkinen tours, tours.
01:36:05Is he going to stop?
01:36:06Is Michael Schumacher in the last knockings of the race
01:36:09as Häkkinen looks down into the cockpit?
01:36:11There are sparks coming out of the back.
01:36:12I thought I saw a couple of sparks. Yes.
01:36:14So it is a pure mechanical problem for Häkkinen then,
01:36:17not a shortage of fuel.
01:36:19Häkkinen, I do not believe, will get over the finish line.
01:36:22And Adrian Newey looking there. Bang! The engine's gone.
01:36:26And David Coulthard had the same sort of thing happen this morning
01:36:30in the warm-up. It was a hydraulics problem.
01:36:32And on the very last lap of the Spanish Grand Prix,
01:36:36Michael Schumacher looks as though he's going to go through
01:36:39and take another win.
01:36:41What an incredible situation.
01:36:43It would be his third and Mikko Häkkinen has pulled off.
01:36:47Michael Schumacher has just got to go.
01:36:49There he goes into the lead.
01:36:51Wow! My goodness.
01:36:53An incredible finish.
01:36:55Mikko Häkkinen had got the race in his pocket
01:36:58only to be denied it.
01:37:00And look, this looks like a repeat of his situation
01:37:04at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
01:37:07He's got to get out of the car. No, no, no.
01:37:09Mikko Häkkinen waves to the crowd.
01:37:11This sort of thing happens in motor racing
01:37:14and it has happened to him and he has taken it magnificently.
01:37:17Michael Schumacher doing something I've never seen him do before.
01:37:21Wave to the crowd.
01:37:23And Michael Schumacher wins in Spain for the third time
01:37:28to increase his World Championship lead.
01:37:31What an unbelievable finish.
01:37:34Martin.
01:37:35I'm just wondering if Häkkinen can still score some points.
01:37:38Remember, he'd lapped everybody up to third-place man.
01:37:41Some of those will be able to recover that lap.
01:37:44Where will Mikko Häkkinen still be able to finish?
01:37:47It was the final lap of the race.
01:37:49And still waving at the crowd.
01:37:51We're waiting then for Montoya.
01:37:53He surely will finish second.
01:37:54Yes, Montoya will have unlapped himself.
01:37:57So second-place man then, Montoya.
01:38:00And I'm sure Villner, Trulli and probably Coulthard
01:38:02can all come through too.
01:38:04Mikko Häkkinen may score no points whatsoever.
01:38:07Good news for Michelin.
01:38:08I've talked about the Bridgestone-Michelin battle on the tar front.
01:38:12And Juan Pablo Montoya takes second position,
01:38:16his first podium place for Williams and BMW.
01:38:20Over the line goes Villner, third.
01:38:22Jarno Trulli is fourth.
01:38:24David Coulthard has got two World Championship points
01:38:27by finishing in fifth position.
01:38:30No, Mikko Häkkinen does not score a point
01:38:33because Nick Heidfeld takes sixth place in the Sauber.
01:38:37Yes, Häkkinen was two laps ahead of everybody
01:38:41from Verstappen in twelfth place backwards.
01:38:43Because Michael then trailing so far behind,
01:38:46Michael was not going to clear the line
01:38:48and prevent others from finishing the race
01:38:51by winning it at speed.
01:38:53So Michael limping home to another Grand Prix victory.
01:38:57Yes, and what a lovely bloke Mikko Häkkinen is.
01:38:59He's taken that bitter reverse of his fortune.
01:39:03Stoically, almost humorously,
01:39:06certainly very good-heartedly and good-naturedly.
01:39:09Helmet off, waves to the crowd, smiles at them.
01:39:12He will live to fight another day.
01:39:14But bad news for Mikko Häkkinen
01:39:17because he failed to finish in Australia,
01:39:19he failed to finish in Brazil,
01:39:21he's failed to finish here in Spain,
01:39:23and James Allen has news.
01:39:25Well, I'm down here with Ross Braun.
01:39:27You've just been talking with Michael on the radio.
01:39:29What were you saying?
01:39:31Well, we were a bit mystified during the race
01:39:33because it was going so well up until the middle.
01:39:35I knew they were going to come in around lap 50,
01:39:38but our prediction showed we should have been okay
01:39:40because the laps Michael was able to do in the middle of the race
01:39:43would have been more than enough.
01:39:45But he had a terrible problem with the third set of tyres,
01:39:47a very bad vibration, and he just couldn't respond.
01:39:50So it was our lucky day today.
01:39:52You can say that again.
01:39:53I mean, that last lap was just unbelievable.
01:39:55That wasn't going to happen.
01:39:57Well, I've been there before.
01:39:59Gerhard lost Hockenheim in the Benetton
01:40:02in the last couple of laps.
01:40:03The engine blew up.
01:40:04I mean, until you get over the line, it's not finished.
01:40:06And I heard Mikko go past sadly very bad.
01:40:10So I couldn't believe it, no,
01:40:12but you take it when it comes.
01:40:14You can't be born good, be born gulky, Ross.
01:40:16Well, what does that picture in the background remind you of?
01:40:19It reminds me of Nigel Mansell driving the Williams
01:40:22with the great Ayrton Senna sitting on the side pod,
01:40:24being transported home after he had retired
01:40:27from the British Grand Prix.
01:40:29But this time, it's David Coulthard
01:40:31who finished a brilliant fifth, having started 22nd,
01:40:34taking his team-mate Mikko Häkkinen,
01:40:37who lost the lead on the very last lap
01:40:40to the man you are looking at,
01:40:42Michael Schumacher, a brilliant victor.
01:40:44Yes, ironically, as I said,
01:40:46Michael's lack of pace at the end
01:40:48and it enabled many of those people,
01:40:50we saw them all unlapping themselves,
01:40:52allowed them to carry on and finish the full quota of laps,
01:40:55and it cost Häkkinen because he actually finished the race
01:40:58ninth, albeit on the side of the road.
01:41:00And, well, what a change of fortunes.
01:41:02It all looked so easy for Ferrari, didn't it?
01:41:04And all of a sudden, I remember us saying,
01:41:06wow, it's turning in McLaren's favour here.
01:41:08And just at the last moment,
01:41:09there's two sick McLaren drivers there.
01:41:11Coulthard got two points,
01:41:12but he knows he could easily have won this race now.
01:41:15His car's run faultlessly,
01:41:16and Häkkinen, of course, had it in the bag
01:41:18with under three miles to go.
01:41:20And there he is, new boy.
01:41:22Juan Pablo Montoya finishes second.
01:41:24Michael Schumacher leads the World Championship now
01:41:28on his own from David Coulthard by six points,
01:41:3136 to 28.
01:41:33Rubens Barrichello is still in third position,
01:41:36and Ralf Schumacher is still in fourth place,
01:41:39and Nick Heidfeld in fifth position.
01:41:42But Jarno Trulli moves up to sixth place
01:41:45ahead of his team-mate, Heinz-Harald Frentzen,
01:41:48as a slightly bemused, I think,
01:41:52Michael Schumacher talks to Herbie Blasch
01:41:54about his reverse of fortunes
01:41:56on the last lap of the Spanish Grand Prix,
01:41:59and Micah Häkkinen is transported
01:42:01not the way he had hoped,
01:42:03but nevertheless on wheels
01:42:05and not having to walk in.
01:42:08And you can see some very, very happy fans there.
01:42:12The Spanish Grand Prix,
01:42:14after one of the most amazing reversals of fortune
01:42:17I have seen for a very long time,
01:42:19won by Michael Schumacher,
01:42:21laughing his head off, talking to Sean and Lacey.
01:42:24The top six places, Schumacher, Montoya,
01:42:27Villeneuve, Ferrari, Williams BMW,
01:42:30BAR, a good finish for Jack Villeneuve,
01:42:34and those are his first points of the year.
01:42:37In fourth position, the Jordan of Jarno Trulli.
01:42:40David Coulthard gets those two World Championship points,
01:42:43and both the McLarens finish in the points
01:42:46for the Constructors' Championship
01:42:48to close the gap on the lead of Ferrari.
01:42:51And Nick Heidfeld takes sixth place.
01:42:53Yes, Häkkinen didn't finish in the points, of course, Murray,
01:42:56but Coulthard with a couple of consolation points.
01:42:59Well, Micah just seems actually pretty happy with life, doesn't he?
01:43:03He put a good show on today, really,
01:43:05his first strong, properly strong
01:43:07Micah Häkkinen-style race of the year.
01:43:09And I'm just surprised, though,
01:43:11that he's not a little bit more gutted, I think,
01:43:13is the word I was expecting to have to use
01:43:15when we saw him take his crash helmet off.
01:43:18Really nice to see the good fellowship that exists between them,
01:43:21and hats off to Micah Häkkinen for taking it so very, very well.
01:43:27So I think King Juan Carlos
01:43:29will almost certainly be presenting the trophy
01:43:33to the race victor, Michael Schumacher.
01:43:36The King of Spain is a very keen motor racing enthusiast.
01:43:39I remember earlier on in this programme
01:43:41we showed him presenting the trophy to James Hunt in 1976.
01:43:46It is indeed going to be His Majesty that presents the trophy,
01:43:50and the winning constructor will get his trophy from Marc de Petter.
01:43:55And I wonder who's going to turn out for Ferrari
01:43:58to take the Constructor's Trophy.
01:44:01Will it be Ross Brawn?
01:44:02Will it be Jean Toute, who is the team manager?
01:44:05Ferrari now lead the Constructor's Championship,
01:44:08still, of course, by...
01:44:10And I was surprised to see this
01:44:12because my mental arithmetic said it was going to be much better,
01:44:15from McLaren.
01:44:1650 points for Ferrari, 32 for McLaren.
01:44:19On to the top step of the podium goes Michael Schumacher.
01:44:22Jacques Villeneuve on the right,
01:44:24up there for the first time for a very long time,
01:44:27and Montoya up there for the first time ever.
01:44:39HE COUGHS
01:44:45HORN HONKS
01:45:08HORN HONKS
01:45:29And a very important point,
01:45:31that is the first time ever that a B.A.R. driver,
01:45:35Jacques Villeneuve, has stepped onto the podium, third place.
01:45:38And it is the National Anthem of Italy for Ferrari.
01:46:05BAND PLAYS
01:46:36Michael Schumacher's 47th World Championship victory.
01:46:42The man who's won the most ever, Alain Prost, 51.
01:46:46Michael Schumacher is getting closer and closer
01:46:49to being the all-time great in terms of victories.
01:46:53He's now scored 714 World Championship points,
01:46:5784 behind the record of Alain Prost,
01:47:02as he lifts a magnificent trophy,
01:47:04knowing that that other record could soon,
01:47:07in the comparatively near future, fall to him too.
01:47:10Michael Schumacher wins in Spain.
01:47:13A new boy on the podium
01:47:15as you watch the broken McLaren of Mika Hakkinen being recovered.
01:47:20The new boy, the smiling, smiling Colombian on the left,
01:47:23Juan Pablo Montoya.
01:47:25We're surely going to see him up there many more times in the future.
01:47:30And welcome back to the French-Canadian Jacques Villeneuve,
01:47:34the World Champion of 1997,
01:47:37scoring those first-ever points for the BAR team.
01:47:40Jarno Trulli, well, Jordan up there.
01:47:47And David Coulthard scores those World Championship points,
01:47:51two of them vital points for McLaren.
01:47:54And Mick Heidfeld, another great point for Sauber.
01:47:57Champagne time, they're going to get wet,
01:47:59but they will be very happy to do that.
01:48:02It's been in a magnificent course.
01:48:05Ferrari has won, Williams BMW second, BAR third.
01:48:10That's the first time we've had a result like that.
01:48:16Thank you very much indeed, Murray.
01:48:18No rain then, but high drama in Barca.
01:48:22We will be reflecting the Spanish Grand Prix when you rejoin us,
01:48:26Martin Brundle will be up here in the studio with myself and Tony Jardim.
01:48:30We're going to hear from Ron Dennis, from Mika Häkkinen,
01:48:33from those three in the press conference as well.
01:48:35We hope to snatch a word with David Coulthard too,
01:48:37plus our competition.
01:48:42The Spanish Grand Prix wins.
01:48:44Well, first of all, the result on the map.
01:48:46But that will come in a moment.
01:48:48We'll see how you do it.
01:48:49Montoya as best Michelin rider in second place,
01:48:52behind Michael Schumacher.
01:48:55And then Villeneuve, Trulli, Coulthard, Heidfeld.
01:48:57Coulthard still has two World Cup points,
01:48:59started as 22nd in the race.
01:49:01Heidfeld, one point for Sauber.
01:49:03Then Panis, just outside the points.
01:49:05Raikkonen, eighth.
01:49:06Häkkinen still as ninth,
01:49:07placed on one lap from the winner,
01:49:09the unfortunate Mika Häkkinen.
01:49:11What bad luck that man had in the last round.
01:49:13Then we go looking for the name of Jos Verstappen.
01:49:15And here we find it, on the twelfth place,
01:49:17on two laps from the winner, Michael Schumacher.
01:49:19Behind Luciano Burti and in front, Fernando Alonso.
01:49:22But in any case, Jos has won the race.
01:49:25At least that's something.
01:49:27With that, they have gathered valuable information
01:49:30for the upcoming races.
01:49:31These are the runners-up.
01:49:33Started with Frenz and La Rosa.
01:49:35Then Bernoldi, Ralf Schumacher,
01:49:37Boris Irvine and Maricello.
01:49:44Not expected, but still got it.
01:49:47The victory in the Grand Prix of Spain.
01:49:51The third time that Michael Schumacher wins here.
01:49:53With that, he is at the same level as Häkkinen,
01:49:55Jake Stewart, Nigel Menzel and Alain Prost.
01:49:57Well, who predicted that Michael Schumacher
01:50:00would win the Grand Prix of Spain?
01:50:02That's Ronald.
01:50:03Hey, nice name.
01:50:04Van Soest from Dodewaard.
01:50:20I mean, we both have done, I think, a very good race.
01:50:23Very entertaining until the last pit stop.
01:50:26Then he jumped me at the last pit stop
01:50:28because he did a better last section
01:50:32in his second pit stop.
01:50:33And I was a bit in traffic
01:50:35and having some little trouble on top.
01:50:37But anyway, we have done a great race.
01:50:40Remembers me back to old days in last year.
01:50:44And seeing him then retiring just in the last lap,
01:50:48five corners or whatever to go to the end,
01:50:50it's, I mean, it's shocking
01:50:53because he's really done everything right
01:50:55and then something like this.
01:50:56I'm sorry for him.
01:50:58I went to see him because
01:51:00it's not the way you like to win a race, honestly.
01:51:03But then sometimes it happens.
01:51:05I mean, in racing, it has happened to me
01:51:08and it has happened now to Mikko.
01:51:10So that's the way it goes sometimes.
01:51:12Now, you mentioned you had some problems after the second stop.
01:51:14You were losing about three seconds a lap.
01:51:16What were the problems?
01:51:17I had a huge vibration, most likely in the tyres.
01:51:21And I was thinking the tyre was delaminating.
01:51:24And I was obviously very careful,
01:51:26especially down the straight.
01:51:27I was going very slow and not to risk anything,
01:51:30maybe a tyre explosion or whatever.
01:51:32We had enough of a gap
01:51:34and we were thinking maybe to come even in
01:51:37and to have another pit stop for changing tyres.
01:51:39But then it stopped at a certain point to increase.
01:51:42And I thought it's then just for the last couple of laps,
01:51:45it's safe to continue, which it was.
01:51:47But still, it was a worry until the end.
01:51:49Thank you, Michael.
01:51:51Juan Pablo Latoya, welcome to the press conferences.
01:51:53How did it feel to stand on the podium
01:51:55and see the Colombian flag being raised on a Formula One podium?
01:51:58I think it's really exciting, you know.
01:52:00The first four races have been very hard for me.
01:52:03We've been some competitive and some not so much.
01:52:05Here, you know, I wasn't expecting to be on the podium, really.
01:52:08I started 11th and the start was really good
01:52:10and moved me a lot of places up
01:52:12and then just kept pushing all day long.
01:52:15Now, was that a launch control start or a Juan Pablo Latoya start?
01:52:18It was launch control.
01:52:21And during the race itself, I mean, did everything...
01:52:23Because you're saying all week you've had problems
01:52:25getting the car settled around the circuit.
01:52:26Was it much better in race trim?
01:52:28It was a bit better, but it wasn't like massively different.
01:52:30You know, the car was quite tricky to drive
01:52:32and, you know, compared with, you know,
01:52:34with Mike on the McLarens as well,
01:52:36you know, they're in a different league this weekend
01:52:38and, you know, there's a lot of work to be done for the next race.
01:52:43Thanks, Juan Pablo.
01:52:44Jax, welcome back to the podium, the conference.
01:52:47First time since 1998, the first podium for BAR.
01:52:49You must be absolutely delighted.
01:52:51Yeah, it's great.
01:52:52The whole team, everybody in the team,
01:52:54has worked really hard for the last three years
01:52:56and the beginning of the season has been really, really hard
01:52:59and to finally get a podium is great.
01:53:01I think it's the boost that everybody was needing.
01:53:05Now, obviously, a couple of people dropped out.
01:53:07Where do you feel the true level of performance of BAR is at the moment?
01:53:11Well, we couldn't have gone any quicker today.
01:53:13The car was hard to drive,
01:53:14but it looks like it was difficult for everybody,
01:53:17so we're a little bit lucky that a few cars dropped out,
01:53:21but then the team did a great job in the pit stops
01:53:24and that allowed us to jump truly in the first pit stop
01:53:28and then we just hang in there.
01:53:30Thanks, Jax.
01:53:31Michael, you had a problem today, you had a problem at Imola,
01:53:33you had a set-up problem back in Brazil.
01:53:35You managed to put off a superb victory,
01:53:37but are you slightly concerned about these issues
01:53:39and reliability problems creeping into the team?
01:53:42You probably read much more into it than it is,
01:53:45but that's natural.
01:53:46I'm not concerned at all
01:53:48because what has happened in the last stint with the set-up tyre,
01:53:52I'm pretty sure we find the reason and the solution for that
01:53:57and otherwise the car was perfect.
01:53:58I mean, as you saw, it was a close fight and battle with Mikko
01:54:01and things were going to our favour until,
01:54:04but I'm not concerned for the rest of the season.
01:54:08Thanks, gentlemen.
01:54:09Now, a word from each of you in your native languages, please,
01:54:11starting with Michael.