Any one who has watched the incredible Juan Pablo Montoya during his C.A.R.T career has been waiting impatiently to see what he was capable of when behind the wheel of a Formula One car. Well Ladies and Gentleman the waiting is over ! During Saturday's Qualifying session Montoya's much reported exuberance and enthusiasm for his work was almost palpable as he joined the track in the opening minutes. We learnt that his BMW - Williams was matching the pace of all the top machines and as he tore off round the circuit it certainly looked that way. However we were soon disappointed to see the white and blue car out of control and spinning into the gravel trap. With plenty of time remaining Juan Pablo had to start what amounted to a cross country run ( in full overalls and crash helmet ) back to the pits.
Once reunited with a race car he set off once more and almost immediately posted what was to be the 4th fastest time of the day roughly half a second behind pole sitter Michael Schumacher. His team mate Ralf Schumacher managed an excellent and long deserved front row spot alongside his brother, and Mika Hakinnen took advantage of an improving Mclaren to grap third. Rubens Barrichello was having a torrid time in front of his adoring home crowd and could only achieve 6th.
And so to the race....everyone expected a confrontation at the first corner between the two Schumacher brothers but as is usual in Formula 1 expectations were not to be confirmed by events. The excitement had already started when poor Rubens Barrichello had to abandon his race car in the middle of the formation lap and jog back to the pits where he hoped the T Car would be waiting for him. To say this was a race against time would be an understatement since it was set up not unsurprisingly for his teammate. Frantic work by the Ferrari mechanics to correct this was underway as Rubens plodded through the infield. He duly arrived and was able to leave the pitlane with literally seconds to spare. A few minutes later the TV cameras captured a view of him sat on the grid and inevitably the sweat was pouring down his face.
The lights started their sequence and then went out but Mika Hakinnen (just as had happened to his teammate last year ) failed to get away, provoking incredible evasive manoevres from those drivers behind him, most notably from David Coulthard who, being in 5th place on the grid, was immediately behind the stationary Finn. Fortunately there were no collisions and off they went. Ralf got bogged down as he tried to pull away up the hill from the start line, and so Montoya was able to pass him easily and set off in hot pursuit of Schumacher who had made a good start. However the marshals who had rushed to assist the removal of the stranded Mclaren were being thwarted in their efforts. It later transpired that Hakinnen had removed the steering wheel and walked clear of the car ( a misdemeanour for which he was later fined ) and the delay this provoked as the marshals struggled to refit it effectively led to the safety car being brought out. This was a highly significant development since Michael Schumacher had obtained a reasonable gap between himself and Montoya but of course the safety car conditions bunched the field up together.
How often have we seen the lead driver able to take advantage of his position and control the position of the drivers behind him so that when the safety car pulls away he has engineered a gap which they are invariably unable to claw back. Well here was a situation where the driver behind the leader had much experience of rolling restarts from his 2 years in Champ Cars and the result was nothing short of sensational. Picture if you will the start/finish straight at Interlagos and the safety car pulling off the circuit and into the pitlane. Michael Schumacher has tried his best to bunch the trailing pack up as much as possible and is hurtling towards Turn 1, but Juan Pablo Montoya is still very close to him, so when they arrive at the corner and Michael goes a little bit wide to the right and then aims for the apex he finds he cannot do so because the line has already been taken by the Columbian. Montaya refuses to yield and they take the turn side by side. As Juan Pablo drifts out to the right their wheels touch but it is all completely fair and the German has to accept defeat because he just does not have the line into the next right-hander.
One of the most remarkable facets to Montoya's ability which, because of the many restart situations, has been demonstrated time and time again in America is the way he can control a racing car on cold tyres seemingly so much better than the competition. How often have we seen him apparently taking corners flat out when those around him have been tip-toeing round waiting for their tyres to warm up ? Well this appeared to be the case here but with bells on. Michael Schumacher's car control is the stuff of legend but I honestly dont think even he had an answer to Montoya's fantastic display of supreme skill and opportunism.
Scarcely had we had time to recover from this incredible event when we were assaulted by more drama! Ralf Schumacher was following Heinz-Harald Frentzen into a turn when yet again his car was struck from behind, this time it was the unfortuneate Rubens Barrichello. The Brazilian's car was too badly damaged for him to continue and he was left disconsolate at the trackside. Ralf was able to motor round to the pits and amazingly re-entered the race a few minutes later, albeit 4 laps down on the leaders.
A fierce duel then developed between Montoya and Michael Schumacher for the lead but in spite of the German's best efforts Montoya eventually started to inch away. Everyone then started to wonder as to the fuel strategies of the two men, surely the Columbian must be on a lighter fuel load. But apparently to the visible consternation of the Mclaren garage it was Schumacher who pitted first and at a stage in the race which indicated he must be 2 stopping.
This meant that Montoya was leading but David Coulthard was now second and Heinz-Harald Frentzen was third.The laps passed by and it was clear that all these three men must be on one stop fuel strategies. Just as we were beginning to relax a bit there was another incredible development. Montoya was now having to thread his way through backmarkers and had encountered the hero of Sepang Jos Verstappen. He was approaching the very same corner that had witnessed the collision between his teammate and Rubens Barrichello and was able to speed by the Dutchman with ease but as he slowed to take the corner ....Bang ! ....and he too was shunted off from behind. This time the Williams was completely out of action and Montoya's race was run.
As you can see this race was so packed with incident that there is a danger of this report overrunning but one small thing I noticed which so nearly could have turned into a very embarrassing spectacle was when Gaston Mazzacane in the Prost ran off the circuit and found himself in what looked like a car park. It was fortunate that he was not travelling very quickly because someone in a Jeep was reversing out of his parking space and obviously was not expecting to have to look out for F1 cars!
David Coulthard was now in the lead and we were being told that there were lightning bolts flashing across the sky accompanied by claps of thunder. The time for David to come in for tyres and fuel was fast approaching and it really did look as if for once the Mclaren team were in the driving seat and could dictate events as regards the optimum tyre choice for the conditions. However they seemed to have missed the moment when David passed the pitlane when the heavens were opening and was forced to take things very gingerly indeed until he could get round again. It was estimated that he lost about 30 seconds to Schumacher at this point ( effectively cancelling out the advantage of being on a one stop strategy ) however when he did stop the team plumped for the Bridgestone 'intermediates' which had served Ferrari so well in Sepang.
Shortly afterwards the pendulum swung his way once more when "Herr Regen Meister" himself caught the white line which sent him spinning but he did not lose control completely. Coulthard was soon putting Michael under pressure and as they approached Turn 1 with the Minardi of Tarso Marques in front of them sending up plumes of spray the Mclaren went on the inside of the Brazilian and the Ferrari on the outside. We all shut our eyes and when we opened them again David Coulthard was in the lead, which he retained to the chequered flag and a well deserved though perhaps fortunate 10 points.
Race Results posted by
David Little
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