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<BRIAN.KIDD@sky.com>...
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL , HOPE TO SEE YOU MORE OFTEN THIS YEAR !
<BRIAN.KIDD@sky.com>
Member since:10.05.2001
Reviews:185
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Australian GP 2002 §§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§
Oh look the first op of the new Grand Prix season , and it's by me- what an honour .
Oh what a start to the Grand Prix season - incident packed , dramatic yet almost predictable !
Qualifying was spoilt by rain that persisted for the last 40 minutes of the one hour window . Sato of new team Yahama , failed to qualify due to mecanical problems which only enabled him to do a few laps in the rain . However he had shown enough speed in the previous free practice to be given wild card entry by FIA .
As per usual Ferrari showed pure timing perfection and managed to get both drivers out at the right time , to maximise starting positions . The others had a mixed blessing .
As you can see , not a brilliant start particularly for Jordan and Jaguar .
So onto the race...
On the formation lap , both Arrows failed to cross the start line , and were quickly pushed into the pit lane , where attempts were made to restart their engines in order to start the race from said pit lane.
At the off Ralf Schmacher has a blistering start , passing his brother and immediately attempted to overtake Rubens Barrichello , who quite rightly defended his line going into the first corner . Unable to brake sufficiently Ralf Schmacher promptly mounted Barrichello’s car , and briefly resembled a light aircraft , as it flew over the now terminally damaged Ferrari , before comming to a gentle halt via the crash barrier .
From this , came the carnage , which once the dust had settled and those who were able to avoid the strewn chasis , left a otal of eight cars out of the race . Officials decided upon a safey car , much to the annoyance of those drivers now out of the race , who had by now ran back to their pits for the spare cars . Had Michael Schmacher been involved , I wonder if the same conclusion would have been given ?
The arrows had not yet been successful in joining the race , so at the end of the first corner , just 12 cars were in the running , and the top six looked a little unusual with the positions being held by ; Coulthard , Trulli , Monntoya , M.Schmacher , Irvine and De la Rosa .
At the end of the first lap Raikkonen pitted to replace a nose cone and debris from his seat , and rejoined in 12th place.
At the end of lap 4 the safety car went in , and immediately M.Scmacher overtook Montoya to take 3rd spot . By lap six , both Arrows had joined the race , albeit many laps down ! . Schmacher continued to harrass Trulli for 2nd spot as Coulthard took a healthy lead . Eventually a mechanical failiure led to Trulli spinning off uncontrollably on lap8 , leaving Schmacher to catch Coulthard due to another use of the safety car, which returned to the pits on lap 11.
As the safety car went in , Coulthard tried to protect his lead , only to spin his car onto the grass before rejoining in 5th . Montoya made the move of the day and overtook Schmacher to take the lead . Not happy with this Schmacher harrassed Montoya before retaking the lead on lap 16 , on the same lap Frentzen was black flagged for a pit lane irregularity ( left while red light still visable ) .
By lap 22 Schmacher had taken an eight secong lead , while Coulthard had left the track several times , due to an ever evident mechanical fault . was down to 6th , On lap 32 Bernoldi was also black flagged ( illegal use of the spare car ) . On lap 35 Coulthard retired with a broken gearbox selector.
Lap 36 saw the first pit stop , and was made by new boy Aussie Mark Webber . A fuel flap problem slowed him down for 30+ seconds. What then followed was the usual uneventful pitstops .
The only action there after was Salo gaining on and attempting to claim 5th from Webber , only to spin on lap 54 , but still able to remain in 6th at the end of the race.
At the end of the race , there were just eight runners , wih only the top three on the same lap . The fianl standings were :
1) M.Schmacher 2) J.P.Montoya 3) K.Raikkonen 4) E. Irvine (+1 lap) 5) M.Webber (+2 laps) 6) M.Salo (+2 laps) 7) A.Yoong (+3 laps ) 8) P.De la Rosa ( +5 laps)
So there you have it an eventful GP , with an almost certain / predicable winner . With the carnage that occured the big winners were of course Jaguar ( I can’t recall the last race they were in the top 6 ) , Yamaha ( a dream start to get GP points in your first race ) and of course Minardi ( who had failed to score a single point in either Drivers or Constructors championships in last two seasons , but this time have , so ensuring sponsorship money for next season ) .
It was a race for the minnows to reap the rewards that so often are deprived , but are so eagerly deserved, as without these teams , GP would simply not be viable.
( You may have noticed the lack of Prost - these sadly went into receivership in November 2001 , however they may just be back for the next race , if not then Malaysian GP , due to some wheeler dealing going on , hindered by Minardi’s owner seeking a court injunction for irregularities- we await with eagerness the outcome these events. )
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Hate to disappoint you but I wrote the first Aussie GP op, but it's under a different subject. Not sure about Yamaha though(they aren't in F1). Webber was my man of the race, but Massa was too as he was on the pace all weekend. Are you going to write a Malaysian GP op, like me? Oh yeah Prost wont be back in time as they have been stopped by Ecclestone. Good op, Solex/Ollie
danieletheridge 07.03.2002 08:06
Good opinion, interesting, and I agree with your disadvantage box. Cheers... [dan]
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Advantages: The atmosphere, sound, sight and smell of Formula One racing Disadvantages: In this particular race - the qualifying was the only disappointment
Advantages: The first Gp is always one of the best and the 2001 race was no exception Disadvantages: The death of a marshall which should have been prevented after Monza 2000
Advantages: The atmosphere, sound, sight and smell of Formula One racing Disadvantages: In this particular race - the qualifying was the only disappointment
Mar 6th, 2002
(Mar 7th, 2002)
very helpful by (100%):
