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In what is thought to have been the largest crowd ever for a Formula One race, Michael Schumacher delighted the thousands of fans that crammed themselves into the Brickyard on Sunday, taking the inaugural F1 race win at Indianapolis. Barichello's second place completed a near-perfect weekend for Ferrari and secured their second one-two finish in two races. Heinz-Harald Frentzen hung on to third position, despite increasing pressure from fourth-place man Jacques Villeneuve.
David Coulthard took the lead at the start but it was clear to all that the Scot's McLaren moved before the start lights went out. Knowing that a ten second jump-start penalty was imminent, Coulthard slowed in an attempt to let his teammate Hakkinen pass Schumacher. The German was in no mood to hang around, however, and muscled Coulthard out of the way to take the lead, a position he would not lose for the rest of the race.
Showers before the race ensured that all the drivers, bar Johnny Herbert, started on wet weather
tires but it soon became apparent that dry tires were the right rubber to be on. Schumacher, however, was able to stay out longer than most other drivers and found that his Ferrari handled well on blistered
tires. Mika Hakkinen tried to exert pressure on the German in the early stages but his hopes for a race win, and perhaps his hopes for a third consecutive championship, went up in smoke on lap 26 when his car caught fire, forcing him to retire.
There was a close battle between Barichello, Frentzen, and Jacques Villeneuve throughout the race but a spin from the Canadian allowed the Ferrari to move into third. The Brazilian was able to overtake Frentzen in the second round of pit stops thanks to a masterful bluff from his team that prompted the Jordan to pit early. Having now dropped to third place, Frentzen's day was far from over as Jacques Villeneuve's BAR filled his mirrors for the remainder of the race. The 1997 World Champion tried to claim BAR's first podium of their short history with an overtaking manoeuvre at Turn 1 but the Canadian outbraked himself, and after an excursion across the grass, was left too far behind the Jordan.
Despite the earlier penalty, Coulthard was able to fight his way back up to fifth place and another impressive drive from Ricardo Zonta secured him the final World Championship point.
Although he found himself in a careless spin in the closing stages of the race, Michael Schumacher had not really looked under pressure from anyone in Indianapolis. His win pulls him eight points ahead of Hakkinen and a win in Japan would secure him the World Championship. Mika Hakkinen, however, cannot be discounted. The Finn has put in some excellent performances at the Suzuka track and he will arrive in Japan ready to take the fight down to the wire. If he can come home first in Japan anything could happen. And to quote the doyen of Formula One commentary, Murray Walker, "If is F1 spelt backwards!"
Selected Quotes
Michael Schumacher (1st) - "It's the first time we've been [to Indianapolis] and I guess none of us expected to have such a great welcome from the American fans … To see so many people here celebrating this 1-2 victory for Ferrari with us - well, it's the best … I know that with an advantage of eight points everything is still open mathematically, even though it is a good advantage. But I will start to believe in the championship once it is finished, not before. You saw what happened earlier this year and you never know what will happen in the last two races. We will be very concentrated, working hard for this last two races, and we hope to have more opportunities."
Rubens Barichello (2nd) - "The car was really good. The set-up was really nice and the only downside of the race was that I stopped maybe four or five laps too early … The car had a bit too much wing, which made it a difficult to overtake. But it was quick. So I knew when Frentzen came into the pits that I had my chance … so I had to drive fast."
Heinz-Harald Frentzen (3rd) - "There was not a lot of time to enjoy [the race] because I had to go flat out. Near the end, when Jacques was coming up close, he tried to overtake me once, going down into the first corner. Luckily he didn't make it. But I had a really hard race, I was fighting for every tenth today … Today has been a great result for us. This year we have been struggling with our car from the aspect of reliability. We had many chances to finish on podiums, but for obvious reasons we didn't make it. I am glad we made it here today."
Jacques Villeneuve (4th) - "It's a good performance, but I'm annoyed not to have got third … We lost a lot of time early on. The car wasn't quick on the humid track, but once we got going on the dry track the car was a very, very fast."
David Coulthard (5th) - "I'm sorry and frustrated that I jumped at the start … I worked my way through the traffic but my second set of
tires was not as good as my first one and as a result I couldn't push as hard as I would have liked and had to settle for fifth."
Ricardo Zonta (6th) - "It's a great result for the team to get both cars in the points and I'm pleased to finish in the top six for the second race running."
Mika Hakkinen (Retired due to engine failure) - "Obviously I'm disappointed not to get any points today but we still have two races to go."
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Countdown
to USGP: USGP's of days gone by 9/11/00
Italian
GP 2000: An emotional victory for Schumacher 9/10/00
Belgium
GP 2000: Hakkinen out drives Schumacher 8/27/00
Monza
2000: An emotional victory for Schumacher 9/10/00
Europe
TV: CART? No it's women's tennis - again 8/24/00
Button
to Benetton: leaving way clear for Montoya 8/17/00
Hungary
2000: Hakkinen dominates 8/13/00
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