Race Report

For the second year running, the European Grand Prix was in Germany. For
the second year running the race was an absolute blinder. The race started
with the weather threatening to do the job it did last year. In the end it
did not, but the race worked well without help from the skies.

Coulthard made a cracking start to the race - almost looking too good - up
to second by the start of the first corner, and even put his nose into the
lead for around 20 yards. Villeneuve, however, was the one who lead the
race, with Barrichello 3rd. Hill? He was already down to 5th place. The
Benettons were an even bigger mystery, being nowhere of significance by
the end of the first lap.

 1st    Coulthard  Barrichello  Schumacher  Hill  Hakkinen
 1 lap      0.790        1.490       2.025  2.326    3.007
 2 laps     1.593        2.524       3.264  3.929    4.540
 3 laps     2.568        3.338       3.908  4.243    5.477

By the end of lap 2, Alesi was making an impact on the race. Unfortunately
it was on Salo, with whom his car had a sudden attraction to the side pod.
Berger was also not in the thick end of the race, having already pitted.
Hill at this early stage of the race was all over the Ferrari of
Schumacher. At the front, Villeneuve was pulling away, and setting fastest
laps - a 1m22.841 on lap 3. On lap 5 Hill made a lie of the claims that he
is unable to pass Schumacher on the track, by taking him in a brilliantly
decisive move. By the end of lap 3, Berger was now settled into 18th place,
and using the space available to show what he is capable of, setting a
string of fastest laps. Villeneuve continued to pull a lead over the
McLaren, and was some 3.8 seconds clear by the end of lap 6:

 Villeneuve Coulthard  Barrichello  Hill   Schumacher Hakkinen
 6 laps         3.806        4.841  5.296       5.938    7.703

Panis' Ligier was suddenly slow, as was Irvine's Ferrari. Panis appeared to
be suffering from the same disease which befel Alesi, this time he was
having a sudden affection for the side pod of Irvine. It would be a move
that removed Irvine from the race.

By the end of lap 7 Hill was all over Barrichello. The Jordan driver,
however, was not going to let the Williams have it easy and was making his
car very wide indead. Meanwhile Berger continued to set fastest laps, and
Villeneuve was having an easy time of it at the front of the pack.

 1st  Villeneuve    8 Laps
  2nd Coulthard      5.112
  3rd Barrichello    5.854
  4th Hill           6.362
  5th Schumacher     6.859
  6th Hakkinen       7.987
  7th Frentzen
  8th Brundle
  9th Herbert
 10th Verstappen
 11th Diniz
 12th Sa;p
 13th Lamy
 14th Rosset
 15th Fisichella
 16th Berger
 17th Katayama
 18th Panis (PIT)
 19th Irvine (PIT)
 20th Alesi (PIT)

By the end of lap 10 Villeneuve had extended his lead even further, and was
now up to an 8.6 second lead. Further back, Hill was all over the back of
Barrichello and dived to the left and right trying to find a way by.
Schumacher also made the most of this, he also ducking and diving trying to
find a way past the Williams. Hakkinen in 6th also senses the Ferrari being
held up and joins in the fun. What will people say? Drivers fighting for
places in an F1 race? Surely not.... By lap 14 Hill and Barrichello were
totally inseperable all over the circuit. The Jordan, Williams and Ferrari
were all over each other, yet never actually conceding a place. Villeneuve
continued his lonely job at the front of the pack, he extended his lead
over Coulthard to 11.412 seconds. By lap 17 the battle for 3rd was really
boiling over with Barrichello flinging his Jordan all over the place trying
to keep those behind behind. On lap 19 Hill dropped back from the Jordan
quite noticably. The Williams team were also ready for a stop. It later
emerged that Hill suspected he had a puncture. Positions lap 20:

 Villeneuve Coulthard  Barrichello  Hill    Schumacher Hakkinen
 20 laps       12.508       16.111  17.274      17.718   18.407

Frentzen pitted in 8.2 seconds on lap 20. On lap 21 and "In" board went out
for Hill. He did so the following lap with a lengthy 20.9 seconds stop
whilst Patrick Head checked the rear of the car for suspension damage.
Brundle, Herbert, Berger & Verstappen all pit, whilst Hill rejoined in 11th
place - some 55 seconds behind the leader. On lap 22 Schumacher pitted for
new rubber and fuel in just 7.7 seconds. The race was effectively over for
Hill - he had very little chance of joining in the fun of what was to come.
The pit stops continued to come in thick and fast, with Coulthard &
Barrichello stopping in 9.8 and 12.5 seconds respectively. Coulthard
rejoined the track just ahead of Schumacher. The Germans tyres were now
warm, however, and he soon picked him off. Lap 25:

 Villeneuve Hakkinen  Schumacher  Coulthard  Barrichello Frentzen
 25 laps    PIT           37.394     39.115       44.532   45.184

Hakkinen just rejoined ahead of Coulthard. Villeneuve then went for his
stop, a reasonable 8.9 seconds. Positions on lap 27:

       1. Villeneuve
       2. Schumacher
       3. Hakkinen
       4. Coulthard
       5. Barrichello
       6. Frentzen
       7. Salo
       8. Diniz
       9. Brundle
      10. Hill
      11. Herbert
      12. Verstappen
      13. Rosset
      14. Lamy
      15. Berger
      16. Fisichella
      17. Katayama

By the end of lap 28, Villeneuve's lead over Schumacher was 8.745 seconds.
Hill was desparate to make progress and made a lunge at Brundle's Jordan.
He took the place, but not without Brundle trying to take it back again.
Hill was now up to Diniz and both ended up in the gravel. Hill had the
inside of the corner, and had the line. Diniz saw things differently, and
squeezed Hill until he had no option but to go onto the grass. Hill then
launched across the track and both went off. The Williams did recover, and
was back in 10th place again. Schumacher was making progress at the front,
and setting fastest laps. In one lap he gained 2 seconds, taking the lead
down to 3.8 seconds. Hakkinen wasn't going to have a fun day today,
however. His McLaren was awarded the Speedy Gonzales award for pitting, and
was urged to collect his trophy from the pits. He did this in the
obligatory 10 seconds. Hill was again making progress, and was now up to
Verstappen. Verstappen misses a corner under pressure, allowing the
Englishman to slip ahead. Hill was now after Frentzen's 8th place.
Villeneuve came upon Diniz to lap him. Diniz didn't seem to appreciate that
the Williams was a faster car than his, and decided to try and keep him
back. This he did with customary aplomb, and allowed Schumacher to make yet
more ground on the Williams.

 Villeneuve Schumacher  Coulthard  Barrichello  Frentzen Hakkinen
 37 laps         0.663     13.636       17.480    24.677   26.868

Hill was still down in 8th place at this point, but he was lapping far
faster than all those in front of him. On lap 39, Hill set a 1m22.695 and
was catching Brundle fast.

       1. Villeneuve
       2. Schumacher
       3. Coulthard
       4. Barrichello
       5. Frentzen
       6. Hakkinen
       7. Brundle
       8. Hill
       9. Herbert
      10. Salo
      11. Berger
      12. Rosset
      13. Diniz
      14. Lamy
      15. Verstappen
      16. Fisichella
      17. Katayama

The battle between Villeneuve and Schumacher continued to hot up. Further
back, the battle between Hill and Brundle likewise was building up.
Frentzen pitted in 7.8s. With 25 laps to go both the Ferrari and Williams
teams were ready for pit stops. It would be Hill to pit first, in 8.2s.
Salo also pitted in 8.1 seconds. Schumacher joins in the train and does his
in 8.5 seconds and rejoins behind Coulthard (who was yet to make his second
stop). Hakkinen pitted in 8.4 seconds, whilst Lamy managed a 9.6 seconds.
Berger did a beauty, only to then stall and in the end take 20 seconds to
get going. Schumacher was now all over Coulthard, whilst Villeneuve pitted
during this window, allowing him to rejoin still in the lead. Rosset,
meanwhile, had a blinder of a pit stop - a scant 7.4 seconds. Coulthard
finally pitted, allowing Schumacher ahead, whilst Coulthard rejoined behind
Brundle. Lap 46:

       1. Villeneuve
       2. Schumacher
       3. Coulthard
       4. Brundle
       5. Barrichello
       6. Hakkinen
       7. Hill
       8. Frentzen
       9. Salo
      10. Herbert
      11. Berger
      12. Rosset
      13. Diniz
      14. Fisichella
      15. Lamy
      16. Katayama

Brundle finally made his stop in 8.7 seconds.

 Villeneuve Schumacher  Coulthard  Barrichello  Hakkinen Hill
 48 laps         2.683     26.605       29.834    36.272 36.666

Hakkinen's day, however, just got worse. He received his second speeding
ticket of the day... By lap 52, the action was really reaching fever point,
with Schumacher all over Villeneuve. Hill was the fastest man, setting a
1m21.598. Fisichella managed to block Villeneuve, allowing the German to
catch up. Schumacher tried to take Villeneuve but failed, whilst eventually
both got past the Minardi. Schumacher in his battling locks his wheels
several times. Hill sets a 1m21.363s. Frentzen's car had a worrying moment,
suddenly snapping sideways (no-one was especially near him at the time) and
slewed across the track, and then the gravel pit, and rejoined the track.
He pulled into the pits for a health check at the end of the lap. Hill was
now ahead of Barrichello and after Coulthard.

By lap 61, the battles of the race were twofold. Coulthard and Hill were
squared up for 3rd, whilst Villeneuve and Schumacher had similar fun at the
front for 1st. The battle for lead got closer still as they came up against
a whole gaggle of back markers, including Berger(!), Katayama, Salo and
Rosset. Schumacher pushed and pushed as they stuggled to find a way by. On
many ocassions the Ferrari appeared to be sneaking a look at how the
Williams gear box worked for use of its own. Villeneuve took Salo, with
Schumacher close behind. They were now to come across Berger and Katayama.
Berger took Katayama for his place, whilst the two leaders also take
Katayama, and head after Berger and Rosset. Villeneuve was now all over the
curbs trying to keep ahead. Into the last lap, and Villeneuve had a 0.2
second lead over Schumacher and the German didn't let up for a second. To
the line it could have been either, but eventually it was Villeneuve who
took the flag. The battle for third was even closer, with Coulthard, Hill
and Barrichello all battling to the line. At the final corner it looked
like all three were going to go off and hand third to Brundle, but in the
end they kept it together and finished.

       1. Villeneuve
       2. Schumacher
       3. Coulthard
       4. Hill
       5. Barrichello
       6. Brundle
       7. Herbert
       8. Hakkinen
       9. Berger
      10. Salo
      11. Diniz
      12. Katayama
      13. Rosset
      14. Lamy
      15. Fisichella


-- 
Stephen M Baines

 "[The Autosport sticker] started to peel off in the middle of Eau Rouge
 and it distracted me. In fact it was the first thing to hit the barrier"
    Tiff Needell - Jaguar XJR-15 Challenge - Interview with Autosport

       F1/TouringCars http://metro.turnpike.net/vollans/index.html