Race Report

Luca Badoer was to start the race in the new Forti FG-03. Jean Alesi was
also in a new car, the T-car, as his race car was damaged in an off in the
morning. Ross Braun, the technical director of Benetton, said that he
thought the race may be decided by brakes, rather than any other matter.
Another variable for this race was the speed limit in the pit was to be
only 50mph, rather than the usual 75mph.

At the start Villeneuve made an awful start, with his wheels spinning
wildly. It was Coulthard who would make the flyer again, and this time he
got his car into the lead, and kept it there. Hill made a good start, or at
least good enough for second, whilst Schumacher was down in third place.
All the front three were pulling away from 4th place man Salo. Villeneuve's
race was already a disaster. He had flat spotted the tyres and was already
in to change them.

 Coulthard Hill   Schumacher  Salo   Berger Barrichello
 1 lap     0.760       0.900  3.547   3.697       5.603

Schumacher made his way past Hill to second place, whilst Berger did
likewise with Salo.

 Coulthard Schumacher  Hill   Berger  Salo  Barrichello
 2 laps         0.446  2.407   3.932  6.141       6.422
 3 laps         0.495  2.300   3.707  6.747       7.188
 4 laps         0.656  2.378   3.750  7.477       8.262
 5 laps         0.579  2.629   4.126  8.173       9.158

During the early stages of the race it was clear that Coulthard and
Schumacher had a performance advantage. It was quite possible that they
would be running three stops, and Hill a two stopper. Villeneuve, at the
very back of the field, was setting the pace with a fastest lap of
1m30.300.

Behind the top 6 it was all very close, with Alesi, Irvine, Brundle and
Verstappen separated by fractions. At the front, Berger was now starting to
make progress on Hill. Coulthard seemed settled in first place, and kept a
0.5 second margin of Schumacher with ease. Both clearly pulling away from
Hill. On lap 9, Coulthard set a 1m30.046, and with it showed Schumacher he
could extend the lead at a whim to 0.9 seconds. Schumacher retaliated the
following lap with a 1m29.897. Hill joined in the fun on lap 13, with a
1m20.815, and Villeneuve a 1m29.665 a lap later. By lap 16, Hill had made a
big jump on Schumacher and was only 3 seconds behind him.

On lap 19, Hakkinen was the first of the front runners to pit. Verstappen
meanwhile was having a very long stop. It was now becoming clear that the
leaders must be on a two stop strategy, and with it Hill looked far from a
likely winner. Badoer was the first driver to fall foul of the traffic
cops, with a 10 second penalty for speeding. Alesi came in on lap 19, and
became the first driver in some time to change 5 wheels, when the steering
wheel was changed also. On lap 20, Coulthard pitted, and with it allowed
Schumacher into the lead. Schumacher pitted a lap later, and rejoined ahead
of Coulthard despite a slower stop, but behind new leader Hill and Berger.
Hill had yet to make his first stop.....

For lap after lap Hill continued to lead, with no sign of any intention of
pitting. Alesi fell foul of the speed trap and also got a 10 second
penalty. By lap 22 thoughts were changing. Could Hill be not intending to
stop, but be going for a 1 stopper? At the back of the grid, Lamy also
joined the ranks of those who chose to swell Max Mosley's coffers with a
speeding in the pit penalty. On lap 24, Salo's engine gave up the ghost,
and he retired from a deserving sixth place. On lap 25, the Williams team
were ready for Villeneueve. He pitted, whilst Hill had a clear 0.8 seconds
a lap on Schumacher, setting a 1m29.199 in the process.

Luca Badoer decided to boost the image of Forti. It was the first time that
this team had been accused of being speedy. The Williams pit were ready on
lap 28 for a stop, but the tyres were still covered. A one stop Hill looked
a distinct possibility.

Hakkinen, in a lurid moment, spun his car off the track, only to rejoin
again and do the same thing soon after. Finally, on lap 30, Hill pitted -
was it the only stop? Surely not with only a 7.6 second stop. Still, as he
had a 22 second lead over Schumacher he was able to leave the pits, still
holding onto first place. Fisichella's Minardi gives up, and splats on the
track. Hill's once comfortable 22 second lead was now just under a second
after the stop. Schumacher was breathing down his neck. Hill soon set to
the task of extending this, and it was soon up to 1.4 seconds. Within the
space of a couple of laps both of the Saubers were to pull into the pits
and retire.

By lap 40, the Ferrari mechanics were ready for a stop for Schumacher. He
stopped in 11.7 seconds and rejoined behind Coulthard. Coulthard soon
afterwards made his stop, but stalled it, and lost the advantage. By lap
43, Hill had 26 seconds over Schumacher, and was working on extending it.
The Williams crew were ready for Villeneuve. There was unfortunate drama in
the TWR/Arrows/Footwork pit, with Dave Lowe, one of the mechanics being
injured when the fuel nozzle was not removed from Verstappen's car, and he
was knocked over and broke his arm. It also came to light that fuel was
spilt in the process.

Villeneuve pits from 7th place on lap 44, a remarkable recovery. Gerhard
Berger also pits on the same lap, and manages to stall it. By lap 45, Hill
had 28.7 seconds over Schumacher, and this was to extend further as the
German was stuck behind a vacant Hakkinen and Diniz, who were busily
engaged in their own little battle. The pair would later rewarded with a 10
second blocking penalty. An inspired Ukyo Katayama reitred from sixth place
with an engine problem.

Alesi brain fade of last week continued this week, when this time it was
Panis who suffered at his hands in a move that was clearly never going to
work. Williams were now ready for a pit stop for Hill - he was to have a
second after all - and had 41 seconds in order to change tyres, change the
cassette in the stereo and offer some all fuel points to exchange for
trophies at the end. He did it on lap 49 in 8.3 seconds, and retained his
lead confortably.

Schumacher was now up to and about to lap Alesi. Alesi eventually ran wide
onto the dirt, and Schumacher slipped by. With 8 laps to go Hill had 22
seconds over the German. He lost about a second a lap over the coming laps,
but it was of little significance. On lap 56, Panis suffered a mechanical
failure - possibly as a result of Alesi. On lap 60, Villeneuve pulled into
the pits and retired from sixth place (it was clearly jinxed this race).
Hakkinen also soon retired with some sort of engine/drivetrain problem. And
so to the finish, with Hill crossing the line, and Schumacher... Well,
Schumacher's car ran well up until a couple of corners before the finish,
when all at once the right front wheel locked solid. The car was to cross
the line in second with a wheel that didn't move in maybe half a mile.....

       1. Hill
       2. Schumacher
       3. Berger
       4. Irvine
       5. Barrichello
       6. Alesi
       7. Diniz
       8. Hakkinen
       9. Lamy
      10. Badoer
      11. Villeneuve


-- 
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