Schumacher in Control

The cars formed up on the grid with no dramas, the lights turned red, then 
green, and Hill got away with a good start. Barichello was up to third 
behind Schumacher, with Coulthard close behind the Jordan, ready to 
challenge. Further down the grid was contact for Katayama and Inoue. Then, 
Mika Hakkinen decided that was the place to be, and took a brief trip along 
a gravel trap, but rejoined. All this time the two leading drivers were 
pulling away, and a hair raising battle ensued between the two of them.

Lap 1:
Hill
Schumacher 0.425
Barrichello 1.956
Coulthard 2.729
Panis
Herbert
Alesi (down from fourth)
Berger

Lap after lap, the Benetton of Schumacher was all over the Williams of Hill. 
There was no respite for the English driver, as Schumacher made almost desperate 
manoevres to try and get by the Williams. Jean Alesi and Johnny Herbert decided 
to tangle on lap 3. Alesi had dived inside the Benetton in an impossible move, 
touched wheels, and the Benetton was out. Alesi survived. Michael Schumacher 
put in a fastest lap of 1m21.416 on lap 3, and his desperation to get by 
increases lap by lap. By now, the Benetton was going very wide trying to get 
this way and that past the Williams. Brundle was up to 6th, and on lap 5 set 
a fastest lap of 1m21.366s. On lap 6, Damon Hill responded with a 1m21.089s.

Lap 7:
Hill
Schumacher 0.511
Barichello 5.227
Coulthard 5.977
Panis 6.573
Brundle 11.070

On lap 8 Montermini was lapped by the leaders after pitting. Then the 10 second 
penalties arrived, Barrichelo and Panis were the offenders this time. On lap 
9 Hill set another fastest lap of 1m20.635s. By lap 12, the leading pair were 
up on the Forti of Moreno, as Hill tries to get by Schumacher makes a move 
to get by Hill. Amazingly, as they approach the pit straight Schumacher 
again tries to get by Hill in a most unusual attempt, and again fails. Lap 
14, and the leaders get by the Pacific of Gachot who slows to let them by. 
All the time, Brundle is chasing Coulthard hard, and got a 2.5 second deficit 
down to 0.9 seconds in 2 laps. Local knowledge was paying off for the French 
team.

Lap 16:
Hill
Schumacher 0.482
Coulthard 9.076
Brundle 9.888
Alesi 20.164
Berger 26.055

Lap 18, and the pit stops begin, Panis came in. Lap 19, and Schumacher 
comes in, followed by Brundle, Coulthard, with Schumacher rejoining in 
4th. Lap 20, and in came Alesi, Hakkinen. Hill came in on lap 21, and 
Schumacher put in a fastest lap of 1m20.239s. Lap 22, Barichello comes 
in for fuel and tyres. On lap 23, the Ferrari of Berger came in. The 
fuel nozzle wouldn't go in. No way. Time ticked away, 10 seconds, 20, 
30, 40, finally it goes in and Berger leaves after a 53 second stop. 
Schumacher now leads the race by a tad over 9 seconds from Hill.

Lap 25:
Schumacher
Hill
Brundle
Coulthard
Alesi
Barrichelo
Irvine
Hakkinen
Panis

Ferrari, disturbed by Bergers stop, dismantle the hose assembly of 
the refuelling rig, and fit a whole new hose. If ever there was an 
argument against refuelling, this must surely be it. Bertrand Gachot 
retires his Pacific.

On lap 32, the first drops of rain fall on Magny Cours. Hill was 
dropping back all the time, and now was over 12 seconds behind the 
dominant Benetton. On lap 33, Montermini came in for fuel and tyres, 
as does Brundle on 35, followed by Morbidelli. The battle for 8th 
between Hakkinen and Panis was really hotting up by now, with Panis 
all over the McLaren every way he went.

Lap 36:
Schumacher
Hill 12.671
Coulthard 37.133
Alesi 51.296
Brundle 54.482
Barichello 56.509

Lap 40, and the rain is starting to fall, the crowd put on their macs, 
and Hill comes in and puts on slicks..... Would this prove to be a 
mistake? The rain increased, and Benetton prepare both slicks and wets 
for Schumacher. Hill is now 1 second a lap faster than the Benetton with 
his heavy fuel load.

Lap 48, and Coulthard comes in for fuel and tyres, followed by Alesi, 
Hakkinen, Schumacher, and Frentzen. Meanwhile Coulthard and Barichello 
almost hit each other in the pits, as Coulthard tries to exit, and 
Barichello comes in. Lap 49, Irvine comes in and stalls, Blundell come 
in and out no problems, followed by Berger, and Boullion. The rain 
disappears, the Williams judgement is justified. Sort of.

Lap 49:
Schumacher
Hill 14.482
Brundle 37.622
Coulthard 48.686
Alesi 59.827
Barichello 1m04.630

On exiting the pit lane, Boullion stops, just on the track. Lap 51, and 
Schumacher bangs in a fastest lap of 1m20.218s. Lap 54, and Berger 
makes a lurid move on Blundell, Berger locks up, and fortunately the 
two of them don't touch. Blundell keeps his place, but the legacy of 
this would come later. Brundle came in for his third routine pit stop 
on lap 56. By now, Alesi had caught and lapped his team-mate, and was 
now on the tail of Blundell. Blundell, quite understandibly, thought 
it was Berger and blocked him in exactly the same place and way as he 
had a lap before......

Lap 60:
Schumacher
Hill 21.432
Coulthard 59.392
Brundle 1m03.969
Alesi 1m10.391
Barrichello 1m17.917

Brundle was catching Coulthard fast now, slicing multiple seconds a lap 
off in rapid succession. The battle would continue to the dying moments 
of the race. Alesi tries to lap Badoer, who blocks him, and loses time. 
Alesi loses more time again by flying his fist at the young Italian. 
Brundle was now 0.7 seconds behind Coulthard and all over him. They came 
to lap the Forti of Moreno, and get by now problems. One potential over 
taking place is lost. The race then settled down to the end, with 
Schumacher coasting across the line.

Schumacher
Hill
Coulthard
Brundle
Alesi
Barichello
Hakkinen
Panis
Irvine
Frentzen
Blundell
Berger
Badoer
Morbidelli
Salo
Moreno

Hypertext version available later at URL below.
-- 
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://turnpike.net/metro/vollans/index.html