LIKE GOD IN FRANCE

Fifth title for Michael Schumacher and a lot of penalties for most of the star drivers

If God had got a nationality, he would be a Frenchman, lived in the provinces and would be the greatest fan of Michael Schumacher. His sixth Grand Prix victory at the Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours (once built by the late French president Francois Mitterand), his 61th overall, brought the fifth career title to him very early before the end of the worldchampionship. The constructors´championship for Ferrari, the 4th in a row, is only a pure formality. After crossing the finish line Michael Schumache drove zigzag with the F2002 like being at the Play Station, in the parc fermé he stood on the top of the New Goddess and on the podium a few tears of joy were mixed with the champagne shower. Ferrari´s French team principal Jean Todt, the Napoleon of Grand Prix Racing was caught by his emotions and in the general cheering also Michael Schumacher´s blond wife Corinna, otherwise staying in the background, gave some television interviews as an exception. The children Gina-Maria and Mick remained in Switzerland. There the Schumachers wanted to go back at once, the private jet (without that the father of a family Michael Schumacher already had stopped competing in races for a while) was ready for take off. But then Ferrari found a lodging in Magny-Cours for a more or less small world champion`s party, the name of the hotel is Renaissance. The dream career from being a mechanic becoming the most expensive athlete in the world of sports had not distorted Michael Schumacher. Absolutely in contrast to that, the truth is, what Rob Walker had said about Jochen Rindt more than three decades ago: "The greater his success was, the nicer he became."

Niki Lauda, who had first brought Todt, then Schumacher to Maranello when being Ferrari´s advisor during the nineties, also is optimistic for the future: "If there will be no personell changes, you can be sure, things are going on the same way. Ferrari are an unbeatable team." The triumvirate Schumacher - Todt - Brawn will stay together minimum until 2004, and behind the lines the head of the design department, Rory Byrne (only coming to the tracks in Italy as once the Commendatore Enzo Ferrari had done), had already started the work at the Ferrari F2003.

In Magny-Cours Juan Pablo Montoya was not able to use his fifth consecutive pole position for winning. Actually the Colombian had won the start to stay on the top for the first 27 laps, before Michael Schumacher took the lead during the first wave of pit stops. All top drivers were on a two-stop-strategy. But there was a white line on the track, at the end of the pit exit, that must not be crossed for safety reasons, when the drivers are entering the rolling traffic after having left the pits. There the Schumacher brothers, David Coulthard and Felipe Massa did not pay attention, and for that reason they received a Drive Through Penalty. The Brazilian in the Sauber Petronas was sentenced twice: He already had done a jump start. Like in qualifying also in the race it was fought for a few tenths of a second, both on the top and in the middle of the field. For some time the drivers on the first six positions were within 20 seconds. The penalty made Michael Schumacher drop back 3rd place, Montoya was able to take the lead again, but the bestial power of the BMW engine ruins the back tyres of the Williams, while the McLaren Mercedes, also on Michelin rubber, have not got such problems. The Silver Arrows were the first candidates for the victory, both Coulthard and Raikkonen were in the lead. The young Finn remained there until five laps before the end of the race, when had not been able to see a trace of oil before the Adelaide hairpin. Shortly before that Allan McNish had spun the same place, the Toyota stood in the safety zone with a stalled engine and the Scot was waving his arms wildly out of his cockpit. But the marshalls only showed yellow, but no oil flags. Raikkonen drove straight on with blocking front wheels and had to pay attention not to crash into McNish´s car. Behind that Schumacher, the cunning old fox with the routine of over 170 Grand Prix competed in, was able to react quietly. Before the Silver Arrow entered the track again going over grass and kerbs, the German had taken the lead defending it until the finish line. Actually all persons involved in that story were ordered to come to the stewards for a hearing, but there were no consequences. Many television crews, live on air, had to wait pretty long for their interviews with the old and new world champion. At the podium Raikkonen, already no talent for big shows, had a face worse than at a funeral.

Four drivers were not able to take part in the French Grand Prix this time. Rubens Barrichello´s Ferrari engine was not able to be started at the beginning of the formation lap and it also did not do the slightest move in the pits. During Saturday morning´s 4th free practice session Giancarlo Fisichella had crashed his Jordan Honda frontally into the tyre wall of the fast Estoril right hander caused by a broken front wing. Forces of over 30 g were set free. In spite only slightly hurt, F.I.A. senior consultant Professor Sid Watkins did not allow the Italian to compete both in qualifying and race. Juridical and political problems made the Arrows Cosworths of Heinz Harald Fentzen and Enrique Bernoldi only go for three qualifying laps to miss the 107 % hurdle obviously with intent, to avoid the usual fine of 250.000 Us-$ per car and race for leaving out a Grand Prix. Actually the leasing payments for Cosworth (without them no engines are released by Niki Lauda generally) are secured, but it seems to be, that an open battle had broken out between team principal Tom Walkinshaw and and his co-shareholders of Morgan Greenfell bankers (who are said to own 49 % of the team). Frentzen already had been on his way home to Monaco, when his former boss Eddie Jordan offered him the cockpit of Giancarlo Fisichella for the French Grand Prix. The F.I.A. surprisingly had agreed these plan before. The German, who had been sacked especially before his home Grand Prix at Hockenheim 2001, was clever enough not to accept the offer, because with the Jordan booting out, the Prost bankruptcy in spring 2002 and the present Arrows difficulties, in one year he is involved in more juridical affairs than most the other drivers in their whole career.

Clearly in better condition the revised Jaguar Cosworth R3B, that had not been able to convince in Silverstone, presented itself in Magny-Cours and was qualified 9th position by Eddie Irvine in France. The Ulsterman had fought for 6th place with Jenson Button in the Renault, before he suffered under a broken rear wing at a speed of 310 km/h ahead of the Adelaide hairpin to come to a halt safely. Pedro de la Rosa had fought against a series of technical defects the whole weekend, but finally brought the car home 9th place. On their home ground Renault scored a championship point by Jenson Button, but in 2003 the Briton will be replaced by test driver Fernando Alonso, who is especially the favourite of Renault´s team principal Flavio Briatore. Nick Heidfeld, who will stay with Sauber, as ever showed a solid performance, but this time he scored no points with finishing 7th position. Grand Prix Racing had grown from a competition of medium-sized companies to a league of international groups, and for that reason, for the first ones sometimes it is nearly impossible finish among the first six places.

Now Michael Schumacher is world champion for the fifth time. Comparisons with the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio are refused by him quietly, but determined. "Without a great team behind him, this man had achieved so much, I will never be able to achieve myself. I look at the success under the conditions of our time." But in the old days a retired driver even had been allowed to take over the car of his team mate and exactly that had been done by Fangio at the 1956 last round of worldchampionship at Monza, when being involved in the battle for the crown. Peter Collins handed over his Ferrari to the Maestro in spite himself having intact chances for winning the title. Fangio had won 24 of 51 Grand Prix driven, he died at Buenos Aires in 1995 at the age of 84 being seriously ill. When being in better health conditions Micheal Schumacher had meet him personally, because both the Argentine and the German had been Mercedes-Benz drivers in their careers. Fangio had been 39, when entering Grand Prix Racing in 1950, caused by World War II, and 48, when he left the business in 1958 at Reims. On the 3rd January 2002 Michael Schumacher had celebrated his 33rd birthday. Looking from this point of view, the future has just begun.

Klaus Ewald

© 2002 by researchracing

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