Michael Schumacher happy with second place

All eyes were on Schumacher at the start, his Ferrari getting off the line well, but for the second race in a row, Hakkinen made an incredible start from behind the Ferrari and shot down the inside as the pair headed for the first corner. Schumacher had no choice but to give way, the McLaren getting into the first corner in the lead which he then had no trouble opening up to a couple of seconds in the first few laps. David Coulthard made a slow start from the front row and only just managed to hold third place from Ralf Schumacher’s Williams-BMW, while Rubens Barrichello and Heinz-Harald Frentzen led the rest of the pack around the first lap.

“All things considered, I am happy with second place. I was just not fast enough in the race. I had problems with wheelspin at the start in Hockenheim and so this time I was perhaps a bit too careful and that lost me some momentum,” Michael remarked. “It was not such a bad start, but I could see Mika behind me and then he came inside me. I kept it tight, but he was there and in the end I had to open the door. Even if I had kept the lead, I think he would have passed me later or in the pit stops. Also with David it was a close fight, but we timed the pit stops well and so I was able to drive carefully to second place. Although we were quick on the first days we did not pull out enough for the race. We will have to look into that. We have some good ideas on how to improve, but I am sure our rivals also have. We will see at the end of the season who has done the best job.”

Teammate Rubens Barrichello got stuck behind the Williams of Ralf Schumacher at the start of the race, and although good work by the Ferrari pit crew moved him up a place, it was a lonely run to fourth place. The Brazilian puts a lot of today’s result down to his low qualifying position.

“I think I lost my chance of a better result on Saturday when I didn’t qualify well. After that, it was impossible for me to overtake Ralf Schumacher and so I paid the price,” he said. “The pit crew did a fantastic job to put me ahead of him. I was too far behind the others and although I tried to catch them I could not. To finish fourth after winning the last race is not fantastic but it was the best I could do. It was a tough race in the heat. I ran out of water halfway through the race and I lost about one and a half kilos.”

“Today’s result is a bit disappointing because after claiming pole position yesterday, we thought we could win,” added Jean Todt. “But Hakkinen was the quickest man on the track. However, it was very important to get both drivers to the flag, especially Michael who had retired from the last three races. For the first time this season we have lost the lead in the Constructors’ Championship, even if it is just by a single point and Michael is now two points behind the leader in the Drivers’ classification. We are back to where we were just before this race, but with the positions reversed with our main rivals. We can say that the championship will start again at Spa-Francorchamps.”

Lars Sköllerholm