Cruise Control
Grand Prix of San Marino
April 16, 2002
by Erik C. Nielsen
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media
The old adage of racing that "speed is money, how fast do you want to go" held true one more time as Ferrari threw enough money at the problem and was rewarded by being in the top two spots the entire weekend. The F2002 is starting to look unbeatable. Imola tends to be a medium down force track, meaning that you would think that BMW-Williams would have a decent chance at a top spot. Showers were predicted, and that could have meant that Frankie's boys botched the set up, or maybe the red cars really are that good. No matter what the reason, Schumacher Sr. led from start to finish and seems to be cruising towards his 5th World Championship. Ferrari's Constructor's Championship hopes look brighter now that Rubens has finished a race. They should have given him the new car a little earlier in the season...
Ralf raced hard to clinch the last spot on the podium bringing his Williams chassis in less than two seconds behind Rubens after sneaking past him on the first lap. Try as he might, he just didn't plan the pit stops perfectly and could not catch up. Juan Pablo managed to not hit anything on the first lap, but was still outraced by his German team mate.
Jenson Button brought his Renault in 5th place and was the last car on the lead lap. After being bought out from the Benetton family, this team is starting to come together nicely. David Coulthard lagged home a lap down and got the last point finishing in 6th place. While this performance was better since he was out qualified by his young Finn team mate, its not likely to win any brownie points from Ron Dennis. Maybe the boys from Woking need to spend more money on chassis and engine development and less on hospitality trailers. Still, I get perverse pleasure out of seeing Norbert "Hog" pout on race weekend.
Villeneuve finished first of the also rans and put in a good performance in the BAR Honda. Too bad his ego and Craig Pollacks' visions got in the way; otherwise he could have been more than just a one hit wonder...
Sauber also showed a good performance by placing 8th and 10th in their 150th F1. Maybe they should start buying last year's complete Ferrari and not just the motors.
Mark Webber came was the last of the classified, but still did well considering the "$hit-box" that he's driving. The kid has real talent. Alex Yoong on the other hand, can buy a ride, but no amount of money in the world will buy you a place on the grid. The millions that he brings with him maybe at stake, but "its put up or shut up" and the 107% rule was designed for people like him...
Toyota had their first real taste of reality and DNF'ed both cars with gearbox troubles. Andersen was quoted as telling the team they weren't as good as they looked. Looks like he was right.
Jordan also had a bad day with neither car finishing. Rumor is that Eddie Jordan's Palm Pilot was found on the pit wall and his flights home from race weekends are scheduled to occur right after his team's first pit stop...
And I've saved the best (or worst) for last. Jaguar couldn't design a good car even if it could bribe/cajole/steal talent from the front teams. Both cars broke (par for the course) and Rubens was held up for several corners while trying to lap Eddie "I talk faster than I can drive" Irvine. I no longer refer to him as "Irv the swerve" because he can't even do that right. Ruben's one finger salute was very appropriate and brought cheers out of the other 50 tifosi that were watching the race at the new Ferrari of Atlanta location (thanks for opening up the shop guys!!!).
So, with 4 races down and 13 to go, Schumacher is starting to look like a repeat and a two-horse/two-propeller race is shaping up. But it's early; the counterfeit championship tee-shirt sellers are still hocking last year's wares, let alone setting up for this year's design."
Race Results
| 1 |
Michael Schumacher |
Ferrari |
1h29m10.789s |
| 2 |
Rubens Barrichello |
Ferrari |
+17.907s |
| 3 |
Ralf Schumacher |
Williams BMW |
+19.755s |
| 4 |
Juan Pablo Montoya |
Williams BMW |
+44.725s |
| 5 |
Jenson Button |
Renault |
+1m23.395s |
| 6 |
David Coulthard |
McLaren Mercedes |
+1 lap |
| 7 |
Jacques Villeneuve |
BAR Honda |
+1 lap |
| 8 |
Felipe Massa |
Sauber Petronas |
+1 lap |
| 9 |
Jarno Trulli |
Renault |
+1 lap |
| 10 |
Nick Heidfeld |
Sauber Petronas |
+1 lap |
| 11 |
Mark Webber |
Minardi Asiatech |
+2 laps |
| 12 |
Enrique Bernoldi |
Arrows Cosworth |
+12 laps |
| 13 |
Eddie Irvine |
Jaguar |
+17 laps |
| 14 |
Kimi Raikkonen |
McLaren Mercedes |
+18 laps |
| 15 |
Olivier Panis |
BAR Honda |
+18 laps |
| 16 |
Pedro de la Rosa |
Jaguar |
+32 laps |
| 17 |
Mika Salo |
Toyota |
+36 laps |
| 18 |
Heinz-Harald Frentzen |
Arrows Cosworth |
+37 laps |
| 19 |
Giancarlo Fisichella |
Jordan Honda |
+43 laps |
| 20 |
Takuma Sato |
Jordan Honda |
+57 laps |
| 21 |
Allan McNish |
Toyota |
+62 laps |
| 22 |
Alex Yoong |
Minardi Asiatech |
DNQ |
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media
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