The Tides Are Turning
German Grand Prix, August 3, 2003

By Erik Nielsen

Photos Courtesy of Ferrari Media and Daimler-Chrysler Media

What is the German word for cluster? Oh yes, "virwirrung". Well, that's closer to confusion, but hey, I'm not fluent in German and it is still an apt description. Juan Pablo earned his third GP career win and left the field in his wake. What was left of the field that is.

The championship has ended up being closer than anyone could have imagined it at this point of the season. And, a first lap incident that took out Ralf Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello and Kimi Räikkönen only made it more interesting. The Columbian has earned 50 points since Monaco and is now hot on the heels of Michael Schumacher.

Michael was battling hard for second place when a tire puncture in the closing laps dropped him down to 7th. Fair weather fans will say that he was trying too hard in his battle with Trulli which caused him to run wide off the track and ruin the tire. These are the actions of a driver that has realized that his championship hopes are finally being challenged.

David Coulthard managed to keep the critics quiet by placing his silver arrow on the second spot on the podium. Only towards the end of the season will we know if it was enough to save his job. He still faired better than his team mate who was taken to the race medical center with bruises and a stiff neck after his hard shunt going into turn one on the opening lap.

Rubens Barrichello was also out from the beginning when he was squeezed by Ralf and drove into Kimi. Ralf was able to limp back to the pits where the engineers took one look at the side pod and realized that the damage to the radiators was fatal.

And if things up front weren't bad enough, Ralph Firman's Jordan decided that it wanted to occupy the same space as Justin Wilson's Jaguar. True, F1 cars push the laws of physics to the edge, but they still can't break them. Making his debut in the Jaguar after Senor Pizzonia was fired for not finishing high enough, the young Brit, Wilson, limped on for a couple of laps before the gear box had had enough. It’s one hell of a way to start off with a new team, but it’s not like he's holding the team back.

As far as the rest, there were some interesting newbies up front. Trulli and Alonso finished 3-4, making Flavio so excited that he started smoking in the pit lane. Panis and Da Matta finished 5-6, which was enough for Toyota team boss Ove Andersson to guarantee that both drivers will be returning next year.

The last point was captured by Jenson Button. Ahead of former world champion and perennial noise maker, Jacques Villeneuve, who will now be officially referred to as "bubble boy".

With the points race turning into a hot one, the last four races are sure to be interesting. Let's see if there are any deliberate shunts to ensure victory again.