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2000
12 March - Australia - Melbourne
Engine trouble Down Under.
Mika Häkkinen started 2000 with the first pole position of the new season. It was his third Australian pole in a row. During practice Mika and David where on top of the list, but both Illmor-Mercedes engines had to be changed during the free sessions. The mechanics changed the engines simultaneously in 42 minutes. Norbert Haug and Mika Häkkinen where happy with the Mercedes front row (David qualified second), but had their doubts about the race.
Unfortunately they where right. After a superb start both McLarens where leading the field until the 11th round. David's engine misfired and had to retire. 7 laps later Mika's car had the same problem: the engine's pneumatic valve system was not working properly. In leading position Mika left the race. Both Ferrari's of Michael Schumacher and his new team-mate Rubens Barrichello archived their first 1-2 finish of the season.
26 March - Brazil - Interlagos
McLaren MP4-15: fast but not reliable.
They say: whoever wins Brazil, will be the next worldchampion. In the last years this appeared to be true: Senna in '91, Mansell in '92, Schumacher in '94 and '95, Hill in '96, Villeneuve in '97 and Mika in '98 and '99. Unfortunately Mika didn't made it this year. Despite his 23rd pole position, he had to retire the race due to an engine oil pressure failure.
Starting from pole next to David Coulthard on second position, Mika lost his lead at the end of the first lap. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher, who started from third position, already passed David at the start and was now leading the race. Even second Ferrari man Rubens Barrichello passed David and was now challenging Mika. At lap 15 the local hero passes our flying Finn. It is obvious that Mika's and David's cars were loaded with fuel for one stop strategy. Schumacher is much lighter and pits for fuel and tyres. For a short while Barrichello is leading his home-GP. A few laps later the Brazilian pits, but finally drops out of the race because of a hydraulic failure.
Meanwhile Mika is
leading the race again by a massive 12 seconds! But the engine is not as reliable as it
should be and Mika had to leave the
race in leading position at the end of
lap 29.
Michael Schumacher takes the win in Brazil, David earns the first points of the 2000
season for McLaren.
After the race it appears that the lowest part of the front wing of David's McLaren MP4-15 is two millimetres less than is permissible. David is disqualified,
leaving the McLaren team with still no championship points.
9 April - San Marino - Imola
First points in the new millenium.
Mika's third consecutive pole of the 2000 season means a total of 24 poles for the flying Finn. That puts him amongst and ahead of some of the current and former great drivers. On Italian ground in the GP of San Marino held in Imola near Bologna, Mika starts from the front row together with Ferrari's star Michael Schumacher.
Mika blows away at the start, hunted by Schumacher. David got stuck behind the much slower Barrichello, but overtaking at Imola is almost impossible. On lap 27 both Mika and Schumacher pit. At this stage they were as close as four seconds apart and Mika retained the lead. Hoever, just before his first pitstop Mika's car hit a piece of debris, which damaged the floor and upset the aerodynamic balance, making the car difficult to drive for the rest of the race.
On lap 44 with a four second lead on Schumacher Mika pitted for the second time. Just before his second stop his engine cuts out briefly due to an electronic fault, which triggerd an engine reset and cost him approximately three seconds. After Schumi's pitstop, the German stays in the lead. Mika is able to hunt Schumacher, sets the fastest lap in the race, but finishes 1,1 second behind the Ferrari driver. Due to a perfect pitstop by the McLaren crew David has passed Barrichello in the pits and finishes 3rd.
23 April - England - Silverstone
A McLaren 1-2 finish on home ground.
During the rainy
eastern weekend the British GP was held at a soaked wet Silverstone. Many of the
spectators didn't made it (in time) to the circuit due to the parking problems on the wet
grasslands. Even the parents of David Coulthard didn't made it on time to see their son
win his home Grand Prix.
Qualifying was a kind of lottery. On the drying track Mika qualified on 3rd position
behind polesitter Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello and Jordan man HH
Frentzen. Mika had to slow down on his last lap due to yellow flags. David qualified
fourth.
Mika had too much wheelspin at the start which allowed David to pass him. On lap 24 Frentzen pitted for his first of two stops. David was now second behind Barrichello. He overtook the Brazilian on lap 30 and took the lead. On lap 31 Mika made his one and only pitstop. Except for McLaren and Ferrari everyone else was on a two stops strategy. It became a battle between those two teams again. On lap 35 Rubens Barrichello spun out of the race. Frentzen had to pit again. Now David was leading followed by Mika. Mika was closing in on David during the closing stages of the race. He even set the fastest lap in the race.
A McLaren 1-2 finish: David Coulthard first; 1,477 seconds ahead of Mika Häkkinen 2nd. Ferrari's first driver Michael Schumacher starting from fifth, but running most of the race on eight position surprisingly took the last podium spot: 3rd, 20 seconds behind Mika.
7 May - Spain - Barcelona
Mika's first win in 6 months.
It's almost
unbelievable but is has been more than six months that Mika Häkkinen has won a Formula
One Grand Prix. At October 31st 1999 in Japan Mika stood on the podium as a winner for the
last time.
In 1999 and 1998 Mika and David has scored a 1-2 victory in Spain, and they did it again
this year for the third time in a row. Despite missing pole position by just 0,078
seconds, Mika won the race due to his great driving and the troubles in the Ferrari pit.
Mika turned into the first corner side by side with Michael Schumacher. He had to let him
go but followed the German in 2 seconds. Williams' Ralf Schumacher
passed Barrichello and Coulthard at the start but could not lose David for the rest of the
race. Michael Schumacher drove away too quickly at his first pitstop and injured his
refuelling man. That's why commentators call him Schubrecher now...
At Mika's first
pitstop he joined again behind the Ferrari in second position. At lap 29 he set the fastest lap in the race: his 16th. 17 seconds behind Michael and Mika was the trio Ralf,
Barrichello and David. Michael and Mika pitted together for the second time. Because the McLaren pitcrew was very quick (6.4 seconds) and the Ferrari pitcrew
had refuelling problems again (17,5 seconds) Mika took the lead. Michael Schumacher
suffered a tire problem. David overtook the German at lap 48 on the outside. Michael
dropped further back, and while battling with his brother Ralf, his team-mate Rubens
Barrichello overtook both of them taking third place.
Mika took his first win in 6 months, David completed the McLaren party by
finishing second.
Mika has a total of 15 F1 GP wins now.
21 May - Europe - Nurburgring
Cold rainy weather.
Rain and cold weather had a big influence on the race held at the Eifel circuit in the west of Germany. 142.000 fans with mostly red Dekra-caps got soaken wet and almost frozen while cheering for their idol(s). The pole position was taken by David Coulthard. Because the rain came down after 35 minutes, the times already set did not improve. Michael Schumacher took the other front row spot, Mika Häkkinen qualified 3rd.
With a superb start Mika overtook both Schumacher and Coulthard at the start of the European Grand Prix. Mika led the race until the ninth lap when the rain came down. Mika slowed down on his dry-weather tires, allowing Schumacher to overtake him in the eleventh lap. On lap 15 both came in for wet tyres, but Mika lost time due to a problem with fitting the rear right wheel. When Schumacher pitted for the second time in lap 35 Mika took the lead for 10 laps, setting quick times to allow to make a save second pitstop, but he was held up by a backmarker. He lost the lead again to Michael Schumacher when he pitted in the 45th lap. In the closing laps, the gap between Mika and Schumacher came down significantly but unfortunately Mika was again caught in traffic and losing time so he was unable to challenge Schumacher for victory. Mika finished second sharing the podium with Schumacher and third place driver, team mate David Coulthard.
4 June - Monaco - Monte Carlo
Saint Devote was
apparently the most difficult corner of the Monaco street circuit this year. One after
another took it too fast and found his Waterloo near the small chapel. Maybe because Mika
has a perfect view from his home balcony on this corner, he never had any trouble there.
Qualifying went not as he would liked it to be. Mika qualified 5th behind Frentzen,
Coulthard,Trulli and pole man Schumacher.
The race had to be restarted because half the field got stuck in the Loews hairpin due to a collision of Button and De La Rosa. Michael Schumacher lead the field after the second restart but in lap 55 his suspension melted due to a broken exhaust. Mika set the fastest lap in the race in lap 57 but due to a long pitstop (they had to fix the brake pedal) he eventually finished 6th: 1 point. Coulthard won the race and passes now Mika in the worldchampionship standings.
18 June - Canada - Montreal
McLaren's 500th.
Mclaren's 500th Grand
prix (a milestone for any formula one
team) was held at circuit Gilles Villeneuve at Ile de notredame, the semi-permanent street
circuit in Montreal, Canada.
Mika lined up in fourth and David in second for the 69 lap race but as the
formation lap was about to begin David stalled his engine and it had to be restarted just
before the field took off. Because the personnel was not clear of the grid 15 sec's before
the formation lap David was imposed with a ten second stop-and-go penalty.
As the penalty was not announced until lap 11, David was putting pole-sitter Michael
Schumacher under tremendous pressure for the lead. Until lap 14 when he took his 10 second
penalty in the pits. David rejoined in 10th position.
Mika was slightly
slower than David at the start and BAR's Jacques Villeneuve, who was quick off the line
in his home race on the circuit named after his father Gilles, managed to squeeze next to
him coming into the first corner. This forced Mika to run wide and to lose a position.
Mika:"I decided to play it safe
and ease off rather than ending up in the gravel track". As a result Barrichello and Mika both got stuck behind Villeneuve
for several laps. This allowed Schumacher to pull away for almost 17 seconds. On lap 35
Mika found a way past Villeneuve claiming third position behind the two Ferrari's. On lap 42 Mika went into pits for his first scheduled pitstop. However just
after the pitstop it began to rain heavily, and Mika had to come in again for rain tyres
on lap 46. Mika:"Then it started
to rain and my race was pretty much over". Mika did managed to set the fastest lap in the race setting
his total on 18.
As the chequered flag came down Mika crossed the finishline in fourth place adding three points to his total. David battled for 6th with Jordans Jarno Trulli but finished almost side by side as seventh, just outside the points.
WEST McLAREN MERCEDES ANNOUNCE DRIVER LINE UP FOR 2001
The team is delighted to announce that David Coulthard has been re-signed for West McLaren Mercedes. David and Mika Hakkinen will continue as team-mates which means their partnership now represents the longest driver pairing in the same team in the history of the Formula One World Championship. The team has always set great store in the longevity of the relationships they have with their drivers. The partnership between David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen will move into its sixth season in 2001 which also represents Mika's ninth and David's sixth season with McLaren.
MIKA HAKKINEN
It is great news that David is staying
with the team. We are both highly competitive drivers with one common goal - we both want
to win, and we make great team-mates.'
RON DENNIS
'Everybody at McLaren is pleased that so early in the season we have the confidence to
commit to our future driver line up. We are convinced that David and Mika's ability to win
races and fight for championships will continue. We achieved our first victory as West
McLaren Mercedes at the first race of our Title Partner West in 1997. Since then we have
won 22 Grands Prix and two Drivers' and one Constructors' World Championship'
NORBERT HAUG
'Together with our Partner McLaren, Mercedes-Benz has taken part in 88 Grands Prix, and we
have won 22 of them. Having Mika as our driver for the seventh consecutive season and
David for his sixth, Mercedes-Benz has a lot of confidence that we are well prepared to
win even more races and more World Championships. Mika has taken part in 86 races in a
McLaren Mercedes and David in 73. Together they have raced in 159 Grands Prix with our
team. Which is a record figure that makes us proud.
2 July - France - Magny Cours
The one McLaren has never won before
During Friday's practice sessions Mika and his engineers worked on finding the right balance and set up for the car. On saturdays qualifying Mika continued to experience difficulties with the set up of his car and he slotted in behind David on the second row in fourth place. Mika: 'On the one hand I could say that it was a very disappointing session for me today, but on the other hand it is better than last year when I qualified 14th.'
At the start of the race Schumacher cut across David's bows, making him lift and take avoiding action which allowed Barrichello move up to second place. This put David into third position and Mika retained fourth. Mika, with the handling of his car much more to his liking, shadowed Barrichello waiting for his opportunity to pass. It was however, the pitstop strategy and outstanding work of the pit crew which saw him return to the track ahead of his opposition. Mika then closed on second placed man Schumacher, passing him shortly before he retired with an engine failure. David and Mika continued to lead the field to the chequered flag. Mika finished second, just like last year.
David Coulthard won the team's first French Grand Prix at Magny Cours. Mika has never won the french GP. Mika Hakkinen passed the chequered flag in second place giving the team a total of 16 points towards the Constructors' World Championship and putting David and Mika in strong contention once again for the Drivers' title.
Mika: 'I am really happy about today's result. I made a really good start but I got to the first corner and there were already two cars there! This meant I had to slot into fourth place at the first corner. As the race went on I knew I had the pace to pass Michael, and I was just waiting for the right opportunity which finally presented itself on lap 59.'
16 July - Austria - Spielberg
Mclaren One Two In Austria
The Austrian Grand Prix began under cloudy conditions but the skies remained free of rain as the drivers lined up on the grid. At the start Ricardo Zonta ran into the back of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari, causing a pile up at the first corner. Mika: "At the start I had the advantage that I was on pole, which meant that I could take a nice and more importantly a clean line into the first corner". Schumacher's race is over before it began, as the German is unable to continue. The safety car appears as Michael walks dejectedly back to the pits, leaving Mika Häkkinen in the lead of the race 1.6 seconds ahead of David in second and fifteen seconds ahead of Barrichello in fourth.
At lap 20 Häkkinen is 5 seconds in front of his team-mate, however there is a board being shown to the Finn that says REVS and SHIFT. He appears to be ignoring the messages sent by the McLaren team as he extends his lead over his teammate even further. The gap is fourteen seconds on lap 30 and the Finn is being shown an 'easy' sign now. Apparently the first message was meant for both drivers, not just Häkkinen and Coulthard slowed where Häkkinen didn't. At lap 35 only the first three drivers are on the lead lap. McLaren get ready for their pitstops. By lap 50 Häkkinen has increased his lead to over 18 seconds on second placed man David Coulthard.
Mika Häkkinen starts to ease off as the end of the
race is in sight. With only six laps to go, Häkkinen leads Coulthard with Barrichello in
third, Villeneuve in fourth, Button in fifth and Mika Salo in sixth. David Coulthard sets
the fastest lap. The last few laps go by without incident and the positions remain the
same.
The West McLaren Mercedes team gained the lead in
the Constructors' World Championship. Mika Häkkinen took the chequered flag first with David Coulthard in second. It's the team's fourth one-two victory of
the season.
30 July - Germany - Hockenheim
2 points away from the championship lead
The 45-lap race got underway with Mika making what he later described as one of the best starts of his career from fourth on the grid to take the lead coming into the first corner. David was on pole position after setting a time which was 1.3 seconds quicker than anybody else in Saturday's rain affected qualifying session but he had too much wheelspin off the line and had to settle for second place into the first corner.
Both McLarens soon opened up a considerable gap to the rest of the field and were clearly controlling the race. However on lap 25 a spectator invaded the track and crossed the circuit and the safety car had to be dispatched. As a result most teams decided to use this as an opportunity to get their scheduled pit stops out of the way. Mika went in on lap 26 but due to a miscommunication David remained out. As a result David was stuck behind the safety car for almost an entire lap and after his stop he rejoined the race in sixth place.
A few laps later it began to rain heavily in the pit area and soon afterwards the rain also intensified in the Stadium section - while it remained dry in the woods. On lap 35 Häkkinen came in for wets thereby losing his lead to Barrichello while David pitted for wets three laps later after having worked his way up to second place and he was able to rejoin in third a position which he held until the finish. The race was won by Barrichello (his first F1 win ever) while Mika finished second.
Both Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard are now only two points away from the Championship leader. Mika's second place and David's third meant that the team remained four points behind in the Constructors Championship.
13 August - Hungary - Budapest
Mika and McLaren back on top.
Similar to the race at Hockenheim two weeks ago Mika made a perfect start from third on the grid to pass both Michael Schumacher and David to take the lead into the first corner - a lead he held for the entire race apart from lap 32 when he went in for his first pit stop.
Mika:‘I knew that the start would be crucial, because it’s almost impossible to overtake on this circuit. Normally the perfect start doesn’t happen more than once a year and after my get away two weeks ago at Hockenheim I thought that my quota had been used up’
David, who started the race from second place, was slow getting off the line partly due to the fact that he was on the dusty side of the circuit and lost a position to Mika. Mika set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:20.607 on lap 20 and led Schumacher by almost eight seconds as the race settles into somewhat of a procession.
David Coulthard, Michael Schumacher, Bernie Ecclestone,
Mika Hakkinen, Rubens Barrichello
Michael Schumacher appears to be struggling as he
locked the wheels on the Ferrari and Coulthard began to close the gap. With only 23 laps remaining,
the main battle is between David Coulthard and Michael Schumacher for second place.
At lap 60 Hakkinen's lead is 26 seconds over Schumacher, who has Coulthard just four
tenths of a second behind him. Only the top six drivers are on the lead lap. The last few
laps were uneventful. As hard as David Coulthard tried, he failed to overtake Michael
Schumacher and the Scotsman was forced to settle for third step on the podium.
Mika Hakkinen took the MP4-15 to
victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring
near Budapest, Mika’s victory provided the McLaren team with its sixth win of the
season and it’s also worth noting that both Mika and David have finished every race
since the Brazilian Grand Prix in March.
As a result the team is now leading the Formula One Constructors’ World Championship with 112
points while Mika’s win places him
on top of the Drivers' World Championship.
27 August - Belgium - Spa
Hakkinen wins Belgium for the first time.
The Belgian Grand Prix started on a wet track,
however, there was no actual rain present as the drivers took to the grid with Mika Hakkinen on pole position. Ron Dennis wanted the start to take place under safety car conditions, and
it did to ensure that there won't be a repeat of 1998's disaster. All the cars get cleanly
away after the safety car pulls in at the end of the formation lap. No stopping for any of
the drivers as they continue on rather than stop and line up again. By the second lap Hakkinen has pulled out a 2 second lead. A dry line is already beginning to appear.
When the track is drying, the drivers began to come in to change their tyres. Mika is the
first of the McLarens to come in leaving David on the track to wait until the next lap.
Meanwhile Michael Schumacher is flying around the Spa circuit on dry tyres as Coulthard
struggles on wets. Lap 8 and Coulthard finally pits, rejoining the race in ninth place.
Michael Schumacher fights to catch Hakkinen who is five seconds up the road.
In lap 12 Mika Hakkinen spins at
Stavelot and Schumacher goes into the lead. Hakkinen
gets his McLaren going again however now the situation is reversed and he is the one that
is 5 seconds off the lead.
At lap 30 Schumacher leads Hakkinen by just under 4 seconds. Coulthard moves up into sixth
as Alesi comes in for his third and final stop. Mika Hakkinen is eating into Schumacher's
lead, the gap is now just over two seconds.
Seven laps to go and David Coulthard passes Button for fourth place.
Mika continues to push Michael and the gap is now only 5 tenths of a second with only five laps remaining. The Finn goes for it, but Schumacher firmly closes the door. He tries again and this time makes it stick! Hakkinen reclaims the lead of the Belgian Grand Prix with four laps to go. When Schumacher overtook backmarker Zonta on the left, Mika flew past Zonta on the right and takes both Zonta and Schumacher with this magnificent manoeuvre.
The last laps were just a run to the flag, Hakkinen's overtaking manoeuvre the deciding factor. The Finn crosses the line to take his first Belgian Grand Prix victory! The top three were Mika Hakkinen, Michael Schumacher and Ralf Schumacher.
Mika Hakkinen: ‘I lost the lead to Schumacher when I spun at Stavelot. I don’t
really know what happened but the kerbs were very slippery. After my second pit stop I was
closing on Schumacher and tried to get past him at the end of the straight but that
didn’t work. However I was much quicker coming out of La Source. I would probably
have been close enough coming up the hill to overtake him anyway but because of the
backmarker I got an additional tow and was able to go past and pull away.’
Ron Dennis: ‘His overtaking manoeuvre I’m sure will go down as one of the
greatest in Formula One history’.
Mika Hakkinen won the Belgian Grand Prix, extending his lead in the Formula One Drivers’ World Championship to six points. David Coulthard’s fourth place means that McLaren remains top in the Constructors’ World Championship. David maintained his third place in the Drivers’ Championship.
10 September - Italy - Monza
The supercrash.
Mika and David began the 53-lap race from third and fifth on the grid. Michael Schumacher gets a good start from pole and Mika Hakkinen moves up into second place followed by David Coulthard in third, however the expected happened and there were 2 massive pile ups including several drivers, one at the first chicane and 2 more at the second!
At the second chicane Frentzen ran into the back of Barrichello causing the pair to take off Trulli and David. As a result of the subsequent multiple pile-up the safety car was deployed for 10 laps. Looking at the wrecked remains, it is a miracle that all drivers survived. A Marshall was hit by flying debris. Barrichello, Coulthard, Frentzen, Trulli, De la Rosa, Irvine and Herbert all retire from the race. The Marshall is taken to hospital for treatment and the wrecked cars are removed from the gravel traps as the race continues behind the safety car. Michael Schumacher leads followed by Mika Hakkinen and Jacques Villeneuve.
The race resumes on lap eleven. Michael Schumacher sets the fastest lap as Mika in second place fights to keep the German's pace. Schumacher continues to extend his lead over Mika, and it is up to almost five seconds by lap 21.
At lap 38 Schumacher pits while Mika stayed out until lap 41 before coming in for his stop. Mika had been complaining about an imbalance in the car so the team made a few adjustments to the set-up during the stop. Mika rejoined the race 11 seconds behind Schumacher. Schumacher continues to hold the lead with eleven laps remaining. Ralf Schumacher and Fisichella enter the pits, and Ralf rejoins in third place while Fisichella has problems and loses over a minute and comes out in ninth place.
Mika begins to eat into Michael Schumacher's lead, bringing it down to 8.3 seconds, however there are only 6 laps remaining. Two laps remain and the gap is down to six seconds, however he is not close enough to challenge for victory. Mika was able to set a succession of fast laps to reduce the gap to just 3.8 seconds at the chequered flag - clocking the fastest lap of the race on lap 50 with 1:25.595.
Schumacher wins in Italy, Mika finishes second, Ralf Schumacher third.
24 September - USA - Indianapolis
Enigine failure makes the worldtitle a difficult task.At just over one third distance, lap 25 out of 73, Mika Hakkinen suffers engine failure in the McLaren. it was the team’s first retirement since the Brazilian Grand Prix in March. This ends the Finn's charge for victory here today, while teammate David Coulthard was down in 12th place, making McLarens hope for any points at all here this afternoon seem very dim indeed.
MIKA HAKKINEN:'Obviously I'm disappointed not to get any points today but we still have two races to go. I was stuck behind a Minardi for quite a number of laps, but once I got past I was catching Schumacher with more than half a second per lap. Unfortunately I had to retire with an engine failure.' NORBERT HAUG:'I feel sorry for Mika. He really had the speed to win but an engine failure forced him out of the race. It was the first technical failure for 13 races. But we certainly will not give up.’
With 5 laps remaining, Schumacher has a 26 second lead over his teammate Barrichello, but the German spins! He easily continues, however he loses 11 seconds. The German looks set to win here this afternoon as we enter the last lap, he leads Rubens Barrichello by 13 seconds. A Ferrari one-two in America with Heinz-Harald Frentzen third.
8 October - Japan - Suzuka
The championship is decided.
Qualifying gave the fans a taste of
what was to come on Sunday. The two title rivals dominated the entire session with the Ferrari just edging out Mika by 9-thousands of a second. The
mathematicians reading this would be interested to know that the gap measures to a mere
55cm! The number two drivers for McLaren and Ferrari annexed the second row of the grid – each was hoping
to play a big part in the race. The two Williams-BMW's took the third row with Jenson
Button once again outqualifying Ralf Schumacher.
On Sunday, at the end of the formation lap, Mika suddenly became aware that his McLaren was smoking. His focus wasn't helped when the team came on
the radio just as the lights were going out. But, Mika just put his
foot to the floor and hurtled past Michael Schumacher to take the lead. Michael had
attempted to block Mika, but realised straight away that Mika was too far ahead and
settled down in second place. Further back, Barrichello went backwards and found himself
in 6th place as he attempted to avoid Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher who were doing their
best to drive into each other.
Immediately the leading pair began to pull away from the rest of the field. But they were
never separated by more than a couple of seconds. The biggest gap between them during the
race was 2.6 seconds. What we were seeing was the best two drivers in the world battling
for the title without any outside influences. Further back, there were a few battles going
on – namely involving Jacques Villeneuve who overtook Johnny Herbert for 8th place.
There wasn't much happening until lap 22 when Mika made his
first pitstop. On the next lap, Michael pitted and rejoined behind Coulthard who was
leading, but yet to stop and Mika. Coulthard pitted on lap 24 and Mika
regained the lead. But he was still only 2.6 seconds ahead of Michael. Further back
Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button were both battling each other with Button managing to
snatch 5th place from Ralf on lap 30. Michael Schumacher gave himself and Ricardo Zonta a
scare when the pair touched on lap 33 as Michael attempted to lap the BAR. Both were able to continue unscathed though, doubtless to the
relief of both as Zonta would not want to risk a three-race ban for interfering in a
championship battle.
Mika was still leading though and it was looking good for a win. But, something would
happen during the pitstops that would decide the world title. Just prior to his second
stop, Mika found himself following the Arrows of Pedro de la
Rosa for half a lap which meant Michael could close the gap to 1.1 seconds. On lap 37 Mika
pitted. He emerged behind Michael, but now had another problem called drizzle. It was
intensifying all the time. As if that wasn't annoying enough, Mika found himself stuck
behind Pedro de la Rosa for the second time in as many laps. Again, it took him some time
to negotiate his way past the Arrows. But it effectively lost him the race. Michael had been able to stay out
for two laps longer, despite Alex Wurz's best efforts to distract Michael by spinning at
the entrance to the pitlane just as Michael wanted to go down it. Not only that, but the Ferrari had put in some blistering laps on a clear, but wet track.
He emerged from his second stop 5 seconds ahead of Mika. Not that Mika gave up yet –
he did push Michael and got the gap down to 1.8 seconds at the flag. But it wasn't enough.
Mika would have to relinquish his crown to Michael Schumacher, but the way he did so
earned him a lot of respect.
So that is it. The drivers title has been decided. But, it's been a great season. The
Constructors has not been decided yet. Congratulations to Michael: he is a great driver
and he's made the championship so exciting. As Mika himself said: "I
understand it's sometimes another drivers turn to win. Obviously I'm disappointed, but I
would still like to congratulate Michael. We have had a great battle this year with both
ups and downs and it's been very exciting. Today I made a good start to take the lead and
things were looking good until my second pitstop. The guys did a great stop, but
unfortunately I lost valuable time on my out lap partly due to traffic but also it began
to rain a bit more and as a result of the new tyres it was extremely slippery and I was
sliding everywhere. Anyway I believe to be a good winner you have to be a good loser and
now we are focusing on finishing the season on a high in Malaysia and on next year's
Championship."
22 October - Malaysia - Sepang
Last but not least.The 17th and final round of the 2000 Grand Prix
season. Michael Schumacher took pole position with Mika Häkkinen lined up alongside him
and their teammates on the second row of the grid. This would be the last race for Johnny
Herbert, Ricardo Zonta (Jordan's test driver), Alex Wurz (McLaren’s test driver) and Mika Salo (Toyota
2002).
Even though the world Driver's championship was decided at the last race in Japan, there
was still the matter of the Constructor's title to be settled.
Sadly, for Mika fans, Mika repeated DC's Indy feat and started the
race before all the lights had gone out. But, he'd managed to bring the car to a
stop again. He said that Michael had also moved before the start, but the difference was
that Michael didn't trigger the jump-start sensor. Anyway, Mika took
the lead, and David's inspired bit of driving saw him wrestle second place from
Michael Schumacher.
Further back the field, there was proof that 3 cars
cannot use the same piece of tarmac at the same time as Diniz, Heidfeld and de la Rosa all
tangled with each other. This meant the Safety Car was deployed whilst various bits of car
and errant wheels were rounded up and removed off the track.
On Lap 3 came the dreaded news that Mika would be penalised for his
start. He instantly waved DC through to take the lead. He also allowed both Ferrari's to pass him. Mika came in for his penalty on lap 5 and rejoined at the back of the field in 18th place. He then began a
remarkable charge through the field which would be considered as one of the high spots of
the race.
Meanwhile, Heinz-Harald Frentzen capped an awful year by having an off-track excursion
followed shortly by an electrical failure which ended the race. On lap 8, a few drops of
rain began to fall but there was no more rainfall after that. But, on lap 10, Coulthard
ran wide across the grass. He rejoined having only lost half a second of his lead. But, it
would cost him dearly later on as he would have to make an early pitstop to remove the
debris. On lap 17, he made this pitstop and lost his 6.0 second lead to Michael
Schumacher.
There were lots of pitstops taking place now and Mika was benefiting from them. By lap 24,
he had moved up to 8th place. His car was working well and he was only on a one stop
strategy. Ferrari's Ross Brawn commented after the race that,
if Mika hadn't jumped the start, Ferrari would have been in
real trouble. Michael Schumacher made his first of two pitstops on lap 24 and handed the
race lead to Rubens Barrichello. Barrichello pitted on the next lap.
Whilst all this was going on, Mika was still blasting his way through the field. He does
this so well: look at Monza 1997, France 1999 or Austria 1999 for previous examples where
he has scythed his way through traffic. He had a spectacular battle with Jacques
Villeneuve (another very tough racer) which consisted of some brilliant fighting. The
battle was settled in Mika's favour when Jacques ran wide on lap 30. To many, this was
another race highlight.
On lap 34, Mika posted the fastest lap of the race with a
time of 1.34.543, before pitting on lap 35. He was stationary for 9.3 seconds, but only
lost 2 places.
Further towards the front, Michael Schumacher made his second pitstop on lap 39 and his
lead over Coulthard dropped to 1.7 seconds. With Coulthard also running a one-stop
strategy, this would be a royal battle to the end of the race. Coulthard was pushing like
mad and closing up all the time. By now, Mika was back into fourth place, but with 2 Ferrari's in the top 3, McLaren's
chance of winning the Constructor's title had slipped away.
On lap 49, Mika's former Lotus teammate, Johnny Herbert
exited his final Grand Prix with a broken suspension which pitched him into the crash
barrier at high speed. Johnny was carried away from his car; initial reports said he'd
only bruised his knee, but it was later confirmed that he had fractured his knee in the
impact. Coulthard was continuing to close up on the Ferrari
and this could be like Spa all over again. But, despite David's best efforts, he could not
overtake the Ferrari and Michael Schumacher won the final
race of the season, albeit by a tiny margin of 0.7 seconds. Rubens Barrichello came third
to secure the Constructor's title for Ferrari whilst Mika
fought his way home to fourth place. The top six was rounded out by Jacques Villeneuve and
Eddie Irvine who gave Jaguar something to smile about. Mika
Häkkinen: "Not an ideal way to finish the season. My car moved
a little before the start, but I was stationary before the lights went out. My one stop
strategy would have been correct and my car was working well, so I believe I could have
won. The team did a fantastic job, and I want to thank everybody for their great efforts
during the year. I'm generally happy with the season and have some good memories. I'm now
looking forward to a break before we start testing in December to prepare ourselves for
2001 when we want to renew our Championship challenge."
Final Championship standing:
1.Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) is F1 worldchampion with 108 points
2. 
Mika Häkkinen (McLaren) is
vice-worldchampion with 89 points
3. David Coulthard (McLaren) is third with 73 points
Ferrari
is constructors champion with 170 points
followed by
with 152 points.
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