Preview San Marino 2000
by Formula-1.co.uk
After two flyaway rounds of the championship, the teams and drivers return to Europe for the first time this season. With all teams based in Europe, they are now able to begin to develop their 2000 challengers and it will be interesting to see what progress, if any, certain teams made whilst testing last week at Silverstone.
Michael Schumacher won the San Marino Grand Prix last year after Mika Hakkinen lost control of his McLaren and crashed out of the race. This year McLaren are already on the back foot after failing to score any points at either Melbourne or Interlagos.
To make matters worse for the Woking outfit, Ferrari have scored two wins and one second place. At Imola the team have it all to do this weekend if they are to mount a serious challenge for the championship.
Imola is of course Ferrari-land. The event this year is expected to be a sell-out thanks to Ferrari's performance so far this year with 100,000 tifosi painting the circuit its usual red. McLaren will be strong though, especially in qualifying and Ferrari are aware that they need to improve their F12000 in this area.
Giancarlo Fisichella put in a superb performance in Brazil to secure then runner up spot behind Schumacher. The B200 chassis looks to be a tremendous improvement over last year's B199. The team tested successfully at Silverstone last week with the Italian setting the pace. The team then moved to Santa Pod to practice racing starts, so expect Fisichella and Alexander Wurz to make up places at the start of the race. Imola is however still a power circuit and it remains to be seen as to whether the Supertec V10 that powers both Benetton and Arrows will be able to live with the new lightweight units that power Ferrari, McLaren and Jaguar.
Jordan have so far disappointed this year. We all expected the EJ10 to be fighting for race wins this year, but it looks as if the elderly Mugen-Honda engine is holding the team back somewhat. Both Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Jarno Trulli are talking openly of points and a possible podium, but this is not what the team expected to achieve this year. With Honda throwing all their expertise behind their works engine that powers British American Racing team, Jordan will begin to slide down the grid as the season progresses.
BMW Williams have surprised many this year. Prior to the start of the season the team talked openly of hoping to secure a mid grid slot by the halfway point of the season. So far the team have scored seven points and gained one podium position. Not bad for a team who expected this year to be nothing more than an extended test of their new BMW engine. Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button make the youngest and most exciting driver line up on the grid, and both drivers are performing well with few mistakes. At Imola the team will be once again be looking for points…
Of the rest, Jaguar Racing have been the most disappointing team of the year. Last year Rubens Barrichello made it onto the bottom step of the podium in his Stewart Ford. The recently Jaguar liveried team have so far failed to make the chequered flag and have not really looked ready for the season ahead. Eddie Irvine has driven well on occasion, but spun out of both Melbourne and Interlagos. Johnny Herbert has had little running thanks to numerous failures. At Imola the team know that they need a good result to keep Ford happy.
Prost Peugeot have had a tough start to the season. However, Jean Alesi put in a superb drive in Brazil until the inevitable mechanical failure. Of the rest, BAR have proved generally reliable and could score well this weekend. Ditto Arrows, who have a superb chassis and two aggressive drivers in Pedro de la Rosa and Jos Verstappen.
The race winner is almost certainly going to be either Michael Schumacher or Mika Hakkinen. Both Rubens Barrichello and David Coulthard will also be snapping at their heals. For Coulthard, he will be keen to gain some points after the disappointment of loosing second place at Interlagos thanks to an illegal MP4-15. Barrichello suffered a rare Ferrari engine failure in Brazil and will also be looking to close the gap on team-mate Schumacher. The race promises a good battle at the front…
Article is written by and copyright © 2000 Formula-1.co.uk.
Views expressed in these articles do not necessarily coincide with the views of the F1 Rumors Team.
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