2000 Belgian GP

OSRN 1

Round 13 of the 2000 F1 season at Spa.

Transcript

00:00:00When you get Urus right, it feels fantastic.

00:00:04Today it seems that it's the most difficult corner in the world of 1P racing.

00:00:10Urus means to me my biggest accident in Formula 1 or in my racing life.

00:00:15It's very demanding, very, very difficult and it needs a lot of skill.

00:00:19You want to simply go with a bicycle there or walk up through this corner

00:00:23and then you imagine you do this with 280 and you know what I'm talking about.

00:00:27I love Urus because it's a mixture of pleasure and fear.

00:00:32Fear when you enter the corner, pleasure when you come out the other side.

00:00:57Welcome to what many people call the greatest race course in the world, Spa.

00:01:07For the Grand Prix of Belgium round 13 in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

00:01:13Hello everyone, I'm Mike Joy alongside former Ferrari Formula 1 driver Derek Bell

00:01:17and Peter Windsor, former team manager at Williams and Ferrari will join us from the paddock.

00:01:24Let's have a look at what's coming up on our Mercedes-Benz pre-race today.

00:01:27The two team principals involved on the trade, if you will, of Jenson Button for 2001.

00:01:34We'll have a look at where other drivers may or may not be headed next season.

00:01:40Highlights of a qualifying session that had a very upside down result from what we're used to seeing.

00:01:46And we'll go one-on-one with the head of Ferrari.

00:01:50Well, rain is the word right now here in Spa.

00:01:54Drivers are on course. The Jaguars of Eddie Irvine and Johnny Herbert were the first to take to the track.

00:01:59It's been dry all weekend, Eric, but it is soggy now.

00:02:03Yes, it's really very, very wet, but it's not actually raining that much at the moment.

00:02:07So it's going to be a real decision on what tyres to take at the start.

00:02:10I think it'd be really intriguing to see the lottery of who does what.

00:02:13See water lying just there.

00:02:15You saw a shot of Mika Hakkinen, the defending world champion, who is now also the point leader.

00:02:20Michael Schumacher just two back, Coulthard just six back.

00:02:23These three could leave Spa all tied for the world championship.

00:02:28If Coulthard wins, Schumacher runs second and Hakkinen third today.

00:02:33And in the constructors, we have McLaren just ahead with 112 over Ferraris.

00:02:37111, Williams 24, Benetton 18, B.A.R. 12 and Jordan 12.

00:02:43Michael Schumacher acknowledged as the best in the world in the rain,

00:02:47and you see the deep tread on those Bridgestones.

00:02:49They have a new intermediate and a new full wet weather tyre here.

00:02:53And it looks like one or both of those compounds will get a workout

00:02:56as David Coulthard comes into the pit lane after one of his recon laps.

00:03:03Well, there's lots of news.

00:03:04And earlier, when the sun was out,

00:03:07Peter filed this report to catch us up on the news of the last two weeks.

00:03:13Well, I'm here with a brand new set of Bridgestone intermediate tyres

00:03:15because you never know what the weather's going to be like at Spa.

00:03:18The big news in the paddock,

00:03:19Mick Asalo will not be racing in Formula 1 next year.

00:03:21But don't worry, he will be driving.

00:03:23He'll be testing for Toyota next year and racing from 2002 onwards.

00:03:27That team put together by Obey Anderson,

00:03:29the man responsible for many years for Toyota's rallying success,

00:03:32and the chassis designed by Andre de Contant.

00:03:34He used to work at Sauber, Renault and at Prost.

00:03:37So Mick Asalo testing for them next year on Michelin tyres.

00:03:41He enjoys racing in Formula 1,

00:03:43but driving for Sauber in the midfield,

00:03:45not quite the same as racing up there for Ferrari,

00:03:47as he did as super sub.

00:03:48So Mick Asalo hoping, of course,

00:03:50to make a big comeback to racing in 2002 with Toyota.

00:03:53Lots going on in the silly season.

00:03:55Lots of movement going on.

00:03:56We'll be talking about that in a minute.

00:03:57Looks as if Luciano Berti's position at Jaguar

00:03:59is getting stronger by the minute.

00:04:01Meanwhile, in the pit lane,

00:04:02Sam Michaels, the highly rated engineer

00:04:04who runs Heinz Harald Frentzen for Jordan,

00:04:06is being wooed by both Williams and Ferrari.

00:04:09He's very highly prized.

00:04:10He wants to see himself as a chief designer,

00:04:12so Sam Michaels potentially on the move.

00:04:14Finally, rumours are that Barry Green,

00:04:17the man responsible for Jack Villeneuve's success

00:04:19in America at Indianapolis and in kart,

00:04:21will be coming into Formula 1

00:04:23running the BAR team instead of Craig Pollock.

00:04:25That's only a rumour, but of course,

00:04:27that is what makes the Formula 1 world go round.

00:04:29Well, I must say, Jordan don't need to lose

00:04:32that young Sam Michaels.

00:04:33That wouldn't be a thing for them.

00:04:34They've already lost their chief design technical director.

00:04:37He's gone off to Benetton.

00:04:38Now, that Barry Green rumour started in Indianapolis,

00:04:41and I guess it was us at Fox that floated it across the pond.

00:04:44Jack Villeneuve says it's rubbish.

00:04:46He'd be the first to know if the change was coming.

00:04:49Well, it's been confirmed that Jenson Button

00:04:52is moving to Benetton for two years,

00:04:54and it's obvious that Montoya is coming.

00:04:56Peter Windsor sat with the team principals

00:04:58to talk about how Button came to Williams

00:05:00and why he's leaving.

00:05:01We have another driver coming

00:05:03whose name you well know I shan't mention.

00:05:07And there always was going to be a slot for him.

00:05:13Alex and I, or Alex and the team decided

00:05:16better to separate quite late in the day, mid-December.

00:05:19So we needed a driver very quickly.

00:05:21There were no obvious choices.

00:05:23We took a chance with Jenson.

00:05:25He's responded brilliantly.

00:05:27But even if Jenson won,

00:05:29maybe if Jenson won the first,

00:05:31all 12 of the recent races,

00:05:33it may have been different,

00:05:35but the reality is otherwise.

00:05:37And we made a move which involved Jenson

00:05:41moving sideways for a couple of years.

00:05:45Of course, that always was on the cards to do so.

00:05:48Is it true that you turned down a large sum of money

00:05:51to have his contract bought out by his management team?

00:05:54I never make any comment on business conversations,

00:05:58which, regrettably, others choose to do.

00:06:01For the first year in Formula One, no mistake,

00:06:04he managed to finish the race in a very difficult situation.

00:06:07I believe it's good for England to have one good driver

00:06:11because many years ago there were not so many drivers in England.

00:06:14It's good for Formula One to have somebody

00:06:16with this kind of appeal.

00:06:18He's young, he looks good,

00:06:21and for the moment he's normal.

00:06:23Let's see.

00:06:25Let's not forget that Montoya was the test driver at Williams in 1998,

00:06:29hence Frank's loyalty.

00:06:31And the guy is very quick.

00:06:33He can still hold Button's contract

00:06:35and may bring him back after two years at Benetton.

00:06:38When we come back, we'll try to put some of these faces

00:06:41into their places for 2001.

00:06:48Welcome back to our Mercedes-Benz pre-race

00:06:50for the Belgian Grand Prix.

00:06:52You see there's a lot of water on the circuit.

00:06:54Not a heavy rain falling,

00:06:56but cars trying to dissipate some of that entire choice

00:06:59will be quite critical today.

00:07:02Well, next year is shaping up in Formula One,

00:07:05and there is going to be a lot of movement,

00:07:07especially further down the grid.

00:07:13While in many parts of the world it's summer,

00:07:15here in the Formula One pit lane it is silly season.

00:07:18Here's a look ahead.

00:07:19Next year, Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard

00:07:21return for McLaren Mercedes.

00:07:23No change there, nor at Ferrari,

00:07:25where the prancing horse will again be ridden

00:07:27by Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello.

00:07:30The change at Jordan is not in the driver's seat,

00:07:32but it's behind them.

00:07:33Factory Honda power for Frentzen and Trulli.

00:07:37Jenson Button has impressed everyone

00:07:39in his rookie season for Williams,

00:07:41but he goes out on loan for two years to Benetton,

00:07:44where he'll partner Giancarlo Fisichella.

00:07:47So at Williams, Indy 500 winner and kart champ

00:07:50Juan Pablo Montoya is all but confirmed

00:07:53to join Ralf Schumacher.

00:07:56Olivier Pagny has spent the season

00:07:58as McLaren's test driver, and with good result,

00:08:01he'll move to BAR, next to Jacques Villeneuve.

00:08:06Eddie Irvine returns to lead the Jaguar team,

00:08:09but the second seat is open.

00:08:11Luciano Berti, their test driver,

00:08:13is the top pick for that ride,

00:08:15though others have been mentioned.

00:08:18Jean Alessi says his contract is with Alain Prost,

00:08:22not necessarily the Prost team.

00:08:24So if Alain stays, Alessi stays,

00:08:26and likely Pedro Diniz brings lots of sponsor money

00:08:29for the second seat.

00:08:31At Sauber, everything is up for grabs,

00:08:33including the engine package.

00:08:35They may get last year's Ferrari engines,

00:08:37but who will drive?

00:08:39Eros gets new AMT power behind Pedro de la Rosa

00:08:43and a yet-to-be-named Alessi.

00:08:45While Minardi sees Genet and Mazzacani returning,

00:08:48unless a bigger name or more money

00:08:50becomes available for one or both seats.

00:08:54Well, one of the drives that really is available,

00:08:56a great drive, is the test drive at McLaren, of course,

00:08:59because Olivier Pagny has gone to BAR,

00:09:01and we saw other great drivers have been there

00:09:04and moved on to better things in the past.

00:09:06Yeah, that got Heidfeld his ride with Prost for this season.

00:09:09So, yeah, that's a big seat yet to be found.

00:09:11Well, we've had a lot of your e-mail questions

00:09:13about pit stops in Germany.

00:09:15Would McLaren-Mercedes have fared better

00:09:17if they brought both Mika Haakon and David Coulthard

00:09:20in at the same time,

00:09:22even if they had to stack Coulthard

00:09:24to wait for his service, Peter?

00:09:28That's right, Mike.

00:09:29McLaren's decision in the German Grand Prix

00:09:31to try to stack up their two cars

00:09:33has really thrown Formula 1 into a little bit of turmoil,

00:09:35particularly in the German Grand Prix.

00:09:38has really thrown Formula 1 into a little bit of turmoil,

00:09:40particularly here at Spa, where it's a very short pit lane

00:09:43and the weather is not dissimilar from Hockenheim,

00:09:45and there is a history of safety cars going out.

00:09:47So we might see other teams in the race

00:09:49stacking their cars up as McLaren planned to.

00:09:51They didn't because David Coulthard

00:09:53didn't actually hear the right radio communication.

00:09:55But had they done so, it probably would have worked

00:09:57and Coulthard wouldn't have lost as many places.

00:10:00Now, why is it they didn't actually refuel Coulthard

00:10:03simultaneously next to Mika Haakon?

00:10:05Well, that's because in Formula 1 you're allowed to do that,

00:10:07but each team has so much spent on one stop.

00:10:1015 people in the case of McLaren.

00:10:12Massive amount of equipment.

00:10:14It just wouldn't be feasible to do that for two separate drivers.

00:10:17Beyond that, of course, it would also cause massive congestion.

00:10:20Now, here at Spa, we may well see teams stacking

00:10:23if the weather or the situation demands it.

00:10:25And if that happens at the other end of the pit lane,

00:10:27where there's even less space between the garages

00:10:29than here at McLaren and Ferrari,

00:10:31there will be mayhem.

00:10:33We invite your questions and comments.

00:10:35Formula1 at foxsports.net is our e-mail address.

00:10:38Well, with Formula 1 budget, you'd think an extra 15 mechanics

00:10:41wouldn't be a big problem, but the space is.

00:10:44When we come back, we'll go for a spin in qualifying,

00:10:48as Rubens Barrichello did quite literally.

00:10:51The Italian Grand Prix in two weeks' time.

00:10:54Noon, your local time, except in several markets.

00:10:57We'll show you at the end of today's telecast.

00:10:59Most of you will see it at noon.

00:11:22Our Mercedes-Benz pre-race rolls on,

00:11:24as most of the teams, most of the cars now,

00:11:27have all come back from their reconnaissance laps in the wet.

00:11:31Far different condition than what we saw earlier

00:11:33on this most wonderful of racetracks.

00:11:35Yes, certainly in qualifying yesterday,

00:11:38it was the most beautiful, beautiful weather.

00:11:40One has to say Spa at its absolute best.

00:11:43So let's look at this here.

00:11:45We have 44 laps of this 4.33-mile track.

00:11:49You can see three places there

00:11:51that are really good for overtaking.

00:11:53Of course, in the wet, it'll be a different picture altogether.

00:11:55A circuit dearly loved by all the drivers.

00:11:57Let's get out there and do a lap with David Coulthard.

00:12:01He's accelerating now past the pits up into La Source hairpin,

00:12:04which is the highest point of the circuit.

00:12:06He always gets a bit of understeer as you turn in there.

00:12:08You can see the car pushing at the front.

00:12:10You've really got to get wound up going down the hill

00:12:12past the old pits, which are on the right-hand side.

00:12:15And let's just ride with David

00:12:16as he goes through this incredible Eau Rouge.

00:12:20He backed off a bit there as he went through the first part,

00:12:22and I don't blame him.

00:12:23We've heard his comments already.

00:12:25And then he's accelerating way up the hill,

00:12:27up to 205 miles an hour, up to Les Combes.

00:12:33As he comes in there, very hard braking,

00:12:35down to third gear, 85 miles an hour,

00:12:38as he turns in for the left-hander there,

00:12:40the right-hander in the second part,

00:12:42squirts it all the way down to Rivage.

00:12:44170 is pulling just here in this short bit into Rivage.

00:12:48The car gets easily slides out wide there

00:12:51if you don't hold it in on that apex.

00:12:53Doesn't need all the road as it comes out.

00:12:54Very important corner here.

00:12:56Accelerates down the hill

00:12:58to what I consider to be one of the most exciting corners,

00:13:02Pouhon.

00:13:03They take this corner at about 145 miles an hour

00:13:06in fourth gear.

00:13:07Accelerates out of that up to 170,

00:13:10up to 190 as he brakes for Fein.

00:13:13There's a right.

00:13:14Keep the car in the middle of the road.

00:13:15Don't use all the road going through there.

00:13:17Trying to control the power, getting it on a smooth surface nonetheless.

00:13:20And then he comes into the most critical corner.

00:13:23It's called Stableau, the lowest part of the circuit.

00:13:25From here, it's basically flat.

00:13:27He feathers a little bit there.

00:13:28It's an early lap in practice

00:13:30and then works his way all the way up the hill,

00:13:32just passing on the left there,

00:13:33the old circuit coming in on your left-hand side.

00:13:36A flat kink and then into the very, very famous

00:13:39Blanchimont corner, 190 miles an hour.

00:13:42Up in 200 miles an hour, up into the bus stop chicane.

00:13:45Braking very hard, 50 miles an hour

00:13:47as he turns in across the curbs.

00:13:49An awful corner.

00:13:50The drivers hate it.

00:13:51They'd much rather keep the power all the way up through.

00:13:53Blasting through Clubhouse.

00:13:55That was a lap with David Coulthard.

00:13:59Characteristics here, Derek?

00:14:01Well, the track surface is very changeable,

00:14:03particularly when it's wet.

00:14:04The grip level is medium when it's dry.

00:14:06Everybody's using a soft tire.

00:14:08Tire wear is medium.

00:14:09Brake wear is medium.

00:14:10Maximum throttle 60% of the time.

00:14:12And naturally, the fuel consumption is high.

00:14:15And you see how wet it is at Spa here today.

00:14:17That was certainly not the case yesterday

00:14:19when the drivers went out for qualifying.

00:14:21No, it certainly wasn't.

00:14:22Qualifying was certainly very, very intriguing yesterday.

00:14:28It was very much in the sunshine.

00:14:30Look at them there with the sun blasting down.

00:14:32The track was very dry.

00:14:33Even the grass was very, very dry.

00:14:35But as always, it was an intriguing session.

00:14:37Mika Hakkinen, he went out early.

00:14:39He had some setups to change on the car,

00:14:41and he proved his point

00:14:42by actually completely dominating qualifying,

00:14:45getting pole position.

00:14:47David Coulthard went out.

00:14:49He was trying to get up there as well,

00:14:50but he had a moment here with the Jordan

00:14:52of Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

00:14:54So David paid him back later on in the next lap.

00:14:58When the same thing happened here,

00:14:59David got in his way,

00:15:00and Heinz-Harald had to take to the grass.

00:15:02He, in fact, got quickest lap,

00:15:03but he was disallowed it.

00:15:05So David had another go at him as well.

00:15:08The boys were playing a lot.

00:15:09Alexander Wurz, well, he had an engine go early on

00:15:12and had to take the training car out.

00:15:14Only got one lap in it.

00:15:17And then to make things worse for the Paul Benenson team,

00:15:19Giancarlo Fisichella,

00:15:21he had an engine problem too,

00:15:22and he had to stop and come in

00:15:23and get the training car from Wurz.

00:15:25But he qualified 11th on only one lap.

00:15:28Very well done by Fisichella.

00:15:30Michael Schumacher with the Ferrari

00:15:32not having a great weekend here,

00:15:34but he did manage in that usual

00:15:36sure Schumacher way to squeeze a lap in

00:15:38fourth quickest.

00:15:40Rubens Barrichello, meanwhile,

00:15:41he was having a pretty torrid time,

00:15:43and he had a spin trying to get up there

00:15:45amongst the leaders,

00:15:46but he could only manage a very poor,

00:15:48lowly 10th position.

00:15:51Jarno Trulli, meanwhile,

00:15:52is trying exceptionally hard

00:15:54to prove how quick he really is,

00:15:55but he hits the kerbs too hard.

00:15:57Next lap, he doesn't hit them as badly,

00:16:00and he gets a beautiful lap,

00:16:01gets in on the front row.

00:16:03Jensen Button, the phenomenal of this year,

00:16:05he gets through there, and he gets third place.

00:16:07What a wonderful piece of driving by him,

00:16:09but it's Mika Häkkinen that's on pole.

00:16:12Let's hear what Mika Häkkinen

00:16:13thought about his qualifying situation.

00:16:20Again, we did some radical changes to the car

00:16:22after the practice this morning,

00:16:24and we wanted to understand as soon as possible

00:16:27in the start of the qualifying,

00:16:29and that's why we went out.

00:16:31Didn't quite expect to be third on the grid.

00:16:33We were thinking top six would be great

00:16:35after the practice this morning,

00:16:37but no, absolutely ecstatic.

00:16:40Peter Windsor's talking with one of the two young lads

00:16:42in front of the grid, Jarno Trulli.

00:16:44Fantastic qualifying performance, Jarno.

00:16:46Front row of the grid, the classic circuits,

00:16:48Monaco, Spa.

00:16:49What is it about these places?

00:16:51Very good, especially for young drivers

00:16:53like me and Jensen,

00:16:54which we are always pushing very hard.

00:16:57I'm really pleased for me and also for Jensen.

00:16:59Well, the split times indicate

00:17:00that you are the fastest car here

00:17:02through Eau Rouge.

00:17:03Do you believe that?

00:17:04Yeah, I think so.

00:17:05I went flat from the morning,

00:17:06so I got flat all day,

00:17:08and I did it, so I'm really happy.

00:17:11Great performance and good luck in the race.

00:17:13Thank you very much.

00:17:14What a great day yesterday for Jarno Trulli.

00:17:16Here he is live,

00:17:17awaiting the start of this wet weather race at Spa.

00:17:21When we come back,

00:17:23Peter will sit down Formula One on one

00:17:26with the head of Ferrari.

00:17:33The Grand Prix of Belgium on Fox Sportsnet

00:17:35is brought to you by Mercedes-Benz,

00:17:37located on the web at mbusa.com.

00:17:44As Eddie Jordan and Jackie Stewart confirm,

00:17:46we're headed in two weeks' time

00:17:47to the Grand Prix of Italy,

00:17:49noon your local time,

00:17:50and then when we come to Indianapolis,

00:17:52Friday practice live on Fox Sportsnet

00:17:54at noon and 2 p.m. Eastern.

00:17:56All these are Eastern time.

00:17:57Saturday, September 23rd,

00:17:59live coverage of qualifying,

00:18:002 p.m. Eastern time,

00:18:01and the 24th, 1 p.m. Eastern time,

00:18:04one hour pre-race coverage

00:18:06and the United States Grand Prix.

00:18:08Then in October, we'll be at Malaysia at noon,

00:18:10or at Japan at noon,

00:18:11and then live from Malaysia

00:18:13just past midnight Eastern time

00:18:15on the 22nd of October.

00:18:20So the drivers trying to get dried out

00:18:22after their ride on an open truck around

00:18:24to greet the spectators,

00:18:25and Peter Windsor had a chance to sit down

00:18:28with the president of Ferrari.

00:18:31As a young team manager at Ferrari

00:18:33back in the 70s,

00:18:34Luca Montezemolo won two world championships

00:18:36in 75 and 77.

00:18:38Now, as chairman of Ferrari,

00:18:40it is his company that is trying to win

00:18:42the first driver's championship for Ferrari

00:18:44since 1979.

00:18:45We asked Luca what it was like

00:18:47working for Enzo Ferrari

00:18:48back in those early days in the 70s.

00:18:52Well, for me, it was a fantastic experience,

00:18:55life and professional.

00:18:57I was very young, 25 years old.

00:19:00I was lucky to be so close to him,

00:19:03so I worked 24 hours per day with him,

00:19:07and I learned basically two things.

00:19:12One, to look ahead,

00:19:14and number two, to always push,

00:19:17even if you are in a difficult situation,

00:19:19even if you don't win,

00:19:21you have to try as much as you can to succeed.

00:19:24These are the two biggest lessons

00:19:27I learned from Enzo Ferrari.

00:19:29What do you think Ferrari means to the world today?

00:19:33How big is Ferrari from your perspective?

00:19:35You've done a lot of things now.

00:19:39I think that Ferrari is a fantastic marque.

00:19:42I think, not because I'm the chairman of the company,

00:19:45but fantastic is Ferrari is something unique

00:19:49because it's a mix between very unusual ingredients,

00:19:56passion, technology,

00:19:59a mix between sport, design, lifestyle,

00:20:07but with one common element,

00:20:11a big, big passion from the chairman to the mechanics,

00:20:16from the clients to the suppliers,

00:20:19a big passion inside, in the middle.

00:20:21And let's talk about Formula 1 specifically.

00:20:24Ferrari is almost bigger than Formula 1.

00:20:27Do you feel that?

00:20:28How do you see Ferrari's position in Formula 1?

00:20:31I think, to be very honest with you,

00:20:33that my feeling is, but not from now,

00:20:37even 20 years ago,

00:20:39that Formula 1 without Ferrari is something far different.

00:20:44I don't agree that Formula 1 doesn't exist without Ferrari,

00:20:48but Formula 1 without Ferrari is something far, far different.

00:20:51Ferrari has a crucial role in Formula 1,

00:20:56not only because it's the oldest team,

00:20:59not only because, since many years,

00:21:01it's the only one car manufacturer,

00:21:03but for high-touch ingredients, difficult to transfer inwards.

00:21:10In your experience,

00:21:11what are the best five Ferrari drivers of all time?

00:21:15This is a good question.

00:21:18For sure, Fangio.

00:21:22I love Mansell, because I love Mansell's attitude,

00:21:26his characteristic.

00:21:27Niki, Michael and Prost,

00:21:31if I have to say immediately five names.

00:21:33What do you look for in a driver?

00:21:35What is the perfect Grand Prix driver?

00:21:39Well, for me, it's a mix between intelligence,

00:21:42of course, speed and also big heart.

00:21:46I don't like the taxi driver only intelligent.

00:21:49I like the driver that can push.

00:21:52I remember we received a lot of critics at the Niki time,

00:21:56but the first three years of Niki pushed a lot.

00:21:59Then he became more intelligent than quick.

00:22:05For me, Michael is a perfect example.

00:22:07Mansell was a fantastic driver.

00:22:10I love the way Schumacher in the race.

00:22:14I've never seen such a strong driver,

00:22:16particularly in the race, like Michael.

00:22:19Let's have your thoughts on Formula One

00:22:21going back to the United States.

00:22:23I'm very happy.

00:22:24I'm very happy for several reasons.

00:22:26First of all, we like to repeat Formula One today

00:22:31is a worldwide sport.

00:22:33It's not true without the United States.

00:22:36So I'm pleased.

00:22:37For Ferrari, I'm super pleased

00:22:39because the United States means for us

00:22:41not only our largest market since ever,

00:22:44but also a place where we won fantastic battles,

00:22:48sport battles against Ford in the Sebring,

00:22:51in Daytona 24 hours or 12 hours.

00:22:54And then we have a lot of collectors.

00:22:56And last, because I think that the United States

00:22:59can represent an important market

00:23:02for sponsor, for public.

00:23:04We need to build up something important.

00:23:08How big a market is it for you in a car production term?

00:23:12The United States?

00:23:14Yes.

00:23:15Again, it's our largest market.

00:23:17We sell more or less 4,000 cars.

00:23:20And we sell in the United States close to one third,

00:23:24only in the United States.

00:23:27Do you think the U.S. Grand Prix will be a success?

00:23:30Do you think it can work in America?

00:23:32I think that as soccer, you remember,

00:23:37now soccer is becoming a very popular sport,

00:23:40particularly in the school,

00:23:41it's necessary to have a strategy,

00:23:43to have a promotion, to start and to insist.

00:23:47I think this is a good first step.

00:23:50But even if it will not be a fantastic success

00:23:54at the first step, we have to continue.

00:23:58Passion is what you feel

00:23:59when you talk to Luca Montezemolo.

00:24:00Passion and zest for life.

00:24:02We'll hear more from him appropriately

00:24:04at Monza in two weeks' time.

00:24:06What can you say?

00:24:07I mean, the enthusiasm at Ferrari

00:24:09for somebody that works there,

00:24:10it's his love, it's his passion,

00:24:12it's his sport, it's his work.

00:24:14What more can you say about a man like that?

00:24:16And Ferrari owners and would-be Ferrari owners

00:24:18share that passion.

00:24:19It's a very interesting transference.

00:24:22I was fortunate enough to have driven for them

00:24:24and I walked through those hallowed doors

00:24:26at Maranello and saw Enzo Ferrari in his office.

00:24:29I mean, fantastic.

00:24:30We'll see scenes of that

00:24:33in our next telecast from Italy.

00:24:36Mika Hakkinen waiting to climb aboard

00:24:40on a very damp day at Spa.

00:24:42We'll be back with the starting grid

00:24:43and the start of the Belgian Grand Prix.

00:24:45You're watching Formula One on Fox Sportsnet.

00:24:51Welcome back to Spa for the Belgian Grand Prix.

00:24:54The grid is cleared as the formation lap is set to go

00:24:57and you see the safety car at the front of the field.

00:25:00The weather for today includes a 100% chance of rain.

00:25:04It is but 62 degrees in sharp contrast

00:25:07to the rest of the weekend,

00:25:08which was summertime beautiful.

00:25:15With the safety car out in front of you,

00:25:17you can't see it,

00:25:19but with the safety car out in front of this field,

00:25:21Eric, that certainly changes things.

00:25:23Yes, it does.

00:25:24I mean, I'm sure for some of these drivers,

00:25:26it's going to be a relief for those further back.

00:25:28For them at the front, it's going to be a real pain

00:25:30to have to do a pace car start

00:25:33and follow it around.

00:25:34It's a great pity in many, many ways.

00:25:39Coming to the La Source,

00:25:40where we've seen many, many incidents in the past.

00:25:43Hakkinen is on pole once again,

00:25:45had a very satisfying qualifying session,

00:25:47went out early, took pole and held it.

00:25:49And Jarno Trulli,

00:25:50he had his second front row position of the year.

00:25:52Excellent.

00:25:53What a thrill for Jensen Button

00:25:55to be on the second row in his rookie season.

00:25:57And Michael Schumacher,

00:25:58well, he, I think, was quite pleased

00:26:00to be on the second row too.

00:26:03David Coulthard blocked by some yellow flags

00:26:06and an engine change yesterday morning

00:26:08could do no better than fifth.

00:26:09Ralph Schumacher, he's out there too.

00:26:11They're running, they ran a qualifying engine

00:26:13and a spar engine, they call it.

00:26:16Jack Villeneuve said he lost two-tenths

00:26:18of the bus stop chicane.

00:26:19That relegated him to seventh on the grid.

00:26:21Heinz O. Frenzelin

00:26:22having a pretty tricky time out there yesterday.

00:26:26For Jaguar, Johnny Herbert was seventh

00:26:28through most of the session,

00:26:29ended up ninth, happy with the car.

00:26:31And Rubens Barrichello,

00:26:32we haven't had many comments from him,

00:26:34but he can't be happy.

00:26:36As Derek pointed out earlier,

00:26:38Fisichella got only one lap in the T-car

00:26:41and had to make a safe run

00:26:42and ended up safely 11th.

00:26:44And Eddie Irvine,

00:26:45he's only finished one race here at Spa

00:26:47out of six starts,

00:26:48so he doesn't like it too much.

00:26:51Riccardo Zonta, not faring too well for B.A.R.,

00:26:53he lines up 13th today.

00:26:55And Nick Heidfeldt,

00:26:56well, he did a super job, I think, for Prost.

00:26:58Very good run by him.

00:27:01For Sauber, Pedro Diniz said

00:27:02he had oversteer in the slow corners.

00:27:04He's 15th, and De La Rosa

00:27:05had problems at the bus stop chicane,

00:27:07ended up 16th.

00:27:09John Lacey, terminal oversteer problems

00:27:11and a spin, 17th.

00:27:13Mika Salo, fighting for grip, 18th.

00:27:16Alexander Virts lost his engine,

00:27:18had to take out the T-car

00:27:19and then turn it over to Fisichella,

00:27:20so he is just 19th.

00:27:22And the Minardis with the long stop in there

00:27:24for Arrows,

00:27:25problems with the brake feel,

00:27:27and the Minardis just don't have enough power

00:27:29to pull these long straightaways,

00:27:31and they end up on the back row.

00:27:34Well, you can see there, Mike,

00:27:35some of the track, like this bit,

00:27:36is quite dry.

00:27:37You can see a drying line

00:27:38just on the left of your screen there,

00:27:40and then other parts of it

00:27:41are very, very wet.

00:27:42Not an ideal situation,

00:27:44and some of the cars

00:27:45are going to be in fairly early on,

00:27:47I reckon, to change tires,

00:27:48because the tire degradation on this circuit

00:27:50is exceptionally high,

00:27:51to the degree that the Porsche Cup race

00:27:53earlier today had to be cancelled.

00:27:55In fact, sorry, should I say Saturday,

00:27:57had to be cancelled,

00:27:58because the tire degradation

00:27:59was destroying the tires.

00:28:01Well, Ferrari in the rain

00:28:03has been very successful this year,

00:28:05with two wins for Michael

00:28:06and the win in Germany for Rubens.

00:28:08Three victories for Ferrari in the wet.

00:28:11But it looked, Eric,

00:28:12as if all the teams went out on full rain.

00:28:15So you saw, as Peter showed us,

00:28:16there's also an intermediate compound,

00:28:19which we see on some

00:28:20high-performance street tires

00:28:22with a V-shaped tread pattern,

00:28:24and less sipes in the tire

00:28:25than the full rain,

00:28:27and, of course, the dry tire

00:28:28with the four circumferential grooves

00:28:30required by the rules.

00:28:32But if everyone's starting on full wets

00:28:34and this track begins to dry,

00:28:35wow.

00:28:36Well, Pedro Diniz is, in fact,

00:28:38on the drier tire,

00:28:40but it certainly doesn't lend itself,

00:28:42I think, to a very, very long session

00:28:45before the guys get out there

00:28:46and come in for some drier tires.

00:28:49Somebody on intermediates, I think,

00:28:50could have done a good job here,

00:28:51and I'm surprised they didn't find it all out.

00:28:54You know, and one of their people

00:28:56tell them what to do.

00:28:57Right.

00:28:58Well, Mika Hakkinen

00:28:59will try to become the first driver

00:29:01to win this race from the pole

00:29:03since Ayrton Senna in 1991.

00:29:06This race has not been kind to pole-sitters.

00:29:11And we're off as the pace car pulls in.

00:29:14We have started the Belgian Grand Prix

00:29:16without the usual standing start,

00:29:19and the field is well strung out

00:29:21as they come around.

00:29:22Yes, Michael Schumacher

00:29:23right on the heels of Jenson Button,

00:29:24as you can see, coming up through Eau Rouge.

00:29:26Remember, everybody needs the points.

00:29:28Value be Michael very close there,

00:29:31as is David Coulthard behind him.

00:29:33Mika Hakkinen's got Jarno Trudy

00:29:35right there behind him.

00:29:36Michael has a look at Jenson Button,

00:29:37but doesn't get by.

00:29:40Michael and Coulthard,

00:29:41all but right alongside

00:29:42as they entered that corner.

00:29:46Managed to stave him off.

00:29:48This is really going to come down

00:29:49to teamwork today,

00:29:50because they're going to have to,

00:29:51I would have thought,

00:29:52change before.

00:29:53Possibly if they do two stops,

00:29:55maybe they'll change

00:29:56to a three-stop strategy today,

00:29:57which means they'd be in,

00:29:58but that 11 or 12 laps

00:30:00for tyres and fuel.

00:30:09For most of the circuit,

00:30:10there you see that little bit

00:30:11of dry line,

00:30:13and there's not very much of it.

00:30:15Still most of the circuit

00:30:16very, very wet.

00:30:29Hakkinen, Trudy, Button,

00:30:31Michael Schumacher, Coulthard,

00:30:33Ralph Schumacher,

00:30:34just the way they started.

00:30:37Jacques Villeneuve

00:30:38and Heinz-Harald Frensen.

00:30:40And starting behind the safety car,

00:30:43a quick look at the rule book

00:30:44confirms that

00:30:46without the formation lap,

00:30:48that lap behind the safety car

00:30:50is counted as a race lap,

00:30:51so we are now on lap two.

00:30:53First lap behind the safety car,

00:30:55and this is the second lap

00:30:56that is counting to be scored.

00:30:58What a dull lap, though.

00:30:59Yes.

00:31:00That first lap, it's so unexciting,

00:31:01isn't it,

00:31:02when they do that sort of a stop.

00:31:03Very.

00:31:07And with the field going

00:31:09single file around

00:31:11behind the safety car,

00:31:13no opportunities

00:31:15for overtaking,

00:31:16and I was surprised

00:31:17how strung out they were

00:31:18when they came to the line

00:31:19to actually begin this race

00:31:21under green.

00:31:23Well, it's been a while

00:31:24since they started like that.

00:31:25I don't think all of them

00:31:26knew how to do it,

00:31:27to be honest with you.

00:31:28No, and it caught us off guard.

00:31:29I was expecting the pace car

00:31:30to pull in and a green flag, but...

00:31:32Johnny Herbert's doing very well,

00:31:34actually, up there in 10th place.

00:31:35He had a gearbox problem

00:31:36on his warm-up laps

00:31:37just leading up

00:31:38to the start of the race,

00:31:40so they must have fixed that.

00:31:41He wasn't happy

00:31:42with his gearbox,

00:31:43and, of course, you know,

00:31:44they've had their fair share

00:31:45of problems this year.

00:31:48It's interesting to see

00:31:49how bright the sun is.

00:31:50Sorry, Mike.

00:31:51You can see how bright

00:31:52it is getting there.

00:31:53You can see the drying line.

00:31:55It's tough to see the drivers

00:31:56paraded around

00:31:57as they usually are

00:31:58in either an open car

00:32:00or on the back of an open truck,

00:32:02and there they were

00:32:03in the stinging rain

00:32:04driven around

00:32:05and all kind of huddled together

00:32:06like chicks.

00:32:07The only driver I saw

00:32:08actually enthusiastically

00:32:09waving to the crowd

00:32:10when it's out in the rain

00:32:12was Jarno Trulli,

00:32:13and what a great day for him.

00:32:14Yeah, what a great day.

00:32:15He was really excited.

00:32:17Here we go as they go

00:32:18into the last source hairpin.

00:32:22Look at Button

00:32:23going out very wide,

00:32:24Michael Schumacher out wide,

00:32:25but Jarno Trulli

00:32:26very tight on the inside

00:32:27trying to get traction,

00:32:28and Rubens going through

00:32:30past Johnny Herbert,

00:32:32but Johnny Herbert

00:32:33having a look down the inside

00:32:35as they come out of there.

00:32:38And right behind him,

00:32:39Fisichelli getting very,

00:32:40very loose.

00:32:41That was, of course,

00:32:42the replay at the start.

00:32:45So cool.

00:32:46Now, Pedro Diniz,

00:32:47we mentioned,

00:32:48started on the dryer compound tires

00:32:52and went straight to the back

00:32:54as the course is still

00:32:55very, very wet.

00:32:58Of course,

00:32:59with the weather variable,

00:33:00that may well change

00:33:01and turn out to be

00:33:02a good decision,

00:33:03but for right now,

00:33:04he's 30 seconds behind the leader

00:33:05in 22nd place.

00:33:07So much depends

00:33:08just how the moisture

00:33:09hangs in those trees.

00:33:10It hangs in that Arden Forest

00:33:11like you cannot believe.

00:33:14Michael Schumacher

00:33:15dropping well.

00:33:16Look at Button having a go.

00:33:17Button's had a go.

00:33:18Trulli outrageous bit of stuff,

00:33:19but is he going to get away

00:33:20on the inside?

00:33:21No.

00:33:22Trulli gets him

00:33:23and out takes him

00:33:24coming out

00:33:25as Jensen went in there

00:33:26and had a little bit too much push,

00:33:27went out too wide.

00:33:28What a great try.

00:33:29The guy does have a go.

00:33:31You've got to admit,

00:33:32three seasons

00:33:33that he's in Formula 1

00:33:34and here he is

00:33:35right at the front

00:33:36of a Formula 1 race

00:33:37leading Ralph Schumacher,

00:33:38we said,

00:33:39was a sensation.

00:33:40Here's this young man

00:33:41aged 20.

00:33:42I know he's British.

00:33:43I know I'm British,

00:33:44but my goodness,

00:33:45if he was Italian,

00:33:46French or whatever,

00:33:47it is an amazing situation.

00:33:48I've never seen anybody

00:33:49come through so quickly

00:33:50into Formula 1

00:33:51and then go so well.

00:33:52And as you say,

00:33:53just his third season

00:33:54in a full-sized racing car

00:33:56of any type

00:33:57in his rookie season in F1.

00:33:59He literally

00:34:01has come from nowhere

00:34:04to Formula 1

00:34:05and not as a backmarker,

00:34:07not as a grid filler

00:34:08or as a suitcase

00:34:11full of cash

00:34:12carrying second driver

00:34:13to help carry

00:34:14a struggling team.

00:34:15He's come right

00:34:16to the forefront.

00:34:18He's still challenging

00:34:19for second.

00:34:20Yeah, I mean,

00:34:21see some statistics

00:34:22on Trulli there,

00:34:23but in fact,

00:34:24he is actually

00:34:25holding this group up.

00:34:26Jensen Button

00:34:27dying to get by him.

00:34:28There's Eddie Jordan.

00:34:30Jensen's going to have a look.

00:34:31The problem is

00:34:32that you have to overtake.

00:34:33You've got to take the damp line

00:34:34because the dry line

00:34:35is the one everybody's running on.

00:34:36And Jensen's got to have

00:34:37to go down the dry line.

00:34:38I never thought

00:34:39I'd be saying this.

00:34:40Jensen challenging

00:34:41for second place

00:34:42in the Grand Prix,

00:34:43his first Grand Prix at Spa.

00:34:44And let me tell you,

00:34:45unless you've driven at Spa,

00:34:46you don't know

00:34:47what you're talking about

00:34:48because this place

00:34:49is outrageous.

00:34:50And that's exactly

00:34:51what Button called it yesterday.

00:34:52And it's important to note, Derek,

00:34:53that this is not

00:34:54his first trip here.

00:34:55This is one of the few

00:34:56Grand Prix circuits

00:34:57on which he has

00:34:58previously raced.

00:34:59So he does have experience here

00:35:01and thus comes in here

00:35:02with enough circuit knowledge

00:35:04to be able to put the Williams

00:35:05in the third

00:35:06and now challenge again

00:35:07for second as he is all over.

00:35:10Jarno Trulli

00:35:11and Schumacher comes through.

00:35:12Yeah, well,

00:35:13obviously Trulli held up Jensen.

00:35:15Jenner took the other line

00:35:16and Michael went through.

00:35:18That's what Michael needed.

00:35:19Brilliant.

00:35:20That's what the race needed.

00:35:21Super bit of taking

00:35:23the advantage of things.

00:35:24Michael trying to push out Jensen.

00:35:26Is he going to get Trulli?

00:35:27Yes, he does as well.

00:35:28And there's Button too.

00:35:29Oh, they hit.

00:35:30Oh, he misses him.

00:35:31He carries on.

00:35:32Oh, and he takes out

00:35:33the car on the other side.

00:35:34That's David on the inside

00:35:35almost into the fence.

00:35:37And poor Trulli

00:35:38becomes the victim.

00:35:41Look at this group

00:35:42going down the hill.

00:35:43Button lost all his momentum

00:35:44and Ralph came right up to him.

00:35:45Yeah.

00:35:46There's David,

00:35:47Ralph and then Jensen.

00:35:50Oh, what a shame

00:35:51because the two young drivers

00:35:52were having such a great fight

00:35:54for second place.

00:35:56And now it appears

00:35:57Trulli's race is done.

00:35:58Well, it was a racing incident.

00:36:01It was certainly

00:36:02a racing incident

00:36:03because you can't blame

00:36:04anybody for that.

00:36:06Trulli was trying to shut the door

00:36:07and, you know,

00:36:08that's the way it was.

00:36:12So Schumacher comes through

00:36:14for second place

00:36:15and takes Coulthard with him

00:36:16and Ralph Schumacher

00:36:17as Benson and Trulli

00:36:18get together

00:36:19while scrapping for second.

00:36:21And you see all those

00:36:22red jackets and hats

00:36:23waving at the first appearance

00:36:24of Michael Schumacher

00:36:26in second place

00:36:27and driving away

00:36:28from that group.

00:36:29Yeah, Michael's driving

00:36:30down the hill.

00:36:31They're on the wet line

00:36:32trying to keep his tires cool.

00:36:33He doesn't want

00:36:34to get them too hot.

00:36:35These long, long corners

00:36:36really beat your wet tires

00:36:37to death.

00:36:40Sean Alacey has pitted.

00:36:42But Button having,

00:36:43no, it's Ralph,

00:36:44should I say,

00:36:45having a look

00:36:46and swerving out there

00:36:47to have a look at David.

00:36:48They're going to get

00:36:49Coulthard a hard time,

00:36:50these two Williams boys.

00:36:51Activity in the pits

00:36:52for Williams,

00:36:53Frost and Arrows.

00:36:54And now Williams

00:36:55is going back in.

00:36:56Apparently Button

00:36:57has radioed in no damage

00:36:59to his car

00:37:02after just nipping

00:37:04Jarno Trulli.

00:37:07So Alacey's back out

00:37:08on the course.

00:37:11David Coulthard's got

00:37:12a double problem here.

00:37:13He's got these two big guys

00:37:15snapping at his heels

00:37:16behind him.

00:37:17And when he wants to go fast,

00:37:18he's got to think

00:37:19considering blocking out

00:37:20the guys behind him

00:37:21rather than chasing

00:37:22Michael Schumacher.

00:37:23Well, I can't wait

00:37:24to see the replay, Derek.

00:37:25I don't think Button

00:37:26made a rookie mistake.

00:37:27It looked like he made

00:37:28a fair challenge

00:37:29for the corner

00:37:30and for Trulli's position.

00:37:31Yeah, it was no rookie

00:37:32mistake at all.

00:37:33He just went through

00:37:34following Michael Schumacher

00:37:35and Trulli just tried

00:37:36to keep him tight,

00:37:37which one does as a driver.

00:37:38You always do that.

00:37:39It didn't work.

00:37:41And, of course,

00:37:42out he went.

00:37:43Coulthard there

00:37:44trying to get the dryer line,

00:37:45get the straighter line

00:37:46to get traction

00:37:47as he comes out.

00:37:49There's Jacques Villeneuve

00:37:50going straight across

00:37:51the chicane,

00:37:52I was going to say

00:37:53the bus stop chicane.

00:37:55And Nick Heidfeld

00:37:56is in the pits for Frost.

00:37:59As the weather

00:38:00and the track surface condition

00:38:02is so variable here.

00:38:04Early pit stops

00:38:05in the Grand Prix of Belgium.

00:38:08Welcome back

00:38:09to the Grand Prix of Belgium.

00:38:10Jean Alais

00:38:11has just set the fastest

00:38:12first sector time

00:38:13on this track

00:38:14as he had come in

00:38:15for slick tires,

00:38:16dry weather tires.

00:38:17Ferrari makes note

00:38:18of that on the computer

00:38:19and quickly they bring in

00:38:20Michael Schumacher

00:38:21for drys.

00:38:24Ralph Schumacher

00:38:25is in as well

00:38:26for Williams.

00:38:29They're all coming in now.

00:38:31They really,

00:38:32obviously they're watching

00:38:33the times that Alais

00:38:34was doing and said

00:38:35we've all got to stop.

00:38:36Mika Hakkinen

00:38:37is probably still out there

00:38:38in front saying

00:38:39I'm in the right place

00:38:40at the right time.

00:38:41Jordan ready there.

00:38:42Frentzen's in,

00:38:43Villeneuve's in.

00:38:45Hakkinen stays out.

00:38:48And the pits indeed

00:38:50are very, very congested

00:38:52here.

00:38:53But we didn't see

00:38:54any of that stacking,

00:38:55Derek,

00:38:56where the team brings

00:38:57both cars in at once

00:38:58and one waits for the other

00:38:59to be serviced.

00:39:00Well, the only place

00:39:01that was really going to happen

00:39:02was with the two Williams

00:39:03because they were nose to tail.

00:39:04The rest of the field

00:39:05is split up by

00:39:06four or five seconds

00:39:07which would allow you

00:39:08to bring one in

00:39:09even if he had to

00:39:10because he has to come down

00:39:11the pit lane slowly

00:39:12and they just tell him

00:39:13to hang on.

00:39:14And to validate that decision,

00:39:15Jean Alais,

00:39:16he just posted

00:39:17the fastest lap of the race.

00:39:18Now what you have to understand

00:39:19is that to overtake now

00:39:20you have to go on

00:39:21that wet line.

00:39:22There we see Mick Hakkinen

00:39:23still on the wets

00:39:24but he'll be in fairly soon

00:39:25I imagine.

00:39:26But, of course,

00:39:27to overtake

00:39:28you've got to take

00:39:29the wet line to go by

00:39:30which means you have

00:39:31less grip.

00:39:36So you've got to expect

00:39:37Hakkinen in this next lap.

00:39:38He does,

00:39:39he has opened up

00:39:40a lead that was

00:39:4211 seconds

00:39:43and now with Michael Schumacher's

00:39:44pit stop

00:39:45extends to about

00:39:4617 seconds.

00:39:48Well, McLaren are getting ready

00:39:50for a pit stop here

00:39:51for somebody to come in.

00:39:52Is it Mika?

00:39:53Yes, he comes straight up

00:39:54the pit lane, of course.

00:39:55He's going to go right down

00:39:56to that speed limit

00:39:5750 miles an hour.

00:40:00Makes it really steady

00:40:01as he comes in.

00:40:03And, of course,

00:40:04you come into the pit lane

00:40:05as you enter

00:40:06the last bus stop chicane.

00:40:07It's a long way in.

00:40:08It must seem like a nightmare

00:40:09when you're waiting

00:40:10to get in there

00:40:11and change tyres.

00:40:18Ralph Schumacher has spun

00:40:20but continued.

00:40:22That's Mika's service

00:40:23is complete.

00:40:29Jensen Button

00:40:30now in for Williams.

00:40:35Look, he's only just coming out

00:40:36in front of David there.

00:40:41Now is Jensen going to get out

00:40:42in front of Ralph

00:40:43who we heard just have a spin?

00:40:47Well done.

00:40:48That's a good stop.

00:40:50Mika Salo

00:40:52coming in

00:40:53as Button comes out.

00:40:54Eddie Irvine is in.

00:41:03There's Coulthard

00:41:04still on reins.

00:41:11Now we'll see

00:41:12just how good those tyres are

00:41:13as Mika pulls away

00:41:14from Coulthard.

00:41:18And David's going to find himself

00:41:19in much the same situation

00:41:20he was in in Germany

00:41:21having to run

00:41:22an extra lap

00:41:23on the tyres that are not

00:41:24the best suited

00:41:25for the condition

00:41:26and then come in

00:41:27and make his stop.

00:41:28But he could have come in

00:41:29the lap before.

00:41:30Mika was already

00:41:31at the pit lane

00:41:32and David could have come in.

00:41:33Mika was cruising

00:41:34his way out.

00:41:35Whether he chose to

00:41:36or McLaren's needed

00:41:37that extra time

00:41:38to get the other tyres ready

00:41:39I suppose that was it.

00:41:40But I would have

00:41:41wanted to see

00:41:42if he could have

00:41:43come in

00:41:44and made his stop.

00:41:45I suppose that was it.

00:41:46But I would have wanted

00:41:47to get in there

00:41:48pretty darn quick.

00:41:49Or perhaps

00:41:50it was the driver's choice

00:41:51to stay out.

00:41:52Certainly a lot of

00:41:53communication back and forth

00:41:54and only just now

00:41:55are McLaren coming out

00:41:56to set up

00:41:57for Coulthard.

00:42:00So he should be

00:42:01in this lap.

00:42:10And you see how dry

00:42:11the circuit is getting

00:42:12on the racing line.

00:42:13Well there was so much

00:42:14warmth in the track

00:42:15from the last week

00:42:16in such good weather

00:42:17in Europe

00:42:18and the rain only

00:42:19really came in

00:42:20this morning

00:42:21overnight

00:42:22and of course

00:42:23the track is warm

00:42:24underneath.

00:42:34That's the last source

00:42:35hairpin

00:42:36working his way down

00:42:37over the old pit lane.

00:42:38There's David Coulthard

00:42:39coming in.

00:42:44Good stop.

00:42:50Now the only driver

00:42:51who has not pitted

00:42:52is Pedro Diniz.

00:42:53Remember we told you

00:42:54that he went to the tail

00:42:55end of the field

00:42:56because he started

00:42:57on dry tires.

00:42:58He can run a normal

00:42:59two-stop race

00:43:00if the weather

00:43:01does not further change.

00:43:02And all of this

00:43:03has moved Diniz

00:43:04up to 12th.

00:43:05So perhaps

00:43:06starting on the dry

00:43:07track

00:43:08is a good start

00:43:09for him.

00:43:14The fastest lap

00:43:15of the race

00:43:16for Michael Schumach

00:43:17at two minutes.

00:43:18Remember they qualified

00:43:19in 1.51

00:43:20so they're still

00:43:21several seconds

00:43:22off that

00:43:23fast dry

00:43:24time that they did.

00:43:25But remember

00:43:26you cannot be quite

00:43:27as committed

00:43:28in these conditions.

00:43:29Just look at that line

00:43:30and you've got to

00:43:31allow for the fact

00:43:32that obviously

00:43:33the white stuff

00:43:34the white tarmac

00:43:35on the outside

00:43:36the white lines

00:43:37is still very

00:43:38very moist.

00:43:40So after pit stops

00:43:41Mika Hakkinen

00:43:42leads Michael Schumacher

00:43:43David Coulthard

00:43:44Ralph Schumacher

00:43:45John Alaci

00:43:46and

00:43:47Jensen Button

00:43:48are the first six.

00:43:51Jack Villeneuve

00:43:52Frentzen

00:43:53Barrichello

00:43:54Diniz and Herbert

00:43:55and Irvine.

00:44:00Let's go back

00:44:01and have a look

00:44:03at that

00:44:04somewhat controversial

00:44:05incident.

00:44:10Yes it was

00:44:11it was a bit

00:44:12it was

00:44:13but

00:44:14Coulthard came through

00:44:15on the inside as well

00:44:16so it was a little bit

00:44:17of a sort of a

00:44:18of a elementary mistake

00:44:19but one that you do

00:44:20because you're so desperate

00:44:21to keep the other guys

00:44:22behind.

00:44:23Well Schumacher

00:44:24had passed Trulli

00:44:25and Trulli was trying

00:44:26to do what he had done

00:44:27to Button

00:44:28a couple of laps before

00:44:29duck to the inside

00:44:30and re-pass him.

00:44:31Unfortunately Button

00:44:32was inside of him

00:44:33and DC was inside

00:44:34of him.

00:44:35And there just weren't

00:44:36room for four cars

00:44:37in that one small space.

00:44:41And the shame of it

00:44:42is it puts Trulli

00:44:43out of the race.

00:44:44His car stalled

00:44:46and that was it

00:44:47for Jarno.

00:44:48Yeah Jensen Button

00:44:49got Rubens, Barrichello

00:44:50all over the back of him

00:44:51Ralph Schumacher

00:44:52just a little bit further

00:44:53in front of Jensen

00:44:55followed by Hines

00:44:56Harold Frentzen

00:44:57behind.

00:44:59That was a shot

00:45:00as they came round

00:45:01the La Source hairpin.

00:45:07Worked their way down

00:45:08to Eau Rouge

00:45:09very tricky

00:45:10trying to take that

00:45:11absolutely on the limit

00:45:12and you're not sure

00:45:13just how dry it is.

00:45:16One of the Bettons

00:45:17has stopped

00:45:18is that Fisichella

00:45:19who has climbed

00:45:20from the car

00:45:21and in a dangerous spot there

00:45:24and runs across the track.

00:45:26I'm out of here boys

00:45:27it's all yours he's saying.

00:45:28Yeah.

00:45:31And did Verstappen

00:45:32hit him?

00:45:33What Fisichella's claiming.

00:45:37Sure did.

00:45:40But did the

00:45:41but had the car already

00:45:42I mean it looked like

00:45:43he really lost forward motion.

00:45:44It looked like he wasn't

00:45:45going very fast

00:45:46when he tapped him.

00:45:47No.

00:45:48And I can't see why

00:45:49he would stop

00:45:50because he was hit from behind.

00:45:51You've got to do

00:45:52something pretty major

00:45:53to slow something down

00:45:54that quickly to stop.

00:45:55With that he should have

00:45:56carried on through the chicane

00:45:57with the momentum

00:45:58I would have thought.

00:45:59I would think

00:46:00unless the car was already broken.

00:46:01Exactly.

00:46:04So Fisichella

00:46:05will become the second retiree

00:46:06joining Jarno Trulli

00:46:08on the sidelines.

00:46:09His car pushed to a safe spot.

00:46:16Michael Schumacher

00:46:17still on the

00:46:18very quick time

00:46:19the 1.58

00:46:21somewhat quicker than

00:46:22Mika Hakkinen.

00:46:24And you can see

00:46:25the drying line there

00:46:27and especially here

00:46:28at the hairpin

00:46:29this has become

00:46:30a one lane racetrack.

00:46:31You can consider

00:46:32anything that looks dark

00:46:34as not even being paved

00:46:35for purposes of

00:46:36being useful to the drivers.

00:46:40And as the track

00:46:41winds through the forest

00:46:42there is so much shade

00:46:43that should the sun

00:46:44pop out it's still

00:46:45not going to be of much help

00:46:46in drying the racing surface.

00:46:52Michael Schumacher

00:46:53is second a lap

00:46:54quicker than

00:46:55he's catching up

00:46:56Mika Hakkinen

00:46:57as you can see

00:46:58in these shots here.

00:46:59He needs to because

00:47:00the McLaren qualified

00:47:018 tenths quicker

00:47:02yesterday in qualifying

00:47:04than Michael.

00:47:05That is one heck of a lot.

00:47:06Actually 8 tenths

00:47:07quicker second place.

00:47:08A lot, a second quicker

00:47:09clear of Michael Schumacher.

00:47:10That is a lot

00:47:11which shows how well

00:47:12that McLaren does go

00:47:13in dry conditions.

00:47:17You see the little

00:47:18vapor trails there

00:47:19the water condensing

00:47:20in the lowered air pressure

00:47:21off the edge of those wings.

00:47:23Kind of pretty to watch.

00:47:25As the track is drying

00:47:26and the competition

00:47:27hopefully is heating up

00:47:28as well.

00:47:29You're watching

00:47:30Formula One

00:47:31on Fox Sports Net.

00:47:33Welcome back to the

00:47:34Grand Prix of Belgium

00:47:35on Fox Sports Net.

00:47:37Mika Hakkinen

00:47:38leading Michael Schumacher

00:47:39as Giancarlo Fisichella

00:47:41walks back

00:47:43after having problems

00:47:44at the bus stop chicane.

00:47:47The National Sports Report

00:47:48comes to you nightly

00:47:49at 10 and 12 p.m.

00:47:50with internet interaction,

00:47:52all the news,

00:47:53all the highlights

00:47:54on the National Sports Report

00:47:55only on Fox Sports Net.

00:48:03John Alesi,

00:48:04what a great drive.

00:48:05He started 17th place.

00:48:06He's now up to 4th.

00:48:07Absolutely wonderful

00:48:08piece of driving.

00:48:09Remember of course

00:48:10that he did come in

00:48:11before anybody else

00:48:12to put those dry tyres on.

00:48:14Even so,

00:48:15shows Alesi can make

00:48:16this car work.

00:48:17Get the bit between

00:48:18the teeth and he goes.

00:48:19Everyone talks about

00:48:20Schumacher's prowess

00:48:21in the rain

00:48:22but Alesi has long been

00:48:23one of the best drivers

00:48:24in rain and in

00:48:25variable track conditions.

00:48:27Yes, we've seen

00:48:28outstanding drives from him

00:48:29over the years

00:48:30in these conditions.

00:48:31There's just so much

00:48:32feel for a car

00:48:33who's swatched his hands

00:48:34in the cockpit.

00:48:35Look at it.

00:48:36He's only ever had

00:48:37one win.

00:48:38Canadian Grand Prix

00:48:39if I'm not mistaken.

00:48:40Second place,

00:48:41he's had 15 of them.

00:48:42What a difference

00:48:43but just that one win.

00:48:49Schumacher using

00:48:50all the road

00:48:51as he comes out

00:48:52of La Source hairpin.

00:48:53Down past the pits

00:48:54they use for the

00:48:55sports car races

00:48:56and of course

00:48:57for the 24 hours of Spa.

00:49:02And there's the gap

00:49:03first to second.

00:49:044.6 seconds

00:49:05so Michael Schumacher

00:49:06is carving, Derek,

00:49:07almost a second a lap

00:49:08off of Hakanen's lead.

00:49:10It certainly is

00:49:11very close, Michael.

00:49:12I have to admit

00:49:13he's finding a bit tougher

00:49:14now though

00:49:15because Hakanen

00:49:16is obviously

00:49:17finding his feet

00:49:18in these dry conditions

00:49:19and he's showing just

00:49:20why he got on pole

00:49:21yesterday.

00:49:25You can see the sun

00:49:26is out now.

00:49:27It's going to dry out

00:49:28so, so fast

00:49:29and the Ferrari

00:49:30just hasn't featured

00:49:31this weekend

00:49:32so Michael Schumacher

00:49:33is driving it

00:49:34probably beyond

00:49:35its limits.

00:49:42Ferrari have

00:49:43had an uprated engine

00:49:44for qualifying

00:49:45and an uprated engine

00:49:46for the race as well.

00:49:48Williams had

00:49:49uprated engines

00:49:50and they call their engine

00:49:51a Spa engine.

00:49:52It certainly worked

00:49:53for them.

00:49:54My goodness,

00:49:55they were well up there.

00:49:56That's Giancarlo Fisichella

00:49:57talking to the team

00:49:58after a very short

00:49:59Belgian Grand Prix.

00:50:04Now, Ralf Schumacher

00:50:05lies third,

00:50:0611 seconds

00:50:07behind his older brother

00:50:09and that was

00:50:10Hakanen, the leader

00:50:12who spun off course

00:50:13so,

00:50:15my goodness.

00:50:17That was a very

00:50:18uncharacteristic spin

00:50:19of Mika Hakkinen's.

00:50:21You know,

00:50:22they worked,

00:50:23they reported

00:50:24they worked all weekend

00:50:25on this car

00:50:26to improve the balance

00:50:27and every session

00:50:28to make it better and better.

00:50:29What's happened?

00:50:30Dodgy place

00:50:31to actually spin off

00:50:32coming out of the bottom

00:50:33at Stavler.

00:50:34I wouldn't have liked

00:50:35to spin anything

00:50:36coming out there.

00:50:37Here he's going

00:50:38to the bus stop.

00:50:39Not a nice place

00:50:40to do it, Mika.

00:50:41And though we didn't see it,

00:50:42Schumacher did take the lead

00:50:43and there is the gap.

00:50:44It's the length

00:50:45of the front straightaway.

00:50:46Very uncharacteristic drive

00:50:47by Mika Hakkinen

00:50:48to make that,

00:50:49but in these conditions,

00:50:50as I said just now,

00:50:51you've only got to click

00:50:52that dark black stuff

00:50:53and you're in

00:50:54a heap of trouble.

00:50:55Schumacher has that ability,

00:50:56that star quality

00:50:57that maybe

00:50:58can just keep him

00:50:59on the grey tarmac.

00:51:00There goes

00:51:01one of the two

00:51:02what do you call them?

00:51:03Heidfeldt.

00:51:04Heidfeldt,

00:51:05should I say,

00:51:06one of the two Prosts.

00:51:07Another disaster

00:51:08for them.

00:51:09Heidfeldt having qualified

00:51:10actually quite well.

00:51:11You've really got a problem

00:51:12when you've got smoke

00:51:13coming from the cockpit.

00:51:14Yeah, you know

00:51:15that it's time to bail out.

00:51:16Yeah.

00:51:19So now,

00:51:20Schumacher to Hakkinen

00:51:21and it's about six seconds

00:51:22and Michael continues

00:51:23to lower the standard

00:51:24for fastest lap

00:51:25as the track

00:51:26becomes ever drier.

00:51:27The lap record

00:51:28in fact,

00:51:29is 53.9

00:51:30to 1.53.9

00:51:31to make it happen

00:51:32at Hakkinen last year.

00:51:33So,

00:51:34Michael Schumacher

00:51:35is getting on his way there.

00:51:36Remember,

00:51:37he has got quite a lot of fuel.

00:51:38Looks like a...

00:51:39What are we seeing here?

00:51:40It's a replay now

00:51:41of Hakkinen going off

00:51:42and Michael actually

00:51:43going by him.

00:51:44But we didn't get

00:51:45much of that either.

00:51:46We just assumed

00:51:47that Hakkinen

00:51:48was there somewhere.

00:51:49Mika was lucky

00:51:50not A. to hit something

00:51:51or B. to go into

00:51:52the shingle.

00:51:56But what a change

00:51:57in fortune for Ferrari.

00:51:58Yesterday,

00:51:59bemoaning the fact

00:52:00that they were

00:52:018 tenths of a second

00:52:02off the McLaren.

00:52:03Although,

00:52:04Michael Schumacher

00:52:05stated he did have traffic

00:52:06the last two runs.

00:52:07He didn't indicate

00:52:08whether that was

00:52:09the entire

00:52:108 tenths of a second

00:52:11that he lacked

00:52:12from Mika Hakkinen

00:52:13in qualifying.

00:52:14But now,

00:52:15here is Schumacher

00:52:16leading the race.

00:52:17We've had no indication

00:52:18the reason for

00:52:19Hakkinen's spin

00:52:20and not going

00:52:21into the shingle.

00:52:22So,

00:52:23Michael Schumacher

00:52:24leading the race

00:52:25for Hakkinen's spin

00:52:26and like you folks

00:52:27at home,

00:52:28we've not seen

00:52:29video of it.

00:52:32See what the gap

00:52:33is this time by.

00:52:37From 5.6

00:52:38a lap ago.

00:52:396.2 it was

00:52:40just before.

00:52:43We'll catch it

00:52:44any moment now.

00:52:45Here we go.

00:52:46Look, Mika loses it.

00:52:47I reckon he touched

00:52:48the curb where it's

00:52:49got moisture on it.

00:52:50Wasn't he a lucky boy.

00:52:51Now, where's

00:52:52Michael Schumacher

00:52:53coming through.

00:52:54There he goes.

00:52:55Mika cursing all the way

00:52:56but just relieved

00:52:57that he managed to keep

00:52:58the wheels running,

00:52:59the engine running

00:53:00and the wheels turning.

00:53:02Mika Hakkinen

00:53:03has never won here

00:53:04and we haven't actually

00:53:05had a driver win

00:53:06from pole position here

00:53:07since 1991

00:53:08when, of course,

00:53:09the great Ayrton Senna won.

00:53:14Well, Schumacher

00:53:15on that lap

00:53:16picked up half a second

00:53:17on Hakkinen.

00:53:18The gap now stands

00:53:19at 6.1.

00:53:21Well, you've got

00:53:22the world championship

00:53:23at the front of the field.

00:53:29Three wins,

00:53:30eight podium finishes,

00:53:32five poles for Mika Hakkinen

00:53:34and, importantly,

00:53:35only two DNFs,

00:53:36the first two races

00:53:37of the season.

00:53:38Well, Schumacher

00:53:39has failed to finish

00:53:40four races,

00:53:41four of the last six.

00:53:43McLaren, I believe

00:53:44I'm right in saying,

00:53:45have gone 20 races

00:53:46without having technical

00:53:47problems and pulling out.

00:53:48It's absolutely amazing,

00:53:49isn't it?

00:53:50Quite.

00:53:52Looking back at,

00:53:53I believe,

00:53:54this is Villeneuve

00:53:55and Barrichello.

00:53:56This would be the fight

00:53:57for sixth.

00:53:58They're still having

00:53:59a great race back there.

00:54:08Now, Nick Heidfeld

00:54:09spun.

00:54:10That was the reason,

00:54:11and the engine stalled.

00:54:12That's the reason

00:54:13he is out

00:54:14of the race.

00:54:15He's out of the race.

00:54:16He's out of the race.

00:54:17He's out of the race.

00:54:18He's out of the race.

00:54:19He's out of the race.

00:54:20He's out of the race.

00:54:21That's the reason

00:54:22he is out of the race.

00:54:23A lot of rumours flying

00:54:24surrounding Heidfeld's

00:54:25future,

00:54:26perhaps moving to

00:54:27Sauber

00:54:28for next year.

00:54:29Well, it's certainly

00:54:30a bit of good move

00:54:31from the...

00:54:32At least they will be

00:54:33speaking the same

00:54:34language as him at Sauber,

00:54:35even if it is

00:54:36Swiss German.

00:54:37And I think the

00:54:38Heidfeld needs to be

00:54:39looked after a bit.

00:54:40I think...

00:54:41Oh dear,

00:54:42he really went out

00:54:43off then.

00:54:44That was coming

00:54:45a little bit too fast

00:54:46got him a bit locked up.

00:54:47I'm not sure Mika

00:54:48isn't having a problem

00:54:49maybe with a gearbox

00:54:50into La Source hairpin this is uh coming up to Les Combes up the hill from Eau Rouge

00:55:11having a good old battle here still six points

00:55:20now they're running about half a minute behind the leaders Villeneuve and Barrichello and

00:55:25Coulthard is making up no impression at all Coulthard's way back there behind Heintenz

00:55:29our friends and 34 seconds behind as I said just now to overtake you've got to be very brave or

00:55:35very lucky to get get overtake on that damp line David can do nothing about it until the track is

00:55:40dry two car widths wide and it's getting that way as you can see there behind them come Frenson in

00:55:47the remaining Jordan and David Coulthard who I think just spent way too much time out on the

00:55:53track on wet tires until he finally got his change made and that's why David is down in ninth place

00:56:00more importantly out of the points which only pay back to sixth yeah David suffered again

00:56:08as you heard in the in our pre-race the leading car does have the option to go in ahead and that's

00:56:13what happened Mika Hakkinen went in had his tire changed when I believe David should have gone in

00:56:17at the same time but they didn't so now by six and a half seconds Michael Schumacher leads

00:56:28on Ferrari Mika Hakkinen for McLaren Ralph Schumacher for Williams

00:56:34John Lacey for Prost Jensen Button for Williams and Jacques Villeneuve for VAR in the points

00:56:42welcome back to the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa on Fox Sportsnet Mike Choi with Derek Bell and Peter

00:56:47Windsor with whom we were discussing during the break about pit stops initially we'd expected

00:56:54drivers at lap 20 to 21 but most of them came in at five to six laps for dry tires and not knowing

00:57:01how much fuel was on board when they started and who may or may not have taken on a full load of

00:57:05fuel when they stopped just to top off tanks we might expect drivers at lap 25 or 26 we're on the

00:57:1318th lap now so this uh I wonder being so soon in the race to come in and change tires if it will

00:57:22alter strategy greatly Derek for the remaining runs I think well until we know what they're

00:57:27doing your strategy is what it's all about and these guys here Jon Tott you saw there in the

00:57:31Ferrari pit along with Ross Braun and Ron Dennis will be there with his guys at McLaren trying to

00:57:36figure out just what the best format is here we don't know what they started on in the wet

00:57:40sometimes they probably felt the weather was going to dry out therefore what was the point of having

00:57:44a fervy fuel load because they would come in but I don't think they expected to come in after six

00:57:48laps I think they thought they'd come in after maybe a dozen and therefore they'd be on a two

00:57:52stop strategy and I think that's what most of them would have been on well this also opens up

00:57:57the possibility of teams uh short pitting on this next run with a light fuel load to take advantage

00:58:03of the track drying and the possibility of getting enough dry pavement on which to pass and wanting

00:58:09to have a light fuel load well Michael Schumacher and he's pulled away to 10 over 10 seconds now

00:58:14that is a lot he's pulling out half a second a lap on Mika Hakkinen or more which makes one think

00:58:19maybe Mika is on a lighter fuel load or is he having problems as I mentioned before with his

00:58:24gearbox and therefore nursing it or maybe having to miss a gear which of course electronic boxes

00:58:29does happen we're told that Mika has said nothing to the team about his spin there's been no

00:58:36conversation over the McLaren two-way radio well a lace is in uh he was look at see still a lot

00:58:43of moisture there Michael's going up there to keep those tires cool

00:58:49because they get a lot of tire degradation here so it's quite a good idea Mika Hakkinen isn't

00:58:53doing the same thing there is a lacy come in the tires and of course fuel maybe on his first stop

00:58:59he didn't put the fuel in still a wonderful bit of driving by him he should go out still in a very

00:59:07strong position he was fourth coming into the pits

00:59:19and I think you're I think you're right Derek since he was the first driver in maybe a bit

00:59:22unexpectedly they may not have fueled him when he took on his uh his dry times after three laps

00:59:27so it wasn't really worth it now interesting to see that Schumacher did run in that water

00:59:31going up the hill and Mika Hakkinen didn't because Mika couldn't see Michael doing it because

00:59:35Michael had already gone out of sight

00:59:42showing it shows a very very intelligent driving

00:59:45driver when he starts to take advantage of some situations like that

00:59:49just to keep those tires cool at the stop the tire degradation

00:59:55well at the start of this race the track was in full wet condition they started the race

00:59:59single file behind the safety car that preliminary lap counted as a race lap

01:00:05so they took off pretty much in formation order Hakkinen, Trulli, Button, Michael Schumacher,

01:00:10Coulthard and Ralph Schumacher and then after Button and Trulli had exchanged positions at

01:00:15the hairpin and Trulli taking it back again Michael Schumacher came up passed Button

01:00:21passed Trulli on the outside of the hairpin Trulli tried to take it back on the inside

01:00:27unfortunately Button and Ralph Schumacher were already there Trulli getting knocked from the

01:00:32race Lacey who pitted very early for dry tires has now come up and run as high as fourth place

01:00:40and just made his first scheduled pit stop at lap 19. So that brings us up to where Michael

01:00:48Schumacher now leads Mika Hakkinen by 10.3 seconds Ralph Schumacher in third for Williams

01:00:56as we complete 19 laps

01:00:57beautiful shot there of Michael going through the bus stop chicane

01:01:06oh here we have a bit of wild driving going on here

01:01:13that's one of the Saubers Mika Salo perhaps going past the Jag, going past Eddie Irvine

01:01:22Villeneuve and Barry Kello still going at it hammer and tongs

01:01:28out of the race Trulli from that incident with Button, Fisichella and Nick Heidkamp

01:01:41one Benetton, one Frost, one Jordan by the wayside David Coulthard lapping two and a half

01:01:48seconds off the pace of Michael Schumacher at this time but very possibly being held there

01:01:52by Heinzauer Frenzen slowing him down activity in the Ferrari pit Derek and so perhaps quite a

01:02:01number of these teams did not choose to take on fuel when they fitted tires and are sticking to

01:02:05their original pit stop strategy well in some ways it'd be a good time to bring Barry Kello

01:02:09in because he's being held up by Jack Villeneuve probably not the correct word held up but he's

01:02:13certainly not getting past him and it might be quite a good idea as Schumacher has actually

01:02:17gone by the pits it'd be good time to bring Barry Kello in so he gets a clear bit of road

01:02:22make a really quick stop we'll see shortly as they work their way up the hill for the bus stop

01:02:30here they go through Blanchimont flat out corner 185 miles an hour

01:02:35up into the bus stop now will Barry Kello go straight on here yes he does Barry Kello comes

01:02:39in the pits so that gets him away from Jack Villeneuve and that is confirmed as as you

01:02:47pointed out Derek as to why they're bringing him in at this time get him some clear track to run in

01:02:53oh superb style 6.6 seconds that's really good

01:03:12but it makes you realize of course that they're there for a two-stop strategy because he came in

01:03:17on lap 20 which of course was early but I don't think he could certainly run the rest of the race

01:03:25that activity now in in the BAR pit although it is of course only a 44 lap race so they're nearly

01:03:32halfway but they didn't really take enough fuel on out of said then to go to the end of the race

01:03:40on a six-second stop again the three drivers out of the race thus far I thought Fisichella and Trulli

01:03:57well and again they could be short-pitting Barrichello on a fairly light load

01:04:01and then make that make that so he can get some clear track to run in and then make that final

01:04:05stop and go the distance I would have thought McLaren would have done the same for David Coulthard

01:04:10myself although of course he did come in a long time after after the others did well two laps

01:04:16after all the others but I thought he might have come in to get him past or get him some free rope

01:04:20but he's obviously not going very much there behind Frenzen to say lapping in 57s and Michael's

01:04:27lapping in low 55s

01:04:32Coulthard 45 seconds behind the race leader

01:04:37see he's really all over the back of that car of Frenzen

01:04:42yes they didn't sort of gain any friendship points between them in qualifying yesterday when

01:04:47they had each other a couple of times there so they're not going to give any

01:04:51any way here either that's for sure but look how close they are as they go to La Source hairpin

01:04:57and now uh Ferrari setting up for Schumacher

01:05:03but yes it's just got to be devastating to Coulthard's

01:05:06championship hopes to leave him pinned behind Frenzen here

01:05:14unless that's all the cars capable of which is kind of hard to believe

01:05:17he could pull away I believe I'm sure he can you watch him under braking just look at him

01:05:20catching up there under braking you see him into the bus stop you see him until

01:05:23they come there at the top of the hill

01:05:34only two cars did a one-stop strategy last year one was Jacques Villeneuve the other Ralph Schumacher

01:05:39and Ralph actually finished fifth so it makes you wonder

01:05:43whether anybody is doing the same this year here he goes Michael in

01:05:46well he turns back an 11 second lead over Mika Hakkinen to make this stop

01:05:58and here at only lap 22

01:06:03I guess theoretically it could be his last stop but it doesn't seem like it would be according to plan

01:06:12maybe look at the long time they're taking to fuel

01:06:15yeah he took a long stop far too long a stop but he may well have a full tank of fuel

01:06:20it really is down to tire degradation and they'll have to make the decision after this stop

01:06:24just how well his tires or how badly his tires have just fared

01:06:28well very differing strategies for Ferrari who got Rubens in and out with uh with very little

01:06:33fuel added in just 6.6 seconds and Schumacher is very obviously taking it on full tank

01:06:38well there's Heintz and DC once again going at it yeah

01:06:46Michael pulled out in front of one of it he's behind looks like he's behind his brother

01:06:56so Michael Schumacher pits as the leader and this race

01:06:59changes hands again you're watching Formula One on Fox Sports Net

01:07:04welcome back to Fox Sports Net coverage of the Belgium Grand Prix watching Ralf Schumacher who

01:07:08moves up to second place behind Mika Hakkinen following the pit stop by

01:07:12Ralf's older brother Michael who finds himself now in third place 3.7 behind

01:07:19Ralf's Williams BMW and yet 13 seconds up on Jenson Buttons similar car

01:07:28similar car now the intriguing thing to me is just what they did they took a long time

01:07:34with that refueling filling it right to the very brim I would have thought he didn't seem to have

01:07:38a problem getting it off the fact is of course it might not have been going in when he thought it was

01:07:43but he certainly did have a long stop didn't really cost him that much he might have come

01:07:48out ahead of his brother that's all if he'd done a seven seconder but it would have been touch and go

01:07:53but really the critical point is will he have to stop again and they've got half distance they're

01:07:57over half distance now he probably can just about scratch by but as I've mentioned before there is a

01:08:02lot of tire degradation here and the Ferrari basically always uses more tires than the McLaren

01:08:07well earlier we saw Michael going offline to get some water on those tires to help cool them and

01:08:14save them but now Derek looking at the racetrack it looks like there's fewer and fewer places

01:08:19where he might be able to do that yes he he's going to find it much more difficult

01:08:24to cool them down and right at this point it probably isn't that important

01:08:31Jack Villeneuve is in

01:08:35and this would be a scheduled stop for the BAR

01:08:37Villeneuve sat on the pole here but 96 and 97 a lot of fuel going in this uh which is if this

01:08:54may be his final stop yes he was second in 96 and fifth in 97 he got fastest lap as well having got

01:09:01in 97

01:09:07so for many of the front runners this may well be a two-stop race the first dictated by the

01:09:11changing weather condition but it all depends on how tires hold up as we mentioned Bridgestone

01:09:19brought a new intermediate and a heavy rain tire here now the soft compound tire for the drives

01:09:27shows very good grip but the Bridgestone engineers said it'd be noticeably quicker

01:09:30but would show a higher level of wear so the medium tires they thought would be the choice

01:09:36and would would counteract but also the tire engineers thought that this race would be run

01:09:42with two equally spaced pit stops and i don't think anticipated anybody going 22 or 24 laps

01:09:48on a single set of tires we shall see

01:09:52David Coulthard really needs to get by friends and he's actually got in sixth place so he's in

01:10:01point playing position but not quite the points David needed having looked so strong in the world

01:10:06championship

01:10:12Ralf Schumacher is in surrendering third place second actually that's right sorry this is a

01:10:18rendering second to his brother 8.9 so he probably took but he took enough fuel on for the rest of

01:10:24the race i would have thought Michael Schumacher they're running up the moisture parts again as

01:10:31you said before my Michael trying to keep those tires cool he does use his head that man does

01:10:39when he needs to use that brain of his he really does the Schumacher brothers did their early

01:10:47racing at the family's go-kart track in kirpen germany where recently Michael and Ralph laid

01:10:52the cornerstone for what they don't describe as a museum but rather a collection of their

01:10:58racing trophies memorabilia and early race cars so with Ralph Schumacher having stopped

01:11:07giving up second place now activity at Williams for Jensen Button

01:11:12who has run uh really a masterful race here in fourth place started third got into that bump with

01:11:19uh Jarno Trulli not really of his fault racing accident and Trulli uh did say to the press he

01:11:27said well it was just a misunderstanding it was two young drivers fighting hard so

01:11:31no animosity there Alexander Virts is in

01:11:37is in McLaren just hung a board out to make a hack and saying push i'm sure that means get on

01:11:44it not you've got push i'm sure he's well aware he's got push Michael going through the chicane

01:11:49Michael actually not rushing that hard he's running the same sort of times as Hacken and if not a bit

01:11:54slower but makes you wonder whether he's trying to conserve what we know he's trying to conserve

01:11:57the tires because he's running in the moisture wherever he can but he needs to see this car

01:12:01run to the end of it if he was going to do another stop after 10 laps because there's only 20 to go

01:12:06he would be running flat out on the dry so he's obviously trying to keep that car going knowing

01:12:11that he doesn't want to make another stop Jensen Button is in in the Williams pit here he comes

01:12:25yeah this is one of the few chaps that Jensen Button has driven out in the past he drove

01:12:29three here quite a contrast from 200 horsepower to 780

01:12:38i still can't get over the way this young man has adapted to formula one and driven with such

01:12:43composure hasn't made any mistakes nobody comes in saying have you seen him out there he's an

01:12:47absolute animal he's gonna have a big crash he's so under control absolutely astounding

01:12:52the sensation of the season he certainly is now here's Coulthard again catching up

01:12:57Frenson David somehow has got to get up Eau Rouge up the hill quicker but of course because of the

01:13:03turbulence behind the car slip screening is not that possible and therefore he loses out

01:13:08all right last time by Mika Hakkinen had a 14.6 second lead on Michael Schumacher

01:13:13they are setting up for Hakkinen to pit this time and Derek I don't see how he can get up and down

01:13:18the pit lane the pit lane is so long it's such a long pit entry that he'd almost certainly give

01:13:23the lead back to Michael on this stop he should he will if he goes in at this point he will

01:13:28come out with some eight seconds behind

01:13:34this battle is for fifth place still can't believe why they don't bring Coulthard in

01:13:39but again he did come in two laps after Hakkinen before Mika's in

01:13:46also let's see they can do a really good stop here on Hakkinen's car and he won't need to

01:13:51take on as much fuel so this should be a bit shorter 8.2 8.8 not a bad stop but he only really

01:13:59lost three seconds or gained three seconds over Schumacher on that stop but Michael should have

01:14:07gone by but that was an Arrows in front there and an Arrows behind him the Arrows had a quicker stop

01:14:12by the look of it yeah De La Rosa De La Rosa's stop was quicker in the Arrows

01:14:22there's Michael keeping to the moisture going up the hill until they come

01:14:25so

01:14:40well they've changed Mika Hakkinen's differential settings on the car we've heard which might be

01:14:45something to do with the fact he wasn't finding it too easy there earlier Michael's got through

01:14:49the first of the Benetton there one of the Benetton's which would be Alexander Burtz

01:14:55let's hope he doesn't get held up here by one of the two Minardis which in this case is Matsukami

01:15:05this is where you don't need to be held up there's a square sweep of corners here

01:15:09coming down to Stavlo now when you say they changed the differential did they change

01:15:13the amount of lock-up amount of limited slip in the differential that's what I imagine they do

01:15:18because it's all done electronically these days

01:15:22so Michael Schumacher now leads for Mika Hakkinen after Mika's pit stop

01:15:26we'll be back to Spa in a moment you're watching Formula One on Fox Sports Net

01:15:32well unbelievably as Coulthard comes in so does Frensen both pitting at once

01:15:41see who can get out quicker David's got to get out quicker he's to get some

01:15:45very very valuable points here come on guys get that car going

01:15:49go on it's good stop good stop oh he's out ahead yeah good stop

01:15:52well done McLaren very good piece of work they're not so good by the Jordan guys

01:15:58an 8.6 second stop there for Frensen that's what David dearly needed to go up just ahead

01:16:04of one of the Jags followed by Jack Vilma behind that should be Herbert I believe Herbert yeah

01:16:10well that's a great stop for Coulthard and it'll put him in position to reclaim fourth place

01:16:30it's so lovely we're in this situation to actually find the track drying out you actually

01:16:34gradually start to go faster and faster but the conditions have changed because yesterday it was

01:16:39so hot and dry suddenly your car is working that much better the tires aren't degrading as badly

01:16:44because it's cooler and the whole thing becomes a real blast to the finish and you really really

01:16:49enjoy situations like that so that's Coulthard now posted seventh after that round after those pit

01:16:57stops for he and Frensen and give a call to Johnny Herbert up for eighth good run for Johnny and

01:17:05Johnny said he's he's pretty well set there's he's got a couple of possibilities to drive in

01:17:09kart next year there's a lot of driver change movement going on in kart he says that benefits

01:17:14his situation uh but not everybody is convinced he's done with formula one no there is talk isn't

01:17:19there of him perhaps going to Sauber and I don't think that would be a bad move for him at all no

01:17:24he was there I think in 97 something like that before he went to to Stewart there's Michael

01:17:29Schumacher of course running on the moisture on that side there to try and keep it wet

01:17:33trying to keep his tires wet should I say you can see Mika Hakkinen behind the Benetton behind

01:17:39so he has Burt splitting himself from Hakkinen and that's um should be Mark Genet just ahead

01:17:46and in fact Mika has been pulling up a little bit on Michael Schumacher on these first two

01:17:51laps but of course he was on completely fresh tires and there is trouble for Matsukane

01:17:58he didn't get out of the pit lane he came in and then couldn't start or

01:18:05couldn't get a gear possibly uh Johnny Herbert has pitted his Jaguar

01:18:11Michael Schumacher doesn't need this being held up here he needs to get cleanly past these

01:18:16these back markers as Genet drifts it all over the road blue flags waving yes he's had some

01:18:23problem before in this team with overtaking at the last race and got into trouble did Genet

01:18:28so maybe this time he will pull over quickly which he did

01:18:34that's dropping very quickly between Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen losing half a second

01:18:39so Schumacher now free of Genet he had five seconds on Hakkinen make that 4.3 seconds

01:18:55uh last time by and he did take some time lapping past Genet

01:19:02so there's the update 3.8

01:19:06Hakkinen closing

01:19:09next shot as he goes to the bus stop for the Ferrari trying to straighten out that

01:19:14chicane as much as possible it really is a vicious chicane that is

01:19:19well silly season includes not only talk of driver changes but also of a perhaps a schedule change

01:19:25and maybe a qualifying session on Friday in addition to one on Saturday how about that Peter

01:19:32yes a lot of discussion about the future of practice and qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix

01:19:36Bernie Eccleston made an announcement to the Belgian press on the Wednesday before this race

01:19:40the effect that next year it's possible that qualifying times would be taken from both Friday

01:19:45and Saturday in other words Friday would become an official qualifying day just as Saturday is

01:19:50currently and the best times would be taken from the two days when asked about this however both

01:19:55Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard expressed the opinion that was too much driving anyway

01:19:59and it was better just to have Saturday and Sunday a two-day weekend with no driving

01:20:04at all on Friday Derek interested to get your input on that one well I have to say I mean we're

01:20:08out there to entertain and I think it's pretty tough on the of the circuit owners when they only

01:20:13can only put on the stars of the year for two days I think they deserve three days I think they've

01:20:18got to formulate that better somehow so it could well happen uh Eddie Irvine has been in for Jaguar

01:20:26so now we have Schumacher leading Hakkinen Ralph Schumacher there's the gap 3.6 and the gap comes

01:20:32down further because Hakkinen had no trouble lapping Marc Genet he caught him Genet moved right

01:20:38over at the very first corner Hakkinen sped on past so that's been very much of the difference

01:20:43until they both get out in the clear as they are now Derek we really don't know how much

01:20:47is the difference between Schumacher and Hakkinen's two cars at this stage well it's 13 laps to go

01:20:52catching Michael Schumacher is one thing but overtaking him is another you can see there

01:20:56the difference between them it isn't too much 3.19 seconds 3.2 in effect we've said oh I

01:21:02said that the course and we've seen it that Hakkinen was quicker all through the weekend

01:21:06every practice session he's been quickest he was quicker on Friday he was quicker in warm-up this

01:21:11morning and he was quickest in qualifying so we know that the McLaren is quicker

01:21:18and the Ferrari's never really gone outstandingly well at Spa

01:21:22but Michael Schumacher is has got that ability and that quality to maybe just keep ahead

01:21:27there's another 12 and a half very tough laps to go for Michael Schumacher yep he's done so

01:21:33well here with four wins in the record book and of course 1994 when he was disqualified for the

01:21:39plank the undertray plank being ground down and and disqualified

01:21:45Ayrton Senna five wins Jim Clark four Michael Schumacher four

01:21:50here at Spa and as we said Mika Hakkinen never won here

01:22:03I was talking I was at the Autosport 50th anniversary

01:22:07evening last week three days ago in London and I was talking with Joe Ramirez one of the leading

01:22:12lights within the McLaren team who used to be with us at Porsche years ago and he was saying

01:22:16how Mika's temperament has totally changed when he suddenly found himself getting back in the

01:22:20points again he's there at the crack of dawn for testing he's been really trying to make it work

01:22:25to get into Fangio's record of three straight Formula One World Championship victories

01:22:33Autosport it's a little hard to find on American newsstands you won't

01:22:37you may find it at your local Barnes and Noble or Borders and it's the world's leading English

01:22:44language weekly racing publication and highly recommended reading as is F1 racing magazine

01:22:52which is a monthly Peter Windsor is a contributing editor of F1 and both those are on are on our must

01:22:59read list every issue well it does cover all the sports not only Formula One Formula One obviously

01:23:05Formula One magazine monthly covers Formula One but Autosport covers all sports incredibly well

01:23:11all American sports too a little easier to find here of course National Speed Sport News has Dan

01:23:16Knutson's writings every week and Dan also provides a lot of the statistical support to us

01:23:24the arrows runs wide and the Jaguar moves underneath

01:23:30still a Rosa getting overtaken Mika Hakkinen right coming up behind Michael now Michael

01:23:35giving everything he knows you're seeing two the greatest two drivers in the world today

01:23:40giving everything they've got Mika Hakkinen just inching in there

01:23:46getting close that was Verstappen who went by de la Rosa and a lot of Dutch fans here

01:23:52at Spa so Michael Schumacher leads for Mika Hakkinen but the gap is narrowing

01:24:00welcome back to the Fosters Belgian Grand Prix I'm in the back of the Ferrari garage

01:24:04Michael Schumacher going through a typically methodical weekend it began on Thursday

01:24:08when most drivers were out on this semi-permanent road course driving their engineers around

01:24:13showing them the turn-in points the braking points the important parts of the circuit

01:24:17Michael was on a little motor scooter and he wasn't just taking the racing line he was going

01:24:21up on the kerbs and then he was going beyond the kerbs onto the grass no doubt to feel

01:24:26what bits of grass he could perhaps use if he had to in the race a bit bumpy here a bit soft here

01:24:31harder here yeah I can use that bit of grass typical Michael Schumacher absolutely amazing

01:24:36here comes Rubens Barrichello looking going very slowly as he comes up towards the the pits looks

01:24:42like there's a problem with that car that's for sure but going back to Michael Schumacher it just

01:24:46shows the measure of the man that he does go to such lengths to try and cover every eventuality

01:24:51if he has to use all the road or more well this will put paid to Barrichello's championship hopes

01:24:56he was fourth coming in waves off assistance there and looks as if his day is through

01:25:08he was 15 points out of the championship still a dark horse a long shot

01:25:14and now the marshal is being waved away from the car

01:25:20and now they said okay let's push it in

01:25:22well don't touch it he's saying he's trying to get it started to run it back to the pits

01:25:28the mechanics can push it once he's in the pit lane but he's a long way up there it's a long way down

01:25:37since since he still have has hopes of continuing in the race he's told the marshals to

01:25:42leave off the car and not assist yeah I guess uh

01:25:45pushing

01:25:50Alessio was down in 10th place here he goes into the into the bus stop chicane

01:25:54and he quits just as he turns in oh what a shame that is shame for all frost well of course is the

01:26:00talks that he may frost may well get ferrari engines next year it's going to cost him something

01:26:06like 20 million 19 million dollars to for the pleasure of having ferrari one-year-old engines

01:26:12rather like salvo does but it could certainly keep frost alive as far as running his own team

01:26:19and rubens barrichello who has scored points in the last eight races including his victory

01:26:24in germany is uh for all practical purposes out of this race

01:26:3310 very hard laps remaining here michael schumacher still trying to find that moisture

01:26:37to keep those tires cool mika hackman doesn't worry about it and every time he goes offline

01:26:43and takes the long way around hawking and edge is ever closer he does seem to doesn't he

01:26:48here's rubens now got to his pits

01:27:03i've tried to reset some electronics

01:27:16nope that's it that's a shame

01:27:24that's two finishes for rubens barrichello in the last seven

01:27:28that's not a great result and it sort of almost reflected in his in his position on the grid and

01:27:34his practice sessions not at all happy here rather like eddie irvine has not been running that well

01:27:39he's running 10th now herbert's still in front of him and he's only scored one point here that

01:27:43back in 1995 so here's the lead battle and hockinton continues to draw closer he's got it

01:27:50down under two seconds now

01:27:54schumacher trying to take care of his tires michael schumacher pitted

01:27:59four laps before hockinon so he has four extra race laps on his tires to hockinons

01:28:08michael will be looking much in his mirrors just an odd glimpse and then after that he's

01:28:12going to go for it all the way john lacy's walking back after a very very fine race by him

01:28:18but it's happened all too often derek that he's had to take that walk and we've had to say oh what

01:28:23a shame what a great race and it comes undone yeah i think it's worthy of note at this point

01:28:33that the great american dan gurney stored the american racing teams only ever grand prix win

01:28:40at spa in 1967 quite something eh and the and to date the only win by an american driver in an

01:28:46american formula one car the eagle we hope to visit with dan in indianapolis at the united

01:28:54states grand prix in september which you'll see practice qualifying and the race live

01:29:00here on fox sports net david court are there all over the back of jensen button trying to get by

01:29:05jensen he had a real go at the hairpin last source now they're going their way up the hill

01:29:09we're seeing jensen button extended this young man still doing great times and the key to this

01:29:16was cooltard getting out of the pits in front of frentzen when they both pitted at the same time

01:29:22cooltard has now gone nine seconds up on frentzen

01:29:27very frustrating for david this is frustrating too but he is lying there

01:29:31he's the moment fifth in the points but dearly he would like fourth place in the points

01:29:37when you consider where he was earlier in ninth place he's done a great job

01:29:42but hasn't button had just a wonderful race well a wonderful weekend for him he just said

01:29:46the track is outrageous he's driven it in formula three but then to drive it in formula one he said

01:29:51was outrageous i just love the way he's sort of free open easy way of talking he's so astounded

01:29:56by his success this open-eyed usefulness is outrageous it's great if he's this good now

01:30:04derek whaley comes back and sees all these tracks for the second time next year that's right i mean

01:30:09well that's right i mean juan pablo montoya is outstanding car driver and we've seen how well

01:30:14he went in testing with williams but uh did frank williams make a mistake here i mean

01:30:20this guy has now got a foot we'll have a full season of 411 under his belt and as yet hasn't

01:30:24made any silly mistakes he's been terribly terribly composed the whole way through

01:30:29and uh i'm wondering frank williams is making the right decision myself but there we go

01:30:34great for one montoya and great for us to have him over in formula one hannes frank said in the

01:30:39interview you know jensen can go tear up somebody else well he didn't say tear up somebody else's

01:30:44stuff for the next two years but bennetton can groom him and then williams has the chance to

01:30:48get him back in two years time so button runs fourth behind michael schumacher mika hakkanen

01:30:53and ralph schumacher welcome back to the belgian grand prix at spa where david coulthard has just

01:31:00put the pass on jensen button and that exchanges fourth place

01:31:06coulthard and mika hakkanen have set a record of sorts the most races by two drivers as teammates

01:31:15gerard berger and jean lacey at ferrari and then bennetton between 1993 and 97 started 77

01:31:21races as teammates today marks 78 by hakkanen and coulthard it also equals 25 wins by teammates

01:31:29the other two being center and prost believe it or not yes

01:31:37mika hakkanen has michael schumacher in his sights officially it's one second but there's the

01:31:44distance the biggest question is how much tire does schumacher have left he pitted four laps

01:31:54before hakkanen goes way wide to catch that water i don't think he'll be able to do that

01:31:58again derek without losing the lead well of course he just doesn't have the speed up the hill

01:32:04the mclaren seems to be able to run less wing less downforce to still get the geometry and

01:32:09the incredible mechanical grip they get out of this car michael then can ease away a little bit

01:32:14through some of the corners but the mclaren does have that speed and often they do take off some

01:32:19wing for the races so they do have the speed because the car is just so good mechanically

01:32:24let's have a look at david coulthard's pass of jensen button this for fourth place coming up

01:32:29the hill and he just goes around jensen keeps the right to block him out but david just goes by the

01:32:34brakes as we know on that mclaren are outstanding shot there of ron dennis the uh owner if you like

01:32:41the uh the mastermind behind mclaren

01:32:44ralph schumacher is 28 seconds behind this pair david coulthard a further 14 seconds back jensen

01:32:52button the heights harold frenson right now in sixth and jack villeneuve in seventh johnny herbert

01:32:58is eight mika salo and eddie irvine the top ten michael schumacher still has a better fastest lap

01:33:04than mika hakkanen mika really catches him up here and up into the hairpin but michael doesn't

01:33:09eases away around the rest of the lap and mika really has to hope that michael makes a mistake

01:33:15one of his very rare mistakes is what he needs because i think he's going to find it desperately

01:33:18hard to do anything about it he goes down the hill here look at how much push maker has and

01:33:23michael gets away with better traction look at that he pulled out several car lengths there

01:33:27going down the hill and this is where miki does not want to be too close behind because the

01:33:32turbulence as he goes up the hill well in the point championship whoever wins this race will

01:33:38leave here with the world championship lead or at least tied for it should schumacher prevail

01:33:49there's a comparison of their last three laps you see hakkanen

01:33:53getting right there right up and underneath the rear wing of schumacher

01:33:58as i said uh just now about david but we've seen that many times before we saw it in the french

01:34:04grand prix too with david coulthard overtaking people it has fantastic brakes and this is the

01:34:10advantage they have over the ferrari but michael just has that extra bit of grip through the turns

01:34:16whether it's because of his ability or the fact his car just doesn't have enough grip

01:34:21extra bit of grip through the turns whether it's

01:34:25because of his ability or the fact his car just works better who's certain of the faster corners

01:34:32there's no doubt about it that mika would get away if he was in front ross braun

01:34:36who works so closely with michael they will no doubt be talking on the radio

01:34:40even at this stage of the race

01:34:44the coulthard's laps are somewhat slower than the leading guys

01:34:47and that's all that separate the front two as the laps wind right down ralph schumacher

01:34:5930 seconds back now not a factor nor is coulthard

01:35:05tricky bit of back marker there we think we have a minardi in the way let's hope it's not

01:35:09too much in the way they'll pick him up going down the hill this is what could really upset

01:35:15the car here if michael has to back off a little bit going down to a ruse behind a minardi

01:35:20backs off and mika can then no yes he's going to get in the way that's matsukane just ahead

01:35:25he could well get in the way on the way up the hill that's all that hacker needs is that

01:35:29this is what you dream for as a driver you know it probably won't happen

01:35:33no it's not going to be a disadvantage to schumacher although mika is very close going

01:35:38up the hill yes he's closer than he usually is michael did have to back off now hackerman's

01:35:42going to take a look down the inside under braking is he he's got to take him on the outside

01:35:45is he going to have a look no michael doesn't let him michael gives the swerve they still didn't go

01:35:49by mitsukane you've got to do that when you're in that position man you've got to use everything in

01:35:55the book this is formula one racing at its best come on get out of the way in that darn finale

01:36:01that's his heart makes up the grid but it shouldn't be holding these guys up

01:36:05oh that's a get over he's getting over now

01:36:10michael gets away but that was a nasty moment or two there for schumacher just four laps to go

01:36:18had to be that zonta just ahead

01:36:23oh he certainly is keeping better pace than the minority ones

01:36:28zonta that pushed michael up the rear end of course in the austrian grand prix

01:36:32he's really got him going on this extreme of bad luck races that he's been having

01:36:37see michael can then start to pull away a little bit it's quite astonishing how he does start to

01:36:41ease away through those uh intermediate corners then their way on the way up back hill now there's

01:36:47the old circuit coming in from the left here we are let's watch it again michael moves over he

01:36:52sees mika doing it you've got to have your wits about you at this point haven't you he's holding

01:36:55mika up mika's going to dart back the other side if he gets on the dirt michael goes back a little

01:36:59bit she's sorry about that mika but i ain't letting you through and i don't blame him either

01:37:04nor would i nor would anybody else probably the best bit of mirror driving we've seen this season

01:37:10that was pretty close stuff because i think he was looking in his mirror far more than he was

01:37:13out front right now we got uh zonto is going to get in the way probably but not until after

01:37:19they reach the top of the hill

01:37:32mika really coming up the hill very very quickly behind michael now

01:37:36these tires look at it he's right there michael's really got to keep that inside line

01:37:40mika's whoa surprise and he gets there what a move by haken and what a move outstanding move

01:37:49by haken and how did he do that outstanding move schumacher thought he waited till the last minute

01:37:57and moved aside to use zonta as a pick haken and just kept coming on the inside

01:38:03piece of work by mika and you have to say that three laps to go i said it was a thrilling race

01:38:10we have two drivers here hell-bent on being world champion this year

01:38:20well we may be seeing what is the most thrilling race of the millennium and i don't care if you

01:38:25call it december 31st 99 or december 31st 2000 here we go again look at them coming

01:38:31up behind zonta zonta's right in the middle of the road not holding anybody up michael goes down

01:38:36there but oops sorry about that mika's there too and michael does nothing about trying to push him

01:38:41off he says in his mind his brain's going i need the points anyway well he took when he came around

01:38:48zonta took the long way around yeah and let's give zonta some credit he just he held his line

01:38:53middle of the racetrack and they split him what a move by haken

01:39:08three laps remaining

01:39:12and actually december 31st 2000 is the marking of the millennium but you know any excuse for a party

01:39:18they'll have one at mclaren this evening if this keeps up we'll be right back

01:39:26at spa michael schumacher twice did the shooey swerve on mika hakenen and the second time

01:39:32found himself out in the air and now holding second place yes he should have really kept

01:39:38that inside move and gone down the inside but he thought he was pushing zonta across the road

01:39:42enough but mika couldn't get through but he surely did brother ralph now in third place

01:39:47great piece of driving haven't talked about him much this race but a great piece of driving by

01:39:51ralph and what a turnaround in fortunes for williams after having a hapless season last

01:39:58year now with bmw power everyone thought this would be uh what's graciously called a rebuilding

01:40:05year for williams and yet they've had real good fortune now with ralph schumacher and jensen

01:40:11both in the points today well of course this is what jaguar i think had plans on doing but it

01:40:17didn't quite work out that way and they must eat in their hearts out that they didn't get

01:40:20the results that williams are getting now they certainly made the big splash but didn't get the

01:40:25result johnny herbert running back in eighth mika salo ninth eddie irvine 10th not a good

01:40:38day for jaguar and salo it's tipped is going to leave formula one to go to toyota and spend

01:40:43next year testing and then race for them after the checkered flag trophies champagne and what

01:40:52should be a very interesting press conference should mika and michael end up side by side

01:40:58there'll be lots to talk about well michael knows very well that the mccarran has been

01:41:03faster all weekend michael knows it and i don't think you'll say anything unfair about mika

01:41:09if anybody in our fair was him trying to keep them behind previous couple of laps

01:41:13but that is i said that was motor racing when you're going for the world championship you

01:41:16don't just give up like that and say after you claude no this is not uh snooker

01:41:25no and the corner was fairly won by hockenden after he'd seen that move from schumacher before

01:41:32it really was a brilliant pass because as we've said many times over these last couple of seasons

01:41:37that these cars are so dependent on aerodynamic grip and hockenden merely to follow schumacher

01:41:43around and make a fair pass absent of traffic it would have been very difficult if not impossible

01:41:48yeah even with a faster car yeah i think um you know michael had it covered if he hadn't

01:41:53had zonta in the way for zonta to add to the equation and michael just read it

01:41:58didn't quite work the way he wanted it to work so he's ended up in second place

01:42:02and as you can see hacken and can pull away a little bit now michael isn't can't do anything

01:42:09about it he can't answer back because we've seen that mika hacken almost was one second quicker

01:42:15than michael in qualifying yesterday and you just can't beat that i mean one second is is too much

01:42:21mclaren has been dominant all weekend ferrari aren't having it good here

01:42:26and mclaren will extend their lead in the

01:42:29constructors championship barrichello out of the race for ferrari so with only michael

01:42:36to score points and both mclaren's in the point they will move up quite a bit

01:42:45final time around the arrows gives way

01:42:50so both mclaren and williams are going to put two cars in the points today

01:42:56with the schumacher's ferrari and then the final point going to frenson's jordan

01:43:01they have very valuable constructors points there for williams

01:43:07i tell you what when you win this championship you're going to be in the top three

01:43:11jordan they have very valuable constructors points there for williams

01:43:18i tell you what when you win this race is the most fabulous feeling of

01:43:21having achieved something great in motorsport because it is

01:43:24a demanding track to beat all others in my opinion i guess winning indianapolis would

01:43:29be compared to it of course a totally different type of track but somehow winning at spa is

01:43:34exceptional we mentioned franson briefly he's going to get his

01:43:41fifth finish in his last seven races including two-thirds two-fourths and now a six

01:43:49so mika hakkinen who started this race from pole gave up the lead to michael schumacher

01:43:58will now come back and pick up his fifth victory equaling last year's total

01:44:05trying to become only the second man in formula one history to win three consecutive world

01:44:10championships

01:44:22and i'm corrected this is fourth win fourth win today the schumacher's five david coulthard's

01:44:27three and barrichello's one

01:44:31through the bus stop chicane for the last time

01:44:34a masterful performance by mika hakkinen who wins the belgian grand prix over michael schumacher

01:44:43by just about two seconds

01:44:48yeah brilliant piece of driving by mika absolutely slow down pretty quickly to get in that part for

01:44:53me superb driving by mika you have to say that schumacher did so well with a certainly an

01:45:00underperforming car to keep ahead as long as he did beautiful strategy by ross braun and the team

01:45:07ralph schumacher will come around for third

01:45:12excellent drive by marv schumacher yet again equals his best finish of the season back in

01:45:17australia in the season opener david coulthard will come by for fourth

01:45:22and jensen button and heinz-herald franson will be right back

01:45:26the grand prix of belgium on fox sports net has been brought to you by toyota

01:45:33toyota making it happen every day mika hakkinen a winner for mclaren over michael and ralph

01:45:39schumacher david coulthard jensen button heights herald franson also classed as finishers vilnerv

01:45:45herbert salo irvine denise and zonta the top dozen verts jenay verstappen de la rosa and matsukani

01:45:54it gives hakkinen a six-point lead in the driver's championship over schumacher

01:45:58coulthard falls to 13 back rubens barrichello all but out of it ralph schumacher and physikella

01:46:05i look back through the rest of those who have earned points after 13 rounds

01:46:13and in the constructors points well mclaren mercedes streaking ahead away

01:46:17with 1 2 5 to 1 1 7 of ferrari williams at 30 benetton 18 jordan 13 bay a honda at 12

01:46:24sauber at 6 arrows at 4 and jaguar at 3 well let's see what emotions are expressed on the podium

01:46:31after a wonderful drive by mika hakkinen besting michael schumacher a final pass on the racetrack

01:46:37to ensure victory here in belgium

01:47:07so

01:47:37so

01:48:07so

01:48:38young

01:48:39it was a polite congratulation for michael schumacher and a very jubilant mika hakkinen

01:48:44yes most most certainly and ralph schumacher not too sure there but he did a brilliant job i thought

01:48:49and i'm not going to try and pronounce that name there michael you know thanks but he's a local man

01:49:00by richard w scully managing director of fosters brewing international

01:49:07adrian newy deserves that trophy what an amazing man

01:49:13to the second place driver mika schumacher

01:49:17the trophy presented by you can tell who's the most popular driver there that's for sure

01:49:23spa not far from michael's home

01:49:27hey

01:49:49and of course that maintains williams's record here at uh

01:49:54start gentlemen at your feet and here we go

01:50:24we'll be back to find out how the race was won

01:50:29at the driver's press conference after this you're watching formula one on fox sports net

01:50:40spa where mika hakkinen's 18th career victory and fourth win of the season

01:50:44must rank as one of his most memorable let's find out it's welcome to the first three in

01:50:52the belgium grand prix 2000 mika hakkinen michael schumacher and ralph schumacher mika starting with

01:50:58you it was an absolutely incredible race to watch what was it like to be part of it and win it well

01:51:04it was incredible it it was uh it was a incredible it was very difficult unusual situations

01:51:22including my spin was not obviously planned but the curbs here in spa are very very difficult

01:51:29very slippery and and when they catch you it's nothing what you can really do i was lucky to

01:51:37stay on the track and able to continue and and i was able to start changing michael but it was

01:51:44fabulous race to drive and and really enjoyable and the car was car was better and better all the

01:51:50time as a consequence of the spin that you just mentioned you made up for it with an absolutely

01:51:56spectacular and heart-stopping overtaking maneuver can you talk us through that

01:52:02yes it it it was it was quite a different one normally that kind of situation is is unusual to

01:52:14to overtake somebody on a straight line when when just when the back marker is between us

01:52:20and i knew knew that way following michael you know it's no point to try to follow him and then

01:52:27try to overtake him and that's straight because obviously he's not gonna give me a room

01:52:31it's correct yeah i make so so i took the plan b and and uh and and i went completely inside and

01:52:41and and overtook the back marker and at the same time overtook to michael and i could

01:52:48tow also from the front back marker so it gave me extra speed and it was great great

01:52:55overtaking maneuver and i loved it i'm sure if the i'm not sure if the michael did

01:53:01thank you thank you michael michael schumacher we saw you going on to the right hand side to

01:53:06the climb to lay calm obviously cooling your tires down was that the reason why mika actually

01:53:12caught you up no no that was not the reason actually helped me a little bit to go away from

01:53:18him in the first part of the race as i was building up my lead honestly um but later on

01:53:27that was not enough because he was flying towards me being so much faster that nothing would have

01:53:34helped we were talking about the overtaking maneuver with mika how was it from your

01:53:39viewpoint obviously i was quite lucky or happy to see this back marker in front of me because i i knew

01:53:46i was a lot slower on the straight line speed from what the team told me so being in slipstream of the

01:53:53guy in front of me i thought it will not be enough for him to to catch me and then obviously once

01:53:57there's somebody on the same road then normally there's only two cars that fit next to each other

01:54:03but mika did really an outstanding maneuver to to pass on the inside there because that was

01:54:09unexpected for my side um but honestly if he wouldn't have caught me there i think he would

01:54:15have caught me a lap or two later because he was too fast down there and you allowed to move once

01:54:20the line and he would have taken me on the outside to my view um i tried my best it was not enough

01:54:29today but we got six points and we keep the championship alive even though we made it a

01:54:34little bit more difficult today but we will keep going for it i mean it's not the end now

01:54:39thank you very much michael ralph schumacher the ever improving williams you're third today

01:54:44do you think as the season goes on you might be able to get a win well i think certainly we

01:54:50we thought that we were close today in rain conditions that would have been the only chance

01:54:54for us to be relatively close to the top i thought but uh we saw today that mika was

01:55:00outstandingly quick and compared to anyone everybody else anybody else basically so

01:55:05that was not possible we're working on it obviously i think we um you know we are definitely

01:55:10the third team in the world championship now we try to to stay them and get some more good podium

01:55:17more points finishes how was your car today in these mixed conditions because you didn't have

01:55:22much time in the warm-up obviously um we were pretty much prepared for the rain so we had a

01:55:27sort of medium setup which i must say was pretty good i mean except the two in front of us and

01:55:33some other just before they pitted we were relatively quick so i could stay out of good

01:55:38that i had a little bit of a problem towards the end so i thought the race was over was four laps

01:55:42or five laps to go i had a throttle problem so i went into a turn and nothing happened anymore

01:55:48it was like fuel out or but it was for the matter came back alive and luckily

01:55:52to the end thank you very much ralph mika back to you next we're uh down to uh for monza and

01:56:00ferrari territory do you think you can silence the tifosi and keep your championship lead

01:56:07we will have a test in next week first of all in in monza which is important particularly

01:56:14because the circuit has been modified now so it's going to be a little bit learning in the

01:56:19first day to understand understand that corner and to find the best out of it and then when we

01:56:25have finished those test days i hope in those days we're able to find the best possible setup

01:56:32and performance the car to coming monza grand prix and and i'm seeing all the possibilities to be

01:56:40to be there quick and and challenging uh challenging uh important places and hopefully

01:56:48winning to monza but again it's better to enjoy now and and and to concentrate to the next grand

01:56:56prix tomorrow okay thank you congratulations now a word from all three so there will be a party

01:57:03and celebration tonight of mika hakkinen's win in spa we'll be right back to wrap things up

01:57:23two weeks from today the italian grand prix which most of you will see at noon your local time

01:57:28but please have a close look at this graphic for the exceptions and check your local listings

01:57:37well plan b certainly worked derek yes it was a brilliant move by him and obviously

01:57:42totally surprised michael schumacher but uh michael very honestly and openly said

01:57:47he was going to be overtaken anyway although i somehow doubted that but i wonder i don't

01:57:51think it's going to be easy for me at all good point is mika hakkinen is the winner

01:57:55of the fosters belgian grand prix fourth win of the season and it extends his championship point

01:58:01lead as we go to italy in two weeks time hope you'll join us then for derek bell and peter

01:58:07windsor i'm mike joy you've been watching formula one on fox sports net

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