The McLaren was the third-year development of the original Newey McLaren of 1998, still with the V-shape chassis and low nose, contrasting to Ferrari’s high-nose. Most of the others had flown west from America in plenty of time to adapt their body clocks.Īs had been the case all season, there was very little between the F1-2000 and the MP4-15 in outright pace, despite their significantly different concepts. They worked well, but it meant Schumacher was suffering terrible jet lag in Japan. Schumacher’s emotional win there had put him back on the rails and he’d followed it up with a victory at Indianapolis made more momentous by Hakkinen’s engine failure as he was closing fast on the Ferrari.Īnd that’s where we were as we arrived at Suzuka, Michael having stopped off at Fiorano to test new aero parts and a revised front suspension. For Monza an upgraded version of the V10 was yielding a Mercedes-matching 830bhp and combining it with rock-solid reliability. Oct 09 : Bring Back V10s: Spa 2000 with Mika Hakkinenīut it would change again thereafter, as the Ferrari engine department rose to the challenge. The McLaren appeared to be edging ahead in the aero development war and a rare engine failure for Schumacher in France combined with consecutive crashes in Austria and Germany were potentially costly.Įven when Schumacher looked poised ready to strike back at Spa, Hakkinen had made that stunning race-winning pass on him as they lapped Ricardo Zonta, a result that put Hakkinen six points ahead. Even when Hakkinen’s car then held together at Imola for the third round, Schumacher had the beating of him.īut after Schumacher’s Nurburgring defeat of Hakkinen in May, there followed a seven-race sequence in which Michael won only once (in Canada) and Mika emerged victorious in Austria, Hungary and Belgium. Two Mercedes engine failures for Hakkinen in the first two races was a fantastic present for Ferrari, giving a double victory platform for its campaign. This time, Rory Byrne’s F1-2000 had hit the ground running every bit as fast as the McLaren and more reliable. The pattern over the previous few years had always been Ferrari beginning the season behind the pacesetting Adrian Newey car – whether that be the ’97 Williams or the ’98 and ’99 McLarens – and having to play catch-up in the development war through the season. It had all looked so comfortable for Ferrari back in May after the first six races had yielded four Schumacher victories and just one for Hakkinen, putting Michael 18 points clear.
To come up empty-handed again didn’t bear thinking about.
The biggest team in racing had been completely restructured around Schumacher’s recruitment, at enormous cost.
LAUGHING IN THE WIND 2001 COMPLETE DRIVER
Could Schumacher bring a driver’s world title to Ferrari for the first time in 21 years? Could the immense burden on both driver and team survive a fifth year without the ultimate success (1999’s winning of the constructors’ championship notwithstanding)? The desire at Ferrari, fresh off the back of consecutive Schumacher victories at Monza and Indianapolis, was very much to get the job done here, to avoid the nerve-wracking final round showdowns of the previous three years, none of which had gone its way. Even if he won and Schumacher non-scored, it would only put Hakkinen two points ahead with a race still to go. Realistically, Mika had to win here just to keep the contest open until the final round at Sepang. With 10 points for a win and six for second, a victory in Japan would give him the title regardless of what Hakkinen did. Schumacher, eight points clear coming in, could seal it here. Here’s Mark Hughes’ fresh look at the 2000 Japanese GP and the factors that allowed Michael Schumacher and Ferrari to finally defeat Mika Hakkinen and McLaren.Ĭoming to Suzuka for the penultimate race of a see-sawing seasonal battle between Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher and McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen in 2000, it all still hung in the balance. There’s a good chance the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix will be the race where Ferrari’s latest bid to end a Formula 1 title drought officially ends for another year, assuming Max Verstappen puts the championship beyond Charles Leclerc’s mathematical reach at Suzuka.īack in 2000 – in a title fight as close as this season’s briefly looked like it would be – Suzuka was the track where Ferrari’s years of hurt finally came to an end.ĭuring the 2020 lockdown, our writers chose classic grands prix for detailed reappraisals.
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