Team tactics had a lot to say for the outcome of this race

[R]

In the race today we saw what a big difference team tactics make when the drivers were called in to change from wet to dry weather tyres.

It was very clear that for instance McLaren gave Mika priority over DC, and Williams gave Ralf priority over Button. Poor DC was down in ninth after he had changed tyres, he was in way too late and I think both Mika and David should have been in earlier. That mistake could have cost McLaren the race.

Button was "robbed" of a possible podium finish because Ralf was given "special treatment". Towards the end of the race Button was catching Ralf rapidly, and I think he could have beaten him today had they been treated equally.

The real strategic master in this situation must have been Alain Prost. Jean Alesi came in at the precise right moment, and was in a fantastic 4th place after the tyre changes and running well (his ability to drive in the wet showed here as well). He would have had a great result (for that team), it was a shame he had to retire.

[Minardi fan]

I was so pleased to see Jean back at the top where he belongs, but at the same time didn't want him to score because it would mean Minardi would be last in the Constructor's Championship...

[fatbloke]

Just goes to show that Prost is tops at tactical decisions, but is a shambles as a team boss

[Jay]

While I agree that DC was robbed of a podium finish by his team, the same cannot be said of Button.

Ralf was quite comfortably maintaining his 3rd place and had driven quite a good race, so there was not point in giving Button, who was further back. Button may have been the faster Williams this weekend, but Ralf had earned the position, while Jensen had put himself back in the field with his tangle with Trulli. Nobody at Williams was robbed of anything.

[Ralf's Girl]

Quite agree, Jay!

While Button was faster in qualifying, the race counts more, and today Ralf porved that, over a race distance, he is more consistent and more reliable. It was Button's own fault that he ended up further back by going for a nonexistent gap and taking Trulli out. Why would Williams bring in the guy in fifth first, when they have one in third? Had the situation been reversed, I'm sure Button would have been first in. But Mr. Button is not a match for his team-mate. And that's my (completely unbiased!) view...

[fatbloke]

How many years experience does Ralfy have again ?

[Ralf's Girl]

And precisely what are you getting at here, fatbloke?

[fatbloke]

Do you remember Ralfy's first year at Jordan ? Hardly inspiring, was it ?

[Ralf's Girl]

A bit of trivia for fatbloke:

Who holds the record for the youngest man ever to step on to an F1 podium?

Hint: His initials are RS.

And here's more:

At which race in 1997 did Ralf Schumacher qualify third?

Hint: Earlier than 'Jense' this year.

[fatbloke]

There was no doubt he was quick, but that's about it. How often did he fly off the black stuff ? To sum it up it was a very poor year - newcomer or no.

[Danielsun]

Michael Andretti's first - and thankfully last - season was still way better than Ralf's!!

[R]

Just goes to show you cannot compare like that, you have to look at what material a driver has at hand, and rate him from that.

And - OK - I'll admit it was correct of the Williams team to bring Ralf in first. After all, he was ahead of Button at that time, and he is ahead of him in the championship. But I was just so disappointed to see Jenson loose so much time from staying out longer! Can't help it, I like the guy! (And he WAS closing in on Ralf towards the end!)

[Ralf's Girl]

He was overtaken by DC! And Ralf DID have a throttle problem towards the end. Ahh...you see, Ralf drove a much better race today. How many people did Ralf take out?

[Jay]

Ralf did have a throttle problem, but the way he described, it just cause him to loose a lot of time on one lap, and did not affect his pace. However, all weekend he has complained of an ill-handling car, which was probably the reason for his lack of pace compared to Jensen. Not to take anything away from Jensen, though, he has been driving well all weekend, and were it not for a rookie mistake with Trulli, he probably would have been the Williams driver on the podium.


fatbloke, I can't see why you critisize Ralf's earlier seasons. In F1 it doesn't matter what you were doing 3 years ago, all that matters is what you are doing now, and now Ralf is finishing on the podium.

[Valve Bounce]

Team tactics are rather comlicated. M&M were discussing the point of when to bring in a car for the change of tyres, and that was supposed to be when cars got down to 2 minutes 5 second laps. However, what nobody realised was that this time was for a track which was drying out evenly. This track was half wet and half dry. Prost took a punt with Jean because they had nothing to lose, and brought him in very early. When Ferrari saw how fast Jean went in the second sector after that, they brought the tyres out for TGF, and it was at this point that McLaren should also have trundled out their tyres for Mika. That they hesitated another lap, meant that DC lost two laps advantage with wet tyres. M&M commented about all this at great length.
However, there was no favouritism. It would be sheer stupidity not to bring in the lead car - Ron Dennis made this very clear after Germany. That is why both Mika and Ralf were the first car of each team to be brought in.
Where the refuelling failed in the tyre change was in TGF's car, because the refuelling valve jammed and TGF did not get enough fuel. He then had to come in early next stop, which meant he started with a very heavy fuel load on his last stint. Then his tyres also had to last much longer, and as the Bridgestone guy said before the race, tyre degradation would be a problem here.
All this explains why TGF was faster during his second stint, but the McLaren was definitely faster when on equal fuel loads.