Spa 98 Revisted

[Schume]

After the discussion of MS's driving in France and DC's "finger" the topic of what happened at Spa 98 has resurfaced. This article was posted on the Tiposi Club site on 11th July.

""Spa'98 Resurfacing Again
By Enrico Chiara
Recently David Coulthard has moved protests against the behaviour of Michael Schumacher, during the races of this season. "Michael is aggressive, is unfair, he runs always at the limit of the rules. T-C takes the inspiration to remind what happened during the Belgian GP 1998 between Michael Schumacher and the Scottish driver…

This crash, which happened at the 25th lap of that GP, is one of the most discussed crashes in F1 history. FIA archived it as: "It is a rule of the game to try to force the opponent to do a mistake". These were Max Mosley's words about the accident.

In Italy, the early transcriptions of the McLaren tapes regarding the 'famous' 25th lap of the 1998 Belgian GP began to circulate three days after the race and appeared on La Repubblica newspaper. Italian journalist Carlo Marincovich, one of the top-signs of F1 Italian journalism, revealed them to T-C. The original source is unknown, but with a little bit of imagination we can understand that they come from an opponent Italian F1 team. T-C does not guarantee the reliability of the source.

(The spy recordings were made with a device which only records when someone speaks, other kinds of communication between the driver and the team such as LEDs or writings in the LCD display are unknown).

The recording starts from the beginning of Michael Schumacher's 25th lap, with David Coulthard in front of him. Schumacher has already clocked a 2m10s, the Scottish McLaren-Mercedes driver lapped around Spa-Francorchamps in 2m16s. The McLaren's voice seems to be from Ron Dennis, but this is not certain yet. The [] refer to something NOT said but understood, the {} is a comment, the words written in capital are shoutings.

McLaren: "Be careful, CAREFUL....[he] is at {incomprehensible} the curve....careful"
{20 seconds}
McLaren: "He's catching you UP..."
{silence}
{15 seconds}
McLaren: "FIVE..hunderedmetres {1 second} FIVE hundredmetres {1 second}
FIVE hundredmetres....[he's in the] {incomprehensible} curve..."
{silence, Coulthard is keeps on slowing down}
{10 seconds}
{Coulthard brings himself on the extreme right side of the track to let Schumacher pass him in an off-line tracjectory}
{Schumacher is close to Coulthard, he begins to wave his arm to ask for the blue flags}
McLaren: "{The McLaren's voice is anxious but clear} He's BEHIND....BEHIND....he's BEHIND"
{Jean Todt enters in the McLaren monitor stand looking at Ron Dennis, no words spoken}
{Ron Dennis shows an open hand as to say "I've understood" to Todt}
McLaren: "LET-HIM-PASS!{once}"
{After 2 seconds the crash happened...}

These recordings witness that the Scottish driver is not guilty (he didn't speak), but there's the shadow of doubt about the behaviour of the McLaren-Mercedes team-management. Why were they so anxious to inform David Coulthard about Michael Schumacher's position on the circuit? It is understood that a driver, which is about to be lapped, must leave the race-line to the leading driver. Why did Ron Dennis keep on mentioning the "500 meters", and "he's behind"? And why suddenly he suggested to "let him pass"?""

No doubt the truth will never really come out.
But how much bearing will it have on the behaviour of MS and DC for the rest of this season and beyond.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by Schume
Why were they so anxious to inform David Coulthard about Michael Schumacher's position on the circuit? It is understood that a driver, which is about to be lapped, must leave the race-line to the leading driver. Why did Ron Dennis keep on mentioning the "500 meters", and "he's behind"? And why suddenly he suggested to "let him pass"?""

No doubt the truth will never really come out.
But how much bearing will it have on the behaviour of MS and DC for the rest of this season and beyond.

Ok. Perhaps some correction is needed here.

If you can't see due to the amount of water, you need constant guidance. That's why McLaren were worning DC.

IT IS NOT the rule that a slower driver must deviate from the racing line to allow another car to pass. It is quite the opposite because erratic driving causes accidents.

I know that circuit very well. Coulthard may have miscalculated the depth of spray behind him but it was TGF's responsibility to pass Coulthard. DC only slowed to make it easier for that to happen at that point because that's the best place on the circuit. (No need to outbrake etc. Just accelerate past).

IMO, RD instructed DC to let him pass in order to show to Todt that he was being fair.

I think TGF just made a mistake. Remember, he didn't need to push as hard as he was. However, that may be a little hard for an Italian sports site to swallow. OTOH. It may just have been a slow news day.

As to the behaviour for the rest of this season. Spa 98 has got absolutely nothing to do with it.

[Liz]

TGF does not make mistakes. Alain Prost was misquoted. Senna always drove slowly and carefully. Eddie Irvine is as good a pilote as Rubens.

Bernie Ecclestone is an alien.

Which of the above statements are true?

Depends on who you listen to, doesn't it? So does most of this speculation stuff.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by Liz
TGF does not make mistakes. Alain Prost was misquoted. Senna always drove slowly and carefully. Eddie Irvine is as good a pilote as Rubens.

Bernie Ecclestone is an alien.

Which of the above statements are true?

Depends on who you listen to, doesn't it? So does most of this speculation stuff.

Non are true Liz. Eddie Irvine is much better than RB will ever be.

[Liz]

Who is Eddie Irvine?

[Schume]

One view which has not received much of an airing is that TGF deliberately ran into DC.

Given that he is probably the best driver in the rain, he should have been capable of seeing and avoiding DC, particularly at that point on the track.

TGF has the natural tendancy to self destruct, for reasons best known to himself. There have been several instances of this down the years.

PS
Who is Rubens Barichello???

[Marshal]

Let me get this right Shume. You are suggesting that TGF deliberately ran into DC, because of a psycological desire to fail......right.

I think its slightly more likely that he lost sight of him in the spray, as has happend in racing before (Didier Poroni?). Looked like a racing accident to me.

It really must have been a very slow news day for this to resurface.

And if Bernie is an alien do think he's collecting royalties from the X-Files?

[Red]

"Who is Rubens Barichello?" I can answer that! He's a young hope. The new Senna. A talented driver who will show what he can. (Ooooops! Since '93? Sorry, time flies when you're having fun, isn't it?)

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by Red
"Who is Rubens Barichello?" .............The new Senna. A talented driver who will show what he can. .................

Exactly. He's had long enough and will never be half as good as Senna.

[Danielsun]

All this Number Two Ferrari Driver talk... I honestly thought that Rubens was a better driver than he's shown thus far this season. With the exception of the British GP, he has been nowhere near the pace of his so-called equal-level teammate.

Mind you, his team has been more of a hindrance than a help: it's the same thing that happened to Swirvine in the European GP last year, except that it seems to have happened with alarming regularity so far this year.

Call me a cynic, but I think that Ferrari is still very much a one-car team. There are supposed to be 11 two-car teams on the grid. As it has been since the very beginning of Michael Time in 1996, there have been two teams only running one car. Trouble is, both teams run under the same name...

Talk about deviating from the topic... I'll get right back on it:

Schumacher's an AR5E.

Enough said...

PS. News just at hand, courtesy of Liz: Jenson Button is the future of Grand Prix racing!!

[Unknown Soldier]

Originally posted by Danielsun
Schumacher's an AR5E

Danielsun,

Well said

[Liz]

Jensen Button (*gag*) is the next Pokemon character. Gotta catch 'em all!

Je deteste Jensen Button a/k/a Button Spice.

[EERO]

And let's not forget that it was TGF's unrequited passion for Button Spice that compelled him to deliberately drive into the rear of Coulthard's car.

[Valve Bounce]

Why do we keep digging up this dead horse? It smells badly enough as it is without further airing!!!