Atlas F1 News Editor
The Canadian Grand Prix added another leaf to Formula One's history book, courtesy of the Schumacher Bros. But the race itself belonged to Ralf Schumacher, who not only took his second win of the season (and career), but also did so in the most dominant and mature fashion. Pablo Elizalde reviews the weekend's events and climax
Who would have bet against Ralf Schumacher to fight for the title had his Williams been as reliable in previous races as it was in Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix? Judging by the drive he put to eclipse his three-time World Champion brother in the eighth round of the season, very few people would.
Everyone was expecting the powerful and not so aerodynamically efficient Williams to be among the favourites to fight for the win at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit. It was clear after the San Marino race that when the need for downforce was not so big, the BMW-powered cars were the class of the field. But perhaps not even the most optimistic members of the Williams team expected to be so far ahead of the rest of their competitors.
Ralf's was not only a brilliant and deserved win, it was also a demonstration of superiority over his and his team's rivals. The German - whose fastest lap was almost a second quicker than his brother's - finished the race more than 20 seconds in front of Michael, who would probably not have enjoyed the race so much had his little brother been part of the WC title battle. The Ferrari driver leads his closest David Coulthard by 18 points, the same gap the Scot holds over Ralf, who has only finished three races this season to the McLaren driver's seven.
For the first time since San Marino, neither McLaren were affected by the common problems with their launch control system. Instead, both Hakkinen and Coulthard endured a disappointing qualifying and were clearly off the pace during the race. To add insult to injury, the MP4/16 continued with its reliability problems, stopping Coulthard's streak of ten consecutive finishes in the points and 23 races without a mechanical failure.
Hakkinen's first podium this season was little consolation for the Woking-based team, who will be hoping not to be affected by the off-the-track legal battle to retain the services of technical director Adrian Newey. However, there are still nine Grands Prix to go and, as usual, anything could happen, and Schumacher's lead could be vanished in two races.
If in Austria it was Schumacher versus Juan Pablo Montoya, and in Monaco it was Coulthard versus Enrique Bernoldi, the now too regular off-track verbal contest was starred in Canada by Montoya and local hero Jacques Villeneuve, both giving a clear example of what a professional racing driver should not be. While they were busy trying to punch each other after their tussle during Friday practice, both their teammates were doing their job, and the result was there for everybody to see.
Someone who seemed to have learnt how to drive an error-free race is Sauber's Kimi Raikkonen, who, despite not making as much noise as Montoya, enhanced his reputation once more with an outstanding drive to fourth place to move the Swiss team ahead of both the Honda-powered teams in the CC standings. Indeed, no small achievement considering Jordan's and BAR's resources.
Qualifying
As in every race so far this year, Michael Schumacher was the hot favourite to take his sixth pole position of the season in eight races, and more so after having previously scored five poles in the last seven Canadian Grands Prix. And the German lived up to the expectations and grabbed yet another dominant pole, ahead of his brother Ralf's Williams.
The elder Schumacher completed only seven of the twelve allocated laps to finish a massive half a second ahead of his brother, who opted for the harder of the Michelin compounds. As it turned out, Michael was right when he predicted that gap would mean nothing during the 69 lap long race on Sunday.
Jordan's Jarno Trulli was again the faster of the Honda runners in a fantastic fourth position, the Italian being joined by the team's test driver Ricardo Zonta. After being involved in an accident in Friday's free practice only two weeks after a heavy crash in the Monaco Grand Prix, Heinz-Harald Frentzen withdrew from the Canadian Grand Prix, complaining he was feeling dizzy and suffering headaches.
After bouncing off the infamous kerb at the final corner of the circuit, Rubens Barrichello crashed heavily against The Wall, and like Hakkinen, he too was forced to take the spare car, which was set up with Schumacher's settings. The Brazilian had to settle for fifth place - almost a second behind his teammate and just ahead of Frenchman Olivier Panis with the first of the British American Racing cars.
With a clear sky and track temperatures of around 31 degrees Celsius, local hero Jacques Villeneuve was the first of the big hitters to come on track, the Canadian trying to recover from the lost time in Friday and Saturday's practice sessions. His initial time was already faster than last year's pole, but it was only a small indication of what was to come from the real contenders.
One of the of the top runners to improve on their second attempt was Ralf Schumacher, who moved up into second place only a tenth of a second behind his brother, before Barrichello tried too hard on his second run, used too much kerb and destroying his Ferrari against the infamous Montreal wall. As a consequence, the session had to be red-flagged for a few minutes. "I think I went a bit over the limit," confessed Barrichello.
When the session was resumed, Hakkinen returned to the track to complete only his second run with seventeen minutes remaining. Unhappy with his car, the Finn was unable to improve and continued to languish in a poor eighth place. Teammate Coulthard and Schumacher senior also came out for the third and second run respectively, but the Scot could not better his time. The Ferrari driver, on the other hand, completed a brilliant flying lap to set a magnificent 1:15.782, more than half a second clear of any of his rivals.
The final round of attempts began with three minutes left to go in the session, and although Schumacher's pole time seemed unreachable, the battle for second spot was set to be exciting. But then Nick Heidfeld crashed his Sauber against the wall with less than two minutes to go, forcing the session to be stopped and all drivers to come into the pits.
The effort paid off for Coulthard, who moved up to third place behind the two Schumachers, but not for Hakkinen, who stayed in a disappointing eighth. After qualifying, the Scot admitted he could have done better. "Today I under-performed," he said. "The session didn't go the way we wanted it to, but I don't think balancing the car will be so hard in the race."
The Race
Not much happened at the top of the field, with both the Schumachers and David Coulthard getting cleanly away. Rubens Barrichello lost a place to Jarno Trulli, but the Brazilian soon began to push really hard towards the front, passing the Italian and setting his sights on Coulthard. Another hard charger was Jos Verstappen who, after making a sensational start, benefitted from a light car to run close to the points.
The Benetton team, already struggling at the back of the grid in qualifying, suffered another blow on the first lap of the race, when Giancarlo Fisichella suffered handling problems on his car, inevitably crashing with teammate Jenson Button, forcing the Italian to retire. To make matter worse, Button had jumped the start and had to come into the pits, first for his ten-second stop and go, and then again to check his car after the shunt with Fisichella.
Eddie Irvine and Nick Heidfeld were the next ones to retire, the Jaguar driver running into the Sauber on lap 2. "It certainly wasn't his entire fault and to be honest, I accept two-thirds of the blame for this one," said Irvine. "It wasn't the most fantastic overtaking move in the world."
By lap number ten, Michael and Ralf were already battling for the lead, as Coulthard was unable to follow the leaders' pace due to his front suspension being partly detached. Teammate Mika Hakkinen, who had lost two places at the start, was now under pressure from Juan Pablo Montoya, trying hard to pass the Finn in their fight for ninth place. It didn't take long before the aggressive Colombian made a now too common mistake and crashed against the barriers on lap 20, right in front of Barrichello, who also spun out of the race.
"It was really strange as when I went over the kerb and put the power on the rear, the rear just stepped out. I don't know what happened," admitted Montoya after his third consecutive retirement. "I was doing exactly the same every lap."
The safety car was deployed to remove both cars from the circuit, staying on track for three laps before the Schumachers again took off. Verstappen, running in sixth place when the safety car pulled off, dived into the pits for the first of his two scheduled stops, allowing Kimi Raikkonen to move into the points.
On lap 42, the Scot made his scheduled stop, allowing Hakkinen, who was now running without traffic in front, to move up to third place. Verstappen was elevated to fourth, but the Dutchman was still to make his second stop. Jean Alesi, who had steadily moved towards the front, was in fifth place before coming into the pits for the first time.
Schumacher, still with Ralf right behind him, made his stop on lap 46, and the Williams immediately began to fly around the track. Ralf shattered the track record several times, setting a fastest lap of 1:17.205, almost a second quicker than Michael's fastest effort.
Hakkinen pitted on lap 49 and was able to rejoin in front of Coulthard, who was now being harassed by Pedro de la Rosa in the remaining Jaguar. The Spaniard, however, was on a two-stop strategy and dived into the pits soon afterwards, dropping back to ninth.
Once Coulthard was out of the scene, the elder Schumacher - knowing he was unable to follow Ralf's pace - appeared to relax a bit and allowed the Williams driver to increase his gap lap by lap, with reliability his only concern. Trulli, now up to fourth, was again the victim of his car's poor reliability record, retiring from the race with only six laps remaining.
A brilliant Raikkonen inherited his position, with Alesi right behind him in fifth and Verstappen in sixth. But the Arrows driver was to be the next retirement with a brake failure in his car forcing him into a spin, handing the last point to de la Rosa.
Ralf's Williams endured a trouble-free final laps, and the German driver cruised home to finish more than 20 second in front of Michael, and more than 40 ahead of a relieved Hakkinen.
Michael, of course, was happy both for his brother and for his Championship prospects: "If I have to be beaten by someone, certainly my brother is the best person: rather him than anyone else. And, I am happy to finish the day with six important points for the championship."
Parc ferme was a party after the race, as all the point scorers had something to cheer about. Ralf had taken a dominant win, Michael had extended his lead in the standings, Hakkinen had returned to the podium after a disastrous season, Raikkonen had equalled his best result in Formula One, an over the moon Alesi had scored his best result in a very long time, and de la Rosa was again in the points.
But the day belonged to Ralf Schumacher and the Williams team. Their package might still be young, but the war of the Schumachers looks set to give rise to many future battles. And that's probably not good news for their rivals, although it seems certain to be excellent news for the fans.
Lap 2: As Michael Schumacher tries to build an advantage, there is a crash in the midfield as 12th placed Nick Heidfeld collides with Eddie Irvine. Both men retire. Further back Button overtakes Tarso Marques for 15th place.
Lap 3: Rubens Barrichello overtakes Coultard for third place. At the back Marques drops behind Jean Alesi and Fernando Alonso.
Lap 5: M Schumacher is able to create a gap of a second over his brother who is under pressure from Barrichello. Coulthard is fourth with Trulli fifth and Panis sixth.
Lap 7: Button serves his penalty and drops to the tail of the field.
Lap 8: Minardi's hopes take a plunge when Fernando Alonso pulls off with a technical problem.
Lap 9: Bernoldi and Button pit but both rejoin after the cars have been checked over.
Lap 10: At the front Michael Schumacher has just over a second in hand over his brother. But there is then a gap of 7.5secs back to Coulthard.
Lap 11: Barrichello overtakes Villeneuve for 12th place.
Lap 12: Barrichello passes Pedro de la Rosa for 11th, setting the fastest lap of the race as he does so.
Lap 13: Ralf Schumacher begins to close the gap on his brother, taking the gap down to under a second.
Lap 14: Ralf cuts the lead to just four-tenths.
Lap 18: Button retires.
Lap 21: Marques stops for fuel and new tyres.
Lap 23: As the Safety Car pulls off at the end of the lap, Verstappen dives into the pits for his first stop. He drops from sixth to 15th. This puts Kimi Raikkonen into sixth with Zonta right behind him. Behind them are Hakkinen, de la Rosa, Villeneuve and Alesi.
Lap 24: Michael Schumacher is able to build a lead of 2.6secs in the first racing lap after the Safety Car. Ralf, troubled with rubber which has been picked up on his tyres is unable to match the pace of his brother.
Lap 25: Bernoldi pits and retires. This leaves 14 cars running.
Lap 26: Verstappen overtakes Marques to run 13th.
Lap 30: Ralf has closed the gap to Michael to a second and a half. De la Rosa pits for fuel and tyres. He drops from 10th to 13th.
Lap 33: Ralf is now on Michael's tail. At the back of the field Luciano Burti stops for fuel and tyres.
Lap 35: Ralf takes a look at the inside line at the chicane but Michael stays ahead. Hakkinen passes Zonta for seventh place.
Lap 36: As Ralf continues to harrass Michael for the lead, Coulthard comes under pressure from Trulli. Fifth-placed Panis is the first of the frontrunners to pit. Behind him Hakkinen passes Raikkonen for sixth place. Zonta pits for repairs.
Lap 37: Panis has a problem and returns to the pits. He rejoins several laps behind but retires after a couple of exploratory laps.
Lap 38: The battle of the Schumachers continues with Ralf again looking to overtake. Trulli pits and drops from fourth to eighth. This puts Hakkinen up to fourth, Raikkonen to fifth and Alesi to sixth.
Lap 39: Raikonnen pits and drops to ninth. Alesi is fifth. and Verstappen sixth.
Lap 41: As the battle for the lead continues Alesi stops and rejoins in ninth place, having been passed by Verstappen, Trulli, de la Rosa and Raikkonen. Only 12 cars are still running.
Lap 42: Coulthard stops and Hakkinen moves to third place. Verstappen is fourth but will will soon have to pit again.
Lap 47: Ralf sets the fastest lap of the race as he tries to build up an advantage. Verstappen pits and drops from fourth to ninth.
Lap 48: Ralf sets another fastest lap and it is clear that when he pits he will be in the lead.
Lap 49: Hakkinen pits but manages to hold on to his third place. Coulthard in fourth comes under pressure from de la Rosa.
Lap 51: Ralf finally pits and emerges from the stop in the lead by five seconds.
Lap 52: De la Rosa pits for his second stop and so drops from fifth to ninth. Trulli moves back to fifth and Raikkonen to sixth.
Lap 55: Coulthard retires with a blown engine. This promotes Trulli to fourth, Raikkonen to fifth and Alesi to sixth.
Lap 62: Trulli is in trouble and is overtaken by Raikkonen.
Lap 63: Trulli drops behind Alesi and Verstappen.
Lap 64: Trulli retires in the pits.
Lap 66: Verstappen spins off and sixth places goes to de la Rosa.
Lap 69: Ralf Schumacher leads home his brother Michael. Hakkinen is a distant third with Raikkonen fourth, Alesi fifth and de la Rosa sixth. The only other cars still running are Zonta, Burti and Marques.
He might have being joking when he said it, but probably every F1 driver agreed with Mika Hakkinen's comment after the Canadian Grand Prix: "Lucky there's not three (Schumachers). Then there would be a problem," said the former World Champion when asked how it felt to be beaten by the two German brothers.
The elder Schumacher was never before so relaxed and happy after being defeated so clearly by a driver, the Ferrari star happy for his brother and happy to extend his lead in the Championship after yet another dismal Grand Prix for the McLarens. Schumacher took consolation, however, in a dominant pole position - his sixth of the season - and, as many others in the paddock, left Montreal with the feeling that things should go awfully wrong during the second half of the season for Coulthard to win his first WC title.
Both Villeneuve, and especially Montoya, were blown away by Olivier Panis and Ralf respectively, and in the Colombian's case, his aggressive and uncontrolled driving style must be starting to worry Williams after yet another crash which he had only himself to blame for. There is no doubt that Montoya has the potential to become a champion, but it's clear too that he needs to calm down and start learning from his teammate.
Having topped the timesheets in all the first three practice sessions, the McLaren drivers struggled during qualifying, with only David Coulthard making some kind of an appearance by putting in a last minute effort to move up to third place. Meanwhile, teammate Mika Hakkinen made a costly mistake at the start of the session, which forced him to switch to the spare car, set up for Coulthard. A poor eighth place was all he could manage when the session ended.
Coulthard jumped onto the track for the first time after 23 minutes, immediately vaulting to the top of the timesheets after breaking into the one minute sixteen seconds bracket, only for Trulli to improve on that moments later. Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher came out 25 minutes into the session, and while the German put himself in first place right from the start, the Finn overshot the final corner, rode over the kerbs, and destroyed the underside of his car as well as damaging the right-hand radiator, having to cruise back to the pits to take the spare car.
Everyone queued up at the end of the pitlane to start a frantic rush. Everyone except Michael Schumacher, who decided to stay in the pits and watch the last minute showdown. "I knew it would have been a mess to go out there and as you saw it was a mess so I sat back and watched it," said the German. "It was much more interesting to watch it."
Pos. Driver Team Times
1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:15.782 210.018 km/h
2. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:16.297 + 0.515
3. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:16.423 + 0.641
4. Trulli Jordan Honda (B) 1:16.459 + 0.677
5. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:16.760 + 0.978
6. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:16.771 + 0.989
7. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:16.875 + 1.093
8. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:16.979 + 1.197
9. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:17.035 + 1.253
10. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:17.123 + 1.341
11. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:17.165 + 1.383
12. Zonta Jordan Honda (B) 1:17.328 + 1.546
13. Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:17.903 + 2.121
14. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:18.015 + 2.233
15. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:18.016 + 2.234
16. Alesi Prost Acer (M) 1:18.178 + 2.396
17. Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:18.575 + 2.793
18. Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 1:18.622 + 2.840
19. Burti Prost Acer (M) 1:18.753 + 2.971
20. Button Benetton Renault (M) 1:19.033 + 3.251
21. Marques Minardi European (M) 1:20.690 + 4.908
22. Alonso Minardi European (M) - Time Disqualified -
The launch control fears were, for once, not materialised at the start of the race, and no cars were left stranded before or after the formation lap. When the red lights went out, almost everybody got off to a clear getaway, except Jacques Villeneuve who, continuing with his dismal weekend, saw how his "anti-stall kicked in," in his words, losing several positions.
Up in front, as the leaders began to open a clear gap, Barrichello overtook Coulthard and began to put pressure on Ralf, but the Brazilian tried too hard, and with his traction control turned off due to a problem, the Ferrari spun at the exit of the hairpin, rejoining the race in 14th place.
Ralf quickly moved right behind Michael, who was clearly slowing down his brother. Ralf shyly tried to pass the Ferrari at the end of the back straight several times, but without success. Further back Coulthard was struggling even more and now Trulli was all over his back.
When Ralf finally made his stop on lap 51, it was clear his pace would allow him to return to the track in the lead, and so it was. The young German emerged more than five seconds clear of Michael, who on lap 55 saw his main rival in the Championship retire in a huge cloud of smoke. "These things happen now and again," Coulthard said. "I have no doubt that I can still win the World Championship and will continue to work towards it. If you don't like a challenge you shouldn't be in Formula One."
"It was obviously a great race today," said Ralf after scoring his second win out of three finishes this season. "The whole time the two of us were together, I was waiting for him (Michael) to make a mistake. Obviously he didn't. I tried it a couple of times at the end of the straight but then it was difficult, so I waited for the pit strategy when I thought that we would go longer anyway and it worked out that way."
CLASSIFIED
Pos Driver Team Time
1. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1h 34:31.522
2. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) + 20.235
3. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes (B) + 40.672
4. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) + 1:08.115
5. Alesi Prost Acer (M) + 1:10.435
6. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) + 1 Lap
7. Zonta Jordan Honda (B) + 1 Lap
8. Burti Prost Acer (M) + 1 Lap
9. Marques Minardi European (M) + 3 Laps
10. Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) + 4 Laps
11. Trulli Jordan Honda (B) + 6 Laps
Fastest Lap: R.Schumacher, 1:17.205, lap 50
NOT CLASSIFIED / RETIREMENTS
Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (B) 54
Panis BAR Honda (B) 39
Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 34
Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 24
Barrichello Ferrari (B) 19
Montoya Williams BMW (M) 19
Button Benetton Renault (M) 17
Alonso Minardi European (M) 5
Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 2
Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 2
Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 1
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING, ROUND 8:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. M.Schumacher 58 1. Ferrari 82
2. Coulthard 40 2. McLaren 48
3 Barrichello 24 3. Williams 28
4. R.Schumacher 22 4. Sauber 15
5. Heidfeld 8 5. Jordan 13
= Hakkinen 8 6. BAR 12
7. Raikkonen 7 7. Jaguar 5
= Trulli 7 8. Prost 3
= Villeneuve 7 9. Benetton 1
10. Montoya 6 = Arrows 1
= Frentzen 6
12. Panis 5
13. Irvine 4
14. Alesi 3
15. Fisichella 1
= Verstappen 1
= de la Rosa 1
Pos Driver Team Lap Time
1. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 50 1:17.205
2. Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 45 1:18.148 + 0.943
3. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 48 1:18.176 + 0.971
4. de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 50 1:19.006 + 1.801
5. Verstappen Arrows-Asiatech (B) 59 1:19.257 + 2.052
6. Raikkonen Sauber-Petronas (B) 63 1:19.309 + 2.104
7. Alesi Prost-Acer (M) 59 1:19.328 + 2.123
8. Trulli Jordan-Honda (B) 29 1:19.414 + 2.209
9. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 13 1:19.722 + 2.517
10. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (B) 32 1:19.745 + 2.540
11. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 30 1:19.782 + 2.577
12. Burti Prost-Acer (M) 60 1:19.841 + 2.636
13. Panis BAR-Honda (B) 30 1:19.856 + 2.651
14. Zonta Jordan-Honda (B) 38 1:20.078 + 2.873
15. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 18 1:20.159 + 2.954
16. Bernoldi Arrows-Asiatech (B) 11 1:20.767 + 3.562
17. Button Benetton-Renault (M) 11 1:21.124 + 3.919
18. Marques Minardi-European (M) 19 1:22.312 + 5.107
19. Alonso Minardi-European (M) 4 1:22.413 + 5.208
Pos Driver Team Time Lap
1. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 29.0 51
2. de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 29.4 52
3. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 29.6 46
4. Verstappen Arrows-Asiatech (B) 29.7 47
5. Verstappen Arrows-Asiatech (B) 30.0 23
6. Raikkonen Sauber-Petronas (B) 30.3 39
7. Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 30.4 49
8. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (B) 30.5 42
9. de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 30.8 30
10. Marques Minardi-European (M) 30.9 21
11. Marques Minardi-European (M) 31.0 47
12. Trulli Jordan-Honda (B) 32.3 38
13. Alesi Prost-Acer (M) 32.5 41
14. Burti Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 32.5 33
15. Button Benetton-Renault (M) 32.9 7
16. Panis BAR-Honda (B) 36.2 36
17. Zonta Jordan-Honda (B) 37.9 36
18. Bernoldi Arrows-Asiatech (B) 41.1 9
19. Button Benetton-Renault (M) 45.4 9
20. Panis BAR-Honda (B) 248.7 37
The Canadian Grand Prix, Lap by Lap
Lap 1: At the start Michael Schumacher gets away well but his brother Ralf is faster and the two men go into the first corner side by side with Ralf on the outside. Michael takes the lead. David Coulthard is third with Jarno Trulli fourth, Rubens Barrichello fifth and Olivier Panis sixth. Jos Verstappen, running a light fuel-load as usual, makes up six places to run seventh. Ricardo Zonta also makes a good start to move from 12th on the grid to ninth. In the course of the first lap Barrichello passes Trulli. At the tail of the field the two Benettons tangle with one another, Giancarlo Fisichella running into the back of Jenson Button. Fisichella pits with his front right suspension broken. Jacques Villeneuve makes a very bad start and drops to 15th.
Lap 6: Barrichello spins at the exit of the hairpin and drops down to 14th position. Coulthard is third again with Trulli fourth, Panis fifth and Verstappen sixth. At the tail of the field Luciano Burti passes Marques. Jenson Button is given a 10-second stop-go penalty for jumping the start.
Lap 20: Tenth-placed Juan Pablo Montoya crashes in the fast sweeper at the back of the track. Rubens Barrichello goes off into the barriers avoiding the Williams. A Safety Car is sent out while the wreckage is cleaned up.
Lap 34: On the back straight Zonta and Raikkonen touch. Both men suffer damage. At the tail of the field Villeneuve retires with a mechanical problem.
Lap 46: Michael Schumacher pits. Ralf takes the lead. Further back de la Rosa passes Trulli for sixth place. At the tail of the field Marques has his second stop.
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