McLaren's Wake Up Call
	by James Alexander, Australia

Michael Schumacher's victory at Monza has re-opened the World Championship title chase for the first time this year, and suddenly Melbourne 1998 seems like centuries ago. Back then, the McLaren dominance was so supreme, predictions were made that McLaren will romp away with both titles far sooner than season's end. The last time such a Championship walkover occurred was in 1996, where Williams had finalized the Constructors Championship in their favour by Hungary, and the World Championship was obvious to go their way - be it with Damon Hill or Jacques Villeneuve - from the first races of that year. However, back in 1996 there was no one on the grid in a position to compete with Williams, and the only reason Ferrari won three times and Ligier once was due to Williams' mistakes. It was a year that Williams capitalized to full effect and deservedly won the title. McLaren have been in a similar position in 1988 - where their drivers, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, enabled them to win the title unchallenged, and in 1991 - where the opposition could not hold together a complete challenge. 1998 began with the signs of 1996 or 1988 repeated. So What happened since Melbourne for McLaren to stumble so badly? The first factor has to be reliability. Coulthard has been leading Grands Prix before retiring due to mechanical failures (Canada and Italy), while Hakkinen has had a spate of gearbox problems and brake problems as well. Ferrari, along with Jordan and Williams, have closed the technical gap dramatically, and have been consistently reliable. And while the failure rate of the McLaren shot up, its main contender, Ferrari, has found back the seconds through tyres, driver, major aerodynamic improvements and illustrious pit strategy. Hungary was proof of this, where a 3-stop strategy allowed Schumacher to get ahead of both McLarens, which struggled with mistakes and problems. France showed what the Ferrari was truly capable of trouncing the McLarens rather comprehensively. And while Belgium was a write-off for both teams, it still was a show of utter Schumacher-Ferrari dominance in harsh conditions. Monza was one of those must-win situations for both title contenders and Hakkinen and McLaren - the favourites to win on this fast track - needed to extend their lead over Schumacher and Ferrari. Instead, Hakkinen came fourth and Schumacher won, with Ferrari having their first 1-2 at Monza in ten years. And while McLaren's reliability proved poor yet again in Italy, the race also marked McLaren's second weak point in the fight versus Ferrari - its lead driver. Hakkinen proved himself to be a stalwart defender when he is in front of Schumacher, and I would put my money on Hakkinen in that position to win a race every time. But from behind, he hasn't shown himself as competitive. Three times this year, Hakkinen found himself behind Schumacher - in Argentina, at Monza and to a lesser extent in France. In all cases, he should have been pushing as hard as possible, snapping at Schumacher's gearbox, but for various reasons did not. Some say that it is easier to be the chaser than be chased, but it's also very beneficial to lead, as you dictate the pace, not to mention the hardship of overtaking in modern Formula One. Nonetheless, I do not understand why Hakkinen did not push so much harder in Monza to stay in front of Schumacher through the pit-stops and not fought harder to regain his lead. As I did not understand back in Argentina why Hakkinen did not push harder at the latter stages of the race to catch up with Schumacher, if only for the mere chance that Schumacher - in the lead - might run into some trouble or make a mistake - as he actually did at that race. Hakkinen was nowhere near to capitalize on Schumacher's spin at Argentina simply because he never raced to the tail of Schumacher. Unreliability and errors in driving and pits strategy have now lead the would-be dominant McLaren and Hakkinen to a very fragile position, a long way away from their stern lead at the beginning of the year. Frankly I'd like Hakkinen to win the Championship. but with some of his performances this year it seems as though he's more ready to lose it than win it. Whether he ends World Champion or runner-up - is really up to him and his team; the title was theirs since Melbourne - to win or to lose.

James Alexander	© 1998 Atlas Formula One Journal.
Send comments to: alaw3@student.monash.edu.au	Terms & Conditions