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Full race report. Europe, nürburgring, September 26, 1999. Race results. Brazil, Interlagos, April 6, 2003. Read more
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FULL RACE REPORT
Europe, Nü rburgring, September 26, 1999
Sacked by Williams for not being as fast as Jacques Villeneuve (to replace Damon Hill, axed despite being faster than Villeneuve), championship outsider Heinz-Harald Frentzen led for Jordan until sidelined by electrical failure. Fellow title contenders David Coulthard and Eddie Irvine also failed to score in a race punctuated by showers and shrewd (or myopic) tyre calls. Mika Hä kkinen salvaged fifth as best of the “favourites” and the day ended with Prost driver Jarno Trulli in second place, sandwiched by Stewart team-mates Johnny Herbert and Rubens Barrichello. Most of the internet’s capacity would be required to relate the full tale…
RACE RESULTS
2000s
Brazil, Interlagos, April 6, 2003
Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari among the cars in Interlagos’s F1 scrapyard
A sodden track triggered a safety car start and conditions gradually improved, save for a river running across the road at Turn Three. That caught out several drivers, including Michael Schumacher. Subsequent rain triggered more pandemonium. Mark Webber crashed coming onto the pit straight – and Fernando Alonso had an even bigger shunt after collecting some of the wreckage. Kimi Rä ikkö nen was summoned to the podium’s top step after the red flag flew, but three days later the FIA identified a timekeeping error and awarded the race – correctly – to Giancarlo Fisichella. He received his trophy somewhat belatedly, at Imola…
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France, Magny-Cours, July 4, 2004
It wasn’t the most balanced of seasons – Ferrari winning 15 of 18 grands prix, and all but two of those victories failing to Michael Schumacher – but there was ample artistry to offset the lack of competitive tension. We’d seen Schumacher do this kind of thing before – notably at Budapest in ’98, when he’d driven a sequence of what were effectively qualifying laps to make a three-stop strategy work against the notionally faster McLarens – and here he served up a repeat. Beaten to pole by Fernando Alonso’s Renault, Ferrari devised a four-stop strategy and Schumacher promptly converted.
RACE RESULTS
Japan, Suzuka, October 9, 2005
Artificially mixed grids tend to stick in a purist’s craw, but it’s fine when when nature intervenes to subvert the natural hierarchy. These were the days of cars qualifying one at a time – and deteriorating conditions savaged the chances of the quicker guys running towards the end. Michael Schumacher started 14th, Fernando Alonso 16th and Kimi Rä ikkö nen 17th. Alonso’s recovery included passing Schumacher at 206mph… around the outside of 130R. Rä ikkö nen edged ever closer to leader Giancarlo Fisichella and swept ahead going into the first turn on the final lap. If only all motor races could be like this.
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Brazil, Interlagos, November 2, 2008
A year earlier Lewis Hamilton had been the Paulistas’ darling – a cavalier rookie fighting for the world title in their own back yard. And here he was again, same situation but now public enemy number one because he was up against one of their own: Felipe Massa. The home-spun hero drove impeccably, leading all the way from pole. When he crossed the line he was technically champion, as Hamilton was sixth – one place adrift of where he needed to be. On a wet track, however, he passed Timo Glock’s dry-shod Toyota at the campaign’s final corner to break local hearts. Massa’s subsequently dignified response was magnificent.
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Europe, Valencia, June 24, 2012
A slightly forlorn track on the fringe of a wonderful city, Valencia had produced some tactically interesting races since its introduction in 2008 – but not much in the way of raw spectacle. By year five the facility was falling apart and the end was clearly nigh, but its final grand prix was a suitable send-off. At a venue where passing was thought to be almost impossible, crowd favourite Fernando Alonso won from 11th on the grid. He was aided by Renault alternator failures, but science remains powerless to explain how he squeezed around the outside of Romain Grosjean at Turn Two.
FULL RACE REPORT
Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina, November 27, 2016
Champion, and soon to-be retiree
DPPI
Built on vacant desert between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina has conjured some processional clunkers during its time as host for the seasonal finale. There wasn’t much overtaking in this one, either, but the psychological brutality was compelling: Lewis Hamilton in the lead, ignoring team instructions to up his pace when all he wanted to do was reverse team-mate Nico Rosberg into the pursuing pack, his last hope of salvaging a title that would elude him if the German finished on the podium. Both did everything that was required; title secured, Rosberg announced his retirement just a week later.
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