21 replies to this topic

[karlth]

According to Schumacher:
"Towards the end, I had no need to push and I let Rubens pass, as he had to make a second stop and he was fighting for second place."

??

No need to push? He was 2-4sec a lap slower. Also why did he slow down before Ruben's pitstop but speed up after it?? "I let Ruben's as he had to make a second stop." What kind of reasoning is that?

Karl
(Totally confused)

[szs]

Michaels Car had vibrations.

[Arnaldo]

It was necesary for Barrichello to do some very fast laps so that after he came in for his second refuel, he would stay ahead of Ralph's Williams. Taking the pending pit stop of his team mate into consideration, MS was so far ahead in first place, that he had little reason not to slow down. However, it was necessary for him not to impede his team mate, so he made the pass very easy - this was picked up by Martin Brundle if you had his commentary.

[This message has been edited by Arnaldo (edited 03-12-2000).]

[SKL]

Couldn't figure out why he slowed down from our SV commentary. I usually like Varsha, but I thought the commentary for the first race was a little weak. The pre-race show also was not up to last year's standards...

[karlth]

Arnaldo said: "... MS was so far ahead in first place, that he had little reason not to slow down."

Slowing down is one thing, but lapping 2-4s slower than his already slow pace, according to MS post race comments, is quite another. Anyway that doesn't explain why he increased his speed again after Barrichello overtook him.

[Boston Killer]

Why Michael slowed down?Noone can really tell unless they work in Ferrari.My guesses are as follows:
1.Vibrations(they weree mentioned by szs,it might be true)
2.Fuel.He could have slowed down in order to save some fuel to make it to the finish safely.

Why he really slowed down?Your guess is as good as mine.Does it really matter now?

[Czesc]

According to the Finnish commentator Rubens passing Schumi was nothing but a moving advertisement for the Brazilian GP. And in his report sometime after the race he said that he's not the only one who thinks the pass was just an advertising trick to make sure the next GP will be sold out.

I'm not sure whether to believe this or not, but it's one possibility.

[pa]

The Brazilian race was already sold out at race time in Aussieland.

[EdwRom]

The Ferrari conspiracy theories already starting! hehe And people say that this will be a boring season ;).



------------------
Ed
Going for my 1st GP (USGP) in 2000!, I think??!! (Hey Tony George, where are my tickets?)

[Czesc]

pa,

Apparantly our commentator didn't know that when he made up his theory, which is not much of a surprise since he doesn't seem to know anything anyway (and that's what makes him worth listening to because you can always laugh at his mistakes).

[AD]

When Michael was driving, "slow" the only ones faster than him were RB and Ralf. He was on the same pace as JV, etc. Yes he was only in cruse mode, he could have easily won by nearly a minute but what's the point?

[Yelnats]

Micheal didn't wan't to be seen losing track position to his team-mate in what could have been seen as a competitve race situation so he took the sting off by making it very obvious that he was letting Rubino by. He probably was concerned about the headlines the next day if he was caught and passed by RB while Rubino was turning his fastest laps and getting track position for his pit stop and Micheal was in a coasting mode.

Also it dosn't hurt Ferrai's image to have had both cars lead the race. So this was a good move by Micheal and is typical of his ability to manage a situation for both his and the teams advantage.

[F1razor]

hmmm....is that it?

LMAO!

Thanks for the insight. Here's a theory for you to chew on...maybe the team let him know what was happening on the radio, and Michael slowed a bit so Rubens could see him and start pushing even harder. Maybe it was a personal favor...

Maybe Rubens wasn't swatting a fly...maybe that was a little wave of 'thank you'.


NAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH....

[Lantern]

If Schuey would have kept his pace, Rubens couldn't have possibly caught him before the pitstop. I believe it was more of a damage control situation. Schuey slowed so he could hold Ralf up just in case something went wrong in the pits and Rubens came out behind Ralfie. It would be far too obvious if he was to slow after such an event if he was as far ahead as he was before he slowed and the FIA would have to make a move.



[This message has been edited by Lantern (edited 03-12-2000).]

[Nomad]

The closest Ralf ever was to Rubens was 9 seconds behind!!!
I don't think that Ferrari was particularly worried about Ralf. The Ferrari engine has enough power advantage on the straights to easily overtake the Williams had they fluffed the pitstop totally.
Rubens 2 stops to get past Frentzen who then retires.
MS slows to let Rubens pass cos someone forgot to tell him that Frentzen was out.
OR
MS slows as a good PR exercise for both team and himself

[130R]

Schuey slowed to preserve the car -- it was the first race after all.

[Lantern]

It's easy to have a 9 second mistake in the pits though. Just ask H2F.
That's what I meant when I said he was slowing "just in case". If Jenson could hold him off for a while then you know Ralf fighting for 2nd would be nearly impossible....and a little dangerous as far as finishing at all is concerned.

[desmo]

Schu's explanation makes perfect sense to me. Some of you have seen too many Oliver Stone movies.

[Pascal]

According to what Claudio Berro (Ferrari official) said to French TV after the race, there were concerns about Schumi's fuel load at some point. And since the latter pitted 2 laps before Rubens made his first stop, the team asked the German driver to stop pushing for a few laps, just to be on the safe side.

[RedFever]

Now, honestly. Did Rubens look like someone who had been robbed of a victory??? he was smiling with 60 teeth left and right, he was ecstatic to finish on the podium on his first race with Ferrari. He had bad luck, got boxed in at the start by MS and HHF. Next time better luck. Ms slowed down because there was nobody even remotly in a position to challenge him. Did you miss his advantage over RS at the end, ragardless of the slowing down?

[Leo]

Ralf closed the gap from 42s on lap 40 to 20s at the finish. M.Schumacher was the slowest car on the track for the last 15 laps. Even Gene and Heidfeld even did (slightly) faster laps.
I can only think of one reason for Schumacher to take it easy: there was no pressure from behind and no need to go faster. Barrichello in the lead was nice Ferrari choreography, but it didn't make the race anymore exciting.

[RedFever]

Actually, as it turns out, Schumi had fuel problems. Brawn asked him to slow, as I found out from La Gazzetta dello SPort. With 2 pit stops, Rubens was a guarantee that even if MS would not finish, he would have made it to the end. But as anyone else fell out, Schumi could really take it easy and win.