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Leaving Indy... A Wrap Of The 2000 U.S. Grand Prix Story by Steve Dean - 06 January 2001. Considering that most of the Formula One teams are based in England, they must have felt right at home for The 2000 U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis on Sunday. It was a cold, gray day, with temperatures in the 50s, a steady north wind and rain till about 11 in the morning. Quite a contrast from Friday and Saturday, which were warm and humid. It felt like a Chiefs game at Arrowhead in late November instead of an auto race. Indeed, the British must have felt right at home. The one man who showed no signs of being bothered by the weather was Ferrari top gun, Michael Schumacher. Trailing the World Championship by two points, from McLaren-Mercedes ace, Mika Hakkinen, the 31-year-old German took the lead on lap 7, and disappeared from the radar. Schumacher had built up such a large lead, that by the tail end of the race, he spun his Ferrari on the slow infield section of the track, collected himself and his car, and still managed to win Indy by 12 seconds over his teammate, Brazilian Rubens Barrichello. With the win, his 42nd, he passed his fallen hero, Brazilian Ayrton Senna, for second on the all-time win list of Grand Prix's, second only to Frenchman Alain Prost. Schumacher started on the pole, followed by Hakkinen's teammate, David Coulthard. Hakkinen had 3rd, Barrichello, 4th. Nearly all of the drivers started on rain tires, because the infield section of the track was saturated with water. When the starting lights went out, Englishman, David Coulthard got a fantastic jump on Schumacher. Apparently, a little too fanatastic, as sensors and video showed that Coulthard jumped the start. But at the first corner, Coulthard lead Schumacher and Hakkinen for the lead. But by lap 7, Schumacher had muscled his way past Coulthard (who had yet to serve his stop-and-go penalty for jumping the start). By this time, Hakkinen decided to pit for slick tires, as the track was drying out, putting the Finnish driver even farther behind Schumacher. Coulthard came in to serve his penalty, but wasn't allowed to work on his car during a penalty stop, as F1 rules specify, so he had to take another lap around the circuit, before coming in again, to change to slick tires. This effectively ended his chances. Hakkinen began to slice a half a second a lap off Schumacher's lead, but his engine let go with a cloud of blue smoke on lap 25. With that, Schumacher won the race, and took over the Championship lead, with two races to go. Heard From Indianapolis..... *It was quite a sight to see the stands at Indianapolis full for F1. When this race was announced, my prediction was maybe, maybe 50,000 people would attend. Again, I look like a fool. Attendance for the race was estimated at 220,000 people, the largest audience ever, for an F1 race. Speedway officials claim a third of the attendees would be from central Indiana. That's a great sign for F1 in the US, but looking at the big picture, is it just a one year curiosity thing, or is a sign of things to come? *The largely, American crowd was very enthusiastic about these F1 cars and drivers. When practice opened up on Saturday morning, and the cars began to leave the pitlane, a huge roar erupted. It sent shivers down my spine, hearing those F1 engines scream down the front straight of Indianapolis. And, obviously, I wasn't the only one. *Speaking of those F1 engines, the first thing I learn is elementary: earplugs are mandatory. I know, I know, I've been to a million concerts too. Trust me, no concert prepares you for the kind of assault your eardrums will experience, when an F1 car blasts past you. I have earplugs for Saturday, but I can't seem to get them to work that well. When the cars fly by, the piercing ring still hurts my head. Half way through the session, the headache begins. I twist, I turn the earplugs, hoping that they will block out the loud screams of these beasts. But then, the last thing I hear, before the earplugs finally work, is the track announcer saying, "40 seconds left...in qualifying." *One of the most impressive things about these cars, was how fast they accelerated, and how fast they stopped. During qualifying, my buddy and I sat across from the Start/Finish line. They weren't allowed to accelerate until they reached a white line at the exit of the pits. When they reached that line, they blasted the throttle, ran through the gears, and rocketed away like nothing I've ever seen before on four wheels. Consequently, our race day tickets were between turn 12 and turn 13. The pit entrance was between these turns as well. There was a white line that the drivers had to be at or below the speed of 70 mph. When the F1 cars came off turn 12, they were easily doing a 120 mph. They would break at the last possible second to hit that white line at the right speed. Again, I've never seen something going so fast, stop so suddenly. *For once in my life, I thought ahead. Waking up Sunday morning, it was grey and rainy. Before we left the hotel, I had a thought: Let's bring towels to the race to keep our asses dry. Sure enough, when we got to our seats, puddles of water covered our seats. So, thanks to me, instead of sitting on a cold, hard, WET, wooden bleacher, we sat on a cold, hard, DRY, wooden bleacher. Next year, we spring for the more expensive, covered seats. Quotes Of Note
"I think confidence is a weakness in this sport."
"It will be a great opportunity."
"The feeling in this pitlane is just phenomonal."
"Just listen to this crowd!"
"Does anybody really believe Bernie (Ecclestone, F1 chief) and F1 give a flying wingnut that they're on the same track that Jim Clark and Parnelli Jones made famous?"
"Bottom line? I covered F1 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) and Long Beach (C.A.) and always enjoyed it. I'm glad it's back in the United States. It just feels out of place."
"What you have to understand is that these guys are decelerating from 215 mph to 40 mph in 3 1/2 seconds with 4 1/2 G's working against them."
"Seeing so many fans celebrating a Ferrari 1-2 (finish)...is great."
"It means a lot to me."
"Is that all there is?"
"(The race had) all the attendant excitement of watching Kansas State pound Ball State, or the Dream Team whip up on Angola."
"Sorry, but I just don't get it, and I wonder if the Americans who wandered into (Speedway President) Tony George's speed palace for their sampling of Formula One will get it."
"Maybe if they just ran a couple of monster trucks across the track during the race, or put some wrestlers in the pits to "lay the smack down"..maybe then they would "get it"? |