F1 Habt Ihr Mercedes in Imola gesehen?

IMOLA, Italy, April 11 - The collision course taken by Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya this season could play into David Coulthard's hands if it continues.

But the McLaren driver, who needs every point he can get after taking just four so far to world champion Schumacher's 24 after three races, says he wants to beat his rivals in a straight fight.

"I wouldn't say carry on crashing because genuinely your goal is to win, beating everyone on the track. That is the ultimate goal," the Scot told reporters ahead of Sunday's San Marino Formula One Grand Prix.

"If you are just happy to take wins any way, if that's your view on life, then you'd be quite happy to cheat old people out of money and all that sort of thing."

Colombian Montoya, in a Williams, and Ferrari's Schumacher have started the last two out of three races this season on the front row and have barged into each other on the opening lap in Malaysia and Brazil.

Coulthard was runner-up overall last season and has a good record at Imola, winning in 1998 and twice finishing as runner-up. But he has not celebrated a grand prix victory since Austria last May.

"This is about pitting yourself against the best people in the world...and beating them," he continued.

"You can't go to race weekends saying okay, if the two crash into each other there's a good chance of getting 10 points here.

"But it goes without saying if they crash into each other, they're not on the track and then it increases your chances of winning."


CONFUSING MESSAGE
Schumacher took his second win of the season in Brazil after Montoya hit the back of the Ferrari in a controversial incident that the Colombian claimed was caused by the German's unfair tactics.

Coulthard, who has had several run-ins with Schumacher in the past and is not alone in taking issue with his rival's swerving starts, sided with Montoya.

"My understanding is that you are allowed to make a defensive move," he said. "But you are not allowed to make a move that hinders the opportunity for the car trying to overtake you to overtake you.

"I've watched that incident (in Brazil) repeatedly and to me Michael clearly makes a deliberate swerving manoeuvre to the left after his initial manoeuvre to block Montoya," added the Scot.
"That isn't what the regulations say you are allowed to do.
"That could at least have been treated as an incident, (the stewards could) maybe have called him up and talked about it," he said. "But it was a clear 'no incident' and that sends out a confusing message."

 

IMOLA, Italy, April 14 - Jenson Button and David Coulthard left Sunday's San Marino Formula One Grand Prix reflecting on what a difference a year can make.

This time last year, Coulthard came second to draw level with Ferrari's Michael Schumacher in the championship -- the only time the German has been caught up with in the last 24 races.

Button was all at sea in an uncompetitive Benetton, renamed Renault this year as the French carmaker returns in force, and struggling to stay afloat as rumours bobbed around him about his future.

This season, it is Coulthard and his McLaren team who have been struggling to score points, while Button has been enjoying a renaissance.

The Renault driver's fifth place on Sunday, one ahead of Coulthard, was his third successive points finish in four races and kept him firmly in fourth place in the championship.

Although he does not measure himself against his compatriots, he is still the leading Briton, heading Coulthard, Eddie Irvine and Allan McNish in the standings.

Imola left him two points clear of Coulthard, the highest ranked British driver for the past two seasons who at the last race in Brazil became the second highest British points' scorer of all time.

Renault are just one point adrift of McLaren in the constructors' championship.

BIG BOOST
"Being fourth in the championship still after four races is a big boost," said the 22-year-old Englishman, who came into Formula One with Williams in 2000.

"This was one of my best races ever.

"It was a very difficult race because this is a very difficult circuit to be consistent on. It was good to be up against the McLarens, beating them really.

"(McLaren boss) Ron (Dennis) has to watch out...we're coming strong," he added.

McLaren have had problems since the start of the season, difficulties that continued when Finland's Kimi Raikkonen was called in by the team at Imola for safety reasons after his car developed an exhaust problem.

"The weekend's results show our current performance level," said Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug. "We are too slow and everybody in the team knows that we have to improve and work even harder."

Button, however, expects them to fight back hard.

"It's going to be a difficult one (to stay ahead of McLaren," he said. "I think the most important thing for us is to stay as close as we can to them and then, hopefully, fight it out a bit further into the season.

"Normally, they have got quite good reliability and if they have it will be tough.

"But I think we're going to be very competitive on all the circuits this season and the good thing with our team is that we just keep on progressing."

Button was also confident that Ferrari, despite their dominance at their home track, would have a harder time in future.

"I don't think there will be another race where they have such a lead as that," he said.

"I just pushed like hell throughout the race and round here it's very difficult," Button added. "Every corner is so difficult, you can make one little mistake and you're off the circuit.

"It's been such a difficult circuit for me before."

 

Hallo KGW,

Irgendwie ist zur Zeit bei McLaren der Wurm drin. Nach anfänglich guten Testergebnissen, gab es bis Heute keine signifikanten Fortschritte. Problem ist hier, daß der aktuelle Wagen sich komplett vom Vorjahrsmodell unterscheidet. Selbst der Reifenhersteller wurde gewechselt. Und da liegt das Problem : Coulthard ist ein guter Fahrer aber Hakinen und Michael können den Technikern subjektive Erfahrungen über das Fahrverhalten besser erklären. Auch wenn sehr viele Parameter technisch erfasst werden, kann man das Gespühr des Fahrers nicht ersetzen.

Nun, trotz daß ich ein Ferari Fan bin, hoffe ich auf mehr Konkurrenz, denn sonst wird es irgend wie viel zu Langweilig.

Gruß
Dirk

 

Hallo kgw,

weder das eine noch das andere. Zur heutigen Zeit wird in vielen Firmen nur noch englisch gesprochen. Leider hatte ich diese Texte nicht in deutscher Sprache zur Verfügung.

Wo ich arbeite wurde deutsch schon vor Jahren durch englisch ersetzt.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Rebecca