|
The Paddock
2000 t e a m s
3 + 4  |
 Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro |
| Formula One record: [1-1-2000] |
| Starts |
619 |
| Poles |
127 |
| Wins |
125 |
| Constructors' titles |
9 ('61, '64, '75, '76, '77, '79, '82, '83, '99) |
| Drivers' titles |
'52(Ascari), '53(Ascari), '56(Fangio), '58(Hawthorn), '61(P.Hill), '64(Surtees), '75(Lauda), '77(Lauda), '79(Scheckter) |
| 1998 season: |
| Second in constructors' championship with 133 points (Michael Schumacher / Eddie Irvine) |
Record - six wins (all Michael Schumacher), second x4, third x8, fourth x3, fifth x1, did not finish x3 |
| 1999 season: |
| Champions with 128 points (Michael Schumacher / Eddie Irvine / Mika Salo). |
Placings: first x6, second x6, third x5, fourth x2, fifth x2, sixth x2, seventh x2, eighth x1, ninth x1, 12th x1, retired x4. |
| History: |
| 1947 |
Grand prix debut at Piacenza in May. Won first grand prix in Rome with Franco Cortese. |
| 1950 |
First Formula One world championship season. |
| 1951 |
First world championship victory at Silverstone with Jose Froilan Gonzales at the wheel. |
| 1961 |
Wolfgang Von Trips dies in crash at Monza, 13 spectators killed by his car. |
| 1964 |
Surtees becomes only man to win world championships on two wheels and four. |
| 1979 |
Jody Scheckter wins last of Ferrari's nine drivers' titles. |
| 1982 |
Gilles Villeneuve dies at Zolder. |
| 1989 |
Death of Enzo Ferrari. |
| 1996 |
Michael Schumacher arrives from Benetton. |
| 1999 |
Ferrari wins world championship for constructors with Eddie Ervine, Michael Schumacher and Mika Salo |
| Most successful drivers: Michael Schumacher 16 wins, Niki Lauda 15, Ascari 13, Gilles Villeneuve and Jacky Ickx 6. |
| Historic World Champions: |
| 1979 |
Jody Scheckter / Ferrari 312T4 / Belgium GP (May 31) / Circuit Zolder / 1 st / 110,99 mph |
 |
| 1977 |
Niki Lauda / Ferrari 312T2 / Dutch GP (August 28) / Circuit Zandvoort / 1st / 115,86 mph |
 |
| 1975 |
Niki Lauda / Ferrari 312T / Swedisch GP (June 8) / Circuit Anderstop / 1st / 100,23 mph |
 |
| Recent cars: |
| 1992 |
 |
| Ferrari F92/A Ferrari 3.5L V12 |
Jean Alesi(27) & Ivan Capelli / Nicola Larini(28) |
| 1993 |
 |
| Ferrari F93/A Ferrari 3.5L V12 |
Jean Alesi(27) & Gerhard Berger(28) |
| 1994 |
 |
| Ferrari 412T1/B Ferrari 3.5L V12 |
Jean Alesi / Nicola Larini(27) & Gerhard Berger(28) |
| 1995 |
 |
| Ferrari 412T2 Ferrari 3.0L V12 |
Jean Alesi(27) & Gerhard Berger(28) |
| 1996 |
 |
| Ferrari F310 Ferrari 3.0L V10 |
Michael Schumacher(1) & Eddie Irvine(2) |
| 1997 |
 |
| Ferrari F310B Ferrari 3.0L V10 |
Michael Schumacher(5) & Eddie Irvine(6) |
| 1999 |
 |
| Ferrari F399 Ferrari 048 |
Michael Schumacher / Mika Salo(3) & Eddie Irvine(4) |
| Prospects for the 2000 season: |
 Ferrari F1-2000 powered by Ferrari 049 V10 engine. |
| Michael Schumacher's broken leg ruined his 1999 season, although the team were constructors' champions. This could be his year. Brazilian Rubens Barrichello has replaced Eddie Irvine and has been told he starts as an equal. The new car is lighter, lower and looking faster in testing. It has a new engine combining more horsepower and reduced weight. Last year's car was the most reliable on the grid. |
| Drivers: |
Michael Schumacher  |
| Aged 30, German. |
| Races 128, wins 35, pole positions 23. podiums: 71 races in points (top six): 86, Pole positions: 23, Fastest race laps: 39, Previous F1 teams: Jordan, Benetton, 1999 championship position: 5th, 1999 points: 44, Career points: 570, World champion: 1994, 1995 |
| 1999 season: |
fifth. 44 points - First place x2, second x3, third x1, fifth x1, eighth x1, retired x2, did not race x6 (injured). |
Given his Formula One chance at Jordan as a replacement for the jailed Belgian Betrand Gachot and never looked back. Now acclaimed as the best driver of his generation. Broke his leg at Silverstone last season, ending his championship hopes. Won twice. Won 1994 title by a single point after controversial collision in final race with Damon Hill. Highest paid driver in Formula One.
Michael Schumacher started his career in the Formula Konig series in 1987, which he dominated to such an extent, that he had the title wrapped up early, and progressed into Formula Ford, coming second to Mika Salo in the European Championship, and fourth in the German series.
In 1989, he went to the German Formula 3 series, where he finished third, equal with his teammate, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, and just one point behind second place.
1990 saw him dominate this series, winning five times and later topping that by also winning the international races at Macau and Fiji. Sports cars are nothing new to him either, becoming a member of the Mercedes junior team, even winning the round in Mexico City.He drove sports cars again in 91, winning at Autopolis.
That year also saw his Formula 3000 debut where he finished second at Sugo, in the Japanese Series.More importantly, 1991 saw him explode into Formula One, his first race driven for Jordan in the Belgian Grand Prix. He qualified seventh, but failed to complete the race, due to clutch problems. That was his only race for Jordan, as he switched to Benetton.
1992 saw him visit the podium 8 times, including once on the top step for his first Grand Prix victory in Belgium, completing the season third overall with 53 points.
He continued with the Benetton team and 1993 saw him win a superb race in Portugal, rounding off the season, fourth overall.
In 1994, Michael stunned the Grand Prix world, when he was quicker in the Benetton, than Senna was in the Williams. After Sennas death, Michael seemed unbeatable, even though Benetton were swamped with allegations of cheating. They fought through all the disqualifications and bans, and in the end, he beat Damon Hill to the crown by one point, after a controversial accident at the last race in Australia.
Nine wins later, he took the crown for a second time, before moving to the Ferrari team in 1996 where he still remains.That year, he pushed the unreliable Ferrari to its limits, bringing home three wins that the car didn't deserve.
It was more competitive in 97, where he won in Monaco, France, Canada, Belgium and Japan, and he went into the final race in Jerez, with a one-point advantage over Williams's driver, Jacques Villeneuve. Once again, the season finished in controversy, after an accident between the two. Villeneuve raced onto to take the crown, while Michael had his 2nd place in the championship stripped from him by the FIA.
1998 saw a very reliable Ferrari, and a very determined Michael Schumacher. Although McLaren dominated from the start, Michael wouldn't give up, pushing the Ferrari as far as it would go. Winning 6 races for the season, and once again it came down to the final race, but a stall from pole position, and a blown tyre, saw his chances of taking the title for a third time vanish.
The 1999 season didn't start that well for Michael, with problems in the opening race, but from then on, he quickly took to the lead in the championship and just as it started to appear that he may take the title this year, tragedy struck at the British Grand Prix where a first lap accident saw him sidelined for months with a broken leg. He watched helplessly as the season went on without him, but returned for the final two races and although his teammate, Eddie Irvine, narrowly lost out on the drivers title, between them both they gave Ferrari their first Constructors victory since 1983.
The 2000 season will see him partnered with Rubens Barrichello as Irvine moves across to Jaguar. Instead of working side by side with Irvine, Schumacher will now be fighting against him.
[More] |
Rubens Barrichello  |
| Aged 27, Brazilian. |
| Races 113., 0 wins, 1 poles, podium finishes ... points to date: 77 |
| 1999 record |
Stewart, seventh, 21 points - third place x3, fourth x1, fifth x3, eighth x2, ninth x1, 10th x1, retired x4, disqualified x1 |
Rubens had one of the fastest climbs from karting to formula one than any other active driver. By the age of 17, he had 5 national karting titles, and promptly went on to win the GM Euroseries in the same year. Formula Three came next for him, where he won the title in 1991 for West Surrey Racing. He had less success the next year, when he tried Formula 3000, but he came third overall, and was ready for Formula One by his twenty first birthday.
He made his Formula One debut in 1993, driving for Eddie Jordan, at the South African Grand Prix, where he qualified 14th, but the gearbox failed him on lap 31.
He nearly finished in second place, behind his hero and countryman, Ayrton Senna, in only his third race, but fuel problems late in the race prevented this.
In 1994, he claimed his first pole position, in the wet at Spa-Francorchamps, but sadly he spun off on lap 19.
That year did see him finish third at the Pacific Grand prix, as well as five other fourth positions.
Mechanical failures plagued him in 1995, but the Canadian Grand Prix saw his first second place finish.
He stayed with Jordan until the 97 season when he signed with Stewart, where he still remains, bringing home the teams only points when he came second in Monaco.
1998 showed another year without success, with fifth place finishes in Spain and Canada, 9 retirements, and an injury in the aborted start at the Belgian Grand Prix preventing him from restarting, saw him end the season in 12th position with 4 points.
In 1999 he partnered Johnny Herbert and after a very promising start to the season, the car failed on many occasions, but when it didn't. Rubens put in some strong performances, even taking pole position in a wet qualifying that took all the drivers by surprise. By mid season it was one of Formula Ones worst kept secrets that he was signing with Ferrari for the 2000 season in a basic swap with Eddie Irvine. Here the Brazilian hopes to fulfill his and his country's dreams of success.
[More] |
| Ferrari in 2000: |
Last year saw Ferrari - with a large dose of help from its arch-rival McLaren and a controversial decision by the FIA - come agonisingly close to breaking its 20-year drought with a long-awaited triumph in the world drivers' championship. That it was the now-departed Eddie Irvine and not team leader Michael Schumacher who came within an ace of adding the driver's crown to Ferrari's constructors' title was, of course, one of the sport's great ironies. But Mika Hakkinen and McLaren, after a string of unforced errors throughout the year that let Irvine back into the title chase when he looked dead and buried, finally got it right at Suzuka when it mattered.
Victory there sealed a second title in a row for the Finn, ensuring another winter of discontent for the fanatical tifosi - the Ferrari fans.
So the year 2000 is critical. Schumacher, world champion in 1994 and 1995 in a Benetton, is now in his fifth year with the Scuderia and really has to deliver the goods.
He may well have done so last year had he not broken his leg in a horrific high-speed shunt at Silverstone. When he returned in the second-last Grand Prix of the season at Malaysia's new Sepang circuit and delivered a masterclass in F1 driving he looked as good, or better, than ever.
Schumacher, who will, by the end of his contract in 2002, have reportedly earned hundreds of millions of dollars from Ferrari, has had a huge influence on the team and its performance. But for posterity to justify the massive investment Ferrari has made in him, he will have to win the world title. Finishing runner up, and taking the championship battle to the wire, is all well and good, but in the end it will not be regarded as a success.
At Ferrari's season launch last month Schumacher and his new team-mate, Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, both sounded confident that the team could finally make the breakthrough.
"I have a good feeling about this season," said Schumacher. "We have been saying it is the right time for the drivers' title for the past three years, but I am very optimistic about this season, although, it is a sport and you cannot predict what will happen.
"But winning the constructors' title has given us a push. It has taken some of the pressure off the team and we can feel optimistic that we can take the next step this year."
Schumacher reasons that he will start this season fitter than ever and has fully recovered from the broken leg he suffered in England. He has also cut down on his heavy testing programme.
"I have had a good preparation for this season and have been able to relax. It is good to take a break after four years of working hard and doing many, many kilometres in testing.
"But as a consequence of the accident I have learned new things about training and I think the results will be good for my performance.
"I've got all the statistics about my fitness, now I can't wait to prove it in the car. I want to go racing and show it."
In previous years Ferrari has been slow to get the preparation of its cars right for the start of the season, but Schumacher believes this time it will be right from flagfall in Melbourne.
"We have to ensure we finish the first race in first position - that is our target," says the man who has won more Grand Prix races for Ferrari than any other driver.
The new car, dubbed F1 2000, is an evolutionary design and is said to be lighter and have a lower centre of gravity. Ferrari concentrated on improving aerodynamics, suspension and weight distribution.
The car will have a new engine, the 049, which Ferrari says will combine greater horsepower with reduced weight.
Team-mate Rubens Barrichello is confident he will break his Grand Prix duck and score the first win of his career following his arrival from Stewart, which now races under the Jaguar name.
He says that, unlike Eddie Irvine, he will not have to move over to let Schumacher past.
"If in my first race I am winning it through what I have done and not because of some accident, the team will let me win," he said.
"There is nothing in my contract which says I have to let Michael pass. This is my big chance and I believe I will get my first victory with Ferrari and hopefully many more as well."
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo claimed there was no pecking order at Ferrari. "It all depends on lap times. Irvine was not number one because he was not as quick as Michael.
"Eddie did a very good job, but after four years I think, for the motivation of people within the team, it was time for a change.
"Winning the constructors' championship was good for morale after 16 years. That was very important for us after a difficult season in which we lost our best driver for seven races out of 16.
"I think we would have won the drivers' title but for Michael's accident, but hopefully we can do it this time. There is pressure on us, but there is always pressure at Ferrari." |
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www.michael-schumacher.com
www.barrichello.com.br