nof1l.gif (4731 bytes)


F1 Merchandise

Formula 1 news, results and statistics when you need it 

2001 McLaren Presentation Model
2001 McLaren Presentation Model
... more die-cast

Has David Coulthard ruined 
his chances ?
Have Your Say  

The beginning of the end! The Heretic 

9 - 15 July News   
Earlier News
   

blank.gif (809 bytes)
blank.gif (809 bytes)
Main Page
Formula 1 News
2015 F1 Schedule
2015 F1 Line-up
2014 F1 Results
F1 Teams
F1 Drivers
NewsOnF1 Mobile
10 'n' Pole
Register - Submit
F1 Regulations
The Forums
Live F1 Coverage
Time & Weather
Motorsport Shop
UK - USA
Motorsport Calendar

F1 Merchandise UK
F1 Merchandise USA

F1 Tours
F1 Tickets
F1 Diecast
F1 Videos
F1 Games
F1 Trivia
NewsOnF1 on Twitter
MotoGP Tickets
Past Formula 1 Seasons
2013 F1 Results
2012 F1 Results
2011 F1 Results
2010 F1 Results
2009 F1 Results
2008 F1 Results
2007 F1 Results
2006 F1 Results
2005 F1 Results
2004 F1 Results
2003 F1 Results

2002 F1 Results

2001 F1 Results

2000 F1 Results

1999 F1 Results

1998 F1 Results

1997 F1 Results
Links
2010 World Cup
Translate
Search
Contact Us
About
Archives
Your Say
Diagnosis & Prognosis
By the Heretic
Controversy Corner
The Real Race
By the Quali-flyer
F1 Testing
F1 Team Reports
8 'n' Pole
2006 World Cup

Download the NewsOnF1.com
toolbar
powered by Alexa

15-Jul: At the post Race press conference for the British GP, Mika Hakkinen indicated that he was relieved to have won at Silverstone as it was one of the few races that he didn't win in the past and said "It's probably difficult to understand 100 per cent how important it is for me, because first of all, I always wanted to win in Canada and I did that not last year but the year before. I always wanted to win that because it's a very special Grand Prix, as is the Silverstone Grand Prix and it happened today, so it's something incredible, something that's missing from my black book. I won quite a few times in Formula Three, but never in Formula One."
He was happy to put on a good show in front of the English crowds and hopes to see more wins from McLaren this season and said "It feels really good. Obviously after all the trouble that's been going on this year, it feels good to win it obviously, and particularly here at Silverstone because I drive for an English team and in front of an English crowd. We made a great show. Hopefully there will be more wins before the end of the season. Before this Grand Prix we had a very good test, we were able to get a good balance in the car and the tyres we were using here were suiting a lot my driving style so I was able to attack the corners and I was able to have a car which didn't understeer so much and gave me the opportunity to chose the line in the corners that I wanted to, so probably that can explain my speed here a little bit."
As for his overtaking manoeuvre on Michael, Mika thought that Michael didn't want to race him and said "Simply I was surprised what happened to Michael to be honest because he was reasonably quick in the first sector and not so quick on the last sector and the mid sector so I was surprised what happened to him. I don't know if it was a mistake or his car was difficult or something but it gave me the opportunity to overtake him and I got beside him and we continued like that in turn two and turn three. I even gave him a little bit of room in case he wanted to race for a couple of corners but he lifted so he doesn't have a reason to race with me at the moment I think."

Michael Schumacher indicated that their car was difficult to drive and Mika was too fast and said "My car wasn't really the way I would have liked to have it and particularly into Copse I had a lot of problems. I got sideways a couple of times on the entry and when it happened with Mika, that's what happened, I lost it at the entry. I managed to keep it on the track which was the only thing I was worried about at this moment and then Mika was beside and there was nothing I could do against that. It was always important to get out of Becketts very well and I was doing that to keep him behind me but indeed, he was flying, he was much much faster, so it would have been very difficult anyway to win this Grand Prix, but I've normally done so well this year so far and Mika did an outstanding race. He was performing well and on our side, something was not perfectly right and that's the way you can't win and you have to accept this."
As for the situation in the championship, Michael indicated that he will keep trying to win races regardless and said "I need to look on the list to see how big that makes the gap now but obviously it works in my favour, but on the other hand, there were seventy points still available and now it's sixty points. Now I have 37 points in my pocket with six races to go. It's nice to know but still, I would rather sit here and tell you it's over but it's not. We have to keep fighting. But on the other hand, despite it being maybe over or not over, I want to continue winning races. That's what I'm here for. The championship is one thing, but race by race is another thing. The little fight we've had with Mika, I hope we can have a little more closer fighting where we keep a bit more together and he doesn't just disappear in the far distance. But we've plenty of races to go together and we'll see."

Rubens Barrichello indicated that he was not happy with the balance of the car since Friday and therefore satisfied with finishing in third and said "I didn't have the balance I would have liked since Friday, to be honest, so I was having to drive it quite carefully although I was trying to be quite fast. I was lucky that my car was good exiting Becketts otherwise I wouldn't have been able to hold anybody but it was good to see Montoya coming into the pits and I had the chance to come in and still be in front of them. After that, the cars on new tyres were a little bit better so I was OK to drive away. It's a couple of races that I finished third, once in Magny-Cours starting eighth and today starting sixth. Although I had different problems. Magny-Cours I was unhappy with the car and yesterday I just had traffic. Two podiums, I have to be not fantastically happy but I'm OK."

15-Jul: What the teams and drivers said following the Race at Silverstone ... Report

15-Jul: British GP - Race: Mika Hakkinen wins his first race of the season ahead of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. Juan Pablo Montoya, Kimi Raikkonen and Nick Heidfeld make the top 6 ... Timed Results ... Full Report ... Notes

15-Jul: British GP - Warm-up: David Coulthard sets the fastest time ahead of Jarno Trulli and Mika Hakkinen. Heinz Harald Frentzen, Michael Schumacher and Olivier Panis make the top 6 ... Timed Results ... Full Report ... Notes

14-Jul: At the post Qualifying press conference for the British GP, Michael Schumacher described the session as difficult but interesting and said "Difficult and interesting because obviously there was only half an hour to go when most people decided to leave the pits and trying to do four runs, trying to work the car, because we haven't any dry experience today for qualifying at all. So it was quite entertaining and then the monitors didn't work any more so we didn't get any lap times. We didn't know where we were fast or slow. It sometimes help you a little bit in which kind of areas to concentrate so it was quite exciting."
As for the race tomorrow, he hopes the race will be entertaining and said "I'm used to fight against two silver cars or two blue cars, whatever, so it doesn't really matter very much who is next to you because you have to fight them down whoever it is and we will try our best to achieve this tomorrow. It's obviously important to us to get another victory in because although people may think the championship looks easy there's still 70 points to give and we want to be on the safe side. So we will try to make a good race, make it entertaining to the spectators and have a good end for us."
Regarding the weather conditions for the race, Michael doesn't mind what the conditions but prefers dry conditions and said "Any, honestly. Preferably dry because it's more consistent. We have seen how much rain we can have here. We have seen the second session when almost nobody wanted to go out because it was too wet, too much rain, too much aquaplaning. So we don't honestly want to see those conditions but the first session was acceptable. But dry is more consistent and more safe."

Mika Hakkinen indicated that he could have gone faster on his last run as we had to slow down on his final lap and said "We went out something like two minutes before the end and obviously there was like six, seven cars in front of me before the second-last corner so I had to slow down a lot and try to find the gap. And it's very difficult indeed because David's just behind me I couldn't leave it for absolutely the last second for me - that's what I was thinking about because otherwise he might not get a timed lap and there's no reason to start racing between team mates as to which one goes first on the timed lap. So it was a little bit of a compromise so when I did my timed lap properly I was behind a Benetton in the last two corners and there is a possibility that maybe cost me a tenth or two. But then again we have to look at the times and study sector to sector so I'm very happy about the performance of the car, the speed."
He added that he was not too disappointed not to be on pole as he has not been this close to pole since the Spanish GP and said "A little bit, yes, but not too much. It's been a long time since I was this close to pole position and to be second in qualifying. So I'm very pleased because the performance of the car was very good so it was very enjoyable to drive."
As for his preference regarding the weather tomorrow, he said "It's difficult to say. I think it was good it rained this morning. It definitely showed us, first of all, our performance in the rain, and I was confident in the car and it was quick. We made some very good changes in the morning to get the balance right so we should be very strong if it rains tomorrow, and vice versa, if it's dry we should be strong."

David Coulthard has indicated the he was not too disappointed with 3rd as he never managed to get the right balance from his car and said "I'm not too disappointed with qualifying, I don't feel I've got the balance on the car so far this weekend wet or dry so to be quite close considering the balance of the car I had on the track then it's optimistic for our performance in the race."
He indicated that the weather could play a big role but he is not too concerned and said "If the weather plays up then yes it will play a big role but I don't know sitting here what's going to happen and we have to race whatever the conditions so I'm not unduly concerned if it's wet or dry. I think our relative race performance is a bit better than we are in qualifying and if it's wet it's all relative to where you are on the track."
He added that he prefers either wet or dry but changing conditions will make it very tricky and said "One or the other. Rather than changing conditions because that always becomes very difficult for when to make your stop and it worked for us in Brazil but can easily work against you. I think given what happened last year I think it would be nice if it was dry."
When asked if Mika would help him tomorrow he said "Well, it depends on the situation. If there's a scenario that can help me gain points relevant to Michael then yes I would expect help and I'm as curious as everyone in here to know just exactly what's going to happen."

14-Jul: What the teams and drivers said following Qualifying at Silverstone ... Report

14-Jul: British GP - Qualifying: Michael Schumacher grabs his first ever pole at Silverstone ahead of a revived Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard. Jarno Trulli, Heinz Harald Frentzen and Rubens Barrichello make the top 6 ... Timed Results ... Full Report ... Notes

14-Jul: British GP - 2nd Saturday Practice: No change in the top 6 from the first session due to the wet conditions. Michael Schumacher remains fastest ahead of Heinz Harald Frentzen and Mika Hakkinen. David Coulthard, Rubens Barrichello and Nick Heidfeld make the top 6 ... Timed Results ... Full Report ... Notes

14-Jul: British GP - 1st Saturday Practice: Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time of the session ahead of Heinz Harald Frentzen and Mika Hakkinen. David Coulthard, Rubens Barrichello and Nick Heidfeld make the top 6 ... Timed Results ... Full Report ... Notes 

13-Jul: At the Friday press conference for the British GP, Kimi Raikkonen has denied that he is in talks with Ferrari and described them as just rumours and said "That's just rumours, I haven't spoken with Ferrari at all. It would be very nice to drive for them but we will see what happens in the future."

Mika Hakkinen has made it clear that he is not planning to retire next year but he is discussing his options with Ron Dennis. His answer to the question: "Will you retire next year ?" was "Well, let's say it this way. The first part of my answer is no and the second part is the team has an option on me for next year and we are going through discussions with Ron and looking for good solutions for the future."
Hakkinen has admitted that he has an extremely small chance of winning and gave a hint that he could help David and said "There has been a very little discussion in the team and in this season on how many points I have, I have extremely small chance to be there in the end. So we're going to work like a team very hard towards the end of the season and we'll see how the races develop and then we'll make decisions together when it is appropriate."

Eddie Irvine has indicated that while his neck needs some time to fully recover, it is not an issue for him and said "It's not an issue, I missed the last test because I went out and it was hurting straight away and the two back-to-back races gave it a bit of a hard time. It was a perfect opportunity to rest it so we did because we didn't really have the bits and pieces that we wanted to test at Monza. It was better that I just rested up. It won't be an issue here, it'll hurt but as you drive around it sort of eases up. I need a three week break and Bernie's organized that for August."
Irvine also indicated that he doesn't feel that this is his home race and said "I don't really feel as though any race is. My apartment's only 20 minutes away from Monza, obviously I raced in Japan for years but my home is Northern Ireland really and I guess the home race would be Kirkistown and that's not going to happen. So no."

Frank Williams indicated that he isn't frightened of the rain despite the belief that Michelin do not perform well in the wet and said "That may be the case but our tyres have performed very well in the wet. I have no opinion whether we'll be good here in the wet or not, we haven't tested here in the rain, so if it happens to rain tomorrow or Sunday we should know then but I'm not frightened of the rain."
As for the reliability of the car, he was not too happy and said "You're only as good as your last race on reliability. It's improving but it hasn't improved brilliantly. I could complain but I learnt long ago not to do that! There's very little contribution I can make it's all to do with design and engineering."

Ron Dennis has indicated that McLaren have decided to stop supporting the three karting championships in the UK and will use those funds in another initiative that will be announced soon and said "The only thing we have definitely decided not to do is support the three karting championships in the UK, we've done it for several years - six or seven I think - and so we've put those funds into a different initiative which is very different and will be announced in the next two or three weeks. So we're out of karting with the exception of supporting Niko Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, both of whom came out of tremendous success last year into a less successful season this year so they're getting the hang of what it's like to be less competitive."
He added that they are trying to map the team's long term future and said "The other things will be announced in due course but we're trying to map the future of the team not just in terms of who drives the current cars or even next year's car but more importantly the long-term."
As for team orders, Ron Dennis indicated that their drivers are obliged contractually to follow an instruction if and when the team requires and said "It's been the same for 14-odd years ever since we started as McLaren International, the contracts have in them an obligation to follow any instruction given by the team at any stage of the season. There is an appropriate time when that instruction is given but of course it's not something that is necessarily linked to a specific time in the season but more a specific moment in the season and for any driver to help another the track position has got to be right, the circumstances have got to be right, and it's at that stage the decision will be taken if it needs to be taken and I'm sure whichever driver's involved will follow that instruction. I think I can only remember in that time maybe twice giving any instruction to a driver."

Tom Walkinshaw has denied that Arrows will be making an announcement on a Cosworth engine supply deal this weekend but is hoping to make an announcement in a couple of weeks at most and said "No, we're not making an announcement today but I read it in Autosport!. I think we're working towards a conclusion, yes. Within a matter of days I would say and I hope by the next Grand Prix we'll be able to make an announcement."
Regarding the future of Enrique Bernoldi with the team next year, Tom said "We've signed Jos, and we'll wait and see how the rest of the season goes. We're in no rush, we'll see who else is coming on the market. Before we started looking at drivers we wanted Jos to know that his position was secure so that's why we took up his option early because we think he's doing a very good job this year."

13-Jul: What the teams and drivers said following Friday practice at Silverstone ... Report

13-Jul: British GP - 2nd Friday Practice: Mika Hakkinen sets the fastest time of the session ahead of David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello. Michael Schumacher, Heinz Harald Frentzen and Nick Heidfeld make the top 6 ... Timed Results ... Full Report ... Notes 

13-Jul: British GP - 1st Friday Practice: Michael Schumacher fastest in the session ahead of Rubens Barrichello and Mika Hakkinen. David Coulthard, Heinz Harald Frentzen and Eddie Irvine make the top 6 ... Timed Results ... Full Report ... Notes 

12-Jul: At the Thursday press conference for the British GP, Hiroshi Yasukawa has indicated that Formula 1 can handle an additional tyre manufacturer and said "I think a maximum of three. At the Austrian and French Grands Prix, an American company has been represented at the races. Of course, they came to see me and to say hello, and I said that they were very welcome."
He believes that Goodyear intend to return to Formula 1 soon and said "I don't know but if they don't have any intention of coming back, why do they come to the races? I just remember that when I came into Formula One with Bridgestone, quite often I would come, and people would ask me 'what are you doing?' It's the same sort of thing."

Eddie Jordan has indicated how relieved he was after finally scoring points at the French GP (the first time for Jordan in the points in 5 races) and said "It gave us some sort of relief, not a lot, but you know nobody likes not finishing, and everybody likes getting points. It's very difficult to get points now that Ferrari, McLaren and Williams... points are the name of the game. If you're going to be successful, you have to make sure that you're there all the time, and there are a number of races - I think the launch control thing in Austria - hurt us very badly, because, in Formula One, as in any major sport, there's a high element of psychology involved. 

Bobby Rahal has indicated that Jaguar have been improving steadily since Monaco and while there is still a long way to go he is happy to be mixing with Jordan and BAR and said "Since Monaco it's been encouraging. We continue to make progress but, as I said sometime right after Monaco, we don't want to make too much of that because we still have a long way to go. It's great racing now with Eddie's group and BAR being in the midst of that rather than being at the tail end of it, but that can change overnight. You can go back to the tail end awfully quickly, so we take it one day at a time, and work our hardest and we'll see what the results will be but in the meantime we just have to keep our heads down.

Jenson Button still believes that the new spec Renault engine is a significant improvement despite only qualifying in 16th an 17th in France and said "I think it was pretty much what we expected, but I think a lot of other people got quite excited about it and thought we would be inside the top ten which is impossible halfway through the season to make that big a jump. But it was a definite improvement. A lot of people might not have noticed it because we were still in 16th and 17th but the gap that we made up was quite a substantial amount. Here we will have the same engine for the race so maybe we can race a little bit better."
As for how tough this season has been on him, he said "I didn't think it would be this tough but I don't think a lot of other people did as well. But next year is the year that we are more concentrating on and I think we've got to now. But we still have to push very hard this year and get everything together for next year. It's just a little bit tougher than I thought but a lot of the other problems haven't just been the team, I've also had my own problems. The car has been quite difficult to work with but the good thing is that I'm more confident now than I was with it and I'm getting to grip a little bit more with it now. It was a matter confidence, among other things."

David Coulthard indicated that the team are only introducing some new electronics to their car at Silverstone but still believes that in race trim they are strong and have a chance of winning and said "There've been a few electronic changes that we've been working on, trying to get the most out of the traction control and but I'm not aware of anything mechanical or any other changes for this race. 
You don't know what to expect this weekend, it depends on weather, that could be a big issue. That could determine whether Williams is competitive as well. Clearly it was again a lot closer in race conditions in Magny-Cours, in qualifying if Michael had managed to get all of the sectors together it still would have shown that they have a sizeable qualifying advantage. There's no real reason to expect that to be vastly different here in qualifying trim but in race trim, which is the important thing, we have a chance of winning 10 points."

Rubens Barrichello has hit back at Eddie Irvine (who recently described Barrichello as a moaner) by telling Eddie to shut up and said "Luckily they only told me at the end of my holiday. Actually I read some newspapers today and it's difficult. He should just shut up and concentrate on his job and remember that when I was sitting in that car and it was white instead of green I had a lot more points than him so it's just silly to be going on."

12-Jul: In response to the rumours surrounding McLaren's driver line-up for 2002 and particularly Mika Hakkinen, McLaren have issue a statement clarifying the situation. Ron Dennis said "This year, in common with every other year, we have certain carefully chosen criteria we apply in selecting our driver line-up for next year. We are very comfortable with the options open to us and will make announcements in conjunction with the drivers when appropriate. Our decisions not only involve the selection of race drivers, but also the very important third driver slot that contributes so much to our testing and development programme. It is also our intention to enhance our medium term options by reinforcing our young driver line-up."
Mika Hakkinen said "After the French GP I had a great vacation in Finland, but was made aware of media speculation about my future career. The team has an option on my services for 2002. I am currently in discussion with Ron, and am very relaxed about the situation but, as I have repeatedly said, my main objective is to win races this year, and this is what I shall be focusing on at Silverstone."

Michael Schumacher has indicated that he will not write McLaren off just yet as they have suffered from reliability issues that they will get around soon and said "I don't think my rivals are weak. Maybe it is about technical things. If you look at reliability we have been pretty outstanding and consistent. This is our main factor this year. But I have never written McLaren off and I won't do it now. When you analyse their performance more deeply, you see they are still very strong except in qualifying maybe. I still see them to have a chance, especially if it all comes together against us. So we will take care to try to not let that happen."
But Schumacher is not only looking at this year but is hoping to take Ferrari to more glory and said "We have worked very hard for many years and now we would like to keep what we have. I always said that we would like to have a Ferrari era. We are in the middle of that so now let's see how long we can have it. The aim is for a cycle of Ferrari success. We seem to be making it true but it can be very tight and close sometimes, so we hope to continue it for a while."

12-Jul: The Silverstone circuit has hosted the British GP 34 times with the first in 1950. In the late 50's and early 60's the British GP alternated between Silverstone and Aintree while from the mid 60's until 1986 it alternated between Silverstone and Brands Hatch. Silverstone has hosted all the British GP's since then.
Alain Prost has won the most number of GP's at Silverstone with 5 followed by Jim Clark and Nigel Mansell with 3 each. Of the current drivers, David Coulthard and Jacques Villeneuve have won 2 races each while Michael Schumacher has won once. 
McLaren have won the most number of races at Silverstone with 9 closely followed by Ferrari and Williams with 8 wins each.

In qualifying, Jim Clark, Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill have each started 3 times from Pole. Of the current drivers, Mika Hakkinen won Pole twice while Jacques Villeneuve and Rubens Barrichello are the only other current drivers who won Pole at Silverstone with one each. Interestingly, Michael Schumacher who has been on Pole 39 times so far in his career has never won Pole at Silverstone and even the great Ayrton Senna who has a massive 65 Poles only managed to win Pole once!
Williams have the most number of Pole positions with 10 followed by Ferrari with 8 and Lotus with 5. McLaren who have won the most number of races have only managed to win 4 Pole positions.

12-Jul: "The beginning of the end!" is the title of the 22nd issue from the Diagnosis and Prognosis Series for the 2001 season. In this issue, the Heretic looks at the upcoming British Grand Prix - Issue 22

11-Jul: "Has Jacques Villeneuve lost his edge ?" Topic of the week - Have Your Say

10-Jul: David Coulthard has indicated that they are not doing a job good enough to deserve winning the title and said "You either do a job that is deserving of the title or you don't and at the moment we are not and we know we need to improve."
Coulthard who trails Michael Schumacher by 31 points in the championship admits that part of the reason they are behind is due to mistakes done by the team and said "The easiest way to win is to have the best car and to be performant. But as long as I know that I'm giving 100 percent then I'll take the positives out of my situation. I can't do anything about the car. I can't try and solve it because it is not my speciality. You need to rely on the people around you and then things will get better. In our quest to make things better we miss things and make mistakes. We are only human, it is a human driven sport despite all the technology that is involved.
I'm not any harder on the people who have made mistakes than I need to be because we can all make mistakes. If someone is not prepared to take a risk then you don't arrive at this point of the championship and be one of the teams involved at the top."

9-Jul: "Can Coulthard make it 3 in a row ?" The British Grand Prix Preview is now available ... Race Preview

British Formula 1 Grand Prix Schedule:

Session Time (Local / GMT) - Current local time
Friday Practice Session 1
Friday Practice Session 2
Saturday Practice Session 1
Saturday Practice Session 2
Qualifying Session
Warm-up Session
Race
11 AM Silverstone Time / 10 AM GMT
1 PM Silverstone Time / 12 PM GMT
9 AM Silverstone Time / 8 AM GMT
10:15 AM Silverstone Time / 9:15 AM GMT 
1 PM Silverstone Time / 12 PM GMT
8:30 AM Silverstone Time / 7:30 AM GMT 
1 PM Silverstone Time / 12 PM GMT
Go to the British GP Page

Back To Top
Earlier News


We Recommend
F1 Tickets
Spanish F1 GP
Canadian F1 GP
British F1 GP
European F1 GP (Valencia)
Belgian F1 GP
Italian F1 GP
United States F1 GP
Abu Dhabi F1 GP
VIP F1 Paddock Club Tickets
MotoGP Tickets
Netherlands MotoGP
Catalunya MotoGP
Portuguese MotoGP
Valencia MotoGP
MotoGP VIP Village Tickets
more Motorsport Tours & Holidays
Australian F1 Grand Prix Tour package
Clipsal 500 Adelaide package
 

F1 Merchandise

Official 2009 F1 Season Review

Autocourse 2009 Annual

F1 Merchandise US

F1 Merchandise UK

Motorsport Magazines

Formula 1 Annuals

Formula 1 Yearbooks

Formula 1 Season Reviews

Formula 1 Technical Books

Formula 1 Design Books

The Official Tribute To Ayrton Senna
1960 To 1994

Formula 1 Books

Race Driving Books

Race Car Design Books


Ayrton Senna

Past Formula 1 Drivers