SimHQ.com - Motorsports Zone - Preview: 2004 European Grand Prix

Ferrari's dreams of a clean sweep in Monaco dissolved last weekend as Michael Schumacher smashed into the barriers and Rubens Barrichello delivered another mediocre effort. Jean Todt admitted that he was disappointed with the speed of the Ferraris but in truth there was little Schumacher could do after he was too cautious on his first qualifying lap. UK readers will have heard the first qualifying session described as meaningless by Jim Rosenthal but in fact it was this, more than anything else, which decided the grand prix. At Monaco more than at any other track (with the possible exception of the Hungaroring) qualifying depends upon how much rubber is down on the track. As Schumacher was only tenth out he never had a realistic chance on pole despite having easily the fastest car out there. For the Nurbergring Schumacher will have more of an opportunity to shine and another win looks likely.

M. Schumacher

Although Montoya apologized for his error on the radio immediately afterwards it was at least partly the German's own fault that he was knocked out of the race, his first retirement since Brazil last year. Schumacher was violently braking and accelerating behind the safety car. Although this is principally used to heat up the carbon discs on the brakes (which need to be at 1500C in order to operate correctly) it is also used as a way of brake testing cars behind. At Monza in 2000 Jenson Button retired his Williams after Schumacher braked in front of him and it is notable that Schumacher was locked up going through the tunnel. Bear in mind that the asphalt of the tunnel is incredibly slippery (due to the slippery marbles — bits of rubber given off by the tires — not being able to get away from the track and because the track itself is a fair bit cooler than the rest of the track). Looking ahead the Nurbergring is sure to be a relatively easy race for Schumacher. He is fired up and has gone well there in the past (despite being nerfed off last year by Montoya!).

Barrichello

Although Rubens managed a podium in Monaco it was evident from first practice that Rubens was anything but happy with the handling of his car. Rubens has been quietly complaining about how his Ferrari feels since before the start of the season but, as the team have focused on his team mate's charge for the title, so the under-performing Barrichello has been largely ignored. As Schumacher wraps up this year's title race and it is now impossible for him to win every single race this year Barrichello can expect the focus of the team to slowly switch to him as they work to ensure a 1-2 in the driver's championship. The Ferrari clearly is too vague for Barrichello and, in marked contrast to last season, Rubens is now relying on Michael for setup data instead of the other way around. Hopefully things will improve at the Nurbergring.

BMW Williams F1 (Dark Blue and White with Compaq and Allianz graphics)

With the ceremony to open a new wind tunnel Williams announced that team director and overall number two Patrick Head would be standing aside from his job as technical director to focus on the team's longer term ambitions. Taking his place on the pitwall would be the current operations manager Sam Michael. Michael started at Williams before following Damon Hill to Jordan in 1998. It was Michael more than anyone who masterminded Frentzen's challenge for the world title the following year before heading back to Williams in 2000. Elsewhere Williams search for a driver for next season was honed down by one this week when Chip Ganassi re-signed Scott Dixon for the IRL for the next two seasons. New Zealander Dixon had already tested the FW26 twice and was competitive but clearly the team management decided that he was too much of a risk to give a seat to for next year.

R. Schumacher

Ralf's poor season continued in Monaco. Having taken out second placed man Alonso (admittedly after Alonso made the cardinal sin of trying to lap him in the tunnel). Ralf then had to put up with Alonso's gesticulating at him every lap for a number of laps (he even managed to give Ralf the bird whilest traveling backwards in the wreck of his car at nearly 100mph!) even though Ralf was really not to blame! The Nurbergring was the scene of the start of a rich vein of wins for Ralf last season and Ralf will be hoping for a similar portent of things to come this year. So far Ralf has looked anything but impressive and few people are prepared to justify the expense of signing Ralf inside or outside of Toyota.

Montoya

Montoya today scotched rumors that he is trying to wiggle out of his McLaren contract. Since signing for McLaren the team seem to have gone steadily downhill and it must seem more of a blessing than a curse to Coulthard that this seen will be his last for the Woking team. Williams' restructuring is likely to reinvigorate the team and, although it is likely that a similar attempt at restructuring McLaren is certain to occur before the end of the summer, this is likely to be more of an effort to pacify Mercedes than an all out attempt to shut that final gap between and the Constructor's and driver's championships. Montoya is still smarting from the criticism laid at his door over his collision with Michael Schumacher and, after his move here on Schumacher last year, Montoya will be keen to prevent this from turning into a vendetta.

West McLaren Mercedes (Grey with West graphics)

With the MP4/19B scheduled to run next week before it is debuted at the German Grand Prix in July, McLaren have focused their efforts on that since Monaco and as a result the team are not expecting any huge leaps in performance as Chief Executive Officer Martin Whitmarsh attests. The European Grand Prix is the second in a series of six races that are taking place in an intensive eight week period that began in Monte Carlo last weekend. In this time the Team McLaren Mercedes team is also conducting two test sessions as we continue our structured development program. There is of course not the opportunity to test in the week between Monaco and Europe, so our focus this week has primarily been working on our preparations for the Nürburgring. As a consequence we are not expecting any major performance steps from Monaco."

Coulthard

Coulthard has spent much of his time after the Monaco race moaning about BAR allowing Sato to start the race when smoke was coming from the back of his car. This is the same David Coulthard who won the same race in 2002 with smoke trailing from his engine having had it smoking away for over half the race. Coulthard's criticism of the team is also odd seeing as Martin Brundle started the British grand prix in 1994 in a literally explosive way when his Peugeot engine exploded on the grid! Coulthard had an airborne end to last year's European grand prix and, although points are the best he can hope for, at leas his outscoring Raikkonen is raising his market value after years where it has plummeted through a series of poor performances relative to his team mates.

Raikkonen

A great race from Kimi (where he led imperiously away from the grid and was dominating the race) was ended in the most embarrassing way possible for the assembled Mercedes bigwigs. Kimi's racing style suits the circuit as he admits himself. "You then have to drive aggressively over the curbs to carry as much speed as possible through the corner. The European Grand Prix has also historically been affected by unpredictable weather, which of course adds another element to the race. We always have good support especially from the Mercedes Grandstand at this event, as it is a home race for Mercedes-Benz." Unfortunately this support is unlikely to turn into much considering how off the pace the car is. With Sauber looking at beating McLaren this season it would be a realistic proposition to say that this could rival the embarrassment of the 1995 race here (where Mika Hakkinen and Mark Blundell were passed by the Pacific Grand Prix cars).

Mild Seven Renault (Dark and Light Blue and Yellow with Mild Seven graphics)

A first win for Jarno Trulli at what will inevitably be one of the only non-Michael Schumacher dominated grand prix of the season and Formula 1 suddenly seemed sexy again! Despite Trulli's starring performance on Sunday it is very possible that he will be usurped by Mark Webber next year. Jarno has admitted that he has already had some preliminary discussions with other teams. Should Webber take Trulli's seat Williams seem to be the most likely recipient of Jarno's talents next year. Team and driver manager Flavio Briatore is happy to see how Trulli does in the next few races and will review his season up until the US Grand Prix in two races time before making his decision.

Trulli

Trulli was thrilled to win his first race at Monaco. It seems strange that it should have taken the diminutive Italian 117 races to win one considering he comfortably led in the Prost at Austria in only his fourth race! Trulli's karting prowess will come to the fore this weekend and his previous second place there in 1999 is sure to help as he fights to continue the excellent form he has shown so far this season."To be honest, the Nürburgring is not a particularly technical circuit. I know it well from when I raced there in F3, and before last weekend, I got my best F1 result at the track when I finished second in 1999. The main thing is to find a good rhythm — there are lots of corners close together, and if you get into the right groove then you can be quick. When we are setting the car up, we obviously need to get a good balance as soon as possible, but you also need confidence in the car through the high-speed corners and stability during the heavy braking for Turn 1 and the chicane. Also, the conditions change a lot during the day, from very cool conditions in the morning to quite warm in the afternoon, and you have to take account of that when setting the car up on Saturday morning. Our car was competitive in cooler conditions in Melbourne, so hopefully we can be again.

Alonso

Quite how Alonso managed to give Ralf Schumacher the finger whilest still traveling at over 100 mph backwards is beyond me! Although Alonso was clearly funning with Ralf it is difficult to see what Alonso's problem was. He chose the wrong part of the circuit to overtake Ralf on and as a result lost it on the marbles and careened into the wall. Every year someone makes that mistake and this year it was Alonso! Moving on to Europe and Alonso seems upbeat. "We think the R24 will be competitive at the Nürburgring, and we hope to have a trouble-free weekend so that we can achieve the performances we know we are capable of. I don't know if we can fight for a win again, it will be very tough. But we will be aiming for the podium, definitely, and the cars were very reliable again in Monaco. Everybody is just so motivated right now at Renault, I think there will be a very good spirit in the team this weekend."

BAR Honda (White with Red Lucky Strike roundels)

A competitive drive for the team by both drivers and the team should be gunning for the win in Germany. The BAR005 has plenty to recommend it over its rivals. Other than the Ferrari no other car has as much intrinsic mechanical downforce on turn in and the back end of the car is a match for the Scuderia as well. Unfortunately with Michelin tires easily outperformed by Ferrari's Bridgestones it is difficult to see how the team will be able to catch up with the scarlet cars but, given light rain or Ferrari making a rare mistake and misreading the conditions or strategy, it would be possible to see Button get what is by now a long overdue maiden F1 win.

Button

Button believes that he can still be world champion this season. It is true that the season is still only a third of the way through and Button is clearly the only driver who looks consistent enough to regularly challenge the Maranello cars but even so Button seems less likely as a contender this year but almost certain to be in with a shout of the title next year. For the race he seems his usual confident self. “We have done a lot of testing at Paul Ricard and Barcelona,” he said. “Also we have a good car that should suit the Nurburgring circuit well. It's a track I enjoy, particularly because of its high speed corners and undulations. I have gone very well there over the last couple of years so I am really looking forward to it and can't wait to start running on Friday morning."

Sato

Although Sato's engine went spectacularly after only four laps in Monaco, BAR's engineers have vociferously defended themselves against allegations that they should have brought the car in rather than started it. Sato's incredible start in Monaco was all the more incredible because he wasn't penalized for it! Sato clearly jumped the start but for some reason the electronic sensors that monitor the cars, should they jump start, was not triggered. Sato just wants to take away positives from his Monaco weekend and, like Raikkonen, should be a force in qualifying because of his aggressive driving style around the circuit. “I have lots of good memories of the circuit,” said the Japanese driver. (Have you ever noticed how they always say that?!) “This is a great track for me, with some high-speed technical corners and I like the way the track goes up and down hill. The Monaco GP was very disappointing for me personally but we know that our pace and performance are at a very high level, so I am very much looking forward to returning to the Nurburgring this weekend."

Sauber Petronas (Mid Blue with a yellow airbox, white nose and front wing with Credit Suisse Red Bull and Petronas graphics)

A healthy helping of points after Massa miraculously kept away from the barriers and netted fifth place. Sauber are narrowing in on McLaren and, should the new MP4/19B be as much of a dead duck as its predecessor, it seems likely that Sauber will snare the fifth place which they currently hold. Although Fisichella's accident looked nasty it only happened at 30mph and there was no danger to the driver. For this weekend's race the C23 is sure to be good around the circuit. Last year Ferrari lost the chance to dominate the race and it was more their losing the race than Ralf Schumacher and Williams winning it. Being on Bridgestone tires is sure to help the team and they have every chance of getting another handy helping of points should it rain as forecast.

Fisichella

Now it looks uncertain that Webber will be going to Williams Fisichella seems to be in with a decent shot of a seat there. Fisichella seems to be in direct competition with David Coulthard at the moment and, although Coulthard thinks the matter is a "no brainer" for the team, many are less sure. Fisichella nearly won here in the topsy turvey ace in 1999 (which was eventually won by Johnny Herbert's Stewart) but this does not necessarily mean he will do well this weekend. On the down side Fisichella's Ferrari test is looking less likely now as Ferrari wish his to wear Ferrari overalls which is said to anger Sauber sponsor Petronas. "I lost my first Grand Prix win at the new Nurburgring back in 1999, when I was leading easily in the wet but lost control and spun when my car's headrest came lose. I've scored points there a couple of times since. It's a good circuit, where you can get into a nice rhythm and flow, though it isn't particularly challenging. You need above everything to get the car working for you, and the first couple of corners are especially important. I was very happy with the C23 at our test in Silverstone two weeks ago. We have an even better understanding of setting the car up and I have more confidence in it, and that all helps. I am feeling comfortable with my situation here, which is living up to my pre-season expectations."

Massa

Felipe's race was probably the most impressive I have seen from him so far. When he first visited Monaco in 2002 he seemed to have an almost magnetic attraction to the barriers (so much so that some Sauber team members were closing their eyes while Massa was on track!). This year's performance, while as leery as most Massa performances, at least had an element of composure and lack of overdriving. Should Massa continue to drive like this he is sure to score more points this weekend. "It was great to score four points in Monaco and to help the team to move up to the fifth place in the World Championship for Constructors. Now at the Nurburgring we need to try to defend this position, which will not be an easy task, for sure. However, I was sixth there in 2002, so naturally it is a circuit with good memories for me. I raced all the way through with my Sauber Petronas teammate Nick Heidfeld and finished a place ahead of him. It would be nice to get a similar result this weekend although I'm aware that it will be difficult. The new Nurburgring flows quite well as is very technical, especially the first corner. You have a choice of line going in, but it's very important to get a clean and quick exit to avoid being re-passed by the drivers you have just overtaken on the entry. We made some good progress with the C23 during our recent test at Silverstone, prior to Monaco. We had some new aerodynamic parts and the car was very well balanced and stable in the fast corners there."

Jaguar (Green with HSBC graphics)

Jaguar showed after Monaco that if you can't make headlines on track you can at least make plenty of headlines off it! While the team's PR head Nav Sindhu tried to fit the team around the stars they had "invited" for the race (changing the livery of the car to suit the film they were promoting — Ocean's 12 starring Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Matt Damon — all of whom were on show for the paparazzi), Mark Webber quietly concentrated on the race. In the end both Webber and Klien retired early on so that, although the team's impact on the race was negligible, the impact on the race weekend was enormous! The press inches gathered from this were further increased after the race when one of the £20,000 diamonds affixed to the front of each car, was found to have gone missing. It was later mentioned that seeing as the film being promoted was about a diamond robbery this was al a little suspect! This weekend the team are unlikely to gather as many Hollywood stars and will instead have to try to race for points!!!

Webber

With Trulli's position still unclear at Renault Webber could well be left out in the cold if the driver's market starts to fall into ace without him. Webber has total faith in Flavio Briatore's management but it must be tricky to believe that he really has your best interests at hand when he is managing Renault's Formula 1 effort. Webber is keeping his nose out of the ongoing negotiations, however and focusing on the race ahead instead. “The Nurburgring track is one of the more interesting tracks on the F1 calendar. It has undergone some changes recently and this may make overtaking at corner one more likely. I scored some points here last year so I have a good feeling about it, and hope that we can have a repeat performance. I also had a podium here in 2001 with F3000, so my experience should stand me in good stead. The weather, because of where the track is located amongst the forest, plays an important part in our preparation and strategy, which is a good thing to help make the race more exciting for the fans as well as us. It generally requires high downforce and it can be quite demanding on both the aerodynamics and engine of the car. The most important thing is to be prepared for the weekend and that is what we are busy doing at the moment. I have been into the factory this week to speak with the team and help them work through the data from Monaco. We started our points campaign at the Bahrain track and it would be good to continue it at the Nurburgring.”

Klein

Driver of the car which had the missing gem on it, Klien seems pretty unfazed by the whole thing. A Rookie mistake and the Grand Hotel Hairpin crashed him out of the race nose first The putting of diamonds on the front of racing cars seems very much at odds with the team's no-nonsense approach. ”I have great memories of this track and of course this makes it one of my favorites. I have raced here and won in Formula BMW, Formula Renault and Formula 3, so this is going to make racing here much more fun. Having experience at a track makes my job easier — my last race weekend in Monaco was much tougher as you spend time familiarizing yourself with the layout and set-up of the car. The back to back races are quite demanding on the team, as there is no break and no testing period. The turnaround time is very short so the guys back in the factory are working flat out replacing parts and preparing for the race weekend in half the time than normal. I know that my mechanics are looking forward to getting to Nurburgring, as we want to get out on track and score some points. The car is well set up and I will be looking to qualify higher so that I am in the right place to fight for points.”

Panasonic Toyota (Red and White with Toyota and Panasonic logo graphics)

Despite a double helping of points at Monte Carlo the team seem to be anything but harmonious. Both drivers seem fed up with the management and rumors of a rift in the team got to the stage that the team manager had to discount rumors that one or both of the drivers was going to be replaced before the end of the season. Tsotumo Tomita said "There is no plan to replace Olivier Panis or Cristiano da Matta during this season," said Tomita. "Like all teams, we are obviously evaluating our driver options for next year and in the second part of the season, once a decision has been made concerning our 2005 line-up, we will make an official announcement." Considering no rumors actually said they were looking to sack a driver this was all very interesting indeed!

Panis

While Da Matta is desperately homesick, team mate Olivier Panis is in argument after argument with the Japanese management. Panis is frustrated by lack of progress being made on the engineering side with no new parts planned until the German Grand Prix. With Panis now all but certain to lose his seat at the end of the year he is not holding back on what he says to the management and is said to be telling a lot of home truths to them. Externally though, all is calm… "We don't have much time to reflect on the four championship points that we scored last weekend in Monaco as our thoughts have already turned to the European Grand Prix weekend at the Nürburgring. We had a highly competitive package at this race last year, and I was fastest in two of the practice sessions, but in the end we were unable to turn that performance into points. I think this weekend's race will be much tougher, but we are working in the right direction and everyone wants to do well at the Nürburgring, a local race to everyone in the team in Cologne."

Da Matta

You can hear the "politi-speak" in Christiano's race predictions. Da Matta is clearly under stress and is said to be most unhappy with the European lifestyle required to be a grand prix driver. Da Matta is said to be looking at options within the CART and IRL series next year and it is pretty much certain that this will be his last year of Formula 1. "We are heading to the European Grand Prix on the back of our successful points-scoring Monaco race, but I think it is unlikely that we will be able to repeat that performance this weekend. The Nürburgring is another maximum downforce, slow-medium speed circuit, which on paper should not suit us, so we simply have to keep pushing to extract the most from our TF104 race car. With our factory just down the road in Cologne, the Nürburgring is effectively a home Grand Prix for Panasonic Toyota Racing, so we will have the additional support of all the team employees watching from the grandstands, which will be very welcome. I just hope we can give them all something to cheer about."

Jordan (Yellow with BandH graphics)

A first 2 points for Nick Heidfeld (who is doing his reputation no end of good at Jordan this year). Moreover the team are now not even going to test Jos Verstappen, let alone have him race in one of their cars as the popular Dutchman is too big to fit in the EJ14's cockpit! As Jos himself said "When you can't sit properly in the car you are not able to perform 100%. We had to think long and hard about this decision, together with our sponsors. It is a shame, both for Jordan and myself. I have to thank the Jordan mechanics for their efforts; they worked very hard to try to give me a good sitting position in the Jordan F1 car." This is doubley good news for Jordan as, not only does the team keep their drivers (Heidfeld's talent and Pantano's money are both crucial to Jordan at the moment) but they get to keep Verstappen's sponsors!

Heidfeld

Like Heinz Harald Frentzen before him, Nick Heidfeld grew up in Monchengladbach near to the Nurbergring race track and as a result knows the circuit intimately (even learning to ride his bike around here! Heidfeld has done his reputation no harm by his diligent hard work for Jordan this year and McLaren's mistake in signing Kimi Raikkonen over him is becoming obviously to even the most ardent of Kimi fans as McLaren struggle from one crisis to another. The no nonsense approach would certainly appeal to Patrick Head at Williams and a lineup of Heidfeld and Webber would be good for the sport. Unfortunately this is unlikely and Jaguar currently seems to be Heidfeld's best chance of a drive next year. In the mean time Nick is taking things one race at a time. "Nürburgring is always a special race for me. I had my first car test at Nürburgring and I went there a lot when I was younger. It’s the race circuit closest to my home in Mönchengladbach and I did a lot of races there in Formula 3, Formula Ford, Formula 3000. I really like the circuit — it’s safe and modern and the atmosphere is definitely special because of all the German supporters.”

Pantano

Pantano was disappointed to retire at Monaco. The Italian had been struggling for pace throughout the weekend and, although Baumgartner's Minardi was only just out of the points, it seems unlikely that Pantano would have picked up more than one from the race had he finished. The journeyman Formula 3000 driver seems likely to be a journeyman Formula 1 driver. Another Enrique Bernoldi who was good enough to compete but not really to succeed. “I was unhappy about my first Monaco Grand Prix as it was looking good and I think if we hadn’t had problems with car I could have got a point in the race, as well as Nick. Anyway, I am looking forward to Nürburgring now. I have raced there three times in F3000 and although it is one of my favorite circuits so far I have been very unlucky there — like Monaco! But I’m hoping that will change this year and actually I hope it rains. I like the track because it is both technical and fast and not many circuits have both characteristics."

Wilux Minardi Cosworth (Black, white and Wilux written in Light Blue on White
on Sides and rear wing)

An unlucky ninth place at Monaco saw the team just miss out the first points for the team since Mark Webber saw off Mika Salo's Toyota to finish fifth at the season opener in 2002! The Minardi seems to be trailing some way behind the rest of the grid at the moment and some urgent investment in wind tunnel time is a must if the team are to address their issues with pace. The car was 5 seconds off at Monaco and it seems clear that the team will not be allowed to compete in Formula 1 for very much longer if they cannot improve their performances. That said the European Grand Prix almost saw Minardi's best ever finish in 1999 when Marc Gene and Luca Badoer almost finished 4th and 6th. As it was Gene pulled off with a problem after spinning in the dying laps and it was left to Badoer to pick up two points for fifth. A similar result would be a welcome tonic for he team.

Bruni

Despite being achingly in the Minardi, Bruni's qualifying lap was pretty impressive. There is no doubt that Bruni has the talent to be a midfield runner and, given a chance with a larger team such as Jaguar or Sauber, he should be impressive. Whether he could propel himself forward from there is another matter entirely though it is worth noting that Fisichella and Trulli were both seen as boring midfield runners and both have now won grand prix! This weekend Bruni will struggle to get off the back row though he has put some impressive performances in F3000 so he may be an unlikely star!

Baumgartner

As if proof were needed for the adage "In order to finish first first you have to finish" Baumgartner managed to avoid the barriers on Sunday and almost scraped a point. Zsolt actually looked the more impressive driver for much of the weekend and managed to out-qualify Bruni despite Gianmaria having a much more impressive looking lap. The bizarre microclimate present in the region may well play into the team's hands this weekend as they chase an elusive constructor's championship point. Minardi are now the only team not to have scored a point this season and Paul Stoddart would be keen to alter that state of affairs in the near future. With the Nurbergring so often being a freak race both Minardis are in with a chance to attain that goal.

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