This was going to be an historic race either way, but it was Ferrari’s day to shine, and shine they did. If Raikkonen had won the championship he would have been the youngest driver to do so in Formula One™ history. The points earned by Barrichello along with the single point earned by Michael clinched the constructors’ title for a record 5th time in a row. Michael was unfortunate in qualifying to take to the track in time for the slick conditions that plagued the last 5 drivers.

Schumacher did manage to stay on the track during his run, unlike brother Ralf and took a 14th grid position. He has only qualified off of the 1st 2 rows a dozen times in his F1 career. At the race’s start he pulled away cautiously in order to secure the 1 point that he needed to clinch the drivers’ title. During the 7th lap he slid into the back of the Jordan driven by Ralph Firman damaging his front wing.

The Ferrari team was ready with a replacement wing and Michael returned to the race in last place! But slowly he worked himself back into the 8th spot to find the elusive point that meant a record 6th drivers’ championship!

To Raikkonen’s credit he did everything in his power to win the race, but Barrichello was in charge from his pole position start, and never was seriously challenged. Obviously the focus was on the championship battles, but the rest of the field ran a good clean race too.

The points paying positions are as follows; 1Barrichello/Ferrari, 2 Raikkonen/McLaren, 3 Coulthard/McLaren, 4 Button/BAR, 5 Trulli/Renault, 6 Sato/BAR, 7 Da Matta/Toyota, and 8 Michael Schumacher/Ferrari.

New qualifying rules await the teams next year, but this was a close championship. The drivers’ title was won by 2 points and the constructors’ by 14. 5 constructors’ titles in a row and 4 drivers’ titles in a row are both F1 records.

Article By: Tony Moffett