 |
 |
  July 28, Race Results |
|
Formula One World Championship Round 12
Round 12 : Germany (Hockenheim)
Jordan Honda's Sato Scores
His Season Best Finish
Sato races to eighth position in German Grand Prix |
DHL Jordan Honda's
Takuma Sato was eighth across the line in today's German Grand Prix, while team-mate
Giancarlo Fisichella and fellow Honda-powered driver Olivier Panis stopped on
lap 61 and 40 respectively with engine problems. Lucky Strike B·A·R Honda team-mate
Jacques Villeneuve was forced out of the action on lap 28 due to a gearbox problem.
Jordan Honda's Takuma Sato had an incident filled race but managed to bring the
car home in eighth place, his best result of the year. Although he lost one place
at the start and ended lap two in 14th place, the young Japanese driver fought
his way back up to 12th position, first following Villeneuve past Jenson Button
(Renault) into 13th place and 10 laps later reclaiming 12th spot from Villeneuve.
By lap 22 Sato had gained three further places following the pit stops of Renault's
Jarno Trulli and the Saubers of Felipe Massa and Nick Heidfeld. He came in from
ninth place for his first stop on lap 26, and by lap 30, as the first round of
pit stops unfolded, settled in 10th position. Sato moved up to ninth place on
lap 37 when McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen pulled into the pits with a puncture, and
by lap 43 had gained two more places following the departure of Panis and the
pit stop of Massa. Having completed his second scheduled pit stop on lap 45, Sato
rejoined the action in eighth position and drove hard for the remaining 22 laps,
crossing the line in eighth place from 12th on the grid and securing his best
finish of the year.
The two-stopping Jordan Honda of Giancarlo Fisichella and B·A·R Honda of Olivier
Panis fell back two places off the grid to eighth and ninth positions respectively,
ahead of Massa and Heidfeld. The Honda-powered pair remained in these positions
until lap 12, when Fisichella ran wide, letting Panis and Massa through and dropping
back to 10th place. Just three laps later the Italian moved up into ninth as he
overtook Trulli, who had already lost a place to Massa, and by lap 26 Fisichella
was back up to his sixth place starting position as the first round of pit stops
took place. A combination of a sticking wheel nut and a clutch problem caused
a lengthy first pit stop on lap 28 for Fisichella, who rejoined the action in
13th place behind Mika Salo (Toyota). The Italian challenged Salo for 12th position
on lap 33, but ran wide at the hairpin, allowing the Finn to sneak back through.
By lap 40 Fisichella was up into eighth, following Raikkonen's puncture, the departure
of Trulli and Panis and the pit stops of Salo and Massa. Five laps later Fisichella
came in for his second scheduled pit stop and rejoined in 10th place, only to
retire from the race on lap 61 with engine failure.
Having lost two places at the start, B·A·R Honda's Olivier Panis had moved up
two spots to seventh position by lap 13 by overtaking Fisichella and Trulli. Panis
held this position until lap 26 when he came in for his first pit stop, and by
lap 30, when the pit stop sequence was completed, the Frenchman was back in seventh
position ahead of Massa. Seven laps later Panis moved up into a potential point
scoring position as Raikkonen departed with a puncture. Just a handful of laps
later, on lap 40, the race was over for the B·A·R Honda driver as he span off
the track and stopped due to engine failure.
B·A·R Honda's Jacques Villeneuve fell back four places to 15th at the start, but
by the end of lap two the Canadian had overtaken Eddie Irvine (Jaguar) and Sato
to move up into 13th. Four laps later the B·A·R Honda driver snatched 12th place
from Jenson Button, which he held until lap 16 when Sato overtook him. By lap
22 Villeneuve had climbed another three places to 10th, as Trulli, Massa and Heidfeld
all pitted. On lap 25 Villeneuve came in for his first of two scheduled pit stops,
only to retire from the race three laps later due to gearbox failure.
In warm and sunny conditions at Hockenheim (30 degrees) Ferrari's Michael Schumacher
took the chequered flag, finishing ahead of the Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya
and Ralf Schumacher. Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) and McLaren's David Coulthard
finished fourth and fifth while Sauber's Nick Heidfeld completed the top six positions.
Shuhei Nakamoto --- Race and Test Team Manager, Honda Racing Development
"A disappointing result for the Honda-powered drivers after such a good qualifying
session yesterday and competitive lap times in warm up this morning with three
of our drivers in the top five. Takuma drove a good race and this is his best
result of the year so this has been a good day for him. We've learnt a lot this
weekend and the drivers have given us positive feedback about our step up. Although
we lost two engines today we now have three weeks to balance the increase in power
with greater reliability."
Takuma Sato Position: 8th
"Eighth is my best finish so far which is a great result for me. It's a shame
it wasn't inside the points, but I am getting closer. I had an exciting race,
overtaking a couple of people with some dramatic moves, which was really enjoyable.
The pit stop strategy worked well. At the end of the race I lost some stability
with the car, but I kept going. Looking forward, our good form is a promising
sign and points are my next target."
Giancarlo Fisichella Position: DNF
"I had a problem with the clutch on my first pit stop and then the team had trouble
with the right front wheel, so I lost quite a lot of time. The car was driving
quite well so it's a shame. I am disappointed about having to retire this time
but we are getting better so I'm looking ahead to the next race."
Olivier Panis Position: DNF
"Obviously I'm very disappointed not to finish after such a good weekend. I lost
a couple of places at the start but then I worked hard to regain them. My race
was a great fight from beginning to end and, after making my way through the traffic,
I was improving all the time. The car felt fine until my first pitstop but then
I felt something wrong and we now know it was the engine. It's a real shame because
we've been very competitive here. I was very happy to qualify 7th and today, sitting
in our best grid position of the season, I had a good feeling. I was in the points
when my race ended so we'll never know how well things could have turned out.
Most importantly, we've seen a good step forward from Honda here. The car has
been quick all weekend and I'm sure if we can solve the problems we can look forward
to five good races ahead. As usual, the team have done a great job and I hope
they enjoy the break. I'm looking forward to a relaxing holiday and some time
with my family before preparing for the Hungarian Grand Prix in three weeks."
Jacques Villeneuve Position: DNF
"As a team we've been very competitive but it's a disappointing end to a difficult
weekend here for me. The car had a lot of oversteer until the first pitstop but
after we changed the tyres it felt a lot better. My race really got going then
and I could start to attack. We were relatively quick compared to the people we
were racing and I started to make up places, but then I had a gearbox problem
and my race was over. We've seen some good signs this weekend though. The engine
was working well here so let's hope we can continue to improve during the rest
of the season. The team have been working hard all year so they deserve a break
now. There's still some work to be done to prepare for the next race but it gives
everyone a bit of down-time. Hungary is a very physical race so, as well as enjoying
a holiday with Elly, there's a lot of preparation ahead with my trainer Erwin."
Round 13 of the FIA Formula One World Championship is the Hungarian Grand Prix
on Sunday 18 August.
|
Formula One World Championship Round 12
Round 12 : Germany (Hockenheim)
|
| 1 |
|
M.SCHUMACHER
(Ferrari) |
|
| 2 |
|
J-P.MONTOYA (Williams) |
|
| 3 |
|
R.SCHUMACHER (Williams) |
|
| 4 |
|
R.BARRICHELLO (Ferrari) |
|
| 5 |
|
D.COULTHARD (McLaren) |
|
| 6 |
|
N.HEIDFELD (Sauber) |
|
| 7 |
|
F.MASSA (Sauber) |
|
| 8 |
|
T.SATO (Jordan Honda) |
|
| 9 |
|
M.Salo (Toyota) |
|
| DNF |
|
G.FISICHELLA (Jordan Honda) |
|
| DNF |
|
O.PANIS (B·A·R Honda) |
|
| DNF |
|
J.VILLENEUVE (B·A·R Honda) |
|
|
|
|
