The GSOH - Round Three - 1973 vs 2000

[crmalcolm]

The next match of the GSOH bracket puts 1973 up against 2000.

Summaries from Wikipedia:

1973 - There were two new races for the 1973 season – the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos in São Paulo and the Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp. The season also included two non-championship races which were open to both Formula One and Formula 5000 cars.

The World Championship of Drivers was won by Jackie Stewart, driving for Elf Team Tyrrell, and the International Cup for F1 Manufacturers by John Player Team Lotus. In the World Championship, Lotus teammates Emerson Fittipaldi and Ronnie Peterson raced each other while Stewart was supported at Tyrrell by François Cevert. Stewart took the Drivers' title at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, but then at the final race of the season, the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, Cevert crashed during Saturday practice in the notorious 'Esses' and was killed instantly. Stewart and Tyrrell withdrew from the race, handing the Manufacturers' title to Lotus. At the end of the season Stewart made public his decision to retire, a decision that had been made before the US Grand Prix. By the end of the 1973 season the best car on the track was probably the new McLaren M23, a wedge-shaped car following the same concept as the Lotus 72 but with more conventional suspension and up-to-date aerodynamics. The 1973 season marked the debut of future world champion James Hunt at the Monaco Grand Prix driving a privateer March 731 entered by Hesketh Racing.

The 1973 season saw the intervention of a Safety Car in Formula One for the first time, in the form of a Porsche 914 at the Canadian Grand Prix. However, this safety concept would not be officially introduced until twenty years later, in 1993. As well as Cevert, Briton Roger Williamson was also killed during the season, in a crash at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

Another change to the rules introduced this season was the cars doing a full warm-up lap before the race. Prior to this, tracks included a dummy grid a short distance behind a grid proper, and the cars would simply move from one to the other to begin the race.

It was also this season that the numbering system for teams was formalised. In the second race of the season in Brazil, team-mates were paired - Lotus drivers 1 and 2; Tyrrell's 3 and 4 and so on - though the numbers assigned to each team still changed for a couple of races until the fifth race, the Belgian Grand Prix, at which the order was set for the rest of the season. For 1974, the numbers were assigned based on finishing positions in the 1973 constructor's championship, after which teams did not change numbers unless they won the drivers' championship (or signed the current world champion), or if a team dropped out.



2000 - R1. The McLarens pulled away from Michael Schumacher, but on lap ten, Coulthard retired with a misfire. Häkkinen's engine blew up nine laps later, giving the lead to Schumacher. Neither Jordan also lasted the race. All this gave Ferrari an easy 1–2 with Schumacher winning from Barrichello, with Ralf Schumacher, driving for Williams completing the podium.

In Brazil, Schumacher took the lead within two laps, built up a 20-second gap, and pitted. He rejoined in second, behind Häkkinen. Barrichello was stuck behind Häkkinen for 15 laps, before passing him, and this compromised his race. He rejoined fourth after his stop, but his engine blew up soon after. Häkkinen had to retire with an oil leak. This gave Schumacher the win.

San Marino. Häkkinen and Schumacher maintained their positions at the start, while Barrichello got past Coulthard. Schumacher won, with Häkkinen second, and Coulthard third ahead of Barrichello.

Britain. Coulthard took his second consecutive home victory, ahead of Häkkinen who completed the McLaren 1–2, with Schumacher third.

Spain. Häkkinen took his first win of the season, with Coulthard making it a second successive McLaren 1–2, and Barrichello completed the podium. Michael Schumacher was fifth behind his brother.

European Grand Prix. Schumacher won from Häkkinen, Coulthard was third but was lapped, and Barrichello charged back up from ninth to fourth.

Monaco Grand Prix. Coulthard took the win, ahead of Barrichello and Giancarlo Fisichella, while Häkkinen mustered sixth place.

Canadian GP. Michael Schumacher took his fifth win of the season, with Barrichello making it a Ferrari 1–2 ahead of Fisichella. Häkkinen had to be content with fourth.

French Grand Prix. When the race started, Schumacher kept first but Coulthard was beaten by Barrichello. Schumacher slowly started to pull away from his teammate and built a lead. Coulthard's car handled better as the fuel load decreased, and on lap 22, he passed Barrichello. During the round of pitstops, Barrichello lost out to Häkkinen. Schumacher's tyres were badly blistered, and so the McLarens and Barrichello started to close in on him. Coulthard tried to pass him at the outside of the Adelaide hairpin but Schumacher pushed him wide. Coulthard was not happy and made a series of irate gestures. A few laps later, Coulthard went for the inside at the same corner and made the move cleanly. Coulthard apologized for his gestures after the race. Schumacher kept second until 12 laps from the end when his engine blew up. Coulthard won, with Häkkinen making it a McLaren 1–2, and Barrichello completed the podium.

Austria. The McLarens maintained their positions at the start, but there was carnage behind, with the Ferraris at the centre. Trulli hit the back of Barrichello, and at the same time, Ricardo Zonta hit Schumacher, tipping him to a spin. Schumacher spun in Trulli's path, causing a collision between the two drivers that lead to their retirements from the race. During the mayhem that followed, Mika Salo emerged third and Pedro de la Rosa emerged fourth, with Barrichello down in ninth. The McLarens quickly disappeared into the distance, while de la Rosa took third from Salo. Barrichello charged back up to fourth, which became third when de la Rosa's engine failed, putting him out from third. Häkkinen and Coulthard gave McLaren their fourth 1–2, with Barrichello finishing third. After the race, McLaren were penalized and lost 10 Constructors' Championship points because an FIA seal was found to be missing from Häkkinen's car; Häkkinen did not lose any points.

Germany. Häkkinen had one of his best ever starts and shot up to first even before the first corner. Schumacher was hit from behind by Fisichella, and both were punted into the wall. This left Häkkinen and Coulthard running 1–2, with no one to challenge them. After 25 laps out of 44, the McLarens were half a minute ahead of third-placed Trulli. de la Rosa was fourth, ahead of Barrichello who was both recovering from a bad qualifying. And then, a disgruntled Mercedes-Benz employee ran to the track with a banner. The safety car was out, while the man was taken away. Everyone took the chance to pit, and Coulthard lost out badly because McLaren could not take both their cars at the same time. As the race restarted, it started raining. However, it rained only in some portion of the track. Everyone with the exception of Barrichello and Frentzen pitted. This left Barrichello leading ahead of Frentzen, Häkkinen, Trulli and Coulthard. Those on dries were lapping as quick as those on wets. Trulli was given a stop-go penalty for overtaking under yellow flags. Frentzen lost second when his gearbox failed. This left Barrichello to take his first ever win ahead of Häkkinen and Coulthard.

Hungary. Häkkinen again started like a rocket, and beat both Michael Schumacher and Coulthard into the first corner. Häkkinen pulled away, and Coulthard was held up by Schumacher. Coulthard would have got in front of Schumacher at the second round of stops, but lost time behind Gastón Mazzacane and then Marc Gené. This meant he emerged a fraction behind Schumacher. Häkkinen won, with Schumacher and Coulthard making up the podium. Barrichello beat Ralf to fourth.

Belgium. It was wet at the start, but the top 5 maintained their positions. Häkkinen immediately set about building up a lead. On lap five, Button tried to pass Trulli, and they collided. Trulli was out, and Button lost places. Schumacher and Coulthard gladly took second and third. The former now started to close in on Häkkinen, and took the lead when Häkkinen had a half-spin on lap 12. As the track dried out, everyone changed from wet to dry tyres. Coulthard stayed out too long, and dropped from third to ninth. On a dry track, Häkkinen was faster than Schumacher, and chased him down. With four laps to go, he made a move, but Schumacher turned at him and forced him to the grass at 200 mph. On the next lap, when they were coming to lap Ricardo Zonta, the two men took either sides, and when they turned, Häkkinen was ahead. Häkkinen went on to win and Schumacher had to be content with second. Ralf was third, and Coulthard bounced back to finish fourth.

Italy. At the start, Schumacher and the McLarens started well, but Barrichello and Villeneuve started badly. Schumacher and Häkkinen were first and second, with Coulthard third. Into the second chicane, and Frentzen just braked too late, and hit the back of Barrichello and Trulli, who were running side by side. All three spun, and Coulthard too was collected in the confusion. Later, it came out that a fire marshal, Paolo Ghislimberti had been killed after he was hit on the chest by a wheel from this collision. The top three at the end of this carnage were: Michael Schumacher, Häkkinen and Ralf Schumacher. The race restarted after 10 laps behind the safety car, and Michael Schumacher and Häkkinen quickly pulled away from the rest. Häkkinen tried to outpace Schumacher, but he was just not as quick as the latter. Michael Schumacher took his sixth win of the year, ahead of Häkkinen and Ralf. After the race, Schumacher burst into tears in the press conference, when told that he had equalled Ayrton Senna's record of 41 wins, and about Ghislimberti's death.

United States Grand Prix. Before the race, it rained, and so everyone started on wet tyres. The red lights stayed longer than usual for the start, and Coulthard took off a little too early. This gave him the lead, but it was clear that he would suffer a penalty. He led, ahead of Schumacher and Häkkinen. He knew he would have to suffer a penalty, and blocked Schumacher so that his teammate could close in. Schumacher was having none of it, and passed Coulthard on lap 7 at the first corner. The track began to dry out, and Häkkinen pitted for dries. He came out behind Gastón Mazzacane, and was stuck there. Coulthard soon had his penalty and dropped out of contention. The Ferraris stayed out late, and while Schumacher was ten seconds in the lead, Barrichello rejoined in the mid-field. The top three after the change for dries were Michael Schumacher, Häkkinen and Ralf Schumacher. Häkkinen set a string of fastest laps, and closed down a ten-second gap to Michael Schumacher to four in ten laps, only for his engine to blow up on lap 25. Michael Schumacher was left with a big lead ahead of his brother, which became even bigger when Ralf's engine failed with 12 laps to go, giving second to Frentzen. Frentzen, however was soon passed by a charging Barrichello. Schumacher had a spin towards the end, but hit nothing and survived. He went on to win, with Barrichello making it a Ferrari 1–2, and Frentzen completed the podium.

The penultimate round was in Japan. The race started in overcast conditions, with rain looming. Häkkinen started off better than Schumacher and took the lead. Coulthard maintained third. The two title contenders, Häkkinen and Schumacher pulled away from the others at over a second a lap and were separated by 2–3 seconds. The first round of stops changed nothing. Then, some rain started spitting down at the track, and Schumacher started to close in. Schumacher's second pitstop was three laps after Häkkinen's, and although he was two seconds behind Häkkinen before the stops, he came out four seconds ahead. Schumacher won the race, and the championship, with Häkkinen and Coulthard completing the podium. Barrichello finished fourth.

The final round of the season was in Malaysia. Schumacher had a poor start from pole, and immediately both McLarens were ahead of him. However, it became clear that Häkkinen had jumped the start and he received a penalty. He let Coulthard through, and held up the Ferraris until he went in for the penalty. Coulthard had a good lead, but wasted it by running wide at Turn three. He pitted before Michael Schumacher, and the time he lost by the mistake gave the lead to Schumacher. The two ran together for the rest of the race, with Barrichello unable to keep up. Michael Schumacher won again, ahead of Coulthard and Barrichello, and this ensured the Constructors' Championship for Ferrari. Häkkinen charged back to finish fourth.

At the end of the season, Michael Schumacher was champion with 108 points, Häkkinen was second with 89, Coulthard third with 73, Barrichello fourth with 62, Ralf Schumacher fifth with 24, and Fisichella sixth with 18. In the Constructors' Championship, Ferrari won with 170 points, McLaren was second with 152, and Williams was third with 36.

[S griffin]

1973 was competitive, but overshadowed by tragedy. But it was better than 2000