Is it fair to compare different Formula One eras? (Part 5 of 7: the 2000's)
- cgonzalezmi6
- 21 ene 2021
- 8 Min. de lectura
by Carlos Gonzalez
As Formula One entered the new century, changes introduced to make the Championship more competitive: Electronic aids were banned, Normally aspirated engines were required, refueling was still allowed, and a new scoring point system was under revision.
As reviewed on the previous blog, the rivalry between Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher (McLaren vs. Ferrari) was at its peak with the Finn on back-to-back Championships at the end of the nineties. Schumacher and Ferrari were poised to challenge the flying Finn in the year 2000. They finally achieved their goal with a close battle defined at Suzuka when Schumacher beat Hakkinen by 1.8 seconds with one race to spare.
It is important to remember that this was the first Championship for Ferrari since 1979; when Jody Scheckter won the Driver's Championship and Ferrari the Constructors Championship.
In this decade, several manufacturers decided to return to F1. By 2003 Ford bought the Stewart F1 team and rebranded it as Jaguar Racing, Renault and Honda returned as manufacturers, BMW and Toyota also joined the Championship.
Car manufacturers worldwide recognize the global appeal of Formula One. TV ratings were very high since the Schumacher v. Hakkinen rivalry heated up, the majority of the manufacturers purchased existing teams and built upon that infrastructure: Renault bought former partner Benetton F1 team, BMW made an agreement and supplied engines to Williams, after several successful seasons BMW moved on to purchase the Sauber F1 team, Honda was an engine supplier to British American Racing (BAR) before buying them outright in 2005, but it was definitively Toyota who took the more aggressive approach; after running successful programs at Indy and several other categories they decided to fund their F1 team building not only the engine but also the chassis, at this time only Ferrari was performing both activities.
We can't talk about the 2000s without recognizing a couple of controversial and some frankly embarrassing events in this timeframe: Formula One was also subject to various scandals and controversies. Team orders decided how the cars will finish on the race or if a teammate needed to let another driver go by without challenging him on the track, like the one received by Rubens Barrichello during the Austrian GP to let Michael go by after a clear dominance of the Brazilian all weekend.
It was also the period where the media attached the word "gate" to every investigation. Spygate and Crashgate, words that F1 fans became familiar with; the former where McLaren acquired confidential documents from Ferrari to gain a competitive advantage. The later where Team Principal Flavio Briatore ordered Nelson Piquet Jr. to crash at the Singapore Grand Prix to give Fernando Alonso a competitive advantage to win the race.
There is also the controversial US Grand Prix at Indianapolis. After an issue detected by tire manufacturer Michelin only six cars, all using Bridgestone tires, raced on Sunday due to concerns that the Michelin tires would not hold after several incidents during the weekend, including one on Saturday practice involving Ralf Schumacher.
Unfortunately, to analyze each of them in detail would be the subject of a different blog. In this decade, the world was hit by a global recession (2008-2009) that caused tremendous financial devastation and impacted every aspect of the economy, F1 was not immune.
But back to our main story, Ferrari saw the culmination of its efforts, which started in 1996 when they hire two-time World Champion M. Schumacher. Team Principal Jean Todt and Technical Director Ross Brawn built an impressive team around Schumacher, hiring several key members of the Benetton F1 Team and creating a powerhouse with the best people for a specific job regardless of nationality. This breaking Ferrari's tradition of having an all Italian team. The three key figures built a relationship that isolated them from the politics involved within managing a team, so they could focus on what they did best: Todt managed the team and handle the relations with the Corporate side of the equation, Brawn Managed the team internally and coordinated the design and engineering teams, and Schumacher will focus on driving, and his relationship with the team, the key to this success was Luca di Montezemolo's, then President and CEO of Ferrari, support to the program and respect of the agreement between Todt, Brawn, and Schumacher.
From 2000 to 2004, Ferrari was unstoppable, winning back-to-back World Championships 5 years in a row. This dominance was unprecedented and turned F1 into a predictable spectacle. People just tuned in to see if there was an issue with the Ferraris or who would finish 3rd in the race.
During this time, the FIA changed the Championship point system from a Base 6 system to a Base 8 system in 2003. Since 1962 the Base 6 system awarded scoring points only the first six positions towards the Championship; the new Base 8 system awarded points to the top eight drivers to increase competition.
Several young drivers started their F1 careers in the 2000s. Talented drivers like Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikonnen, Jenson Button, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Lewis Hamilton, to name a few, made their debut in this decade.
By 2005, after years of chasing Ferrari, Renault was able to find the right chassis and engine combination to challenge the established Italian team. Fernando Alonso beat Schumacher by 23 points on the Drivers Championship, making him the youngest Champion of the sport, and Renault beat Ferrari by 9 points on the Manufacturer's Championship. The engine regulations changed in 2006 from the 3.0 liter V-10 to the 2.4 liter V8 specification. Renault and Alonso capitalized on that change securing back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006.
2006 marked the end of the Schumacher era at Ferrari, the seven-time World champion retired, replaced by Kimi Raikonnen for the upcoming 2007 campaign.
The first year without Schumacher on the grid marked a new era: Fernando Alonso joined the powerful McLaren team, a rookie made his debut as Fernando's teammate: Lewis Hamilton. Expectations were high for McLaren that year as well for Renault and Ferrari.
The season played out as a close battle between McLaren and Ferrari.
The R27 from Renault prove to be uncompetitive to defend the title. It all came out to the last race of the year, where three drivers were still competing for the Championship. The Mclaren duo (Alonso and Hamilton) and Kimi Raikkonen entered the final race with possibilities to win the Championship, Kimi was third in the Championship entering the last race. After a masterful drive, he won not only the race but the Championship beating Hamilton and Alonso by 1 point 110 to 109. For the first time since the World Championship started back in 1950, the driver in third place in the Championship entering the race won the Championship. The driver back in 1950 was Giuseppe Farina. McLaren stripped of its Championship points because of an espionage controversy allowed Ferrari to win the Constructor's Championship. To date, this is the last Driver's Championship for a Ferrari Driver.
By 2008 Ferrari was poised to repeat their previous year's achievement. The Championship was going to be decided on the last race of the season again. Hamilton was battling Felipe Massa and Kimi for the Championship, Alonso, back in Renault after his time at McLaren, was not in contention.
The last race didn't go as planned for Hamilton, at the time the Championship front runner. He started 4th on the grid behind his main rivals and struggled to keep pace with the leaders; Hamilton needed to finish 5th or better to become World Champion. His challenger, Felipe Massa, on the other hand, needed to win the race. He started from Pole and drove a superb race, on the last stages of the race, rain appeared and on lap 69 of 71, a young S. Vettel who was fighting with Hamilton for 5th place passed the young Brit since he drove wide due to the racing conditions. By this time, the front runners had stopped for intermediate tires except for Timo Glock from Toyota was firm in 4th place and decided to keep his dry tires to fight for position.
On the last lap, Massa finished the race in 1st place, and Hamilton was in 6th place several seconds behind. Massa and his team thought he had secured the Driver's World Championship for Ferrari. With just a couple of corners to go before the checkered flag, Glock couldn't hold Vettel or Hamilton. Both were able to pass him in the last corners of the Brazilian Grand Prix, Vettel finished 4th, and Hamilton secured the 5th position he needed to become World Champion, the youngest to achieve it until that day.
The look on Massa's father's face and team crew said it all: He had lost the Championship after doing everything he needed to do to win it on the last lap on the last corner by a single point. To this day, I still feel sorry for Massa since that was his last victory in Formula One, and he was never again in a position to fight for the Championship.
Hamilton secured his first Driver's World Championship in only his second attempt, and Ferrari won its last Constructor's Championship to date.
By 2009 several changes were happening; after five seasons in Formula One as a manufacturer, Honda, due to the global crisis, decided to stop its support to the program. They were looking for someone to buy the Racing team, several buyers rumored to be interested, but only one stepped up at the end: Ross Brawn.
The former Technical Director of Benetton and Ferrari was already collaborating with Honda and made a deal with the Japanese firm to acquire the entire Racing team operations, including facilities and personnel, for one British pound (£1), yes you are reading correctly: one pound! The condition; that Brawn maintained the entire personnel crew, including drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.
He kept his promise and founded Brawn GP for the 2009 season; struggling financially, they apply for registration. The FIA determined that the team was a new entry, Brawn GP needed to pay an entry fee. Due to the financial constraints, a VP from the FIA named Keith Hayes decided to waive the entry fee due to the team circumstances. The car had a chassis but no engine, since Honda was no longer involved, Brawn contacted Mercedes-Benz and secured a deal. Since the existing chassis designed to host a different powerplant, the team worked hard to make it work.
The team made its debut in the Australian GP. After an encouraging practice session, where they finished in the top 5, the team set the pace during qualification and secure the front row with Jenson Button on pole position; Rubens Barrichello a close second ahead of none other than Sebastian Vettel driving for Red Bull. On Sunday, Brawn GP secured his first 1-2 of the season, winning in their debut Grand Prix, the first team to achieve this since Mercedes-Benz in 1954.
The key to Brawn's success was the implementation of a double diffuser on the rear of the car that improved the airflow underneath the chassis and increased the top speed. This loophole in the regulation was exploited by Brawn winning six of the first seven races and securing podiums in the first ten races of the season and, when McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull caught up the lead from Brawn was enough to avoid the late challenge by its competitors. The team went ahead and won the Constructor's Championship. Jenson Button secured his first and only Driver's Championship despite a fierce assault by Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull towards the end of the season. Brawn GP made history as the first and only team to achieve 100% Championship success, a feat that, most likely, will never be repeated.
To put this in perspective, Honda or Toyota have never won a Driver's or Constructor's Championship.
After its maiden season, the team was acquired by Mercedes-Benz, marking the return of the German manufacturer as a full factory team since 1955.
This decade is going to be remembered by Ferrari's dominance, the close Championship battles, Brawn GP's improbable victory, the economic uncertainty that forced several manufacturers out of the sport, and the scandals. But new teams and drivers were on the verge of breaking thru and become relevant, names like Red Bull, Mercedes-Benz, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, and Nico Rosberg will become familiar, but that is the subject of the next blog. As always, let me know your opinion and share your comments. If you enjoyed the blog, hit like and share it with other enthusiasts.
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