Monday, October 01, 2001
Hakkinen finds way at Indy
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS — The obstacles were in place to stop Mika Hakkinen on Sunday — bad luck and the Ferrari teammates.
But Hakkinen, a two-time Formula One champion, wasn't about to give in.
Hakkinen took advantage of two pit stops by Rubens Barrichello, then pulled away from the field in the closing laps for an 11-second victory over Michael Schumacher in the United States Grand Prix.
“That was definitely one of the highlights of this chase,” said Hakkinen, who has announced he won't race next season. “Definitely winning the British Grand Prix was something I always wanted in my book, and Indianapolis, I wanted this, too.”
Winning at Indianapolis, though, meant overcoming more than his share of problems.
There was Schumacher, the four-time world champion, who had knocked Hakkinen off the pole in the closing minutes of qualifying Saturday and Barrichello, his strongest challenger Sunday.
As if the two Ferrari drivers didn't cause enough trouble for McLaren's top driver, Hakkinen also had to contend with problems he created.
In Sunday morning's practice session, Hakkinen hit a tire barrier and damaged his car. More bad news arrived about two hours before the race — when officials ruled he had committed a pit-lane violation in the morning practice. The punishment was disqualifying his fastest speed from Saturday, which bumped him to the No. 4 starting spot.
It was enough to make Hakkinen's head spin.
“I'm absolutely still confused, to be honest, particularly because of what happened this morning,” he said following his second win of the season and 20th of his career. “With all the frustration this morning, to sit here as champion of the U.S. Grand Prix is incredible.”
The reason Hakkinen made it to the top of the podium, however, was because of the way he managed the race.
Hakkinen played it cool, waiting for his strategy — not pitting until well after the midway point of the race — to pay dividends.
That allowed Hakkinen to move into contention, and on Lap 39, he took the lead when Schumacher stopped.
“Mika won fair and square,” said Schumacher, this year's Formula One points champ. “I'm pretty happy for him because justice came into place after what happened this morning.”
The anticipated duel between Schumacher and Hakkinen, who have won the last four points titles, never happened because Schumacher said he was playing support for his teammate.
And for much of Sunday, it appeared that Barrichello would coast to victory and become the second Brazilian to win at Indianapolis this year. Countryman Helio Castroneves won the Indianapolis 500 in May.
It was clear from the start that Barrichello had a good car.
He quickly moved past three drivers in the opening laps, then chased down Schumacher. On Lap 5 of the 2.606-mile, 13-turn course, Barrichello finally caught Schumacher in the back straightaway. He moved inside, then sped past.
Barrichello led until a pit stop on Lap 27 and, when Hakkinen finally stopped, Barrichello retook the lead by more than 20 seconds.
Barrichello's second pit stop, however, proved costly.
By the time he made it back on the track, Barrichello trailed Hakkinen by 6.1 seconds.
Then, just when it appeared he might challenge Hakkinen for the lead, Barrichello's car started having engine problems.
“When I got to 2.8 or 2.6 off of Mika, I started to have a little bit of a feeling that the engine lost a little bit of power,” Barrichello said. “After two laps, it was evident that I completely lost the power.”
Barrichello's car stopped with one lap to go, and he was awarded 15th place.
Hakkinen, however, pulled away and only two drivers — Schumacher and Scotland's David Coulthard — managed to finish within 20 seconds.
“All the frustration made me go flat out,” Hakkinen said. “I've been very impressed with what the team has done this weekend. They are motivated, they want me to win.”
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