What was the key moment of this season?
"Hockenheim, where after the first laps we seemed to be dead. Barrichello scored a fantastic victory, taking four points off Hakkinen, moving up from 15th to first place. And by making us score points with McLaren in the standings. Then there were moments of tension, more than panic. Overcome. The team was able to resist everything".
The future: what is there to improve?
"The starts, even if we have made progress. We will have to work more".
Luca di Montezemolo arrives in Sepang only at 8:00 p.m., in a flowing red wig. He arrives late because:
"I arrived in Malaysia this morning, but I preferred to watch the race on television in my hotel room and let the team celebrate alone. After all, it is their great victory, a victory they deserve, I thought it best to leave them alone. Now we all go to dinner together".
President, did you suffer watching the race?
"I always suffer and in fact I prefer to watch them at home but this time in the hotel I suffered more. I suffer because I know how racing is: you can’t relax until you’ve crossed the finish line. But today I have to say it was a beautiful and hard-fought race".
What do you think of McLaren?
"They were very difficult adversaries, they made us suffer the whole season but we've also made them suffer - and not a little. But...do you see these decals? I’m number one in our cars for next year. And you know who came to give them to me? Jo Ramirez, McLaren’s team manager. I’m sorry Ron Dennis didn’t feel the need to come and congratulate and say hello. It was a beautiful championship as we would like to see more often. We fought against a strong team".
Beyond the moral and sporting value, does this double victory have commercial repercussions for Ferrari?
"Ferrari is having a golden year in both respects. Sportingly we won, commercially we are doing well. I am happy for all those who work at Ferrari, shareholders and fans".
Can we say that a Ferrari cycle is opening?
"The Ferrari cycle has already been open for four years. 1996, which was not an easy year, however, saw us rise again with three beautiful victories. In 1997 we lost the title fifteen laps from the end. In 1998 we lost at the last, in 1999 we won the constructors' title. Now we've won it all. Ten pole positions, ten wins, a record of points. It may be an unrepeatable year but the Ferrari cycle has already opened and can continue".
Choirs, hugs, toasts and the classic group photo with the trophies won. The ritual of fifteen days before in Suzuka is repeated in Sepang, with the red wigs being the only difference. An original way to vary an already seen script. Luca Baldisserri admits that the emotion was stronger in Japan, since after all the constructors' title seemed already at hand:
"We knew three points would be enough. Losing the title would have been so resounding that it would overshadow even the joy of Suzuka. Actually, I expected to win more easily after Michael’s great job in qualifying, but maybe he relaxed a bit in the last part of the race, allowing Coulthard to come out ahead. Anyway, you kept him at bay, didn’t you?"
Among the happiest to wear the wig is Ross Brawn, filmed while he throws kisses to the televisions:
"It was the worthy conclusion of a fantastic year, this is the right reward of a constant growth that allowed us first to touch the 1996 and 1998 titles, then to win the constructors last year and now both. Something like this had already happened to me at Benetton, but repeating it with Ferrari has something special. The pole records and victories? I never imagined in moments of difficulty, mid-season, that we would come to this. But we made it because - as we say - we never gave up. It’s our philosophy".
For the coordinator of the technicians Ignazio Lunetta, this Grand Prix was one of the hardest:
"Staying focused after what happened in Suzuka was our problem: this weekend seemed endless. Barrichello? Unfortunately, McLaren did not give up a millimetre and this did not allow us to make any strategy to help him win. But he is young and skilled, he will have time to win another race".
Speaking of McLaren, Lunetta underlines how the relationship between the two teams has changed:
"They have a different attitude, they treat us on an equal footing, as worthy rivals, while before they always stressed that our only strength was Schumacher. It is the best recognition to our work".
Following the festivities in the evening, Jean Todt is unleashed, and does not dispense from dancing and, above all, from tearing off a leg of Montezemolo's trousers. It seems to be a very fashionable joke in Germany when the atmosphere gets a little heated during the holidays. Schumacher, in the party at the Paddock Club of the Sepang circuit, at some point even wraps his head with Norbert Haug’s trousers, like a bandana. A bandana appeared obviously gigantic considering the size of the great leader of Mercedes that very sportily agrees to participate in the world party of the team that has soundly defeated the German one. Of course, it is especially with Corinna that Schumacher dances, maybe whispering in her ear:
"Come on, a little longer and then we finally run home to Gina Maria and Mick, I really want to hug them".
And in fact, the next day the two leave immediately to return home. On Sunday evening, before continuing the festivities, thanks to a television link with Germany, Michael was able to greet his father Rolf and other friends, such as the famous German national goalkeeper Toni Schumacher and Niki Lauda himself. The latter, in addition to the title, compliments him for the beautiful red wig, and Michael promptly retorts:
"Do you like it? I have one for you too, I’ll send it to you soon".
Of course, mocking in a somewhat cruel way the former Austrian World Champion to whom hair has remained a few. And then, in the same television show, all the players of Aubonne and Echichens - the two Swiss teams in which Michael has recently played - also appear. He laughs all the time. Just for a moment the face of Schumacher appears a bit puzzled, when the images of the spectacular overtaking of Hakkinen in Spa parade on the screen. At his own expense.
"That’s what you had to show me at a time like this? Honestly, it wasn’t nice to lose due to a manoeuvre like that, it almost made me feel like an old man compared to him. However, our duels in these three years in which we fought for the title have always been beautiful and loyal, if one behaves well the other behaves the same way. I always had a wonderful relationship with Mika, this time it was up to me to win and in Suzuka he immediately came to compliment me. What a race that of Japan. Undoubtedly the most spectacular of the season".
And before diving into the party with the entire Ferrari team, Schumacher reiterates that even in the worst moments of the year he had never lost the confidence to be able to do it:
"Sometimes I felt deep disappointment, but I never had any doubts about the final success. People believe that the breakthrough that has favoured us was the failure of the Hakkinen engine in Indianapolis, but they forget that I was forced to retire four times too, for failures or accidents. Is it not certain that the good and bad in a season are always balanced and that then in the end everything comes back. This time they came back for us, in both championships, and I believe that the Ferrari team as a whole has largely deserved them".
Although he was defeated, Mika Hakkinen does not despair at losing the chance to win what would have been the third consecutive drivers’ title. He gave his best, he climbed the slope in an exceptional way after a complicated start to the championship, to the point of overturning all those predictions that saw him as an already sure loser. He won races, put in his place a dashing Coulthard, made his rivals in red tremble, but in the end he had to bow to the Schumacher-Ferrari binomial:
"For me it is easier to forget a defeat, because when in two months my child will cry, it will certainly not be for the set up".
From a man who speaks like that, and who is already mentally involved in his next paternity, you cannot expect a fierce rage. But he wants to point out a concept:
"I moved a little before I started, but so did Schumacher. We both moved, maybe I've moved after him, then we stopped, just when the race really started. Why did I get a Stop&go?"
A penalty that destroyed his race:
"Of course I could win, the possibility was real. Unfortunately, this is not golf, a sport that I will dedicate myself to in the coming months. There I can laugh at my mistakes, here I cannot. When I realised that they would penalise me, I immediately let Coulthard pass. But at that moment I had a power drop, I lacked the acceleration".
He bequeaths a heavy promise:
"For the future I have great reasons, I never thought of retiring, I am ready to fight again with Schumacher. During the holidays I will look at myself in the mirror, I will think about where I went wrong. And I will also enjoy the unforgettable moments, like Spa. With that overtake on Schumacher that will go down in history".
It is a McLaren that is defeated across the board, but that for once wants to show only the good feelings. This is demonstrated by Coulthard, usually the most rancorous, who takes advantage of the Ferrari triumph to apologise to the great German rival. In his words, and also in the powerful hug at the end of the race, there is true peace:
"With Schumacher I was wrong, when there were disagreements I should have spoken to him face to face rather than vent with the press. Now it’s right to put an end to this story, he’s great, he deserves the world title, it’s right to compliment him. I was looking for the right time to talk to him, and I found it today, at the end of the season. During the races it is normal, even if it may seem bad, to put a barrier between you and your opponent, you cannot show your weaknesses. No hard-feelings: I hope I have finally cleared up with him".
In this atmosphere of sportiness and friendship, Montezemolo also stands out, writing a letter to Hakkinen precisely for the sportiness of the latter:
"I really liked what he said right after the end of the Japanese Grand Prix. Once again he proved to be a great champion. In the following days I called Keke Rosberg with whom I often feel, and I thanked him for Mika’s words. Then I sent a letter to Hakkinen to thank him in person".
Montezemolo, back in Italy, can immediately become aware of the enthusiasm of fans when he is a guest of the La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper and creates a direct bond with the readers. Hot phones, clogged lines and a cascade of compliments. Many questions. The first concerns Barrichello and his confirmation for 2001:
"Obviously yes: Rubens in his first season did really well, also because he had to adapt to the team and the environment, moreover he had a strong pressure because it was a season in which, from the first to the last race, Ferrari had to win, absolutely win. This certainly wasn’t a transition season for us. Instead, as for the second question, I was pleased to see the people happy, all those who have been with us in the dark years. Who knew how to wait for us. We have fought a lot in these years, we started from far away and finally we managed to achieve this satisfactory result that we already deserved four years ago, in 1997".
A question that gives life to a nice curtain concerns the absence of Italian drivers in the line-up holder:
"I am a bit nationalist and with all these foreigners Ferrari does not feel very Italian".
Montezemolo replies as follows:
“Is that all it is?”
But the journalist asks him another thorny question:
"If the FIA executives had not penalised McLaren throughout the championship, would you have been so sure to win the World Championship?"
The president of Ferrari replies:
"Yes, even more. Our rivals were not boycotted".
The lady insists, however, that in her opinion without the aforementioned penalties things would have gone differently, and therefore, Ferrari does not have much to be proud of. Montezemolo replies as follows:
"I am very, very proud because we won and we had already won the constructors' title last year. In life it is very difficult to win, and I can tell you how much I struggled. But it is even more difficult to know how to lose. Ma'am, you still support Ferrari".
And the lady says:
"But I actually support McLaren and I can’t stand Schu, Schu...".
So Montezemolo comes up jokingly:
"But didn' you say before that you are nationalist? And that McLaren feels more Italian than Ferrari".
The president jokes, closing the conversation. Other questions are on the 2001 car. Montezemolo specifies:
"It will be an evolution, as this one is an evolution of the last season. Obviously we will have to adapt to the new regulations".
Between a phone call and the other the president has time to tell some anecdotes, and incredulous repeats what had happened to him in the morning:
"In Corso Como I was stopped by an old lady who told me that she wanted to give her two-year-old niece a Schumacher jumpsuit. Ma'am, are you a fan of ours? No - she answered candidly - but on Sunday I cried as I had been a fan for a long time. It’s amazing how the weirdest people, who know nothing about cars, got excited about our success".
And after having interrupted such a long fast, Ferrari aims to excite people even for the following years, aware of the feat accomplished against very strong opponents, aware of its own strength, aware of its own internal stability (an utopia until a few years earlier) and knowing that they have the strongest driver in the strongest car. For the Maranello team there are some very interesting years ahead. To conclude in the best way the triumphant wins of the 2000 season, in Ferrari there is now only one thing left to do: celebrate. And among the first events organised to celebrate the victory of the Drivers' and Constructors' world titles, there is that of October 20, 2000, at La Scala: Michael Schumacher, together with Rubens Barrichello and Jean Todt, attends the Giselle ballet, a gala show entirely organised in honour of the Maranello team.
The public, largely composed of Ferrari customers, applauds Schumacher for minutes, dressed in blue velvet with white stripes, who responds with a wave of his hand and a bow. The next day he will be back on track, at the Monza circuit, for the final phase of the Trofeo Pirelli Ferrari Challenge, an opportunity to celebrate the titles won, with Michael who, together with Barrichello and test driver Luca Badoer, will run with the cars that participated in the last Grand Prix, in Japan: 35.000 fans flock to attend the party, with Luca di Montezemolo, Jean Todt and the redhead drivers who hold thousands of hands and act as a public of honour for the Italian finals of the Ferrari Challenge, the single-brand trophy reserved for the Berlinette 360 Modena. At the end of October, then, Michael takes part in the world karting final, scheduled in Kerpen, his hometown: the four-time world champion is only twenty-second in practice, while the race ends with the car off-track after fifteen laps. The title is in the hands of the Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi. At the beginning of November, on the occasion of the Levante Motor Show, Jarno Trulli is surprised by the welcome of the Bari fans, as he struggles to make room in the crowd to pose near the Ferrari World Champion and his car. On the latter, Jarno expresses himself as follows:
"I have won in all the categories in which I have raced. Probably if I had a Ferrari I could be faster and win some races. I don’t know why Italian drivers don’t race with the Maranello team. But I would do it".
Autographs, photographs, kisses, an overflowing affection. Trulli does not escape anywhere. He is allowed to drive through the exhibition between two wings of crowd and he moves in the pavilions, beginning from that of the vintage motorbikes. Real jewels, like another world champion bike who goes unnoticed compared to the Ferrari of Schumacher: the Honda number 46 of Valentino Rossi, new world champion in the 500 class. Meanwhile, if there are those like Ferrari who celebrates, or those like McLaren and Williams who recharge their batteries to renew the challenge to the Maranello team, there are also those like Prost who sail in bad waters. The team owned by the four-time World Championship is in fact on the verge of bankruptcy, overwhelmed by millions and millions of debts accumulated over the last, disastrous seasons. On November 25, 2000, Prost deposits his books in the court of Versailles: the judges immediately appoints a receiver, while the stable will remain in receivership for six months, in the hope of finding in this period a buyer able to cover the enormous losses. Alain Prost is optimistic, mentioning seven possible buyers. The fact is, in 1997, when he bought Ligier, he was hoping for other goals. Instead, in his five years as leader, he saw only defeats and divorces. The quarrel with Peugeot (guilty according to the former driver of continuous missteps with his engine), the cars badly designed by Loic Bigois, the break with the historic sponsor Gauloises, up to the stormy separation with Alesi, able to bring four points to Prost, but returned with coldness and late paid salaries. Alain does not want to give up, he assures that the team will be enrolled in the 2001 championship, and he is convinced not to lose even the Ferrari engines.
But the winter break is not only driven by Prost’s financial crisis. In fact, the great European Formula 1 manufacturers seem to want to move on to facts, making it clear that the alternative World Championship, no longer economically dominated by Ecclestone, will soon be a reality. In the previous spring, under the pretext of the war in Kirch, a German pay-TV magnate - seen as the smoke and mirrors of those who put their large advertising revenues on the 350.000.000 listeners who gather at every Grand Prix - said that the foundation was laid, with the provocative proposal of a competitive championship. In November, the first official step was taken, with the creation of a company, called GPWC Holding B.V., a consortium chaired by Paolo Cantarella, CEO of the Fiat group and president of ACEA, the Association of European car manufacturers, and which brings together, in addition to the Italian company, BMW, Daimler Chrysler (present in Formula 1 with Mercedes), Renault and the American Ford (which presents the British brand Jaguar at the Grand Prix), practically all the stables that win and make audience in the World Championship. A group with clear ideas and a clear goal: create a new championship, self-managed, starting (but in the note released by the new company is said at the latest) from January 2008. The five constructors, alone, would already suffice to reach the finish line, but the new company prefers to widen the field of the adhesions, meeting and convincing to the mutiny also the other stables, those with less prestige (there are however the Japanese Honda and Toyota) but equally enticed by more exciting economic prospects.
The project, in fact, is no longer limited to television rights, with the war between free-to-air and encrypted transmissions, but absorbs all the revenues that derive from Formula 1, from the promotion of tenders to hospitality, from circuit advertising to merchandising and internet opportunities, a world of many zeros on which Ecclestone has built his multi-billion-dollar fortune. The note issued by the constructors claims:
"Through a common organisation, the financial benefits of the participating teams can be substantially improved and an absolute economic transparency is guaranteed".
That translated means: no more sixty percent at Ecclestone and forty at the stables (through the Concorde Agreement that expires in 2007), but all the proceeds go to the protagonists, with higher percentages for each of them. A plan that puts Kirch with its back against the wall, which with Em.Tv holds seventy-five percent of the Slec (Slavica Ecclestone Corporation), a company with which Bernie Ecclestone governs Formula 1 and its rich television and commercial rights. It is true that the German tycoon is strengthened by a television contract until 2007, but it is also true that Formula 1 risks becoming an empty bag, without the presence of teams like Ferrari, Williams or McLaren. That is why the big constructors (in the new company they are all represented in the Board of Directors) go on without fear. In this regard, the message of the Ferrari president, Luca di Montezemolo, is clear:
"Do not call it alternative or parallel. Ours will be a Formula 1 World Championship. It is not right to talk about splitting, because there is no division. We all agree to go the other way. All the constructors are ready. When the current contract ends in 2007, we will be free to do what we want. And we will organise our championship. A world without us and even without our great adversaries, is unthinkable. That’s why I say that we cannot speak of an alternative. It’s just the world. Run by us, in the best possible way. All the stables are in agreement, because they have understood that everyone can benefit from this".
In the meantime, between December 9 and 10, 2000, the 26th edition of the Motor Show takes place in Bologna, in two days of celebration and emotions in which 200.000 people are moved. Alex Zanardi also attends the event, three months after the Lausitzring accident that cost him the leg amputation. The driver, who arrived in a wheelchair at the award ceremony of the 2000 Golden Helmet, receives the hug of Schumacher and Todt and then stands up on the two prosthetics pre-set him from the Inail centre of Vigorso. Ten minutes of standing ovation follow, so intense that all the rhetoric linked to the records and the rich display boards exhibited with so much pride is eliminated. All standing, all excited, surprised and upset by the strength of Zanardi, so generous to dedicate the evening to friends, fans, and to those who love him:
"I thank everyone, everyone who supported me, who wrote me e-mails and letters to which I could not answer. I can’t walk yet, but this is a first step".
The audience is shaken, Schumacher himself approaches Alex and hugs him. The presenters for once remain silent. Zanardi goes further:
"I’m so excited, my legs are shaking".
He laughs, everybody laughs.
"That’s okay. I broke but I don’t bend. It’s a tough race but I’ll do anything to win".
They gave him between life and death; indeed, at least in the beginning, they gave him up for dead. Then the danger that he might lose his skin moved away, but with that also the hope of being able to save his legs.
"They were gone when I woke up. After a few days, I began to think that the important thing was to be alive. And got used to the idea. I know everyone makes a funny face when they see me optimistic. But to me it is normal. Or maybe I would have made that face too before I had this new experience. The fact is that I have always liked the challenges, even the most insignificant ones. That’s life. And then I decided to win this challenge. Although I did not choose it".
The challenge is soon told: get up, walk, keep his son Niccolò, who is three years old, on his shoulders. Someone also said to go back racing, and he has not answered, but he has not yet said no. Meanwhile, he has already got up. First at his home, then in front of thousands of people at the Motor Show. And Autosprint awards him with a special Golden Helmet, called My Champion. Michael Schumacher also dispenses smiles and more: he also gives the cameras a duet with Alesi's family, Jean and daughter, with a telephone exchange of kisses, then goes on stage to hug Senna’s sister, Viviane (standing ovation for her too), arrived to pick up for Ayrton the Helmet Driver of the Century: Michael smiles and dispenses only a joke, in German:
"In the course of life, everyone can improve, even myself".
Beginning to look forward to the 2001 season, during the Autosport ceremony, with the award of Ferrari as a car in 2000 and Schumacher as a driver of the year, Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn reveals:
"We have a chance to run in the old car if we want. If the new one is not ready, we are not worried about starting the World Championship in Australia with the car of last year".
The new version of the Maranello car will be innovative in engine and gearbox, and from the words of Brawn a delay in construction and development is likely. But Todt, the manager of sports management, from Genoa denies:
"We are working hard on the engine, everything goes smoothly. On March 3, the day of the debut, we will be ready".
And Toyota will definitely be ready, in the season of its debut in Formula 1, and that, like Ferrari, builds everything itself, from the engine to the chassis; it also has a frightening budget (about two billion euros for five years, 400.000.000 euros per season). A very rich stable, an automobile giant, third world manufacturer with 6.000.000 vehicles produced in 2000, with only one defect: Toyota has never raced in Formula 1. The one presented in mid-December (in front of the admired eyes of Ecclestone) Cologne, Germany, is his first car, a car that wants to learn quickly to win, but that will inevitably pay the price of the debut. They are not fooled, the executives of the Japanese company. Swedish Ove Andersson, president of Toyota Motorsport, explains:
"In the first season the goals are realistic: qualify in every race, finish as high as possible and earn respect in the paddock".
A challenge more at Arrows and Minardi than at Ferrari or McLaren. In short, no proclamations, even if Toyota arrives at its debut after having covered almost 21.000 kilometres of testing with its first single-seater laboratory, mainly on the French circuit of Le Castellet (which is the Japanese team’s base of operations) but also on eleven circuits of the next World Championship.
How realistic is the choice of drivers, two skilled men, with many years of experience on their shoulders, like the former Ferrari driver Mika Salo, the Finn who in 1999 replaced Schumacher after the accident at Silverstone, and the Scottish Allan McNish, who made his Formula 1 debut at the age of 32. Two drivers who for a year have run without the hassle of the race, just trying to improve their times and get closer to those of the most experienced teams, which have been grinding for a long time world miles. The feedback must have been good, if Salo admits it without fear:
"The car is very fast, it will take a few months to get to the top, because the team has a very high professionalism. To the point that our organisation does not make me regret Ferrari".
The bet is just that, the long game challenge. Learn to win, to be able to beat Ferrari, McLaren and Williams in the future. Meanwhile, with the TF102, designed by the Austrian Brunner (former design engineer in Ferrari and Minardi) and made powerful by engineer Kreyer, will try to limit the damage. Maybe to hit a few surprise shots. Shots that have almost never been successful at BAR, which in the same period presents the 2001 car in London. The Anglo-American team, among other things, lacks its executive director, Craig Pollock, the man who had convinced Villeneuve to leave Williams to embark on this miserable adventure of satisfactions.
A few days after Christmas, Ferrari hosts the famous dinner with President Montezemolo: curiously, to receive the guests in the new factory that builds the most famous engines in the world, there is a robot. All yellow, with a Santa hat on his head. He has an implacable and precise hand: under the eyes of the guests, he cuts the panettone into twelve slices, then grabs it with the whole tray and puts it aside to start again with another panettone. Followed by a classic dinner with tortellini, zampone, lentils and mashed potatoes. Then the robotized panettone with hot chocolate on top. Montezemolo holds the microphone for a long time. The president of Ferrari is very keen to talk about the future, when there will no longer be the current Formula 1 but something else managed directly by the teams and not by Ecclestone:
"You understand well that we are all very grateful to Bernie Ecclestone for everything he has done for Formula 1. It was little and he made it great. But then he became more and more greedy, and then we had enough. Let me give you an example: if all the money entering Formula 1 is 100, we can say that 43% goes to all the teams put together and 57% to Ecclestone. A little too much, don’t you think? A little too much especially if you consider that we - the teams that take part in it - are the protagonists of Formula 1. Without us there would be no Formula 1. And so we said: thank you Mr Ecclestone but, since you sold us to others, now we handle Formula 1. I don’t know what name the new Formula 1 will have but it will be the same with the same protagonists".
And about Ferrari:
"What can I say? These days last year I said that I would like to win again but frankly I expected everything except to win this way, with so much superiority and so much anticipation of the end of the championship. It is clear that we want to win again next year. We have a strong, united team that works with enthusiasm, in short, we have everything to win again. The regulations have remained stable and therefore there will be no technical revolutions but it is clear that from us, who are the champions, everyone expects a step forward, an improvement. And we’re working on that. In early January we will go on track and then in early February we will present the new Ferrari for the 2001 championship. We have some problems with the new titanium melt gearbox, but with all the evidence in January, we’ll solve that, too. In recent days I saw Schumacher, very excited, in splendid shape. He kept calling me to ask when he could come here. I told him: the car is not ready yet but if you want to come, come, we are all waiting with joy. Well: he came anyway with the excuse that he wanted to test the new seat. From him we expect the best and everyone will expect the same. And he’ll give it to us".
Waiting for the new car, the new gearbox and the new technical subtleties to work properly, Ferrari is about to take on a new big task. To be Bridgestone’s privileged experimenter. In short, Ferrari will have to test thousands of tyres and choose the ones it considers best. A task that will involve a little test session: about 40.000 kilometres just for the tyres. To celebrate the victory of the two world titles, from October 28 to October 30, 2000, Ferrari celebrates at Mugello between races, fashion shows and other conventions. Together with the F1-2000, the World Champion Michael Schumacher, the man who brought the drivers’ title back to Maranello after twenty-one years of waiting. Teammate Rubens Barrichello and test driver Luca Badoer also perform with the German. The name of the event (now in its eighth edition and that the year before was held in Vallelunga) bears the name from every Ferrari at Mugello, although in reality there are not all. The most representative cars, however, are not lacking. In the middle of the party, Schumacher admits that he did not expect so much support from the fans:
"It’s really a great emotion, the Ferrari fans are just special. Today we expected a lot of people, but I must be honest: it was even more beautiful than I thought. Only Ferrari can create these emotions".
For Michael first a walk on the pit lane together with Todt, Barrichello and Badoer; a lap of honour standing on a 360 Modena red spider, then a few laps on track together with his teammates on the F1-2000, with a single run and a single spin. And, in the end, this greeting in Italian to the thousands of people who applaud him:
"To all the fans, to the whole team, only three things: thank you, thank you, thank you".
To the journalists instead he repeats later:
"I hope this season is the beginning of a Ferrari era".
Schumacher also wants to underline that the successful season of Ferrari, which culminated in 2000, began in 1997:
"Ferrari has been fighting for the World Championship for quite some time. Now, finally, we have done it. And given how it went this year, I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t keep doing this. I am confident, although I know we will have to work hard".
Michael then expresses his condolences to the family of Ulrich Plattenhardt, the sixty-seven-year-old countryman who died at Mugello during the celebrations:
"I am very sorry. My thoughts are with them, who are in this very difficult moment".
And now, as the reigning champion, he is looking forward to a month of vacation that he will spend close to his wife and children and far from the media and Formula 1. An opportunity, among other things, to remove the nail in the leg dating back to the Silverstone accident in 1999. A long-planned intervention, although strictly kept secret to safeguard the privacy of the German. Ferrari and the driver’s entourage decide to announce the operation only after it has taken place. Even Barrichello, celebrated together with Todt and Badoer, uses the same tone:
"Today it was nice to do a lap on track all together, and it was wonderful to see all these people: I’m very excited. And I’m very happy to be part of this Italian family. But now I’m going to Brazil, I want to relax for a while. As the last day of the season, it was beautiful".
After the surgery, Schumacher will have to rest for a week and only after can begin the rehabilitation that will last five weeks. Michael confirms immediately that he will miss all the tests in December, which will see the Formula 1 teams engaged in Spain and Portugal on the tracks of Jerez, Barcelona and Estoril. It will then be up to Badoer and Barrichello to develop the components that will then be mounted on the new car. Michael, for his part, declares his intention to keep in touch with Todt, Brawn and Byrne and the other key technicians who deal with the car for the 2001 season. A season that, in addition to many well-known faces, will see many young novice drivers at work: the first to convert to politics that focuses on young people was Frank Williams when, on the eve of the 2000 season, decided to trust a 19-year-old Englishman, who, however, had only one Formula 3 championship behind him: Jenson Button. And his discreet debut meant that the desire for renewal soon contaminated other stables. Like the Jaguar, which already in the summer had decided to replace from 2001 on the veteran Johnny Herbert with Luciano Burti: the Brazilian, twenty-five years old, of Florentine origin, who since 1998 had been promoted by Jackie Stewart to the role of test driver after a good start in Formula 3, then had the opportunity to debut in Formula 1 in the middle of the championship recently ended, to be precise in Austria, where he replaced an Irvine with stomach problems, finishing 11th. Even Sauber thinks about renewing the drivers: after hiring Nick Heidfeld (former a Prost driver), the Swiss manufacturer confirms the will to entrust the second car to Kimi Raikkonen.
Finnish, born in 1979, a lover of snowboarding and jogging, the new pupil of the Swiss team won the 2000 English Formula Renault Championship thanks to seven partial successes (and six pole positions) in ten races, and when he raced the European series (three races in all) he immediately amazed, thanks to two wins, two poles and as many fast laps in the race. To be able to run, however, Raikkonen will have to obtain the FIA super licence and then travel at least 2000 kilometres in winter tests, convincing the federal commission with very fast laps. But Formula 1 will see among the twenty-two protagonists of 2001 also another rookie, although already established: Juan Pablo Montoya. The Colombian, who returns to Williams where he had already been a test driver, in 1999 surprised the Americans winning the debut Formula Cart, and in 2000 accomplished a similar feat triumphing in the 500 Miglia of Indianapolis. Meanwhile, the World Council of the FIA announces the intention to meet in Monte Carlo on December 7, 2000, to allow a massive return of electronics in Formula 1. Then traction control, for example, will be legal, while the only limitations will concern the distribution of the driving torque on the rear axle and the electronically controlled differential. According to rumours, the teams have already unanimously approved the change of regulation. The FIA, therefore, which had strenuously defended the bans introduced in 1994, claiming to want to prioritise the skills of drivers in competitions, must surrender to the overwhelming power of the electronics multinationals. Adrian Newey, technical director of McLaren, is among those who support the return of traction control:
"I am not a big supporter of traction control in Formula 1. But the fact that there are all the elements to cheat on single-seaters and that someone in the past has done so, winning, leads me to say that it is right that traction controls are completely authorised".
The long-awaited meeting is then postponed to February 14, 2001, where the approval will be a mere formality. In the month of December there are long and intense test sessions with the eyes turned to 2001. They begin in Jerez, where Coulthard is uneasy about the excessive use of electronics:
"I want to control the gears and I don’t want computers to help me control the drive".
Then, starting from December 15, 2000, some teams move to the Valencia circuit, including Ferrari and McLaren. After dominating the time standings for two days, Coulthard gives way to the new test driver, Alexander Wurz, who left Benetton to make room for Jenson Button.
The Scotsman just needs the old FO110J to beat everyone, thus lowering his track record with the 2001 aerodynamics, thanks to the lower temperature and despite the strong wind: 1'14"690 is the new limit. Coulthard leaves the track satisfied, despite during the lunch break Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spanish tennis idol, had ignored him: he was visiting Ferrari, of which he is a fan. Speaking of Ferrari, Barrichello stopped testing during the second day due to a spin that came from a combination of factors, at least according to the version made known by the team. A problem of electronics according to some rumours; electronics that is also developed in Spain, although officially tested only by Luca Badoer in Fiorano. Coulthard, before leaving, says:
"So far my tests were focused on tyres and electronics, with the 2000 engine. The new tyres are satisfactory. What’s new? Little tweaks of parts I’ll find on the 2001 car. I finished this phase, from Monday I will switch to the new V10 of which Wurz said to be enthusiastic".
McLaren will test a lot in Valencia: perhaps because the many tight corners lend themselves to the tuning of the traction control?
"Other circuits lend themselves to it. For example Mugello and Jerez. The truth is that we booked a bit of all the available tracks. From time to time the team will decide what to do".
Barrichello, however, rejects this track:
"I disagree with Rubens. It is an interesting track for many reasons: the particular bends, the great work of the brakes, the continuous accelerations that put the engine under pressure, the need for great balance and stability. Going well here will help to win the Australian Grand Prix that will open the season on March 4. Besides, to always test in Barcelona, where we will stay for a long time, would be boring. It’s nice to be able to choose".
Michelin, who will compete against Bridgestone in the upcoming season, asked Williams and Jaguar to collaborate. Bridgestone did the same with McLaren and Ferrari?
"I don’t believe in alliances between opponents. It’s hard for the engineers at those stables to sit down and talk. They work, we work with the same tyre owner, but everyone wants to win the World Championship. We don’t talk to Ferrari. But it is normal for engineers to talk to tyre manufacturers, who make the synthesis of often different needs. Now there are two tyres in Formula 1: I think it will be more difficult to understand which will be the fastest driver and car. The best? The Bridgestones, I think: the other has to hurry up".
His teammate, Hakkinen, is absent from the tests, and has become a dad:
"We’ll see him again on the track in January. I’m working for him too. That’s right: I’m close to him this way. I’m glad he can be with his little one. It’s a magical moment for him".
During the tests, things that were rarely seen during the 2000 championship happen: above all, the Peugeot engine, far from reliable for the entire year, suddenly seems not to break anymore. The French engine, in fact, knows a new life with the Arrows. The one used by Jos Verstappen, in fact, is the same one that was on the Prost of Jean Alesi and Nick Heidfeld. Only their name will change for 2001: Asiatech, which stands for Asia Motor Technology, an acronym that brings together many wealthy Asian financiers.
In Barcelona, meanwhile, it is the young people who shine on the last day of the Michelin tests: the best time is obtained by Button, who takes more and more confidence with the Benetton, ahead of the Minardi driver Fernando Alonso, who drives the B200 (officially due to an agreement between the Enstone team and Minardi, since the performance of the young Spanish rookie belongs to Flavio Briatore) with the aim of putting together the largest number of kilometres to have no problems in obtaining the super licence. The mission is perfectly successful, because the driver of Oviedo, after having travelled 175 kilometres two days earlier, becomes the protagonist of a real race simulation (360 kilometres), also obtaining a very good time. Then the Spaniard leaves the single-seater to Giancarlo Fisichella, who continues the program on the brakes in the afternoon, always running with plenty of fuel on board. Both Fisichella and Button work not only on the brakes, but also on the new tyres. This task is also the focus of Williams: Montoya remains on track for a long time and does not get a better lap time just because of a red flag. Meanwhile, in Fiorano, Luca Badoer runs the forty-nine scheduled laps to develop aerodynamics, trim and something more electronic in engine management. At each stint, Badoer does a starting simulation. At the end of the day he made nine. The best time remains far from record expectations (1'01"039), also because on board the F1-2000 are mounted equipment to acquire data on the development of new chassis and aerodynamics simulated, as load, to that to be used next year (therefore with the restrictions introduced by the FIA). At the same time, reliability tests for the new 050 engine continue on the engine test bench. After nine intense days of testing, Formula 1 goes into hibernation for the Christmas holidays, and Rubens Barrichello takes the opportunity to draw a balance of the two practice sessions in Spain:
"I only had confirmation. I look forward to testing in Barcelona to check out certain situations. We have all the data there, the comparisons will be immediate. Here I tried many tyres, finding tyres with neutral behaviour in the corners, the best ones, other overheating or underheating. There’s so much to understand".
How do you rate the 2001 aerodynamics and tyres?
"You succeed, even if with the new car everything will change: I hope it is easier to drive".
Coulthard improves the record for two days: with traction control?
"You could hear it. Even Jordan. Not Ferrari: not to overlap tyre tests with those of electronics. Different tests on different tracks".
Maybe there will be a unification in Barcelona. News about electronics?
"We have clear ideas. But it is not yet time for decisions. The FIA has postponed everything until February 14. We drivers drive on the basis of the FIA decisions, no need to stress out now".
Michelin has Jaguar and Williams working together. Do Ferrari and McLaren do it too? Rubens laughs:
"All we do is to beat the opponents. So McLaren first. Joining to defeat Michelin is right at this stage, when the exchange of ideas is possible. Then the races will tell who is the best".
Are you impressed by Wurz and the new Mercedes FO110K?
"No. Here, even if we are all Bridgestone drivers, we never know which tyres use the others. We don’t even need to think too much about the times. I’m calm. Bridgestone does a good job for us".
Barrichello also has good intentions for 2001. The Brazilian wants to do the hard break-in of the first season in Ferrari. He knows that he will have the car in his hand to win, and that he will have the reigning champion as his teammate.
"Michael is strong, I was not surprised, even seen him closely. But I was close to him, especially in qualifying. If I didn’t win at Hockenheim I wouldn’t have felt 100% happy. Instead, my first year in Ferrari ends with joy. For sure I have to improve. This is the thing that l understood the first year in Ferrari".
But what about 2001?
"I have to win now. For the first season I had declared a goal between 50 and 60 points. Having put together 62 has already been a success. I fulfilled my mission. Now I would like to turn that 6 and make it a 9: I want 92 points. They won the world title with many points less".
A few days before Christmas, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo talks about his nine years in Ferrari at dinner with the journalists. Traditional menu that is repeated for years without ever being stale, with the final sparkling wine this time poured into sixty-six glasses personally by Jean Todt. In short, the usual dinner for Christmas wishes that this year, with the two world titles in his pocket, becomes the apotheosis of 2000. All in a gigantic marquee in the middle of the Fiorano track and with the world champion car put right in the middle of the large table of the guests. Montezemolo’s debut is almost sad:
"My friends, we are gathered here for the usual dinner and with the usual menu, but you should know how much I have dreamed in these nine years of a dinner like this with two world titles. For the rest I have nothing to say, so let’s enjoy this menu".
Then a torrential chat. First break of twenty-five minutes, then a short one for a spoonful of broth. Then another 28 minutes of amarcord. Still a break for a bite to the guinea fowl and away with another twenty minutes to relieve the last decade of the century. Montezemolo had never spoken so much in nine years. On the occasion, he goes back to years ago. Telling what? To begin with, those early years, 1992 and 1993, when Ferrari was in disarray and the car market was in crisis forcing the factory to the redundancy fund.
"Yet, we made a risky gesture: to invest while everything went to hell. It was a very important strategic choice because since then we have renewed the entire range and we have redone the sports management".
The first step was the arrival of Jean Todt at Montezemolo’s house. The president says:
"My son Matteo called me shouting: Dad, he has arrived in a Mercedes. I thought: he is either crazy or masochistic or exhibitionist. Instead he is none of these things and I owe him much for what he did to Ferrari".
After this step, everyone else.
"Ferrari had become a Grand Hotel: people who came and went, we didn’t even know who had to design the cars. I trained Harvey Postlethwaite then John Barnard, then that technological antenna that we had implanted in England and that brought us so much criticism. But all the good engineers of today trained right up there. Foreigners? We get good people without looking at our passports. Barrichello is also a non-EU driver but never had any first-year driver in Ferrari gone like that, settling in and working so well. We have a great team and it will remain the same again next year. Then Schumacher. Here it is: sometimes someone says: but why didn’t you take him before? Because he wouldn’t do any good, even the Nembo Kid wouldn’t fly in those Ferraris. We took him at the right time, because he had matured and we had matured technically. In fact, years of great success have come. We have been close to the title for four years and now we have finally won both. I don’t know what we will do next year, but I think we will continue to do well. Repeating 2000 would be a lot".
Here, 2001: everyone wants to know what it will be like, with which car.
"I’m told the new car will be ready by January and will be very different from today. This depends on how the regulations for electronics are still in the air. Ferrari is opposed to an expansion of electronics, but it is also opposed to this climate of suspicion that there is in Formula 1. If you want more electronics it is fine as long as it has a fallout on production. For example: the electronic gearbox we created years ago today is a reality not only on the Ferrari series but also on other brands. Until the Federation decides, we move forward with research and experimentation. Next year there will also be the novelty of the two tyre suppliers. We remain faithful to Bridgestone but the competition always brings improvements. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year".
A particularly generous Santa Claus, the one who visits, on behalf of Michael Schumacher, the components of Ferrari’s Sports Management. Under the tree, each of them finds a precious Omega watch (sponsor of the German), worth over three million lire, with a customised dedication engraved on the case, a gift of the world champion as a thank you for the hard work last season. Michael personally delivers the gifts to the team members on the occasion of the Christmas party, in Fiorano, but begging everyone not to open the package before Christmas to not spoil the surprise.
"Behind us ended a wonderful year, but also very tiring and not always easy".
This is an excerpt of the dedication that Michael accompanies to the gift. After the Christmas holidays, as usual, Ferrari is in Madonna di Campiglio. Barrichello, after a Christmas spent on the beaches of Brazil, reiterates his intentions to want to start this new season in the best possible way, so as to renew the contract that binds him to Maranello, expiring at the end of the year. We also see Schumacher, who has been skiing for a long time, demonstrating that the right leg, freed from the nail following the operation performed with great success, is perfectly healed. The world title won a few months before did not take away the stimuli, indeed. He still wants many successes, he wants them with Ferrari. He wants them to open a cycle. On the snow of Madonna di Campiglio the German prepares the official route of the new season and tells himself to remove any possible misunderstanding starting from his incredible motivations:
"I was born to run and until I get in a car this risk will not exist. In training I am also doing better than expected: you will have to wait a little longer for my motivation to fade".
His goals still include races and titles, as if to emulate Prost and Fangio:
"Winning as many races as possible would automatically mean winning championships. Even if I beat Prost’s record I wouldn’t feel satisfied: I think I can offer high-level performances up to the age of thirty-six and even beyond. As long as there are times and speeds... We can start an era: the next step is to make sure that Ferrari is at the top for a long time, to be able to say that we have the best package to win".
Opening a cycle means being able to use precise ingredients:
"It is important to maintain or improve everything. And it takes the consistency, from a human and a psychological point of view, of the driver: Ferrari has achieved results for four years, for three times it has been close to success and last year it finally won. I don’t think it will be difficult to remain the number one of the starting grid".
With Barrichello there is a solid relationship:
"We understand each other, there is no conflict. He’s very fast and, contrary to what I did with my comrades in the past, I trust him for the tests. With him there is an excellent partnership, but I hope to always stay ahead of him. For the title we will always compete with McLaren, but there are many teams that can win individual races, such as Williams".
Jean Todt, on the other hand, reveals that the new Ferrari will be unveiled on January 29, 2001. But how will this car be?
"I’ve seen a lot of individual pieces, often just decided by the wind tunnel, but I haven’t seen the car once. But a race car must win, it must not be beautiful. It must be the fastest".
And will it be?
"I hope so. We come from a few years of growth precisely because we have put together a team capable of working well. Schumacher is right: a Ferrari era has opened, a cycle".
At the end of the year his contract with Ferrari expires: what will he do next?
"I would like to stay but it is not just up to me. It is President Montezemolo who must give me an answer. We haven’t had time to talk about it lately. But there are eleven and a half months to the day when I should leave Ferrari and there is no hurry".
Changes in electronics: will there be or not? Will it be better?
"I think they’ll be there from the Spanish Grand Prix. I would have preferred to leave everything unchanged; then I became convinced of the reasons of others: if it is true that it has become difficult to control the electronics, then it is useless to go on with tricks and suspicions. It is better to open the doors".
After these world victories in France they named a road after you: did you expect more?
"I was moved. I was named after the road that passes under my father’s old house in a country in central France. It is the house where my father lived, a Polish Jew who flew to France where he studied, became a doctor and where I was born. I wish they’d named it after my dad, but so am I".