F1 2000 - Schumacher brothers dominate early season

[Aislabie]

Pre-Season Testing

It's time for the pre-season test meetings at Jerez and Mugello . The cost to attend each meeting is 2.5, and each meeting affords you two testing opportunities.

There are three varieties of testing: chassis testing, engine testing and driver testing. The ins and outs of these are all explained here.

Some teams also have additional demands on their testing regimes:

• Arrows cannot make use of engine testing.
• Minardi cannot make use of engine testing.
• Prost cannot make use of engine testing.
• Sauber cannot make use of engine testing, and also need to commit to two driver tests for Enrique Bernoldi by season's end.

So if you could let me know how many tests you wish for your team to attend, and which tests you wish to conduct, that would be great.

[This Could Be You]

Is there any chance of Arrows picking up a reserve driver before the season starts? At the moment we can't actually afford or even do any testing as we have no one to actually test the car. If we are allowed, I will bid for the following drivers:

Tomas Enge (if he has any money)
Soheil Ayari
Patrick Lemarie

EDIT: As I forgot to mention it, Arrows will bite the bullet and go into debt (even if we can't secure a reserve driver) by paying for the Jerez test, in which we will focus on chassis development, as our drivers are OK and we can't develop our (actually pretty decent) engine.

[CarloSpace]

Firman isn't lister as our reserve driver in the second post, has he bailed us?

Anyway Jordan is attending both tests. We'll focus on chassis dev in Jerez and chassis/engine dev in Mugello.

[Salamander]

BAR will attend both tests. Our testing program will be as follows:

Jerez:

• Chassis development
• Driver development (Sebastien Bourdais)

Mugello:

• Chassis development
• Chassis development

[Dom_Wings]

McLaren will only attend the Jerez test, with the following:

Chassis improvement
Engine improvement

[takagi_for_the_win]

Williams will attend both tests. At both tests we will concentrate on engine development, because god knows we need it, and driver development for Pedro de la Rosa.

[Collieafc]

Prost will be present at both tests and all efforts will be directed at chassis development

[takagi_for_the_win]

Also Aislabie, would any companies in this universe be open to the idea of buying the naming rights to our lovely Hart engines?

[TomDilain]

Sauber will attend both tests.

Jerez:

• Chassis development (Johnny Herbert)
• Driver development (Enrique Bernoldi)

Mugello:

• Chassis development (Nick Heidfeld)
• Driver development (Enrique Bernoldi

PS. Lol I forgot to edit the name.

[takagi_for_the_win]

BAR will attend both tests. Our testing program will be as follows:

Jerez:

• Chassis development
• Driver development (Sebastien Bourdais)

Mugello:

• Chassis development
• Chassis development

BAR will attend both tests.

Jerez:

• Chassis development (Johnny Herbert)
• Driver development (Enrique Bernoldi)

Mugello:

• Chassis development (Nick Heidfeld)
• Driver development (Enrique Bernoldi

Will the real Craig Pollock please stand up, please stand up?

[Peteroli34]

Benetton will attend both tests with both Coulthard and Fisichella working on Chassis Development in Jerez and Engine Development at Mugello

[Salamander]

BAR will attend both tests. Our testing program will be as follows:

Jerez:

• Chassis development
• Driver development (Sebastien Bourdais)

Mugello:

• Chassis development
• Chassis development

BAR will attend both tests.

Jerez:

• Chassis development (Johnny Herbert)
• Driver development (Enrique Bernoldi)

Mugello:

• Chassis development (Nick Heidfeld)
• Driver development (Enrique Bernoldi

Will the real Craig Pollock please stand up, please stand up?

What Pollock? I told him to get lost, remember?

[CarloSpace]

Pollock is Eddie Jordan's advisor nowadays. Did anyone think it was a coincidence that Jordan signed both Villeneuve and Zonta from BAR at the same time Pollock was shown the door?

[Aislabie]

Is there any chance of Arrows picking up a reserve driver before the season starts? At the moment we can't actually afford or even do any testing as we have no one to actually test the car. If we are allowed, I will bid for the following drivers:

Tomas Enge (if he has any money)
Soheil Ayari
Patrick Lemarie

Enge brings with him some Ceska Pojistovna money, and welcomes the opportunity to be Arrows' reserve driver.

Firman isn't lister as our reserve driver in the second post, has he bailed us?

He has not; I have no idea how that happened, because he was listed on my sales sheet, but not on my Jordan team sheet or in the index. Will fix that momentarily.

Williams will attend both tests. At both tests we will concentrate on engine development, because god knows we need it, and driver development for Pedro de la Rosa.

Will this be three on the engine and one on Pedro, or will you be splitting two and two?

Also Aislabie, would any companies in this universe be open to the idea of buying the naming rights to our lovely Hart engines?

Keen as I'm sure you are to sell the naming rights to your engines, it wouldn't fit with the narrative I'm working on with them. The reason is that they will never be known as Hart engines again: they are now Williams works engines, and that's what they'll be listed as for next year's pre-season sales as well. It's quite an exciting opportunity if you play your cards absolutely right with them!

Pollock is Eddie Jordan's advisor nowadays. Did anyone think it was a coincidence that Jordan signed both Villeneuve and Zonta from BAR at the same time Pollock was shown the door?

Funny you say that, because this is the sort of stuff I've been noting to try to turn into a bit of a plot arc later.

[RedEyes504]

Ferrari Testing Plans

Jerez
Driver development (Ralf)
Engine development (Fabrizio Gollin)

Mugello
Chassis development (Michael)
Chassis development (Ralf)

[takagi_for_the_win]

Will this be three on the engine and one on Pedro, or will you be splitting two and two?

Two and two, please.

Keen as I'm sure you are to sell the naming rights to your engines, it wouldn't fit with the narrative I'm working on with them. The reason is that they will never be known as Hart engines again: they are now Williams works engines, and that's what they'll be listed as for next year's pre-season sales as well. It's quite an exciting opportunity if you play your cards absolutely right with them!

Haaaaaaang on, how does this work? Do I become the English Ferrari essentially, forcing me to run these “Hart” engines from this season on? Or will the engines be badged as Williams powerplants, but be separate from the F1 team, allowing me both to sell my engines off to other teams while buying engines from other suppliers?

[Aislabie]

Haaaaaaang on, how does this work? Do I become the English Ferrari essentially, forcing me to run these “Hart” engines from this season on? Or will the engines be badged as Williams powerplants, but be separate from the F1 team, allowing me both to sell my engines off to other teams while buying engines from other suppliers?

It will all be explained in greater detail at the end of the season when you get your dilemma, but pretty much all of those options will be available to you.

You'll be able to run it as a works only engine setup, or sell legacy engines for cheap, or customer engines, or ababdon the project entirely if you want. It's really up to you.

You could potentially become the new Cosworth, the new Ferrari, or the first Williams... or the new Arrows. It's up to you really!

[Normal32]

Jerez:

• Driver development (Yuji Ide)
• Driver development (Yuji Ide)

Mugello:

• Driver development (Yuji Ide)
• Driver development (Yuji Ide)

[Aislabie]

It's been quite a while now and I've still not heard from the Stewart team; if I still haven't heard from you in 24 hours, I'll assume you're not attending pre-season testing.

[thor97]

I didn't realize i hadn't hit submit my blunder this is our testing programme.

Stewart will only attend Jerez and focus on:

Chassis improvement
Engine improvement

[Aislabie]

Testing Report - Jerez

Arrows

Code: Select all

1. Chassis development - 5.50% improvement
2. Chassis development - 5.23% improvement

Cost - 2.5

BAR

Code: Select all

1. Chassis development - 5.50% improvement
2. Driver development (BOU) - 5.50% improvement

Cost - 2.5

Benetton

Code: Select all

1. Chassis development - 4.50% improvement
2. Chassis development - 4.28% improvement

Cost - 2.5

Ferrari

Code: Select all

1. Driver development (RSC) - 4.00% improvement
2. Engine development - 3.50% improvement

Cost - 2.5

Jordan

Code: Select all

1. Chassis development - 4.50% improvement
2. Chassis development - 4.28% improvement

Cost - 2.5

McLaren

Code: Select all

1. Chassis development - 3.50% improvement
2. Engine development - 3.50% improvement

Cost - 2.5

Minardi

Code: Select all

1. Driver development (IDE) - 6.50% improvement
2. Driver development (IDE) - 6.18% improvement

Cost - 2.5

Prost

Code: Select all

1. Chassis development - 6.00% improvement
2. Chassis development - 5.70% improvement

Cost - 2.5

Sauber

Code: Select all

1. Chassis development - 5.00% improvement
2. Driver development (BER) - 5.50% improvement

Cost - 2.5

Stewart

Code: Select all

1. Chassis development - 4.50% improvement
2. Engine development - 4.50% improvement

Cost - 2.5

Williams

Code: Select all

1. Engine development - 5.50% improvement
2. Driver development (DLR) - 5.00% improvement

Cost - 2.5

[Aislabie]

Testing Report - Mugello

Arrows

Code: Select all

Did not attend

BAR

Code: Select all

1. Chassis development - 5.23% improvement
2. Chassis development - 4.96% improvement

Cost - 2.5

Benetton

Code: Select all

1. Engine development - 4.00% improvement
2. Engine development - 3.80% improvement

Cost - 2.5

Ferrari

Code: Select all

1. Chassis development - 3.50% improvement
2. Chassis development - 3.33% improvement

Cost - 2.5

Jordan

Code: Select all

1. Chassis development - 4.06% improvement
2. Engine development - 4.00% improvement

Cost - 2.5

McLaren

Code: Select all

Did not attend

Minardi

Code: Select all

1. Driver development (IDE) - 5.87% improvement
2. Driver development (IDE) - 5.57% improvement

Cost - 2.5

Prost

Code: Select all

1. Chassis development - 5.42% improvement
2. Chassis development - 5.14% improvement

Cost - 2.5

Sauber

Code: Select all

1. Chassis development - 4.75% improvement
2. Driver development (BER) - 5.23% improvement

Cost - 2.5

Stewart

Code: Select all

Did not attend

Williams

Code: Select all

1. Engine development - 5.23% improvement
2. Driver development (DLR) - 4.75% improvement

Cost - 2.5

[TomDilain]

So, when is the race?

[Aislabie]

So, when is the race?

My apologies, I've been in a bit of a pickle the last couple of weeks and have had to focus on getting my head straight. The result of that is that I've had the race report half-written for some time.

Will try to get it done today for you.

It will also come with an explanation of what you can do as managers while the races are going on.

[Aislabie]

Ralf Schumacher wins Australian Grand Prix


Ralf Schumacher inherited his first Grand Prix win.

A dominant performance on Saturday saw Michael Schumacher take pole position by two tenths from his brother Ralf, and nearly a second clear of Hakkinen's McLaren as the leading non-Ferrari in third. David Coulthard (P4 for Benetton-BMW), Ricardo Zonta (P6 for Jordan-Mugen) and Rubens Barrichello (P8 for Williams) also impressed with their one-lap pace on their first outings with new teams.

While Ferrari's pair of brothers surprised nobody by leading out of Turn One, eyes were drawn more to the carnage at the back of the field as four teams lost a car each before the first lap of the season was done. First of all, Jos Verstappen's slow start saw him under immediate pressure from the Prost of Pedro Diniz. In trying to defend his position into Turn One, their wheels tangled, damaging two sets of suspension and ending both drivers' Grands Prix. Later in the lap, a spin from Pedro de la Rosa saw him collect the Sauber of Nick Heidfeld, leaving them both in the gravel.

A good start from Irvine had allowed him to overtake Coulthard's Benetton, leaving the Ferraris and McLarens in a two-by-two formation at the front of the race, leaving the rest of the field to battle for the one point left available behind Coulthard. However, the retirement of Michael Schumacher on lap 24 due to an engine failure, followed by a gaggle of other cars retiring in a half-hour of spectacular attrition, saw Rubens Barrichello up to fourth and the Minardi of Panis in the final points-paying position.

Sadly for both drivers, it wasn't to be and in classic Albert Park fashion, the six points finishers were the only six finishers (although Villeneuve was technically classified in seventh).

1. Ralf Schumacher (Ferrari) --- 1:28:42.515 (10 points)
2. Mika Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) --- +55.284 (6 points)
3. Eddie Irvine (McLaren-Mercedes) --- +1 lap (4 points)
4. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Stewart-Jaguar) --- +2 laps (3 points)
5. Johnny Herbert (Sauber-Ford) --- +2 laps (2 points)
6. Jarno Trulli (Prost-Acer) --- +3 laps (1 point)
7. Jacques Villeneuve (Jordan-Mugen) --- +7 laps
   Giancarlo Fisichella (Benetton-BMW) --- Did not finish
   Rubens Barrichello (Williams) --- Did not finish
   Olivier Panis (Minardi-Fondmetal) --- Did not finish
   Ricardo Zonta (Jordan-Mugen) --- Did not finish
   Jenson Button (Arrows-Orange) --- Did not finish
   Jean Alesi (BAR-Honda) --- Did not finish
   Alex Wurz (BAR-Honda) --- Did not finish
   Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) --- Did not finish
   David Coulthard (Benetton-BMW) --- Did not finish
   Mika Salo (Stewart-Jaguar) --- Did not finish
   Markus Friesacher (Minardi-Fondmetal) --- Did not finish
   Pedro de la Rosa (Williams) --- Did not finish
   Nick Heidfeld (Sauber-Ford) --- Did not finish
   Jos Verstappen (Arrows-Orange) --- Did not finish
   Pedro Diniz (Prost-Acer) --- Did not finish

As this is the first race, do let me know if there are any changes you want me to make to the presentation.

- - - - -

Between races, that's when you guys come in. If you want to stay in Melbourne after the GP weekend for a private test, specify in the thread. It will cost you 2.0 of your budget. If you want to change one of your drivers -
post it in the thread. I've not explained exactly how that works yet, but will get to it between now and the next GP.

[Aislabie]

[Collieafc]

6. Jarno Trulli (Prost-Acer) --- +3 laps (1 point)

My work here is done

Prost will not stay at Melbourne for further testing

[TomDilain]

Sauber will not stay for further testing.

Great work by Herbert for staying out and finish the race.

[This Could Be You]

As we are pretty much broke already, Arrows will not stay to test in Melbourne. We would be interested to find out where we qualified if possible, to get an impression of our raw pace- by the sounds of things Verstappen started quite high up the grid before it all went wrong, although where Button ended up I'm not sure.

[takagi_for_the_win]

What were the Williams' pace like?

And we'll stay behind to focus on our shiny new engines. We'll also work on Tippexing the last traces of Brian Hart's name out of every history book ever.

[This Could Be You]

Also, I like what you did with the race numbers, Aislabie, but I'm unsure of how we ended up with #5 and #6- as far as I can tell, Arrows' number situation from 1996 using the 1974-95 system (which you appear to have used apart from for post-1997 teams, which have filled up the gaps in the old system) would be like this:

1996:
#9 and #10 (same as 1995)

1997
#1 and #2 (due to Hill incoming, #9 and #10 go to Williams)

1998-99:
#9 and #10 (from Williams due to Villeneuve winning in 1997, no change in 1999)
(Williams would end up with Mclaren's traditional #7 and #8 in 1999, meaning #9 and #10 would end up erm... actually I'm not sure now- this system gets confusing after a while)
Meanwhile #5 and #6 would have transferred to Ferrari in 1997 due to swapping #1 and #2 with Williams, and would still be there in 2000, while Benetton would have #27 and #28 due to Schumacher taking the #1 to Ferrari in 1996.

[Aislabie]

Also, I like what you did with the race numbers, Aislabie, but I'm unsure of how we ended up with #5 and #6- as far as I can tell, Arrows' number situation from 1996 using the 1974-95 system (which you appear to have used apart from for post-1997 teams, which have filled up the gaps in the old system) would be like this:

1996:
#9 and #10 (same as 1995)

1997
#1 and #2 (due to Hill incoming, #9 and #10 go to Williams)

1998-99:
#9 and #10 (from Williams due to Villeneuve winning in 1997, no change in 1999)
(Williams would end up with Mclaren's traditional #7 and #8 in 1999, meaning #9 and #10 would end up erm... actually I'm not sure now- this system gets confusing after a while)
Meanwhile #5 and #6 would have transferred to Ferrari in 1997 due to swapping #1 and #2 with Williams, and would still be there in 2000, while Benetton would have #27 and #28 due to Schumacher taking the #1 to Ferrari in 1996.

1 & 2 - McLaren

Benetton (1995) - Schumacher WDC
Ferrari (1996) - Schumacher WDC, moves to Ferrari
Arrows (1997) - Hill WDC, moves to Arrows
Williams (1998) - Villeneuve WDC
McLaren (1999 - present) - Hakkinen WDC

3 & 4 - BAR
Tyrrell (1995 - 1998)
BAR (1999 - present) - BAR buy out Tyrrell

5 & 6 - Arrows
Williams (1995 - 1997)
Arrows (1998 - present) - Villeneuve WDC

7 & 8 - Williams
McLaren (1995 - 1998)
Williams (1999 - present) - Hakkinen WDC

9 & 10 - Ferrari
Footwork (1995 - 1996)
Ferrari (1997 - present) - Footwork becomes Arrows, Hill WDC, moves to Arrows

11 & 12 - Stewart
Simtek (1995) - RIP
Stewart (1997 - present) - New team, lowest vacant numbers

14 & 15 - Jordan
Jordan (1995 - present)

16 & 17 - Vacant
Pacific (1995) - RIP
Lola (1997) - RIP

19 & 20 - Vacant
Larrousse (1995) - RIP

21 & 22 - Vacant
Forti (1995 - 1996) - RIP

23 & 24 - Minardi
Minardi (1995 - present)

25 & 26 - Prost
Ligier (1995 - 1996)
Prost (1997 - present) - bought out Ligier

27 & 28 - Benetton
Ferrari (1995)
Benetton (1996 - present) - Schumacher WDC, moved to Ferrari

29 & 30 - Sauber
Sauber (1995 - present)

[Aislabie]

Okay guys, I'm bringing this back off life support. However, I'm going to make a small change: rather than grinding through the races one-by-one, I'm going to simulate them in blocks of races instead.

This will mean that teams no longer have the option of staying behind after Grand Prix weekends for private tests, but it's the only way I'm going to get through the season. Next races incoming reasonably soon!

[Aislabie]

Ferrari claim one-two at Interlagos

A lights-to-flag victory for Michael Schumacher at Interlagos will have gone some way to relieving his frustration at failing to finish in Melbourne, although his brother Ralf breezed home in second place to extend his Championship lead. Other notable stories included Alex Wurz's first podium since 1997, Jenson Button's first career points, and Pedro de la Rosa recording the first points for the works Williams engine. Again, attrition was significant: only nine drivers finished the race, with McLaren Jordan, Benetton and Prost all seeing their Sunday afternoon end early due to retirements for both their drivers.

Points Finishers

1. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) --- 1:30:29.466 (10 points)
2. Ralf Schumacher (Ferrari) --- +37.466 (6 points)
3. Alexander Wurz (BAR-Honda) --- +1 lap (4 points)
4. Jenson Button (Arrows-Orange) --- +1 lap (3 points)
5. Pedro de la Rosa (Williams) --- +1 lap (2 points)
6. Johnny Herbert (Sauber-Ford) --- +2 laps (1 point)

- - - - - - - -

Hakkinen breaks Ferrari hold in Imola thriller

Such was the fickle nature of Formula One that the misfortune of one McLaren driver at Imola led directly to the opportunity for the other to claim victory. Having qualified in second place, Eddie Irvine led the field out of Tamburello and held that lead through the pit phase. The two Ferraris were line astern behind him, with Hakkinen circulating in fourth, the last of the cars that were so far ahead of the rest of the field. However, a dramatic off through Variente Alta saw the safety car deployed to deal with the stricken McLaren and its debris. With nothing to lose, McLaren called Hakkinen into the pits for fresh rubber. The Finn rejoined in third and passed both Ferraris in the closing seven laps. Elsewhere on the grid, the reliability woes continued, with Alesi, Barrichello, Coulthard, Panis and Salo all having failed to finish any of the three Grands Prix so far this season.

Points Finishers

1. Mika Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) --- 1:29:39.163 (10 points)
2. Ralf Schumacher (Ferrari) --- +3.720 (6 points)
3. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) --- +12.944 (4 points)
4. Giancarlo Fisichella (Benetton-BMW) --- +1 lap (3 points)
5. Johnny Herbert (Sauber-Ford) --- +1 lap (2 points)
6. Jenson Button (Arrows-Orange) --- +1 lap (1 point)

- - - - - - - -

Rainmeister takes victory at soaking Silverstone

If there's one thing that comes to mind when you think of Britain in April, it's probably the rain. This year's British Grand Prix was no exception, and this played right into the hands of Ferrari's wet-weather specialist Michael Schumacher. His lights-to-flag win was never in doubt. Nearly half a minute behind him, his former teammate Eddie Irvine proved to be his closest challenger, but there could be no feasible challenge. Good reliability for the front-runners left the rest of the grid scrabbling for minor points, which were eventually claimed by Ricardo Zonta (Jordan-Mugen) and David Coulthard (Benetton-BMW). For Zonta this was a particular achievement as they were his first career points.

Points Finishers

1. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) --- 1:35:57.815 (10 points)
2. Eddie Irvine (Ferrari) --- +34.202 (6 points)
3. Ralf Schumacher (Ferrari) --- +90.171 (4 points)
4. Mika Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) --- +1 lap (3 points)
5. Ricardo Zonta (Jordan-Mugen) --- +2 laps (2 points)
6. David Coulthard (Benetton-BMW) --- +2 laps (1 point)

- - - - - - - -

Schumacher saved by shocking start

It sounds strange to say it, but Michael Schumacher's race was saved by his poor start. Having qualified in P2 behind Eddie Irvine, he bogged down on the getaway while both Hakkinen (P3) and Brother Ralf (P4) got away well. As a result, there were three cars pointing towards the same bit of tarmac into Elf, and that was never going to end well. Despite letting Michael Schumacher waltz away to arguably the easiest win of his career, it made for a very interesting race with two podium positions up for grabs. A lap off the lead, it was ultimately 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve who came home to collect his first podium since leaving Williams, with the other Finn Mika Salo in third for Stewart-Jaguar.

Points Finishers

1. Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) --- 1:29.17.865 (10 points)
2. Jacques Villeneuve (Jordan-Mugen) --- +1 lap (6 points)
3. Mika Salo (Stewart-Jaguar) --- +1 lap (4 points)
4. Ricardo Zonta (Jordan-Mugen) --- +1 lap (3 points)
5. Rubens Barrichello (Williams) --- +2 laps (2 points)
6. Jenson Button (Arrows-Orange) --- +2 laps (1 point)

[Aislabie]

Next up will be testing, and the chance to change up any underperforming drivers. I'm aware I've still not written about how that last bit works.

[Collieafc]

Prost will spend the next testing session doing chassis work

[This Could Be You]

There's a mistake in the WCC- Button finished fourth in Brazil, not fifth, and thus Arrows have 5 points, not 4. Also, why was Button disqualified in Britain? (I'm not angry, just confused as to why) Otherwise, this season is going pretty well for Arrows- it's a pity Verstappen can't seem to finish races at the moment

[Aislabie]

There's a mistake in the WCC- Button finished fourth in Brazil, not fifth, and thus Arrows have 5 points, not 4. Also, why was Button disqualified in Britain? (I'm not angry, just confused as to why) Otherwise, this season is going pretty well for Arrows- it's a pity Verstappen can't seem to finish races at the moment

Ah damn, my bad. That's just a typo and then me not checking to see the two adjacent fives.

And the honest answer is that he was disqualified because my spreadsheet said so - it spits out about a 1/200 chance of a DSQ in this iteration.

[This Could Be You]

There's a mistake in the WCC- Button finished fourth in Brazil, not fifth, and thus Arrows have 5 points, not 4. Also, why was Button disqualified in Britain? (I'm not angry, just confused as to why) Otherwise, this season is going pretty well for Arrows- it's a pity Verstappen can't seem to finish races at the moment

Ah damn, my bad. That's just a typo and then me not checking to see the two adjacent fives.

And the honest answer is that he was disqualified because my spreadsheet said so - it spits out about a 1/200 chance of a DSQ in this iteration.

OK that's fine. The extra point also means that Arrows is 5th in the WCC

[Gertrand Bachot]

Can I go on the waiting list please?