The 2004 Season F1fan-eBook 
Worthy of Note in Germany
When the cars line up for the German GP, only four, among all drivers on the Grid, will have mathematical chances of preventing that 
Michael Schumacher adds one more World Title to his remarkable set of records, in F1:
 Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) |
 Jenson Button (B•A•R) |
 Jarno Trulli (Renault) |
 Fernando Alonso (Renault) |
See here each of these drivers' points tally. Additionally, their number of points per GP is available here.
On the other hand, it is already mathematically possible for the 
Ferrari Team to win the Constructor's Title, on Sunday, at the German GP:
Should it happen, the Reds will be celebrating their sixth Championship in a row (every Season, since 1999!):
| 1999 |
|
 Michael Schumacher |
 Eddie Irvine |
| 2000 |
|
 Michael Schumacher |
Rubens Barrichello |
| 2001 |
|
Michael Schumacher |
Rubens Barrichello |
| 2002 |
|
Michael Schumacher |
Rubens Barrichello |
| 2003 |
|
Michael Schumacher |
Rubens Barrichello |
| 2004 ? |
|
Michael Schumacher |
Rubens Barrichello |
How might it be possible for Ferrari to go home as the 2004 Champion, in anticipation, at just two-thirds into the Season?
To start with, another one-two finish would be the ideal result for Ferrari. Admittedly, this is not a difficult task for a Team exhibiting six one-two results in eleven GP's.
This would move Ferrari to 192 Championship points, after the GP of Germany (18 points would be added to Ferrari's current 174, as a result of the hypothetical one-two, just mentioned).
Now, given that, beyond the German GP, there will be a maximum of 108 Championship points theoretically available for any Team to conquer (i.e., in the last six races), the following scenarios issue.
Should Ferrari gets this one-two result, their taking or not the Title home, from Hockenheim, will interestingly lie in 
Renault's hands: it will depend on how many points Renault will be conquering at Hockenheim!
On the other hand, in order to be independent from whatever result the 
B•A•R-Honda Team may obtain at Hockenheim, it suffices that both Ferrari drivers take a Podium finish (any combination including P1, P2 or P3 will do).
As mentioned above, a one-two finish does not ensure that the Ferrari Team can earn their Title in advance, at Hockenheim, as they depend on the points that the Renault Team may conquer. Below are the possible scenarios.
| Ferrari's drivers, at the Final Flag |
Ferrari conquers at least... |
Renault conquers a maximum of... |
Corresponding Finish Place(s) |
| P1 + P2 |
18 points |
5 points |
P5 + P8, or P6 + P7, or P4 |
| P1 + P2 |
18 points |
4 points |
P6 + P8, or P5 |
| P1 + P3 |
16 points |
3 points |
P7 + P8, or P6 |
| P1 + P4 |
15 points |
2 points |
P7 |
| P1 + P5, or P2 + P3 |
14 points |
1 point |
P8 |
| P1 + P6, or P2 + P4 |
13 points |
0 (no point) |
P9 or higher, or DNS |
Any result lower than the ones above, for Ferrari, will postpone the decision of the Constructor's Title for Hungary, or later, independently of the points Renault may or not conquer.
Please note that not all possibilities are being considered here. For example, if the B•A•R-Honda Team finally gets, at Hockenheim, that much wished victory, and their other driver finishes in P4, this would likewise postpone Ferrari's celebrations.
Renault's far-fetched chance of maintaining any Championship hopes alive must start with the Team's conquering at least 6 points in Germany. They must also count on Ferrari's leaving with no points, or very few – as few as possible. Finally, it is necessary that Renault conquers 6 one-two finishes, out of the seven possible that are left, and that, for the remaining of the Season, Ferrari will add hardly any points to their remarkable tally, so far.
B•A•R's current 67 points are hardly sufficient to worry Ferrari, as far as the Constructor's Title. As they lie twelve points behind Renault, it is not difficult to see that only a miracle could allow the B•A•R-Honda Team to win the Title, even though it is still mathematically possible.
Though Renault's performance might have dropped a bit, they remain the most likely candidates for second place in the Constructor's Championship.
Second place in the Constructors' Championship, however, remains well at reach also for the B•A•R Team, and even for the Williams and McLaren Teams, which linger farther behind in points. For much can happen in seven GP's!...
Neither Life, nor F1, is as logical (and therefore predictable) as some might wish. McLaren, or Williams, or both, could surprise B•A•R and Renault, in the battle for Second. At any rate, the battle for Second place could have all the excitement that the Constructors' Championship failed to offer regarding First place!
Between McLaren and Williams, the performance of the former's new MP4-19B, in Silverstone, seems to stand them a better chance than their British rivals – especially in view of Williams' current predicament (they have had to rely on only one experienced driver, for three races now). But anything is possible...
Antonio Pizzonia has been confirmed alongside 
Juan Pablo Montoya, in the 
Williams-BMW Team, for the Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
Last year, Pizzonia drove for the 
Jaguar Team in eleven GP's. His best qualifying was P8, in Austria, where he also attained his best finish, P9.
Here are a couple of curiosities related to Pizzonia's return behind the wheel of a F1 car, in 2004, at Hockenheim, for an official racing event:
- It marks a year, since the young Brazilian was unceremoniously dumped by the Jaguar Team, who have nonetheless continued reporting similar difficulties, as far as the rookies they hire to partner Mark Webber:
Justin Wilson was equally dumped at the end of the Season, whereas a number of untactful comments have recently been fed to the media, now concerning their current rookie, 
Christian Klien.
Pizzonia's last race for Jaguar was in England, Justin Wilson replacing the Brazilian right at the GP of Germany, a year ago.
- It marks three years from Pizzonia's victory in Hockenheim, in the 2001 F-3000 International Championship.
Three other drivers who will likewise be in Hockenheim this Sunday, also took part in that F-3000 race, in 2001:
Mark Webber and 
Giorgio Pantano, the Australian driver failing to get to the final flag, whereas the Italian finished in seventh place, in addition to 
Bas Leinders, who took the final flag in sixth. Leinders is currently Minardi's reserve driver, and should thus be driving in Hockenheim on Friday.
Here's the race result in Hockenheim, for the F-3000 International Championship, in 2001:
| Finish Order |
Driver |
Time |
| |
|
|
| 1 |
Antonio Pizzonia |
44'47"547 |
| 2 |
Justin Wilson |
44'52"534 |
| 3 |
 Ricardo Sperafico |
44'56"344 |
| 4 |
 Sebastien Bourdais |
45'01"750 |
| 5 |
 Tomas Enge |
45'05"362 |
| 6 |
Bas Leinders |
45'06"327 |
| 7 |
Giorgio Pantano |
45'07"636 |
| 8 |
 Rodrigo Sperafico |
45'12"313 |
| 9 |
 Joel Camathias |
45'13"771 |
| 10 |
 Gabriele Lancieri |
45'19"676 |
| |
|
|
As Juan Pablo Montoya observed, in the race preview issued by the Team, Williams-BMW is bringing an All-South-American line-up to the GP of Germany.
Pizzonia is not the first Brazilian driver to race for the Grove Team, however. He'll actually be taking a seat that has been occupied by his two three-time World Champion fellow-countrymen: 
Ayrton Senna and 
Nelson Piquet.
Ayrton Senna was the last F1 Brazilian driver to line up in a Williams, over ten years ago (1994);
whereas Piquet drove for Sir Frank Williams between 1986 and 1987.
The honor of joining such remarkable company of fellow-Brazilian Champions could easily turn into a knife cutting in two ways, though, as it could either inspire, or inhibit, the young Brazilian driver, independently of his having topped the time-sheets all week long, at 
Jerez, prior to this GP of Germany.
At Jerez, Pizzonia claimed, in his Williams-BMW, times that were as competitive as those obtained by M.Schumacher, in his Ferrari.
In addition to lapping faster than the German Champion a number of times, during this last test week at Jerez – and holding on to the best lap till the closing of one of the test days – the young Brazilian was consistently a half-second, or close to this, faster than his team-mate test driver, 
Marc Gené, who raced in the currently vacant Williams BMW seat, both in Great Britain and in France.
The Spaniard, however, brought no points home, from either GP – a likely reason the younger Brazilian team-mate has now been summoned to take the Spaniard's place.
At any rate, this last week of tests just mentioned, with Pizzonia (always one of the fastest) and Gené, along with the fact that Montoya claimed P1 in last year's German Qualifying, and went on to win the race, altogether, this seems to allow the Williams-BMW Team enough room for optimism, though evidently no prediction is ever possible.
For the sake of the Williams-BMW Team, though, let us hope that Montoya will find the car-tire package he needs to battle up front, and that the Jungle Boy will find true inspiration, to get the most out of this package, in the two exceptional Brazilian drivers, Piquet and Senna, whose company Pizzonia now joins in the Williams' history books.
After all, the entire Williams-BMW Team have been enduring a very tough mid-Season period. They are now pressed to start making up for so many lost points (see, in special, the GP of Canada and the GP of the USA), lest Williams-BMW are caught by a revitalized McLaren-Mercedes Team, which pleasantly surprised everyone in England (but probably left some people concerned – among these, members of the Williams-BMW Team, it's not hard to imagine).
In case you might not know, Pizzonia was nicknamed Jungle Boy, when he raced in the British F3. The nickname found inspiration both in his dauntless racing style and speed behind the wheel, and in his having been born and raised in Manaus. This is the capital city of the state of Amazon, which lies in the heart of the Amazon rain forest, in the Northern part of Brazil. Some rain forest and tropical life images are available on MieNet, BTW: link-1 & link-2.
Toyota will bring their new car, and renewed hopes of improved performance, to the Germain GP.
Renault, in turn, will bring an updated version of their motor.
Stay tuned! Special race details that are worthy of note will be added to this Section.
See, too, the pages marked with a checkered flag, here.
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