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SLAM! Sports 2000 in Review A LOOK BACK INTERACTIVE CONTESTS ALSO ON SLAM! 
| Sunday, October 8, 2000 Schumacher wins F1 ChampionshipSUZUKA, Japan (AP) -- Michael Schumacher trailed Mika Hakkinen for nearly 40 laps on Sunday. But when Hakkinen made his second pit stop Schumacher pounced, taking the lead and the Formula One title away by winning the Japanese Grand Prix. The Formula One title was Schumacher's third and the first for Ferrari in 21 years. "It is difficult to find proper words for such a feeling," Schumacher said. "The way we did it -- a fight until the last corner -- is simply outstanding." The 31-year-old German now has an insurmountable 12-point lead over Hakkinen, who won the title the last two years for McLaren-Mercedes. The season ends with the Malaysian Grand Prix on Oct. 22. "There was such an outbreak of emotion when I crossed the finish line," said Schumacher. "The ups and down going on throughout the season and the way we achieved it through the final corner." Schumacher won five of the first eight races and then went through a dry spell allowing Hakkinen to catch up and pass him in the standings. But Schumacher prevailed. "I understand it's sometimes other drivers' turn to win," Hakkinen said. "It has definitely has been very interesting this year and has been also up and down for us." Hakkinen was among the first to congratulate Schumacher as he came out of the car in the pit lane enclosure. The Finn hugged Schumacher warmly and even gave a thumbs up sign to the Ferrari crew. "To be a good winner, sometimes you have to be a good loser, too," Hakkinen said. "It doesn't mean you have to be very happy about it." Hakkinen -- who trailed Schumacher by 24 points in the middle of June -- led by six points before Schumacher won the United States Grand Prix two weeks ago. On Sunday, Hakkinen finished second, by 1.8 seconds, after leading most of the first 37 laps. His second pit stop allowed Schumacher to take the lead. Schumacher continued on for three more laps, building his advantage. When Schumacher pitted at the end of 40 laps, he came out ahead of Hakkinen and went on to victory and the title. He covered the 53 laps of the 5.864-kilometre Suzuka circuit in one hour 29 minutes 53.345 seconds an average of 207.316 km/h. Schumacher won world titles with the Benetton team in 1994 and 1995. He moved to Ferrari at the end of 1995 and has been pursuing that title since for the Italian carmaker. With three world championships, Schumacher joins five other drivers with in the all-time career list in Formula One. Juan-Manuel Fangio of Argentina holds the all-time lead with five, followed by Alain Prost of France with four. David Coulthard ended up third, more a minute behind Schumacher. Rubens Barrichello, in the other Ferrari was fifth. Jenson Button, the 20-year-old Williams-BMW rookie, was fifth and Jacques Villeneuve of BAR-Honda was sixth, more than a lap behind. "All told, we did a good job this weekend," said Villeneuve, of Iberville, Que. "The car was pretty quick in the middle and at the end of the race. Unfortunately, I didn't make a good start, but once things settled down in the race, I had a good fight." Hakkinen stayed ahead through the first pit stops and was ahead by 2.9 seconds after 26 laps. But it started to rain after 29 laps, allowing Schumacher to close the gap. Then Schumacher was within a second when Hakkinen went in to pit at the end of 37 laps. Schumacher built up a lead to 26.8 seconds before he went in at the end of lap 40, stayed stationary for 6.0 seconds. When he built up speed coming out of the pits, he was almost a full straightaway ahead of Hakkinen. "As I was heading down the pit lane, I kept hearing Ross (Brawn, technical director of Ferrari) on the radio telling me how it is looking," Schumacher said. "He said 'It's looking good. It's looking good.' Obviously that was one of the greatest moments in my racing career." Hakkinen made a final charge to hang on to his title. "I knew it was going to be very, very tough to catch up. I was sliding all over the place," Hakkinen said. "On the final lap, Michael slowed down and I went over the limit and couldn't catch him," Hakkinen said. Schumacher has 43 victories in Formula One since beginning his career in this series in 1991. After winning the world driving title nine times, Ferrari's last victory before Schumacher was only in 1979 when Jody Scheckter of South Africa took it. Schumacher had come close to the title twice before for Ferrari, losing in the final race of 1997 and 1998. He broke his leg midway through the 1999 season. Results(Sports Ticker) -- Michael Schumacher of Germany won today's 53-lap Formula One Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka International Racing Course in Suzuka, Japan. The following are the results: 1. Michael Schumacher (Germany), Ferrari, 1 hour, 29 minutes, 53.435 (207.307 kph/128.530 mph) 2. Mika Hakkinen (Finland), McLaren-Mercedes, +1.800 seconds behind 3. David Coulthard (Scotland), McLaren-Mercedes, +1:09.900 4. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil), Ferrari, +1:19.100 5. Jenson Button (England), Williams-BMW, +1:25.600 6. Jacques Villeneuve (Canada), BAR Honda, 1 laps 7. Johnny Herbert (England), Jaguar, 1 laps 8. Eddie Irvine (Northern Ireland), Jaguar, 1 laps 9. Ricardo Zonta (Brazil), BAR Honda, 1 laps 10. Mika Salo (Finland), Sauber Petronas, 1 laps 11. Pedro Diniz (Brazil), Sauber Petronas, 1 laps 12. Pedro de la Rosa (Spain), Arrows, 1 laps 13. Jarno Trulli (Italy), Jordan, 1 laps 14. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy), Benetton, 1 laps 15. Gaston Mazzacane (Argentina), Minardi, 2 laps 16. Marc Gene (Spain), Minardi, 7 laps 17. Ralf Schumacher (Germany), Williams-BMW, 12 laps 18. Nick Heidfeld (Germany), Prost Peugeot, 12 laps 19. Alexander Wurz (Austria), Benetton, 16 laps 20. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Germany), Jordan, 24 laps 21. Jean Alesi (France), Prost Peugeot, 34 laps 22. Jos Verstappen (Netherlands), Arrows, 44 laps |