1997 Monaco Grand Prix : 1997 Monaco Grand Prix: If There Ever Was a Time…
By Jeremy McMullenHindsight being twenty-twenty, the move from Jordan to Stewart Grand Prix would certainly seem ill-advised as the 1997 season would be an absolute shambles with the team having just eight race finishes between them out of seventeen races. However, if there was ever a time to look more competitive than what reality would suggest it would be in front of the royal family at Monaco. And, on one wet afternoon on the 11th of May, Rubens Barrichello would be out enjoying himself dancing around in the rain.
Rubens would leave Jordan Grand Prix after having come into Formula One with them and after having served some four seasons as the team's driver. His first World Championship points would come in his first season with the team. Then, in his second season in Formula One and with the team he would go on to score his first podium result with a 3rd place in the Pacific Grand Prix in 1994.
In 1995, Barrichello would not have the kind of consistency he had the season before but he would improve upon his best result scoring a 2nd place in the Canadian Grand Prix. Unfortunately, it would prove to be about the only real highlight to the season for the Brazilian.
His final season with Jordan would actually be his most consistent as he would go on to score a total of 14 points over the course of the season and would end up 8th in the Drivers' Championship battle. However, there would not be a single race in which he would manage to reach the podium. Therefore, after four years with Jordan, Barrichello sensed the team had stalled out, unable to take that significant step forward to challenge for podiums consistently.
Heading into the 1997 season Jackie Stewart and his son Paul would announce they were entering Formula One as a constructor. Barrichello figured that if there was a person that knew a thing or two about taking things to the next level it was certainly the triple World Champion from Scotland. And so, Barrichello would leave Jordan in favor of Stewart Grand Prix.
In his time at Jordan, Rubens had come to know well the ire of Eddie Jordan and the loss of the Ford engine after the 1991 season. As a result, Jordan would be forced to turn to Yamaha and their large and extremely fragile V12. The second season for the team would be a nightmare. Heading to Stewart, Rubens had reason to be confident given the Jackie's commitment to success. He also had reason to be confident given Stewart's long-standing relationship with Ford Cosworth. There would be a lot of excitement surrounding the team and Barrichello would be excited for the fresh start.
Still, Barrichello would be realistic about everything given the team was brand new. However, after failing to complete a race distance in each of the first four rounds of the 1997 Formula One season it would be a little surprising when Rubens still had his patented smile on his face when he and the team arrived in Monaco.
In many respects coming to Monaco would be something of a God-send for the struggling team. The only finish the team had managed to that point in the season had been a rather lowly 10th place by Jan Magnussen in the Argentinean Grand Prix. This was due to a heavy dose of electronic, hydraulic and engine-related problems. However, given the nature of the redesigned 2.09 mile circuit would be such that out-right speed would take a back seat to handling and stability. This would be good for the Stewart team given the fragile nature of the new Cosworth Zetec engine. Both drivers would be able to focus on keeping the car off of the ARMCO instead of worrying about pushing the engine too hard as there would be very few sections of the circuit in which the drivers would have their right foot all the way to the floor, especially for more than just a couple of seconds.
Even though the nature of the circuit would be a good opportunity for the struggling Stewart team, the tight, twisty character and the little room for error meant it would be anything but a walk in the park for the team. Rising and falling with the principality's position along the Mediterranean and abutting the mountains, the circuit would be very tight and would require extreme precision each and every lap. Even in dry conditions the circuit would not allow even a moment's lapse of concentration. In the wet, the circuit could be downright terrifying.
Heading into the weekend of the Monaco Grand Prix the weather would be quite warm with the temperatures soaring to around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The fight for the championship was also really heating up with Jacques Villeneuve holding onto a 6 point margin over Michael Schumacher. After the struggles he had been dealing with through the first four races of the season, Barrichello wasn't even in the top twenty when it came to the championship. Therefore, Barrichello and the team looked to Monaco to be a place where the team could at least have a good showing. If ever there was a place to have such a good showing, this would be it.
The Ford Zetec engine had decent power, but it was not the most powerful engine on the grid. However, around the streets of Monaco the lack of horsepower wouldn't be nearly as detrimental. And, this would be realized in qualifying when Barrichello would post a lap of 1:19.295 around the circuit. This would result in a fifth row starting spot and a 10th place overall position. Unfortunately, on a circuit where track position truly meant everything, there would be a lot of cars ahead of him on the starting grid. At the head of them all, surprisingly, would be the German Heinz-Harald Frentzen in one of the Williams. He would be a little more than a second faster than Barrichello and would be on pole. Starting beside him in 2nd place would be Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari.
The year before Olivier Panis had pulled off a surprising victory in a wet Monaco Grand Prix. In that race, Schumacher would lose control on the run down into Portier and would be out of the race. One year later, conditions would be absolutely dry during the morning warm-up. However, when the teams prepared to send their cars around to line up on the grid the rain would be steadily falling all around the circuit. This had been the first rain of the entire weekend and would lead to some absolutely frantic moments leading up to the start of the race as drivers and managers tried to make the call as to which tire was best for the conditions. On top of the wet conditions, the temperatures would also drop out. Whereas temperatures had been pushing 90 degrees they were now hovering around the mid-60s.
The conditions would prompt many drivers to go right to the wet weather tires. Others would determine that the intermediates was the best route to go. Then there would be others, like both of the Williams drivers, who would decide to take a gamble and would keep slicks shod on the car. Barrichello, having earned himself quite a reputation in the rain, would go the route of the de facto regenmeister and would choose rain tires for the start of the race.
When the lights went out to start the race it would be immediately apparent slick tires were not the route to go as Schumacher would be quickly by into the lead and Frentzen would slip down immediately before heading into Sainte Devote. Heading through the first corner of the race it would be Schumacher well ahead in the lead of the race with Giancarlo Fisichella in 2nd place. A little further back, Barrichello would get away from the grid in fine shape and would get around fast-starting Mika Hakkinen heading into Casino Square. Then the field began to file its way through the dampest portions of the circuit and it would be where the complexion of the race would quickly begin to change.
By the end of the first lap, Barrichello would be delighting a many a race fan as he would work his way up in fantastic fashion to complete the first lap in 5th place after starting 10th. Schumacher would already be well ahead in the lead with Fisichella tip-toeing around in 2nd place ahead of his teammate Ralf Schumacher.
Then came the 2nd lap of the race. Michael would be suffering no problems whatsoever but would certainly be fish-tailing at more than one point on the circuit. Frentzen would be quickly heading backward and would give up 4th place to Barrichello and would continue his freefall down the running order. Coulthard would lose control of his McLaren coming out of the Tunnel and would end up causing his teammate Hakkinen to run into the back of another car. So, in the very same spot on the circuit the two McLarens would be out of the race. Barrichello would be very much in the race and would look as cool and calm as Schumacher. Looking every bit like his mentor Senna, Barrichello was one of the very few actually on the attack around the circuit.
Schumacher continued to pull away with the lead of the race and Barrichello continued his assault on everyone still ahead of him. Damon Hill would be out of the race as a result of banging his car off both sides of the track around the chicane coming out of the Tunnel. And the defending World Champion would be just one of a number of cars that would suffer spins or accidents throughout the course of the race. All of this trouble would allow Barrichello, who seemed right at home in the wet weather, to make his way past Ralf Schumacher for 3rd place on the 5th lap and then into 2nd place on the very next lap. The saying is the 'cream rises to the top' and it was clear who the cream of the crop were on this day. But, of course, there would be a long way to go and, as many others would prove, there would be plenty more opportunities to get it wrong.
Barrichello locked himself into 2nd place about 30 seconds behind Schumacher on the circuit. Even by the start of the race it would be believed the race would turn from a 78 lap event to a two hour timed race. Therefore, all of the drivers would be concentrating with everything they had to make it to that two hour time limit.
It would be an absolutely incredibly display of driving ability as Schumacher would be on opposite-lock a number of times each and every lap but would continue to carry on in the lead. Behind him about 30 seconds adrift would come Barrichello putting on an equally impressive display in the Stewart. It would end up being a picture of the days to come when the two would be teammates at Ferrari dominating the rest of the field.
The two men at the head of the field would look absolutely impervious to the conditions while behind them everyone else would be falling out left and right. Jacques Villeneuve would retire after 16 laps. Jean Alesi would also be out after 16 laps. Nicola Larini would have perhaps the worse day around the principality spinning and going off what seemed to be once every lap until he too would finally have a mechanical problem that would take his out of the running after 24 laps.
Approaching the halfway mark of what would be the two hour time limit, Barrichello would show his quality even more by being the fastest man on the circuit as Schumacher knew full well he was under no pressure. These two would carry on without any kind of problem. Behind Barrichello, Fisichella would be under pressure from Olivier Panis who would then be under pressure from Eddie Irvine in the other Ferrari. Torrential rain would begin falling all around the circuit. And, after an impressive display in 3rd place, Fisichella would lose 3rd and 4th place in one lap. Panis would be in the lead while Irvine would be up to 4th.
Well under an hour remaining in the race Barrichello would make his one and only stop of the race and would get back out onto the circuit well ahead in 2nd place. And with Schumacher still well out in front, all the Brazilian would need to focus on would be to keep his advantage over Irvine who had managed to take over 3rd place from defending winning Panis.
Twenty minutes left in the race, Barrichello looked every bit the steely-eyed veteran as he would keep the Stewart still heading in the right direction and, in fact, would show a touch in the wet that would prevent him from making a mistake in the touchy conditions. The same could not be said of Schumacher for even though the German had built up for himself an untouchable lead, he would still have a moment when the brakes would lock heading into Sainte Devote and would go on straight through the run-off. Unfortunately, the loss of concentration would not take the German out of the race or would cause him to lose enough time for Rubens to come through to take his first Formula One victory but it would still be a good indication as to the talent the Brazilian had behind the wheel in difficult conditions.
The seconds would wind down. The two hour limit had been reached. Schumacher would come out of Anthony Noghes for the final time and would cruise across the line to take the first victory for Ferrari at Monaco since Gilles Villeneuve back in the early '80s. Some 53 seconds later, Rubens Barrichello would come through to take an absolutely delightful and much needed 2nd place for Stewart Grand Prix. On the podium, Barrichello would be his usual exuberant self. But the celebration would be as much a moment of relief as it would be anything else.
As much as it had been a demonstrative performance by Schumacher, the same, if not more could be said of Barrichello in the Stewart in 2nd place. He was at the wheel of a car that did not have the power and the capabilities of the Ferrari. Additionally, he would be in a car that would prove over and over throughout the season that it was incredibly fragile. And yet, he would not make a mistake at any moment over the course of the 62 laps and would come away with a fantastic result. It would have to be considered one of the best performances of his Formula One career in spite of him not taking the win.
If ever there was a time to put together a drive of a lifetime it would be at Monaco in difficult conditions in a car that would prove absolutely awful over the course of the season. But, all of the right conditions would come together and just the right time and Barrichello would be the man to deliver.