Green Races Red. Maurice Hamilton

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СКАЧАТЬ because, with overtaking being next to impossible on this circuit, my pace was being dictated by the slow Jordan. Realising that I was going nowhere, the team told me to come in for my first stop – which turned out to be a bit slow – and I rejoined behind Frentzen. I was going backwards!

      Then came another twist just before half distance when the Safety Car suddenly appeared and the field had to form up behind it. A car had overturned and the marshals needed to work on it in safety. Just as they were about to sort that out, there was another emergency when a Ligier, which had just made a pit stop, caught fire in a big way and spun off.

      The driver, Pedro Diniz, was lucky to escape with burns to one hand but I thought The Sun produced the headline of the year when the following day’s paper had the words ‘Diniz In The Oven’ above a picture of the Brazilian sitting in his blazing car. Otherwise, this affair was certainly no joke.

      A refuelling valve on the side of the car had not shut properly and the Ligier was brim full of fuel. It doesn’t need much fuel to spill onto the hot car before you have a big blaze. I had been through a similar experience when my Jordan caught fire during the previous year’s Belgian Grand Prix.

      I really can’t see what refuelling adds to a Grand Prix; if anything, it screws up the racing. The whole thing has become too complex with teams trying to work out their strategy, while outguessing everyone else. The spectators haven’t a clue what’s happening; it’s just plain stupid.

      This is supposed to be Grand Prix racing. We should fill up the cars and go for it. That way, there is more skill involved because the driver has to look after his tyres while running with a full load of fuel; he has to think about that aspect much more. He’s actually got to overtake the guy in front rather than rely on pit stop tactics. Granted, he might be able to overtake during a tyre stop, but the chances of that happening are less, which is as it should be. Motor racing is not about overtaking in the pits.

      But, having said all that, the most serious problem with refuelling is the threat of fire. The sport is dangerous enough, without having that extra risk. I would like to see a referendum carried out among the informed people in Formula 1. I know what the answer would be. And so, I suspect, do the people in charge. Just ask any mechanic who has to stand there, waiting for a red hot car to come into the pits with up to 100 litres of fuel under pressure just behind his shoulder. Refuelling has its place at Le Mans; it’s necessary, a genuine part of endurance racing. But it seems totally false in Formula 1.

      As I said, Diniz was lucky. And it was fortunate that the accident happened while the Safety Car was already out on the track. It meant we were stacked up behind the official car for three of four laps and, during that time, my water temperature rose to a critical point, something which would play a part later in the race.

      It is the luck of the draw when the Safety Car appears. In this instance, it worked in Barrichello’s favour because he was able to make his single stop and lose very little ground while the Safety Car was out. The rest of us, meanwhile, knew we would have to make a second stop once the race was under way.

      When the Safety Car pulled off, I got behind Frentzen and dummied to go down the inside of the Sauber. He pulled across to block me – and lost control at the braking point for the next corner. Round he went and into the gravel. I was pretty pleased with that! Once the final pit stop had been made, I chased after Coulthard and harried him for the next few laps. Eventually he made a mistake and I nipped into fifth place. I knew I could take it easy during the final ten laps. Jos Verstappen was sixth in the Arrows but, even though he was closing, there was no way he could catch me. Or so I thought.

      With four corners to go on the last lap, my car became stuck in sixth gear. It seemed as if I had actually stopped, because whenever I braked, the engine just went ‘blauggghhh’. I thought, ‘Oh shit! That’s it. Four corners from home and two points gone.’ I was gutted after such a good race; I had really enjoyed it after the trials and tribulations of practice and qualifying.

      Verstappen caught me very quickly. I was pulling at the paddle on the steering wheel, desperately trying to select a lower gear. The problem was that the exhaust had broken and that, in turn, had overheated the part which makes the transmission change gear. It was seizing up. Eventually, I got it to change down through the gears.

      Verstappen came alongside me – and outbraked himself! He ran wide, and I pushed the Arrows even wider to help him on his way. In reality, I didn’t really need to do that because he had got himself into a lot of trouble. He had screwed up so badly, that he dropped right back. I don’t know what he did exactly, but I was able to take off in first gear and head towards the line.

      Now I was stuck in low gear, waiting for Verstappen to come blasting past. But he never appeared. I made it to the flag in fifth place and, two corners after the finish, the car stopped completely. I was really pleased to get two points out of an eventful race which hadn’t promised much.

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