2000 season reviews
Jordan
The Irish team won both titles this season, Jack Hunsley being the dominating driver. The Brit secured his second drivers’ title, laying the foundation with his 3 consecutive wins mid-season. Unlike previous seasons, Hunsley didn’t get a pole position, instead his focus was on race pace. The reliability issues the team suffered during the season mainly hit Omer Said. He had his best race at Hockenheim, where he lost a potential win due to a spin, but still came second.
Hunsley will continue to drive for the team, while Said ended his career and will be replaced by Kederer.
Williams
They started the season with 3 wins in the first four races, however two double DNFs after that hurt them. Buurlage kept on scoring points regularly, and was in the fight for the title until two races to the end. A wrong pit call by the team in Suzuka cost him his chances, and a retirement from the lead in the final race saw the team losing the constructors’ title on countback. Utzer had no chance to defend the drivers’ title, several problems mid-season hurt him badly.
The team keeps the same lineup for the 2001 season.
Prost
The team impressed with a strong quali pace throughout the whole season, but especially in the first races they lacked race speed. While Wolf improved and took his first career win at Hungary, Ancevski was often set back by reliability issues. Wolf finished third in the drivers’ championship despite missing the last 2 races due to a penalty. Rinneaho replaced him, qualifying in the top 6 for both races, but failing to score points.
Wolf will be kept despite his penalty, and will be partnered by fellow countryman Sigoulakis, who replaces Ancevski
Ferrari
Their race pace in the opening rounds was strong, as 4 fastest laps proved. However only Kederer could capitalize, as Saidy had 3 DNFs. They had their highlight of the year at Hockenheim, with Kederer taking the win and Saidy finishing third. In the remaining 6 rounds only 3 more points followed, scored by Saidy in the final round, while Kederer didn’t finish any of those races.
Ferrari kept Saidy for 2001, and signed Laad to replace the departing Kederer.
Minardi
Goddard took Minardi’s 6th win and his 3rd at a rainy Belgian Grand Prix. A further 3 podiums saw him finishing a strong 5th in the standings. Diehl’s pace wasn’t that much worse, however mistakes and technical problems cost him a couple of good finishes.
Minardi keeps the same lineup, which means that Goddard will go into his 11th season with the Italian team.
Jaguar
Similar to Ferrari the team had an excellent race pace, but couldn’t quite get the results as they often started from the back. Laad started decent with a couple of points finishes, but had some problems mid-season. Engberink scored the team’s best result with second in Hungary, but lost to Laad in the end. The Brit finished the last two races in 3rd, his only podium places of the year.
Engberink signed for another year, and will be teamed up with Rinneaho.
McLaren
The 1-2 at the Spanish GP came as surprise. It was one of only two double wins that have been seen during the season. Foro struggled with reliability problems especially in the first half of the season, and could only add to more top 6 results to his win. Keranen had another podium at the Brazilian GP, but apart from that he too had a rather difficult season.
McLaren keeps their lineup unchanged, marking Foro’s 5th and Keranen’s 9th season with the team.
Benetton
Lintner started the season winning the Australian GP, but couldn’t add much to that, often just missing out on points. Still it easily was his best season since his return in ’96. Poirier was sacked after round 6, and replaced with rookie Graham. He couldn’t match the pace of his teammate, and failed to score a point. Two 7th places showed promise though.
Benetton too continues with an unchanged lineup
Arrows
Rui Martins carried the team, the former champion qualified in the top 10 regularly. 2 podiums and a further 3 top 6 results meant his best season since ’97. Black on the other hand only scored 1 point, and was often found at the back end of the field.
Martins stays for another year, while Black will be replaced by Brugman.
Sauber
The team had a troublesome year, having to replace both drivers. McNamara lacked commitment and was replace by Sigoulakis, who returned after a 4 year break. Both didn’t score any points though. Herbert did well, but surprised the whole paddock by first winning the European GP, just to retire from F1 straight after. Rookie Harvey replaced him, and impressed with a points finish in a rainy Belgian GP.
Harvey will stay for 2001, and get Ancevski as new teammate.
BAR
The car had a good pace, especially Néron knew to profit, taking a pole and two podium results. For unknown reasons though the team sacked both Rautavaara and Néron after the Austrian GP, bringing in rookie drivers Brugman and Ishikawa. Both of them failed to score any points.
Ishikawa stays onboard for 2001, and will be partnered by Black.
