Formula 1
Brawn worries for tough Suzuka
Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn could be forgiven for feeling comfortable heading to Suzuka, where Michael Schumacher only needs to score a single point to claim his sixth title. However, Brawn thinks the pressure to score that one point in ...
Edited: Sep 30, 2003, 4:56 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn could be forgiven for feeling comfortable heading to Suzuka, where Michael Schumacher only needs to score a single point to claim his sixth title. However, Brawn thinks the pressure to score that one point in the final race of the 2003 season is perhaps worse than being on an equal footing with competitors.
Brawn remembers only too well, when he was with Williams back in 1986, Nigel Mansell losing the title due to a tyre failure in the last race at Adelaide. "We've all got memories of Nigel in 1986," he said. "It would be a tragedy for us if we got that close and didn't win it. In many ways there is more pressure just to score one point than going into a championship when it is pretty equal."
Schumacher's only challenger for the Driver's title -- since Juan Pablo Montoya dropped out of the fight after Indianapolis -- is McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, who is nine points behind the German. To win the championship, Raikkonen needs to win Suzuka and Schumacher not score a point at all. It sounds unlikely but, as we saw at Indy, nothing is guaranteed: Schumacher could have taken the title there but Raikkonen clawed his way up to second to keep the fight open.
"It's going to be quite tough," said Brawn, of the final race. "To go in needing one point is actually sometimes tougher than knowing you have to win it because there are so many things that can happen."
"It is going to be a very hard two weeks between now and Suzuka and we've got the constructors to try and win so we have to take our normal approach. To try and do anything different would be a mistake so I just hope the weather gods shine on us in Suzuka."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Barrichello gave Montoya enough space
Next article US GP: Post race quotes
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Nigel Mansell
Who belongs on F1's Mount Rushmore? Pick your four greatest drivers
Formula 1
Formula 1
Who belongs on F1's Mount Rushmore? Pick your four greatest drivers
Top 10 F1 drivers of the 1980s
Formula 1
Top 10 F1 drivers of the 1980s
Alex Albon to run Nigel Mansell tribute at F1 Barcelona GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Monaco GP
Alex Albon to run Nigel Mansell tribute at F1 Barcelona GP
More from
Ferrari
The mistakes that cost Lewis Hamilton a podium at F1’s US GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
The mistakes that cost Lewis Hamilton a podium at F1’s US GP
Fred Vasseur reveals two costly moments that denied Ferrari US GP double podium
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Fred Vasseur reveals two costly moments that denied Ferrari US GP double podium
Latest news
F1 Mexico GP: Friday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
21 min
F1 Mexico GP: Friday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Unwell Kimi Antonelli skips F1 Mexico GP media day
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
Unwell Kimi Antonelli skips F1 Mexico GP media day
Adding a stage, fuel cell mod all on table to fix superspeedway fuel saving
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
1 h
Adding a stage, fuel cell mod all on table to fix superspeedway fuel saving
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
WEC
WEC WEC 2 h
Why Daniel Ricciardo would consider a comeback at Le Mans
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe