British GP Arrows race notes

Orange Arrows - British Grand Prix , Silverstone
Race Story - Sunday 23rd April, 2000

For the second year running, David Coulthard raced to victory to win the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, with team mate Mika Hakkinen giving McLaren their first 1 / 2 since the Belgian Grand Prix last year. Hakkinen and Coulthard started 3rd and 4th on the grid respectively and chased Rubens Barrichello at the outset.

Jenson Button started in 6th and managed to move up to 5th by the end of lap one, holding this position at the chequered flag. However, he did give the British fans something to cheer about when during one of the pit stop periods he was running in 3rd for three laps.

Michael Schumacher finished 3rd after starting the race from a relatively lowly 5th, but still holds on to his championship lead. For the first half of the race he was stuck behind Jacques Villeneuve's BAR but admitted that one of the most enjoyable parts of the race was battling with brother Ralf on the opening lap. Unfortunately, Ferrari's hopes of a win at Silverstone were dampened when pole sitter, Rubens Barrichello retired on lap 35 while in the lead.

For the Orange Arrows team though, it was a disappointing race. Things looked very promising to begin as Jos Verstappen started the race in 8th on the grid, and Pedro de la Rosa, who started 19th on the grid, worked his way to 15th. Unfortunately however, Jos had to retire on lap 22 and Pedro also retired on lap 27 after both drivers experienced electronic difficulties with the cars.

Peoples' fears that the Foster's British Grand Prix held over Eater for the first time would be the victim of bad weather, proved true for qualifying, but not the race. Heavy rain prior to race day turned the public car parks into mud pits, leaving Silverstone Circuit to take the hard decision to close all public car parks at the circuit on Saturday to prepare for Sunday, thus disappointing thousands of fans.

The British Grand Prix did not turn into a race of attrition as a total of 17 cars were classified as finishers, with Jos and Pedro being the first retirements. Behind them completing 35 laps was Barrichello due to hydraulic problems. BAR's Ricardo Zonta retired next on 36 laps after spinning off, with Nick Heidfeld leaving Prost one driver down after 51 laps due to engine failure.