Schumacher aims to survive first lap

BUDAPEST, AUG. 11. Entering this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher's aim is simple - survive the first lap and then look for points.

Not too high for someone who has won two Formula One World Championships and has won 40 Grand Prix races and is usually among the favourites in any race he drives in. The German won the first three races of the year and five of the first eight. Since then it has been a simple statistic: Zero. ``The highest priority is to survive the first lap and get in the points,'' Schumacher said.

Schumacher's lead is now just two points over the McLaren drivers. Three races ago it was 22. Since then Schumacher has not finished a race while Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard have gained ground. If it wasn't for Rubens Barrichello winning the German Grand Prix, Hakkinen would now be leading the standings.

``There was a big gap during the season. Things didn't look so great,'' Hakkinen said. ``Now it's so close is between me and Michael and David and now Rubens. The fight will definitely go down to the end of the season.''

Hakkinen won last year's race, ending a bit of bad luck himself. In the two previous races, he was bumped by his teammate and then blew a tyre in the following race before the Hungarian win in 1999. That turned out to be his last victory before he won again in the final race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix, which secured his second consecutive world title.

Now it is Schumacher having trouble from others. His Ferrari and Giancarlo Fisichella's Benetton- Playlife crashed at the first corner of the German Grand Prix two weeks ago. Before that at the Austrian Grand Prix he was run into by Ricardo Zonta's Bar-Honda, again barely 10 seconds after the start.

After missing last year while recovering from a broken leg, he won here in 1998 for Ferrari and 1994 in a Benetton. However he has had problems too. In 1996, his first year in a Ferrari, he had the pole position and a comfortable lead. Then his car's engine management failed and he managed to keep running but turning the throttle one and off while driving before eventually stalling out. In 1995 he broke down when an electrical system faltered.

This year it seems all the bad things have accumulated in the past five races. He had mechanical failures in two and was bumped out of the race on the first turn in the other two. In the four races that Schumacher did not finish, Barrichello has gotten a first, a second and two thirds.

Barrichello's victory two weeks ago came from the 18th place on the grid and a daring decision to stick with dry-weather tyres while others were changing to wets during the on-and-off showers of the race.

Although Barrichello is just 10 points behind Schumacher in the drivers standings, Ferrari president Luca Montezemolo has been quoted as saying that the definite order of the team's drivers is Schumacher No. 1 and Barrichello No. 2. He was quoted that the team's priority is to make sure that Schumacher wins the title, becoming the first Ferrari driver to win since 1979.

Barrichello said that he heard things different from Montezemolo himself when they met at the Ferrari testing track after Barrichello's victory. ``What he told me was different then what he told to the press,'' Barrichello said.

``What he said was this is the best year for Ferrari and we must put everything into it and win both championships,'' Barrichello said. ``He didn't say 'now you do this and now you do that.' ''

He wants to Enjoy the present rather than deal in the speculation of who's No. 1. ``I am just living the moment,'' Barrichello said. ``Right now I am just enjoying things and it's getting better and better with Ferrari.''

He was given a boost of confidence when Ferrari decided to bring a back-up car for each driver to Hungary. In Germany two weeks ago, Schumacher had problems and jumped into a backup car.

When Barrichello's race car developed trouble, he had no backup to hop into and had to wait for his car to be repaired. Between showers in qualifying, he lost out in the timing and ended up just 18th on the starting grid. However, he won the race.

The qualifying session is on Saturday for Sunday's race of 77 laps on the tight and twisting 3.972 kilometre Hungaroring Circuit.

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