FIA dampen Hakkinen's celebration

Mika Hakkinen brought McLaren home the perfect souvenir from his holidays with an emphatic win in yesterday's Austrian Grand Prix, only for the sport's governing body to threaten to confiscate the prize as soon as it was delivered.

After a first-corner pile up had left the twin McLarens of a revitalised Hakkinen and team-mate David Coulthard in charge, the Finn strolled to his first win since Barcelona six races ago.

But no sooner had he left the circuit to begin celebrating than the FIA had issued a statement saying that his McLaren may have been in breach of regulations.

Post-race scrutiny had revealed that one of the FIA seals fastened to the car's electronic "black box" was missing and an investigation was being begun. The seals are put in place by the sport's regulators after the car's software has been checked for compliance, and they should remain in place through the race weekend. The absence of the seal from Hakkinen's car could suggest that the electronics have been tampered with, and as such the FIA will now begin investigations to determine whether this is the case.

However, no result of the scrutiny was available last night as the electronic unit had to be removed to London for further tests. Until a decision is reached Hakkinen's victory remains official.

It is a victory that gives new impetus to both Hakkinen and the championship. The Finn's 16th career win launches him back into championship contention, just two points behind Coulthard and a mere eight behind championship leader Michael Schumacher.

And after the race Hakkinen was the first to make the claim for a renewal of his challenge for a third consecutive championship.

"Now it starts," he said, leaning into the microphone and staring down those who had written him off. He smiled the rapturous smile of a born again believer. The champion is back and he knows it.

"I'm extremely happy about the outcome of this grand prix," he said. "I'm happy to have solved all the problems, to have gotten up to speed again, got back to what I used to be.

"Definitely I have every reason to be optimistic about the next race and the rest of the season, because now it really starts."

Four days ago the defending world champion was a write-off, a burned-out star who had plummeted so far that his team ordered him to take a rest in an effort to reawaken a desire to win. And waken it he did. From the moment the Finn stepped into his McLaren MP4-15 on Thursday, Hakkinen was clearly back.

And yesterday, as he led from flag to flag, he proved it, emphatically stretching a lead over second-placed team-mate Coulthard, a message that will not be lost on the Scot, who until now has had only Michael Schumacher to focus on. Now he'll be not only chasing the leader but gazing anxiously in his mirrors.

But if Hakkinen made a loud statement, half the volume was supplied by the domino-like fall of contenders as the cars concertinaed through the first corner, and it was Schumacher who was the principal casualty.

The German, who had struggled to find the perfect set-up on his Ferrari throughout the weekend, was still undecided just half-an-hour before the start, taking out both his race car and the spare in a bid to find something with which he could bring the fight to the rampant McLarens.

But within seconds of the start he had been disarmed and sent packing. As Hakkinen and Coulthard streamed ahead to the first corner, unaware of the chaos unfolding behind them, BAR's Ricardo Zonta slammed into the back of fourth-placed Schumacher, sending the German into the dirt. He was immediately joined there, nose to nose, by Jarno Trulli, who had tangled with Ferrari number two Rubens Barichello.

As the track was swamped in debris and the gravel traps filled with the wreckage of grand prix machinery and hopes, the twin McLarens sailed on oblivious. Hakkinen admitted he had not even realised there had been an accident.

Schumacher later took verbal revenge on Zonta. "Ricardo overestimated his own abilities and underestimated his speed, although I'm sure there was nothing intentional in it. I'm very disappointed but that's motor racing."

For Jordan it was a day of unmitigated disaster. Jarno Trulli's race was ended as soon as it had begun, the Italian tangling with Barrichello at turn one and ended up stranded in the gravel staring Schumacher in the face, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who initially appeared to benefit from the first turn chaos, jumping from 15th on the grid to eighth, crashed out two laps later when an oil fitting broke and sprayed over the rear tyres, sending him into a terminal spin.