Damon Hill continued Jordan's fairytale second half to the season, holding off Heinz-Harald Frentzen to grab fourth place at the Hungarian Grand Prix yesterday as Michael Schumacher stormed home to a stunning win to re-open a dormant title race.
Championship leader Mika Hakkinen seemed to be on the way to a victory, which would have shored up his title chances, after a near perfect McLaren start in which Coulthard penned back the Ferraris of Schumacher and Eddie Irvine as Hakkinen set off in first.
However, after Schumacher's first stop, Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn changed to a three-stop pit strategy and coupled with blistering, ragged-edge pace from Schumacher, the Ferrari mechanics were able to get the German back on the track five seconds ahead of second-placed Coulthard and well beyond the reach of Hakkinen, already fading into the distance with shock absorber problems which would see him finish sixth.
Hakkinen's misfortune was Jordan's gain, however. Hill, dropped to fifth by a resurgent Jacques Villeneuve, was able to reel in the Finn, pass the ailing McLaren with ease and hold off the advancing Frentzen for his second fourth place finish in a row.
At the start, Hill was fifth into the first corner and moved up a place when Eddie Irvine retired at quarter distance with transmission problems. But reigning World Champion, Jacques Villeneuve was clsoing in. "It would have been fantastic to keep Villeneuve behind me but there was not much I could do. He was on a harder tyre and every time I pulled away he would catch up again," said Hill.
Taking the chequered flag, Hill was 11 seconds behind Villeneuve: "I was fighting all the way. Frentzen was closing in. I did my fastest lap on lap 75 (of 77). It was hard work," Hill admitted. For the second race in a row Hill has totally overshadowed his team-mate, Ralf Schumacher, who started from 10th on the grid. "I lost several places into the first corner and I could not recover from so far back," said Ralf, still the subject of contract speculation with BAR, Williams and Jordan all seeking a signature. The rest of the race was all about his brother Michael, whose blistering mid-race lap times around the tight twisting Hungaroring enabled him to pull out a sufficient gap to comfortably pit for the third time and exit ahead of the McLarens.
"It was very much a race run at qualifying speed throughout for me," said Schumacher. "We employed a three-stop strategy, which was pretty difficult, and it didn't seem to be working out at the beginning, as I fell behind Jacques Villeneuve at the first pit stop.
"Ross Brawn (Ferrari technical director) took the decision and told me what the strategy was after that first stop. But, as I was sitting behind Jacques, I was wondering whether it was the right thing to do.
"When Jacques went into the pits I got stuck behind David. Then, after my second stop, Ross told me over the radio that I had 19 laps to pick up 25 seconds to make enough time for my third stop. I said, `Thank you, I will obviously try my best'. And it turned out to be enough."
Schumacher's win narrowed Hakkinen's world championship points lead from 16 to seven with four races left and 40 points to race for.
For the first time this season, Ferrari's remarkable reliability let team-mate Eddie Irvine down. "I was in reasonable shape - running fourth, without too much difficulty - and then I started to run into electronic troubles," he said. "The gearbox wasn't reacting right to the paddles and eventually it crewed up fourth, fifth and sixth gears."
Irvine remains fourth in the drivers championship but David Coulthard, second yesterday, is now 16 points ahead with four races to go. Irvine is now resigned to missing out on third.
Eddie Jordan was positive after the weekend: "It very satisfying to see the car able to run at the front at a circuit like this - especially with Spa, a circuit that really suits us - coming up next."
