McLaren celebrates 700 GPs - the 500th race
Fifth in a series to mark our 700th GP - the 2000 McLaren MP4-15 which raced our 500th
McLaren MP4-15
2000 Canadian GP - Montreal, June 18 2000
1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 69 laps in 1hr 41m12.313s (Grid: 1)
2 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari + 0.174s (3)
3 Giancarlo Fisichella Benetton-Playlife + 15.365s (10)
4 Mika Hakkinen McLaren-Mercedes + 18.561s (4)
5 Jos Verstappen Arrows-Supertec + 52.208s (13)
6 Jarno Trulli Jordan-Mugen-Honda + 1m01.687s (7)
7 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes + 1m02.216s (2)
McLaren 401-500
Between our 400th and 500th grands prix we formed partnerships with Mercedes-Benz and ExxonMobil which have proved astoundingly successful.
In 1997 David Coulthard went from fourth on the grid in to snatch the win in Australia, the first of three victories for the team that year. Mika Hakkinen qualified on pole for the Luxembourg Grand Prix and won at Jerez.
The following year we took another step up. 1998 opened in a similar fashion to 1988 as Mika and David dominated the opening rounds, winning five of the first six grand prix. Mika would go on to take the World Championship, winning eight races and starting on pole nine times. David started on pole in Canada but had to retire from the race, although he would win from pole in San Marino.
The 1999 season was a tougher proposition against an increasingly competitive Ferrari. Mika won five grands prix, the last victory in Japan sealing the Drivers’ Championship. We missed out on the Constructors’ Championship by four points but passed several milestones: Mika’s win in Spain was our 125th and his pole position in Germany was our 100th. David added two more victories to take our all-time win tally to 130 by the end of the season, and achieved three of our nine pole positions during the year.
Initial reliability issues with the MP4-15 made for a difficult start to Mika’s title defence in 2000. After qualifying on the front row for the first GP of the year, both drivers retired when valve seals failed in their engines. The MP4-15 would go on to win seven grands prix that year, starting with David’s victory at Silverstone in the unusually early British Grand Prix, but in spite of winning four grands prix Mika finished as runner-up in the Drivers’ Championship. He set the fastest lap nine times, with David setting three, and between them racked up seven pole positions.
Elsewhere in 2000
The chaos that had been predicted as a result of the ‘Millennium Bug’ does not come about, although many IT systems around the world encounter minor issues as the date transitions from 1999 to 2000. Indeed, the technology industry continues its bull run: in January, AOL announces that it will acquire Time Warner for $162billion; the Dow Jones Industrial Average peaks at 11,722.98 and the NASDAQ Composite Index hits 5,048. From there the market goes into reverse as reality takes hold. Boo.com, an online fashion retailer, files for bankruptcy in May 2000 after burning through $188million of venture capital funds in six months.
Concorde aircraft are grounded after Air France Flight 4590 crashes shortly after take-off from Charles de Gaulle airport.
In the UK, lorry drivers and farmers blockade oil refineries in protest against rising fuel prices. BMW sells the Rover Group to the Phoenix Consortium for the nominal sum of £10 but retains the Mini brand. The final Mini rolls off the production line at the iconic Longbridge plant; BMW’s new version is to be built at Cowley. Members of the public grapple with The Big Number Change, as dialling codes in several large cities are amended to facilitate extra numbers.
George W Bush defeats former Vice President Al Gore in the US election in controversial circumstances, when the Supreme Court halts the recount in Florida.
Olivia Newton John and John Farnham perform at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Sydney. Australian athletes take centre stage early on as swimmer Ian Thorpe takes three gold and two silver medals. Having announced his intention not to compete again after the last games, British rower Steve Redgrave finally retires after winning gold medals in five successive Summer Olympics.
Pete Sampras wins his 13th Grand Slam at Wimbledon and Italy is invited to join the Five Nations rugby tournament, making it the Six Nations. Lance Armstrong takes his second Tour de France victory by six minutes from Jan Ullrich.
The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats finishes its run on Broadway after 18 years.
Mission: Impossible 2 is the highest grossing film of the year, taking $546,388,105 worldwide, but it will be beaten at the Oscars by Gladiator ($457,640,427 gross). 46 films gross over $100million over the course of the year. On a lower-key note, Mary Harron’s version of cult 1980s novel American Psycho, starring Christian Bale, makes its debut at the Sundance Film Festival.
The rapper Eminem doesn’t reach the top of the Billboard charts, but he makes headlines when his mother sues him for defamation over a lyric in the single My Name Is. Madonna has a US number one with Music, while Destiny’s Child occupy the top spot for seven weeks with Independent Women Part 1.
In the UK, Craig David invites listeners to Fill Me In, while Oxide & Neutrino sample the theme from the TV show Casualty to score a number one with Bound 4 Da Reload. Neutrino later achieves a level of notoriety by accidentally shooting himself in the leg outside a nightclub. The most prolific hitmakers are Westlife, with four number ones; also notable are Madison Avenue, whose Don’t Call Me Baby is the first UK number one for an Australian band since Men At Work’s Down Under in 1983. Coldplay release their debut album, Parachutes.
Credit: Vodafone McLaren Mercedes (mclaren.com)
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