Nothing Retiring About Hakkinen at Indy

If Mika Hakkinen is burned out from the rigors of Formula One racing, he didn’t show it Sunday.

After crashing in morning practice and being penalized for running a red light in warmups, the popular Finnish driver gave one of his finest performances to win the SAP United States Grand Prix before an flag-waving crowd estimated at 175,000 on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course.

Hakkinen, the 1998 and 1999 Formula One world champion, announced last month that he was taking next year off to rest and turning his seat in the West McLaren Mercedes over to Finnish youngster Kimi Raikkonen.

“I’m still a bit confused, to be honest, to experience what happened today, especially because of the morning,” said Hakkinen. “First the accident, and the mechanics fixed that, then I went through the red light in the free practice, and the stewards decided to drop me to the second row.

“It was disappointing, obviously, but all that frustration made me go flat out.”

In post-race ceremonies, world champion Michael Schumacher and Hakkinen’s McLaren teammate, David Coulthard, showed their affection for the winner by lifting him on their shoulders as the crowd cheered. Schumacher finished second, 11 seconds back, with Coulthard third.

“This was one of the highlights of the year for me, this and winning the British Grand Prix,” said Hakkinen, who turned 33 Friday. “I rate Monaco, Silverstone and Indianapolis as the ones a Grand Prix driver most wants to win. It’s something special being here.

“We are confident the car will be even better at Suzuka [the year’s final race, on Oct. 14] and then, hasta la vista .”

Hakkinen said he plans to return in 2003 with his energy recharged. Curiously, on the day he won, his protege, Raikkonen, was the first driver out of the race.

The morning accident, which damaged the right-front wheel and right side of the car, occurred when Hakkinen locked his brakes entering a turn, ran wide on the grass and hit a barrier.

Later, when he ran the red light, stewards disqualified his front-row qualifying time and dropped him from second to fourth on the starting grid.

What loomed as a tense last-lap battle between Hakkinen and Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello ended when the Brazilian’s car lost its engine two laps from the finish. Early in the race, Barrichello led by as many as 21 seconds, but a decision to make two pit stops when the other leaders made only one cost him his lead.

After his second stop, on Lap 49, Barrichello was only 8.2 seconds behind Hakkinen and immediately began shaving the distance. By Lap 67 the margin was down to 2.8, and there were still six laps of the 2.6-mile circuit remaining.

“Since Michael won the championship, I had the full support of the team to win a Grand Prix, and I was driving awfully hard,” Barrichello said. “I felt if I could get it down to one second, I could have fought it through, but when I got to 2.8, I started to have a little feeling that the engine lost a bit of power. Then it was evident I completely lost the power.”

He finished 15th.

“But I am still a happy driver. My first son was born last week and soon I will be back in Brazil seeing my son in a few hours.”

Schumacher started from the pole and after holding off an aggressive Juan Pablo Montoya on the first corner, moved over to let teammate Barrichello by on the fifth lap. From then until his second pit stop, the “other Ferrari” dominated the race, but his hopes of winning his first F1 were dashed when his engine expired.

“I was happy to let Rubens through, [since] he was on two stops,” Schumacher said. “I am happy with second, because I was fortunate to get it. I am happy for Mika, because he won it fair and square, but I am disappointed [for] Rubens naturally.”

Jean Todt, Ferrari team manager, said it was the team’s first engine failure in 16 races this season.

The two Williams-BMW cars, driven by Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, went out of the race a lap apart.

The younger Schumacher spun off the track in Turn 6, stopping in the gravel pit on Lap 38 and on the next time around Montoya’s car slowed to a stop on the front straightaway.

Said Schumacher: “It was nothing but driver error. I simply lost the back end under braking and couldn’t correct it.”

Said Montoya, who was hoping to parlay a rookie victory in the Indianapolis 500 into a rookie victory in the USGP: “The car was really competitive. We were ready to go for the win. Then the car just quit. I think it was hydraulics because I lost all the gears and everything.”

Before dropping out, Montoya had the day’s fastest lap of 125.956 mph.

He also made the day’s most spectacular pass, sweeping by Michael Schumacher on Lap 34 to take the race lead.

“I don’t really know where he came from because he was a long way behind when I left Turn 11,” Schumacher said. “Then I saw in my mirrors that he was right with me. I tried to make life difficult for him, but at that stage our tires were near the end of their life and not as good as his.”

Montoya said the pass was “good fun.”

Jarno Trulli, who finished fourth, was disqualified because of illegal parts in his Jordan Honda.

Eddie Irvine, Jaguar’s controversial veteran Irish F1 driver, made the biggest move of the day, from 14th to fourth.

“The attrition rate amongst other runners was quite high, higher than anybody expected, and the fact that we finished fifth is a testament to the good work everybody put in,” Irvine said.

Former world champion Niki Lauda, boss of the Jaguar team, said the attrition was caused by “the long straightaway at Indianapolis that places huge demands on engines and brakes.”

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THE FINISH

1. MIKA HAKKINEN

Finland, McLaren Mercedes,

1 hour 32 min. 42.840 seconds.

2. MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

Germany, Ferrari,

11.046 seconds behind.

3. DAVID COULTHARD

Scotland, McLaren Mercedes,

12.043 seconds behind.