The Promised Day: The 2001 Japanese GP
"At the start of this year, they expected to be around the midfield, and fight the top teams towards the end of the year. And today, they are the center of the F1 universe."
Welcome back to The Tyrell Challenge and, as the title says, it is THE big day. The biggest of days. First, let's go through the points chart. Let's see what kind of story it tells us.
On display are the drivers from Tyrell, Ferrari and McLaren. As you can see, it was The Michael that started really hot, cooled off a bit allowing The Mika to catch and pace, got hot again, then got extra cold right after Britain. Right around there, we, Tyrell, got MEGA hot. How much ... you'll see. Jan Magnussen was streaky, but effective. Villeneuve was streaky but ineffective. He was never ahead of Diniz.
The Average Finishing Position chart paints an interesting image. Remember, Canada is the point where this info is useful. Nick was MILES away from the pack. He finished ahead of Villeneuve. Diniz was tied with Magnussen which ... solid, alright. His average ended up being slightly better than both The Michael and Mika (who trailed off as we moved up the charts).
The Silverstone Split
Just like last year, we brought at significant upgrade package to France that ended up giving us a W at Silverstone. Here's something interesting. Before Britain, MSC had outscored Diniz by 19 points, and Heidfeld by 31. After and including Silverstone?
... Diniz has outscored Michael by 23 points, and has scored more than DOUBLE of what he scored after Britain. Heidfeld outscored Michael by 18, and scored over DOUBLE anyone else not called Michael Schumacher. The second half of the season was the era of Tyrell, and Pedro Diniz is definitely the man on form entering the final race of the season.
Similarly, in the Average Position Chart, other than a Magnussen spike after that Monza win, it shows that the Tyrell drivers were head and shoulders over the field. And, as we saw, The Mika just ... disappeared. Despite only being outscored by Tyrell and MSC, Mika closed the season with a million non-points finishes.
Back to the Regular Schedule
So, you know the assignment, Diniz at 71, MSC at 67. The Michael needs to outscore Diniz by 5 points. Diniz has the wins tiebreaker, 3 v 2, but if MSC wins and they end up tied in points, it would go down to the 3rd places tiebreaker (As they would tie in 2nd places too), and Diniz has the advantage 4 v 2, so MSC has to be clear of Diniz. To make it simple:
- Diniz 2nd place or better: Diniz WDC
- MSC win + Diniz 3rd or worse: MSC WDC
- MSC 2nd + Diniz 6th or worse: MSC WDC
- MSC 3rd or worse: Diniz WDC
We got our assignment, lock up the podium places. We need Nick to help Pedro. Man's also in a fight, a Tyrell 1-2 would be lovely ... we'll see.
This screen looks amazing, at the best of times. With a round to go ... this championship is ours to lose. Which makes me scared.
Here's what I hope will be a rocketship, the 2002 Tyrell 030. If it is everything advertised and depending on our opponents, next year's championship shouldn't go down to the wire. I hope this doesn't backfire. Feel free to quote me on that if it goes pear shaped.
Despite the fact that ... you know, Tyrell is F'ing LEADING THE WDC AND WCC, I'm just 4th in the Manager ratings.
Here's something that might upset some. I'm constructing a Level 1 Wind Tunnel, which could be a bit of a waste, as well as buying Level 5 of EVERY OTHER Facility. Notably, the Test Rig will improve our Testing. Thank you very much.
And here's the final regulations. The Downgrades on Engine and Fuel mean that our Works deals are even more valuable. I'd rate the FIA making the tires get downgraded too, but ... what can you do.
These next images are here for future references. We'll compare the next year Engine and Fuels to these ones.
Of all the tracks where the championship could end, for our car and driver package .... Japan might be the worst. Not because of the track itself, which is amazing. The issue is the hostile weather, which tends to wet rather than dry, the quality of our drivers (Specially poor Nick, with a Level 1 Wet Weather Skill) and the difficulty of making a wet weather setup work on this track, with just 3 points in the "Rain" stat.
So, for once, I'm throwing unbalanced setups at the situation. Both drivers have 4 extra "Dust" points, but Diniz has 2 extra "Rain" points to Heidfeld's 0. That's because Diniz is the one that can win the championship and Nick isn't. Besides, if it rains, Nick will be a non-factor anyway.
Oh, great.
Nick did the first part of the job and did it excellently. He prevents MSC from taking the top spot, and could hold P1. His job will be to prevent MSC from disappearing while Diniz climbs to the front spots.
Rain happened. As per usual.
Of course, in the biggest race of the year, we get the worst possible weather for the event. Say goodbye to a good result from Nick, and we just need to hope he can hold the fort for a bit while Pedro moves up.
With the weather being this bad, there's no "strategy". It is fluid, as we'll have to pit depending on the track conditions. We start with a 1 stop, we'll switch it up as we need to.
You can probably scroll down and get to the results already or let me write about the race first. Nick ... well, he did his part, holding MSC. Pedro, however, went backwards, as he got swallowed by traffic as he tried, and failed, to pass Rubens into T1. He did carve his way through the field, but MSC eventually disposed of Nick and made a significant gap ... which he needed because he was on a 3 stop.
The weather, once again, played its part, as the track went from Very Wet, to Wet, to Damp (good for dries) and back, and then never returned. Every track condition change we met with a tire change and refuel when we saw fit. Imagine the 2012 Brazilian GP, only with even less dry tire usage.
And by the end, on the closing laps, Diniz had no shot at attacking first place. It was just a talent issue. It didn't matter, however. P2 was everything we needed.
"One of the biggest upsets in F1 championship history is nearly complete. They started the season by finishing 9th and 10th. History will show that they only led the championship for only two rounds, the rounds that truly matter. They kept their head, when everyone was losing theirs. They picked up the pieces everyone else was losing, and they are now being rewarded by it. There's our race leader. Jean Alesi will win the 2001 Japanese GP, Sauber's first win of the year. And there he is, the man of the moment, the team, everyone is jumping to the pit wall! He did his job, he did exactly what he needed to do, and there it is: Pedro Diniz is the 2001 Formula One World Drivers Champion, and for the first time in 30 years Tyrell GP is the Formula One Constructors Champions. They have finally done!"
Yeah, that just F'ing happened. The track condition changes ended up helping ... Alesi, then us. MSC was caught up way too many times in the wrong tire to respond. Nick, sadly, lacked the talent to help, but still, him defending against MSC for the opening 2 laps denied him the chance at a bigger gap which could have been concerning.
THIS!
JUST!
ACTUALLY!
HAPPENED!
Pedro, I do not believe it either.
Thanks to the building of all of those facilities, we "only" make $8m. That's a fair ton of money. We might not makes as much next year, since we won't the have Pay Driver World Champion supplying us cash. But we'll have tons of supplier cash so ... we'll see.
The boys at the factory are free to celebrate. They all deserve this.
Finances were just fine. A downward spike at the end, a result of the new facilities plus championship bonuses for the personnel. There's also a small depression, that's when we were building the 2002 cars.
Most of our money comes from the FIA. And considering what we just did, we expect EVEN MORE cash.
The Staff being big expensive is no surprise. I don't have plans to lower the costs ... I think.
Look how low di Montezemolo sank. Game knows they blew the title. And of course, Manager of the Year thanks to the Double Titles. Amazing that Frank Williams is 2nd though.
Not quite top dollar (WHY FERRARI?!?!) but still, that's nearly an extra $5m. Any excess cash is good cash.And so, the 2001 season draws to a close. The results were infinitely better than what I expected this year. Next chapter will be the 2002 preseason. How long this series will run ... I don't know. Let it be known that I want to run at least 2 more years, so 2002 and 2003 will happen. At a slowed pace, of course, man needs time to do and write the chapters. The Preseason will come soon enough, but for now, the entire team needs some rest. They managed to pull a pair of Championships out of their bag of tricks. They deserve it.
See you then.
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