Coulthard Out to Keep Schumacher Waiting

Michael Schumacher returns to the scene of his Ferrari team's first ever Grand Prix victory this weekend hoping to make Formula One history himself at Silverstone. But McLaren's David Coulthard, Schumacher's closest title rival, intends to keep the triple World Champion waiting a little longer by writing his own chapter in the British Grand Prix record books.

Fifty years ago, in 1951, Jose Froilan Gonzalez - the heavily-built Argentine "Pampas' Bull" - won among the hay bales at the old Silverstone airfield track on a historic day for Enzo Ferrari's fledgling team. Gonzalez will be back as an honoured guest this weekend but the number on Schumacher's mind is not 50 but 51, the record tally of wins racked up by France's four-times World Champion Alain Prost.

The German says statistics are something he will enjoy when he is retired but there is no question that, having achieved win number 50 in France on July 1, he wants Prost's record sooner rather than later. If he wins at Silverstone, Schumacher will be perfectly positioned to break the record in front of his home fans at Hockenheim in two weeks' time.

Coulthard, 31 points behind the German with seven races remaining, has to win if Schumacher is not to wrap up his fourth world title with several rounds to spare. And he knows that Silverstone, a track that has rewarded him with two successive victories while the German has only won once there and never been on pole, is as good a chance as any he will get this year.

Jim Clark

If Coulthard wins again he will become the first driver to complete a run of three British Grand Prix wins since his fellow Scot, the late champion Jim Clark, notched up four in a row from 1962-65. He will also give a welcome boost to suffering British sports fans, short of anything to celebrate in the past week after defeats in quick succession for their cricket, rugby and tennis hopes.

The McLaren driver, who at least has no Australians to worry about, said last week that Schumacher's assault on Prost's record cut no ice with him.

"His bid to equal the record is just a sideshow to the main event," he said of a driver who two years ago saw his title hopes vanish at Silverstone with a broken leg when his Ferrari speared into the barriers. "I'm determined to get back on the winning trail and there could be no better time for me to make it three British Grand Prix wins in a row."

Coulthard has carried the McLaren fight to Ferrari this season but there is always a chance that his teammate Mika Hakkinen, surrounded by intense speculation about his future, will suddenly come good. Two times World Champion Hakkinen has scored just nine points in the last ten races and has never tasted victory at Silverstone.

But the Finn, who faces heavy questioning about any retirement plans after reports that he is thinking of quitting at the end of the season, was second last year to Coulthard and on pole in 1998 and 1999. The Williams drivers Ralf Schumacher and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya will also be dangerous in what amounts to a home race for Frank Williams' BMW-powered but still decidedly English team.

History may not count for much in the end but Williams would be happy if it did. They also took their first ever win at Silverstone in 1979 and their 100th there with Jacques Villeneuve in 1997. Jordan, whose factory is just opposite Silverstone's main entrance, will also be hoping for a boost at a circuit that is effectively home to the majority of the eleven teams.