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Working together Finally, it seems the best man will win in F1
McLaren duo David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen are vying for top spot in the standings! Ferrari's Michael Schumacher being challenged by his own team-mate, Rubens Barrichello! Is this the end of Formula One as we know it? As long as I can remember, the top teams competing for motorsport's most glamourous prize have always been divided internally into the haves and have nots. The haves were the No. 1 drivers. Though, in the interests of diplomacy, they were never referred to as such. The Michael Schumachers, Mika Hakkinens, Damon Hills and the like, who received the best of everything from their teams in the belief that their chances of delivering Grand Prix victories were vastly superior to those of their teammates. The have-nots -- by contrast -- which in recent years have included names like David Coulthard, Eddie Irvine and Heinz-Harald Frentzen -- were often little more than minders, paid to look out for the interests of their big name team-mates on the track, while being given just the occasional chance to shine.
The most obvious inequality was the instruction to "drive to team orders", which in effect meant the No. 2 driver setting aside his own interests to ensure his more illustrious team-mate won at all costs. Besides the frustration factor, this obviously thankless task often created farcical situations, as in the 1998 Australian Grand Prix when David Coulthard honoured a pre-race agreement with Mika Hakkinen by blatantly slowing down in the final straight to let the Finn win. In the past, lopsided tactics like that have left a bad taste in the mouth of drivers and fans alike, often destroying races as competitive spectacles, and devaluing victories. But perhaps no longer, because this year, more than any other, it appears to be a season of equal opportunities. As we approach the final third of the schedule, teams now seem at pains to point out that it's every man for himself. Ferrari President Luca Montezelo has made it plain that he doesn't care whether it's Schumacher or Barrichello that brings home Ferrari's first drivers title since 1979, as long as one of them does. And it's an attitude shared by McLaren's team boss, Ron Dennis, who says both Hakkinen and Coulthard will receive equal treatment in the run-in to the title, despite the fact that Hakkinen is the two time defending world champion. So, if all that is true, what we're looking at is the fairest and potentially most exciting championship climax ever, with four men in the running for the title, and all of them competing on a level playing field. The result is that, for once, you can say "may the best man win" and actually believe it will happen.
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