Enrique on Schumy, Monaco & bad press

Progressing ?
By Huw Alban
May 20 2002

In a recent interview with the Reuters news agency, Enrique Bernoldi has stuck to his guns on his actions in defending his position at the Monaco Grand Prix in 2001, where he held off David Coulthard’s McLaren for 41 laps.

This interview has some added significance this week. Not only is the 2002 Monaco Grand Prix taking place this weekend, but also there has been a recent story on the subject of TV coverage for the title sponsor Orange. This site identified the 2001 race as being one of a number of 2001 races where Arrows gained a good amount of TV coverage, in addition to Jos Verstappen fighting for top six positions in Malaysia and Austria.

“People took notice that I was in Formula One,” Bernoldi has been quoted as saying. “My car was not really competitive last year, and if you always start 16th, 17th or 18th the people don't really notice you. I think that was the first positive step that I did in Formula One.”

The Brazilian driver hit the headlines briefly this year when he pulled the overtaking move of his career so far at the Malaysian Grand Prix, pulling a clean move on the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher. “If I had overtaken Schumacher and nobody saw it, I would have gone home right away,” Bernoldi admitted. “I would have said: ‘Now I give up.’

“I had an 80 per cent chance of getting it wrong. He was in a quicker car than mine and he can brake very late. He is a very good driver and I knew that if I tried the manoeuvre and touched him, I would be crucified. People would hate me. So I had a lot to think about.

“He was confident against me, I was fighting with Schumacher for the first time. But we are here for racing, just because he’s Michael Schumacher doesn’t mean I can’t overtake him. So I thought I would pass him back. He made a joke afterwards: ‘I made a mistake, maybe I’m getting old.’

“He was nice, I never had any problem with him. It may never happen again. But I have a picture of both cars side by side so one day I can show it to my kids.”

Enrique was also asked about his ex-team mate Jos Verstappen. The Dutchman made some very public remarks about his relationship with Bernoldi in 2001, describing him as ‘the worst team-mate I have ever had.’ The Brazilian now has another experienced team-mate in the form of Heinz-Harald Frentzen, and relishes the challenge that presents.

“I have another level to compare myself with now, so I am learning a lot and improving each time that I go in the car,” he said of Frentzen. “Jos was a different character - actually I have nothing against him. But they are completely different. At the end of the day I was quicker than him so maybe what he said was not quite right. But he was very good at the start and for overtaking in the first few laps.”

Enrique also hit out at the bad press and lack of attention he gets. “What annoys me is that some people seem to forget or are unkind in what they say about me,” he said. “Like in Imola, where I overtook (Mika) Salo, (Giancarlo) Fisichella, both Jaguars. There was very little other overtaking and nobody noticed. But Felipe overtook (Jarno) Trulli, who had a car problem, and everybody made a big thing out of it. Sometimes it’s a little bit annoying.”