Overview[]
The S6 - South African Grand Prix was the first race of Masters Season 6.
Team and Driver Changes[]
Teams[]
- Exolite changed their name to J Racing
- Ajay Motorsports switched from Hart to customer Ford engines
- AquinoPlus switched from Renault to customer Ferrari engines
- Dodgem switched from Honda to works Ford engines
- FJR switched from Ilmor to works Renault engines
- Gui Racing switched from Ferrari to works Renault engines
- J Racing switched from Ilmor to customer Ferrari engines
- Maestro Motorsport switched from Honda to works Ferrari engines
- M-Sport switched from Renault to customer Mugen Honda engines
- Pedersen switched from Ferrari to customer Mugen Honda engines
- Super Alex swtiched from Honda to customer Mugen Honda engines
- Willow Images switched from Mugen Honda to works Ilmor engines
Drivers[]
- Timo Glock made his FF1M debut with Gui Racing, replacing Luca Filippi, who was left without a drive
- Jenson Button returned to FF1M with AquinoPlus, replacing Jacques Villeneuve who had moved to M-Sport
- Juan Pablo Montoya returned to FF1M with M-Sport, replacing Damon Hill who had moved to Pedersen
- Nico Rosberg returned to FF1M with AquinoPlus, replacing Giancarlo Fisichella, who was left without a drive
- Alain Prost moved from Dodgem to J Racing
- Gerhard Berger moved from Exolite to Ajay Motorsports
- Giancarlo Fisichella moved from Dodgem to AquinoPlus
- Kimi Raikkonen moved from Pedersen to J Racing
- Martin Brundle moved from Ajay Motorsports to Dodgem
- Michael Schumacher moved from Pedersen to Willow Images
- Mika Hakkinen moved from M-Sport to Pedersen
- Nigel Mansell moved from Exolite to Dodgem
- Riccardo Patrese had retired from FF1M
- Jarno Trulli was left without a drive
Report[]
After the monumental success of the season before, Maestro Motorsport were keen to keep as identical a set-up as they could for this season with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton being retained. The only difference was that they were now running works Ferrari engines after Honda had pulled out as a manufacturer. Despite their engine swap, qualifying showed that they still had the edge as Alonso took pole position with Willow Images' Michael Schumacher alongside him on the front row.
The first race was a race of high attrition as only eight cars finished. Alonso was one of those eight as he converted his first pole of the season into his first win of the season. Finishing 2nd was the Pedersen of Damon Hill, while AquinoPlus' Jenson Button avoided the unreliability to go from 11th on the grid to finish 3rd.
Qualifying[]
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Tyre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |  Fernando Alonso
|
 Maestro-Ferrari (W)
|
|
| 2 | 21 |  Michael Schumacher
|
Willow Images-Ilmor (W)
|
|
| 3 | 2 | Lewis Hamilton
|
Maestro-Ferrari (W)
|
|
| 4 | 11 | Damon Hill
|
 Pedersen-Mugen Honda
|
|
| 5 | 16 |  Alain Prost
|
J Racing-Ferrari
|
|
| 6 | 12 |  Mika Hakkinen
|
Pedersen-Mugen Honda
|
|
| 7 | 20 | Heikki Kovalainen
|
Willow Images-Ilmor (W)
|
|
| 8 | 4 |  Juan Pablo Montoya
|
 M-Sport-Mugen Honda
|
|
| 9 | 17 | Kimi Raikkonen
|
J Racing-Ferrari
|
|
| 10 | 7 |  Ayrton Senna
|
Gui Racing-Renault (W)
|
|
| 11 | 14 | Jenson Button
|
AquinoPlus-Ferrari
|
|
| 12 | 15 | Nico Rosberg
|
AquinoPlus-Ferrari
|
|
| 13 | 3 |  Jacques Villeneuve
|
M-Sport-Mugen Honda
|
|
| 14 | 19 | David Coulthard
|
Super Alex-Mugen Honda
|
|
| 15 | 18 |  Takuma Sato
|
Super Alex-Mugen Honda
|
|
| 16 | 9 | Nigel Mansell
|
Dodgem-Ford (W)
|
|
| 17 | 5 | Jean Alesi
|
FJR-Renault (W)
|
|
| 18 | 8 | Timo Glock
|
Gui Racing-Renault (W)
|
|
| 19 | 6 | Felipe Massa
|
FJR-Renault (W)
|
|
| 20 | 10 | Martin Brundle
|
Dodgem-Ford (W)
|
|
| 21 | 22 |  Gerhard Berger
|
Ajay Motorsports-Ford
|
|
| 22 | 23 | Rubens Barrichello
|
Ajay Motorsports-Ford
|
|
Race[]
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Tyre | Grid | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Fernando Alonso
|
Maestro-Ferrari (W)
|
|
1 | 12 |
| 2 | 11 | Damon Hill
|
Pedersen-Mugen Honda
|
|
4 | 8 |
| 3 | 14 | Jenson Button
|
AquinoPlus-Ferrari
|
|
11 | 6 |
| 4 | 3 | Jacques Villeneuve
|
M-Sport-Mugen Honda
|
|
13 | 5 |
| 5 | 18 | Takuma Sato
|
Super Alex-Mugen Honda
|
|
15 | 4 |
| 6 | 9 | Nigel Mansell
|
Dodgem-Ford (W)
|
|
16 | 3 |
| 7 | 22 | Gerhard Berger
|
Ajay Motorsports-Ford
|
|
21 | 2 |
| 8 | 23 | Rubens Barrichello
|
Ajay Motorsports-Ford
|
|
22 | 1 |
| Retirements | ||||||
| Ret | 7 | Ayrton Senna
|
Gui Racing-Renault (W)
|
|
10 | |
| Ret | 19 | David Coulthard
|
Super Alex-Mugen Honda
|
|
14 | |
| Ret | 2 | Lewis Hamilton
|
Maestro-Ferrari (W)
|
|
3 | |
| Ret | 16 | Alain Prost
|
J Racing-Ferrari
|
|
5 | |
| Ret | 12 | Mika Hakkinen
|
Pedersen-Mugen Honda
|
|
6 | |
| Ret | 21 | Michael Schumacher
|
Willow Images-Ilmor (W)
|
|
2 | |
| Ret | 4 | Juan Pablo Montoya
|
M-Sport-Mugen Honda
|
|
8 | |
| Ret | 15 | Nico Rosberg
|
AquinoPlus-Ferrari
|
|
12 | |
| Ret | 17 | Kimi Raikkonen
|
J Racing-Ferrari
|
|
9 | |
| Ret | 8 | Timo Glock
|
Gui Racing-Renault (W)
|
|
18 | |
| Ret | 5 | Jean Alesi
|
FJR-Renault (W)
|
|
17 | |
| Ret | 6 | Felipe Massa
|
FJR-Renault (W)
|
|
19 | |
| Ret | 10 | Martin Brundle
|
Dodgem-Ford (W)
|
|
20 | |
| Ret | 20 | Heikki Kovalainen
|
Willow Images-Ilmor (W)
|
|
7 | |
Championship Standings[]
| Drivers Championship | Teams Championship | Engine Trophy | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | Driver | Pts. | Wins | -/+ | Pos. | Team | Pts. | Wins | -/+ | Pos. | Engine | Pts. | Wins | -/+ |
| 1 | Fernando Alonso
|
12 | 1 | = | 1 | Maestro-Ferrari (W)
|
12 | 1 | = | 1 |  Ferrari
|
18 | 1 | = |
| 2 | Damon Hill
|
8 | = | 2 | Pedersen-Mugen Honda
|
8 | = | 2 | Mugen Honda
|
13 | = | |||
| 3 | Jenson Button
|
6 | = | 3 | AquinoPlus-Ferrari
|
6 | = | 3 |  Ford
|
5 | = | |||
| 4 | Jacques Villeneuve
|
5 | = | 4 | M-Sport-Mugen Honda
|
5 | = | 4 | Renault
|
0 | = | |||
| 5 | Takuma Sato
|
4 | = | 5 | Super Alex-Mugen Honda
|
4 | = | 5 | Ilmor
|
0 | = | |||
| 6 | Nigel Mansell
|
3 | = | 6 | Dodgem-Ford (W)
|
3 | = | |||||||