80 years of Maserati, and 17 years of failed photo finishes
80 years ago, Maserati was the first foreign brand to win the legendary Indianapolis 500 miles with the 8CTF. Back in 2002, the two Ferrari drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello celebrated not only the Maserati fleet of the time but also a superior one-two victory, which, however, led to major criticism from the competition and the media.
The FAZ newspaper reported: *The curious finish at the US Grand Prix in Indianapolis has once again led to harsh criticism of Ferrari and world champion Michael Schumacher. The Ferrari star driver influenced the US GP with a surprising braking maneuver shortly before the finish and settled for second place behind his teammate Rubens Barrichello in a spectacular photo finish on the famous oval." The Brazilian had to cede his certain victory to the German in Zeltweg in May. Schumacher now wanted to thank him in his own way for this "gift victory", which did not go down well in America.
Christian Danner commented: "Michael probably wanted a photo finish, but neither driver wanted that to go down the drain."
Hans-Joachim Stuck: "Something like that has already happened to me. If you plan a photo finish and don't drive with a significant offset, it can happen."
The Ferrari drivers missed the finish with the closest finish despite the braking action. Eleven thousandths of a second separated Schumacher and Barrichello. However, the record stands at ten thousandths of a second in Monza 1971 between Peter Gethin (BRM) and Ronnie Peterson (March). The first four cars were within 18 hundredths of a second of each other.
