Michael Schumacher said it was like driving his Ferrari through a river. The water-filled third corner of the Interlagos track swamped six of the 10 Formula One drivers who didn't finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix. They all spun out of control, five crashed into a fence and some collided into each other. Some drivers were sore after they got out of their damaged multimillion dollar cars.
Tropical downpours that drenched the track early in race subsided a short time later, but the runoff continued coursing over the corner.
Besides Schumacher, the overflow ruined the Brazilian Grand Prix aspirations of Juan Pablo Montoya of the Williams team, Jaguar's Antonio Pizzonia, Honda's Jenson Button and Minardi teammates Jos Verstappen and Justin Wilson. Schumacher said he could barely see while rounding the corner because cars in front of him threw up so much spray in their wake.
"If you just hit the river a little, it happens,'' Schumacher said.
Verstappen was trailing Kimi Raikkonen when he lost it on the corner. "I was running behind him in the spray with virtually no vision,'' he said. "The car just spun two corners later in Turn 3.'' Wilson said the corner was extremely difficult to navigate because the water flow seemed to change every lap.
"I was just caught out by the rivers running down the grass and across the track in Turn 3,'' he said. "They never seemed to be in the same place on two consecutive laps.'' Montoya said much of the track seemed to be drying off after the rains subsided — except for Turn 3. "Everyone who went off there had the same problem I had,'' he said. "They were sliding too much because of aquaplaning.''
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