JACQUES VILLENEUVE and the Williams team scored a brilliantly measured and tactically astute victory in the Argentinian Grand Prix here yesterday. In sweltering conditions, the Canadian driver triumphed over a debilitating stomach bug to score a split second victory over Eddie Irvine's hard charging Ferrari.
Villeneuve used a three pit stop strategy to scramble across the line 0.9 seconds ahead of the Ulsterman, who opted for a two stop strategy.
It was a triumph straight out of the mould of his late father Gilles, the dynamic Ferrari driver who was killed practising for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix and whose record of six grand prix victories he thereby equalled.
Plagued throughout the race weekend with serious stomach trouble, Villeneuve felt so drained and dehydrated following the morning warm up that he cancelled all his promotional activities and was put on a saline drip to revive him for the gruelling 72 lap third round of the world championship.
"It was a tough race," said Villeneuve. "The only problem with the car came when the gear lever was getting stuck just after my first refuelling stop, but I also blistered a front tyre in the closing stages and Eddie was certainly quicker than us towards the end."
For the last 10 laps of the race, the two men were seldom more than a second apart, Irvine trying every trick in the book to pressure his exhausted rival into a mistake. But Villeneuve played things as gently as he dared, hanging on to win despite locking a brake as he slowed for the very last corner of the race.
In their wake, the Jordan team celebrated their 100th grand prix with Ralf Schumacher storming through to a superb third place, surviving an earlier collision with his team mate Giancarlo Fishichella. Johnny Herbert's Sauber just pipped Mika Hakkinen's McLaren Mercedes into fourth place by 0.4 seconds. Damon Hill's Arrows ran in the top six from the start only to retire with mechanical problems after 33 laps.
After qualifying second to team mate Jacques Villeneuve, Heinz Harald Frentzen had a heart stopping moment just prior to the final parade lap when his car proved reluctant to fire and he almost failed to get away in time to take his place in the final grid order.
Villeneuve made a perfect getaway from pole position, but international motor racing's most accomplished exponents, yet again, displayed their inability to get through the first corner of a race when Rubens Barrichello's Stewart, which had qualified in a splendid fifth place, was tipped into a spin and then rammed hard by Michael Schumacher's Ferrari which had been slow away from fourth place on the grid.
In trying to avoid the melee, David Coulthard's McLaren swerved to the right and clipped Ralf Schumacher's Jordan, ripping off his left front wheel. However rather than have the race red flagged to a halt for the third time in three races, the safety car was deployed and the pack filed round behind it at reduced speed until the debris was cleared from the circuit.
With three laps completed, the safety car was withdrawn and the race resumed, Villeneuve, Frentzen and Panis sprinting away from the rest of the pack with the Frenchman initially keeping pace with the Williams duo. Schumacher and Coulthard were out on the spot, but Barrichello amazingly survived to return to the fray only to retire with mechanical problems later on.
Frentzen's run of dismal fortune continued when he dropped out mid way round lap five, leaving Panis with a clear run at the world championship points leader, initially stabilising the gap at around the one second mark.
After 10 laps Villeneuve began to pull clear, but with Panis expected to make only a single refuelling stop and Villeneuve two, Alain Prost's protege looked poised on the edge of his second grand prix win. Unfortunately, the Frenchman rolled to a halt with mechanical problems out on the circuit mid way round lap 19.
With 20 laps completed, Villeneuve was now running 19 seconds ahead of Irvine with Fisichella's Jordan third from Herbert's Sauber and Ralf Schumacher's Jordan. Damon Hill's Arrows had been running a strong sixth until the over exuberant Jean Alesi pitched both of them into a spin at the start of lap 18, both cars continuing to resume their battle after losing four places.
Villeneuve led through his first refuelling stop, but Irvine's two stop strategy saw the Ferrari going ahead from lap 39 to lap 44, when he made his own second stop. On lap 56, Villeneuve stopped for the third time, emerging 4.4 seconds ahead of Irvine after which he drove the race of his life to make sure he stayed ahead.
