Rogue Profile of Allan McNish

“I made a good start and was making very good progress until Montoya hit Schumacher. I was just behind Mika when he pulled out and I hit Juan’s wing, which was lying in the middle of the track,” he explained. “It damaged the nose of my car and punctured the front tyres, so I was forced to pit. The car’s handling then got worse and worse with oversteer and, at Turn 4, the rear wheel locked up.”

“The car was much better balanced in qualifying trim and we were able to do a lap time quicker than I expected, unfortunately it is just not quick enough,” McNish said. “I hit a bump in the kerb on my second run putting me on the grass and I span, thankfully without incident. The car should be reasonable for the race.”

“I was driving very comfortably and the car was feeling very strong. I just touched the inside barrier at Sainte Devote, which bounced the car on to the outside,” he said. “It was my first time at Monaco and these things can happen. We have had a competitive weekend and we are already looking ahead to Montreal.”

“A terrible end to my Canadian Grand Prix and suffice to say that I’m far from happy with Alan McNish! I made a reasonably good start and was charging down the second straight with the rest of the field when I noticed Alan overtake me on the outside as we approached the chicane. Given our heavy fuel load, we were prepared for this. As we got nearer to the chicane, I then tried a similar move on him and even though he was on the inside, he moved over to the outside and hit me,” Pedro explained. “This put me onto the grass and into the concrete wall. There was absolutely no reason for him to have done that and at 330kph, it was utter lunacy in my opinion. Maybe he didn’t see me, I don’t know, but it essentially ended my race. I pitted, but re-joined a lap down on everyone else. What eventually caused me to stop, I don’t know. It could have been because of the accident or it may well have been another problem.”

“I had contact with de la Rosa at the start, which damaged the set up of the car making it difficult to drive. The paddles on my steering wheel would not work during my scheduled stop, so I lost time there,” McNish explained. “My race ended on lap 45 when I span the car. It has not been a good weekend and I am hoping for better things in Germany.”

The qualifying session for the 2002 Japanese Grand Prix had to be red flagged
after two minuets had elapsed. Toyota’s Alan McNish, who was on a fast lap turned
into the awesome 130R normally but was wrong-footed as he exited the flat-out
corner. The Scot corrected the wayward car with ease but he ran wide over the
kerbs on the right-hand hide of the track as he exited the corner.

The Toyota’s right-rear wheel slipped off the kerb and touched the grass, the
sudden loss of grip sending he car into a snap oversteer to the right. McNish
dialled in a heavy dose of opposite lock in an attempt to tame his car before
it torpedoed into the barriers on the opposite side of the track head-on but the
Toyota snapped to the left, sending McNish’s spearing into the gravel on the right.

As the wayward Toyota hit the gravel it was pitched into a 180 degree spin
as it skipped over the access road and then the grass, barely shedding any speed
before the right-rear potion of the cars slammed into the barriers. The car impacted
at a junction between an Armco barrier and a tyre barrier. The tyre barrier stopped
the car spinning off the Armco and as a result in punched a hole in the barrier.
The resulting red flag period lasted for 1h14min while the bumbling stewards fixed
the barrier and removed the sizeable amount of wreckage form the scene.

The right-rear potion of the car was totally destroyed but it was pleasant
to see that the left-rear wheel remained tethered to the wreck. McNish was hesitant
to evacuate his car, as it lay trapped in the twisted barrier. He had difficult
walking from the car due to bruising sustained to his left knee. He was instructed
to lye on the grass momentarily before he was taken to the circuit’s medical centre
where he was given a clean bill of health.

"First of all, I feel fine. I have had a check-up and my knee is sore,
but I am confident of getting back into the car tomorrow morning," Allan
said. "Basically, everything felt good through the 130R corner but the
car suddenly snapped into a big oversteer and I reversed heavily into the barrier.
My natural instinct after the crash was just to make sure everything was still
in working order and thankfully it is. I have got to see the medical crew tomorrow
morning for a check-up but I am confident for tomorrow. The best thing is to get
back in the cockpit as soon as possible."

After taking part in the race warm-up the FIA medical delegate refused to let
McNish drive due to his damaged (bruised) knee although some reports indicated
that he was dizzy after driving.