he would have passed him had he not retired with an engine failure. Barrichello revealed that he was ordered by Ferrari to reduce his pace in the race's closing stages as he held a large gap of 35 seconds to Villeneuve. After Ferrari's victory at the previous race, their team principal Jean Todt, said that "we seemed to be in a strong position but, of course, it is the order at the finish that counts", while Michael Schumacher said that his car's tyres dropped in performance following his first pit stop. McLaren technical director Adrian Newey said that the pit stop strategy was crucial in winning the race: "The tyre wear did not spring any surprises on us and we were able to trust our estimations and co-ordinate the pit-stops to our best advantage." Villeneuve was happy to finish fourth and was surprised by his good start. Heidfeld, who made contact with his teammate Alesi during the race, apologised for the collision. Ralf Schumacher said that he slowed to secure his fifth position. Trulli described his race as "difficult" because of the hot temperatures though he praised his mechanics for their work. The overtaking manoeuvres made by Coulthard on Michael Schumacher received much media attention after the race. Coulthard accused Michael Schumacher of unsporting behaviour and dangerous driving, saying: "I had a clean run at Michael on the outside and equally I felt he drove me wide. You could say he has the right to do that because he has track position. I'm not arguing against that. I just don't think Michael is very sporting." Michael Schumacher later denied any wrongdoing and cited a similar incident at the 1999 Japanese Grand Prix where Coulthard pushed him wide although no objections were made. He also admitted that he did not see Coulthard's hand gesture. Coulthard sought clarification with the FIA over such overtakes with a source from Formula One's governing body noting: "It was hard racing – they are racing drivers aren't they?" Norbert Haug, Mercedes' head of motorsport, was asked by a journalist whether Coulthard's gesture was unsporting and gave young racing fans the wrong impression and Haug replied: "You don’t understand, in motor-racing, that is a traditional gesture used to indicate to the driver ahead that you intend to overtake him in one lap’s time." GrandPrix.com said that Coulthard's overtake meant that the driver "is ready to stand up