13/06/2004
NEWS STORY
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Following his mistake on his qualifying lap, Takuma Sato will be starting from the pitlane in today's Canadian GP. The Japanese driver damaged his car and as a result it necessitated repairs. Gianmaria Bruni has also opted to start from the pitlane.
Following yesterday's dramatic, and somewhat surprising qualifying session, there's great anticipation ahead of today's race. Ralf Schumacher starts from pole with Jenson Button alongside. However it's the cars behind this duo that really capture the imagination, and promise a scintillating battle in the opening minutes. Behind Ralf and Button we have Jarno Trulli, Juan Pablo Montoya, Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher, with Barrichello and the two McLarens just behind.
As ever strategy is the key, and it won't be too long before we discover who was running on fumes and who was thinking ahead to a serious race strategy. That said, we expecting most drivers to opt for two stops, however the big question is when those stops will take place.
Ambient temperature is 25 degrees C, while the track temperature is 37 degrees.
The cars head off on the warm-up lap, Alonso a little slow in getting away.
The cars line up on the grid, the atmosphere is electric.
Ralf makes a great start as does Button, but Trulli pulls off track with a technical problem. At the first corner there's a coming together, Coulthard's involved as are the Jaguars. Sato leaves the pitlane and somehow manages to avoid the mayhem.
At the end of the first lap Ralf leads Button by 1.1s, with Alonso third ahead of Montoya and Michael. Meanwhile Webber pits for repairs having damaged a tyre in the melee, while Trulli retires with what turns out to be a suspension problem.
Ralf continues to pull away from Button, while Alonso, Montoya, Michael, Raikkonen and Barrichello are running nose to tail. Elsewhere Klien makes a mistake but is able to continue.
At the end of lap 5, Ralf leads Button by 2.4s with Alonso 1.2s behind. Da Matta is running eighth ahead of Panis, Heidfeld, Fisichella, Coulthard, Glock, Sato, Klien, Massa, Baumgartner, Bruni and Webber.
Michael is managing to pull away from Raikkonen, who is now holding up Barrichello, while hard on the heels of Montoya. Barrichello gets past the Finn on sheer grunt, though the McLaren could have a problem.
Once 'released', Barrichello is immediately quick, posting a new best time in the first sector then going on to post a new fastest lap.
At the end of lap eight, Webber pits again, as Ralf extends his lead to 3.6s. Back in the Jaguar garage, Webber retires.
Alonso is now running 0.8s behind Button and 1.1s ahead of Montoya, who is shadowed by Michael Schumacher.
At the end of lap 11, Coulthard pits, the Scot currently running twelfth. Next time around teammate Raikkonen pits, the Finn was running eighth.
At the end of lap 12, Montoya and Button both pit, the Colombian is stationary for 8.5s while the BAR driver is out in 7s.
Michael immediately goes quickest in sector one, then again in two. 1:14.010, fastest lap for the Ferrari driver. Button is also setting a blistering pace though.
At the end of lap 14, Ralf pits, the WilliamsF1 stationary for 7.3s. Alonso now leads from Michael, with Barrichello third ahead of Ralf and Button.
Michael starts to pile the pressure on, going quickest again in sector one, but losing ground in sector two.
At the end of lap 16 Alonso pits, as does da Matta, while Michael smashes the lap record with a 1:13.630. It's a nightmare stop for Alonso, the fuel nozzle proving difficult. As Barrichello pits (8.9s), the stewards reveal that Kimi Raikkonen is under investigation.
Next time around, Michael pits, exiting again 10.3s later.
Ralf now leads Button by 4.3s, as Raikkonen is penalized with a drive-through for crossing the white line at the pitlane exit.
Twenty laps completed and Ralf leads Button, who is followed by Michael, Montoya, Barrichello, Alonso, Panis, Fisichella, Raikkonen and da Matta.
Heidfeld pits and hits one of his mechanics, Jordan's nightmare continues. Panis and Klien also pit. The Austrian appears to have a problem and after having the car checked out by his mechanics, drives back out.
Ralf has extended his lead to 3.7s while Button is leading Michael by 3.8s with Montoya a further 1.8s down the road.
Takuma Sato - running eleventh - finally pits at the end of lap 23.
The only real dog-fight right now is between Montoya and Barrichello, the Colombian fiercely defending fourth. Elsewhere, Fisichella finally stops, which means that teammate Massa is the only driver yet to pit.
At the end of lap 26, Ralf leads Button by 3.1s, with Michael now 6.5s behind the BAR, followed by Montoya, Barrichello, Alonso, Raikkonen, da Matta, Fisichella and Panis. Massa finally stops for fuel and fresh rubber.
Montoya is all over the back of Michael, the Ferrari not looking as good in this second stint. That said he did take on quite a bit of fuel during his stop.
As Montoya and Michael battle for third, Massa stops again.
At the end of lap 30, Montoya pits, giving Michael some breathing space. The Colombian is out again in 7.3s, as Raikkonen pits (7.2s).
Next time around Button pits, as Ralf goes quickest in sector two. The Englishman is out again in 7.6s, the he makes a minor error getting going again.
The stewards announce that Bruni is under investigation for speeding in the pitlane. He's given a drive-through penalty.
At the end of lap 33, Ralf pits, he's out again 6.2s. The Ferraris are therefore running first and second.
At the end of lap 34, Michael leads Rubens by 0.8s, with Ralf 2.8s down the road followed by Alonso, Button and Montoya. Raikkonen is seventh ahead da Matta, Panis and Fisichella. Elsewhere, Bruni is the third retirement of the afternoon.
The two Ferraris are running nose to tail with Ralf 3.1s behind and gradually pulling away from Alonso, who appears to have made up ground after that nightmare pit stop.
Further down the field, Sato is now running eleventh, ahead of Coulthard, Glock, Heidfeld, Massa, Klien and Baumgartner.
Barrichello seems to have the edge, and it seems odd that the Italian team won't 'release' him, especially as Ralf is closing in.
If you didn't know better, you'd think the two Ferrari drivers were racing, one can't help but feel that Michael's enjoying himself.
Lap 41, and Alonso is lapping over a second a lap quicker than his rivals, he's now 3.1s behind third-placed Ralf, and 10.6s ahead of Button. Meanwhile Sato makes a big mistake at the hairpin and performs another 360 moment. Klien and one of the Jordans very lucky not to be caught up in the BAR driver's error.
At the end of lap 44, Rubens pits, as Alonso pulls off track at the same spot as Trulli retired earlier.
Michael now leads Ralf with Button third ahead of Montoya and Barrichello. Raikkonen pits.
Michael is now lapping around 0.3s quicker than Ralf, the Ferrari driver appearing to have re-found his pace. He now leads the WilliamsF1 by 6s.
At the end of lap 47 the World Champion pits, he's out again in 8.5s. Next time around, his brother pits, he's stationary for 9.3s.
Michael now leads, which essentially means he's won, since he doesn't need to stop again while his nearest rivals do. He's now 2.6s ahead of Button (still to pit) and Montoya (also to pit). Next time around both Button and Montoya pit, the Englishman is out in 7.4 while the Colombian is out in 8.7. Meanwhile Sato's Honda blows big time.
As the smoke clears, Michael leads his brother by 5.9s, with Barrichello a further 5s behind. Button is fourth ahead of Montoya, Raikkonen, Fisichella (who has to stop), da Matta, Coulthard and Panis. Meanwhile Klien makes his fourth stop of the afternoon.
At the end of lap 54, Coulthard pits, handing over ninth to Olivier Panis.
Michael continues to pull away from Ralf, who appears to have little more to offer. The gap is now up to 7.1s. Meanwhile, Montoya is closing in on Button, the gap is now down to 1.7s.
The race now settles down into the usual procession, though Rubens appears to be closing in on Ralf. Kimi Raikkonen makes his fifth stop of the afternoon - though one of those was a drive-through - the crew fits a new steering wheel.
Ralf is now trailing Michael by 9.2s, while Barrichello is 4.6s down the road. Juan Pablo Montoya is now 0.8s behind Button, the Englishman under intense pressure.
Behind the leaders, Fisichella is running in sixth, another good performance from the Sauber, while Raikkonen is seventh ahead of da Matta, Coulthard and Panis.
Meanwhile Massa crashes heavily, he's helped out of the car, but it was a big crash, the Sauber going headfirst into the tyre barriers. For a moment the stewards consider bringing on the safety-car, but finally opt not to do so.
With just a few laps remaining, Barrichello goes quickest in sector one, going on to post a new fastest lap. But why at this stage in race? Meanwhile, Button posts his personal best lap of the race.
Michael takes a well-earned victory, and thus becomes the first driver to win the same race seven times. Despite the fact that at time times he appeared to have a problem during his second stint, the Italian team's strategy was flawless, hence another victory for this seemingly invincible combination.
Sadly, as is often the case, the race didn't live up to expectations. The demise of the Renaults didn't help the situation, nor did Jenson Button's fairly conservative performance, certainly when one considers the pre-race hype.
Ralf and williamsF1 will be delighted with second place, though it would have been nice to see Montoya put more pressure on Button in the closing stages.
Quite why Barrichello decided to wait until the end of the race before posting a new lap record remain a mystery, if he had the pace, who not fight Ralf?
Great performances from Fisichella, as Sauber continues it's up-turn in fortunes, while Kimi Raikkonen - with five pit stops - did magnificently to finish seventh ahead of da Matta.
No doubt in the next few days will we witness more headlines such as "Button targets win", and "This race is mine", but in reality nothing, and nobody, seems capable of stopping Schumacher and Ferrari. Nothing.