20/06/2004
NEWS STORY
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For only the fourth time this year, someone other than Michael Schumacher is on pole position. The question is, can the Brazilian emulate Jarno Trulli and convert pole into a win?
Rubens has been looking good all weekend, topping the timesheets in all but one session, in addition to pre-qualifying. However, starting alongside the Ferrari driver is his teammate, who has won here twice before, including last year.
As ever, the big question is strategy, are both Ferraris running on the same strategy, and if so how does it compare with what their rivals are doing?
The first three rows of the grid are symmetrical, with the two Ferraris followed by the BARs and WilliamsF1s. After that it becomes a little jumbled, though it would be foolish to write off the Renaults, despite their low-key performance this weekend. Talking ahead of the race, Pay Symonds seemed to be hinting at a big surprise from the blue and yellow cars. However, with Jarno Trulli starting from the back of the grid, it looks like it's up to Fernando Alonso to uphold French honour.
The smart money however, has to be on the winner coming from the first three rows of the grid, and in particular the first one. If it's not going to be a Ferrari however, could Indianapolis witness Jenson Button's first win, or could Takuma make F1 history? Then again, will WilliamsF1 prove that Canada - other than the disqualification - was no fluke?
All will be clear soon enough.
As the car line up on the grid, the ambient temperature is 24 degrees, while thr track temperature is 45 degrees.
As the cars prepare to head off on the parade lap, Juan Pablo Montoya jumps out of his car and runs straight back to the pits to get into the spare. It was at Indy last year that his World Championship challenge fell to pieces following an incident with Rubens Barrichello.
As the cars are on their parade lap, the Colombian is still being strapped into the spare FW26. The engine fires up while Juan Pablo's race car is pushed back to the pits. This will aid Raikkonen who now has a gap in front of him on the grid.
A great start from Barrichello as Michael goes wide to block Sato, as Button loses valuable ground. Alonso meanwhile has moved from ninth up to third, incredible.
At the first corner there's a coming together involving Massa, Klien, Pantano and Bruni. The safety car is immediately brought out, while all four cars are cleared from the track.
At the end of the first lap, behind the safety car, it's Barrichello ahead of Michael, Alonso, Sato, Raikkonen, Button, Ralf, Panis, Webber and Coulthard. Montoya is up to fourteenth ahead of Fisichella and da Matta, who has pitted.
The field continues to follow the safety car, as da Matta pit again, clearly the Toyota has a serious problem.
The safety car pulls off at the end of lap 5.
On the main straight, Michael makes his moves and leads his teammate into Turn one. Basically, Rubens screwed it up, and consequently paid the price.
At the end of lap 6, Michael leads Rubens, who is followed by Alonso, Sato, Raikkonen, Button, Ralf, Panis, Coulthard and Webber.
In his pursuit of Schumacher, Barrichello posts a new fastest lap. Meanwhile Sato is all over Alonso, while Button, Ralf and Panis are running nose to tail right on Raikkonen's tail.
Alonso goes off big time at the end of the main straight, his right rear tyre simply exploded. A lucky escape for the Spaniard after a brilliant start to his race. That's the fifth retirement -or accident - of the afternoon.
Schumacher now leads Barrichello by 1.3s, with Sato 4.3s behind. As at the Nurburgring, Raikkonen is holding up a long train of cars.
At the end of lap 10, Ralf Schumacher crashes heavily at the start of the main straight. There's confusion as the safety car is brought out but Ralf remains stranded in the middle of the pit straight in his wrecked car.
On cue, both Ferraris pit as do Raikkonen, Trulli, Panis, Heidfeld, Fisichella and Coulthard.
The safety car, followed by Michael Schumacher and the rest of the field weaves its way through the debris, as Prof Sid Watkins and the medical team work on the German.
It was a high impact crash, the German going backwards into the wall at around 180 mph.
In the heat of the moment, one has to say that this is outrageous, the race should surely have been stopped. It is highly likely that Alonso's accident was caused by debris from the earlier pile-up puncturing his tyre. Therefore who's to say that this isn't what has happened to Ralf? That the German sat - frighteningly still - in his car, stranded in the middle of the track, while his rivals dived in for fuel and fresh rubber, says much about the sport.
As one who still subscribes to the theory that debris caused Ayrton Senna's fatal crash at Imola, I fail to see how this race wasn't stopped.
The cars continue behind the safety car, Michael leading Sato, Button, Webber, Montoya, Raikkonen, Barrichello, Trulli, Panis and Heidfeld.
Ralf is stretchered into an ambulance, and the crowd rise to applaud the injured racer. Let's pray that this is nothing serious. The sight of the crowd rising en masse to applaud the German is extremely moving.
The ambulance slowly makes its way around the circuit, as the field continues behind the safety car.
At the end of lap 16, and still behind the safety car, Mark Webber pits, of the leaders, only Sato, Button and Montoya have yet to stop.
Cristiano da Matta pulls off track, the Brazilian appears to have a terminal gearbox problem.
At the end of lap 19, the safety car pulls off for the second time this afternoon.
The race is back on and Michael Schumacher immediately puts his foot down, leaving the BARs in his wake. The big question is why didn't one, or indeed both, of the Lucky Strike cars pit during the safety car period?
At the end of lap 21, Schumacher leads Sato by 0.8s, with Button a further 0.5s behind. Montoya is 1.9s behind the Englishman, with Raikkonen, Barrichello and Trulli running in his wake. Olivier Panis is all over Trulli, while Nick Heidfeld (9th), has his work cut out holding off Coulthard and Webber.
The BARs shadow the lead Ferrari, but they're not close enough to get a tow. On the straights the Ferrari has the edge, but on the infield section the white cars have the edge.
At the end of lap 24, Button pits, and slightly overshoots. 6.7 seconds later he's on his way again, now running in twelfth.
Barrichello is all over Raikkonen but is unable to get by, as Sato makes his pit-stop, exiting ahead of Button.
The two BARs are running in traffic, it would seem the Brackley outfit has made a strategic error.
That said, on the main straight, Sato passes Webber and Coulthard in one brave and brilliant move. Possibly stunned by the Japanese driver's audacity, Webber overshoots the first corner, but is able to continue. As all eyes are on Sato, teammate Button drives into his garage and retirement, game over for the Englishman.
At the end of lap 27, Schumacher leads Montoya by 7s, though the Colombian has yet to stop. Running third, 10.8s behind the race leader, is Kimi Raikkonen, who is followed by Barrichello, Trulli and Panis.
Sato continues to work his way through the field, making quick work of Fisichella then setting off after Heidfeld. Meanwhile Kimi Raikkonen pits at the end of lap 29.
Barrichello is now running third, behind Michael and Montoya, who still hasn't stopped. The two Ferraris are 12.5s apart.
Sato is now running sixth, 10.2s behind Olivier Panis.
Behind the top six, it's Heidfeld in seventh, ahead of Fisichella, Raikkonen, Coulthard, Webber and Baumgartner.
Sato, lapping in the 1:11.2s compared to the leaders who are posting 1:11.6s, has now got the gap to Panis down to 6.4s. A superb performance from the Japanese driver, let's hope his car and engine holds out.
At the end of lap 34, Raikkonen pits, his third stop of the afternoon, next time around Montoya pits. The Colombian is stationary for 7.9s, re-joining in sixth, behind Sato, but ahead of Heidfeld.
At the end of lap 37, Michael leads Barrichello by 13.7s, with Jarno Trulli a further 7.7s down the road. Olivier Panis is fourth, ahead of Sato, Montoya, Heidfeld and Fisichella.
Lap 39, and Sato is now 0.5s behind Panis, while the stewards announce that can number 3 (Montoya) is under investigation. Of course it was the Indianapolis stewards that ended the Colombian's World Championship dream in 2003.
Sato passes Panis, who tries to resist in a frightening move, and immediately sets off after Jarno Trulli, who is 7.5s down the road.
At the end of lap 41, Schumacher pits, he's stationary for 10.3s, re-joining in third behind Trulli, and with Sato 4.1s behind.
At the end of lap 44, Barrichello leads Trulli by 11.2s, as Heidfeld pulls off track, Jordan's United States Grand Prix at an end.
Next time around, Sato stops, though he's out again 9.7s later, re-joining in sixth behind Montoya. The following lap it's Jarno Trulli that pits, promoting Michael to second. A lap later and it's third-placed Olivier Panis that stops, the Frenchman stationary for 8.3s.
Knowing that he has to make another stop, Barrichello is posting a string of fast laps, posting 1:11.4s compared to his teammate's 1:11.9s.
Giancarlo Fisichella slowly works his way back to the pits, the Sauber sporting a puncture on its left-rear. Cruel luck for the Italian.
At the end of lap 50, Barrichello pits. The Ferrari is stationary for 7.9s, re-joining the race behind his teammate, but only just. At the next timing beam the gap is 0.2s.
Mark Webber (7th) makes his second stop of the afternoon, while it's still unclear whether Montoya has to stop again or not, Furthermore we haven't heard anything further from the stewards.
Barrichello makes a move on his teammate, but Michael's having none of it, firmly slamming the door in the Brazilian's face. Meanwhile, 8s down the road, Juan Pablo Montoya is keeping a watching brief.
At the end of lap 53, it's Michael ahead of Barrichello, Montoya, Trulli, Sato, Panis, Webber, Raikkonen, Coulthard, Fisichella and Baumgartner.
Schumacher appears to be struggling for grip, but refuses to capitulate, meanwhile Montoya is closing to within 7.2s, taking almost a second a lap out of the leaders.
Meanwhile, David Coulthard makes his third stop of the day.
Barrichello continues to shadow his teammate, as Montoya makes his second stop at the end of lap 57. As the Colombian exits the pits the race stewards announce that the WilliamsF1 driver has been black-flagged, but with no explanation as to why.
Next time around he calls in to his pit and drives straight into the garage. He's been disqualified to a procedural problem involving the spare car. Is it any wonder that Americans fail to warm to Formula One?
As the Ferraris appear to be heading to yet another 1-2, Sato has closed right up on Trulli, as Mark Webber's 'upgraded' engine blows up on the main straight.
The drama isn't over, Trulli and Sato both go off as the Japanese driver makes his move at the end of the main straight, luckily they both continue
At the end of lap 64, it's Michael 2.1s ahead of Barrichello, with Sato a further 19.2s down the road. Trulli is fourth, ahead of Panis, Raikkonen, Coulthard, Fisichella and Baumgartner.
Fisichella posts a 1:23.5, an unbelievably slow lap, are we to witness yet another retirement? The Italian is cruising, which allows Zsolt Baumgartner through, to take Minardi's first point since Australia 2002.
Michael Schumacher cruises towards his eighth win of the season, his teammate 3.2s behind. Takuma Sato looks set to take his first ever podium, while Trulli looks set to add 5 more points to his tally.
It's all over, win number 78 for Michael and 175 for Ferrari. Not one of the German's greatest, but certainly typical of the man, in the sense that it was a clear demonstration of his ability to react to all situations, and to spare no prisoners.
Rubens Barrichello will feel bitter, for much of the weekend he had out-classed his teammate, but typically, not when it mattered.
The biggest loser is Takuma Sato, who given the correct call strategically could surely have been up there fighting with the two red cars, which in turn might have forced them to work a little harder. At a time when Jenson Button is dominating the headlines, it's gratifying to see that Takuma can deliver, and hopefully silence the critics.
A superb performance from Jarno Trulli, and indeed Olivier Panis, surely the Frenchman has proved today that he's still worthy of an F1 seat in 2005.
McLaren will be relieved to have got two cars in the points once again, though feels odd to be writing a comment such as that about a team with such an illustrious record.
Congratulations to the entire Minardi team for a point well-deserved, following another strong performance from Hungarian Zsolt Baumgartner.
In closing, is there any wonder that Americans fail to warm to F1, when a potential race-winner, and local hero, is disqualified, having risked his life for 57 laps, on a point of procedure. This is the sort of thing that makes F1 a laughing stock, and is one of the issues that Bernie, Max, et al, should be addressing.
Finally, following the accident at the first corner, the race should have been stopped, for it appears that Alonso and indeed Ralf Schumacher were both victims of debris.
The site of Ralf sitting in the middle of the track in his stricken WilliamsF1 was sickening, a clear demonstration that Formula One hasn't learned from previous mistakes.
According to team boss Frank Williams, the German is "in a lot of pain", but "basically sound". Indeed although "everything works", the WilliamsF1 boss is certain that Ralf will be in hospital for a few days.
Ralf has had a luck escape today, so has Formula One.