12/06/2005
NEWS STORY
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After all the talk of rain and even thunderstorms, it looks as though the Canadian Grand Prix, like the seven preceding rounds of the 2005 Formula One World Championship will take place in blistering heat. Although it is not sunny, more overcast, it is very, very warm.
The 'topsy-turvy' 2005 season continues to surprise, with Jenson Button starting from pole position today ahead of Michael Schumacher. Although the German says that he was always confident of a good qualifying positions - the opposite of what he was saying on Friday, Button admits to being shocked at starting from pole.
The big question today, is whether either of these men can convert their excellent starting positions into strong points, indeed podium, finishes, especially in light of their respective seasons thus far.
Button, indeed BAR, has yet to score a point this season - other than those scored at Imola and subsequently taken away in light of the fuel tank saga, while Schumacher's best finish is a second at Imola, the very race from which BAR were later excluded from.
Other factors will play a key role this afternoon however. The German will have noted the gearbox problem that resulted in his teammate having to start from the back of the grid, while both he and Button will be aware that the Renaults and McLarens are right behind them on the grid.
The other factors this afternoon, especially in light of Kimi Raikkonen's 'retirement' from the European Grand Prix, is tyre wear and brake wear, both tyre and brakes will be pushed to the very limit during today's race on a track that is the fourth fastest - in terms of percentage of the lap done flat-out - on the calendar. A track that is well known for it pile-ups and incidents.
Opinion over the issue of tyre wear is mixed, with some arguing that the new rules will end in disaster, while others say that drivers will now have to learn how to respect their tyres.
Then again, there is the Montreal circuit itself, which has been completely re-surfaced ahead of this year's race. The Trouble is, the new asphalt has been breaking up, and where the surface has been repaired, the track has been left slightly uneven and very dirty. This is particularly noticeable at the final chicane, scene of the so-called Champions Wall.
Finally, let's not forget the ever-present factor in contemporary F1, fuel strategy. Is Button running extra light, indeed is that the reason for, local hero, Jacques Villeneuve's superb qualifying position.
As the cars prepare to head off on the warm-up lap, the air temperature is 32 degrees, while the track temperature is 47 degrees. Humidity however, is a staggering 58%. All of this is going to add to the 'burden' on the brakes and tyres.
Rubens Barrichello has opted to start from the pitlane.
On the warm-up lap Button encounters a problem with gear selection, however he continues, having advised his team by radio. As a result of the problem, and acting on orders, he leads the field round very, very slowly.
The grid forms, it feels like an eternity.
A dreadful start by Schumacher, and indeed Button, with both Renaults nipping through to take the lead, while McLarens also get past the German. Somehow they get through the first corner without incident, though Michael loses a whole load of positions.
At the end of the first lap it's Fisichella, Alonso, Button, Montoya, Raikkonen and Michael. Barrichello has already passed Monteiro. Villeneuve also had a poor start and has dropped to fifteenth.
The Renaults pull away from Button, while Michael is under pressure from Trulli, who has passed Sato, while teammate Ralf makes short work of Coulthard.
Fisichella posts a fastest lap (16.323) as he extends his lead to 1.3s over teammate Alonso.
Webber makes an ambitious move on Coulthard at the hairpin, but he goes too deep, and the Scot is safe, for now.
Now it's Alonso who goes fastest (16.045) as he closes to within 1.1s of Fisichella.
Michael has regained his pace and is now all over Raikkonen, who is 1.6s behind Montoya.
Another fastest lap for Alonso (15.984) as he extends his 'lead' over Button to 3.1s, elsewhere, Barrichello is up to sixteenth.
The two best battle right now involve Webber and Coulthard, both scrapping for twelfth, while Ralf is all over tenth-placed Heidfeld. Webber is also under pressure from Klien.
On lap 7, Fisichella responds with a new fastest lap (15.455), as Karthikeyan spins - not for the first time this weekend.
As Alonso closes to within 0.8s of the race leader, Button has slipped to 5s behind, and into the clutches of Montoya.
Barrichello finally get by Albers, who appears to have forgotten that he's driving a Minardi. The Brazilian is now up to fifteenth.
Alonso is desperate to get past his teammate, the Spaniard advises his team by radio. He is told to 'hold station'. To prove the point he posts a new fastest lap, 1:15.441.
Fisichella responds by going quickest in the first sector, however it's Kimi Raikkonen that goes quickest in the second.
Fisichella posts a new fastest lap (15.169) as Michael Schumacher pits, returning to the track just ahead of Webber.
Button goes quickest in the first sector now, as Fisichella goes quickest in the second, going on to post another fastest lap (15.115).
After 13 laps, Fisichella leads Alonso by 1.7s, with Button a further 6s down the road. Montoya is fourth, ahead of Raikkonen, Trulli, Sato, Massa, Heidfeld and Ralf. No retirements, thus far.
At the ends of lap 15, Button pits, which drops him to seventh. Next time around, his teammate (Sato) pits, as do Ralf and Albers.
Montoya is now running in clear air and therefore has the opportunity to close in on the Renaults. To prove the pace of the McLaren, Raikkonen posts a new fastest lap (15.011). The Finn is just 0.9s behind the Colombian.
Montoya responds with a 1:14.749, while both Renaults are running around 0.4s a lap slower.
At the end of lap 18, Coulthard pits, while Montoya posts another fastest lap (14.665), as he takes a huge chunk out of the Renaults. The Colombian is now 6.3s behind Alonso, who is just 0.5s behind race leader Fisichella.
Behind the Renaults and McLarens, Trulli is running fifth, 15.7s behind Raikkonen, with Button sixth, ahead of Massa, Heidfeld, Michael and Webber.
At the end of lap 21, both Massa and Heidfeld pit, as does Klien, as Montoya goes quickest in sector two.
Klien rejoins the race ahead of Alonso, which is bad news for the Spaniard. The World Championship leader finally gets by, and makes his frustration known to the Red Bull driver.
Elsewhere, Sato stops for the second time, however, this time it's terminal. After 22 laps we have our first retirement of the race.
At the end of 23 laps, Trulli pits, as Raikkonen posts a new fastest lap (14.384).
Next time around, Alonso and Raikkonen both pit. The Renault has a very long stop, while Raikkonen's is hardly splash and dash.
At the end of lap 24, Fisichella pits as does Montoya, similar strategies and the makings of a grandstand finish.
Montoya makes a complete pig's ear of his return to the track, going wide at the first turn. This is great news for Alonso who slips through, Goodnight Ladies!
As the dust settles, literally, Fisichella leads by 5s from Alonso, with Montoya third, ahead of Raikkonen, Button, Michael, Webber, Trulli, Barrichello and Massa. Webber and Barrichello are the only two drivers who have yet to stop.
Alonso is pushing hard, closing to 3.3s of his teammate, while Montoya is a further 3.8s behind.
At the end of lap 28, Webber pits as does Villeneuve. Meanwhile, Karthikeyan retires after a 'brush' with the wall, which will hardly improve his relationship with the Jordan team.
With 30 laps completed, Alonso once again tells his team - via radio - that he is quicker than his teammate, but there is little they can do. Meanwhile, Webber makes a mistake at the hairpin which almost takes out a number of cars, including his teammate. He was simply pushing too hard.
In his frustration to pass his teammate, Alonso makes a mistake at Turn 2, losing valuable time. Elsewhere, Barrichello finally pits.
We've never seen Alonso so clearly rattle before, he really needs to calm down and take his time. He has the pace, it's merely a matter of time.
That said, Fisichella appears to slow and Alonso is through. Moments later, Montoya is past to take second, the Italian suffering a hydraulics problems which causes him to return to the pits and into retirement. Another dreadfully disappointing day for the Melbourne winner, bitter, cruel luck.
Alonso now leads Montoya by just 0.9s, with Raikkonen a further 4.4s behind, as Button and Michael both pit. Michael has a particularly long stop.
With 36 laps completed, Alonso leads Montoya by 1.3s, with Raikkonen third, ahead of Button, Michael, Trulli, Massa, Heidfeld, Ralf and Webber.
Barrichello is eleventh, ahead of Coulthard, Klien, Villeneuve, Monteiro, albers and Friesacher.
Massa is under intense pressure from Heidfeld and Ralf, the WilliamsF1 driver being advised - via radio - that he must get by the Brazilian and into clear air and allow his engine to cool.
Disaster for Renault, as Alonso is passed by both McLarens, he's made an unforced error and clouted the wall with his right-rear. He returns to the pits and retires, an absolute disaster for the Spaniard and his team, and the perfect result for Raikkonen and McLaren.
Therefore, Montoya leads Raikkonen by 4s, with Button a further 25.9s down the road, 3.2s ahead of Michael Schumacher. Trulli is fifth, ahead of Massa, Heidfeld, Ralf, Webber and Barrichello.
Barring a major incident, this is now a two-horse race, question is, will Montoya be allowed to take the win, or will Kimi do his best to simply take it, without the need for team orders, which are not allowed anyway.
Nick Heidfeld's superb podium run comes to a smoky end as his engine blows on the pit straight. That should add to the on-going WilliamsF1-BMW 'dispute'.
At the end of lap 46, Ralf (ninth) pits, as Raikkonen ups his pace and closes to within 2.2s of race leader Montoya. Meanwhile, Michael is 1.5s behind Button.
Back into the race goes Takuma Sato, who 'retired' after 21 laps. The BAR team have taken a whole load of components, including the gearbox, from his spare car and put them on his race car. According to the team this has been done merely so that Takuma - as an early retiree here - would have a better slot for qualifying at Indianapolis next weekend.
Meanwhile, Button slams into the Champions Wall, a totally unforced error, which eliminates his from the race and brings out the safety car. This will turn the race on its head.
As the safety car is deployed, Raikkonen takes advantage of the window and pits, as do Michael, Trulli,, Barrichello, Coulthard, Klien, Villeneuve, Albers, Uncle tom Cobbly…
Next time around, still behind the safety car, Montoya pits. He returns to the track and clearly passes David Coulthard as he attempts to re-take his position. Question is, has he broken the rules.
Another point of interest is that although the Colombian was leading the race, McLaren opted to bring his teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, in. surely, we haven't heard the last of this.
As the field continues behind the safety car, Raikkonen leads.
Sure enough, the stewards reveal that Montoya is 'under investigation'.
The safety car pulls off at the end of lap 50, with Ralf Schumacher 'leading' the field, though in reality he is a lap down on the true race leader Kimi Raikkonen.
More drama, Montoya is black flagged not merely for passing Coulthard, but for leaving the pits when the pitlane lights were red. A disaster for McLaren and of course, Montoya.
Looks like the 'red mist' caused him to miss the red light.
Pausing for breath, Raikkonen now leads Michael by 2.8s, with Trulli a further 5.9s behind. Barrichello is fourth - yes fourth! - ahead of Massa, Webber, Ralf, Coulthard, Klien and Villeneuve.
The field is pretty strung out now - no pun intended - although Albers is all over eleventh-placed Monteiro, and Webber is giving Massa (fifth) a hard time.
Michael continues to apply the pressure, closing to within 2.2s of the Finn. He is also fastest of all through the speed-trap, crossing the beam at 210 mph.
The race now settles into a groove, with Michael keeping the gap between he and Raikkonen at 2.3s. Elsewhere, Webber has lost ground to Massa, while Coulthard appears to be on his way to adding another point to his tally.
Without warning, Jarno Trulli grinds to a halt, his right-front brake disc exploding in a cloud of black dust. This of course promotes Barrichello to third, and a place on the podium.
Up front Michael is suddenly running 1.3s behind Raikkonen, the German posting a 16.4 to the Finn's 17.5.
Meanwhile, Sato goes off at the chicane, retiring from the race for the second time this afternoon. It wasn't a driver error, it looked like a transmission failure.
Michael continues to shadow Raikkonen, but it looks as though the order will remain the same. Barrichello appears to have third sewn up, while Massa continues in fourth ahead of Webber, Ralf, Coulthard and Klien.
Schumacher hasn't given up however, taking another 0.5s out of Raikkonen on the penultimate lap.
Raikkonen takes the win, and thereby closes to within 22 points of World Championship leader Alonso, McLaren are now just 13 points behind Renault in the Constructors' Championship.
Although we didn't get the rain, we did get the drama, with thrills, spills and even a disqualification.
Montoya was rightly black-flagged, however, other than his own unforced error following his previous pit stop, the Colombian is bound to want to know why Kimi Raikkonen was brought in before him during the safety car period, when it was he that was leading. Then again, we all know that Ron has a thing for his Finns.
A solid drive from Michael, who clearly benefited from this afternoon's drama, while Rubens Barrichello gave a virtuoso performance in finishing third, despite starting from the pitlane. This isn't the beginning of the Ferrari revival, but it's a start.
Felipe Massa will have every right to be delighted with fourth, though one can't help but feel that Mark Webber made hard work of today's race.
Three consolation points for Toyota and Ralf Schumacher, while Red Bull continue to pick up points whenever and wherever possible.
This is a race that will surely have man down the pub, and even man in the paddock, talking for some time. A day of high drama, of silly mistakes and red mist.
No doubt Ron Dennis will see today's race differently to the stewards, while despite his obvious disappointment, Renault boss Flavio Briatore is not too despondent at today's double retirement, his team's first of the season. After all, in much the same way as fans were sick of seeing Ferrari and Michael Schumacher dominate F1 in 2004, nobody really wants to see one man running away with the 2005 title.
Yesterday we witnessed a topsy-turvy qualifying session and today's race was worthy of Hollywood, if not a little too implausible. Nonetheless, F1 2005-style continues to capture the imagination.
May it continue to do so!
Great Stuff!