10/07/2005
NEWS STORY
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Sadly, thanks to the new regulations, we have been deprived of a thrilling head-to-head into Copse today, with Kimi Raikkonen, who qualified second, demoted to twelfth spot on the grid.
Nonetheless, bearing in mind his performance in France last week, not to mention the fact that teammate Juan Pablo Montoya is starting from third, and could therefore help the Finn's cause, we could still be in for a thrilling afternoon.
Of course, the smart money is on Alonso taking his sixth win of the season, however, don't rule out the Colombian finally coming good in the McLaren.
Jarno Trulli looked good in qualifying, but, as ever, it is the Toyota's race pace - or lack of it - that causes concern. Jenson Button is probably as surprised as anyone to be this far up the grid, however a podium is possible, especially with the benefit of a partisan crowd.
Barring a freak incident, such as a Priest running on to the track, or Ferrari finding a Shaman who can successfully organise a rainstorm, the winner is likely to either be driving a silver and black car or a blue and yellow one.
However, there are several candidates for a points finish, if not a spot on the podium. Michael, Ralf, Fisichella, Sato, Coulthard, Barrichello and Villeneuve spring to mind.
As we look forward to (hopefully) a great afternoon's entertainment, it is only right that we think of those poor people who lost their lives, or were injured, in the terror campaign in London on Thursday.
At present it is known that more than 50 died and around 700 were injured. No matter how seriously we take our sport, it must be remembered that this is all it is, a sport. The horrors of London, and of course all the other atrocities carried out in the name of God in recent years put the pathetic political battles within the F1 paddock firmly in perspective.
Before today's race, the drivers will hold a one-minute silence, out of respect to the victims of Thursday's horror. It goes without saying that Pitpass, which is a London based website, joins them in their tribute and remembers Thursday's victims, just as it remembers all victims of terror.
Later this afternoon, Britain will hold a two-minute silence in memory of those who died in World War 2. Sixty years on and the madness continues.
Anyway, lets hope that F1 will give us a boost this afternoon, we certainly need it.
Sadly, the minute silence was as shambolic as pretty much everything else in F1 these days, with most of those involved clearly confused as to when it began and when it finished. Indeed, Bernie Ecclestone looked angry when an engine was fired up.
As the prepare for the warm up lap, its sunny with hardly a cloud in the sky. The air temperature is 28 degrees C, with the track temperature 45 degrees.
They head off on the warm up lap, Alonso controlling the pace perfectly.
Sato stops on track, failing to take his place on the grid.
Nonetheless the race in underway, Alonso leads into Copse, but it is Montoya that leads at Beckets having held position through Maggots. As Sato is pushed back to the pits, Raikkonen is up to ninth.
The safety car is brought out, as Sato's car is removed.
At the end of the first lap - behind the safety car - it's, Montoya, Alonso, Button, Barrichello, Fisichella, Trulli, Michael, Raikkonen, Ralf and Villeneuve.
In the BAR pit they're trying to get Sato's car back on track, but he clearly has a problem.
At the end of the second lap, the safety car peels off, the race is back on.
Raikkonen is all over Michael, who is all over Trulli.
At the end of lap 3, Montoya leads Alonso by 1.3s, with Button a further second behind.
On lap 4, Alonso posts a new fastest lap (1:22.651) as he pulls a 1.5s gap to Button. Trulli is 2.8s behind Fisichella and looks set to do exactly what he did in France, hold up Michael and those behind him.
Another fastest lap from Alonso (22.515), as Trulli continues to fall behind Fisichella. Raikkonen closes right up on Michael at Stowe, and is clearly caught out by the Ferrari's lack of pace, and subsequently backs off.
Further back, Klien is all over Webber for eleventh, whilst Coulthard, under attack from Massa, is hard on the heels of Heidfeld.
Montoya and Alonso are matching one anther's times, as Button falls 2.5s behind. Barrichello is just 1.3s behind the Englishman and 2s ahead of Fisichella.
As Trulli falls 6.8s behind Fisichella, he continues to hold up Schumacher and Raikkonen.
Klien goes wide as he chases Webber, and consequently loses position to Heidfeld.
On lap 10, Alonso posts another fastest lap (22.315), as continues to run 1.1s behind Montoya.
Karthikeyan is the first retirement of the day, the Indian pulling off track in the first sector.
At the end of lap 11 Klien pits, the first driver to do so, and extrmely early, perhaps it has something to do with his previous 'off'.
Lap 14, and another fastest lap form Alonso (22.143) as he closes to within 0.9s of Montoya. Trulli meanwhile is now 11.9s behind Fisichella and still holding up Schumacher and Raikkonen.
Montoya hits back with a 1:22.091, as the Colombian stretches his lead to 1.3s. Next time around the McLaren driver posts a 1:21.918.
As Albers pits, Ferrari prepares for Barrichello, who is having a strong race in fourth. He rejoins in ninth. Meanwhile, Alonso hits back with a new fastest lap (21.846).
At the end of lap 19, Villeneuve pits, as do Heidfeld and Coulthard. The Canadian attempts to leave early and hits his fuel man.
Next time around, Button pits as does Trulli, which releases Michael and Raikkonen.
Alonso posts a new fastest lap on lap 20 (21.761) maintaining a 1s gap to Montoya.
21 laps completed and it's: Montoya, Alonso, Fisichella, Michael, Raikkonen, Button and Barrichello.
At the end of lap 22, Montoya pits, as Fisichella posts the fastest lap of the race (21.509). The Colombian rejoins in third, as Villeneuve makes a brave move on Coulthard to take fourteenth.
At the end of lap 23 pits, rejoining alongside Montoya, but it is the McLaren driver who has the impetus, and therefore takes second behind Fisichella, who has yet to pit.
At the end of lap 24 it's Michael that pits, as does Massa. This promoted Raikkonen to fourth, though he has yet to stop.
Alonso is all over Montoya, who takes the lead when Fisichella pits at the end of lap 25.
Raikkonen is all over Alonso, but the Spaniard knowing that the Finn still has to pit, lets him through. At the end of the lap however (26) the Finn pits, rejoining in sixth place.
Therefore after the first round of stops, it's: Montoya, Alonso, Fisichella, Button, Barrichello, Raikkonen, Michael, Trulli, Ralf and Webber.
With 28 laps completed, Montoya leads by 3s, with Fisichella a further 2.4s down the road, 7.5s ahead of Button. The Englishman has a 1s advantage over Barrichello.
Those that benefited from the pit stops include Fisichella, Michael and Raikkonen, whilst Trulli and Button lost out.
Having dumped Coulthard, Villeneuve is now under pressure from the Scot's Red Bull teammate, Christian Klien. Massa is also putting pressure on Webber, who is running in tenth.
Montoya has increased his lead over Alonso to 4.7s, as the Spaniard appears to ease up. Fisichella is holding station in third, 8.3s clear of Button, who is increasingly under pressure from Barrichello.
That said, the Brazilian pits at the end of lap 32. However, the BAR driver cannot afford to rest as Raikkonen is closing in at around a second a lap. Around 9s behind the Englishman, Kimi posts personal best time (21.659).
Barrichello rejoins behind his teammate, Michael Schumacher, who is now 10.7s behind Raikkonen.
Klien continues to shadow Villeneuve, as Raikkonen closes to within 7.4s of Button.
With 26 laps remaining, Karthikeyan is the only retirement of the afternoon, thus far.
Raikkonen laps around 0.8s a lap quicker than Button, as he closes in remorselessly on the BAR driver. The gap is now down to 5.8s.
As they weave through the backmarkers, both Montoya and Alonso lose time, as Raikkonen posts a new fastest lap (21.303). He's a second quicker than Button.
Behind the front four, Michael falls to 16.7s behind Button, while Barrichello is a further 5.7s behind.
At the end of lap 39, both Klien and Villeneuve pit, as Raikkonen posts another fastest lap (21.205). He's now 2.4s behind Button.
Lap 40 and Montoya hits back with a new fastest lap (20.737), the gap to Alonso now up to 5.2s. Meanwhile, Raikkonen is 1.1s behind Button, the end result is almost inevitable.
1:20.700, another fastest lap from Montoya, who senses a maiden McLaren victory.
Raikkonen is all over the back of Button, but the Englishman has no intention of giving way. Out front, Montoya is 6.3s ahead of Alonso, who is 4.4s ahead of his Renault teammate.
At the end of lap 43, Trulli makes his second stop, as does Button, who is back on track 8s later.
Next time around, Montoya pits, as does Webber. The Colombian's stop lasts 6.6s, as he rejoins behind Raikkonen and ahead of Button.
Alonso has major problems getting past Trulli, who is a lap down, this plays to Fisichella's advantage.
At the end of lap 45, Raikkonen pits, 6s later he's back on track well ahead of Button. Barrichello makes his third stop of the afternoon.
Next time around it's second-placed Fisichella who pits, unfortunately he stalls it, losing precious time and track position to Raikkonen. Michael Schumacher also pits.
With 47 laps completed, it's Alonso, Montoya, Raikkonen, Fisichella, Button and Michael, though the Spaniard has yet to make his second stop.
Alonso leads Montoya by 19s, not quite enough for a full pit stop. Elsewhere, Coulthard pits, rejoining in thirteenth, ahead of Villeneuve and Klien, who are still going at it hammer and tongs.
At the end of lap 49, with 11 laps remaining, the Renault driver pits, rejoining in second behind Montoya.
With 50 laps completed, Montoya leads the British Grand Prix by 1.8s, with Raikkonen 16.4s behind.
However, it would be unwise of Montoya or his McLaren buddies to start celebrating just yet, Alonso takes 0.6s out of the Colombian's lead.
Nick Heidfeld, a podium man earlier in the season, now has a whole train of cars running behind him, with Coulthard, Villeneuve and Klien all in hot pursuit.
Alonso continues his pursuit of race leader Montoya, however the Colombian continues to set a blistering pace.
With 4 laps remaining Montoya enjoys a 1.6s advantage, with 15.8s further behind the Spaniard. Fisichella is fourth, only 2.4s down on the Finn, with Button fifth ahead of Michael, Barrichello, Ralf, Trulli and Massa. Karthikeyan is still the only retirement.
Fastest man on track is Fisichella, who is lapping in the 21.5s, while the front three are lapping in the 21.8s.
As they begin the last lap, Montoya leads by 2.1s, seemingly nothing can prevent the Colombian taking a famous victory.
Indeed, the McLaren driver takes the flag, while Raikkonen makes his own unique mark on the race by posting a new fastest lap (20.502).
A superb drive by Montoya, who finally stakes his claim not only on the title fight but within the McLaren camp, proving to Ron Dennis that he has two race winners.
In the closing laps it was clear that Alonso had settled for second, knowing that he still enjoys a comfortable lead in the World Championship. However that shouldn't detract from a typically strong performance.
In third Kimi Raikkonen following another remarkable performance, but for that grid penalty who knows what might have been possible.
Giancarlo Fisichella will be satisfied with fourth, however, but for that mistake during his final stop, the Italian could well have been up on the podium alongside his teammate. Nonetheless, it was a strong performance from the popular Italian.
Despite his strong qualifying performance, Jenson Button would be the first to admit that, compared to what he is up against - the McLarens and Renaults - fifth was the best he could honestly hope for.
Another dreadful day for Ferrari with Michael Schumacher finishing 1:15 behind the winner, just 1.2s ahead of his teammate. No matter how much Michael, Jean and Ross try to talk it up, Ferrari is in no position to challenge for titles, indeed wins, this season.
Once again, the Toyota's race pace has been disappointing, and it has to be said that the Japanese team appears to be slipping backwards at present. Hopefully Mike Gascoyne and team can recapture some of the sparkle we witnessed earlier in the season.
WilliamsF1 will go away and lick its wounds, the former champions having to content themselves with the (sad) fact that they were only (just) able to finish ahead of the Red Bulls, a Sauber, an ailing BAR, the Jordan and the Minardis. That said, we're sure that Mario Theissen will be only too quick to tell us that his engines performed well.
Not the classic race we expected, maybe we really did need another deranged priest, or a quick rain shower. However, the World championship fight remains wide open and as hard to call as it has been for much of the season.
We now enjoy a two week break before the back to back races in Germany and Hungary, though most of the teams will be back hard at work testing this week.
To sum up, a great, well deserved win for Montoya, however one cannot help but feel that, but for these new (engines) rules, we might have witnessed something very special today.