04/09/2005
NEWS STORY
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We know from experience that the first corner at any Grand Prix track is critical, and like La Source at Spa Francorchamps and Mirabeau at Monaco, the first chicane at Monza is one of the most notorious and unforgiving on the F1 calendar.
Much therefore depends on what happens in the opening moments of today's race, and in particular at the first chicane. If Juan Pablo Montoya can get ahead of the pack he can control the race, and thereby aid his teammate, Kimi Raikkonen's, championship bid. However, if Fernando Alonso can get ahead…
Behind the Colombian and the Spaniard we have the two BARs of Button and Sato, however, our sources tell us that these two are running light, and that their qualifying pace was not to be taken too seriously, which is certainly borne out by their practice pace.
The Ferraris will be doing all that they can to get ahead of Jarno Trulli, for they know that once the Italian is in position, he is more than happy to settle down for the rest of the afternoon… as many of his rivals have learned throughout the season.
Giancarlo Fisichella needs to make up for his qualifying gaffe, and what better way to do it than to keep teammate Alonso's championship rival, Kimi Raikkonen, at bay. The Italian starts ahead of the Finn, and if he can hold the McLaren driver up he can give his Spanish teammate a much needed boost, whilst damaging the Woking team's championship hopes.
The McLarens are fast but fragile, though speaking before the race, Renault's Pat Symonds admitted that he wouldn't rule out Raikkonen winning this afternoon. However, that will depend on his the Finn deals with the pack surrounding him at the start, and how his teammate deals with Alonso.
The weather is perfect, with blue skies, bright sunshine and temperatures of 28 degrees C (air) 45 degrees (track).
One interesting thing is that following a very heavy overnight storm, much of the rubber has been washed away. Therefore a couple of teams are expecting some graining early in the race, but this should affect everyone.
The cars head off on the warm-up lap, everyone getting away.
Alonso really turns it on, on his return to the grid, getting the car sideways as he generates more heat in his tyres.
They're away, with Montoya leading into the first corner, and Alonso holding position. There's a slight coming together at the very back of the grid. Raikkonen makes a move on Villeneuve, but the Canadian is having none of it.
At the end of the first lap it's Montoya, Alonso, Button, Sato, Trulli and Barrichello. Karthikeyan, Webber, Coulthard and Albers all pit, clearly having been involved in the incident at the first corner.
Schumacher cuts the chicane as he attempts to take Trulli.
At the end of lap 2, Montoya leads Alonso by 2.1s, with Raikkonen, still behind Villeneuve, 10.2s down.
A fastest lap for Montoya on lap three, who leads by 2.4s. Button is third with Sato right on his tail and under close attention for Barrichello. Raikkonen is all over Villeneuve but the former champion will not give way, and why should he?
At this stage the great battles are for fourth (Sato and Barrichello), sixth (Trulli, Michael and Fisichella), ninth (Ralf, Villeneuve, Raikkonen) and twelfth (Massa and Klien). Trulli has got back past the Ferrari, though it's not clear whether the German let him though, having gained the position 'illegally'.
Lap 5 and a new fastest lap from Alonso (22.740), but the gap to Montoya remains the same.
Another fastest lap for the Spaniard on lap 7 (22.684) as he closes to within 2.2s, meanwhile Raikkonen is 18s behind the leader, the race, and seemingly, the championship, lost.
Next time around, Montoya responds with a 1:22.659, as a queue forms behind Sato, who is 1.9s behind Button, who is 9s down on Alonso.
Behind the Japanese driver, there are seven cars, including Raikkonen, all covered by just seven seconds. The BAR driver posts a personal best (23.672) as he has Barrichello crawling all over him.
At the end of lap 11, Monteiro is the first driver to make a legitimate stop. Meanwhile, Alonso closes to within 1.9s of Montoya with a new fastest lap (22.376).
At the end of lap 13, Michael Schumacher pits, was he light in qualifying or has Ferrari adapted its strategy?
Montoya is the first driver to dip into the 1:21s, posting a new fastest lap on lap 14 (21.988), meanwhile, Barrichello pits, as does Villeneuve, which is great news for Raikkonen.
Another fastest lap for Montoya (21.828) as he extends his lead to 2.5s. Meanwhile, Raikkonen is hunting down Ralf Schumacher, who is running seventh.
At the end of lap 16, Sato pits, as Raikkonen closes to within 0.9s of Ralf. At the back of the field, Coulthard and Webber are scrapping for fifteenth.
Button pits at the end of lap 17, as his teammate returns just a few moments later, possibly a fuel-rig problem during his previous stop.
It's Montoya, Alonso, Trulli, Fisichella, Ralf and Raikkonen, Massa and Pizzonia. These top eight covered by 41s.
At the end of lap 19, Alonso pits. It's along stop (11s), which sees him rejoin behind Ralf but ahead of Raikkonen.
The Finn is all over the Spaniard, who refuses to yield. Elsewhere, Montoya pits, as does Trulli. The Colombian rejoins behind Fisichella… you couldn't invent this!
Raikkonen finally gets past Alonso at the second chicane, the Renault driver appearing to allow his championship rival through. A replay shows that they both got it wrong at the first chicane, which upset their rhythm.
Therefore, after 21 laps, Montoya still leads, from Raikkonen, who has yet to pit, as Ralf pits. Alonso is third ahead of Pizzonia, Fisichella and Trulli.
On lap 23, Raikkonen posts a new fastest lap (21.725), as Pizzonia pits. Michael is climbing all over the back of Barrichello, as the Ferrari duo battle for ninth.
Another fastest lap for Kimi (21.629), as he closes to within 2.2s of Montoya, though the Finn has yet to stop.
At the end of lap 25, the Finn dives into the pits, 11.5s later he's heading off down the pitlane. He rejoins in fifth behind Trulli, who is 27s down on Montoya. Question is, have they put the Finn on a one-stop strategy? Elsewhere, Webber makes his second pit stop.
After 27 laps, Montoya leads Alonso by 9.5s, as Kimi Raikkonen appears to have a problem with one of his rear tyres, the team is preparing for his return to the pits.
He pits and his right-rear is changed, the old one appearing to be badly damaged, possibly a puncture. Thing is, is this a one-off or do the Michelins have a problem here? He emerges, ironically, behind Villeneuve. Clearly, the Finn has the red mist, he appears to be charging a little too hard.
30 laps, and Montoya leads Alonso by 9.1s, with Fisichella a further 18s down the road. Trulli is fourth, ahead of Button, Ralf, Barrichello, Michael, Pizzonia and Massa. Meanwhile, albers gets a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags.
After all his trials and tribulations, Raikkonen is now running eleventh, ahead of Villeneuve, and 2.9s behind Massa.
With 34 laps completed, we still haven't had a single retirement.
The field settles down, until the end of lap 35, when Button makes his second stop. Michael continues to shadow Barrichello, just 0.8s between them.
At the end of lap 36, Michael pits, as does Karthikeyan, though the Indian is two laps down. Next time around, Barrichello pits, as does Albers. The Brazilian rejoins in eleventh, ahead of Button and Michael.
At the end of lap 39, Alonso pits, 9.8s later he's heading down the pitlane, rejoining in fourth, behind Trulli.
Next time around it's the race leader's turn to stop, while Fisichella also pits, as does Trulli.
Therefore Montoya still leads Alonso, from Ralf and Fisichella, though the German has yet to stop. At the end of lap 41, Ralf pits, as does Massa.
There's a great scrap for ninth between Button and Michael, the German all over the BAR. Meanwhile, Barrichello has to stop for a damaged left-rear tyre. Klien, Sato and Webber also pit.
Amazingly, Webber and Sato leave the pitlane side-by-side, and out on to the track, the BAR driver appearing to cross the white line.
At the end of 44 laps, Montoya leads Alonso by 11.s, with Fisichella third (17.2s behind) and Raikkonen fourth. Trulli is fifth, ahead of Ralf, Pizzonia, Button, Michael and Massa.
More misery for Raikkonen, who spins at the second chicane, nearly beaching it. This allows Trulli to pass. Thing is, was this a mistake or a problem with the car?
The Finn eventually gets back past Trulli at the entry to Parabolica, and sets off after Fisichella, who is 9.6s up the road.
As Montoya posts 25.042, Raikkonen is lapping at 21.911, while Fisichella posts 23.08.
Clearly, Montoya has a tyre problem, like his teammate, the Colombian is really struggling. He's lapping at 25.471 while Alonso posts 23.62. Meanwhile Fisichella is lapping at 22.97 compared to Raikkonen (22.08).
McLaren and Montoya won't risk the pit stop, they opt to continue, meanwhile, Alonso closes to within 6.2s.
A new fastest lap from Raikkonen (21.504) on lap 51, as he closes to within 4.2s of Fisichella. Elsewhere, Michael has spun off, but managed to continue.
Bravely, Montoya continues, as Alonso closes to within 3.5s, while Raikkonen is a similar amount of time behind Fisichella.
The Colombian takes the flag, having delivered a faultless performance, on a day when his teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, and boss, Ron Dennis, will be wondering what is that the gods have against them.
Another race, another second place and another eight points for Fernando Alonso, who seems destined to make history by becoming the youngest ever Formula One World Champion, possibly as early as next week.
A strong performance from Fisichella, who did well to finish on the podium, but must surely rue that costly qualifying mistake.
The 'ten spots' engine rule is dreadfully unfair, even though it applies to everyone. However, the fact is that it punishes the driver, not the engine manufacturer. Furthermore, it deprived us from seeing the Finn take on his Spanish rival, though we did get a brief (glorious) glimpse of what might be during today's race.
Toyota will be delighted to have both drivers in the points again, with Jarno and Ralf doing a sterling job, bringing home the Japanese cars in fifth and sixth to add 7 further points to the tally.
Having failed to get the WilliamsF1 drive this year, surely Antonio Pizzonia has now demonstrated that he has 'it'. The guy didn't know he was driving until half an hour before yesterday's first free practice session - indeed, he was still sleeping. However, he has got into the car, a car acknowledged not to be one of the best out there, and given 100%, driving a strong race, and adding two more points to the WilliamsF1 tally.
We said at the start that BAR's qualifying performance was false, and so it turned out to be, however, Button will be delighted simply to have held off the McLarens and taken the final point.
As the crowd invades the track, one could be forgiven for thinking that we had witnessed another red-wash, however, for the second time in six years a Ferrari has not won here. More worryingly, for the first time since 1995, a Ferrari didn't finish in the points.
The World Championship now heads to Spa, another historic circuit, which has witnessed countless epic battles. Today we witnessed some strong, brave, performances, but it was, in many ways, just another race that failed to live up to its promise, not simply because of the (qualifying) engine rule, but also due to the fact that current aerodynamic regulations do not make for overtaking… it remains to be seen whether a supercomputer will improve things.
Cynics form an orderly queue please.