| ||||
 | ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
A great contrast to the tight and twisty Monaco and a circuit which puts a premium on power and traction. I would like to say masterly throttle control but, alas, in this day and age it is simply a case of plant it and rely on your technical boffins having done a better job than the next man's. Montreal had played their part in the “lets have an accident” first corner being widened, which is a great improvement, and also the hairpin being moved in a little closer with a widened exit. It is an exciting circuit to watch and must be great fun to drive. Pole was set by a very on form Montoya. It was a great lap with stunning commitment. Michael and Rubens were next up from Ralf, Raikkonen and an excellent Fisichella. Although Montoya did a Michael cross-over manouver from the start to lead it was a lightly fuelled Barrichello who got to the front on lap two. Rubens then pushed hard to make a break but struggled to pull out enough of a gap to make a two-stopper work. Coulthard also made a great start from a lowly eighth position to be pushing Ralf for sixth place. On lap nine Villeneuve’s car called enough and his day was over. The undamaged car sat by the side of the circuit and did not seem to be in much danger. However things were looking quite good for Rubens and that can’t last, can it ? So on lap fourteen the safety car came out so that the stranded BAR could be removed. With his US racing background Montoya pitted immediately for a top up. He would rejoin in fifth behind a duelling Raikkonen and Ralf and would need a splash and dash later on. Rubens' lead had now all gone as everyone bunched up, and even the time that the pit crew took to clear his radiators of debris in his pit stop was not really required to help Michael to a win. At the end of the first lap after the safety car’s withdrawal both Raikkonen and Ralf outbraked themselves at the chicane. The resulting confusion saw an alert Montoya able to take advantage of the situation and make it through to P3. This became P2 when Rubens pitted for the first time on lap thirty. Ralf’s day was to fade with a fuel rig problem which would mean an extra pit stop. Michael was away with the fairies by this time and making it all look very easy. However his pit stop on lap 38 meant he rejoined behind Montoya who was then able to stretch his lead to over ten seconds. Then, after his own splash and go, Montoya dropped back to second place but was gaining on Michael at a fair rate. Could we be in for a proper race? No, of course not. Montoya’s BMW engine failed on lap 57 and it was effectively all over. There was a good battle for second place between Rubens and Coulthard which came to a head when they found themselves side by side leading in to the last chicane. This was fun enough but Sato was in the middle just to add a little spice. Rubens got up the inside and must have thought the corner to be his. Coulthard however had other ideas and braked so late that he missed the chicane entry but kept his place. At Montreal there is not barrier there, which of course made Coulthard's choice possible. Had Rubens chosen to slow and take the corner correctly then Coulthard may have been penalised, but unfortunately Rubens did not make the corner either..... So it ended with Michael setting another Ferrari benchmark, 150 GP victories. It was a faultless display from a master. Coulthard in second will be pleased with himself as this too was a superb performance. Rubens, Raikkonen, Fisichella and Trulli made up the top six. With his lead now at 43 points Michael is in max PR mode with compliments and back slapping very evident. Job done – lets re-badge it Maserati and sell some more units. Jean Todt: “ The team did a fantastic job and the cars were at the best on a track which is very tough in reliability terms. Both the Bridgestone tyres and the Brembo brakes performed very well. We dedicate this win to all those back in Maranello, who work day and night to make this result possible. A special thought goes to Gianni Agnelli. Knowing the affection and passion he has for Ferrari, I am sure he will have watched the race attentively and enjoyed the result. We hope to see him back with us at a race track soon, to encourage us as he has always done, through the good times and especially the bad. As for the race, we had adopted a more aggressive strategy with Rubens, who was on a two-stop. It’s a shame that the arrival of the Safety Car on lap 14 prevented him from getting the most out of it. With two laps remaining, we asked Rubens to slow the pace to avoid any possible brake problems. It was better to consolidate third place than to come away empty handed." Michael Schumacher: “I am very happy with this result and the package we had today. Ferrari’s 150th win is very special and I take this opportunity to thank our test team. They are always in the background and I am very happy to have these guys behind me. All of them, Luca Badoer, Luciano Burti and all the engineers and mechanics do a fantastic job. I did not expect Rubens to come past me so quickly at the start but he was on the clean side of the track and had better acceleration. I knew he was on a two stop so I did not make life difficult. The Safety Car worked in my favour, even if I don’t understand why they had to use it. I kept a good pace as we knew Montoya was on a two stop, but I could not ease up until I knew I would be in front of him after his second stop. The engine was very strong and gave us good straight line speed. In the final laps I slowed down to save the car and brakes.” Rubens Barrichello: “For the start, I was on the clean side of the track and my reaction time was good and so I had a fantastic start. Seeing Montoya’s pace I thought he was on a two stop like me. Then, I had an opportunity when he ran wide. I was already alongside, when he moved over on me and I got a wheel on the grass, but I had to take the chance to pass him. Then the Safety Car ruined my race and I don’t see why it was used as it would be impossible to hit the BAR where it was parked. I lost a bit of time with my pit stop when they cleaned the side pods, but not much. As for the incident at the chicane with Coulthard, at that point I could have braked and taken the corner, but when you see someone go outside you going quickly you can’t let it happen so I got off the brakes. If there had been a wall there we would have both made the corner.“ RACE RESULTS Canadian GP 70 laps. Weather: Dry, Cloudy Classified: Pos Driver Team Time 1. M. Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1h33:36.111 2. Coulthard McLaren (M) + 0:01.132 3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 0:07.082 4. Raikkonen McLaren (M) + 0:37.563 5. Fisichella Jordan (B) + 0:42.812 6. Trulli Renault (M) + 0:48.947 7. R. Schumacher Williams (M) + 0:51.518 8. Panis BAR Honda (B) + 1 Lap 9. Massa Sauber (B) + 1 Lap 10. Sato Jordan (B) + 1 Lap 11. Webber Minardi (M) + 1 Lap 12. Heidfeld Sauber (B) + 1 Lap 13. Frentzen Arrows (B) + 1 Lap 14. Yoong Minardi (M) + 2 Laps World Championship Standing, Round 8: Drivers: Constructors: 1. M.Schumacher 70 1. Ferrari 86 2. Montoya 27 2. Williams 54 = 2. R.Schumacher 27 3. McLaren 33 4. Coulthard 26 4. Renault 12 5. Barrichello 16 5. Sauber 8 6. Button 8 6. Jordan 6 7. Raikkonen 7 7. Jaguar 3 8. Fisichella 6 =8. Arrows 2 9. Heidfeld 5 =8. Minardi 2 10. Trulli 4 =8. Toyota 2 =11. Massa 3 =11. Irvine 3 =13. Frentzen 2 =13. Salo 2 =13. Webber 2 Click here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page.
|
And
so to Canada and the attractive Gilles Villeneuve circuit . The name still
sends a shiver down the back.....
