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Monte Carlo is always likely to throw up the unexpected and on Thursday the timesheets looked most perculiar - names like Trulli, McNish, Webber all showing well. Those with the benefit of Interactive TV on Thursday could admire the technique of Trulli who was taking the banners from the front of the guard rails, and also Webber who is a past F3000 pole sitter and race winner at the circuit. This was clearly a Michelin week-end. As always happens, the cream did make it to the top by final qualifying but even then it was only Ferrari with Bridgestones in the top ten amidst all the Michelin runners. Montoya ended up on pole from Coulthard (always good at his home track), then there was Schumacher M, Schumacher R, before we got to Rubens who could have been on pole had it not been for the eternal Monaco problem of traffic, this time in the shape of a McLaren for which the British team issued an apology. Michael was suffering from a foreign object in his left eye or "one in the eye for Michael" as the tabloids had it. This cannot have helped his cause. Yoong propped up the field and frankly looked out of his depth all week-end. The Jaguars were awful and it is a wonder that Irvine in particular bothers to get out of bed in the morning. At the start Coulthard got a flyer and headed the field into St Devote. All got through and we had a real race to enjoy. There followed an absorbing four-car battle to the first pit stops, although there were very few, if any, overtaking opportunities. For a while it looked like Coulthard was holding things up but then his tyres "came in" and he built a small gap to Montoya, Michael, Ralf and Trulli's Renault. Rubens, after a poor start, was bottled up behind Kimi Raikkonen and in his frustration managed to clout the McLaren on lap 41 in a bungled effort to overtake. The Finn retired from the resulting damage but Rubens was able to continue. He then made things worse by collecting a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane when coming in for a nose job. He went on to record the fastest lap of the race - but that doesn't count, does it? Popular he may be, very quick - yes, real winner of Austria - yes, fnished article - no. We lost Montoya to a blown engine shortly after his pit stop which let his team mate through to third place. Thereafter it was really a case of Michael pushing Coulthard to the end, which he did very well. Coulthard made no mistakes, however, in a flawless performance to secure his second Monaco win. Ralf finished third from Trulli and Fisichella with Frentzen rounding up the top six. Title of most exciting accident went to Sato who, in trying to move over for a faster team mate, got on the dirty bits in the tunnel. Wheels and bits went flying everywhere. Fortunately only his pride was hurt. I hope that Sato stays in F1. There could be a really good driver in there somewhere, although he must be trying the patience of his team. McNish spoilt an otherwise excellent week-end with a very common "off" at St Devote. He was not alone as his team mate also ended up in the barriers possibly due to a mechanical problem. Massa made a right messa also at St Devote but let's face it his style is not entirely suited to Monaco. Does this result denote a change of fortune? I think not, more likely a welcome break from the norm. Canada is likely to be business as usual. What Monaco did do was repair a lot of the damage done by Austria and we should be pleased at least for that. Jean Todt: “We were expecting a difficult race, given how hard it is to overtake at this track, and that’s how it turned out. All in all we are satisfied with the result, which has allowed us to slightly extend our lead in both Championships. We had the quickest car-tyre package, but the nature of the track prevented us from exploiting that. I am sorry for Rubens, who despite a strong performance could not do better than seventh place. His grid position and loss of two places at the start instantly put him in a difficult position, which was further complicated by the accident and the double penalty that followed. Michael drove a perfect race and did everything possible." Michael Schumacher: “I think our car was fast enough to have stayed in front if we had got there, but David had built a good lead over Montoya. If there had not been some traffic after the pit stop, it might have been closer, but they did a good job and deserve the win. I kept pushing right to the end because in Monaco you never know what can happen, but David drove well and never gave me a chance. It was typical Monaco in that even if you know you are faster you just have to be patient. Actually it was quite entertaining watching Juan Pablo. The car was good today and the backmarkers did a good job of keeping out of the way.” Rubens Barrichello: “In the end it was a boring race. When you have a car which you know is capable of winning and you are stuck behind slower cars it is frustrating. At the start, I lost two places and from then on I had to try and move forward. At one point, I spotted an opportunity to pass Raikkonen. I went from the outside to the inside and as he braked, he closed the door on me. There was nothing I could do and I ran into him. I have to thank the team for building a really strong car, as after the accident, I was able to continue and the car was still very quick, even if it had a bit of oversteer. It’s a race to forget, because as I said earlier, I had a winning car.“
RACE RESULTS
Monaco GP
78 laps. Weather: Warm, Dry
Classified:
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Coulthard McLaren (M) 1h45:39.055
2. M. Schumacher Ferrari (B) + 0:01.050
3. R. Schumacher Williams (M) + 0:17.450
4. Trulli Renault (M) + 1 Lap
5. Fisichella Jordan (B) + 1 Lap
6. Frentzen Arrows (B) + 1 Lap
7. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 1 Lap
8. Heidfeld Sauber (B) + 2 Laps
9. Irvine Jaguar (M) + 2 Laps
10. de la Rosa Jaguar (M) + 2 Laps
11. Webber Minardi (M) + 2 Laps
12. Bernoldi Arrows (B) + 2 Laps
World Championship Standing, Round 7:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. M.Schumacher 60 1. Ferrari 72
2. Montoya 27 2. Williams 54
= 2. R.Schumacher 27 3. McLaren 24
4. Coulthard 20 4. Renault 11
5. Barrichello 12 5. Sauber 8
6. Button 8 6. Jordan 4
7. Heidfeld 5 7. Jaguar 3
8. Fisichella 4 =8. Arrows 2
= 8. Raikkonen 4 =8. Minardi 2
=10. Irvine 3 =8. Toyota 2
=10. Massa 3
=10. Trulli 3
=13. Frentzen 2
=13. Salo 2
=13. Webber 2
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After
the controversy and bad feeling created by Ferrari at the Austrian GP,
Formula 1 was desperate for a good week-end. Fortunately next on the calendar
was everyone's favourite venue - Monaco. Bernie had ordered sunshine and
a pleasant temperature for the week-end - and so it came to pass.
