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GRAND PRIX:
Magny Cours: Ferrari Steal It
by Ed Brown |
11.7.04
Located in rural mid - Eastern France,120 miles south of Paris –
the 4.4 kilometre Magny Cours race circuit had received a re-profiled
corner immediate to the start/finish line since the F1 circus’ last
visit – though nobody had shared this with Jarno Trulli!
Originally conceived as a 2.1 kilometere track in 1960 and named the
“Circuit Jean Behra” – Magny Cours has evolved into
the unofficial home of French motorsport, with the highly rated ORECA
GT and Snobeck Ice Rally teams on site and of course the smoothest race
surface on the planet.
Following his accident, subsequent release from an Indianapolis hospital
and confirmation of F1’s worst kept secret - Ralf Schumacher’s
seat at Williams was taken over by the likeable Spaniard Marc Gene. Gene
has completed close to 8,000kms testing in the FW26 and repaid his employers
with a steady drive to 10th place – have we seen the younger Schumacher’s
last drive for Williams?
Saturday qualifying was warm (28 degrees) and sunny with Fernando Alonso
converting a solid lap into pole, but outside Montoya’s 2003 fastest
lap and with Michael gunning for his 7th win at the Nevers circuit –
thereby matching his record in the Canadian Grand Prix.
With the arrival of the Adrian Newey penned MP4/19B, McLaren believe they
have turned the corner in their disappointing 04 season and even Kimi
Raikkonen and Ron Dennis managed to smile. Fresh from opening his second
hotel, in Nottingham, UK ("The Dakota”) David Coulthard bagged
3rd slot ahead of Jenson Button.
With David Richards' and BAR’s support, Jenson has matured into
an extremely quick, super-smooth driver who like Coulthard is easy on
the equipment, unlike his team mate “Banzai" Sato.
Fresh from his crowd pleasing demonstrations at the Goodwood Festival
of Speed, sole French driver Panis qualified 14th in his Toyota and yet
again underlined the team's crass decision to part company with the vastly
underrated Allan McNish.
Off - track, Formula 1 has heard of the resignation of Max Moseley who
is fed up with the childish outlook of several team principals; the imminent
sale of Jordan Grand Prix to the Saudi based Al Makhtoum family; the continuing
spat between BRDC's Sir Jackie Stewart and Bernie Ecclestone and the viability
of a race in London – am I the only “petrolhead” who
finds this more interesting than the current on circuit activitity? F1
is an unrivalled motorsport spectacle, witness the alleged 400,000 people
on London’s street’s last week, but the other teams need to
catch up fast if they’re keen to end the domination of the Scuderia.
Jean, Ross, Michael and the boys from Maranello have never looked more
dominant than they did in France and with the emergence of new Sporting
Director Stefano Domenicalli (at one time a gatekeeper at Imola!) and
Head Strategist Luca Baldisseri the “post Montezemolo” era
is in good hands!
Race day dawned dry and sunny with a 70,000 strong crowd hoping to see
Alonso curtail Michael Schumacher’s current form – win no.
8 from 9 starts and his 60th for Ferrari. As usual the race was low on
overtaking and thankfully free of incident save for the battered/bruised
Montoya who spun exiting the last turn on lap 9. It is said that such
is Michael’s faith in Ross Brawn’s direction that if he was
told by Brawn to leave the track and head out of the gate he would do
it without hesitation.
Highlights in the Mobil sponsored race were few, exacerbated by the French
TV director's appalling race coverage which focused almost exclusively
on the progress of the Renaults, whilst conveniently missing the Baldisseri
inspired 4 stop strategy of MS, which enabled him to pass Alonso on lap
32 and win by 8.2 seconds, with Rubens a fine 3rd. Rubinho had started
a lowly (by his standards) 10th and driven hard to catch Trulli and Button
who disputed third place. He passed Jenson under braking for the hairpin
and looked set for 4th until he dived inside Trulli on the entrance to
the very last corner of the race ………judging by the body
language of Flavio Briatore and team manager Pat Symonds, Trulli is unlikely
to make the same mistake again!
With Scuderia Ferrari having twice as many constructor points as Renault
and BAR together and Michael and Rubens atop the drivers' championship,
could things get any better?
"Once
again, this was a dream race, which to describe would involve so many superlatives!
The team had to adopt a very aggressive strategy and for 70 laps, the drivers
performed at 100% of their ability on a very demanding track. Michael has
taken his ninth win of the season, while Rubens continues to be the only
driver to have scored points in every race. We could not have asked for
a better start to the second half of the season. "
'''The
strategy and the precision of the team in the pit stops were fantastic today.
Before the start, I was not so optimistic, but it became clear that our
Bridgestone tyres were very good at the end of their stints, which was not
the case with the opposition, so I was able to close the gap before the
stops. Then, after the second stop, we decided to switch to a four stop
strategy. There was not much discussion once the team told me I would not
be threatened from behind. I had nothing to lose and it was a case of no
risk no fun! I only accepted I could win five laps before my final pit stop
when the team told me I had enough of a gap to keep the lead. We might have
won on a normal three stop, but this would have involved passing cars on
the track. However, the opposition is getting closer which does not surprise
us and I expect another tough fight at Silverstone."
"'From
tenth to third - I am very happy and I had a lot of fun today. The car was
very fast and the Bridgestone tyres were fantastic, especially at the end
of each stint. It was a shame that I paid the penalty for my pre-qualifying
problem, without which I could have had an even better race. I gave it all
I had. As for Trulli, although I had better corner speed in Turn 3, it was
difficult to follow him through the chicane and then he had better traction.
But then, on the final lap, he slowed a bit too much at Turn 13 and so I
was able to get alongside at 15. It was risky, but I thought it was worth
the risk, even if I was a bit careful not to damage the car as it would
have been a shame to get from tenth to fourth and then not finish. So, I
was trying 85% and when I saw I had a chance, I added another 20% making
it 105% in total!"
RACE
RESULTS - FRENCH GP
70 Laps. Weather : dry, warm |
Classified: |
Pos |
Driver |
Team |
|
Time |
1. |
M. Schumacher |
Ferrari |
(B) |
1h30:18.133 |
2. |
Alonso |
Renault |
(M) |
+ 0:08.329 |
3. |
Barrichello |
Ferrari |
(B) |
+ 0:31.622 |
4. |
Trulli |
Renault |
(M) |
+ 0:32.082 |
5. |
Button |
BAR |
(M) |
+ 0:32.482 |
6. |
Coulthard |
McLaren |
(M) |
+ 0:35.520 |
7. |
Raikkonen |
McLaren |
(M) |
+ 0:36.230 |
8. |
Montoya |
Williams |
(M) |
+ 0:43.419 |
9. |
Webber |
Jaguar |
(M) |
+ 0:52.394 |
10. |
Gene |
Williams |
(M) |
+ 0:58.166 |
11. |
Klien |
Jaguar |
(M) |
+ 1 Lap |
12. |
Fisichella |
Sauber |
(B) |
+ 1 Lap |
13. |
Massa |
Sauber |
(B) |
+ 1 Lap |
14. |
da Matta |
Toyota |
(M) |
+ 1 Lap |
15. |
Panis |
Toyota |
(M) |
+ 2 Laps |
16. |
Heidfeld |
Jordan |
(B) |
+ 2 Laps |
17. |
Pantano |
Jordan |
(B) |
+ 3 Laps |
18. |
Bruni |
Minardi |
(B) |
+ 4 Laps |
World Championship Standing, Round 10 : |
Drivers: |
|
Constructors: |
1. |
M. Schumacher |
90 |
|
1. |
Ferrari |
158 |
2. |
Barrichello |
68 |
|
2. |
Renault |
79 |
3. |
Button |
48 |
|
3. |
BAR |
62 |
4. |
Trulli |
46 |
|
4. |
Williams |
37 |
5. |
Alonso |
33 |
|
5. |
McLaren |
22 |
6. |
Montoya |
25 |
|
6. |
Sauber |
15 |
7. |
Sato |
14 |
|
7. |
Toyota |
8 |
8.= |
Coulthard |
12 |
|
8. |
Jordan |
5 |
8.= |
R. Schumacher |
12 |
|
9. |
Jaguar |
3 |
10. |
Fisichella |
10 |
|
10. |
Minardi |
1 |
10.= |
Raikkonen |
10 |
|
|
|
|
12.=. |
Massa |
5 |
|
|
|
|
12.= |
Panis |
5 |
|
|
|
|
14.= |
da Matta |
3 |
|
|
|
|
14.=. |
Heidfeld |
3 |
|
|
|
|
14.=. |
Webber |
3 |
|
|
|
|
17. |
Glock |
2 |
|
|
|
|
18. |
Baumgartner |
1 |
|
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Click
here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page.
|
Williams came up with
some bodywork modifications - Montoya added a few of his own |
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Alonso took pole on genuine
pace, but Renault had no answer to Ferrari's race strategy |
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Baldisseri inspired it... |
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...Ross called it... |
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...and these guys delivered
it |
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The Grey Empire returned
to form with the MP4-19B - Coulthard taking sixth place |
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Rubens nicked third place
at the last corner |
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You'd have to feel sorry
for Trulli - but for that hair style! |
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Schuey really earned this
one |
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Ferrari rubbed Renault's
nose in it at their home GP |
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pics by Ferrari Media, Schlegelmilch,
Sutton, & Renault F1 |
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