Canadian Grand Prix - Ferrari Owners' Club

GRAND PRIX: Montreal: The One - Two Again
by Winston D'Arcy

15.6.04

It's good to be back again and my thanks to Arthur Beattie and Nicky Paul-Barron for taking on the website's GP reports whilst I was unavailable.

And so to Round 8 of what, statistically at least, is becoming a unique season. Michael Schumacher had won six out of the seven previous races and although at times he has looked completely dominant, the surprising thing is that the others seem totally unable to g.php the opportunities which are occasionally thrown their way. Williams and, even worse, McLaren have taken leave of their perches and it has really been left to the BARs and Renaults to offer up resistance which, on occasion, they do quite well.

As qualifying unfolded at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit no-one was more surprised than Ralf himself when he put the Williams on pole, with team-mate Montoya on the second row. At this point-and-squirt circuit, with no quick corners, the Williams' ineffective aerodynamics were less of a feature and the undeniable BMW grunt pulled the car nicely out of the slow corners and down the straightaways.

Jenson Button again drove well to take second grid slot for BAR, both car and driver looking smooth and confident. Team-mate Sato was also heading for a good grid position but got over-excited at the last chicane which, according to a BAR team member, he took at 50 km/h quicker than ever before. I will never know how he managed to avoid hitting the wall as he did a quick 360 and carried on. The two Renaults also looked threatening on the second and third rows and their massive understeer was a sure sign that they had dialled the car in for maximum back-end grip at the start.

So how come there's been no mention of Ferrari so far? Fearing that their Bridgestones were simply not going to be a one lap match for their rivals' Michelins, both Michael and Rubens' cars were topped up with fuel in anticipation of a two-stop race for what is normally a three-stopper. Sixth and seventh on the grid was the result, with lots of crossed fingers that no-one else was planning on two-stopping. In the event the Renaults elected the same strategy and it looked bleak for the Ferraris.

It was a shame that the first Renault, that of Trulli, disappeared straight after the start. Something broke in the rear suspension - maybe it was just the prodigious grip what done it. Ralf, Button, Alonso and Montoya took off at the front, with the two Ferraris looking comfortable in fifth and sixth place. If they could keep the front runners in sight then a simple calculation showed that the Ferraris' two stops would beat the others three stops - except for Alonso! After the first round of pit stops Ralf took over at the front from Button, and Michael had leap-frogged Pablo into third place. Alonso had been hobbled by a long 16 second stop with fuel rig troubles.

The next 15 or so laps were fairly static with the two Ferraris cruising along looking forward to their eventual pit stop advantage. After the others had stopped for the second time Michael and Rubens moved into a narrow lead and we were now down to the exciting prospect of all six leaders within 20 seconds of each other and all still having to make one more stop. Michael slowed somewhat, possibly to conserve his brakes, and this put Barrichello right on his tail, with Ralf rapidly closing in third place. At this point Alonso retired with a broken drive shaft, removing possibly the biggest threat to a Ferrari win.

Barrichello had one or two dithers up alongside Michael but never looked convincing, the latter driving just quick enough to make anything other than a banzai attempt impossible. Because, of course, team orders are no longer allowed....

At the final stops Barrichello had a very poor one and then promptly left the track at one of the chicanes, both incidents losing him a lot of time. This put Ralf back into second behind his older brother, who seemed quite able to control the race from the front.

So all the excitement that had been brewing up for an enthralling finish came to nothing. With yet another GP decided in the pits Michael crossed the line for his seventh win of the season, his seventh at the Canadian Grand Prix and his 77th in total. Ralf did his dented reputation a power of good by finishing second and a few seconds behind came Barrichello, ahead of a lacklustre Button and the second Williams of Pablo Montoya.

And that's how we thought it had ended but some hours after the end of the race it was announced that both Williams and the Toyotas had been disqualified for running over-size brake scoops. That cost Ralf his second place and moved Barrichello up for yet another Ferrari 1-2. It also moved Jenson Button forward a slot, giving him an extra championship point and he remains the nearest threat to the red ones.

At times it had been an intriguing race, although no-one actually passed any one on the track in what could be termed a racing manner. It was all done in the pit stops. Unfortunately the final shoot-out never happened and we spectators were left with a feeling that we had seen yet another race that was nothing special.

Jean Todt:

"This was an amazing race. We knew that with the strategy we had decided on prior to yesterday's qualifying, we could be in the running, even without starting from the front and we were proved right. For the team, it was battle from the first to the last lap. Both drivers drove a very strong race, helped by the Bridgestones that were fantastically consistent. As we predicted, reliability was another key factor. The team worked to its usual standard, striving for perfection."

Michael Schumacher:

'' Everything went to plan today. We thought it would be hard to get pole so we concentrated our strategy on the race. The pit stops were great and the car preparation was fantastic. We won today because of the consistency of our package and our race pace which was the fastest. There was not much pressure from Montoya, as I could have let him pass me as he was on a different strategy. But Rubens pushed me very hard and it would have been much more critical for me if he had got past. We had chosen different tyres and I was thinking he had made the best choice! Then my third set was a bit better. I had no problems with the car and at the end I slowed the pace to bring the car home."

Rubens Barrichello:

"This was a great race and I had fun fighting Michael. He got a win for a Ferrari and that is what counts. I knew my only chance of winning was to pass him on the track or go longer before the pit stop, but I had a little less fuel than him. When I was pushing him very hard, I knew the brakes were getting hot as I could feel the pedal get spongy, but I had to keep pushing. But after the pit stop, when I had more fuel on board, the pedal began to get long and I realised the brakes were "cooked." I did not give up but then at the bumpy Turn 8, I could not stop and I lost about 5 seconds which is what cost me second place. But, at the end of the day, it was a very close fight, we had lots of fun and I enjoyed myself. "

RACE RESULTS - CANADIAN GP
70 Laps. Weather : warm, dry

Classified:
Pos	Driver	Team		Time
1.	M. Schumacher	Ferrari	(B)	1h28:24.803
2.	Barrichello	Ferrari	(B)	+ 0:05.108
3.	Button	BAR	(M)	+ 0:20.409
4.	Fisichella	Sauber	(B)	+ 1 Lap
5.	Raikkonen	McLaren	(M)	+ 1 Lap
6.	Coulthard	McLaren	(M)	+ 1 Lap
7.	Glock	Jordan	(B)	+ 2 Laps
8.	Heidfeld	Jordan	(B)	+ 2 Laps
9.	Klien	Jaguar	(M)	+ 3 Laps
10.	Baumgartner	Minardi	(B)	+ 4 Laps
11.	Massa	Sauber	(B)	+ 8 Laps

World Championship Standing, Round 8 :
Drivers:			Constructors:
1.	M. Schumacher	70	1.	Ferrari	124
2.	Barrichello	54	2.	Renault	61
3.	Button	44	3.	BAR	52
4.	Trulli	36	4.	Williams	36
5.	Alonso	25	5.	Sauber	15
6.	Montoya	24	6.	McLaren	12
7.	R. Schumacher	12	7.	Jordan	5
8.	Fisichella	10	8.	Toyota	4
9.	Sato	8	9.	Jaguar	3
10.	Coulthard	7
11.=	Raikkonen	5
11.=.	Massa	5
13.=	da Matta	3
13.=	Heidfeld	3
15.	Glock	2
16.	Panis	1