Following the early season domination by Renault with three wins to their name, and a much improved Toyota team, the San Marino Grand Prix promised much with significant performance gains from McLaren, BAR and particularly Ferrari; a close contest was predicted. The race did not disappoint with one of the most exciting finishes in many years.

Qualifying 1 was exciting stuff when Schumacher initially lapped fastest in the 2005 spec Ferrari, followed closely by Webber in the Williams and Button in the BAR. However, it was Raikkonen who put his McLaren on provisional pole with Alonso just 3 thousands of a second behind ! Barrichello disappointed with only 9th fastest.

Q2 had Raikkonen confirming pole (with a lighter fuelled car ?) and Alonso keeping 2nd place. However, it all went wrong for Schumacher when he ran wide loosing precious time and costing him 10 places on the grid, leaving him with a huge task for the race ahead. Button confirmed his recent testing form by moving up to 3rd on the grid, whilst Webber retained 4th, and Barrichello 9th. Overall, not a promising start for the Scuderia.

The field got away cleanly without any mishaps. The top three runners maintained their grid positions but Webber lost out to Trulli in the Toyota, dropping him back to 5th. Sato was in 6th, whilst the two Ferraris maintained their respective grid positions of 9th and 13th.

After just 5 laps Fisichella’s Renault skidded off the track with what appeared to be a car problem, rather than a driver error. Then on lap 8, just as Kimi was pulling strongly ahead of Alonso with a 10 second gap, he suddenly slowed and pulled into his pit. Both car and driver disappeared into the garage, Kimi’s first retirement of the season. Rumour has it that the ‘Ice Man’ lost his cool and a £50,000 steering wheel flew across the garage hitting the opposite wall.

This promoted Schumacher ‘senior’ up to 11th place, closely following younger brother Ralf in the Toyota in 10th. The first round of refuelling stops were now beginning around lap 17, with Barrichello being an early stopper, but just one lap later Barrichello came in and retired with electrical problems. Once again the omens for the Ferrari team were not looking good.

Following Raikkonen’s retirement the top six runners then did not change with Alonso and Button opening up a gap over the next group. Button was now applying pressure on the leader and beginning to clock up fastest laps. On lap 21, Sato managed a typical ‘Kamikaze’ move on Webber for 4th place, a lap later Trulli and Webber both pitted together but their positions did not change. Lap 23 had the leader Alonso pitting, followed by Sato, thus promoting Button temporarily into the lead. Ralf also pitted and released Michael to begin a memorable charge up through the field. With Button finally pitting on lap 24, Michael began turning in a series of fastest laps, no doubt on instruction from Ross Brawn, the master tactician. Schumacher pitted on lap 27 and rejoined in an incredible 3rd place.

Lap after lap, Schumacher ate into the gap separating him from Button and by lap 40 was just 2.8 seconds behind. On lap 41, Alonso refuelled for the last time, leaving Button, once again, leading the field. On lap 46, as Button and Schumacher, now nose to tail, come to lap the two Williams in 9th and 10th places, the Ferrari driver showed the mark of a seven times World Champion, slipping past Button and leading the race for the first time. Button pitted on lap 48 while Schumacher continued to pump in mega quick laps. If Michael could achieve a 20 second lead over Alonso, he would be able to refuel for the last time and come out in front. On lap 49, Schumacher pitted for the last time but with just a 14.5 second lead over Alonso, rejoined in 2nd place. Button now dropped some 10 seconds behind, no doubt with the aim of bringing the BAR-Honda home safely into 3rd place.

With 12 laps to go Schumacher quickly caught Alonso and the race to the finish had now begun in earnest. The Ferrari driver harried Alonso all the way home to the chequered flag in the hope of either forcing the Renault driver into a mistake or tripping him over whilst lapping back markers. However, it was not to be, with Alonso driving a wonderfully defensive race, withstanding the pressure from Schumacher and holding his nerve all the way to the chequered flag; no doubt the mark of a future world champion, that is assuming he does not achieve the ultimate goal this year.

With all the excitement up front, the ‘Tifosi’ had probably not noticed that following Button into 3rd place, was Wurz, bringing home the remaining McLaren, Sato in the second BAR 5th, and Villeneuve in an excellent 6th, perhaps temporarily silencing his critics.

Undoubtably the most exciting race this year and one of the closest finishes for years. Who knows what the outcome might have been had Schumacher not made his driving error in Q2 and Raikkonen’s McLaren lasted to the end of the race ?

There is little doubt the new Ferrari is extremely competitive and it cannot be too long before Schumacher begins chalking up Grand Prix wins. However, whilst the Renault remains reliable it will be a long haul to overtake the French team for both the Drivers' and the Constructors' Championships. Hopefully, an epic F1 season is beginning to take shape.

Race Postscript :

Button’s BAR-Honda was found to be underweight and was initially disqualified. Following representations from the team, the race stewards allowed the team’s 3rd place to stand. However, the FIA are attempting to overturn this decision and a hearing will be held in Paris on 4th May.

Ralf Schumacher’s Toyota was given a 25 second penalty following a dangerous manoeuvre after his 2nd pit stop, when he was allowed to leave before it was safe to do so. This dropped him back to 11th place, promoting Heidfeld’s Williams up to 8th.

Click here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page.

 

 

Schuey flew in Q1, but made a rare and expensive mistake in Q2

Paddock Club karaoke and Ron and Norbert forget the words to "Amarillo"

Yet more disappointment for them when Raikkonen retired whilst in the lead

Fisi's run of appalling luck continued

Another tactical coup by the master...

...which was superbly executed

Once again, Button proved unable to resist Schuey...

...unlike Alonso, who withstood massive pressure from the resurgent Champion

Wurz & Villeneuve both done good

Nearly back where he belongs...

...but some way to go for Rubens

pics by Ferrari Media, Schlegelmilch, LAT, & Sutton