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Normally for us tifosi there's only one thing better than a Ferrari win at Monza (followed by a pasta blow-out and a few bottles of Barolo) and that's a Ferrari one-two at Monza, followed by etc. but the fact that Schuey won this race was almost an anti-climax in the face of all the off-track action. The biggest news of the weekend was actually the biggest news in motor racing for the last 11 years - Michael announcing his retirement from F1 at the end of the season. The Editor has already paid tribute to the great man and there's nothing I can really add except my own thanks and best wishes for a long and happy retirement. The good news is that Ferrari have secured the services of Kimi Raikkonen for the next three years and we offer our support and encouragement to him, Felipe Massa and the rest of the Scuderia. Yet even this news was almost lost in the controversy and recriminations which surrounded it. It all started when the teams turned up at Monza to find that part of the track had been resurfaced without anyone being informed and that the new tarmac was said to favour the Bridgestone tyres. The conspiracy theorists suggested that this was a ploy by the Italian organisers to favour Ferrari at this vital stage of the championships. Conspiracy theory regarding Ferrari at Monza is long established, because time was that in less rigorously policed eras there were suggestions of "special" qualifying engines - perish the thought! It is certainly through superior engineering that Ferrari have captured pole 18 times in the 57 runnings of the GP, ten ahead of their nearest rival McLaren. If that wasn't enough, things went ballistic when Alonso was penalised by the Stewards after Ferrari complained that he had impeded Massa's hot lap in qualifying. He did pull out of the pits as the Brazilian was behind, but he looked well clear. Max Mosely said that Ferrari data showed that Massa's car had lost downforce and Alonso was relegated five spots on the grid, meaning that he would start from tenth place. Fred said that F1 was no longer a sport, Flav said that the championship had been fixed though he later back-pedaled like crazy, saying he was only joking - wonder if it was Bernie or Regie Renault who had A Quiet Word? Fred hasn't calmed down at all and has since said that Michael is not a sportsman. Kimi put his McLaren on pole by just two thousandths of a second in a virtuoso effort, despite being on Michelin tyres supposedly disadvantaged by the new track surface and with a sideways moment that must have cost him a couple of tenths. At the time, not a cause for us to celebrate, but with the benefit of hindsight it is now! In the race Raikkonen pitted just one lap ahead of Schuey but that was enough for Michael to take a lead he never lost - one of the many times in his career he has done this. Alonso was cut some slack by those in front of him on the grid (the whole F1 world apart from Max Moseley, the Stewards and Ferrari were universal in their condemnation of Alonso's penalty) and got up to seventh at the end of the first lap. He passed Heidfeld for sixth on lap two, jumping a chicane, a move for which he surely should have been penalised. You can just imagine the consternation in the Stewards' office with having to face that situation with the controversy over Alonso's qualifying penalty raging.... the computer screens stayed blank as they resolutely chose to do nothing. He carved his way through the field and was in third place until lap 43 when his over-worked engine blew up. The thing that then struck me above all else was the huge cheer that erupted from the Monza Tifosi! The blow-up helped Schuey but scuppered Massa, he locked-up on the oil, flat-spotted a tyre and finished ninth after looking set to come home fourth. Talk of Heidfeld forces me to face the BMW issue. It sticks in my craw to say so, but they seem to be doing a great job. Heidfeld qualified third and finished eighth, but young gun Robert Kubica raced well and finished a fantastic third in only his third GP, actually leading the race when the first two pitted - clear vindication for their having forced grumpy Jacques into a long-overdue retirement. Ally this to Wunderkind Vettel being fastest again on Friday and BMW are clearly on the verge of becoming a top team. Contrast BMW-Sauber's position with that of Williams. The old romantic in me hoped that the plucky little Brit racers would kick the ass of the mighty Teutonic corporate machine, but no chance. Williams's performance this year has been dismal - a fact acknowledged by Sir Frank himself, he called their performance 'achingly shocking'. He says they need to produce a faster car and that some of the reasons why they have failed in races is "lack of adherence to correct internal processes" . Tony Cotton e-mailed me to say he wondered whether they've lost the knack of correctly installing an engine as those problems bedeviled them in the BMW years and seem to have been carried over to the Cossies. Strangely enough, the fledgling Williams team suffered the same problems in the early '70s until Uncle Ken Tyrrell took pity on them and showed them how to install a DFV properly. Michael won but did not look very happy thereafter, especially when trying to avoid a post-race embrace with Luca nor in the following Media conference. There have been suggestions that Michael was pushed, or that he didn't want to go head-to-head in the same team as Raikkonen, or even that the tight Todt - Massa business relationship may have caused some back-stabbing, but I'll let others venture into those territories..... He was under unbelievable pressure at Monza yet he still delivered. He has closed to two points of Alonso, so I call on all fellow tifosi to watch the last three Grand Prix, think positive thoughts and will our great champion to his eighth and final title. This would give him the exit he so richly deserves. If there is such a thing as the power of the Forza, then surely we should be able to invoke it! Forza Schumacher, Forza Ferrari! BTW I still enjoyed my post-race pasta blow-out and couple of bottles of Barolo... Footnote:
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