Europe: Lap by lap as the steamroller rolls on

By pitpass.com (30/05/2004)
May 30 2004

At around 08:45 we received a phone call from our photographer advising us that there was rumour sweeping the paddock, suggesting that Michael Schumacher faced the prospect of being demoted to the back of the grid, or even disqualified from today's event.

The story suggested that the German had used two different tyre compounds on Saturday, which is of course illegal. We finally tracked down representatives of both Bridgestone and Ferrari, who both told us that they'd heard the rumour and that it was "bullshit" (their word), and that a couple of other drivers (some on Michelins) had been similarly 'accused'.

Sadly, the F1 paddock is a hotbed of rumour and counter-rumour, witness this week's claims that Jacques Villeneuve was to test the WillamsF1 at all manner of circuits, claims that the team hasn't exactly gone out of its way to deny.

Anyway, back to the real world where Michael Schumacher starts from pole position, for the sixtieth time of his F1 career, with Japan's Takuma Sato alongside, the highest ever F1 grid position for a Japanese driver.

As ever, the big question is strategy, just how much fuel does the German have in his Ferrari? Some would have us believe that the German has been "panicked" into running on fumes in qualifying and that he could be pitting as early as lap 7 or 8. Time will tell.

Other drivers to watch are Monaco-winner Jarno Trulli, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen. Sadly the big question mark alongside Kimi's name is reliability. Assuming McLaren is on an 'upswing' it will be interesting to watch David Coulthard who starts from the back of the grid.

Following the glitz, glamour, and to a greater extent hype, of Monaco, today's grid seems mysteriously devoid of 'personalities'.

With five minutes to go before the cars begin their warm-up lap, the ambient temperature is 21 degrees C, while track temperature is 27 degrees.

The cars head off, everyone gets away.

The grid forms, nobody has opted to start from the pitlane.

Schumacher gets away beautifully in what is a low-key start, Alonso makes a brilliant start and gets ahead of Sato who goes wide at the first corner. Further behind the two williamsF1s clash, and Ralf is out.

At the end of lap one Schumacher leads Raikkonen by 2.4s with Alonso third ahead of Sato. Meanwhile Ralf Schumacher is out of the race, as is da Matta, who was caught out in the WilliamsF1 clash.

Montoya pits at the end of lap one for a new front wing.

At the end of lap 2, Schumacher leads by 3.9s, Raikkonen second ahead of Alonso, Sato, Barrichello, Button, Trulli and Panis.

Michael sets the fastest lap as he extends his lead to 6.3s, as Raikkonen has Alonso climbing all over him. Button is in sixth but under serious pressure from Trulli.

At the end of lap 4, Schumacher leads Raikkonen by 8.9s. Alonso is all over Raikkonen while Sato is right on the heels of the Renault. Meanwhile Barrichello is holding up Button and Trulli.

Behind Trulli, it's Panis in eighth ahead of Coulthard, Klien and Heidfeld, Pantano, Webber, Fisichella and Massa.

Six laps completed and another fastest lap for Michael (1:29.635) who leads by 14.1s as Raikkonen has his hands full with Alonso, Sato, Barrichello and Button.

As Michael heads off into the distance, Raikkonen is slowing the rest of the field, as a queue forms behind the Finn. This of course plays into the Ferrari drivers hands.

At the end of lap 8, Michael pits, he's stationary for 8.3s returning to the track in seventh right behind Trulli, who is part of the queue behind Raikkonen.

A McLaren leads - no it's not a late April fool - with Raikkonen ahead of Alonso, Sato and Barrichello.

Next time around Kimi pits, as does Trulli, which releases Alonso and Sato.

Fernando Alonso leads Takuma Sato by 0.6s with Barrichello third ahead of Button.

At the end of lap 9, Alonso pits as Kimi Raikkonen's engine blows, game over for the Finn again!

Takuma Sato now leads Rubens Barrichello with Jenson Button third, as Kimi Raikkonen stands by his stranded car, clearly disgusted.

At the end of lap 11 Button pits, while teammate Sato stretches his lead over Barrichello to 2.2s, while Michael is now running third.

At the end of lap 12, it's Sato that pits, handing the lead to Barrichello, who is 2.4s ahead of Michael Schumacher. The Brazilian has yet to stop, as has Coulthard and Klien.

Thirteen laps completed and Barrichello leads Michael, with Sato third ahead of Coulthard, Button, Klien, Heidfeld, Alonso, Webber and Fisichella.

Next time around Heidfeld pits, which promotes Trulli as Alonso loses several positions after going wide.

At the end of lap 15, Barrichello pits, he's stationary for 9.4, as teammate Michael Schumacher heads off into the distance with a 15s lead over Sato.

As Schumacher leads Sato, Barrichello is third ahead of Coulthard - who has yet to stop - Jenson Button, Webber and Fisichella, who both have to stop.

Button is all over Coulthard, who like Raikkonen earlier, is holding him up, unable to keep pace with the leaders.

Elsewhere Trulli is over Fisichella like a rash for seventh, while Klien is trying to hold off Heidfeld for thirteenth.

At the end of lap 18, Webber pits as does Massa, leaving Coulthard and Fisichella as the only two drivers yet to stop.

Montoya has a big moment which allows Klien to get up close and almost personal with the Colombian, WilliamsF1 having another disappointing weekend.

At the end of lap 20 - one-third distance - Schumacher leads Sato by 16.4s, with Barrichello third, a further 10.5s behind. Meanwhile Coulthard finally pits, however Button has already passed him in a superbly executed move at the hairpin. Giancarlo Fisichella is the only driver still to stop.

Schumacher leads Sato by 16.8s with Giancarlo Fisichella running an amazing fifth.

At the end of lap 22, Montoya makes his second stop, it's another miserable weekend for the Colombian who is about to be lapped by Michael Schumacher for the second successive race.

Schumacher and the two BARs are lapping in the mid 1:30s while everyone else is at least a second off the pace.

At the end of lap 24, Fisichella finally pits, he's stationary for 10.1s, rejoining in eighth behind Coulthard.

Next time around Button makes his second stop, while teammate Sato stops on the next lap.

It's all over for McLaren (Again) as DC pulls off track with smoke coming out of the back of his car… another dreadful weekend for the Woking team.

As the dust settles, or should that be smoke clears, Michael leads Barrichello by 28s with Sato third ahead of Trulli and Alonso.

At the end of lap 28, Michael stops, the German stationary for 8.1. Meanwhile Montoya is having a terrific scrap with Klien who is having none of it. The Colombian finally barges his way past as Massa takes advantage, the Jaguar driver losing two places in one move.

Despite having made his second stop, Schumacher still leads, albeit by 5.9s. Meanwhile David Coulthard returns to the pits in a recovery truck, not for the first time this weekend.

End of lap 30, half-distance, Alonso pits, allowing Button through to take fourth.

Schumacher leads Barrichello, who has to stop again, with Sato third ahead of Button, Trulli, Alonso, Fisichella and Webber. Montoya is ninth ahead of Massa, Klien, Heidfeld and Panis.

The only 'scraps' right now are Fisichella and Webber, who are fighting for seventh, while Klien is holding off Heidfeld and Panis for eleventh.

With 33 laps completed Schumacher leads Barrichello by 9s with Sato a further 4.6s behind and Button 18s down the road. Juan Pablo Montoya is ninth, 24.5s behind the last of the current 'point scorers', Mark Webber.

Despite his lead, Schumacher is still lapping in the mid 1:30s, while Sato and Barrichello are lapping in the low 1:32s.

At the end of lap 37, Klien makes his second stop, which promotes Panis to twelfth.

Next time around Barrichello makes his second stop. The Brazilian is stationary for 10s, re-joining in third ahead of Button, which is bad news for BAR. Webber (eighth) also pits.

With 39 laps competed, Michael Schumacher leads Takuma Sato by 18.8s, with Barrichello third (18.5s down on the BAR), and Button a further second behind. Trulli is fifth ahead of teammate Alonso. Fisichella is seventh, though he has to make a second stop, while Montoya is eighth ahead of Webber.

Barrichello is now 19.8s behind Sato, who will be stopping again. The big question is, has the Japanese driver got enough of an advantage to make that stop and hold on to second?

Alonso pits at the end of lap 42, the Renaults having a strange race, but still scoring points.

As the Ferrari crew prepares for Michael's final stop, Sato has a 21.21s advantage over Barrichello. Schumacher is stationary for 7.9s exiting as Sato comes in. The BAR is stationary for 7.3s, exiting behind Barrichello but ahead of Button.

In all the excitement Trulli pits as does Fisichella, meanwhile Sato has a major lock-up.

Sato makes a move on Barrichello at the hairpin, and there's a bit of a coming together. The BAR driver has clearly lost his front wing, but what about his suspension. It was a silly unnecessary move, Barrichello was there for the taking, but not then and not necessarily there.

Next time around the Japanese driver pits, a new nose is fitted, but he's lost more than 14s.

As the dust settles, Sato is fifth behind Trulli but not for long.. his engine blows big time on the pit straight. Game over for the popular Japanese driver.

Therefore Michael leads Barrichello by 19.8s with Button a further 14.1s down the road. Trulli is fourth, ahead of Alonso, Fisichella, Webber, Montoya, Massa and Heidfeld.

Button pursues Barrichello, taking half-a-second a lap out of the Brazilian. However with a 12.6s deficit, it's a mighty tall order.

Barring any last-minute dramas, the order appears to be settled, Button is 9s behind Barrichello but with six laps remaining the BAR driver isn't going to get another eight points this afternoon.

While Schumacher and Button will receive all the plaudits, surely Giancarlo Fisichella and Mark Webber deserve a special mention.

Heidfeld has closed to within 1.1s of Massa, who is running ninth, another good performance from the German.

Meanwhile it's revealed that an incident involving Klien is under investigation.

Schumacher takes another win, and another giant step towards his seventh World Championship, as he climbs from the car he doesn't appear to have broken sweat.

Once again Rubens Barrichello is there, just in case, while Jenson Button steps on to the podium for the fifth time this season.

Despite a quite race, the Renault duo both finish and add a further nine points to the French outfit's tally, while Fisichella give Sauber something to celebrate with three points the rightly reward the team's strategy and a fine drive by the Italian.

Mark Webber makes the best of a bad situation by taking two points for Jaguar, while Montoya's sole point is hardly likely to ease the situation at Grove, or indeed Munich.

Another 'by the book' performance from Schumacher and Ferrari, but let's not forget that brilliant performance from Takuma Sato. Yes, the Japanese youngster did somewhat blot his copybook with that lunge at Barrichello, but his two qualifying laps alone were worth the price of admission this weekend.

While we're praising Takuma, let's not forget Nick Heidfeld who delivered another solid performance, while Zsolt Baumgartner continued to impress.

If Ralf Schumacher feels aggrieved then how will David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen feel, having given 100%, for nothing?

All in all, it was business as usual, clear proof the Monaco was just a minor blip for Schumacher and the red steamroller.

This article and associated image was produced by pitpass.com and is used with permission.