Atlas F1 News Editor
Following the controversy of the Austrian Grand Prix two weeks earlier, Formula One needed a race that would put all those memories behind, and Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix provided just that. The race was exciting, with lots of drama and with David Coulthard finally returning to the top of the podium. But most importantly, it was a motor racing event, and just that. Atlas F1's Pablo Elizalde reviews the entire weekend's events and results
But the tight and twisty streets of the Monte Carlo circuit provided just what Formula One needed: a motor racing event with a winner that didn't have Schumacher as his surname. It was surely far from the most exciting Formula One race in recent times, but it definitely helped people remember that, despite not being in its best ever form, there's still a lot Formula One can offer.
"It restored Formula One's credibility in many respects because it was such an exciting race all the way through," said team boss Eddie Jordan after the race. "Even the battle for sixth place, the battle for fifth place, for fourth... all in all it was a testament to Formula One and showed what it can be."
Unexpectedly, David Coulthard and his McLaren team rose from their ashes to finally end Michael Schumacher's and his F2002's winning streak. The Scot drove one of his best races since he joined Formula One racing back in 1994, extracting the maximum from a McLaren that up to the Monaco race, had looked like a car highly incapable of allowing its drivers a chance of victory.
Ironically for Coulthard, last year's Monaco Grand Prix marked the start of his Championship challenge after his win at the A1-Ring. This year, to some extent, the Scot turned the tables, and though his options in this year's Championship are close to zero, his and McLaren's performance in Monaco were certainly a needed boost of morale both for driver and team after a disappointing start of the season.
"The software guys have worked extremely hard and we've made some improvements since the beginning of the season," said Coulthard. "They've made some big steps forward and they were all confident based on what happened in Austria that I would lead into the first corner, just by looking at the analysis of the starts from the Williams there.
"All I had to do was take my finger off the button and hope they were right," added Coulthard, who was left stranded on the grid last year due to a problem with his car's launch control after clinching pole position.
After taking the lead at the start of the race, Coulthard completed a flawless drive to keep first Montoya and then Schumacher at bay, forcing the German to settle for his first 'defeat' in five races. The German and his team tried to be as quiet as possible during most of the weekend, repeating how important the tifosi are for them following their reaction at the A1-Ring, and just concentrating on increasing their Championship lead.
In that respect, the race was positive for Ferrari and especially for Schumacher, who despite failing to shine as brightly as usual, left Monaco still further ahead of his Williams rivals. The World Champion was nonetheless fast enough to win the race, and only a brilliant Coulthard stopped the German from scoring his fifth consecutive win in a season that is quickly turning into a cakewalk.
For Williams, the Monaco Grand Prix represented yet another disappointment, and with that it's 19 years since the Grove-based team last won at the principality. Before the race everything looked very promising for Montoya who, with a sensational lap, had scored Williams' first pole in Monaco since 1997. However, a poor start and his first retirement of the year left Schumacher as the only driver to have made it to the finish line in all seven races.
After a few races is Ralf's shadow, the Colombian seemed to be again the man who clashed with Schumacher at the start of the year, driving hard to stay ahead of the German. In the end, however, a mechanical problem erased all hopes of scoring his first win of the season. Ralf was left to defend Williams' colours, but his disliking of the tight street circuit and a problem with a tyre made the German having to settle for a distant third that only helped him equal his teammate in the standings.
Despite the post-race scare, Jarno Trulli finally made it to the finish in the points with Renault, with compatriot Giancarlo Fisichella giving Jordan their second consecutive point-scoring finish. Heinz-Harald Frentzen was also in the points for Arrows after doing his best to keep Rubens Barrichello at bay on the final laps of the race, the Brazilian looking more like the man who struggled in 2001 than the quick driver who gifted the win to Michael Schumacher in Austria.
Qualifying
Every driver will usually agree that at the Monaco Grand Prix anything is possible. This year that was exactly the case, with qualifying providing a rather surprising grid on which Michael Schumacher and Ferrari didn't seem to be the dominant force they have been in the previous races.
However, in the end, both drivers had to concede to Juan Pablo Montoya who, in his second appearance at the Monaco Grand Prix, completed a blistering final lap seconds from the end of the session to demote Coulthard from what looked set to be his second consecutive pole position at the principality. A hot day and a traffic-free lap - something that most drivers struggled to find - helped Montoya's cause, with his Michelin tyres performing better than the Bridgestone of their only rivals.
As it turned out, the Bridgestones would prove very consistent and quick during Sunday's race, but the Japanese manufacturer's qualifying compound was no match for the Michelin, as the grid showed, with eight of the top ten runners using the French rubber.
Of course, failing to extract the best from a car in qualifying at the Monte Carlo circuit usually equals struggling during the race on a track where clearly fast car doesn't guarantee anything due to the difficulty in overtaking a car that occupies nearly half the width of the road.
After Michael Schumacher had come out and straight back into the pits 25 minutes into the session, it was Montoya who opened the proceedings for the top runners by setting a time of 1:18.698, while Ralf's first run, spoiled by traffic, was only good enough for a distant third. Coulthard first, and then Barrichello would demote Montoya from the top spot, the Brazilian completing what would prove to be his only clear run.
"If I'd got a quick run I don't know whether I would have managed pole, but I certainly think I could have made the front row," complained a frustrated Barrichello, whose second run was hampered by Coulthard.
Schumacher senior, who had aborted his first run after mistakenly believing there had been an accident on the track, came back out with more than half the session gone, stopping the clock on 1:17.712 to jump to the top of the timesheets. His joy, however, was short-lived, as Coulthard returned to the track moments later to again move to first place with a lap less than a tenth quicker than the German.
Montoya began to show his intentions on his second run, being the first man to beat Coulthard's pole position time from last year with a lap of 1:17.275, but the Colombian would be beaten by his own teammate Ralf a few minutes later, who stopped the clock only a thousand of a second earlier than Montoya.
But the times continued to tumble as the session was coming to a close, and it was Coulthard again who, with a lap more than half a second quicker than his previous best, leapfrogged both Williams drivers. Meanwhile, Michael Schumacher, who was having problems with his eye, had come out and again back into the pits on his third attempt.
The German driver came back out for his final run with five minutes remaining, in the hope of finding a clear lap, and although he completed his run with no problems, his pace was only good enough to move him up to second place behind Coulthard.
Neither Ralf nor Barrichello were capable of improving on their final attempts, having to settle for fourth and fifth places respectively after Montoya, who was flying around the track, crossing the finish line to stop the clock watch on 1:16.676, stealing from Coulthard what looked a secured pole. Montoya also shredded the lap record of 1:17.430, set by Coulthard in 2001.
Despite losing pole on the dying moments, Coulthard remained confident of taking his first win in more than a year, but above all, the Scot was hoping to avoid a repeat of last year's nightmare.
"I was watching the highlights of last year's race and all the frustration came flooding back to me," said Coulthard, who was left stranded before the formation lap. "I should have fast-forwarded the start. But it is just one race in your career so thankfully I had the opportunity to win here before. I know how good that feels and it would be great to be able to do that tomorrow."
The Schumacher brothers had to settle for the second row, with Michael edging Ralf. The World Champion remained calm ahead of the race, but at the end of the weekend, starting from the first row would have proved vital for his chances of victory.
"At the end of the day we have probably been a bit behind all weekend," Schumacher said. "Obviously at the top there are quite a few Michelin tyres where as there are normally a few Bridgestones there... but we are not too worried because we are not too far off. We are in third place and we have a long race ahead of us."
The Race
"I think it was more the software because the engine pulled away well," Montoya said of his start. "In the last race we lost two places and here one place at the start. I need to talk to the engineers but I need to tell them that we need to do something. This is a wake-up call."
Coulthard arrived in the lead at the first corner, with Montoya following after keeping Michael Schumacher at bay. The German was followed by his brother Ralf, Jarno Trulli in the first of the Renaults and Kimi Raikkonen in the second McLaren as Rubens Barrichello slipped back to seventh after a poor getaway.
Barrichello, however, was not the worst starter, as both Jenson Button and Jacques Villeneuve had different problems. The Briton got moving before the red lights went off, and once he noticed his mistake he braked and lost several positions as a result. To make matters worse, he earned a penalty for his infringement, saying goodbye to any chances of scoring points. Villeneuve, meanwhile, had to take the start from the pits after stalling on the grid.
It didn't take long before it was clear that Coulthard was slowing his pursuers, with Montoya, Schumacher and Ralf following less than two seconds behind the Scot. Montoya put pressure on Coulthard while Schumacher put even more pressure on him, but the tight circuit made it impossible for any of them to overtake and the laps went by with the order unaltered.
Toyota's Allan McNish, who had shined in his first qualifying at Monte Carlo by setting the tenth quickest time, was the first victim of the Sainte Devote corner, touching the inside of the corner and crashing head-on against the tyres barriers.
By lap 20, Coulthard managed to get some breathing space to Montoya, with Schumacher less than one second behind the Colombian and Ralf a further second adrift of his brother. Trulli was able to keep his fifth place, but the Italian was already more than ten seconds behind the leading group. Further back, Raikkonen and Barrichello were still holding on to their positions, while Heinz-Harald Frentzen was the only man on the move, climbing up to eighth after moving ahead of Mika Salo in the Toyota after the Finn was forced to pit when a left rear tyre lost tread, a problem Michelin had already suffered during qualifying.
Moments later, the second victim of the unforgiving Monaco walls was Jordan's Takuma Sato, who crashed heavily when trying to make room for teammate Giancarlo Fisichella when going through the tunnel, destroying yet another car for the Silverstone-based squad.
"Giancarlo was slightly quicker than me and because I was ahead of him, the team asked me to let him through," Sato explained afterwards. "While I was trying to make space for him, I picked up dust, slid and lost control of the car."
Without time to relax, another big moment took place at the end of the straight when Felipe Massa left his braking way too late and literally pushed the Arrows of Enrique Bernoldi down the escape area at Ste Devote, both being able to continue after losing several positions.
To prove that there were no problems with his car, the Scot set the fastest lap moments later, beginning to edge away for Montoya, who was sliding all over the track with Schumacher right behind his Williams' rear wing. Schumacher's teammate Barrichello was also trying hard to overtake Raikkonen for sixth place, the Brazilian finally making a rather optimistic move on lap 40.
Barrichello seemed to brake too late, and with nowhere to go he crashed into the back of the McLaren, forcing Raikkonen into his sixth consecutive retirement. The Ferrari driver was able to continue after replacing his car's front wing and later serving a stop-and-go penalty for his driving. It was not his day, though, and he would be penalised again for speeding in the pitlane while coming out!
Schumacher continued to put pressure on Montoya, who was unable to keep Coulthard's pace, his gap increasing to more than seven seconds by lap 44, when Schumacher dived into the pits for his only stop. The German stood still for 8.5 seconds and rejoined in fourth. Ironically, after finally getting rid of Montoya, Schumacher saw the Colombian slowing down dramatically and eventually retiring with a broken engine.
Teammate Ralf pitted on lap 50, dropping behind his brother, who was driving hard to close to the gap to Coulthard, the Scot pitting a lap later and rejoining right ahead of his rival. Fisichella moved up to fourth after delaying his pitstop until lap 52, returning to the track in fifth behind Trulli and ahead of Frentzen, who had benefitted from the Raikkonen/Barrichello incident to move into the points.
As he had done with Montoya earlier on, Schumacher began to put pressure on Coulthard. Just like with Montoya, the pressure didn't pay off and the German's efforts didn't force the Scot into an error. Ralf, already more than 20 seconds adrift, suffered the same problem Salo had suffered earlier with his tyres, and the Williams driver was forced to pit, fortunately for him staying ahead of Trulli.
The laps went by calmly until Massa suffered a heavy crash on lap 64, his Sauber refusing to brake. The Brazilian went head-on into the tyres barriers at Ste Devote, wrecking his Sauber but fortunately walking away unscathed despite taking his time to come out of his car.
Despite running within one second of Coulthard, Schumacher was unable - or didn't think it was worth it - to do anything to overtake the Scot, who crossed the finish line to win again 378 days after his victory at the Austrian Grand Prix.
"It's unbelievable - I feel fantastic because naturally we've had a difficult start to the season," said Coulthard, who became the first non-Schumacher winner this year. "It was looking pretty difficult for us to win a Grand Prix and our hopes were pinned on coming to Monaco that we could have a good performance."
For the first time in his F1 career, Ralf was finally able to cross under the chequered flag at Monaco, finishing ahead of Trulli and Fisichella, with Frentzen scoring the final point after fending off the challenge of Barrichello during the final laps of the race.
Trulli's fourth place, however, was put in doubt after his Renault failed to pass the post-race inspection due to issues related to the launch control system. Fortunately, after further investigation, Trulli could keep his first points of the year.
Despite their return to form in Monaco, McLaren remained realistic about their options for the future races, with team boss Ron Dennis expecting a 'painful' Canadian Grand Prix. "We should be competitive in Hungary and two or three other circuits but we are under no illusions," he said. "Canada is going to be painful."
If even for one race, it was good to see another team fighting for wins in a season so far dominated by Ferrari and Michael Schumacher. It was also good to see that, at least for one race, Formula One left controversy aside and provided what the fans pay to see.
Lap 3: The top three runners all set fastest laps as they close to within a few tenths of each other. It is clear that Coulthard is holding everyone up as Ralf Schumacher is able to close up to the top three. A gap develops to Trulli, whom is fighting to keep Raikkonen and Barrichello behind him. Behind them are two Toyotas with Mika Salo leading Allan McNish and the top 10 is completed by Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Arrows.
Lap 6: Button goes to the pits for a drive through penalty for jumping the start and drops from 17th to 21st.
Lap 11: The top four have run together with Coulthard dictating the pace. At the back of the field Alex Yoong makes a mistake at the Grand Hairpin and is overtaken by Button for 20th place.
Lap 13: Coulthard sets the fastest lap of the race and takes his lead to a second for the first time.
Lap 19: Salo is overtaken by Frentzen for eighth place. Fisichella is right with them and has to lift off and as a result he falls behind his team mate Takuma Sato.
Lap 20: Frentzen sets the fastest lap of the race.
Lap 21: Salo pits and falls back from ninth place to 19th.
Lap 23: Sato makes a mistake in the tunnel and crashes into the outside wall at high speed. Fisichella is fortunate to avoid hitting his team mate and debris from the car.
Lap 26: Coulthard is still just ahead of Montoya, Michael and Ralf Schumacher. There is then a big gap back to Trulli, Raikkonen and Barrichello. At the tail of the field Yoong pits but remains in 19th.
Lap 28: The battle between Enrique Bernoldi and Felipe Massa for 10th place ends with Bernoldi overtaking the Sauber on the start-finish straight. At Ste Devote Massa brakes late and runs into the back of the Arrows and both cars go off into the escape road. Bernoldi rejoins in 16th while Massa pits for a new nose.
Lap 30: Smoke begins to be seen from time to time from the back of Coulthard's McLaren. Montoya is still behind him holding off the Schumacher brothers.
Lap 32: Massa is given a drive-through penalty for the accident with Bernoldi.
Lap 37: At the front Coulthard's car has stopped smoking and he begins to build up a lead as the mid-race pits stops begin as Button pits and falls from 14th to 17th.
Lap 40: As the leaders start making their way through traffic, Barrichello runs into the back of Raikkonen at the chicane, damaging the front of his car and the rear of the McLaren. Both men pit at the end of the lap. Raikkonen rejoins some laps later after his rear wing has been repaired but retires after one exploratory lap. Barrichello is given a 10-second stop-go penalty for the incident.
Lap 41: Bernoldi pits but there is a problem and he is delayed, dropping from 14th to 18th.
Lap 42: Barrichello comes into the pits for his penalty and accelerates away too quickly and earns himself a drive-through penalty as well. Eddie Irvine, who is running 12th, pits and drops back to 16th position.
Lap 44: Coulthard's lead over Montoya has increased to eight seconds. Michael Schumacher, who is stuck behind the Colombian, pits and so drops behind his brother. He gets out before the arrival of fifth-placed Frentzen. In the midfield Nick Heidfeld pits and Barrichello loses more time with his drive-through penalty. He is now back to 12th.
Lap 46: Coulthard's lead is up to nearly 12 seconds but Michael Schumacher is lapping quickly and sets the fastest lap of the race. Frentzen pits and falls from fifth place to seventh. Further back Salo overtakes Pedro de la Rosa to move to ninth place.
Lap 47: Montoya lets Ralf Schumacher pass him. Montoya's engines fails soon afterwards and he drops out. Frentzen returns to the pits for fuel because of malfunction in the refuelling equipment. Thanks to Montoya's demise is able to rejoin in sixth place, despite having made two stops. Villeneuve disappears from the race having spent the afternoon a lap behind everyone.
Lap 48: Panis drops behind both Salo and Barrichello while de la Rosa pits and so Salo emerges in seventh position.
Lap 50: Ralf Schumacher, who is 17 seconds behind Coulthard, pits and falls behind his brother.
Lap 52: Fisichella pits and falls from fourth to fifth. Further back Panis and Button collide at Ste Devote. Both men retire.
Lap 53: The race has settled down again with Coulthard able to hold off Schumacher's Ferrari. There is a 20-second gap back to Ralf Schumacher and another 20 seconds to Trulli with Fisichella behind him. Frentzen is sixth, the last unlapped runner, while Salo and Barrichello fight a lively battle for seventh.
Lap 60: Little has changed but Salo pits and drops behind Barrichello.
Lap 62: Bernoldi is given a drive-through penalty for cutting the chicane.
Lap 63: Webber comes in for his second stop and falls from ninth to 12th.
Lap 65: Ralf Schumacher has a problem with his left rear tyre and goes into the pits for new rubber. He retains third place.
Lap 70: Salo suffers a problem with his right front wheel and crashes at Massanet. This promotes Heidfeld to seventh place.
Lap 78: Coulthard wins his second Monaco GP victory, beating Michael Schumacher by just over a second. Ralf Schumacher is third 77 seconds behind. Trulli and Fisichella are a lap down and cross the line fighting over fourth place while Frentzen and Barrichello cross the line nose-to-tail as they fight for the final point. Heidfeld finishes eighth two laps down but ahead of the two Jaguars (Irvine ahead of de la Rosa) while Webber is 11th. The final runner is Bernoldi, half a minute behind the Minardi.
Monaco always changes the face of Formula One, and this year, the Grand Prix at the glamorous principality was the much needed breath of fresh air that the sport was looking for following one of its most controversial weekends in recent years in Austria two weeks earlier.
The teams, the powers that be, and the always-present celebrities, arrived at Monaco with the echoes of Ferrari's 'team orders' win still dwelling in their minds, and with the Italian team openly admitting that they were ready to do the same in Monaco if necessary, all eyes were set on them, at least until qualifying.
The combination of a McLaren that was the best car coming out of the slippery corners of the street track, and the Michelin tyres that held the upper hand during most of the weekend over rivals Bridgestone, helped making up for the relative low power of the Mercedes engine. A fantastic start also helped Coulthard's cause, and the Scot acknowledged his engineers.
Following Juan Pablo Montoya's first retirement of the season, and thanks to Ralf Schumacher's third place, Michael is 33 points ahead of both the Williams drivers, who between them don't have enough points to equal Schumacher's tally. Considering the four-time champion hasn't retired from a race since July last year and that Ferrari haven't failed to make it onto the podium since Malaysia 1999, the prospect of someone rocking his boat in the remaining part of the year looks highly unlikely.
With their standards somewhat lowered after Ferrari's domination of the first part of the season, the public could enjoy the battles for the remaining points, and two of the unluckiest drivers of the field got a reward for their strong performance.
The German had already failed to start from the front row at the Austrian Grand Prix two weeks ago, but Monte Carlo saw a Ferrari driver failing to qualify in the top two positions for the first time since the Belgian Grand Prix last year, ten races ago. Perhaps it was not as surprising to see Schumacher struggling to move to the top of the charts, as it was to see a rejuvenated David Coulthard looking like the stronger contender for most of the session.
The battle for pole was intense, with Ralf Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello also in the fray for an unusual five-way fight. The top spot changed hands frantically during most of the hour-long session, with even Renault's Jarno Trulli looking as a contender during the initial part of qualifying.
Meanwhile, Coulthard's teammate Kimi Raikkonen and his seemingly endless streak of bad luck continued, and the Finn could not complete his first run until nearly 40 minutes of the session were gone. The Finn had crashed during the free practice session, and the rescue crew had damaged his car's rollhoop, forcing him to use the spare car, which was also hit by problems. In the end, Raikkonen had to set his best qualifying time with Coulthard's spare machine.
"I kind of think it was really good," Montoya said of his lap. "The car has been behaving really good. We made some changes in the morning and everything that we have done has been in the right direction and that makes things easier. We made a couple more changes in qualifying and we picked up a good amount of time right at the end. I tried to put a lap together and I did."
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:16.676 158.224 km/h 12
2. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:17.068 + 0.392 11
3. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:17.118 + 0.442 12
4. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:17.274 + 0.598 12
5. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:17.357 + 0.681 11
6. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 1:17.660 + 0.984 11
7. Trulli Renault (M) 1:17.710 + 1.034 12
8. Button Renault (M) 1:18.132 + 1.456 12
9. Salo Toyota (M) 1:18.234 + 1.558 12
10. McNish Toyota (M) 1:18.292 + 1.616 12
11. Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) 1:18.342 + 1.666 12
12. Frentzen Arrows Cosworth (B) 1:18.607 + 1.931 12
13. Massa Sauber Petronas (B) 1:19.006 + 2.330 12
14. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:19.252 + 2.576 11
15. Bernoldi Arrows Cosworth (B) 1:19.412 + 2.736 12
16. Sato Jordan Honda (B) 1:19.461 + 2.785 11
17. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:19.500 + 2.824 12
18. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:19.569 + 2.893 12
19. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:19.674 + 2.998 8
20. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:19.796 + 3.120 12
21. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:20.139 + 3.463 11
22. Yoong Minardi Asiatech (M) 1:21.599 + 4.923 9
Amid wild rumours claiming some Bridgestone runners were planning to go for a non-stop race, the start took place under perfect weather conditions, and redeeming himself from last year's disaster, David Coulthard flew off the line, giving no chance to Juan Pablo Montoya, who after the race admitted he was not happy with the performance of his car's launch control system.
It was not until lap ten that Coulthard began to run quickly enough for the gap to Montoya to be slightly extended, the Scot lapping in the 1:22s for the first time.
30 laps into the race, Coulthard was continuing with his flawless run to victory when a worrying smoke began to come out from the back of his McLaren. "It felt like I had lost a bit of power and then I saw smoke coming out from the back," Coulthard explained. "I radioed back to the team and they told me it was nothing to worry about and fortunately they were right."
"I am really disappointed I could not finish this race," said Montoya after his first retirement of the season. "It's a real shame that we had an engine failure as the car and the engine had behaved so well through the weekend."
Having increased his lead once more, losing out to Coulthard for once was no big deal for Schumacher. "Very often, even a second place can be very important and knowing that the Ferrari was the quickest car on the track shows there is no reason to be pessimistic," he said. "Basically, the most important thing is to consolidate the lead in the Championship."
CLASSIFIED
Pos Driver Team Time
1. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 1h 45:39.055
2. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) + 1.050
3. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) + 1:17.450
4. Trulli Renault (M) + 1 Lap
5. Fisichella Jordan Honda (B) + 1 Lap
6. Frentzen Arrows Cosworth (B) + 1 Lap
7. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 1 Lap
8. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) + 2 Laps
9. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) + 2 Laps
10. de la Rosa Jaguar Cosworth (M) + 2 Laps
11. Webber Minardi Asiatech (M) + 2 Laps
12. Bernoldi Arrows Cosworth (B) + 2 Laps
Fastest Lap: Barrichello, 1:18.023, lap 68
NOT CLASSIFIED / RETIREMENTS
Salo Toyota (M) 70 Accident
Massa Sauber Petronas (B) 65 Crash
Panis BAR Honda (B) 53 Accident
Button Renault (M) 53 Accident
Montoya Williams BMW (M) 48 Engine
Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 46 Mechanical
Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) 43 Accident
Yoong Minardi Asiatech (M) 31 Mechanical
Sato Jordan Honda (B) 24 Crash
McNish Toyota (M) 17 Accident
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING, ROUND 7:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. M.Schumacher 60 1. Ferrari 72
2. R.Schumacher 27 2. Williams-BMW 54
= Montoya 27 3. McLaren-Mercedes 24
4. Coulthard 20 4. Renault 11
5. Barrichello 12 5. Sauber-Petronas 8
6. Button 8 6. Jordan-Honda 4
7. Heidfeld 5 7. Jaguar-Cosworth 3
8. Raikkonen 4 8. Minardi-Asiatech 2
= Fisichella 4 = Toyota 2
10. Irvine 3 = Arrows 2
= Massa 3
= Trulli 3
13. Webber 2
= Salo 2
= Frentzen 2
Pos Driver Team Lap Time
1. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 68 1:18.023
2. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 51 1:18.652 + 0.629
3. Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) 70 1:19.120 + 1.097
4. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (B) 74 1:19.360 + 1.337
5. Salo Toyota (M) 62 1:19.479 + 1.456
6. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 61 1:19.489 + 1.466
7. Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth (B) 76 1:19.601 + 1.578
8. Webber Minardi-Asiatech (M) 69 1:19.968 + 1.945
9. Bernoldi Arrows-Cosworth (B) 73 1:20.117 + 2.094
10. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 36 1:20.346 + 2.323
11. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 39 1:20.426 + 2.403
12. Trulli Renault (M) 46 1:20.445 + 2.422
13. Button Renault (M) 41 1:20.720 + 2.697
14. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 64 1:20.927 + 2.904
15. de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 62 1:20.953 + 2.930
16. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 55 1:21.057 + 3.034
17. Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 63 1:21.059 + 3.036
18. Panis BAR-Honda (B) 32 1:21.916 + 3.893
19. Villeneuve BAR-Honda (B) 34 1:22.037 + 4.014
20. Sato Jordan-Honda (B) 18 1:22.148 + 4.125
21. McNish Toyota (M) 15 1:22.250 + 4.227
22. Yoong Minardi-Asiatech (M) 25 1:22.784 + 4.761
Pos Driver Team Time Lap
1. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 18.303 44
2. Button Renault (M) 18.410 6
3. Bernoldi Arrows-Cosworth (B) 18.939 62
4. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 26.441 65
5. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (B) 27.481 51
6. Salo Toyota (M) 27.920 60
7. Trulli Renault (M) 27.967 43
8. Heidfeld Sauber-Petronas (B) 28.042 44
9. de la Rosa Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 28.088 48
10. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 28.221 50
11. Button Renault (M) 28.486 37
12. Irvine Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 28.653 42
13. Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth (B) 28.743 46
14. Frentzen Arrows-Cosworth (B) 28.780 47
15. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 28.874 44
16. Fisichella Jordan-Honda (B) 30.514 52
17. Yoong Minardi-Asiatech (M) 32.514 26
18. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 34.606 28
19. Webber Minardi-Asiatech (M) 36.471 29
20. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 37.583 40
21. Webber Minardi-Asiatech (M) 43.792 63
22. Bernoldi Arrows-Cosworth (B) 47.296 41
23. Salo Toyota (M) 31.217 21
24. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 31.397 32
25. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 31.521 42
26. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 3:16.687 40
The Monaco Grand Prix, Lap by Lap
Lap 1: At the start of the race David Coulthard gets away better than Juan-Pablo Montoya and takes the lead at Ste Devote. Michael Schumacher is third fastest with Ralf Schumacher fourth ahead of a fast starting Jarno Trulli and Kimi Raikkonen. Rubens Barrichello drops from fifth on the grid to seventh while Jenson Button jumps the start, lifts off and then is unable to put the power down again and so drops from eighth on the grid to 17th. Jacques Villeneuve fails to get off the grid and is pushed into the pit lane and starts the race from there a lap behind.
Lap 16: McNish makes a mistake at Ste Devote and slides into the barrier at the exit of the corner. This promotes Frentzen to ninth and Fisichella to 10th.
Lap 29: Mark Webber, running 12th, pits and drops to 17th. On the same lap Yoong hits the wall and retires.
Lap 43: Trulli is the first of the top six to pit. He falls from fifth to seventh.
Lap 51: Coulthard pits but is able to get out ahead of Michael Schumacher. Ralf is third with a huge gap back to Fisichella, Trulli and Frentzen. A lap down is Salo ahead of Barrichello. Webber overtakes Panis for ninth place, while Button closes in behind them.
Lap 64: Massa goes straight off at Ste Devote as the result of what appears to be a brake failure. He hits the wall very hard head-on but the impact is dissipated by the barriers and although shaken, Felipe is unhurt.
Please Contact Us for permission to republish this or any other material from Atlas F1.
