2004 Brazilian Grand Prix Review
By Pablo Elizalde, Spain
Atlas F1 News Editor
Rubens Barrichello was the hot favourite, but it was not to be, again. After a year of struggle, the Brazilian Grand Prix saw Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya leaving the Williams team on a high following a superb first victory of the season. Atlas F1's Pablo Elizalde reviews the events and results from the final race of the 2004 season
The Contract Recognition Board's decision to make Jenson Button stay at BAR next year, the radical measures announced for 2005 by the FIA on Friday, and then the more radical proposals from nine of the ten Formula One teams - and more importantly leaving Ferrari on their own - overshadowed the final Grand Prix weekend of the 2004 season.
The Brazilian race is unlikely to go into the history books for what happened during the 71 laps of the Interlagos event, but rather because of the decisions which were taken by team bosses to finally agree that something is needed to be done to solve the sport's problems. Only time will tell, however, if the move is successful and if it justifies all the controversy that has generated and will generate in the near future.
Politics aside, however, the weekend ended with a race, and it was a decent one, too.
For the Ferrari team, it was not only a bad weekend politically wise, but also disappointing when it came to racing. Despite starting out as favourites and with Rubens Barrichello on pole, the Italian squad came close to missing the podium.
The day, in the end, belonged to Juan Pablo Montoya, who left the Williams team with a victorious send-off after returning to winning ways for the first time since last year's German Grand Prix in July. It was a deserved win, too, after the Colombian put on a gutsy and error-free performance to hold off the challenge from McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen.
"I think it was a tough race," said Montoya. "I came into the race thinking Kimi was going to be the guy that had the chance to win the race. Before the race there are always rumours as to who's got more fuel than whom and when I heard how much fuel - supposedly - Kimi had I thought 'phew, he'll be hard to beat.'"
But Montoya made the most of the tricky conditions after the rain hit the Interlagos circuit before and during the race. He pushed hard when it was needed and even overtook Raikkonen without many problems before running flawlessly to the chequered flag. It was a sweet end to a bitter season, from which both Montoya and his team had expected a lot more than celebrating their first win in the season-ending race.
"What a fantastic way to finish the season," said Williams' technical director Sam Michael. "He didn't put a foot wrong, the pit crew and the engineers got everything right as well. It's been a hard season for us and this is a great reward."
Victory allowed Williams to secure fourth place in the standings, relegating McLaren to fifth after Raikkonen had to settle for second despite looking like a winner for a big part of the event. Like in China, the McLaren driver opted for a somewhat different strategy than his rivals, staying on track longer than Montoya before making his final stop.
But the move didn't work and Raikkonen had to be content with second place behind his future teammate. Judging by the Brazilian race, however, things are looking promising for McLaren, who will have one of the strongest driver line-ups of the field.
Barrichello broke his duck in Brazil and, after 10 failed attempts to finish his home Grand Prix, he could finally cross under the chequered flag in the points. It was, however, a disappointing result for the Ferrari driver, who was hoping to finish on top following his pole position, and more so after teammate Michael Schumacher had put himself out of contention after crashing in practice.
The conditions, however, played against the Bridgestone-shod runners and there was nothing Barrichello could do to keep up with the leading duo. The Michelins were superior when the track was damp and cold, and also Ferrari got it wrong and left Barrichello out on track a lap too many before switching to dry-weather tyres at the start of the race.
"I think the conditions were not favourable," said Barrichello. "In damp conditions we are still not fantastic. Had it stayed dry we'd have had a completely different pace. The car was all over the place, we lost a lot of time at the beginning because of that."
For Schumacher things were even worse, the German not only starting from 18th position but also spinning at the beginning of the race. The World Champion looked determined to stay out of Barrichello's spotlight during the weekend, but in the end none of the Ferraris showed the pace to win.
Neither did the team who finished behind Ferrari in the standings, as BAR had a disappointing final race which showed again they depend on Button to fight at the top. As it was, however, the Briton went out of the race with an engine failure very early on and Takuma Sato failed to shine, coming home in a distant sixth place.
Even if the team from Brackley enjoyed their strongest season to date, they missed the icing on the cake, and were the only ones of the top five teams to end the year without a win. If their gap to Renault had been smaller, they would have gone through a scary time when Fernando Alonso emerged in the lead following a tyre gamble at the start.
The Spaniard was one of three drivers to take the start with dry-weather tyres - the other being teammate Jacques Villeneuve and David Coulthard - and despite dropping off during the first couple of laps, the decision proved right and, when everyone had pitted, Alonso found himself in the lead. He didn't have the pace to stay there, but fourth place was a strong result given the competitiveness of the R24 in the final races.
The Brazilian Grand Prix was a race of significant goodbyes, and both very disappointing. Coulthard, in his final race for McLaren and without a drive for next season, did himself no favours with his performance, never looking like having the pace to fight for the points. Time will tell if the Scot gets a chance to redeem himself from his disastrous season.
For Jaguar, their last Formula One race could not have had a worse finish, their cars crashing into each other on lap 26 when Mark Webber tried to overtake Christian Klien. The Australian will surely have brighter days. For the Austrian and for the team the future looks bleak.
On the day where nine of the Formula One teams announced proposed radical new measures for 2005 while also making it clear that Ferrari were against them, qualifying seemed to be of little importance for most involved in Formula One.
For the Brazilian fans populating the stands, however, racing was the only thing that mattered on Saturday, and more so with Barrichello looking like the hot favourite for a second pole position in a row. Politics aside, qualifying provided an entertaining show which delighted the local fans as the Ferrari driver got a last-minute pole.
The Grid
1. Rubens Barrichello
2. Juan Pablo Montoya
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. Felipe Massa
5. Jenson Button
6. Takuma Sato
7. Ralf Schumacher
8. Fernando Alonso
9. Jarno Trulli
10. Giancarlo Fisichella
11. Mark Webber
12. David Coulthard
13. Jacques Villeneuve
14. Ricardo Zonta
15. Christian Klien
16. Nick Heidfeld
17. Timo Glock
18. Michael Schumacher
19. Zsolt Baumgartner
20. Gianmaria Bruni
The Race
The final minutes before the start of the race saw frantic movement on the grid as the anticipated rain began to fall over Interlagos. It was not enough to make the track completely wet, but the surface was very slippery and most of the teams decided to use intermediate tyres, even if it meant pitting very early. Only the two Renaults of Alonso and Villeneuve, and Coulthard, ventured to go for dry-weather tyres.
At the start, Barrichello got a clean start while Montoya struggled off the line and was passed by both Raikkonen and Massa while further behind, and despite a good start, Alonso could hardly make the first corner with his tyres and was soon relegated to the back of the field, just like Villeneuve, who nearly went off at the first corner, and Coulthard.
The conditions were clearly benefitting the Michelin runners, and Raikkonen needed very little time to pass Barrichello for the lead. Button was also making the most of his tyres and moved in front of Montoya and Massa to place himself in third place. However, before the end of the second lap, Montoya had already moved in front of Button, with Massa following suit.
Raikkonen quickly showed he was making the best of the conditions and opened a small gap to Barrichello before the Brazilian's Bridgestone tyres began to work properly. Montoya followed in third ahead of Massa, while Button had dropped down the order as his Honda engine, already smoking on the grid, began to fail. By lap four, the Briton was forced to park his car and put an end to his season in the most disappointing way.
Also on lap four, there was a change in the lead as Barrichello dived down the inside of Raikkonen at the end of the straight. By then it was obvious that the track was already too dry for intermediates, and Alonso proved it by posting the quickest lap as he began his charge towards the front having dropped to 17th position by the end of lap two.
Ralf was the first of the top runners to pit, and he was soon followed by Raikkonen and Montoya, who almost touched in the pitlane after the Finn rejoined when the Colombian was passing by. The cars run side by side down the pitlane, and although Raikkonen emerged in front, Montoya overtook him at the end of the back straight. At the end of the race, Raikkonen would be fined for the incident.
While his main rivals had already pitted, Barrichello stayed out for another lap, losing a lot of time to both Raikkonen and Montoya. When the Ferrari driver finally stopped on the following lap, he rejoined in ninth place some six seconds behind his rivals.
Massa led briefly before making his late stop, and when everybody had pitted, Alonso was the leader nearly eight seconds ahead of Montoya. Raikkonen was third some two seconds behind the Williams driver, with Ralf following in fourth, Sato in fifth and Barrichello in sixth over 20 seconds off the lead. His teammate Schumacher, who had spun on lap three of the race, was down in 10th place.
For a few laps, Alonso was the quickest man on track, but by lap 12 Montoya began to close the gap to the Spaniard as the race finally settled down following a frantic opening part. The Williams driver eventually took the lead of the race when Alonso made his first pitstop on lap 18, returning to the track in sixth place behind Barrichello and ahead of his teammate Villeneuve.
Montoya and Raikkonen lapped at the same pace for a few laps, the Colombian some four seconds in front, while Ralf was managing to close the gap on the McLaren driver. By lap 23 the German was some four seconds adrift as the second round of pistops loomed.
Further behind, there was disaster for Jaguar as Webber tried to overtake Klien for 10th place. The Australian dived down the inside at the first corner and the rookie failed to see him and took the corner as usual. The cars collided and Webber was forced out of the race while Klien had to pit for repairs.
"Christian turned into me, really," said Webber. "Unbelievable, but that's what happens in motorsport. He's apologised, it happens. It's just not the right day for it to happen really. You don't want to finish the season like that." Especially when the season was the team's final one in Formula One.
Ralf again triggered the second round of pitstops, and he was soon followed by the rest of the leaders. Raikkonen pitted a lap later than Montoya, but the Finn still rejoined the race behind the Colombian and ahead of Alonso. Ralf was fourth, Barrichello fifth nearly 20 seconds off the lead, Sato sixth, and Schumacher and Villeneuve completing the top eight.
Just a few laps after everybody had pitted, a light rain began to fall over Interlagos, but despite the scare, it was no more than that and the track stayed dry enough to avoid changing tyres. For several laps, there was little action on track, with Montoya staying some five seconds in front of Raikkonen and around 20 ahead of Alonso, who had Ralf and Barrichello right behind him.
Alonso came into the pits for the final time on lap 48, dropping down to seventh place. He gained one place when Ralf pitted on the following lap, although he lost out to Barrichello, who pitted and returned in front of the Renault driver, who had passed Ralf to regain sixth place.
Montoya came into the pits for the last time on lap 50, leaving Raikkonen in the lead as the Finn prolonged his final stop for quite a few laps. With his car lighter than Montoya's, Raikkonen pushed as hard as possible before coming into the pits on lap 55. The McLaren driver stood still for only 6.8 seconds, but when he rejoined the race he was still behind Montoya, although the gap was less than two seconds.
Barrichello followed in third place, the Brazilian nearly 20 seconds behind and already very much out of contention. Alonso was fourth, with Sato, Ralf, and Michael Schumacher following closely. Massa completed the top eight.
For several laps the order remained unchanged, although Raikkonen closed the gap to Montoya and got right behind the Colombian as the end of the race approached. Apart from Ralf passing Sato for fifth with just two laps remaining, there were no changes in the point-scoring positions.
Despite the pressure from Raikkonen, Montoya stayed cool for the remaining laps and crossed under the chequered flag a second ahead of his rival, giving Williams their first and only win of the season.
"I think it was a tough race," said a delighted Montoya. "I came into the race thinking Kimi was going to be the guy that had the chance to win the race. Before the race there are always rumours as to who's got more fuel than whom and when I heard how much fuel - supposedly - Kimi had I thought 'phew, he'll be hard to beat.'"
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