You would think that after six consecutive constructors' titles, five successive drivers' crowns, and 12 wins in 14 races this season, Ferrari would have run out of ways to leave their rivals amazed by their demonstrations of superiority and skill on track.
Well, think again.
Sunday's Italian Grand Prix highlighted Ferrari's dominance of the sport in such a way that it is hard to assimilate there have been two races this year in which the Italian squad have not finished on top. The Monza display was not only a demonstration of speed from their cars, or ability from their drivers: it was a masterclass lesson on how to read a race, and how to bring it back to you when it all looks lost at the halfway point.
For a big part of the race, it looked as though Ferrari would suffer the ignominy of being beaten, and badly, at home, where the big celebrations for an almost flawless season were due to take place following an anticipated red party. "At the beginning of the race I thought maybe it would be our first race without scoring points. Then I thought one or two points and slowly the points were improving," said Jean Todt at the end of the day.
Both Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher had to overcome major difficulties to reverse their poor situation, the former having dropped back after choosing intermediate tyres to start the race, and the latter forced to charge back from the bottom of the field following a spin on the opening lap.
But their ability to lap consistently quicker than their rivals began to pay off slowly, and to everybody's surprise, the Ferrari pair were back on top after 43 laps of the race gone.
After that, there was little doubt that Barrichello would win and Schumacher would settle for second, despite giving the impression that he had enough speed to pass his teammate. After all, he had recovered over 30 seconds despite having to fight his way through the field. In a season of total dominance, a Schumacher victory after such a superb drive would have had a touch of epic grandeur.
As it was, Barrichello got a deserved first win of the season after his strongest weekend of the year and Ferrari had their party while the rest of the field had to leave crestfallen and sighing in disbelief after it looked like the race was anyone's but Ferrari's.
BAR and Jenson Button got closest to beating Ferrari and taking their maiden Grand Prix win after a flawless performance. The Briton drove strongly and, aided by the competitive BAR-Honda package, led the race for some time before he had to concede to Ferrari's drivers in the final stages of the race.
"I didn't think the Ferrari's would be so strong towards the end of the race but their pace was unbelievable - untouchable," reflected Button at the race. "I thought we had the chance to win, but those two were just too quick," added the Briton, whose team, despite no win, found consolation in the fact the they managed to jump ahead of Renault in the standings.
The French squad endured another miserable day as they continued with their downward trend. Fernando Alonso was the strongest of the Renault pair all weekend and even looked set to fight for a podium place until he made a mistake and spun out of the race.
As for Jarno Trulli, the weekend was a non-event, at least in terms of racing, as his relationship with the team and Flavio Briatore continued to deteriorate. The Italian driver showed no pace at all during the race, except for the three final laps, when he suddenly managed to set a faster race lap than Alonso. If there was something to read into that, only Trulli knows, but what's for sure is that Renault face an uphill climb in their fight for second place in the Championship.
"When you are racing with only one driver it's hard to get any decent result," said Briatore after the race.
For a moment, Williams also looked like possible winners thanks to Juan Pablo Montoya's performance both in qualifying and during the early part of the race. The Williams, as usual, performed well on the long straights of Monza, until the Colombian began to suffer problems with his gearbox and dropped down the order to finish in a disappointing fifth place.
With Antonio Pizzonia's seventh position, Williams managed to stretch their lead over McLaren to eight points, which will not be enough to face the final three races of the season with too much optimism. At least the team from Grove managed to actually increase their lead over the Mercedes-powered squad after it was back to reality for the Woking-based team following their Belgian Grand Prix win.
Like BAR, Renault and Williams, McLaren had only one driver, Kimi Raikkonen, really in contention during the race, and he too looked capable of fighting for the top. In the end, however, the Finn also succumbed to mechanical problems in what was an anti-climax for him following his dominant win at Spa just two weeks earlier.
"It was a race several people could have won and Kimi was one of them," said McLaren chief Ron Dennis. "However we were quickly out of contention after Kimi's engine suffered a water leak which ultimately damaged the engine."
Qualifying
The result may not have been surprising: a Ferrari on pole at Monza was something everyone expected even ahead of the weekend. But everybody was expecting a tight battle for pole, too, and that, however, did not happen. It seemed that fuel levels had all to do with the lack of fight for the top spot after Rubens Barrichello went over half a second faster than anyone else.
The Brazilian's time of 1:20.089 - Formula One's quickest ever pole position - was more surprising considering the remaining nine drivers in the top ten were covered by the same gap Barrichello had to second-placed Juan Pablo Montoya. As usual, only Sunday's race would help get a clear picture of the real situation.
The Grid
1. Rubens Barrichello
In Schumacher's current form, it was not surprising that most of his rivals believed Barrichello completed his flying lap with very little fuel onboard. Outqualifying the World Champion by over half a second is not a common thing and Barrichello was delighted with his effort. The F2004 proved especially fast in the second split, where Barrichello proved untouchable on his way to his first pole position since the United States Grand Prix. With an average speed of 260.395km/h, Barrichello's pole time was the fastest ever in the history of Formula One.
2. Juan Pablo Montoya
Given Barrichello's pace and a probable low fuel load on the Brazilian's car, Montoya had to be happy with second place despite failing to emulate his pre-qualifying performance. The Williams driver said he made too many mistakes during his flying lap, although he reckoned he would have been unable to finish ahead of Barrichello anyway. Still, the Colombian managed to put on an exciting lap that spoiled Ferrari's dream of a front row lockout.
3. Michael Schumacher
Realistically it never looked as if Schumacher stood a chance of getting close to Barrichello, who seemed to be carrying a lot less fuel onboard. Still, the World Champion regretted a mistake, when entering the Parabolica corner, that probably cost him a place on the front row of the grid. Schumacher was the only driver capable of getting close to Barrichello's pace in the second sector, but that did not prove good enough after losing time at the end of his lap.
4. Fernando Alonso
Despite the theoretical lack of power from the Renault engine, Alonso and teammate Trulli were among the fastest drivers on the straight during the majority of the weekend and, unlike the Italian, the Spanish driver seemed to manage to extract the best from the Renault chassis. Alonso himself was surprised by his pace, and given his amazing starts, fourth place was almost as good as a place on the front row. Apart from having to take the start from the slippery part of the track, the Renault driver was very pleased with his showing.
5. Takuma Sato
Although the gap to a place on the front row of the grid was less than a tenth of a second, qualifying proved disappointing for Sato, who said he was expecting a better position given the potential of the BAR-Honda combination. The Japanese driver enjoyed a trouble-free weekend and as a result looked very competitive both on Friday and Saturday. In the end he was happy with his flying lap, but he failed to extract that extra tenth of a second which would have put him on the front row.
6. Jenson Button
Button too felt he had the car to be closer to the top of the timesheets, but he claimed his BAR's handling changed drastically from one qualifying session to the other. After posting a very promising time in pre-qualifying, the Briton said the balance of his 006 was poor in the final session and he struggled with oversteer for a significant part of the lap. The powerful Honda engine, however, gave him more hope for the race.
7. Kimi Raikkonen
Fresh from his brilliant win at Spa, it is fair to say that more was expected from the McLaren driver in qualifying at Monza. Raikkonen started his weekend strongly, posting the second quickest time in Friday's practice, and the McLaren, with a revised front wing, looked balanced and fast on the long straights. Like many other drivers in such a closely matched field, he lost valuable tenths when he made a small mistake at the Parabolica corner.
8. Antonio Pizzonia
With Ralf Schumacher already recovered, the young Brazilian got an unexpected chance to prove his worth and he was determined to seize it. Pizzonia was a good match for his teammate Montoya for most of the weekend, and although there were six drivers in between the two at the end of qualifying, the Brazilian's effort was strong enough to leave him satisfied. On Friday he was hampered by a problem with his car's brakes, which failed as he was braking at Parabolica and sent him spinning out of the track before crashing quite heavily.
9. Jarno Trulli
The Italian was pleased with his qualifying lap, and felt he had extracted the best from his Renault, but once again he suggested the French team are not giving him the same material as Alonso after finishing nearly half a second behind the Spaniard. "In seven years I have never had a teammate outqualify me here," Trulli said. "Fernando? I know that he is supposed to be in front of me at the moment and here we had yet another demonstration. He is the Renault driver now." Although the team denied his suggestions, Trulli is obviously not enjoying his stay at Renault anymore.
10. David Coulthard
With the top ten so closely matched, a few tenths made a big difference for Coulthard, who after a small error at Ascari had to settle for a poor qualifying position. Like his teammate Raikkonen, the Scot too was relying on a strong race strategy to make up for his lack of pace in qualifying. Coulthard looked as fast as his Finnish teammate for most of the lap, but the final split, with the error at Ascari, cost him at least a couple of positions.
11. Ricardo Zonta
Boosted by his strong Belgian Grand Prix, and by recent testing at Monza, Zonta was Toyota's main man for most of the weekend, although that didn't mean he was competitive enough to challenge for the top positions despite the Toyota engine being reported to be one of the most powerful. Nonetheless, the Brazilian did a solid job and for the first time in his three appearances he managed to outqualify Panis with a good, clean flying lap.
12. Mark Webber
With the Cosworth engine not amongst the best of the flied, Webber looked set for another average weekend at Monza. His qualifying performance was as solid as usual, but his Jaguar never seemed capable of fighting for a place in the top ten. The Australian enjoyed a pretty much trouble-free weekend and did what he was expected to do: finish ahead of Klien.
13. Olivier Panis
Apart from the announcement that he is retiring from Formula One racing at the end of the season, there was little newsworthy action from the Frenchman. The power of the Toyota engine did not seem to make much of a difference at the fast Monza track, and Panis had a very subdued weekend. His cause wasn't aided by problems on Friday and Saturday, his team being forced to change the gearbox just ahead of pre-qualifying.
14. Christian Klien
At Monza Klien put on another of his usual performances: quick enough to escape the final places of the grid, but not impressive enough to beat Webber. Consistency was again the Austrian's strongest point, with no significant errors during the weekend except for a slight mistake at the Ascari chicane on his flying lap. Without that, he could have finished closer to Webber, but he was still pleased with his pace.
15. Giancarlo Fisichella
The Sauber package was expected to perform well at Monza: the low downforce nature and the powerful Ferrari engine was a good combination for the Swiss squad to shine. Despite problems with his tyres on Friday and a heavy fuel load, Fisichella looked set for a strong result in qualifying. His flying lap, however, was far from perfect, and apart for being too conservative in the second split, the Italian lost time at the Parabolica corner after making a driving error.
16. Felipe Massa
Like Fisichella, Massa was hoping for more from qualifying after a promising start to his weekend in Friday's practice. But the young Brazilian too paid the price for an error at the start of his flying lap, completely overshooting the first chicane and losing nearly a second in the event. He put on a solid performance in the remaining part of the lap, but it was too little too late and Massa had to settle for a disappointing position.
17. Nick Heidfeld
Heidfeld had a weekend full of problems that was kicked off by an engine failure in the second practice session on Friday. Following that, there was no hope for the German to escape the final row of the grid. As if the engine change was not enough, Heidfeld succumbed to gearbox problems during his first flying lap and had to use the spare Jordan for final qualifying. It mattered little, but at least he managed to go nearly a second quicker than teammate Pantano.
18. Giorgio Pantano
Like his Jordan teammate, Pantano did not have the best of weekends. After a positive Friday, Saturday started out poorly when, during the first practice session, the Italian driver lost control of his car under braking at the first chicane, spinning at very high speed before impacting against the Minardi of Baumgartner. Qualifying didn't go too well either, as Pantano pushed too hard at the Ascari corner and ran wide, losing a lot of time which saw him finish a second off Heidfeld's pace.
19. Zsolt Baumgartner
With the power-less Cosworth engine, there was little hope for the Minardi driver at the track where he made his Formula One debut one year ago. Luck was not on his side either, as he was, for the second consecutive race, the innocent victim of somebody else's problems. During Saturday's practice, Pantano crashed heavily into the Minardi, which resulted in Baumgartner having to use the spare car for qualifying. At the start of his flying lap, he overshot the first chicane and cut through it, which cost him a one-second penalty that relegated him behind his teammate.
20. Gianmaria Bruni
There were few positives for the Italian at his home race, although at least he managed to escape mechanical problems or accidents. Bruni suggested he had opted for a set-up better suited for the rain, a gamble that paid off when the heavens opened on Sunday. Thanks to Baumgartner's penalty and Heidfeld's engine change, he escaped the final row of the grid.
The Race
Sunday finally saw the rain that had been forecast for both Friday and Saturday, and although it stopped some time before the start of the race, it was enough to drive the teams crazy when it came to deciding what tyre to use for the conditions. Come the start, the track was not wet enough for full wets, but not dry enough for everybody to start on dry-weather tyres.
In the end, of the Bridgestone runners, only Barrichello, Massa, and Bruni went for intermediates, while the only Michelin-shod car without "slicks" was Coulthard's McLaren. The Scot's decision proved a mistake, and already before the end of the parade lap he had decided to come into the pits to switch tyres, and race strategy.
When the start was given, Barrichello had no problems staying in the lead, while the fast starting Alonso flew from fourth to second place by the end of the straight. Montoya was third on the side, with Schumacher in fourth until he cut across the chicane and lost a place to Raikkonen.
If the first chicane was pretty much trouble-free, the same could not be said about the second one, which was quite a mess after Schumacher made contact with Button and spun. Pizzonia and Panis also touched, the Frenchman ending in the gravel and out of the race, and the Brazilian spinning into the gravel before continuing at the back of the field. Schumacher rejoined the race in 15th place.
By the end of the lap Barrichello, aided by his tyres, was nearly seven seconds ahead of Alonso but the track was obviously drying up too quickly for the Ferrari driver to take advantage of his gamble. Further behind, Button was the man on the move, first passing Raikkonen and then putting Montoya under pressure. When the Williams driver jumped the first chicane, Button move to third place and set his sights on Alonso.
Barrichello increased his lead to over eight seconds by the end of the second lap, but that was as far as he would go, as in the following two laps, Alonso closed the gap and passed the Brazilian just before Barrichello headed for the pits on lap five. The Brazilian returned to the race in ninth position and with Schumacher down in 11th place things were looking rather dim for Ferrari.
So Alonso led from Button, with a healthy lead of over seven seconds by lap eight. Montoya followed the BAR driver closely and Raikkonen was close behind the Colombian, with a big gap to Sato, who was unable to keep up with the leading pack.
Just as Button began to close in on Alonso, the Spaniard made his first scheduled stop for fuel on lap 10 while further back Schumacher continued with his recovery and moved to ninth position by overtaking teammate Barrichello. Button managed to open a small gap to Montoya, with Raikkonen already over four seconds adrift but comfortably in front of Sato, who was chased, though over 12 seconds behind, by Webber and Alonso.
Raikkonen's race, however, came to an end on lap 13 after yet another mechanical problem. Button pitted from the lead on lap 14, but the Briton managed to return ahead of Alonso and Montoya, with Barrichello, still to make his second stop, in fourth place. Teammate Schumacher had climbed back to seventh but looked well out of contention, nearly 30 seconds behind Button.
Following the action-packed start of the race, the order remained unchanged for some laps, with Alonso and Montoya slowly closing the gap to Button as the race reached its halfway point. Barrichello pitted from fourth place on lap 29, allowing Sato and Schumacher to gain a position. There was more action in the pits as Bruni was refuelling, his car catching fire after the fuel hose was disconnected. Although the fire was quickly extinguished, the scare was monumental and Bruni had to retire.
The second round of pitstops for those on a two-stop strategy was kicked off by Alonso, Montoya and Sato on lap 33, thus allowing Schumacher to move into second place some 17 seconds behind Button. When the Briton pitted on the following lap, the Ferrari driver emerged in the lead ahead of Barrichello, with Button some 15 seconds adrift. But Schumacher was still to stop.
The German came in for service on lap 36, rejoining the race right behind Sato, who was passed by Schumacher just seconds later. With less than 20 laps to go, the World Champion was 19 seconds behind Barrichello, who was still to make his final pitstop, and just seven behind second-placed Button. Alonso followed in third while Montoya had disappeared from the leading pack as he struggled with gearbox problems.
Barrichello continued to push hard and stretched his lead over Button at a rate of over two seconds per lap as the Briton came under pressure from Alonso. That, however, did not last long as the Spaniard lost his car at the exit of the second chicane on lap 41, spinning into the gravel. Although his engine was still running, the track marshals refused to push him and the angry Spaniard had to retire.
"I guess if you don't drive a red car they just don't push you," said Alonso after the race.
Meanwhile, the red cars were looking more and more likely to complete an amazing fightback: Barrichello pitted for the final time with 11 laps to go, and it was pure joy for the tifosi as the Brazilian returned in the lead just when Schumacher passed Button on the straight to take second place.
After all the problems, the Ferrari duo were back on top and by then there was no stopping them.
Button could do nothing and had to settle for third place, with Sato completing a strong day for BAR with his fourth place. Montoya managed to make it to the end of the race in fifth, which was another disappointing result given the early promise. Still, with Pizzonia's seventh place Williams were better off than McLaren, who left Italy with just three points thanks to Coulthard's sixth, earned after an unusual one-stop strategy.
Although Schumacher looked quicker than Barrichello during the final laps, the German didn't attempt anything, and it was Barrichello for once who had his back covered by his teammate. For the Italian fans it seemed to matter little: after such an outstanding season, a Ferrari win at Monza was almost imperative.
"It was lacking one win at least for me," reflected Barrichello at the end of the weekend. "I was telling myself you deserve this, just push the throttle down, just go as fast as you can. So when I came out of the pits I had no-one in front and no-one behind that I could see.
"I asked 'which position am I in? which position am I in?' And they said 'P1'. And then I said something in Portuguese which I can't say here now but it was just a phenomenal feeling."
Race Results
Pos Driver Team-Engine Time
1. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1h15:18.448
2. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) + 1.347
3. Button BAR-Honda (M) + 10.197
4. Sato BAR-Honda (M) + 15.370
5. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) + 32.352
6. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) + 33.439
7. Pizzonia Williams-BMW (M) + 33.752
8. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) + 35.431
9. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) + 56.761
10. Trulli Renault (M) + 1:06.316
11. Zonta Toyota (M) + 1:22.531
12. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) + 1 lap
13. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) + 1 lap
14. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) + 1 lap
15. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) + 2 laps
Fastest Lap: Barrichello, 1:21.046
Not Classified/Retirements:
Driver Team On Lap
Alonso Renault (M) 41
Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) 34
Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 30
Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 14
Panis Toyota (M) 1
World Championship Standing, Round 15:
Drivers: Constructors:
1. M.Schumacher 136 1. Ferrari 234
2. Barrichello 98 2. BAR-Honda 94
3. Button 71 3. Renault 91
4. Trulli 46 4. Williams-BMW 60
5. Alonso 45 5. McLaren-Mercedes 52
6. Montoya 42 6. Sauber-Petronas 29
7. Raikkonen 28 7. Jaguar-Cosworth 10
8. Coulthard 24 8. Toyota 9
9. Sato 23 9. Jordan-Ford 5
10. Fisichella 19 10. Minardi-Cosworth 1
11. R.Schumacher 12
12. Massa 10
13. Webber 7
14. Panis 6
15. Pizzonia 6
16. da Matta 3
17. Heidfeld 3
18. Klien 3
19. Glock 2
20. Baumgartner 1
Fastest Race Laps
Pos Driver Team Lap Time
1. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 41 1:21.046
2. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 35 1:21.361 + 0.315
3. Pizzonia Williams-BMW (M) 32 1:22.246 + 1.200
4. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) 51 1:22.615 + 1.569
5. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 32 1:22.660 + 1.614
6. Button BAR-Honda (M) 13 1:22.671 + 1.625
7. Trulli Renault (M) 52 1:22.855 + 1.809
8. Alonso Renault (M) 31 1:22.881 + 1.835
9. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 24 1:22.889 + 1.843
10. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 32 1:22.929 + 1.883
11. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 50 1:22.941 + 1.895
12. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 53 1:23.090 + 2.044
13. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 11 1:23.365 + 2.319
14. Zonta Toyota (M) 52 1:23.410 + 2.364
15. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 29 1:23.432 + 2.386
16. Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) 13 1:24.061 + 3.015
17. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 23 1:24.166 + 3.120
18. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) 31 1:26.356 + 5.310
19. Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 24 1:26.371 + 5.325
Pitstop Times
Pos Driver Team Time Lap
1. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 15.321 36
2. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 23.487 42
3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 24.557 29
4. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 25.766 36
5. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 25.981 5
6. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 26.189 5
7. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) 26.229 37
8. Trulli Renault (M) 26.415 34
9. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) 26.766 19
10. Alonso Renault (M) 26.780 33
11. Zonta Toyota (M) 26.819 13
12. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 27.063 32
13. Pizzonia Williams-BMW (M) 27.067 16
14. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 27.128 13
15. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 27.250 33
16. Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 27.482 7
17. Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) 27.504 14
18. Button BAR-Honda (M) 27.507 34
19. Alonso Renault (M) 27.640 10
20. Zonta Toyota (M) 27.642 33
21. Pizzonia Williams-BMW (M) 27.688 35
22. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 27.702 11
23. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 27.759 12
24. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 27.759 15
25. Button BAR-Honda (M) 27.969 14
26. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 28.061 31
27. Trulli Renault (M) 28.086 12
28. Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) 28.188 33
29. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 28.390 33
30. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 28.675 33
31. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 29.248 8
32. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 29.404 13
33. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) 29.488 32
34. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 30.209 26
35. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 31.386 24
36. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) 31.905 13