ATLAS F1 - THE JOURNAL OF FORMULA ONE MOTORSPORT
Monaco GP Facts, Stats & Memoirs

By Marcel Schot, the Netherlands
Atlas F1 Magazine Writer



For Japan the 2004 Spanish Grand Prix was a special one. For the first time in Formula One history a Japanese driver led the timetables when BAR driver Takuma Sato was fastest in Saturday morning practice. His fifth place in the race also meant that Sato moved within three points of Satoru Nakajima's career points total of 16. To make the weekend complete for Sato, he qualified third, the best ever qualifying result for a Japanese driver. However, a podium finish is still missing from Sato's list. To date only Aguri Suzuki has managed that feat when he came third in the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix.

Michael Schumacher and Takuma Sato in SpainAside of that, the Michael Schumacher show continued. With his fifth straight victory, the German equaled Nigel Mansell's record number of wins from the beginning of the season from 1992. Monaco will no doubt see the World Champion aiming to make that record his alone. A win in the principality will be Schumacher's sixth in the Mediterranean principality, which would bring him alongside Ayrton Senna.

Whether Schumacher can bring himself closer to Senna's pole positions record remains to be seen. The last five years have seen different polesitters in Monaco. The last two seasons has seen a Williams start from the front, Montoya in 2002 and Ralf Schumacher last year.

With ever increasing speeds this year, it will be interesting to see what will happen in Monaco. Over the past five years, the pole position time here has dropped a stunning 5.3 seconds, which is no less than 6.6%. If this year's trend of going three to four percent quicker than in 2003 continues, we might be looking at a time under 1:13 and an average speed of well over 160 kph in the tight and twisty streets.

Grand Prix 1999 2003 2004 2000->2003 2003->2004

Australia  1:30.462 1:27.173 1:24.408 3.6% 3.2%
Malaysia   1:39.688 1:37.044 1:33.074 2.7% 4.1%
San Marino 1:26.362 1:22.327 1:19.753 4.7% 3.1%
Spain      1:22.088 1:17.762 1:15.022 5.3% 3.5%
Monaco     1:20.547 1:15.259     ?    6.6%   ?

Of course, it has to be said that both Spain in 2004 and Monaco in 2003 had significant layout changes.

When I'm 32

This Sunday Rubens Barrichello will hope to celebrate his 32nd birthday with a good result in the Monaco Grand Prix. While the Brazilian is the fourth oldest driver on the track, being 32 doesn't mean that a driver's too old to perform. No less than 355 of the 718 World Championship Grands Prix have been won by drivers who were 32 or older. Mario Andretti, Alberto Ascari, Jack Brabham, Juan Manuel Fangio, Giuseppe Farina, Damon Hill, Graham Hill, Phil Hill, Alan Jones, Nigel Mansell and Keke Rosberg all won their first World Championship after they had turned 32.

In his 32 years Barrichello has collected seven wins, 46 podium finishes, nine poles, eleven fastest laps and 369 points. Only nine drivers have scored more podium finishes than the Brazilian, and his points total ranks him an equally good tenth overall. Although Barrichello will likely remain in the shadow of his countrymen Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet, the Ferrari driver has achieved more than many other Formula One drivers.

Luck hasn't been on the Brazilian's side very often. His seven wins against 37 races led look a bit pale, and his history of retirements in his home Grand Prix is notorious. However, if the record of the over 32's is anything to go by, Barrichello might as well go into history with twenty wins and a World Championship.

If Barrichello should win his eight Grand Prix next Sunday, he will be the third driver in history to win a race on his birthday. James Hunt was the first to have a double celebration when he won the 1976 Dutch Grand Prix on his 29th birthday. In 1995 he was followed by Jean Alesi, who won his maiden victory in Canada on his 31st birthday.

This week in history

This week it's 22 years ago that one of the most extraordinary Monaco Grands Prix took place. At the first qualifying session nothing was exceptionally strange. Renault was fastest, as was the case in most qualifying sessions that year. Before Monaco both Rene Arnoux and Alain Prost had taken two pole positions, while Andrea de Cesaris was the surprising fastest qualifier at Long Beach. What was rather more surprising was Brabham driver Riccardo Patrese in third place. After having qualified fourth in Kyalami, the Italian had two mediocre and one downright bad qualifyings before coming to Monaco.

Riccardo Patrese at MonacoIn the second session, the Brabham driver even moved up to second. The front rows of the grid were very colourful, as Renault were the only team with both cars in the top six. Arnoux grabbed pole, ahead of Patrese, Alfa driver Bruno Giacomelli, Alain Prost, Ferrari's Didier Pironi and Williams driver Keke Rosberg.

As the race started on Sunday Arnoux held on to the lead, and before the first lap was over both Giacomelli and Prost had made their way past Riccardo Patrese. Rosberg was another driver who had a troubled opening lap, falling behind de Cesaris and Alboreto.

After the fourth lap the Alfa of Bruno Giacomelli retired with technical problems leaving the top six Arnoux, Prost, Patrese, Pironi, de Cesaris and Alboreto. Arnoux was over six seconds clear of his teammate, who in turn had Giacomelli two seconds behind him. For the first part of the race the order remained unchanged. The Renaults were initially dominating, after which everyone kept the same pace, with Arnoux six seconds ahead of his teammate and Prost another six seconds ahead of the rest.

Just when the race started to look like a formality, Arnoux' Renault suddenly spun around near the swimming pool. The Frenchman stalled the engine in the middle of the track, unable to continue. With Arnoux out, Rosberg was back in the top six, but for the moment that was all that happened. However, Prost's lead over Patrese grew smaller and smaller as the Renault driver had trouble finding his way past the back markers. He kept his lead, and after 22 laps the only change in position was that Rosberg moved into fifth past Michele Alboreto in the Tyrrell.

Things stayed unchanged for a long time, and it looked as if this was going to end up as one of the most boring races in Monaco. Only Rosberg's fanatic attempts to find a way past Andrea de Cesaris were worth watching, until the Finn got too close and put his car in the barrier. This moved Derek Daly in the other Williams into the points, but also removed any excitement that was left. However, with eleven laps to go it all changed. While conditions had been overcast all day, it had remained dry until, with the finish looming, rain started to fall.

The last few laps became a whirlwind of spins, retirements and lead changes. Alboreto was the first to go when his rear suspension snapped. A lap later he was followed by Arrows driver Marc Surer, who had been tenth and last. Two laps later the second Tyrrell of Brian Henton retired, leaving just seven cars on track. The order was now Prost, Patrese, Pironi, de Cesaris, Daly, de Angelis, Mansell.

The grand finale was triggered as Alain Prost lapped Elio de Angelis' Lotus for the second time. The two collided and, while nothing serious happened at that moment, Prost lost control less than a lap later, sending his car violently into the barriers. The Frenchman retired on the spot and Patrese inherited the lead. A lap later the new leader also spun on the slippery surface at Mirabeau. Helped by a push start from the marshals and regaining speed in the following downhill section, the Brabham driver went after Pironi and de Cesaris.

The final lap then became one of the most incredible sights in recent years. First Andrea de Cesaris came to a stop as his Alfa ran out of fuel, giving Patrese second place, and with half a lap to go Pironi's Ferrari stopped with a dead battery, handing Patrese back the lead. Behind this spectacle, Nigel Mansell made a successful final jump past his teammate Elio de Angelis and Derek Daly, who also retired on the final lap.

When the flag dropped Riccardo Patrese was the winner, with Didier Pironi and Andrea de Cesaris classified second and third despite not finishing. Only five cars crossed the finish line in a race that was boring 90% of the time and had all the excitement crammed into ten eventful laps.

  Contact the Author
Contact the Editor



© 2007 autosport.com . This service is provided under the Atlas F1 terms and conditions.
Please Contact Us for permission to republish this or any other material from Atlas F1.
 
Email to Friend

Print Version

Download in PDF


Volume 10, Issue 20
May 19th 2004

Atlas F1 Exclusive

Interview with Tony Purnell
by David Cameron

Articles

Every Other Sunday
by David Cameron

The Paint Job - Final Part
by Bruce Thomson

2004 Monaco GP Preview

2004 Monaco GP Preview
by Tom Keeble

Monaco GP Facts & Stats
by Marcel Schot

The F1 Trivia Quiz
by Marcel Borsboom

Columns

Rear View Mirror
by Don Capps

Bookworm Critique
by Mark Glendenning

On the Road
by Garry Martin

Elsewhere in Racing
by David Wright & Mark Alan Jones

The Weekly Grapevine
by Dieter Rencken



  Contact the Author
Contact the Editor

  Find More Articles by this Author



   > Homepage
   > Magazine
   > News Service
   > Grapevine
   > Photo Gallery
   > My Atlas
   > Bulletin Board
   > Chat Room
   > Bet Your Nuts
   > Shop @ Atlas
   > Search Archive
   > FORIX
   > Help