I've sung the praise of Jacques Villeneuve in this space before and although I don't intend on turning this column into a fan letter, I'm just going to have to do it again.

Schumacher won the race, but it was Villeneuve that dominated the race weekend. His qualifying performance was nothing short of stunning. He used that video simulation to great effect in preparing for the race. (With next year's race weekends being reduced to just two days, the other Formula One drivers may just have to join him at the joy stick.) But once in the car, it was Villeneuve's raw talent that allowed him to get his car up to speed in such an incredibly short period of time and capture the pole position before the rain began to fall.

I'll have to hand it to Hill for raising his starting performance from miserable to mediocre, but it was Villeneuve who fired off yet another perfect start. Despite all of his brilliant starts this season, Villeneuve has often joined Hill in bemoaning the William's clutch. In the past few weeks Frank and the boys have spent a lot of time improving upon this one weak link in their car's otherwise impenetrable armor. Both drivers have received new-and-improved clutches. Hill has retained a foot-operated mechanism while Villeneuve uses a button operated one. (I guess that allows for an easier transition from that race simulator). This could explain the difference in their starting performances, but I doubt it.

Right from the start Villeneuve looked to be firmly in control of the race. Schumacher stayed on his tail for a couple of laps, but then Villeneuve began to pull away. If Villeneuve's car remained strong and his team played their pit cards right, the kid was poised to take another solid chunk out of Hill's championship point lead.

Right when things were starting to get a little on the boring side, Jos Verstappen tore the race apart at its seams with his horrific shunt. (Seeing him stumble dazed to the ambulance was a terrible and unnecessary sight. Don't those Belgians have stretchers!) The full course yellow flags waved, an AMG C36 took over the lead and the top echelon of motorsports crumbled into pathetic disarray. In one of Eddie Cheever's few lucid moments (Boy do I miss Derek Bell when he's gone), he rightly chided the teams for their inability to handle a situation that Indy Car drivers and teams have wired.

Unfortunately, Villeneuve got caught in the shuffle and lost his lead. It was great to see all that red and white in front as the McLarens assumed the leading positions, but it appeared to be more luck than stragegy. Eventually Schumacher proved this point and took over the lead with Villeneuve in tow. The two of them put on a great show and Schumacher certainly deserved the win. However, it was Villeneuve that was clocking the faster lap times. But then that is modern Formula One racing, the fastest man does not always win.

Seeing Jean Todt throw up his arms in victory was a welcome sight to just about any race fan. No one wants to see Ferrari in the gutter and Schumacher's win certainly helped gain a promising foothold for a team that had sunk into a thick morasses of failure. Hopefully we will see Eddie Irvine cross the finish line in front of the tiofisi in Monza and join his teammate on some higher ground.