Italian Grand Prix - Ferrari Owners' Club

GRAND PRIX: Monza : Barrichello's Ball
by Niels Schouten

16.9.04

Ferrari came to Monza with two titles already in the bag. Michael Schumacher had crashed big-time at the North Italian racetrack just a week before, but this did not seem to have any effect on him.

After the first timed session of Friday, the seven-time World Champion topped the tables as usual. McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen proved that the Spa win was no fling by setting the fastest lap time in the second timed Friday session. During both sessions Rubens Barrichello ended up in second place, but after Saturday’s qualifying it was the Brazilian who was leading the pack, securing Ferrari’s 175th pole position in history.

For almost the entire session it looked like the Italian spectators would get their Ferrari front row, but last man out Juan Pablo Montoya had other plans. In the first section of the track, the Columbian was faster than Barrichello and looked like he was seriously attacking the pole of the Brazilian. The second section of the lap however, proved to be the decisive factor for a good time. Not only Montoya, but the entire top ten lost several tenths to Ferrari’s number two driver in this section. Montoya did not take pole, but nestled himself between the two Maranello cars and pushed Schumacher off the front row. Places two to eight were only separated by three tenths of a second to indicate how close it was.

When the race was about to begin the weather conditions were hard to read. Barrichello, Coulthard, Massa, and Bruni had chosen rain tires, while the rest of the pack had opted for normal slicks. By the end of the installation lap Coulthard already decided he made a bad choice and dived into the pit lane to change tires.

Alonso made an excellent start and passed Montoya and Schumacher before the first chicane. Schumacher was forced to cut the chicane and gained some places. In order to avoid a stop-and-go penalty he immediately gave up the positions he won and rejoined the field in fourth place. This did not last long because the next chicane saw Schumacher spin off the track. Fortunately, he was able to rejoin the race.

After the first lap Barrichello had an amazing lead of almost seven (!) seconds over second placed Alonso, which grew to more than eight seconds a lap later. At this time it became clear the race would be run under dry conditions and that rain tires were not the best option. Alonso had closed the gap to Barrichello very soon and by lap four he passed the Brazilian for the lead. Ferrari’s number two driver went in for normal tires by the end of that lap and his example was followed by Massa and Bruni, so the entire field was on slicks again.

When Alonso pitted for his first scheduled stop, Jenson Button took over the lead in the race. Spa-winner Kimi Raikkonen soon proved that McLaren still have some problems and retired with a technical failure. Button went in for his first stop and was able to retain his leading position. By now Michael Schumacher had climbed up to second place but fell back to tenth after he pitted. If the race itself was not spectacular enough, an incident in the pit lane added to the excitement. When Minardi’s Bruni came in for a pit stop it all looked to go as planned, but when the fuel hose was taken out of the rig of the car some petrol leaked on the ground. Within moments the fuel caught fire but the flames died as fast as they had come. Although Bruni did not suffer any burns, he did have some trouble breathing as he inhaled gasses released by the fire extinguisher.

When Montoya, Sato, Alonso and Button made their second stop, Schumacher suddenly found himself leading the race, with Barrichello second. This order was reversed when the World Champion pitted too. The Brazilian needed to pit once more and when he rejoined the track, Schumacher passed Button and slotted behind his team mate who had kept his lead. Alonso threw away a good result by spinning into in the gravel trap. This meant valuable points were lost for Renault and BAR-Honda passed the French squad in the manufacturers’ championship with third and fourth for Button and Sato respectively.

For the fifth time Barrichello managed to lead his team mate Schumacher home to score a Ferrari double. With three races to go Barrichello now only needs three points to make sure he finishes second in the championship.

Jean Todt:

'"It was an amazing race! After going off in almost opposite directions, Rubens and Michael found themselves crossing the line one behind the other, but most importantly ahead of the rest. Rubens had started on rain tyres, while Michael opted for dry ones. The opening laps were very difficult for us: Michael had a spin and dropped to the back of the pack. Rubens pulled out a slight lead before having to come into the pits to fit dry weather tyres on lap 5, as the track was drying very quickly. Therefore we decided to go for broke, getting Rubens to do an extra pit stop. Both drivers strung together some exceptional series of lap times. The key moment came when Rubens went back out on track after his final stop as the Brazilian managed to hang onto the lead, while Michael pulled a brilliant passing move on Button at the end of the main straight."

Rubens Barrichello:

'' Some people say F1 is boring but there was nothing boring about today’s race.It was a difficult decision regarding tyres at the start, but I was worried I might be caught up in an accident with people spinning so I felt it was better to fit the rain tyres and push as hard as possible and try and escape the pack. I had actually chosen a set-up that slightly favoured the wet. Maybe if I had come in to change to slicks one lap earlier, my middle stint would have been easier. Then when Michael and Pizzonia passed me I thought all was lost. But when my fuel load came down I was just pushing all the time and it was a good call from the team to change the strategy. I said to myself, ‘just push the throttle and go.” Then I saw I was P4 and I could see the other three cars ahead so I knew I had a chance. I could not believe it when the team told me I was P1 and said something rude in Portuguese."

Michael Schumacher :

"'It was an interesting race with interesting battles. I never thought I could go from almost last to second. At the first chicane I could not stop the car in time and then at the second chicane, I got into a nice four wheel slide but Jenson was outside me, we touched and it spun me round. It was very frustrating waiting for the cars to go past before I could start again. But the car worked fantastically well. As for my tyre choice at the start, I knew that really there was no right choice, so when I saw that Rubens had gone for rain I decided to go the other way, so that at least one Ferrari got it right. But with this result, it seems that both decisions were good. Rubens deserves this win as he drove a great race after a fantastic qualifying."

RACE RESULTS - ITALIAN GP
53 Laps. Weather : damp, then dry

Classified:
Pos	Driver	Team		Time
1.	Barrichello	Ferrari	(B)	1h15:18.448
2.	M. Schumacher	Ferrari	(B)	+ 0:01.347
3.	Button	BAR	(M)	+ 0:10.197
4.	Sato	BAR	(M)	+ 0:15.370
5.	Montoya	Williams	(M)	+ 0:32.352
6.	Coulthard	McLaren	(M)	+ 0:33.439
7.	Pizzonia	Williams	(M)	+ 0:33.439
8.	Fisichella	Sauber	(B)	+ 0:35.431
9.	Webber	Jaguar	(M)	+ 0:56.761
10.	Trulli	Renault	(M)	+ 1:06.316
11.	Zonta	Toyota	(M)	+1:22.531
12.	Massa	Sauber	(B)	+ 1 Lap
13.	Klien	Jaguar	(M)	+ 1 Lap
14.	Heidfeld	Jordan	(B)	+ 1 Lap
15.	Baumgartner	Minardi	(B)	+ 3 Laps

World Championship Standing, Round : 15
Drivers:			Constructors:
1.	M. Schumacher	136	1.	Ferrari	234
2.	Barrichello	98	2.	BAR	94
3.	Button	71	3.	Renault	91
4.	Trulli	46	4.	Williams	60
5.	Alonso	45	5.	McLaren	52
6.	Montoya	42	6.	Sauber	29
7.	Raikkonen	28	7.	Jaguar	10
8.	Coulthard	24	8.	Toyota	9
9.	Sato	23	9.	Jordan	5
10.	Fisichella	19	10.	Minardi	1
11.	R. Schumacher	12
12.	Massa	10
13.	Webber	7
14.=	Panis	6
14.=	Pizzonia	6
16.=.	Heidfeld	3
16.=.	da Matta	3
16.=	Klien	3
19.	Glock	2
19.	Baumgartner	1