By pitpass.com (21/03/2004)
March 21 2004

This is an in important day for Formula One. Two weeks ago, following the rout in Melbourne, we were told that things would be different in Malaysia, when the Michelin teams got to grips with their Italian rivals courtesy of the baking heat. Thus far we haven’t seen it.

Michael Schumacher is on pole, with his Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello just two spots behind him. Certainly, the gap has closed, just a little, but at this moment in time the Ferraris still look pretty good for championship glory this season.

The WilliamsF1s and McLarens have improved slightly, while the Renault seems to be the only real threat to Maranello’s supremacy. However thanks to a mistake by Fernando Alonso and an indifferent qualifying performance from Jarno Trulli, the blue and yellow cars have their work cut out today.

On Thursday Alonso talked of hoping to dedicate any possible win here to the victims of the terrorist atrocity in Madrid. A win now looks unlikely, but at least the Spaniard will have the opportunity to stage the sort of fight back that will make his countrymen proud. Following his spin in qualifying, and the subsequent decision to change his engine, the youngster was going to start from the pitlane. However, because of his magnificent start in Melbourne the team decided to let him start from the back of the grid.

The real star of qualifying has to be Mark Webber, who starts from the front row alongside his ‘hero’, Michael Schumacher. Whether he was running on fumes doesn’t matter, it was a typically brilliant performance from the Australian, and a further boost in his search for a drive with a leading (blue and white or blue and yellow?) team.

Once again, there are two main questions. What strategy is being run and have Bridgestone finally come up with a tyre that can rival the Michelin in such extreme conditions. Soon all will be revealed.

Certainly, a lot of people involved in F1 will be hoping that the two red cars don’t race off into the distance unchallenged today, and not because they’re biased. F1 is under pressure to entertain, that means that the rival teams must take the fight to Schumacher and Ferrari.

As the cars line up on the grid, air temperature is 34 degrees C, while track temperature is 41, that’s considerably cooler than yesterday, and is the result of a thunderstorm just a little while ago. Parts of the track are still damp and some drivers have opted to start on intermediates.

Giorgio Pantano has opted to start from the pitlane.

On the warm up lap Raikkonen spin, though it’s not clear why, but he’s able to continue.

Webber is stranded on the grid as the two Ferraris race off into the distance, Montoya makes a great start as does Trulli. The Australian finally gets away and sets off after the pack making up a couple of places on the first lap.

At the end of the first lap Schumacher leads Barrichello by 2s with Montoya, Raikkonen, Trulli, Button and Coulthard.

Barrichello out-brakes himself which allows Montoya and Raikkonen through. The Colombian sets off after Schumacher. Meanwhile its raining on the other side of the circuit.

At the end of the second lap Schumacher leads Montoya by 1.1s as Barrichello is clearly struggling on his hard tyres. Trulli passes Button who is also struggling. The Englishman comes back and retakes fifth while Webber is now battling Ralf Schumacher for eighth, a great fight back from the Aussie. However the Jaguar driver is caught out by Alonso who slips past.

The rain only seems to be affecting a couple of corners, but lap times are around 5s down on the norm.

At the end of lap 3 Schumacher leads by 1.6 from Montoya, Raikkonen, Barrichello, Button, Trulli, Coulthard and Alonso.

More misery for Webber as he gets a puncture, he now has to complete a further lap to get back round to the pits. It appears he got the puncture as a result of a coming together with Ralf Schumacher.

The main battles are between Button and Trulli (5th), Coulthard and Alonso (7th) and da Matta and Klien (12th).

Despite the mayhem, there are no retirements thus far.

Schumacher has set a string of fast laps and is now leading Montoya by 4.2s. Raikkonen is 5.6s behind the Colombian with Barrichello a further 1.6s down the road. Button is fifth and continuing to hold off Trulli.

Thankfully, the track appears to have dried and as a result the order is settling down. Alonso is now eighth and pressurising Coulthard while Webber is last, 30s behind Pantano.

One of the best scraps is for eleventh with Heidfeld holding off da Matta, Klien and Panis.

It gets worse for Webber who is given a drive through for speeding in the pitlane. Meanwhile Schumacher makes his first stop at the end of lap 9, he comes out behind his brother in seventh.. Coulthard, Alonso, Massa, Klien and Fisichella also pit.

At the end of lap 10, Barrichello pits as does Trulli, the Italian getting out ahead of the Brazilian. Raikkonen also pits.

At the end of lap 11, Ralf pits which allows his brother through to take third. He exits behind Alonso.

Next time around Montoya stops as does Button, Schumacher now leads. Button comes out of the pits and is immediately involved in a fight with Trulli, the two almost coming together. The Englishman’s tyres aren’t up to racing heat yet and as a result Trulli wins, for now.

After the first round of stops Schumacher leads Montoya by 6s with Raikkonen third ahead of Trulli, Button, Barrichello, Sato (who has yet to stop), Coulthard, Alonso, Ralf, Massa and Klien. Still no retirements.

Lap 14 and Montoya posts a new fastest lap as he closes to within 4.6s of Schumacher. Button is all over Trulli, while Sato is pressurising Coulthard. Next time around the Japanese driver pits.

Fisichella continues to fight with the two Toyota drivers as he attempts to hold on to thirteenth. Meanwhile Coulthard is now under pressure from Alonso and Ralf for seventh.

The temperature remains much cooler than yesterday, with Webber now going very slowly, after the euphoria of yesterday, this is a day he’ll want to forget.

Sixteen laps completed and Montoya is now 3.6s behind Schumacher with Raikkonen 5.7s behind as Trulli and Button close on the Finn. Button loses ground to Trulli who is now all over the McLaren. After a poor qualifying performance yesterday, the Italian is making up for it today.

The gap between Schumacher and Montoya remains static at around 3s, as Raikkonen slips back into Trulli’s clutches.

After the frantic activity of the first few laps things appear to have settled down a little.

With nineteen laps completed the only driver yet to pit is Pantano, as Schumacher extends his lead to 3.8s.

Next time around Trulli pits, clearly a strategic move to get him past Raikkonen. The Italian rejoins in ninth ahead of Massa.

While one Renault has given a McLaren driver a temporary breather, the other (Alonso) is really putting Coulthard under pressure as the Scot attempts to hold on to sixth. Schumacher now leads by 5.5s. He’s lapping around a second a lap quicker than Montoya, who appears to have a problem with his second set of tyres.

At the end of lap 17, Pantano finally pits, which allows Webber through to take seventeenth. Meanwhile Alonso finally gets past Coulthard, much to the delight of the sparse crowd. The Spaniard immediately begins to pull away.

At the end of lap 24 Alonso and Coulthard both pit, the Scot is out first but is it strategy on Renault’s part or a poor pit stop? Knowing Pat Symonds, it’s strategic.

Next time around it’s Raikkonen that stops, as Webber’s afternoon gets worse, he spins off. Meanwhile Button is up to third as a result of Raikkonen’s stop.

End of lap 26 and both Schumacher and Montoya pit, as does Button, who rejoins ahead of Raikkonen – good strategy work by BAR.

Barrichello now leads, but he has yet to make a second stop. Schumacher is second ahead Montoya, Ralf, Button and Raikkonen. Trulli is seventh ahead of Coulthard. Alonso is currently tenth. Barrichello stops and rejoins in fifth behind Raikkonen and ahead of Trulli.

Ralf’s race is over, a rare engine failure for BMW. Meanwhile Montoya sets the fastest lap of the race, he’s currently a second a lap quicker than Schumacher. However we saw this after the first round of stops, the Colombian closed on the Ferrari only for his tyre to ‘fall away’.

At the end of lap 30, Schumacher leads by 5.9s, with Button 9.4s behind the WilliamsF1 driver. Are we going to witness the English driver’s first F1 podium? Teammate Sato is currently eighth, ahead of Alonso, but has yet to make his second stop.

Thirty-three laps completed and Schumacher still leads as Montoya’s tyres appear to be past their best. Meanwhile Heidfeld is cruising, another poor day for Jordan.

Alonso appears to have given up, he’s in ninth and failing to make any impact on Sato who is 17.9s ahead.

Heidfeld continues to go around, though his car is clearly very sick.

Montoya comes back at Schumacher, whose lead is now down to 4.4s. Meanwhile Sato pits at the end of lap 35.

Heidfeld finally pits, he kills the engine and climbs out of the EJ14.

Montoya is now 3.7 behind Schumacher with Button a further 11.5s behind. Raikkonen fourth ahead of Barrichello, Trulli, Coulthard and Alonso, though the Spaniard is 33s behind the Scot.

End of lap 38 and Coulthard pits, the Scot should hold on to seventh.

Next time around Montoya pits, this is the first time he’s pitted before Schumacher. He’s out in 7.9s Panis and Baumgartner also pit.

End of lap 40 and Schumacher pits. He’s out again in 7.6s, and ahead of Montoya. Button, Raikkonen and Trulli also pit.

Another bad day for Raikkonen, he pulls off the track with what appears to be an engine problem. All Woking’s hopes now rest on DC, who is currently seventh. Once again the Finn is clearly angry, he remonstrates with a marshal.

Schumacher now leads Barrichello – who has yet to make his third stop – with Montoya third followed by Button, Trulli, Coulthard, Alonso, Sato, Massa and Panis.

Barrichello is 7.3s behind his teammate with Montoya a further 1.3s down the road. The Brazilian making the Colombian’s life very difficult. At the end of lap 44 Barrichello pits which allows Montoya through to set off after Schumacher, who is now 9.6s ahead.

Barrichello rejoins the race in fourth, 11s behind Button and 11s ahead of Trulli. Meanwhile Panis appears to have a problem, he cruises round to the pits, he was running in eleventh behind his teammate. The Frenchman pits but the team doesn’t appear to be ready for him so he’s sent back out again.

Lap 48 and Schumacher continues to lead Montoya by 9.4s, the gaps between the rest of the runners appear static.

Barrichello is taking a second a lap out of Button, who’s running in third. Meanwhile Panis gets a drive through penalty, so that means another stop. He pitted before but the team weren’t ready for him. Clearly angry, he gesticulated and raced off down the pitlane, breaking the speed limit.

Barrichello continues to close in on Button, the gap is 7.2s but the Brazilian is gaining at a rate of about 1s a lap. Button puts in a couple of good laps and appears to halt Barrichello’s progress.

Fifty-two laps completed and Schumacher leads Montoya by 10.9 with Button third ahead of Barrichello, Trulli, Coulthard, Alonso, Sato, Massa and da Matta.

Moments later and Sato’s race is over, his engine pouring smoke. In the BAR pit the crew looks nervous, will Button’s car suffer a similar problem? Barrichello turns up the heat, he closes to within 5.4s.

2.5s, Barrichello pursues the BAR, but with only one lap remaining there doesn’t appear to be enough time.

Schumacher takes the 71st win of his career, leading home Montoya by 5s, while Button holds on to third, the first podium of the youngster’s career.

An interesting race, but at the end of the day, Schumacher takes another win and another ten World Championship points. Despite the promise McLaren failed, David Coulthard once again proving to be the team’s only point scorer, and only three points to boot.

Montoya put in a strong performance, but at the end of the day, neither he, the FW26 nor the Michelins were able to take on Ferrari, Schumacher and Bridgestone. Ralf’s retirement is a bitter blow to BMW, while Webber is sure to have some choice words regarding that early clash.

Barrichello clearly opted for the wrong tyre, but it was a strong performance nonetheless. Sadly Renault didn’t deliver, and while Trulli put in a spirited performance, especially in light of his indifferent qualifying run, Alonso simply seemed to fade away.

Massa thoroughly deserves his point for eighth, the Brazilian has worked hard all weekend, though it’s sad that it has to be at the expense of Sato to drove a strong race.

It was a nightmare for Mark Webber, clear proof that F1 is all about swings and roundabouts. Yesterday he was on top of the world, and rightly so, today everything that could go wrong, did, and then some.

Button did well to finish third, his first F1 podium marks historic moment in his career. There has been much talk this season as to whether BAR was playing games in pre-season testing, clearly not. The 006 is clearly a very good car, though Honda will have to focus on the reliability of its power-plants, which until this afternoon seemed to be OK. The only downside to Button achievement is that the British press might now jump on the bandwagon and push him in the same way that it forced ‘Our Nige’ and Damon down our throats, please no.

The F1 circus now heads to Bahrain where conditions will be pretty much as they were today, hot. In the meantime the teams will be testing this week, and no doubt Ferrari, Schumacher and Bridgestone will want to keep up the momentum.

Despite all the hype and promises, this race didn’t live up to expectations and Schumacher wasn’t deposed. However it was a little more interesting than Melbourne, though once again it was the weather that came into play. Suddenly, John Watson’s suggestion that tracks should be fitted with sprinklers in order that they might be artificially flooded mid-race, doesn’t seem quite so silly.

Then again, who is F1’s rain master?

This article was written by pitpass.com and is used with permission.