Michelin wins German Grand Prix

By Michelin Press Release
August 4 2003

 

 

  
Sixth victory for Michelin
 
Michelin drivers take top six places as French firm sweeps to sixth F1 win of the season

Juan Pablo Montoya led all the way at Hockenheim to score the third victory of his Formula One career. The Colombian was never troubled and finished more than a minute clear of his rivals in the German GP, 11th round of the world championship. The result h as catapulted him to second in the standings, just six points adrift of Michael Schumacher. The Ferrari driver was on course to finish a distant second until a late puncture forced him to make a pit stop and he slipped to seventh.

This was the best result for Bibendum since the company returned to grand prix racing in 2001: the top six finishers were all running on Michelin tyres. David Coulthard (West McLaren-Mercedes) eventually got the better of an enduring duel with Jarno Trulli (Renault) to take second, while Fernando Alonso (Renault) almost caught his team-mate as they sprinted for the line out of the final turn.

It was a positive day for Toyota, too: it finished a race with two cars in the points for the first time since entering F1 last season. Olivier Panis was fifth, 4.6s in front of team-mate Cristiano da Matta. "it was a completely trouble-free race for me today. The tree-stop strategy we had was the right choice and my car was absolutely perfect. The team did a great job all weekend, as did Michelin to provide us with such competitive tyres." said Olivier

The race lasted only seconds for two of Michelin's title contenders. Front-row starter Ralf Schumacher (BMW WilliamsF1 Team) and Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren-Mercedes) were involved in a collision with Ferrari number two Rubens Barrichello on the run down to the first corner. Räikkönen hit the tyre barriers at high speed but stepped unharmed from his wrecked car. Schumacher retired to the pits and Barrichello, too, was forced o drop out. The incident provoked a chain reaction collision among following cars and Jaguar's new signing Justin Wilson was one of those to suffer. After pitting for repairs the Englishman briefly rejoined the race before opting to call it a day. Ironically, he had earned a reputation for his ability to avoid first-lap carnage during his stint with Minardi earlier this season.

It was a disappointing afternoon for Wilson's Jaguar team-mate Mark Webber, too. The Australian was battling for eighth place -- and the final point -- when he ran off the track and clipped a tyre wall with just three laps remaining. He was classified 11th.
 
 
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