Formula-1 2001 R15 Italian Grand Prix

AutosportfanTwo

2 months ago

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Transcript

00:00:00drive but it was not to be. So, Heidfeld starting from the pit lane and so also

00:00:06Giancarlo Fisichella. So watch when the cars come round, try to have a look down

00:00:12at the sixth row of the grid and you'll see Jenson Button's Benetton there, the

00:00:16light blue car. It's the last time that the Italian Benetton team are going to

00:00:22be racing in the Italian Grand Prix as an Italian team.

00:01:00This is the formation lap which will precede this very significant start.

00:01:17The problem with the first lap here is that it's a one-stop race, all

00:01:21those cars will be brim full of fuel. It's a long way down to the first chicane

00:01:26so you build up a lot of speed and as ever the brakes will be cold, the front

00:01:30tires will be cold when they get there. So a lot of opportunity for the

00:01:34concertina effect, especially if you're on the right-hand side of the track. You

00:01:37can't see the braking points clearly and especially if, understandably, on the

00:01:42first lap you're up close behind another car, you can't see around their rear wing.

00:01:46So you do tend to get, let's say, like a piano accordion effect and last year, as

00:01:51we know well, that carried on down towards the second chicane which is a

00:01:55similar situation. You're building up to well over 200 miles an hour again, still

00:01:58everything is not up to normal operating temperature. First thing on Friday

00:02:02morning we saw on a cold track, Verstappen, Raikkonen

00:02:07just crashing off the road because brakes weren't up to temperature, tires

00:02:11went up to temperature. It is a crucial situation like that here because you're

00:02:16running such low downforce to achieve these high top speeds, such cars not

00:02:20being pressed down onto the track with the security that you get at other

00:02:24types of Grand Prix circuit around the world, with the exception, of course, of

00:02:29Hockenheim. So that is why it's difficult but, you know, there is only one

00:02:34decision. You race or you go home. You can't start a race under a

00:02:38safety car situation, otherwise you'll start applying that to all sorts of

00:02:42circumstances, Murray. Well, pole position average speed here, average speed

00:02:47around this circuit. Juan Pablo Montoya in the Williams BMW, 157.6 miles an hour.

00:02:56That doesn't mean that speed somewhere on the circuit, that means averaging that

00:03:01speed around the whole lap and they are doing some 220 miles an hour at some

00:03:07points of this circuit. This is the Parabolica that you are looking at now,

00:03:11turn 11 in this 11 turn circuit. What that smoke flare is doing over there, I

00:03:17can't imagine and I hope somebody gets it out of the way before they come

00:03:21around on the first racing lap. As they exit the Parabolica and form up on the

00:03:26grid, Juan Pablo Montoya from Colombia, his third pole position in the last four

00:03:33races. He was there at Hockenheim in Germany, Belgium in Spa and here at Monza

00:03:39in Italy. And there are the two cars that will be starting from the pit lane,

00:03:44Heidfeld, Sauber and Jensen, Buttons, Benetton and they have removed the smoke

00:03:50flare, good. So, to the right of your picture, Juan Pablo Montoya. This is a 53

00:03:57lap race. On the left of your picture in front is Rubens Barrichello and behind

00:04:03Montoya is Michael Schumacher, a man with 52 Grand Prix wins behind him, four

00:04:10World Championships behind him. How much does he want to race here today?

00:04:15Safety car in the background was warming his tyres up, I don't think I've ever seen that one

00:04:19before. All calm then, a space in front of Pedro de la Rosa, you can see four cars

00:04:24down on the left-hand side, of course that is where the Sauber should be. Do we

00:04:29have a race or not? Three lights, four lights, five lights. And it's go. And sure

00:04:37enough, Jensen Button in the Benetton comes streaking through, maximizing the

00:04:42launch control benefit. It's Juan Pablo Montoya leading and the Ferrari of

00:04:48Michael Schumacher in third position. Behind Rubens Barrichello, a spinner

00:04:52already, that will be Jarno Trulli up at the front of the grid and it is. I think

00:04:57you'll find Jensen Button got involved in that, he used his great start and ended

00:05:00up once again a row ahead of where he, at least a row ahead of where he started

00:05:05the race. And I think when we see a replay of that, you're going to see

00:05:08Button involved in it, but the front four then away cleanly. Yeah, Montoya leading

00:05:15and Ralph Schumacher was in third position, his brother's challenging him

00:05:19on the inside in the Ferrari and takes the place, that is the answer. When

00:05:24the lights go out, the red mist comes down and they are racing. Pablo Montoya

00:05:29is leading, the two Ferraris behind him and Ralph Schumacher is up there too in

00:05:34the Williams BMW. So, two Ferraris, two Williams BMWs sandwiching the Scarlet

00:05:40cars, then it is David Coulthard in fifth position and De La Rosa, Pedro De La Rosa

00:05:46is up into sixth position. That is an excellent start, he's made up four places

00:05:51on the first lap, down into the Parabolica and Jensen Button at the back

00:05:56of the field, look his front wing is missing, his dynamic start has availed

00:06:01him nothing. So, a terrible race already for Benetton with Fisichella starting

00:06:05from the pit lane. Jensen Button who started 11th is down in the pecking

00:06:10order, one lap completed and it is Montoya in the lead. Waved yellow flags, meaning the

00:06:17track could be blocked and that then Ralph Schumacher using the escape road

00:06:22did not gain or maintain a position, will not be penalized for that this time

00:06:28around. Yellow flags as they were still clearing away the debris, we'll wait to

00:06:32see a replay, hopefully I think you'll find Button tripped over truly on the

00:06:37way into the first corner and that should be about 12 to 14 seconds and

00:06:41he'll be on his way again. As Montoya leads and Barrichello is in second place,

00:06:46Ralph, Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari in third position ahead of Ralph Schumacher.

00:06:51Replay of start. There we go, now watch the blue car about ten in the light blue

00:06:55car of Button, it's over the white line at the moment, coming down the right-hand

00:06:58side, making an enormous amount of space, look and braking very, very late is

00:07:03Jensen, but up the inside of Coulthard and now straight into Truly. Jensen

00:07:08leaving it too late on that occasion, a little bit too deep Jensen. And somebody

00:07:13off went up into the escape road as well, didn't spot who it was, but now we are on lap two.

00:07:19Hacken and Idwazi went up the escape road and Button and Coulthard then

00:07:23squeezing through De La Rosa, two at the front of that pack, Truly has an engine

00:07:28at that moment but then appeared to stall out a little bit later on and we

00:07:32should talk also about the great move by Michael Schumacher alongside his brother

00:07:37on the way into the first of the Lesmo curve, so again I'd like to see a replay

00:07:42of that, the Italian director fancies it because it was a super move.

00:07:46So it looks like the seventh retirement for Jarno Trulli, who has this gift of

00:07:51starting brilliantly, because he was in fifth place on the grid and then failing

00:07:56for one reason or another in the race, not his fault today because he was

00:08:00nerfed by Jensen Button, but Montoya still leads ahead with two per hours, look at the gap

00:08:05between Ralf Schumacher who is in fourth place, David Coulthard is three and a half

00:08:10seconds now in fifth position behind the Williams BMW of Ralf Schumacher, De La Rosa

00:08:15is ahead of his teammate Eddie Irvine, De La Rosa in the points, in the Jaguar in

00:08:20sixth place, Eddie Irvine in seventh position, the Arrows is doing well, Jos Verstappen

00:08:25has come up through the field, he is in eighth position, a tremendously fast

00:08:29starting man, the Dutchman Jos Verstappen, he's made up a lot of places and he's

00:08:33ahead of Kimi Räikkönen who started eighth and is now ninth, John Alessi has come up

00:08:39from 16th on the grid to 10th in the sole Jordan now, with Jarno Trulli definitely

00:08:46the first and so far the only retirement in the Italian Grand Prix, lap three, replay

00:08:51There's Michael then, just committed himself to the inside line and left it up to Ralf

00:08:56to take the decision, will he turn in on him or will he give him the space, sensibly

00:09:00gave him the space, the Ferraris are faster in this sector of the race, interesting

00:09:05little aside, Button running into Trulli, providing Buttons at Renault next year, they

00:09:10will be teammates and they've had a few run-ins before haven't they, yeah and now

00:09:13Rubens Barrichello is getting the loud pedal down, fastest lap so far in this three lap

00:09:19race completed so far out of 53, Rubens has just gone round in one minute 26.4

00:09:25which is about half a second slower than the fastest lap last year but it's very

00:09:30early days yet, Martin said just a few moments ago that the cars have got very

00:09:34heavy fuel loads of course, it's a traditional one-stop race here and I would expect them

00:09:39to be coming in, probably not before, lap 30, lap 32 was when they started coming in

00:09:45out of 53 laps last year, we ride with Rubens Barrichello now as he comes up towards

00:09:52the Ascari curves, that's the left-hander at turn eight then they sweep right,

00:09:57defeatingly turn nine which he's at now, out of turn 10 the left-hander building up to 215.215

00:10:06miles an hour down to the Parabolica, this is Jacques Villeneuve's view of that run down to

00:10:12the first corner, remember the man this morning who said I'm racing whatever you lot are doing

00:10:16but he wasn't racing there was he, off the throttle very very early, maybe they didn't

00:10:20spread the message to him that it was game on after all and Jacques sort of just darting through

00:10:26the traffic, running over the debris, may or may not get away with that and that's Hakkinen

00:10:30recovering from the escape road and Hakkinen maintains 13th place in this race. And Montoya

00:10:38has accepted the challenge from Rubens Barrichello by going faster again, fastest lap so far 126.089

00:10:46by Juan Pablo Montoya who could have and probably should have won two Grand Prix already this year,

00:10:53this is the 15th race in a 17 race series, Montoya failed to do so, he was famously taken out in

00:11:00Brazil when he was in the lead by Jos Verstappen, now if the BMW engine can hold together because

00:11:07he's under terrific stress, he had a problem in the Spa Grand Prix and this is Jos Verstappen

00:11:13diving inside the Jaguar of Pedro de la Rosa but the Spaniard de la Rosa has to retaken that place,

00:11:21he's still in sixth position and look at the first three, covering the first three, less than one

00:11:27second now on racing speed and they're pulling away from Ralf Schumacher in the Williams, the gap is

00:11:34five seconds covering the first four, then there's a big gap before David Coulthard, another four

00:11:41seconds back leads Pedro de la Rosa, things are starting to get a little spread out. De la Rosa

00:11:46going backwards indeed, Verstappen I do believe has passed him and so now has Raikkonen, so

00:11:52problem then for the Jaguar, he's now the victim of a Jordan 2 and Button then retires from the

00:11:59Grand Prix, no immediate visible signs as to why, well Juan Pablo Montoya that we're looking at now

00:12:07in the lead is a very cool customer, the man from Colombia, he is leading the race now, he's used to

00:12:15leading races, he's the past champ car champion in America, he's won the Indy 500 in America,

00:12:22Formula 3000 champion and that was the problem with Jenson Button's car, that is the Renault

00:12:28engine saying very early on in the race, I've had it Jenson, you can go on, I've had enough, I'm

00:12:34pulling out and that's exactly what has happened, Montoya and then Rubens Barrichello and then

00:12:40Michael Schumacher, Louise Goodman, yeah with a rather upset and understandably looking Jarno,

00:12:46truly Jarno very bad luck taken out and by your future teammate as well, yeah unfortunately what

00:12:51they told me, it was a high level start, I managed to get my position but unfortunately I was hit by

00:12:58a car and then I found out that was Button which miscalculating the brake, so you didn't see him

00:13:03coming, first thing you knew about it was the bump, oh yeah I was already in the corner, yet again

00:13:08a brilliant qualifying and come to nothing

00:13:15Let's try and explain it as Mika Häkkinen now gets ahead of Pedro de la Rosa and would try and

00:13:21explain the situation there with Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button, Jenson Button knew that his

00:13:27opportunity with his magnificent launch control system on the Benetton was at the start, he took

00:13:32his advantage, he left his braking too late at the first chicane and slammed bang into the back of

00:13:37Jarno Trulli

00:13:46Lap seven out of 53, top 10, Montoya leads Barrichello and Schumacher, fourth is Ralf

00:13:51Schumacher, fifth is David Coulthard, sixth is Josper Stappen, seventh is Räikkönen, eighth is

00:13:56Alessi, ninth is the Jaguar of de la Rosa and Bernoldi's arrows is in 10th place as we go for a break

00:14:08And David, you see the yellow flags waving there, David Coulthard from fifth position has gone out

00:14:22of the Italian Grand Prix and so that means to say that up into fifth place goes Josper Stappen

00:14:30My only corner flips a bit Martin, were you any more in touch than I was?

00:14:34Looked like engine failure to me from what I could see, it looks like a fierce car that

00:14:38was parked rather than crashed and look, rear wheel's locked up so big failure inside the

00:14:46engine then of the Mercedes-Benz of David Coulthard, so bad news for his fight for second

00:14:53place in the World Championship. But look at this and look in particular at the yellow car in the

00:14:58background, it is Jean Alessi and Jean Alessi started down at 16th on the grid and he's now

00:15:04up into eighth position, closing up on Kimi Räikkönen's Sauber and ahead of Kimi Räikkönen is

00:15:09Josper Stappen in the arrows, now in an incredible fifth position, the Dutchman well up into the

00:15:16points, now up front it's still the same and you're looking at the two Ferraris of Barrichello

00:15:21and Michael Schumacher chasing Juan Pablo Montoya in the Williams BMW as Michael Schumacher starts

00:15:29to put the pressure on, he's just had the fastest first section of all so far during the race and

00:15:35this terrific scrap going on for 5th, 6th, 7th and you're looking at it now for Stappen in the arrows

00:15:41behind him is Räikkönen in the Ferrari engine Sauber and he runs a bit wide as Jean Alessi,

00:15:47the veteran French Sicilian, the oldest man in the race, 199th Grand Prix, he loves this place,

00:15:55he's nearly won at Monza for Ferrari and he's really got the bit between his teeth now

00:16:06oh this is, this is a battle for Sauber and Michael Schumacher is now continuing to press

00:16:25lap nine and you're looking at the lead as it's still Juan Pablo Montoya but Barrichello is getting

00:16:32a bit closer and Michael Schumacher has now really got hold of things as we see, look at this, David

00:16:39Coulthard out of the race, the Mercedes-Benz engine has let go in a big way and David Coulthard from

00:16:455th position is out of the race, now that means to say this is incredible, lead change, lead change

00:16:51Barrichello has passed Montoya, Ferrari's then very much looking like the car to be in, again

00:16:58at this stage of the race, Montoya's car started to get loose in the last four or five laps and

00:17:04Barrichello appears to be the man with the best car underneath him, certainly on this set of tires

00:17:10and here we see it was slow out of the second chicane and easy then for Barrichello to get

00:17:16clear track position into the first Lesmo, don't know exactly, maybe Montoya outbraked himself

00:17:21slightly, we have seen him locking a front on several occasions through the race so far, right

00:17:26well now let's make a prediction, Rubens Barrichello is fighting for second place in the Drivers World

00:17:33Championship, he's in third position at the moment, nine points behind David Coulthard who is out of

00:17:39the race, Michael Schumacher passed Rubens Barrichello in Austria when Barrichello moved

00:17:45over to let him through to gain two extra world points to all the world championship and Schumacher

00:17:50has always said I will help Barrichello when it is appropriate for me to do so, it's certainly

00:17:56appropriate now because Barrichello is leading and Schumacher is in third place, James Allen what's

00:18:01the news? There could be a clue Murray to what happens is happening with Montoya in the performance

00:18:05of his teammate Ralf Schumacher who's been a second a lap off this leading trio for most of

00:18:10this last few laps, I have a feeling that the Michelin tyres have degraded faster than the

00:18:15Bridgestones, Ralf Schumacher also probably carrying a bit more fuel as is Montoya, looks like Michael

00:18:20is lining up a pass on Montoya now, he certainly is as they come out on the second Lesmo, Montoya

00:18:26can see that Scarlet Ferrari with the flat nose cone big big big in his mirrors as they come up

00:18:33to the Ascari bends and Michael Schumacher will be trying to get a passing move as they come down to

00:18:39the Parabolica at well over 200 miles an hour, yeah I agree completely with James it's a tyre issue

00:18:45he's losing overall grip and balance and as hard as you try you can't make the difference

00:18:50and then sometimes the harder you try the slower you go so Montoya then on his back foot and look

00:18:56you can see the car moving around as he tries to get on the power in the middle of the Parabolica

00:19:00compare that with qualifying yesterday where he was glued to the racetrack at all times

00:19:06with that succession of laps that would put him on pole now a few laps into the race we're just

00:19:11we've just finished lap 10 and the rubber of those Michelin tyres not giving him the grip he needs

00:19:17and a perfect scenario for Rubens Barrichello who started this race nine points behind second place

00:19:24David Coulthard in the drivers championship, David Coulthard out of the race he's retired with a

00:19:29blown engine and Rubens Barrichello leads the Italian Grand Prix with a potential 10 points

00:19:35within his grasp but there's still a long way to go and if he wins this race he will be one point

00:19:40ahead of David Coulthard with still two races still to go at Indianapolis in two weeks time

00:19:46and then the Japanese Grand Prix but now we look at the battle for second position between Montoya

00:19:52with we assume his Michelin tyres going off the Bridgestones on the Ferraris are holding

00:19:58extremely well Barrichello leading Michael Schumacher has a look as he comes into the

00:20:03Ascari bends, Ralf Schumacher in fourth position is now 11 seconds behind the leader and he is

00:20:11still lapping faster than Jos Verstappen in an excellent fifth place as Michael Schumacher

00:20:16starts to have a look but he's not nearly close enough to Montoya to get past yet

00:20:20Kimi Räikkönen is in sixth position with Jean Alési tucked up underneath his wing seventh in

00:20:26the race at the present moment having started in 16th place Pedro de la Rosa is eighth ahead of

00:20:33and Bernoldi the Brazilian driver in the second arrow so both the arrows and there is Bernoldi

00:20:39are in the top ten yes Hakkinen there you saw behind Bernoldi does he get a look no he does

00:20:44not so Bernoldi maintaining his position there Stewart will be looking at that he might just

00:20:49get away with it he's certainly fighting that car to Hakkinen then P11 at the moment Eddie

00:20:55Irvine has dropped down to 18th so we saw him with problems and he's he's last but one at the

00:21:00and there we see again Montoya locking that inside wheel and that's clearly I think why

00:21:07it allowed Barrichello three got away with it that time by just literally straight lining the

00:21:11chicane he's struggling in the Williams yeah watch this now did you get that point that Martin just

00:21:16made Micka Hakkinen P11 place 11 he started in P7 place 7 so he's lost four places and he's not

00:21:24getting past Bernoldi in the arrows yeah all of those were lost though Marianne Moore when he

00:21:29ended up negotiating the escape road and the bollards there he more or less came out last if

00:21:34you remember but here we see the unloaded inside tyre locked up and it's amazing you lose so much

00:21:40retardation but uh get out of jail free card there for Montoya in the shape of a flat piece

00:21:47of tarmac to bounce across instead of a gravel trap but he's really really really under pressure

00:21:53and he's under pressure from the four times world champion Michael Schumacher and whatever Michael

00:21:59Schumacher felt before this race began he is concentrating now he wants to finish at very

00:22:06at the very worst in second place he's not going to I predict attempt to catch part and pass Rubens

00:22:12Barrichello Barrichello skunking off into the lead he was one and a half seconds faster as these two

00:22:18settle into their squabble Michael is ducking around trying to distract Montoya very successfully

00:22:24it has to be said Montoya already thinking about defending and that's slowing them both down so

00:22:30Barrichello's lead 4.3 seconds well I remember when Michael Schumacher came back into racing

00:22:37in Malaysia after having broken his leg at Silverstone how he did everything he could to

00:22:43help his team make any Irvine win the race which was exactly what happened and he will be doing

00:22:49that now because Michael Schumacher has so far this season scored 108 104 world championship

00:22:58points with three races still to go including this one and that's as many points as he scored

00:23:04last year he's on the way not only to having one more grand prix than anybody else he's already

00:23:09done that but to score more points than anyone else what's nice about this is I don't think

00:23:14Michael Schumacher will give it we'll have to give him the race Barrichello's got the better car

00:23:18ignoring the fact that Schumacher's held up behind Montoya as Fizikela dives across the grass in

00:23:25the first chicane as well currently as you can see in 16th having started from the pit lane

00:23:30but Barrichello's got the better car and of course this first stint could be 35 to 40 laps depending

00:23:36on what their fuel usage is and that means I think that Michael won't be in a position to have to

00:23:43give him the race today about 14 out of 53 fastest lap so far Rubens Barrichello

00:23:49one minute 25.8 which is about two-tenths of a second outside the lap record on the revised

00:23:58circuit which Mika Häkkinen created in the year 2000 as Michael Schumacher continues to harry the

00:24:05Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya and they are now nearly six seconds behind Rubens Barrichello

00:24:11the race leader so the question is are those Michelins now settling down are they going to be

00:24:19all right will they last until Montoya comes in to replace the tyres that he's got now with a new

00:24:25set later on in the race when he refuels will the Bridgestones do better there's David Coulthard

00:24:31walking in his race is run and he faces the prospect of seeing Rubens Barrichello pass him

00:24:38for second place in the world championship that's only the fourth retirement that David

00:24:43Coulthard has had this year in what's been a wonderful season for him not as good as it could

00:24:48have been but he's already won two races and he's been up there on the podium I think it's some

00:24:54eight eight seven or eight times so there you see 39 laps to go in this 53 lap race nearly seven

00:25:03seconds between the battle you're looking at now and Barrichello up the road now Barrichello won

00:25:11for Ferrari in the German and the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim last year having started

00:25:18from 18th on the grid in appalling weather conditions he could be on his way to his

00:25:23second victory and what a place to win for Rubens Barrichello with his Italian background

00:25:32at Monza in Italy in front of the Tifosi the Ferrari home ground

00:25:41there is the tense battle for second place between Montoya and Michael Schumacher and we wait to see

00:25:48Ralph a long way 11 seconds behind this fight he just comes into view at Ascari as this pair head

00:25:55into the apex of the Parabolica and then is Alessi over Stappen in fifth we'll have to wait and see

00:26:02well here we go and that is why that is why they've made positions probably because the Jordan

00:26:09went across the gravel trap and that's how he made the position Alessi made the position

00:26:14he could do unless he's yielded back and he has not yielded that position back and I can't see

00:26:20Alessi yielding that position back he's not that sort of a bloke now it would be very tough from

00:26:25his point of view if having made up that position he is obliged to come in for a 10 second stop

00:26:31because that's far more than 10 seconds penalty there's all the time you lose coming in there's

00:26:36all the time you lose getting up to racing speed again but Jordan Alessi has really got the bit

00:26:42between his teeth here it is I'd like this is not a replay this is the next lap was Alessi already

00:26:47ahead of Raikkonen that's Jung isn't it on the exit of second Lesmo I would guess luckily he's

00:26:53kept the engine going and gets out of harm's way otherwise I think that would have been a safety

00:26:58car situation so here's the fight for second Jung rejoins the racetrack I think Alessi was having a

00:27:04go at passing Verstappen went across the grass didn't pass Verstappen I think he had I'm guessing

00:27:10he'd already cleared Raikkonen and therefore and now he's here Alessi is three to fifth now

00:27:15yeah Jordan Alessi is absolutely driving out of his skin he's driving a magnificent race as I said

00:27:24he's the most experienced driver there he's come up from the Prost team he feels he's home with

00:27:29Eddie Jordan's team because he drove for Eddie Jordan in Formula 3000 won the European Championship

00:27:35lived at Eddie Jordan's home in Oxford and now he's repaying and Louise what's the news

00:27:40I'm stood here with Jenson Button Jenson great off the line but tell us about the first corner

00:27:44yeah the car seemed to work well off the line um and then as I got to break into the first corner

00:27:49I got a bit of dust off the tyres I don't know what was cement dust or something it must have

00:27:52been from the Porsches or something oil on the inside of the circuit um and I break pretty much

00:27:56the same time with everyone else and it just just locked up went straight on skidded straight on so

00:28:01sorry to the people that you know I caused a problem in that race but I couldn't do anything

00:28:04about it because um I made the side as I could or whatever and it just just slipped and ultimately

00:28:09what was the problem what put you out uh I don't know exactly but I had lots of smoke in the back

00:28:13something to do with the engine I don't know what but um that was it cheers Jenson now here we are

00:28:18lap 17 this is the situation Rubens Barrichello leads the Italian Grand Prix by eight and a half

00:28:24seconds from a battle between Juan Pablo Montoya there it is with Michael Schumacher in the Ferrari

00:28:30underneath his rear wing fourth is is Ralf Schumacher some 12 seconds behind the battle

00:28:36you're looking at now fifth and magnificent fifth is Jean Alessi in the Jordan Honda he's got ahead

00:28:42of Raikkonen he's got ahead of Verstappen and now Verstappen has dropped back behind Raikkonen who

00:28:48is sixth Verstappen in the arrows is in seventh place ahead of the Jaguar of Pedro de la Rosa

00:28:53field nerve is ninth and Mika Hakkinen who started in eighth position in seventh position I'm sorry

00:29:00is down in in tenth place at the present moment and I tell a lie because Mika Hakkinen is now

00:29:09dropping back all the time so there is the situation there are retirements of course

00:29:15Jarno Trulli is out after having been collected at the start by Jenson Button who has also retired

00:29:21David Coulthard had an engine blow and Eddie Irvine is out of the race in the Jaguar 18 cars

00:29:26left out of the 22 started Alex Young the Malaysian is last but driving well yes and

00:29:33while Jenson Button was talking of course we saw Raikkonen get ahead of Jos Verstappen

00:29:38that's how he's up into sixth place

00:29:51well as the Italian Grand Prix settles down a little and we look at Enrico Bernaldi battling

00:30:01for 11th position with Olivier Pannis there is the Frenchman and they're followed by

00:30:07Hytale Crenson in in the frost the likelihood is that Ferraris are going to finish as Michael

00:30:15Schumacher forces Montoya even more so the Ferraris are well up at the front and into

00:30:21the pits comes the first car to stop amongst the leaders and draws to a standstill Michael

00:30:28Schumacher from third place he's probably decided that he wasn't going to get past Montoya

00:30:33so the best thing to do is come in and change the boots change the wheels and tires on his Ferrari

00:30:39refuel and then put in a terrific lap in the hope that Montoya will make a slower pit

00:30:45sorry that Montoya yes will make a slower pit stop than him and that Michael Schumacher

00:30:51will be able to rejoin the race in second position after Montoya gets back into it

00:30:57so the lead now Rubens Barrichello still 10 seconds now ahead of Montoya Michael Schumacher

00:31:04has made his pit stop Ralph Schumacher in the Williams BMW goes through and we look down the

00:31:11pit lane and now we see Montoya now the next person through obviously behind the Williams

00:31:17BMW as the Colombian comes down to the Ascari Curse will come into our sight in just a moment

00:31:23as Montoya accelerates out the back of his Williams stepping out slightly and he's closing

00:31:29up now on Fernando Alonso in the Minardi who is in 17th place to lap the Spaniard

00:31:36as in comes the Ferrari and it is Rubens Barrichello race leader

00:31:59oh

00:32:07amazingly both Ferraris have pitted his complete train change of strategy but Barrichello had a

00:32:13poor pit stop the fuel nozzle did not go in for a long time and here is the first of those stops

00:32:20Michael Schumacher coming in we think changing the strategy probably to try to get him ahead

00:32:26of Montoya it was a good clean stop for Michael and that'll be his way made to stop this afternoon

00:32:33we'll see how much they've changed their strategy this will make Williams very happy I have to say

00:32:38now it's Barrichello coming in one lap later tires go on fine but look the fuel nozzle they

00:32:45weren't ready their fuelers didn't even have the hose in their hands and Barrichello will wait a

00:32:52full 16 seconds shaking his head in disbelief and away he goes disaster for Rubens Barrichello

00:33:00well now is it payback time for Rubens Barrichello what is Michael Schumacher going to do when they

00:33:06rejoin the race there now look here's the replay of the fuel nozzle as we look past the mechanic

00:33:12and you can see the problem that that's the fuel nozzle that Nigel Stepney used to control

00:33:17and Mika Häkkinen is off the course in the McLaren David Coulthard has already retired Mika Häkkinen

00:33:24is out of the race I think in the ninth was in the ninth position and I cannot see Mika he's

00:33:30obviously stalled his engine or lost the power so both McLarens on lap 21 of this 53 lap race

00:33:38coming up towards half distance are out of the race no points for McLaren in the constructors

00:33:45championship but there's a 22 points gap between them and Williams who are in third position at

00:33:51the present moment Montoya is in the top six of course and Ralf Schumacher is now in second position

00:33:58not having stopped any more than Montoya has on lap 21 it's Montoya leading Ralf Schumacher

00:34:05Barrichello who has stopped is in third place ahead of Michael Schumacher who has stopped

00:34:10I think Williams will be every bit as surprised as we are that those Ferraris have gone have gone

00:34:16for an apparent for an apparent two stopper I thought Mike the uh Montoya but it seems as if

00:34:23uh it could be a strategy they intended but then in that case why wasn't the fuel hose ready for

00:34:29Rubens Barrichello did he misunderstand the radio message or what's going on there there has been a

00:34:35problem no doubt about it for the Ferrari team Hakanen's car then over the barrier with the

00:34:42tractor yellow flags waving to warn the drivers that there are men and marshals on the racetrack

00:34:49so Montoya leads from Schumacher Barrichello and Michael Schumacher Barrichello did stay ahead of

00:34:55Michael Schumacher James what do you make of that well it's very interesting there was absolutely

00:34:59no sign before it happened that they were going to do a two-stop strategy and I was with you

00:35:04Martin thinking that it may be it was a switch if you look at it closely they were turning some

00:35:08pretty tasty lap times and of course they have also seen that the Michelin tyre performance is

00:35:13not all it might be those guys on the Michelins are struggling and they will do for the rest of

00:35:16this stint they've got fuel on board they're probably going to do another 10 or 15 laps

00:35:20it may be that the fuel hoses were both on for a long time with Ferrari and it may be that they've

00:35:25switched it they were on an originally a two-stop strategy but they have put plenty of fuel in and

00:35:29they might be able to outrun the Williamses because they certainly the Williamses don't

00:35:33look comfortable at the moment currently Michael Schumacher 28 seconds behind race leader Montoya

00:35:39Barrichello 23 seconds and that's not enough for Montoya to get in and get back out again in front

00:35:43so it's touch and go but I have a feeling that's what's happening well who says Martin it's a

00:35:48two-stop strategy why shouldn't they have come in early taken on enough fuel to do the rest of the

00:35:53race distance well they may have done but Michael wasn't stationary for for that long but of course

00:35:58he carried a lot of if he was one stopping he carried a lot of fuel at the start of the race

00:36:01anyway so probably only needed about 18 laps worth of fuel to see him through to the end so

00:36:07we'll have to wait and see that is a great unknown Bernoldi doing what he apparently does

00:36:12best in Formula One and blocking a lot of people and they're going very very slowly in the process

00:36:18Micah Hagen and waves to the crowd he retires again from the Italian Grand Prix remember the

00:36:24time when he frustratedly threw his gloves down to the crowd having lost the lead and Micah Hagen

00:36:30and is out of a Grand Prix for the eighth time this season in this the 15th race Louise Goodman

00:36:37with David Coulthard one of several retirements David and quite a heavy rate of attrition so far

00:36:42is that always a worry at this race well you know you kind of hope for it in other people's cars

00:36:47but you don't want for it one day in your own car so obviously disappointed is that

00:36:52some sort of engine failure of some description so we'll find out later on not been a brilliant

00:36:56weekend for McLaren has it that's never been a difficult weekend we've got a few problems along

00:37:00the way and but nonetheless we still hope to get points you know we we know we can't win every race

00:37:06and we've always had a difficult year of the season but I still felt it was possible to to

00:37:10maybe pick up a couple of points just one final question for you what was Michael saying to you

00:37:14who all the drivers before the race well we tried to get an agreement between all the drivers to

00:37:18avoid an incident and largely we achieved that but then the team owners obviously stepped in and

00:37:23and then it started to break everyone up and you know we just all agreed to be sensible and try

00:37:27and avoid an incident so that's what I tried to do and pretty much agreed something with Jarno

00:37:32that bad and passed him before the first corner then we weren't going to risk the incident at

00:37:36the first turn so a little disappointed that Jenson decided to come down the inside clearly

00:37:41you know ruined his race by doing that and it could have caused you know other damage to other

00:37:45cars so you know we're all out there to win and this is this is a competition it's not a moving

00:37:51over situation but obviously emotions are running high and I think that if you know if the word goes

00:37:57we're all going to be sensible and all the drivers can stick to it you know if you can't if you can't

00:38:01be unanimous in that then we're more powerful thanks David well the trouble is of course you

00:38:07can't consult with all the drivers and you can't guarantee that they will all be sensible Enrico

00:38:11Bernaldi then in the arrows coming towards us is continuing to block as he did with David Coupard

00:38:17at Monaco so noteworthily and Panis continues to dodge about underneath the wing of the arrows

00:38:24to look for a way to get through into ninth position and Bernaldi continues to thwart him

00:38:29we're on lap 24 now and lap 26 is about half distance in this 53 lap race as over the line

00:38:36goes Bernaldi eight Panis ninth and Heinz-Harald Frentzen in 10th position up to the first chicane

00:38:43and Bernaldi turns in clips the apex no way they're going to get through there and closing

00:38:48up in the background you can see Fisichella in the Benetton who is in 11th position he's taking

00:38:55advantage of the fact that Bernaldi is holding up Panis and holding up Frentzen to close up in

00:39:00that 11th position and look for a way through the good news for Alessi is he's managed to pit he's

00:39:06clearly on a two-stopper as well and managed to pit and come back out in seventh place because

00:39:12this line behind Bernaldi is lapping very slowly but I have to say Murray everybody says everybody

00:39:19knows the panic acknowledges this is a one-stop race so it's just amazing to see so many cars

00:39:25pitting so early we're on lap 25 now and Montoya's lead over his teammate Ralf Schumacher is 21

00:39:34seconds he's yet to stop as has Ralf Schumacher in the second Williams BMW it's looking like a

00:39:40Williams 1-2 at the moment third is Barrichello ahead of Michael Schumacher two Williams two

00:39:46Ferraris followed by Pedro de la Rosa up into fifth place in the Jaguar

00:39:50and Jacques Villeneuve is sixth in the B.A. in the B.A.R.

00:39:53well say what you like Martin about Bernaldi but you have to admit that that Arrows has got a lot

00:40:11of grunt from the Asiatech engine and it is a very slippery motor car on these straights and

00:40:17Pannis who's got a lot of power in the Honda engine cannot get past absolutely he's getting

00:40:23near enough uh just about at the end of the straight but can't make it stick when he gets

00:40:27there but normally able to brake reasonably late but um and positioning his car such that

00:40:33it'd be nearly impossible in normal circumstances to get past him I guess that's his job in some

00:40:39respect but uh I think one or two of his moves have been a little bit over aggressive well

00:40:44where they're coming up now to one of the Minardis I think it's Alex Young from Malaysia

00:40:49who's running well he's 17th and last he's been lapped already but this is his first Grand Prix

00:40:55after having had a very torrid time in practice and in qualifying yesterday very calm mature

00:41:02sensible young man who's going a lot faster than people expected him to as is Bissi Keller that we

00:41:09ride with now and the car that you see in front of you as it flashes down towards the Parabolica

00:41:16ahead of Bissi Keller is Heinz-Harald Frentzen's car now there is Pannis and he is ninth

00:41:23Bernoldi slides wide now this is Pannis' opportunity but he's still not close enough

00:41:29but he is now he's getting very close indeed and he might just manage to squeeze through as they

00:41:33go through to the Retefilio and he's having a good look on the inside can Bernoldi cut across

00:41:39and the answer will be yes and Pannis has to yield

00:41:45but it's getting very very fought indeed with this battle for 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th

00:41:51between Bernoldi, Pannis, Frentzen and Bissi Keller

00:41:56Pannis looking again as they go around the Grand Curve

00:42:09lap 27 and it's getting very fraught here at Monza Alex Jung there he is in the black Minardi

00:42:23with the red flashes on the front wing he's being caught to be lapped by a monumental battle for

00:42:29eighth place between Bernoldi, Pannis, Frentzen, Bissi Keller and Heidfeldt is closing up there

00:42:34as well and the reason they're all getting so close is that Bernoldi is going slower than they

00:42:40would like to go but they can't get past him now and you saw in the in Fissi Keller's overhead

00:42:46camera there at the front of that little pack was Bernoldi defending strongly his current

00:42:52eighth place position and Pannis looking more and more frustrated it has to be said can he now make

00:42:58something of catching the Minardi Jung is very much driving his own pace four seconds off the

00:43:04ultimate pace of this Grand Prix and he moves to the left out of the way Pannis then nowhere near

00:43:10this time but Pannis gets through Jung runs wide that's a very sensible and responsible bit of

00:43:15driving he knows he's much slower it's his first Grand Prix he's going to get out of the way and

00:43:19let them get on with the battle and we ride with Fissi Keller Giancarlo Fissi Keller who started

00:43:25from the pit lane with a fit after a fuel leak he's in the spare car the spare Benetton and

00:43:30he's worked his way up now into 11th place right behind Frenzel I think I can see out of the window

00:43:36the Williams mechanics getting ready for a stop Montoya of course leads then we haven't seen him

00:43:42for a while in vision he's 22 seconds ahead of teammate Ralph Schumacher in second place and

00:43:50Barrichello did indeed hold third or hold station ahead of Schumacher Michael that is after that

00:43:55disastrous pit stop when the fuel hose wasn't ready they're three seconds behind Ralph and

00:44:015.2 seconds Michael is behind Barrichello for fourth place Della Rosa then and Vilna fighting

00:44:08it out for fifth and sixth some 20 odd seconds down the road and this four car battle led by

00:44:13Bernaldi in eighth position is turning into a six car battle because now Heidfeld is closing up in

00:44:1812th position in the Sauber there he is and behind Heidfeld Kimi Räikkönen and here's Montoya your

00:44:23race leader about to come up behind that enormous squabble so sensibly Williams are going to bring

00:44:29him in this time around he cuts in to the pit lane it's an amazing pit lane here at Monza you

00:44:35can attack it absolutely at 200 miles an hour and then you've got to get on the spot James Allen's

00:44:41there cutting the race in half then Don Montoya coming in for his one and only fuel stop he had

00:44:46a 25.7 second lead over Rubens Barrichello and he's just about to catch that group as you rightly

00:44:52pointed out it's going to be very tight for him to get back out in front of Barrichello has he done it

00:44:56well we're seeing Montoya exits the pit lane now looking for Barrichello there he is in the background

00:45:02and and we've lost we lost the picture the critical picture there is the Ferrari

00:45:06and he goes through and I think he's in front of Montoya and they're up amongst this battle

00:45:12now there is Rubens Barrichello in the naked Ferrari from the point of view of sponsorship

00:45:18stickers but second place then for Barrichello remember Ralf Schumacher is still in front of him

00:45:23and has not pitted at this time Rubens has made his stop Michael's made a stop to third and fourth

00:45:30will they stop again do you know I haven't got a clue it's my guess that they're not going to

00:45:36stop but it is no more than a guess I've got no privileged information but I do know that there

00:45:41is Rubens Barrichello and he needs to win this race to enable him to move up to second in the

00:45:47drivers championship just one point ahead of David Coulthard if he does so with two races still to go

00:45:54in America and Indianapolis and there is the Williams BMW here is the Ferrari diving past the

00:46:01outside of Bernoldi yes and that's Bernoldi who's just pitted so that's why he's not got the

00:46:06crocodile tail behind him of people clambering to get past him so Bernoldi has just made a pit

00:46:12stop that's Frida, Pannis, Fredsen, Fisichella, Raikkonen had made a stop and he got hooked up

00:46:18behind that battle too, Heidfeld was 12th who started from the back of the grid and of course

00:46:24this is the stage of the race when things get very confused indeed with the pit stops particularly

00:46:30due to the fact that they are in such a ragged pattern in comparison with what we're used to

00:46:36last year for instance the earliest pit stop we had was Jos Verstappen who came in on lap 32

00:46:42subsequently finished in fourth place but now we watch Juan Pablo Montoya he's in third place and

00:46:49he is out of the race goes Fredsen, Heinz-Harald Fredsen in the Prost with the Ferrari Acer

00:46:56engine is out of the Italian Grand Prix but he's done a lot of good for the Prost team his experience

00:47:04and maturity are helping them develop that car well but Ralph Schumacher now on lap 30 yet to

00:47:10stop leads the Italian Grand Prix from Rubens Barrichello by about three and a half seconds so

00:47:17for sure when he does come in it's going to be the Ferrari in the lead yes I still think that they

00:47:23they managed to bring Montoya in to avoid him having to pass that queue of people smart move

00:47:28then Ralph has not needed to do that because he was 22 seconds behind he has not caught that group

00:47:34at this time he can run a little bit longer probably nearer to where he was scheduled

00:47:38to stop but there you can see the gap then it's 3.7 seconds to Barrichello Michael Schumacher

00:47:44then a further 5.5 seconds away and that's Montoya of course sorry 5.5 seconds away

00:47:51Schumacher falling back a little bit not lapping at all fast Michael Schumacher 127.0 last time

00:47:57around what's he going to do over the line this time he's coming up to it soon and 27.1 so Michael

00:48:04off the pace at this time yeah you never know with Michael Schumacher he's such a canny operator

00:48:10this is his 159th Grand Prix his 11th year of Grand Prix racing since he began with the Jordan

00:48:18team at that memorable Belton Grand Prix in 1991 and his brain is like a computer like a calculator

00:48:26he's sizing up all the odds and all the opportunities all the time but it's his

00:48:31brother Ralph in the lead at the present moment and he's just made the fastest lap of this race

00:48:36125.671 and that is one less about two hundredths of a second off the fastest lap a new lap record

00:48:47on this revised circuit that Micah Hackett and put out last year and we're now with Fisichella

00:48:54in the Benetton the sole Benetton there are 16 cars left out of the 22 who started Verstappen is

00:48:59out Hacken is out Irvine is out Coulthard is out both the McLaren Button is out and Jarno Trulli

00:49:05is out as Fisichella who was in ninth position concludes his pit stop up goes the board to stop

00:49:13the petrol smashing off of the exhaust outlets and out of the lane goes Fisichella brand new

00:49:19set of rear Michelins a very very well used set of fronts that they put on Fisichella's car

00:49:24to try to keep the balance try to stop this problem they have from time to time with the

00:49:29Michelins with the front going away and coming back in terms of performance Ralph then still

00:49:34on his original set of tires he's on lap 32 and still he's now 4.4 seconds ahead of Barrichello

00:49:40a little bit faster last time around but he's still got to stop of course and 22 laps to go

00:49:46it's amazing how quickly this Italian Grand Prix goes tremendously fast circuit of course

00:49:52lapping at about 150 miles an hour the fastest race of all time the average by Peter Gethin in

00:49:591971 in the BRM at nearly 151 miles an hour and if that seems strange to you there was not then

00:50:06of course a chicane at the Rettifiglio there was not one at the Roja there was not one at

00:50:11the Ascari turns either and James Allen has got news for us okay Murray let's look at a

00:50:16few of the possibilities here we're just asking do Ferrari have to stop again well it's certainly

00:50:20intriguing the battle for this race win from my view is between Montoya and Rubens Barrichello

00:50:24because Ralph Schumacher was quite a long way behind those two if you remember in the first

00:50:29phase of this race to get through to the finish Ferrari would be stopped on lap 17 18 they would

00:50:34have to have 100 kilos of fuel on board from that point onwards to make it to the finish now that's

00:50:39an awfully long fuel stop it's about 11 or 12 seconds I remember seeing Rubens being slow but

00:50:44the nozzle wasn't going on properly Michael's fuel nozzle went on properly and he stopped for 10

00:50:49seconds so it's difficult to read this it is actually possible they're on a two-stop plan

00:50:54I'm told that when they were here testing last month they were running two-stop fuel loads

00:50:58possibly in anticipation of this and another theory floated by an engineer from a rival team

00:51:03is they may have a slight brake problem today as well either way it's certainly going to be

00:51:07very interesting in the next 10 or 15 laps to see how it all shakes out watch the battle between

00:51:11Montoya and Rubens I agree with you on that battle I mean all of the cars have got dustbin

00:51:15lids for brake ducts they do use the brakes very heavily I'm not sure of the if you're right on the

00:51:20100 kilos and you may well be not sure if the Ferrari will take 100 kilos of fuel or any other

00:51:25of the Formula One cars for that matter so it's pointing then that Ferrari will stop again and as

00:51:32Ralph Schumacher again increases his pace in the first sector more news from Louise Goodman yeah

00:51:39instead in the in the paddock with Mika Häkkinen Mika we just saw your car off to the side of the

00:51:43track tell us why you retired it looks like the gearbox gave up I lost the gears and I lost the

00:51:49drive of the car and that's it you obviously made your decision to step back from the sport before

00:51:57this weekend but in light of everything that's happened this weekend that must have just

00:52:00reinforced your view hasn't it yeah sure I think this is the one of the one of the reasons why

00:52:06uh it's good to have a break you know I've been having a having a difficulties many many years and

00:52:12this is one of the reasons but don't guys you know we have to be understand you know this is not only

00:52:19the reason this is not only the reason why I go to the break you know there is

00:52:24plenty of plenty of other things thanks Mika

00:52:27slightly chaotic looking pit stop for Jean Alessi looks like they weren't expecting him

00:52:36in the pits a bit of musical cheers with his tires they were running around the car so

00:52:40Alessi then for a second stop of the afternoon he was in p7 when he came in he has been flying

00:52:46through the day he appears to be running a two-stopper which explains his

00:52:50a relative pace compared to qualifying I think but Jean Alessi nonetheless going well

00:52:57Jacques Villeneuve has just come into the pits there he is from sixth position which should enable

00:53:03the French Sicilian Jean Alessi to get back into the sixth position and into the points he's already

00:53:09scored a point for Jordan and he's only been with the team for a race and here is he is coming down

00:53:16towards the Parabolica now pursued by race leader Ralph Schumacher and his advantage over Rubens

00:53:24Barrichello has increased from 3.7 seconds to 5.2 seconds Montoya is still third 14 seconds behind

00:53:32the leader Michael Schumacher is still fourth two seconds behind Montoya and catching him

00:53:37Pedro de la Rosa in the Jaguar is up there in the points in fifth place and Jean Alessi has made a

00:53:44pit stop as a result of which he's actually down to eighth position now Villeneuve has been in

00:53:50and where he is at the moment I don't know we have to wait and see only man two men not yet

00:53:55pit leader Ralph Schumacher who's running the typical race here at Monza that we've had now

00:54:01for several years of running as far as you can but we know he was too slow in the first sector

00:54:06of the race he's got to do something special just put in a new fastest lap of the race he's trying

00:54:12to do something special Barrichello now six seconds behind him the other man not yet to have stopped

00:54:17his fifth place man Pedro de la Rosa quietly minding his own business doing a good job well

00:54:23Ralph Schumacher last year who finished in third place left it until lap 43 to come in

00:54:29now admittedly had a very different BMW engine the the Minardi team have got a problem down there with

00:54:34the right rear for Alonso's car it looks as though they can't get it seated properly on the spigots

00:54:40and on goes the wheel gun and then we now look at the Williams BMW of Ralph Schumacher coming

00:54:49through to complete his 35th lap in this 53 lap race and increasing his lead yet again as it

00:54:56momentarily as he comes into the pits now Rubens Barrichello takes the lead in the Ferrari he was

00:55:02only six seconds behind Montoya it's going to be a close run thing for second place as Ralph

00:55:09Schumacher exits the pit lane between himself and his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya who has of course

00:55:15already stopped took a twist of front wing out of that car of Ralph Schumacher they can make a quick

00:55:22adjustment on that to give him a bit less grip at the front maybe the back end sliding a bit too

00:55:27much generate a touch more understeer to balance the car up so Ralph then is beginning to have a

00:55:32good race pity he lost so much in the early stages and this is going to be fascinating to see how

00:55:38this one shakes out really is intriguing it's going to be a tough one to call Murray 17 laps to

00:55:46go 17 laps to go and they are averaging about 1 minute 25 seconds per lap as Rubens Barrichello

00:55:56comes towards us now in the Ferrari down to the Ascari curves he has of course lapped the Minardi

00:56:04and on lap 36 Ralph Schumacher leads Barrichello Montoya Schumacher

00:56:10Michael Pedro de la Rosa is still fifth and Jack Villeneuve is sixth

00:56:27well I didn't know how this race was going to develop at all when they were lined up on the

00:56:38grid with all the indecision about what was going to happen it has turned out to be a real stormer

00:56:45and thank heavens for that now we're on lap 37 as you see Michael Schumacher there he's closing up

00:56:54on Montoya there is the four times world champion as you can see there's slightly less than 1.3

00:57:01seconds between them and Michael Schumacher is lapping a tenth or two faster than the Colombian

00:57:08which is enabling to interrupt but it's traffic that's going to be the question now as they go

00:57:13into the Roja you can see the for instance Montoya closing up on Fisichella who's down

00:57:20in 10th position at the present moment the Jaguar in the pit lane of Pedro de la Rosa

00:57:26he came in in fifth position he was a long way ahead and there goes the Williams BMW past

00:57:34Fisichella which is now leaving the way for Michael Schumacher to do the same thing and

00:57:40that's a help for Montoya who is on his 37th lap in this 53 lap race a big gap between

00:57:48Michael Schumacher who is third and his brother Ralph who's in fourth position

00:57:53but as we expected it is as it has been all the way a battle between the Ferraris of Michael

00:57:59Schumacher and Barrichello and the two Williams BMWs of Montoya and Ralph Schumacher both the

00:58:05McLarens are out of the race there are 15 cars left out of the 22 that started with Trolley,

00:58:12Button, Coulthard, Irvine, Hakkinen, Verstappen

00:58:16and Heinz-Harald Frentzen having retired from the Italian Grand Prix

00:58:21so

00:58:40well lap 38 out of 53 and Rubens Barrichello leads the Italian Grand Prix from Montoya's BMW

00:58:48Williams 13 seconds Michael Schumacher there he is right up behind the Williams BMW and ahead of

00:58:56his brother by seven seconds Ralph Schumacher in the second Williams Pedro de la Rosa in the Jaguar

00:59:01he's still in the points fifth place ahead of Jacques Villeneuve's BAR but we are in a state

00:59:08of concern and wonderment about what is going to happen in terms of pit stops are they coming in

00:59:15again for a second stop which I would have thought was extremely unlikely in the view of

00:59:20the history of Monza which is traditionally a one-stop strategy circuit this very very quick

00:59:27lap where you want to spend as little time in the pits as possible but there's a very strange pattern

00:59:33can you add anything to that James well I can add a few things looking at the lap times at the moment

00:59:37you can see Rubens Barrichello is just a second a lap faster than Juan Montoya now that could be a

00:59:42little bit to do with tires but it's more to do with the fact that he's probably a lot lighter

00:59:46in terms of his car certainly teams down here believe Ferrari will have to stop again there

00:59:51was this little rumor going around about Ferrari having a sort of a brake problem that might just

00:59:56have tipped them towards the conservative route protect the brakes by not carrying too much fuel

01:00:00at any stage in this race i.e go for a two stopper if that is the case turn the whole race on its

01:00:05head yes and the crucial thing then and and I think it is looking more and more likely they

01:00:10will stop again but the crucial thing then is what is the gap that Barrichello can pull out

01:00:14before that stop at the moment it's 14 seconds and he's moving away as James said at a second

01:00:21a lap so it's really nip and tuck between Rubens Barrichello and Juan Pablo Montoya for the spoils

01:00:27today both of them desperately need to win this Grand Prix what sort of an advantage you think

01:00:32he needs when he comes in 20 seconds would that do it no longer than that I mean he'll be stationary

01:00:37for five or six seconds maybe they won't go for a tire stop it'll be as we call it a splash and

01:00:43dash but even so it's got to cost you 22 23 seconds to negotiate the pit lane the the situation here

01:00:51of course Murray's while you're in the pit lane doing 120 kilometers per hour it's on a piece of

01:00:55track where you're normally doing 320 kilometers per hour so you lose an awful lot of time well

01:01:02whatever we're riding now with Rubens Barrichello race leader on his 40th lap in this 53 lap race

01:01:10which is coming very very quickly towards its conclusion and he is now 15 seconds ahead as

01:01:17Ralph Schumacher starts to add the pressure he's in fourth place five and a half seconds behind

01:01:23his brother he's just made the fastest lap of the race 125.073 which has broken the lap record

01:01:32created by Micah Hackerton last year by some six tenths of a second so the Williams BMW is really

01:01:39flying he stopped of course Montoya has stopped Michael Schumacher who is third there has stopped

01:01:45so has Rubens Barrichello what's going to happen bring Ralph Schumacher back into the equation he

01:01:51had a quick stop we know he put some very quick laps in before his stop and now he's lapping

01:01:57quickly too and he's just 5.5 seconds behind Michael and there he is and he will not stop

01:02:04again this afternoon so reintroduce Ralph into the equation I can see the Ferrari mechanics

01:02:10out in the pit lane Ferrari have got to stop again this is looking super for the Williams team

01:02:17and it's looking pretty good for Jaguar at the present moment as well they've only had two points

01:02:22finishes so far this year a magnificent third place for Eddie Irvine and Monaco and in comes

01:02:27the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher from third position and that's going to let his brother

01:02:33up into third place in the Williams BMW as the fuel goes into the Ferrari and the board is

01:02:39cleared at the front there was a splash and dash and he is out and they very confidently chose to

01:02:45change the wheels and tires in that as well so Michael then rejoins the racetrack and Ralph

01:02:51will be delighted that he was just one second behind Michael as they went over the line and

01:02:56this then is Montoya lapping at Ralph Schumacher lapping Fisichella what are we seeing I think

01:03:03we're just seeing a normal replay yeah that meantime now here we are with Rubens Barrichello

01:03:08leading the Italian Grand Prix is he going to come in if Michael Schumacher has had to come in then

01:03:14then Rubens Barrichello is going to have to come in and I think the

01:03:18the yes I can see the Ferrari mechanics down there and here is Barrichello there they are

01:03:24and Barrichello goes into the parabolica and he will peel off now he's leading Montoya by

01:03:30just under 16 seconds at the moment James Allen James Allen he needed about 23 if he was going

01:03:36to get back out in front I suppose the question now is will he get back out in front of Ralph

01:03:40Schumacher and even that is going to be pretty marginal he might just about do it it's going to

01:03:45be very very close indeed Rubens gets out I think he will make it I think he will come out in third

01:03:54place well and there he is and I'm looking down the track now to see whether Montoya goes through

01:04:00and yes he does so Montoya has taken the lead in the Italian Grand Prix and Ralph goes through

01:04:07Ralph Schumacher goes through and this is really exciting in the closing stages of the event lap

01:04:1342 Barrichello down in third place both the Williams BMWs are ahead of him there's Montoya

01:04:20then having a lap the BAR of Pannis Pannis running down in ninth place teammate Villeneuve up in

01:04:27sixth place at the moment in a single world championship point situation five seconds it

01:04:335.1 seconds then as they crossed the line last time around between one and two well hear this

01:04:38Williams have won not one but three races this year all of them by Ralph Schumacher Montoya has

01:04:45not won a Grand Prix yet in his first season of Formula One and it's going to be a mighty close

01:04:52thing there's the Williams there is Rubens Barrichello and Rubens lost about eight seconds

01:04:57in that pit stop when the fuel hose was not ready for him but let's see if it completely ruined his

01:05:04chances in this Grand Prix at the moment he crosses the line he is 5 to 6.4 seconds behind

01:05:12so yes indeed that fuel hose has put Rubens out of position and of course it's making things look

01:05:19much rosier for David Coulthard as far as second place in the world championship is concerned

01:05:24because Rubens Barrichello is only on four potential world championship points at the

01:05:29present moment and he started this race nine points behind Coulthard in second place Coulthard

01:05:36says the thing he's really interested in is winning but I'm sure he'd rather finish second

01:05:40than third Michael Schumacher having an understandably considering how he's been this

01:05:45weekend lackluster afternoon he's 18 seconds behind this fight having also made his second

01:05:51stop so Barrichello then can he attack and can he again pass to Williams remember he passed Montoya

01:05:57quite comfortably earlier on in the Grand Prix he's always been ahead of Ralph in the race so far

01:06:02but he's appeared to have the best car in the early stages let's see what he can do with it

01:06:07now well this is lap 43 in the 53 lap race and whatever anybody says no one is going to be able

01:06:13to accuse Michael Schumacher of making things difficult for his teammate Rubens Barrichello

01:06:20there is the Brazilian and Michael Schumacher is a long way down the track behind him in fourth place

01:06:26but it's still the two Williams up front the two Ferraris behind them Pedro de la Rosa is still in

01:06:32the Jaguar for fifth position ahead of Jacques Villeneuve in the B.A.R. it's looking good for

01:06:37another point for the troubled B.A.R. team which will be very welcome for them Kimi Räikkönen is

01:06:44still there he's ahead of Alessi who is eighth Panis is ninth in the second B.A.R. Fisichella is in

01:06:5010th position 15 cars left out of the 22 who started and you saw the gap there now Montoya

01:06:57just 4.2 seconds ahead of Ralph Schumacher who has just done the fastest first sector of this

01:07:05Italian Grand Prix this 3.6 mile lap and that is the German who now lives in Austria and you can

01:07:14see those Michelins are getting very very very well scrubbed in front as the Williams crew just

01:07:20sit dispassionately in the garage watching what is going on they've done their job and Schumacher

01:07:26is continuing Ralph Schumacher continuing to maintain that blistering pace as he bears as

01:07:33the Williams bears down now on the Jordan of Jean Alessi who is in eighth place only the top eight

01:07:41are on the same lap now Panis who is ninth has been lapped that's looking a touch white for Jordan

01:07:47that one I believe it's a B.A.R. they're bearing down on now let's see what the relative lap times

01:07:52are Montoya goes over the line at 25.7 Ralph Schumacher on a 26.2 Rubens Barrichello on a 25.5

01:08:00Barrichello quickest that time around and look at the gap ever decreasing Ralph Schumacher

01:08:06constantly locking his front tires into those chicanes now

01:08:10and Ralph Schumacher is grimly holding on to that place

01:08:16so

01:08:325.7 seconds now separating the first three as Olivier Panis in the B.A.R. in ninth position

01:08:41sees in his mirrors the Ralph Schumacher Williams BMW and Barrichello right up behind him starting

01:08:48to crowd the B.A.R. and saying move over let us through the blue flags wave Panis knows that he

01:08:55will have to give way for those two I'm sure he would do anyway he's an extremely polite and

01:09:00experienced driver this Frenchman as there is Montoya who has lapped Alessi there is Panis

01:09:06in ninth position in the white B.A.R. second and third behind him almost a full lap now is

01:09:13the Williams BMW of Ralph Schumacher and the Scarlet all Scarlet knows no sponsorship

01:09:20stickers on the Ferrari as they go through into lap 46 out of 53 not long to go now

01:09:28it's looking very good for Montoya but is it looking good for a Williams 1.2 Ralph Schumacher

01:09:34very pressed indeed Barrichello losing a bit Montoya pulling away that time as these two now move into

01:09:45a contest situation it's really playing into Montoya's hands Barrichello in a great position

01:09:50to have a go of the inside into the second chicane but gotta have a very willing partner

01:09:55to get away with that and Ralph taking the easy way through the chicane yeah he won't be penalized

01:10:01for that of course he didn't actually have an advantage he's gained a few feet as a result

01:10:05of it though I think yeah I think that's touch and go I think that I've seen that several times

01:10:09this afternoon now we're sure they didn't lose a place but boy did they pull out some space

01:10:14and yes that's exactly what Ralph Schumacher has done and remember he had a problem when

01:10:19he exited over a white line and we're now on lap 46

01:10:41just seven laps to go at Monza it's clear lead for Montoya but look at this battle for second

01:10:47it's going to be Barrichello at the end of the straight Barrichello got a nice slipstream off

01:10:52the parabolic and I think he can break later as well and he has track position Barrichello

01:10:57will take second place Ralph desperately trying to go down the outside but and look that in my

01:11:03view is taking an advantage of the slip road and he is well if he's not letting him by jolly well

01:11:09should be Ralph will be penalized for that the second time we've seen him do that taking advantage

01:11:15by using the escape road and I think he just let him blend through to be honest just shows how fast

01:11:20a racing brain has to work I'm sure that Ralph would have said to himself I've gone over the

01:11:25green concrete I'm going to be penalized I'll just feather the throttle slightly and let Rubens

01:11:31Barrichello through and hope to fight back but I don't think he's going to be able to because Rubens

01:11:35Barrichello is on a charge that 47 53 lap race Montoya leads by seven seconds here is the replay

01:11:43and look he got in the slipstream is an invisible energy that's pulling you along there

01:11:48Ralph choosing not to close the inside line and then Rubens went into the corner with his nose

01:11:54ahead and you would have to say then that Ralph regained a position by going across the runoff

01:12:01area there without doubt he would have been penalized had he have maintained position

01:12:05in my view side by side down to the retophilia they went I'm not going to give way says Ralph

01:12:11Schumacher I'm not going to give way either said Rubens Barrichello but in the end Ralph Schumacher

01:12:16had to do that and the Ferrari is now up into second place Williams BMW leads Ferrari second

01:12:22Williams BMW third and Ferrari fourth Pedro de la Rosa is still there in the Jaguar looking good

01:12:28for two points Jacques Villeneuve still there in the BAR in sixth position we are on lap 48

01:12:34omni in this race now we're riding with Rubens Barrichello now and there you can see the replay

01:12:40as he cuts across on the apex Ralph Schumacher goes over the green stays ahead backs off

01:12:47Barrichello goes through up round the grand curve to the Roja he definitely backed off no question

01:12:53about it and and rightly so so what can Rubens do now he lost another two tenths on the previous lap

01:13:00due to traffic I believe but he's got a lot of time 7.2 seconds to find to and I think that's

01:13:06going to take a bit of doing if this race lasted a lot longer I couldn't see Rubens Barrichello

01:13:13catching Montoya the way the Colombian is going now he really richland and there is Alex Young

01:13:19out of the Italian Grand Prix he has beached his Minardi on the gravel rear wheels on the

01:13:26loose stuff he gets wheel spin when he feeds the power through he's out of the race but he's got

01:13:31nothing to be ashamed of he's driven with great distinction in his first Grand Prix and that's

01:13:36what happened and it's in a very tricky place he's on the exit of the first Lesmo corner second time

01:13:41he spun in those two corners today and that car will take a little bit of getting out of the way

01:13:49yellow flags will be ferociously waving as the cars head down there they will have to get

01:13:55some kind of vehicle in there to pull it out I wonder if Montoya wins this race what his

01:14:01demeanor is going to be like when he's in the interview room he is an astonishingly calm and

01:14:08mature matter of fact chap he doesn't have what a lot of people regard as the South American

01:14:14temperament and he's got this tremendous background behind him in Formula 3000 as the European

01:14:20champion and then in chap car racing that's Bernaldi on a replay going over the edge of the

01:14:26chicane all by himself so he won't suffer except in terms of time but Montoya as I say richly

01:14:32deserves this win if it's coming his way because he's on lap 49 now there are still four laps to go

01:14:41at the end of this one each of them of some 3.6 miles long many a slip tricks cup and lip as the

01:14:48Minardi is removed and I've seen many Grand Prix being lost on the last lap let alone the last four

01:14:55but the Williams is looking extremely good they get in some not revenge but a return after the

01:15:02terrible race they had two weeks ago in Belgium when they started on the front row of the grid

01:15:08with Montoya and Ralf Schumacher in pole and second places only to have Montoya stalled

01:15:16then his engine overheated Ralf Schumacher started up on the jacks had a terrible race

01:15:21but Montoya now is really flying as is Rubens Barrichello we are looking over the top of the

01:15:29Ferrari now as he goes round the grand curve at some 155 miles an hour backs off for turn four

01:15:37he was doing over 200 miles an hour as he approached him out of the left out of the right

01:15:42now up to the first Lesmo the right hander yellow still waving although I think the truck is out of

01:15:48the way that is your leader then exiting the second of those two corners and as Rubens was

01:15:55going through the first so it gives you an idea of the distance between them exactly six seconds

01:15:59as they crossed the line the end of the previous lap I think if Rubens were able to catch Montoya

01:16:05he may have a pretty solid chance of passing him into the first chicane but he's not going to catch

01:16:09him in the time available now six seconds the gaps come down from there you so that is the gap

01:16:14visually it's a lot lot more than it looks as you look down through the television lens down the

01:16:20straight from the Parabolica back to the Ascari curves and here is Montoya exiting that Parabolica

01:16:26to complete the lap and go through he is now got three laps to go including the one he has just

01:16:35started 14 cars left out of the 22 who started and now you see Rubens Barrichello he has really

01:16:51got the loud pedal down that is Pedro de la Rosa starting another lap still in fifth position

01:16:57I was talking to Niki Lauda at great length yesterday the Jaguar team boss and he was saying

01:17:04they've got a long way to go and indeed they have the this year's car is not nearly as good

01:17:09as they wanted it to be there's a better one coming along next year but it's not until they've

01:17:13got a wind tunnel that they can really operate on all the time that they're going to make progress

01:17:19but two points in the bag will be very satisfactory for Jaguar at the present moment it'll get them

01:17:25that much closer to Benetton who are in seventh place in the Constructors Championship

01:17:30and a great drive from de la Rosa has to be said today and it'll be a well-earned two points for

01:17:35him surprising that the Lacey he's two stopped of course we saw them both down in eighth place

01:17:40he's absolutely flying in the beginning but he hasn't shown anything like that kind of pace

01:17:44since for whatever reason Villeneuve looking solid for that final point although he's got

01:17:50Räikkönen just three seconds behind him in seventh we haven't seen anything of that fight

01:17:55as we watch Montoya now 5.4 seconds ahead with this and two and one other lap to go so Montoya

01:18:04looking good for it's about he's due a win isn't he Marianne? Yeah he certainly is here he is and

01:18:11just to establish a point in the Constructors Championship Sauber have got neither car in the

01:18:16points because Räikkönen is just out of the points in seventh position Heidfeld is down in 11th

01:18:23position and if Villeneuve can finish in sixth position where he is at the moment it will mean

01:18:30that BAR have closed the gap on the team in front of them Sauber by one point it's going to be very

01:18:37very close after the last Grand Prix of the year in Japan but now we are on the last lap of the

01:18:45Italian Grand Prix and Juan Pablo Montoya has got a comfortable five second lead over the man you

01:18:52are watching at the moment Rubens Barrichello with Ralf Schumacher 10 seconds behind him

01:18:59so here is Montoya exiting and coming down towards us he's only got a small part of the lap left now

01:19:08as he exits the second Lesmo comes down towards the Ascari curves there he is that's where

01:19:15Mika Häkkinen went off yesterday and heavily damaged the McLaren which has been rebuilt

01:19:21but it looks as though Juan Pablo Montoya is going to give Williams their fourth victory

01:19:27of the year and his first in his Formula One career which I'm sure is going to lead to many

01:19:35many more Juan Pablo Montoya from Colombia is going to win his 15th Grand Prix by I would estimate

01:19:43about five seconds from the Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello out of the Parabolica down goes the

01:19:50accelerator he can almost see the checkered flag now there it is Montoya wins in Italy and Monza

01:19:57for Williams and BMW as Rubens Barrichello finishes second five seconds behind the Williams BMW

01:20:06and we now wait for Ralf Schumacher and Michael Schumacher fuel hose cost Rubens Barrichello a

01:20:13chance of victory today and a probable victory has to be said Barrichello I think the fastest

01:20:18man out there on balance but only just it would have been such a close fight Michael Schumacher

01:20:23crossing the line he's so in fourth and Montoya deserves is what a great Philip a little or at

01:20:29least a tiny bit for the the kart the world of kart racing after the terrible accident of Alex

01:20:35Zanardi yesterday which saddened everybody in professional motor racing of course goes without

01:20:40saying but he was a particularly popular driver and a Williams driver absolutely and the Williams

01:20:46driver of course and that's just a little tiny something for kart racing but for Montoya

01:20:52a very important moment in his Grand Prix career yes scarlet Ferrari colored smoke there

01:21:00they would have hoped that it was for a Ferrari first either Rubens or Michael Schumacher but it

01:21:06was for the white and blue of Williams James Allen well Murray I'm down here in the Williams

01:21:10garage with an absolutely delighted Sir Frank Williams he always had faith in this one Montoya

01:21:15he brought him over from America he's got his first win finally he's always been a quick driver

01:21:20over the last few years and now he's settled down into the team he's learning what to do with a

01:21:26Grand Prix car and I would think he'll win a lot of races in his career from now on hopefully many

01:21:31with us it was a very exciting motorist wasn't it we always believed that Ferrari had to make

01:21:35that second stop there I guess no we thought that like us they were on a one stop and we were

01:21:39delighted to see them stop and judged by the fuel amount they put in we're fairly sure they would

01:21:43have to stop for a second time surprise us but we're very happy many congratulations Frank thank

01:21:48you well congratulations Sir Frank Williams congratulation Patrick Head congratulations

01:21:54Gavin Fisher who designed the car with Jeff Williams my aerodynamicist congratulations

01:22:00Sam Michael and everybody else at Williams and Grove and here at Monza Williams well and truly

01:22:08back in the hunt with the BMW engine having suffered in the last few years with other

01:22:15engines before they got this tremendously powerful and now reliable BMW engine in the

01:22:20drivers championship as a result of finishing in fourth place Michael Schumacher has now exceeded

01:22:26the points that he got last year David Coulthard is still in second place but instead of being nine

01:22:33points ahead of David of Rubens Barrichello he is now only three points ahead and he is only nine

01:22:40points ahead of Ralph Schumacher so it's still up for grabs who is going to be second in the

01:22:45drivers championship there is Ralph Schumacher Montoya has moved up into fifth position in the

01:22:54drivers championship from sixth place and Mika Hakkinen has been pushed down a place I think

01:23:01that will be of academic interest to the fin but now the Tifosi as the Ferrari mad Italian Formula

01:23:10One fans have always been called pour on to the circuit as traditionally they have done for years

01:23:18and years and years to assemble underneath the podium to pay homage to Juan Pablo Montoya

01:23:25to their Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello and to the second Williams BMW driver Ralph Schumacher

01:23:33with Michael Schumacher in the points but not on the podium but he's had enough of those in his

01:23:39career the incredible four times world champion Michael Schumacher has been up on that podium

01:23:47many many times 95 times 60 over 60 percent of his races he's finished in the top three

01:23:56he won't be too unhappy he was very unhappy to start this race and he as I know everybody else

01:24:02is will be very happy to know that it is gone without incident not without incident in terms

01:24:09of racing excitement and it's a new victor at Monza in Italy in superlative weather conditions

01:24:18in the constructors championship of course it's yet more points for Ferrari

01:24:22and they've now got nearly double the points of McLaren who are second but McLaren are now

01:24:28going to have to fight for that second place in the constructors championship because they're only

01:24:33eight points ahead of Williams and there are still 32 constructors

01:24:39championship points to be won in the remaining two races

01:24:45this man deserves to be standing on the top step of that podium no doubt about it

01:24:51we're going to hear the Colombian national anthem

01:25:03so

01:25:33so

01:25:50you

Formula-1 2001 R15 Italian Grand Prix

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