Coulthard flies the
flag at Monza
Alesi puts Italian
blood on the podium as Ferrari disappoint the fans at
68th Italian Grand Prix
"We are very happy to
win. We just caught it right.." Ron Dennis
Team manager West McLaren Mercedes
"A point is
better than nothing..." Jacques
Villeneuve
A disappointing race
for the Scuderia brought no joy to the Italian
fans as Scotsman David Coulthard swept passed
the chequered flag some 12 seconds ahead of Michael
Schumacher’s Ferrari, who barely scraped into the
points, one place behind a lacklustre Championship
rival, Jacques Villeneuve. In a brave attempt
to make the best use of his pole position, Jean
Alesi in the Benetton-Renault came a close second and by
dint of his Sicilian blood gave the Tifosi
some comfort in what was, despite it’s speed, a
processional race at best. Heinz Harald Frentzen
flying the flag for Williams all weekend, came in third
after a drive that showed the flaws yet again in his
team’s strategy.
Crucial to
Coulthard’s performance today, was his flying
start. Alesi got away well in front of Frentzen, but
pulling out along the inside of the track, the
Scotsman’s McLaren swept passed team mate Mika
Hakinnen, Jacques Villeneuve and Giancarlo
Fisichella to slot in behind the German and then
commenced harrying him for the first half of the
race. Running a heavy fuel load, Alesi managed to eke
out a small lead in the early laps but with speeds of
the top five runners fairly evenly matched, he was
never more than three seconds ahead of the Williams.
Just as
Coulthard’s McLaren was hounding Frentzen for 2nd
place, so Hakinnen was doing likewise to Villeneuve
for 5th, setting the first of a string of fastest
laps and by lap 20 with positions unchanged,
Alesi’s lead was slowly being eroded by Frentzen
and Coulthard who seemed to be moving as one, so
close were they lapping.
As fuel loads became
lighter, the gaps started to close but the McLarens
whilst fast in a straight line, lacked the
Williams’ grip through the corners and the four
drivers found themselves in a stalemate of sorts with
Fisichella driving for all he was worth, a useless
pawn in the centre. Fastest laps were reeled off by
Fisichella, then Frentzen, then Coulthard and it was
unusual not to see Schumacher’s name on the
list. The Ferrari was indeed struggling over 10
seconds behind the leader and making little headway.
Lap 28 saw the first
of the pit stops by Villeneuve trading his 5th spot
for 11th and the following lap saw his team mate stop
for scrubbed tyres giving Coulthard the opportunity,
with clean air in front of him, to close up on Alesi.
"our scheduled pit stop was too early at that
stage." said Frentzen after taking his third
place. "At the end of the first run my lap
times were quicker and I was surprised when David
came out in front of me so I lost a place." Villeneuve
was in agreement but did not slam the team’s
faulty strategy in not allowing the Canadian to lose
more of his fuel load enabling some quicker lap times
prior to pitting. "It’s always better to
pit later than anyone else, but you can’t always
judge that before." He said. "We
lost a lot of time in the pits independently of our
strategy."
As the front runners
pitted, so Fisichella, Hakinnen and Schumacher all
had their brief moments as leader of the pack but the
significant moment came when on lap 33 both Alesi and
Coulthard dived in for fuel and rubber
simultaneously. Less than a second separated their
positions yet the McLaren team, working like a well
oiled machine, turned the car around in 7.8 seconds,
nine tenths quicker than the Benetton. Coulthard closer to the pit
exit, was off the blocks and running leaving his pit
crew to dodge the sliding Alesi blasting off in hot
pursuit, rejoining the race in 4th and 5th positions.
Coulthard had been given the upper hand by superior
teamwork and it was a gift that he was not to
surrender under any circumstances. "We could
have stayed out longer," Coulthard said
later. "but we saw Jean’s pit board and
thought it best to follow him in. I got out in front
of Jean and it’s all down to the mechanics"
Praise where praise is due and it was indeed the key
to the race. Alesi hung on grimly to the McLaren but
was never able to mount a challenge crossing the line
a fraction under 2 seconds down. "Starting
from pole, I was looking for a win." Said a
far from disappointed Alesi. "David was in
front of me at the pit stop and I was not able to
overtake him."
From then on to the
line, positions remained the same, the only
excitement being provided at Rettifilio by Johnny
Herbert’s aerial ballet into the tyre
barriers caused by the thoughtless actions of Ralf
Schumacher, who having overtaken the Sauber-Petronas, moved in on the Englishman
leaving him nowhere to go but the grass.
Herbert’s front tyre hit the rear tyre of the Jordan Peugeot and he surfed the gravel traps
by way of an extremely fast final approach. "Ralf
passed me and I wasn’t worried."
Herbert sprightly and unhurt, said later. "As
we came to brake he just tried to squeeze me a
little. It would have been nice if I had had a little
bit more room. My rear wheel may have gone on the
grass. It was unnecessary and unacceptable and the
sign of an inexperienced driver who has a lot to
learn about driving at high speeds."
Schumacher had a different story to tell and
reminiscent of his attitude towards his team mate
Fisichella when he knocked him out in similar
circumstances in Argentina, he was unrepentant
towards the hapless Englishman. "He braked as
I did and I left him enough space. Maybe he should
have braked a little earlier, I had passed him
already and I was in front. I felt him touch my rear
wheel and I felt the car jump forward and at first I
thought it was a bump, but then I saw Johnny spin
off. I think it’s his mistake not mine."
It did him no good either, as a lap later, he too
retired with damaged rear suspension. He said, "The
car felt unstable and I was not happy to drive like
that." It is hard to understand why he was
not called before the stewards when Villeneuve was
admonished with a one race suspended ban for the
rest of the season for a far lesser infringement.
The unlucky Hakinnen
having set yet another fastest lap was forced into
the pits from 5th position with a badly flat spotted
tyre, leaking air. This put him down to 14th place
and effectively out of the race. Having had his third
place taken away from him in Belgium due to a fuel
illegality, suffering two heavy accident prior to
that race and seeing his team mate leading the race
he was now contesting, should have taken a toll on
the Finn but some magnificent late charging took him
up to 9th and gave him the fastest lap of the race.
World Champion Damon
Hill’s under-powered Arrows-Yamaha was totally out of
it’s depth on the fast Monza circuit and
on lap 48, no doubt totally exhausted, rattled itself
to pieces for the 8th time in 13 races, exploding in
a cloud of white oil smoke scattering droplets in
front of the fast approaching McLaren of Hakinnen. It
was an interesting way of gaining a position and
despite Hill’s body language as he slowly got
out of his car, he seemed resigned to his fate. "It
was a small engine problem. It just destroyed itself
in front of Mika Hakinnen who was right behind me and
I buried him in oil!" He joked. "But
we weren’t in the points, so it was a lot of
hard work for nothing."
The flag fell on
Coulthard after 53 laps of uninspiring racing, the
muted reception from the crowd illustrated that the
passion was missing this year. They had no one to
cheer on and some took the option of a snooze in the
35 degree sunshine. The battle that was supposed to
be, never was, both championship contenders taking a
back seat in a race of back seat driving. Schumacher
came out the luckiest having only concede a point to
his rival. "Competition was very close,
" He said, talking about the power
similarities of the top six finishers. "We
were at the bottom of that competition line and we
got the best out of it. We lost only one point which
is satisfying." Hardly words of consolation
to his fans but he did not seem worried taking
comfort that even the Williams were having an
‘off’ day too. Villeneuve was similarly
philosophical. "A point is better than
nothing." He said. "We knew that
this wouldn’t be a great track for us and it was
going to be worse for Ferrari but they managed to
hang in there and finish 6th so we catch them a whole
lot."
A disappointed
Fisichella came in fourth and, after such an
excellent result in Belgium and a very promising
qualifying session, he had expected more. "I
was really hoping to finish on the podium today, but
the aim is always to finish in the points and 4th
place is still wonderful in front of the crowds at
Monza." Talking about the race, he went on, "I
was quite nervous and excited before the race and at
the start I made a mistake which cost me a place. The
race was very difficult and I was under a lot of
pressure, especially from Villeneuve. I found the car
‘nervous’ today and had some problems with
understeer with the second set of tyres and really
had to anticipate the curves."
It probably gladdened
the hearts of countless British fans around the world
that the Union Flag should be raised at the end of
such a desperately sad week. Coulthard may enjoy his
moment of glory, but the real battle has just been
put on hold for a fortnight. The next race in Austria,
Berger’s Home Grand Prix, will see more Italian
fans streaming across the border where hopefully,
their hero will live up to expectation. As Coulthard
said, "The A1-ring is like Monaco without the
barriers." It’s a circuit that favours
high downforce and exceptional cornering qualities.
This is something that the McLaren lacked today, when a
frightening moment as Coulthard put the car sideways
through the second chicane, almost put him out of the
race.
Hollywood beef-cake Sylvester
Stallone was prowling the pits, every inch the
ill-informed anorak, having done a Movie deal with Bernie
Ecclestone, based on the life of Ayrton Senna.
‘There will be sweat, passion conflict and
intrigue and there will be good guys and bad
guys’ thinks Mr Sly, as befits "The most
exciting sport in the world!" If Stallone
has his way it will be Senna standing in the cockpit
of his car at the front of the grid, arm raised, girl
friend Sharon Stone by his side, shouting "OK
move ‘em out! Take ‘em to Missouri!"
Whilst the Formula 1
fraternity can only hold its breath and grit
it’s teeth as to the probable outcome of such a
dubious pairing, the Scotsman laid a subdued note to
the Champagne ceremony. "I was wondering if I
should spray the Champagne" He said
afterwards. "I was told it would be
acceptable. It was very emotional to hear the
National Anthem." The realities of Motor
racing are not shrouded for long however and the
battle will surely recommence. Overtaking on the
track rather than the pit lane would be a bonus, but
the win by McLaren keeps the championship wide
open and for the race fan it seems, it's the only
thing they have to look forward to.
Chris Richardson
Final Positions of
the 68th Italian Grand Prix
Autodromo
Nationale di Monza
Sept 7th 1997
1. David Coulthard
(Britain) McLaren 1h 17m 4.609 s
2. Jean Alesi (France)
Benetton +1.937 s
3. Heinz-Harald
Frentzen (Germany) Williams + 4.343
4. Giancarlo
Fisichella (Italy) Jordan + 5.871
5. Jacques
Villeneuve (Canada) Williams + 6.416
6. Michael
Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari + 11.481
7. Gerhard Berger
(Austria) Benetton + 12.471
8. Eddie Irvine
(Britain) Ferrari +17.639
9. Mika Hakkinen
(Finland) McLaren + 49.373
10. Jarno Trulli (Italy)
Prost + 1:02.706
11. Shinji Nakano
(Japan) Prost + 1:03.327
12. Gianni
Morbidelli (Italy) Sauber + one lap
13. Rubens
Barrichello (Brazil) Stewart + one lap
14. Tarso Marques
(Brazil) Minardi + 3 laps
Not classified
(DNF):
15. Damon Hill (Britain)
Arrows 46 laps
16. Ralf Schumacher
(Germany) Jordan 39 laps
17. Johnny Herbert
(Britain) Sauber 38
18. Mika Salo (Finland)
Tyrrell 33
19. Jan Magnussen
(Denmark) Stewart 31
20. Jos Verstappen
(Netherlands) Tyrrell 12
21. Ukyo Katayama
(Japan) Minardi 8 laps
22. Pedro Diniz
(Brazil) Arrows 4
Fastest lap: Mika
Hakkinen 1:24.808 (244.929 kph)
