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Round 4 - SAN MARINO, Imola - Race Results
Conditions: dry; Air 19°C, Track 28°C
| Position |
Driver |
Car (Tyres) |
Time/Retirement |
Laps |
Pitstops |
| 1 |
Fernando ALONSO |
Renault (M) |
1h 27m 41.921s |
62 |
2 |
| 2 |
Michael SCHUMACHER |
Ferrari (B) |
+ 0m 00.215s |
62 |
2 |
| 3 |
Alexander WURZ |
McLaren Mercedes (M) |
+ 0m 27.554s |
62 |
2 |
| 4 |
Jacques VILLENEUVE |
Sauber Petronas (M) |
+ 1m 04.442s |
62 |
2 |
| 5 |
Jarno TRULLI |
Toyota (M) |
+ 1m 10.258s |
62 |
2 |
| 6 |
Nick HEIDFELD |
Williams BMW (M) |
+ 1m 11.282s |
62 |
2 |
| 7 |
Mark WEBBER |
Williams BMW (M) |
+ 1m 23.297s |
62 |
2 |
| 8 |
Vitantonio LIUZZI |
Red Bull Cosworth (M) |
+ 1m 23.764s |
62 |
2 |
| 9 |
Ralf SCHUMACHER |
Toyota (M) |
+ 1m 35.841s* |
62 |
2 |
| 10 |
Felipe MASSA |
Sauber Petronas (M) |
+ 1 lap |
61 |
2 |
| 11 |
David COULTHARD |
Red Bull Cosworth (M) |
+ 1 lap |
61 |
2 |
| 12 |
Narain KARTHIKEYAN |
Jordan Toyota (B) |
+ 1 lap |
61 |
2 |
| 13 |
Tiago MONTEIRO |
Jordan Toyota (B) |
+ 2 laps |
60 |
4 |
| Not classified |
| Ret |
Christijan ALBERS |
Minardi Cosworth (B) |
Fluid leak |
20 |
1 |
| Ret |
Rubens BARRICHELLO |
Ferrari (B) |
Electrical |
18 |
2 |
| Ret |
Kimi RAIKKONEN |
McLaren Mercedes (M) |
Driveshaft failure |
9 |
1 |
| Ret |
Patrick FRIESACHER |
Minardi Cosworth (B) |
Broken clutch shaft |
8 |
0 |
| Ret |
Giancarlo FISICHELLA |
Renault (M) |
Spin - tech problem |
5 |
0 |
| DSQ |
Jenson BUTTON |
BAR Honda (M) |
+ 0m 10.481s |
62 |
2 |
| DSQ |
Takuma SATO |
BAR Honda (M) |
+ 0m 34.783s |
62 |
2 |
Notes:
BOTH BAR HONDAS DISQUALIFIED AND EXCLUDED FROM NEXT TWO RACES DUE TO ABILITY TO RUN UNDERWEIGHT DURING RACE. RESULTS ABOVE ADJUSTED TO REFLECT DISQUALIFICATION BUT NOTES BELOW ARE AS WRITTEN IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE RACE.
Clean start - yellow flags waving for Massa, demoted to 18th on the grid following an engine change, but he got away at the back. Raikkonen romping away, with Alonso in 2nd and Button in 3rd. Webber dropped places off the grid but retook Sato round the outside of Tosa. The rookie Liuzzi overtook his team-mate Coulthard at the start. Great start from Villeneuve, gaining 3 places.
By end of lap 4, Raikkonen 3s ahead of Alonso and 7s ahead of Button. Massa regained ground from poor start and back up to 17th.
Fisichella off into the barriers and out of the race on lap 6 from 11th - strange accident, looks to have been caused by some kind of mechancial failure.
Raikkonen suddenly slows on lap 9 - possible transmission or electrical problems - pulls into pits and retires from what looked like a winning position. Alonso now leading Button by 8.5s. M Schumacher up only 2 places from his grid position to 11th, behind his brother.
Massa pits for a new nose having had a tangle with Coulthard at Ravazza. Barrichello is the first to pit for fuel on lap 18, but perhaps the pre-cursor to a problem as he pulls back into the pits on the next lap and retires with electrical problems.
Button closing on alonso, setting consecutive fastest laps on laps 20, 21 and 22. Sato takes 4th from Webber, who nearly loses further places to Wurz and Villeneuve following close behind.
Alonso pits lap 23 - how much further can Button run? Not long, he pits on next lap - tyre pressure adjustment on fronts and slightly longer stop than Alonso who comfortably retains the lead. M Schumacher is up to 4th and the fastest on the track, but is yet to stop. He finally pits on lap 27, coming out in 3rd ahead of both Wurz and Sato.
Alonso leads Button by 9.7s, who is 21.8s ahead of M Schumacher, who is closing fast! He's 2s a lap faster than the two ahead of him.
Massa again makes contact with Coulthard at Ravazza and this time muscles past for the place. Button seems to be responding to the chasing M Schumacher, but is still 1.2s slower. Will tyres come into play in what looks to be an exciting finish?
Alonso pits for the second time on lap 43. M Schumacher now less than 1s behind Button. Button is holding on but both teams are out in the pitlane - Schumacher squeezes past Button as they approach back-markers and the Ferrari mechanics return to the garage.
Button pits on lap 48 while Schumacher sets another fastest lap - 1m 28.858 - 2.5s faster than Alonso who is 14.5s behind in 2nd after his stop. M Schumacher pits on lap 49 and rejoins JUST behind Alonso who is back in the lead after the pitstops have played out.
It is now a battle to the finish between Alonso and M Schumacher - Renault's torque and traction give it an advantage out of the corners but the Ferrari is much stronger under braking. Schumacher is trying to pressure Alonso into a mistake but the young Spaniard is holding his nerve.
The pace is dropping off as Alonso goes defensive - approaching back-markers but not fast enough for them to be a problem. 3 laps from the end with 0.4s between the first two, ITV decides to go to an ad break - AAAAGGHHHH!!! Thank god for Radio 5-Live!
Schumacher is putting his car into some strange positions trying to unsettle Alonso, but each time loses a little track position. Has a close look into Tosa, but Alonso holds on. Last lap - Alonso slow into Ravazza 1 but again the Renault's superior torque keeps him out of harm's way out of Ravazza 2.
Schumacher locks a brake into the last chicane and the victory is Alonso's, a mere 0.2s ahead of the current champion. His third victory of the season, he is now on 36 points in the Drivers' Championship to Schumacher's 10.
Button took his first podium of the season in 3rd, with Wurz finishing a strong 4th in his first race since 2000. Sato was 5th, with Villeneuve in 6th and no doubt glad to open his points account. The Toyotas of Trulli and R Schumacher took the final points positions. Phew, that was quite a race! Let's have more like that :-)
* Ralf Schumacher was penalised for an incident in the pits when the team released him from his second stop before it was safe to so. 25 seconds was added to his overall time which drops him out of the points and promoted Nick Heidfeld to the final point scoring position.
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