| Schumacher's victory at Imola was reminiscent of his defeat last year Michael Schumacher's victory at Imola was Ferrari's first success since last season's US Grand Prix. Despite the second place, Fernando Alonso and the Renault team continue to firmly occupy leading positions in the individual and team standings. Juan Pablo Montoya finished third in a McLaren.
A year ago in Imola, Michael Schumacher gave his last fight before finally losing his position as the undisputed leader of modern Formula 1. At the home track, the Ferrari of the then reigning world champion seemed to receive additional horsepower from the energy of thousands of tifosi who came to the family race track of the founder of the Scuderia to support their favorites, who had an unexpectedly weak start to the season. Schumacher put pressure on Alonso until the last meters, but was unable to overtake his faster opponent. Perhaps, if Michael had managed to finish first, then in the future Renault would no longer feel so at ease in the championship. But Alonso resisted, adding to both the team and himself such confidence that it was more than enough to win the championship.
After that, Schumacher and Ferrari still had a technical victory at the scandalous US Grand Prix, but otherwise they fought for places that were far from usual. A new date with their home track was expected in Maranello, not without optimism. The progress achieved in fine-tuning the engine and chassis, and most importantly, Bridgestone’s successes on the tire front, allowed Michael to reassure the team’s fans with a statement about the return of Ferrari even before the start of free practice.
The asphalt of Imola really favors Ferrari. Out of 26 previous starts, the red cars failed to finish in the top three here only nine times. If even such drivers as Nicola Larini managed to jump over their heads at this circuit driving a Ferrari and find themselves on the podium for the only time in their eight-year career in Formula, then Schumacher, who won here six times, did not require the intervention of otherworldly forces to achieve this again.
Luca de Montezemolo, the president of FIAT, whose division is Ferrari, came to observe the qualifications. Naturally, he was unable to dodge the question about the supposedly already signed contract with Kimi Raikkonen. “Don’t you know that Schumacher is creating his own team next year,” this serious business man dumbfounded the audience. “And we are sending Massa to Renault, where he will be the only pilot, saving Briatore money.” Here he allowed himself to smile, demonstrating that he had a sense of humor. And he added seriously: “We will not sign anything until Schumacher decides on his future. The team does not put Michael in any time frame, we do not rush him to make a decision. I really hope he continues his career because there is no doubt in anyone's mind that he will be competitive."
No wonder the big boss quit everything. Schumacher won qualifying, showing that he doesn’t waste words. This is already the 65th pole position of the great driver, and by this indicator he became the sole leader, finally managing to get ahead of another great driver - Ayrton Senna, whose life was cut short on this track 12 years ago. Championship leader Fernando Alonso had to start only from fifth place, which gave Ferrari an additional advantage.
At the start, an example of uncompromising behavior was demonstrated by the riders of the teams that usually live at the back of the peloton. On the eve of the race, Aguri Suzuki, the owner of the team named after himself, strengthening the samurai spirit of his pilots, said that their goal for the season was to get closer to another outsider, Midland. To the misfortune of both stables, Yuji Ide took the leader’s words too literally. On the first lap he really got close to Christian Albers' car. Close contact ended with Midland tumbling into the dust of the roadside.
Even before the race, Alonso said that, in principle, he would be satisfied with second place in Imola. The narrow and winding track makes it possible to repel attacks well even in a car that is inferior in speed. Therefore, it was important for Schumacher to maintain his leading position in the race. He managed to do this thanks to the well-coordinated work of the team at the second pit stop. You can overtake in Imola only by waiting for your opponent to make a blunder. Fernando has a lot of patience. He began to guard Michael, literally hanging on his tail. It was like a repeat of last year's race, only in reverse. Then Alonso endured until the end. Shumi also has more than enough endurance. The Ferrari went lap after lap as if on rails, and Alonso still got nervous. Having turned too wide a couple of times, the Spaniard remembered his words before the race and three laps before the checkered flag abandoned the idea of overtaking Michael.
Ferrari is truly back. It remains to be seen for how long.
Formula 1 World Auto Racing Championship. 4th stage . Grand Prix of San Marino. Imola (Italy). 1. M. Schumacher (“Ferrari”) - 1 hour 31 minutes. 06 sec. 2. Alonso (Renault) - lag 2.1 seconds. 3. Montoya (McLaren) - 15. 4. Massa (Ferrari) - 16. 5. Raikkonen (McLaren) - 18. 6. Webber (Williams) - 38. 7. Button (Honda) - 39. 8. Fisichella (Renault) - 40. Drivers' Championship. Alonso - 36, M. Schumacher - 21, Raikkonen - 18, Fisichella, Montoya - 15 each, Button - 13. Constructors' Championship . Renault - 51, McLaren - 33, Ferrari - 30, Honda - 15, BMW - 10. Dmitry SITNIK |
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