Fernando Alonso managed to hold off pressure from Kimi Räikkönen and Mark Webber to claim victory in the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend. Actually, it is better stated that his engine was able to defend the challenge posed by the McLaren and the Williams and just stayed out ahead enough to keep anyone from passing him.
The race was set to be a duel between Schumacher and Alonso, but the paddock cried foul when the former world champion made an error on the second to last turn during qualifying and blocked the track, resulting in a red flagged session. The FIA penalized Ferrari by forcing him to start from the back of the grid without a chance for appeal. I saw the video several times and I can't tell if it was intentional or not. I am upset about the way it was handled, but I'll let my checkbook do the talking. As a result of that crap, I've decided against going to the Canadian or United States GP. Where I live, it's a lot easier and cheaper to go see NASCAR if I want to watch crap. Bernie and the FIA will not be making any money off of me this year.
Getting back to the race, as stated earlier, Alonso being gifted pole, just needed to drive a clean race and block any serious challenges. It looked like it was going to be a good fight to the end, but it seemed that McLaren and Williams were looking too closely over each other's shoulders when it came to engine design and set up as both failed almost simultaneously, allowing the Spaniard to cruise easily to victory. Juan Pablo Montoya managed to get close, but was never a threat and finished in second place.
There was a bit of a surprise with the driver that finished in third place. David Coulthard managed to give Red Bull Racing their first podium and picked the perfect race location to do it. Expect the Scot to get a decent bonus and/or contract for next year because of the effort.
Rubens Barrichello made a strong case that he should be the number one driver at Honda and not the overrated Brit by finishing just a second off the podium pace. The Brazilian may not be the greatest driver out there, but he is better than Jenson Button.
Michael Schumacher did try and steal the show by getting up to fifth place. Like him or not, the guy still has talent to move through the field. Too bad the FIA wanted to appease the fat, sweaty, supermodel stalker and wouldn't allow Schumacher to race for the win. If they want people to start showing up for the races, they better do something different. And soon.
He did finish ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella who was the last car on the lead lap. Renault has figured out that the key to winning the constructor's championship is to get both cars to finish in the points.
The last two points paying positions were captured by Nick Heidfeld in the BMW and Ralf Schumacher in the Toyota. Neither team has been very happy with the results they've been able to score this year.
Massa finished just outside of the points in ninth place, not a bad drive for a rookie starting from the last row, but still not the result that everyone was expecting from the young Brazilian. I'm expecting the newspapers in Italy to tear into everyone this week, ah, more like the days of old when Enzo was still around.
As for everyone else, well again, we've reached that point in this column where only the die hard fans and extended family members get to. Scott Speed finished ahead of Villeneuve. Actually, now that I think about it, even the pace car finished ahead of Villeneuve. Montagny finished the race, three laps back. I'm sure the Japanese contingent was not happy that he finished ahead of Sato-san. At least it wasn't as embarrassing a drive as some of the other not-so-Super-Aguri drivers have put up.
Formula One has one more stop in Europe for the Grand Prix of Britain in two weeks before heading over to this side of the pond for the North American races. I wonder if anyone will even notice that a certain loud mouthed fan/correspondent is missing. I'm sure my local grocery store will be happy both weekends as I'm sure there will be a noticeable blip in their adult beverage sales as I watch those races from the comfort of my own home.
Race Results
