Ferrari 1-2 After Revised Results
Canadian Grand Prix

By Erik Nielsen
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media

The tifosi actually started to panic over the weekend when Michael Schumacher was only able to qualify in 6th place. Oh, ye of little faith. Did they forget that there was a big Englishman and a small Frenchman on the pit lane that know a thing or two about strategy?

The German won his 7th race of the season in Canada due to a brilliant strategy of taking a heavier load of fuel and only pitting twice. His team mate even looked to be pushing him mid-race (on empty tanks), but there really is only one master of this sport racing right now. Burino (little donkey in Portuguese for those not paying attention) would end up finishing in second place after Ralf Schumacher and the trash talking Juan Pablo would be disqualified for illegal brake ducts. Toyota was also caught bending the rules (or is it cribbing off the Williams’ design?) and would be taken out of the final standings, too.

Ralf did put some drama in this week’s installment by qualifying on pole and would have made it a Schumacher 1-2, but cheating is cheating and Sir Frank’s boys have admitted they made a mistake. As such, Montreal became the fifth 1-2 Ferrari finish of the season. Rumor is the fat lady has started to warm up back stage.

Even though the final results are starting to become predictable, the race still has an element of drama left. Jarno Trulli didn’t make it to the first turn before his suspension gave out. David Coulthard wished that he hadn’t gotten to turn one when he did because he was tapped by Christian Klien who then hit his Jaguar team mate (not a good career development move). Webber’s race was done shortly thereafter, and DC managed to keep it together and finish 6th in the revised results.

Jenson Button continued to show that he has matured as a driver and finished in 3rd place behind the two red cars. Not bad. Don’t be surprised if the young Brit is approached by the boys in red for a ride in a few years. Sato may have tried to be quicker, but blew the lump again. More yelling in Japanese...

Last year’s Ferrari, I’m sorry I keep doing that, I mean the Sauber of Fisichella would finish in an uneventful 4th place, just a solid drive. That was good enough to finish ahead of Darth Vader’s team who wants to debut a revised chassis as soon as possible. If they wait much longer, they might not get the hot tempered Columbian and his three fans.

Lucky Eddie’s boys also finished in the points, and rookie Glock got two points in his first outing. Not a bad start. Should keep Benson and Hedges happy for a bit.

Renault didn’t have such a good weekend with both cars DNF’ing. The French team still has some work to do.

The schedule doesn’t allow for much time for the teams to test anything. Racing will continue this weekend at the Brickyard for the USGP. You can count on Williams and Toyota relying on overnight delivery of new bits to make their cars legal again. They’re just praying that it’s enough. Makes you wonder if the other teams are capable of making a legal car to beat the Ferraris.