BMW WilliamsF1 finishes 3rd in Monaco

Even though the WilliamsF1 pair had a difficult race Michelin supplied McLaren driver David Coulthard would have no such problems and would go on to record his second career win at the Monaco Grand Prix. This would be David's twelfth Grand Prix win. The race would see him pressured by Montoya and after the WilliamsF1 drivers engine failed then by Michael Schumacher. Despite these challenges Coulthard was able to complete a memorable race victory.

For Ferrari's Michael Schumacher he had to be happy with second in the race. With Montoya retiring and Ralf Schumacher finishing third Michael was able to extend his championship lead over the WilliamsF1 drivers.

As for the race Coulthard was able to gain the upper hand right from the start by beating Montoya into the first corner Sainte Devote. This would allow Coulthard to set the pace for the rest of the race despite the challenges to his lead.  Montoya was able to move into second with Michael and Ralf Schumacher right behind in third and fourth. These four would run very close together with each of the drivers setting fastest laps at some point during the race.

It was the first race of the year where four drivers had run so close together for such a large number of laps. The only concern was the smoke that was seen coming from the back of Coulthard's car.

But this was to change with Montoya's retirement just after mid-distance when his BMW engine blew, allowing Ralf Schumacher to gain the extra position. As for the pit stops the lead drivers, Coulthard and Michael Schumacher would only make one stop. Ralf would be forced to make a second stop to change his tyres. Coulthard’s pit-stop was on lap fifty. With the advantage that he held over Michael Schumacher he was able to return to the track still in the lead. From this point to the end of the race Michael would pressure David but he was not able to force Coulthard into any mistake and given the nature of Monaco was not able to pass.

In fourth came Renault's Jarno Trulli. His race would see him struggle to match the pace of the four front runners and he would fall back slowly from them. As for team-mate Jenson Button his race would see him firstly jump the start and as he tried to recover the situation he would drop to the tail of the field. For his mistake Button was given a stop-go penalty. He would finally crash while fighting with Olivier Panis for tenth position. Button would crash into the BAR forcing both drivers into retirement. For Trulli his race would end up in the air after it was found that his ECU did not have the correct seals requiring an inspection by the FIA which would take several days.

For the Jordan team Giancarlo Fisichella would finish in fifth, a repeat of his points scoring finish in Austria. For team-mate Sato he would once again crash heavily. This time it would be his won mistake as he was to lose control of his car in the tunnel while fighting with team-mate Fisichella for ninth position. His Jordan would come out of the tunnel side ways after striking the barrier. Thankfully Sato was able to get himself out of his car. Fisichella was lucky not to be involved in the accident.

the last points scoring position would go to Arrows driver Frentzen. Frentzen's sixth place was more the case of staying out of trouble while those in front of him crashed. In particular Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello attempt to make a passing move on McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen. As the pair came out of the tunnel Barrichello tried to outbreak the Finn but he misjudged his attempt and crashed into the back of the McLaren. Raikkonen was able to return to the pits for lengthy repairs which would see him return to the track but he would later retire.

Rubens Barrichello was able to continue after having his nose replaced and a quick check of his car. Despite the hard impact it did very little damage to the Ferrari. Rubens was able to finish in seventh position after setting a new lap record of 1:18.023 in the closing stages.

For Sauber's Nick Heidfeld he would finish in eighth position having started from seventeenth, while team-mate Felipe Massa had a race that he would rather forget. His troubles would start when he was battling with Enrique Bernoldi. Massa blocked Bernoldi for several laps until Bernoldi finally got past on the pit straight. Massa then used the Arrows for assistance when he braked too late for Sainte Devote.

The Sauber would hit the back of the Arrows and both drivers would go off the track. Massa would receive a stop-go penalty for his efforts. But the Brazilian would have one final moment before the race was to finish crashing heavily again at Sainte Devote forcing him to retire.

For Jaguar, after there disaster in qualifying, both Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa would at lest finish the race in ninth and tenth. Mark Webber and the unfortunate Enrique Bernoldi were the only other finishers.

Toyota's Allan McNish would be another driver to find the barriers at Sainte Devote after only fifteen laps. He would retire from the race. His team-mate Mika Salo would also crash out of the race after seventy laps when his front right front brake seemed to lock, ending his 100th Grand Prix in retirement.

For the BMW WilliamsF1 team the positive feelings of a good race result did not live up to their expectations with only one car making it to the finish and only in third. Both Williamsf1 drivers now lie on equal points but have now seen the gap to Michael Schumacher grow. With the next race in Canada, a race where Ralf won last year, there is every chance that the WilliamsF1 drivers can once again challenge Michael. At least Monaco was a race that was interesting to watch even if there was no overtaking..