Italy: Michelin's day of mixed fortunes

By Michelin Sport
September 12 2006

Kimi Raikkonen led the Michelin challenge in today's Italian Grand Prix at Monza. The Finn qualified on pole position and got away well to hold the early advantage, but he slipped behind Michael Schumacher during the first round of pit stops and eventually finished 8.0s behind the German.

It was Schumacher's 90th Formula One victory and after the race he confirmed that he will retire from the sport at the end of this season, his 15th in F1. Raikkonen will switch from McLaren to replace him at Ferrari.

World championship leader Fernando Alonso qualified fifth fastest but was banished to 10th on the grid for allegedly holding up Schumacher's team-mate Felipe Massa during qualifying – something the Spaniard vehemently denied. During the race he fought his way through the pack to run as high as third, but a late-race engine failure forced him to retire. He now holds a two-point advantage over Schumacher with three races to run.

Impressive rookie Robert Kubica drove strongly all afternoon. He swept from sixth to third at the start and narrowly lost out to Alonso as the two rejoined the track as one after making their second stops. Kubica was left clear in third when Alonso stopped: he became the first Polish driver to score an F1 podium finish and it has taken him only three starts.

Giancarlo Fisichella was the highest placed of several drivers who attempted a one-stop strategy, He finished fourth ahead of fellow point-scoring Michelin runners Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello and Nick Heidfeld. Heidfeld very briefly held second when he passed Schumacher at the start, but the German fought back and Heidfeld lost momentum – and several places – before the lap was over. He was later delayed by a drive-through penalty after he broke the pit speed limit during his first stop.

Christian Klien was best of the remaining Michelin runners. He also completed the longest race stint – 35 laps. David Coulthard was 12th ahead of Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi. Spaniards Alonso and de la Rosa were the only Michelin drivers not to finish. The latter pulled out when his oil pressure dropped on lap 21.

Nick Shorrock
Formula One Director
Michelin

"After today's result it looks ever more certain that the world title battle will go all the way to the wire. It is always disappointing not to win, but we produced a good range of tyres this weekend – a mixture of hard, soft and medium compounds – and all of them worked very well.

"Kimi Raikkonen clearly did a very good job and I thought Robert Kubica put in a stunning performance in only his third grand prix, particularly when it became clear how much fuel he had on board at the start. It's a pity that circumstances prevented Renault making its usual push for victory, but Fernando Alonso was very quick and made significant progress on a day when overtaking clearly wasn't easy.

"It has been a day of mixed fortunes, but six Michelin drivers scored points and overall I'm very satisfied with our performance this weekend. Technically we have taken a step forward since Istanbul and that gives us an excellent platform for the final three races of the season."