Second for Montoya in Italian GP

Despite losing points to Michael Juan Pablo is till challenging for the drivers title with two races left to run. The weather was fine with a track temperature of 41 Celsius. With the cars starting out on their formation lap Jordan's Giancarlo Fisichella would have trouble getting away from the grid forcing him to return to the pits.

The start would see Jaguar's Justin Wilson involved in an accident at the start. Renault's Jarno Trulli would retire. At the front Michael Schumacher and Montoya would be in a close battle. For Renault the day would get even worse when on lap two Alonso would lose his front wing, forcing him to pay a visit to the pits. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello was third, while Jos Verstappen would also stop, returning back to the track.

With Michael leading the pace was a very quick one with the Ferrari driver already setting a lap time of 1m:22.558. On lap four Toyota's Cristiano Da Matta would have a tyre blow on the approach to Parabolica. He would end his race in the gravel trap. By lap six Michael would have a two second lead. His team-mate would start to close in onto Montoya and on lap eight the Brazilian would set the fastest lap.

Lap nine and Justin Wilson would retire in the pits with a mechanical problem. At the front Kimi Raikkonen is now the fastest on the circuit with a lap time of 1m:22.238. The following lap Michael would reply to Raikkonen with a fastest lap of 1m:22.126.

Lap eleven and David Coulthard would pit for a routine stop. Toyota's Olivier Panis followed him in. Michael would improve his fastest lap again with a time of 1m:22.083. On lap thirteen Kimi would make his first routine pit stop, joined by Gene. Nick Heidfeld and Webber also make their first pit stop. The following lap and Barrichello makes his first pit stop, stationary for 8.2 sec. Lap fifteen and Michael Schumacher would pit, stopping for 8.6 sec. It was found that Trulli's retirement was related to a hydraulic problem.

The following lap and Montoya stops, 8.4 sec. Michael was again leading with Montoya in second place. Jordan's Baumgartner would pit, possibly on a one-stop strategy. Alonso would sustain damage to his car when he ran over the kerb at the chicane. By lap twenty the WilliamsF1 driver would start to close in onto the rear of the Ferrari, the gap been 2.5 seconds. Raikkonen in third is more than 12 seconds behind the leader. Lap twenty-two and Kimi's slide backwards would continue.

Lap twenty-five would see BAR's Jenson Button retire in the pit lane with a suspected gearbox problem. By the following lap Montoya was just 1.6 seconds behind Michael. After two more laps his lead would be 1.3 seconds. Jordan's Fisichella would finally pit, appearing to be on a one-stop strategy. As the Colombian continued to close in on the Ferrari, lap thirty the gap would be 1.0 seconds. Alonso would pit again, stopping for 10.9 seconds.
Barrichello would pit from third place, a 9.8 second stop. Lap thirty-two and Montoya would have dropped back slightly from Michael, but he would pit from second place. His stop would be nine seconds. Coulthard would pit from fourth place, 8.7 seconds.

Everything now depended on Michael's next stop. On lap thirty-three Michael would stop. He would return just behind Gene would have yet to make his top but ahead of Montoya. Raikkonen was to have also stopped hoping to jump ahead of Barrichello. Lap thirty-five and Marc would make his stop. The following lap and Nick Heidfeld would stop from seventh place. Michael would lead Montoya by 1.3 seconds.

By lap thirty-eight Montoya was right behind the Ferrari, just 1.3 seconds. Further back in third Rubens was having to contend with Raikkonen just 0.5 behind him. In fifth and sixth were Coulthard and Gene. Panis who had slowed was able to make it to the pit lane. By lap thirty-nine the leaders had lapped everyone up to ninth placed Mark Webber. With thirteen laps left to run Montoya would lose time lapping slower cars, in particular Frentzen, and the gap to Michael would grow out to be 2.3 seconds. The gap would continue to build to be 3.2 seconds. Gene was 2.2 seconds behind fifth placed Coulthard.

Lap forty-five and Michael's lead had grown to 5.8 seconds. Gene was now just 0.7 behind Coulthard and Raikkonen was closing in on Barrichello. But as the laps counted down Montoya was not able to close the gap, appearing to have settle for second place. Lap forty-seven and Michael's lead was 6.7 seconds. Coulthard would retire in the pit lane allowing Gene to move into fifth. Webber would move into eighth. Sixth and seventh would be Villeneuve and Frentzen.

Lap fifty and Michael's lead was up to 7.6 seconds. Raikkonen had close right up onto Rubens car. Frentzen would retire on lap fifty-two and Heidfeld into eighth place. But it would be Michael Schumacher who would cross the line in first place to extend his points lead in the championship. Michael would now have a three-point lead over Juan Pablo in the championship, 82 to 79.

Pos Driver Team-Engine Tyres Time

1. M. Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1h 14:19.838
2. Montoya WilliamsF1 BMW (M) + 5.294
3. Barrichello Ferrari (B) + 11.835
4. Raikkonen McLaren Mercedes (M) + 12.834
5. Gene WilliamsF1 BMW (M) + 27.891
6. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) + 1 lap
7. Webber Jaguar Cosworth (M) + 1 lap
8. Alonso Renault (M) + 1 lap
9. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) + 1 lap
10. Fisichella Jordan Ford (B) + 1 lap
11. Baumgartner Jordan Ford (B) + 2 laps
12. Kiesa Minardi Cosworth (B) + 2 laps
13. Frentzen Sauber Petronas (B) + 3 laps

Fastest Lap: M. Schumacher, 1:21.832, lap 14

Not Classified/Retirements:

Driver Team On Lap

Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (M) 45
Panis Toyota (M) 36
Verstappen Minardi Cosworth (B) 29
Button BAR Honda (B) 24
Da Matta Toyota (M) 4
Wilson Jaguar Cosworth (M) 3
Trulli Renault (M) 1