Montoya fifth after final Monaco practice.


Montoya
By Andrew Hooper
May 22 2004

BMW WilliamsF1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya would finish in fifth after the final Monaco practice session. Ralf was down in eighth with his prospects for the race looking very uncertain. Juan Pablo was 0.198 behind the quickest time set by Michael Schumacher.

   
Monaco GP Saturday 4th Practice
 
For the BMW WilliamsF1 team the final practice session at Monaco was one from which the team could draw some encouragement with Juan Pablo finishing in fifth, just 0.198 behind the fastest time. Ralf was down in eighth. If he qualifies around the same position it is going to be a very difficult race for the German.

Ralf with his engineers.The second Saturday practice would see the teams search for a qualifying setup that would see their cars closer to the front of the grid. For Ralf it is academic which spot the qualifies in as he will lose ten grid places.

Sauber's Felipe Massa would take to the track, joined by Raikkonen and Klien. Button, Sato, Michael Schumacher, and Alonso were also out on the track. Michael was quickly looking for a fast time, setting a time of 19.7 seconds through the first sector, but was held up by a Jordan. Despite this he would go fastest with a time of 1m:16.322.

Renault's Jarno Trulli would set the fastest time in sector 2 with a 37.5 seconds. Ralf would go fastest with a time of 1m:16.115. But it is doubtful if he will stay there as the fastest lap so far this weekend was a 1m:14.741 from Michael Schumacher.

The times would start to fall with Barrichello going fastest with a 1m:15.728. Trulli was on a fast lap but was held up by a Ferrari, but he would still goes fastest. For Mark Webber his weekend would get even worse with his Jaguar's engine catching fire as he was right in front of the pit lane and managed to roll into the garage. It was previously reported that Webber would lose ten places on the grid, this was incorrect.

While the other drivers were out Juan Pablo was still in his garage. McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen would go fastest, but was quickly passed by Alonso and Michael Schumacher would move into second with a 1m:14.941.

Again showing his speed in the second sector Jarno Trulli would set a time of 1m:14.016, seven tenths quicker than the best lap so far. Ralf would move into fourth, just behind Michael, while McLaren's David Coulthard would set the second fastest time, but he was still six tenths down on Trulli. Sauber's Giancarlo Fisichella would set the fastest time in sector one with a time of 19.5 secs, on his way to twelfth after losing time in the rest of his lap.

Juan Pablo was down in eighth, with a time of 1m:15.641. Juan Pablo's session would end when he lost the rear of his Williams at the final corner sliding straight into the tyres where he would lose his front wing. Such is the difficult time that both WilliamsF1 drivers are having this weekend. Michael would improve his time but only by two-tenths. Jarno would continue to set impressive times with a lap of 1m:14.416.

Sato would push Coulthard one place down the times when he was to go second fastest by 0.004 seconds. But Michael would now be on a very quick lap, setting a time of 19.21 seconds through sector one, 0.275 up on Trulli through sector two, to finish the lap fastest with a time of 1m:14.014, fastest by just 0.002 seconds. Alonso would go fourth, 0.1 seconds off Michael's time while Juan Pablo would move into fifth with a time of 1m:14.212, 0.198 behind Michael. It was very close at the front. Ralf was down in eighth with a time of 1m:14.752.

So with 0.006 seconds covering the top three the session would come to an end. Qualifying looks to be a very intense time.

 
Name (Nationality) Team  Time   Gap

1 Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari 1:14.014
2 Jarno Trulli (ITA) Renault 1:14.016 + 0:00.002
3 Takuma Sato (JPN) BAR Honda 1:14.020 + 0:00.006
4 Fernando Alonso (ESP) Renault 1:14.138 + 0:00.124
5 Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) Williams-BMW 1:14.212 + 0:00.198
6 Jenson Button (GBR) BAR Honda 1:14.646 + 0:00.632
7 David Coulthard (GBR) McLaren Mercedes 1:14.670 + 0:00.656
8 Ralf Schumacher (GER) Williams-BMW 1:14.752 + 0:00.738
9 Kimi Räikkönen (FIN) McLaren Mercedes 1:15.034 + 0:01.020
10 Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Ferrari 1:15.174 + 0:01.160
11 Cristiano Da Matta (BRA) Toyota 1:15.861 + 0:01.847
12 Christian Klien (AUT) Jaguar 1:16.101 + 0:02.087
13 Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Sauber Petronas 1:16.142 + 0:02.128
14 Felipe Massa (BRA) Sauber Petronas 1:16.332 + 0:02.318
15 Nick Heidfeld (GER) Jordan Ford 1:16.385 + 0:02.371
16 Olivier Panis (FRA) Toyota 1:16.431 + 0:02.417
17 Giorgio Pantano (ITA) Jordan Ford 1:16.700 + 0:02.686
18 Mark Webber (AUS) Jaguar 1:17.173 + 0:03.159
19 Zsolt Baumgartner (HUN) Minardi Cosworth 1:19.467 + 0:05.453 
 
 
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