Canada: Full Grand Prix Lap by Lap

Sauber at Canada
By pitpass.com (16/06/2003)
June 16 2003

Bright sunshine at Montreal which means that we could well be looking at a Michelin walkover, however with Ralf and Juan Pablo going into that notorious first corner side-by-side, who knows?

Then again let's not forget Kimi Raikkonen who is starting from the pitlane and according to Ross Brawn could well opt to fill the car to the brim with fuel and go for a very long first stint.

Minardi boss Paul Stoddart has warned Ron Dennis not to expect any favours for his golden boy Kimi who stars behind the two black and white cars.

The cars line up on the grid and in the pitlane the McLaren crew prepares to re-fuel the car, but this cannot happen until the field gets away. Ralph Firman pulls into the pitlane to take advantage of the new rules.

A good clean start with Montoya fending off Michael Schumacher as Ralf leads the field into turn one. At the hairpin Coulthard, Trulli and Pizzonia touch, the Jaguar coming off worse and returning to the pit with the Renault pitting a lap later.

At the end of the first lap Ralf lead his team-mate by 0.7, while Barrichello's front wing appears to be hanging off, but who did he hit?

As Ralf sets the fastest lap of the race Montoya spins at the start of the pit straight and loses several places.

After three laps Ralf leads Michael followed by Alonso, Webber, Montoya, Panis, da Matta, Coulthard, Villeneuve & Frentzen.

Michael, 1.4s behind his brother, sets the fastest lap of the race as Kimi is up to sixteenth though he hasn't physically passed a single car on track.

Michael appears to be reeling in his brother with Alonso a further 5.9s down the road, while Trulli is coasting round seemingly heading back to the pits and retirement.

Six laps completed and Michael trails Ralf by 0.968, this is reduced to 0.795 over the next lap.

At this stage Wilson is running tenth with team-mate Jos Verstappen in twelfth as Frentzen is the first retirement of the day.

Montoya is all over the back of Alonso, the Colombian clearly fired up by his earlier mistake.

7.9s behind Montoya is Webber with Panis hard on the Australian's heels followed by da Matta, Coulthard, Villeneuve, Wilson, Heidfeld & Verstappen.

Finally Montoya makes his move and Alonso has no answer as team-mate Trulli has a spin, the Italian having a dreadful day.

Coulthard finally gets past da Matta but the Brazilian doesn't give in easily, meanwhile Verstappen stops for fuel clearly on a three-stopper.

Twelve laps completed and Ralf leads Michael; by 0.703 with Montoya a further 10.4s behind, next time around Juan Pablo posts fastest lap of the race.

Wilson stops for fuel on lap 13 clear proof that both Minardis are on three-stoppers as Villeneuve appears to have a brake problem, the Canadian dropping several places in one lap. He returns to his pit where the crew use fire extinguishers to cool them, this circuit is notoriously hard on brakes.

Olivier Panis pits which moves Coulthard up to sixth while team-mate Raikkonen is running in eleventh, albeit 53s behind the leader.

Villeneuve goes out then comes back in, the crew is going to work on the car but in all honesty his race appears to be over, another poor home race for the Canadian.

Another spin for poor Jarno Trulli who is now 3 laps behind the leaders.

Michael continues to shadow his brother the gap now constant at about 1s.

Nick Heidfeld sets best time of the day in sector one as Michael Schumacher appears to be on a very fast lap as Ralf posts fastest lap of the race.

At the end of lap 19 Montoya is the first of the front runners to pit, he's joined by Mark Webber. Next time around it's Ralf that pits, the German out again in 8.8 having re-fuelled and changed the rear tyres only.

Michael Schumacher stops at the end of lap 20, the German stationary for 106s and re-joining ahead of his brother but behind Alonso who is leading. His pit stop was longer than both of the Williams' stops yet somehow he stayed in front, great stuff.

Both Jordans are out on the same lap, Firman stops out on track while Fisichella manages to get back to the pits. The Italian had gear selection problems while Firman supposedly had a terminal problem with his brakes.

Alonso still leads after 24 laps as Coulthard pits handing fourth to Montoya who is 20s ahead of Raikkonen.

At the end of lap 26 Alonso pits, he's stationary for a mere 8.8s rejoining in fourth behind Montoya.

Michael Schumacher now leads Ralf by 0.6 with Montoya 12.9 behind followed by Alonso, Raikkonen, Barrichello, Coulthard, Webber, Panis and da Matta.

Finally poor Jarno Trulli calls it a day, the Italian will be keen to forget about this weekend as soon as possible.

The Schumachers are forcing a blistering pace as Montoya falls further behind as Raikkonen is also posting some fast times as his fuel load get lighter and lighter.

At the end of lap 33 the Finn pits having shed his tyre tread, he re-joins the race in tenth. That the second time this has happened this afternoon, and in both instances it's a Michelin.

Barrichello posts fastest time of the race 0.3s faster than the previous best which had been posted by Ralf Schumacher.

Out front it's even-Stevens with Michael leading his brother by 0.4 with Montoya now 11.4s behind ahead of Alonso, Barrichello, Coulthard, Webber, Panis, da Matta, Raikkonen, Button, Heidfeld, Verstappen, Wilson & Pizzonia.

On lap 39 Montoya posts the fastest lap of the race as Rubens Barrichello makes his first 'proper' pit stop.

Ralf has come in for a lot of stick over the years for not appearing to challenge his brother, hopefully this myth was dispelled at San Marino earlier this year, if not today's performance should silence some of the cynics, the WilliamsF1 star is giving his older brother no quarter.

At the same time there are some who say that Michael can't take pressure and prefers to pursue rather than be pursued, however the Ferrari star is soaking up the pressure here.

Coulthard appears to have a problem as he loses fifth to Webber as Barrichello loses a bargeboard. At the front Michael Schumacher laps Kimi Raikkonen who will surely lose his World Championship lead today.. or will he?

At the end of lap 45 Montoya pits re-joining in fourth behind Alonso but ahead of Webber.

Next time around Ralf stops, once again he opts to keep his front tyres, that means they'll have done the whole race. Unfortunately the German re-joins behind a back-marker, one of the Toyotas.

Michael Schumacher now leads Alonso by 22.8s but the Ferrari still has to make another stop, which he makes at the end of lap 47. The German exits the pits as Ralf comes thundering down the pitlane, it's neck and neck but it's the Ferrari that has the advantage.

As all eyes focus on the Schumacher battle Heidfeld's engine blows big time on the main straight as Coulthard drives into his garage and retirement.

Alonso now leads Michael by 3.3s with Ralf a further 0.6s behind and Montoya a mere 5.1s down the road. Fifth is Barrichello ahead of Raikkonen, Webber, da Matta, Panis, Button, Wilson, Verstappen and Pizzonia.

1:16.055, fastest lap of the race for Alonso who is now leading Schumacher by 7.2s, next time around the Spaniard posts another fastest lap, 1:16.040.

At the end of lap 54 Alonso pits as Montoya is now within 2.8s of the new race leader Michael Schumacher, meanwhile Button is the eighth retirement of the day.

Michael now leads Ralf by 0.5s with Montoya a further 2.4s behind and Alonso a further 6.8s down the road. It's shaping up for a grandstand finish.

Barrichello is fifth, albeit 52s behind the leaders, with Raikkonen just 2.4s behind with Webber a further 21s behind the Finn. Da Matta is eighth ahead of team-mate Panis followed by Wilson, Verstappen and Pizzonia.

Sixty-one laps completed and a mere 1.2s cover the first three, meanwhile Raikkonen is all over Barrichello. Ferrari will want Rubens to defend his position but having lost that bargeboard it won't be easy.

After a great drive Wilson drives into the pits and gets out of the Minardi, his race over.

With four laps remaining the front four are running virtually nose to tail, covered by a mere 1.9s, but Michael Schumacher seems to have it all under control.

da Matta's dream of a points finish comes to an end on lap 64, the Brazilian pulling off on to the grass.

Raikkonen continues to shadow Barrichello but can't seem to find his way past, as Webber and Panis appear to have the rest of the points positions sewn up.

As they begin the last lap Pizzonia is cruising his race appears to be over.

After 70 laps Michael Schumacher takes his 49th win for Ferrari and takes the lead in the World Championship for the first time this season.

That said, but for an unforced error the race was Montoya's for the taking and the Colombian will be bitterly disappointed with today's result.

While Michael soaked up the pressure one has to say that the last part of the race was the usual procession and even Raikkonen's charge on Barrichello came to no nought.

Some great moments but on the whole this was hardly scintillating, not when one remember who this circuit was named after, a man who in Spain in 1981 gave one of the greatest performances of his career. I refer to Gilles Villeneuve who in the totally out-classed Ferrari kept a whole train of cars at bay, fending them off for lap after lap. Gilles' performance that day, and indeed that race, is widely regarded as a classic.

Today's race was merely a very, very fast procession.


(This article was written by pitpass.com, and is used with permission.)