Alonso Wins In Monte Carlo

Fernando Alonso has taken another win in Monaco and extends his championship points tally to 64 after an evenful race. Juan Pablo Montoya bought home the sould remaining McLaren in 2nd followed by an elated David Coulthard who takes Red Bull Racing‘s first podium. Rubens Barrichello fended off the advances of a recovering Michael Schumacher to finish 4th and Giancarlo Fisichella slotted in behind the German in 6th. Nick Heidfeld and Ralf Schumacher had quiet races and make up the final points paying positions.

After all the controversy of qualifying, the race finally took place with all 22 runners lining up on the grid (or in the pitlane for Schumacher). Alonso made a good start, as did Kimi Raikkonen who crept passed Webber going up the hill towards the casino corner on lap four. Christijan Albers forced his team mate Tiago Monteiro into the pit wall which resulted in a damaged nose for the Portuguese driver – I’m sure there will be words said to each other before the next race. Lap one saw Michael Schuamcher pass at least two cars in two consecutive corners as he started his long fight back towards the front of the pack.

Mark Webber drove brilliantly all afternoon, matching the pace of the leaders and keeping his head down. Unfortunately for the likeable Aussie, his Cosworth engine let go just past mid-distance, and was shortly followed by team mate Rosberg who suffered a stuck-open throttle. A disappointing race for Williams, but their performance up to the point of failures was stunning and Webber deserved so much more than DNF.

From the start to middle distance, Rubens Barrichello became a mobile chicane with a queue of cars following behind, unable to pass. The only time when any of the tailing drivers attempted to do anything was when Fisichela capatilised on being lapped by team mate Alonso and nailed two moves up the inside of two drivers who probably thought they were letting the reigning world champion through. A great piece of driving that helped Fisichella recover from his penalised grid slot.

Other losers from the Monaco Grand Prix include Kimi Raikkonen. After matching Alonso’s pace and keeping Webber at bay, Kimi parked up his motor shortly after the Safety Car came out to recover the stranded Williams. The young Finn, who was on for win with what was thought to be more fuel in his car, walked away from the circcuit and relaxed on his boat for the rest of the afternoon. His actions are reminiscent of Ayrten Senna’s who left F1 for 24 hours after exiting the Monaco race prematurely back in 1988.

The big winner at monaco is undoubtedly Fernando Alonso and Renault. Not only did the ywin the race, but they also got their own way with regards to Michael Schumacher’s actions in qualifying. Whilst the day started off in a bad light, it ended with a fantastic Formula One race and a great podium (sans champagne as a mark of respect to Edouard Michelin).