Trulli triumph just the ticket for Formula One

JUST when Formula One needed a shake-up to mask the domination by Michael Schumacher and Ferrari, the Monaco Grand Prix worked its magic to throw up a race fit for the Hollywood blockbuster cast attracted to its glamorous harbourside setting.

The race proved just the ticket as the show returned with a smokescreen crash for Italian Giancarlo Fisichella, two controversial collisions that took out world champion Schumacher and the young pretender to his crown, Fernando Alonso, with ‘nice guy’ Jarno Trulli claiming the spoils in a thrilling climax.

Even the drama of a missing diamond, lost from the nose of Christian Klien’s Jaguar following his first-lap meeting with the barriers, fitted into the script and Trulli, in true Oscars style, humbly dedicated his success to the good of the sport itself.

“It is always interesting to see different people on top and I think so far this Monte Carlo race has been nice for me,” said Trulli, a first-time winner who finally came away with the biggest prize in his eighth season of competition.

“I think in general this race was interesting because so many things have gone on, we have got a new winner, different podium finishers, but, honestly, I am just driving and trying to do my best.

The performances of Trulli and Jenson Button, a regular front-runner this year and who claimed his fourth podium in five races for BAR-Honda with a close second place, made it easy to forget how dominant Schumacher had been in practice and how he was touted as unstoppable.

But the fact that his unbeaten run was finally ended, the possibility of him going through all 18 races without loss has been firmly struck off, and, that he has finally made an unfixable mistake for the first time in 19 races, at least gives encouragement for the rest of the year.

“If it has been done once, then why should it not be done again? It’s obviously good for the sport,” said Button.

The fact that Schumacher still went away having comfortably secured the fastest lap of the race suggests the sequel, in his homeland next weekend, might not be such thrilling viewing.

But you can bet Trulli, Alonso and Button are all looking for the lead role in a bid to keep Formula One’s revitalised show on the right track.