Barrichello gamble pays off
Barrichello gambled on wet tyres in the opening laps and used the impressive pace of his F2004 machine to stay ahead of the pack and claim his first victory of the season in front of the passionate tifosi.
“It was a hard decision at the start because the grid was fairly wet and I thought I could open up a gap on the wet tyres,” said the elated Brazilian.
“I probably stayed out a lap too long but it worked out very well in the end because as it went along my car was faster and faster and I was able to push.
“When I came out of the final stop and I was ahead I said something in Portuguese that I cannot say here now.
“I can honestly say from the bottom of my heart that this is Ferrari’s best season ever.”
Schumacher, who won the world title at the last race in Belgium, was able to battle his way back from an opening lap spin to claim second place as Barrichello took a rare piece of the dominant team’s glory.
Ferrari won the world championship in last month’s Hungarian Grand Prix, two races ago, and the duo, who were lauded in a celebration garden party on Saturday night, were simply racing for fun.
They were so in control that they crossed the line 1.3 seconds apart as Jenson Button, who led early on, had to settle for third place and his eighth podium of the year for BAR-Honda.
“I didn’t think the Ferrari’s would be so strong towards the end of the race but their pace was unbelievable,” said Button.
Takuma Sato finished fourth in the second BAR and, with both Renault cars failing to score points, the team was able to leapfrog their rivals and move into second in the constructors’ world championship.
Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya failed to make the most of his front-row start and finished fifth for Williams-BMW with Scot David Coulthard sixth for McLaren-Mercedes after his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen retired once again.
Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia completed what is likely to be his final race for Williams with his third seventh-place finish in four races and Italian Giancarlo Fisichella claimed the final point for Sauber.
Heavy morning rain left the track damp for the start and Barrichello, who was the only lead car to choose wet tyres, made a clean get-away as Alonso shot through the middle of Schumacher and Montoya to claim second.
The field of cars slithered their way cleanly around the first corner but Schumacher lost out when he cut the chicane and was forced to slow to relinquish the advantage he had gained.
He slowed significantly, however, and he spun at the second chicane as he tried to negotiate his way through the jostling pack and had dropped to 15th by the end of the opening lap.
Frenchman Olivier Panis, who announced this weekend he will stop racing at the end of the season, posted an early retirement when he spun as well and ended his race in the gravel trap.
Barrichello’s tyre gamble appeared to have paid off as he enjoyed a lead of 6.9s after the opening lap but as the track quickly dried Alonso reeled the Ferrari driver in and took the lead on lap five.
Barrichello pitted to change to dry tyres at the end of that lap and after six laps Alonso led Button by 5.9 seconds with Montoya third, Barrichello down in ninth and Schumacher already up to 11th.
Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who started from seventh place on the grid, pulled into his McLaren garage to post his eighth retirement of the season, his third in four races, after 14 laps.
After the opening round of pit stops Button managed to climb past Alonso to take the lead and the race then became a procession until the second round of pitstops.
At the end of lap 31 a fire erupted in the Minardi pit during a routine stop for Italian Gianmaria Bruni but it was put out in a flash and the crew and driver all appeared to be uninjured.
The race was decided in the second set of stops when Button lost out to Barrichello, who regained the lead, with Alonso now in third and Schumacher up to fourth place some 20.5 seconds behind his team-mate.
Jordan driver Giorgio Pantano became the second Italian to retire before Spaniard Fernando Alonso spun out of third place on lap 41 and was forced to retire after becoming stuck in the gravel trap.
Barrichello grew a 22.3-second advantage over Button before he pitted for his final stop at the end of lap 42 and he came out ahead of Button just before Schumacher passed the Briton to take second place and that was that.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
