Michael Schumacher won Sundas Italian Grand Prix at Monza and with an average speed of 247 kph, he was the winner of the fastest ever Grand Prix.
Speaking after the race, Jean Todt, Managing Director of Ferrars Racing Department saidI would like to embrace all of Ferrari and our partners those technical, above all Bridgestone and Shell and I share this victory with them
We are absolutely delighte, said Mike Copson of Shell Global SolutionsWe brought a new engine oil to this race, which liberated a fair amount of power from the Ferrari engine through friction reduction. We are especially proud of the engins performance at this daunting circuit. To bring a new oil to a circuit like this where the engine is under maximum strain for a long period, demands the utmost confidence from our team in the UK and from the Ferrari team in Italy. That we were out longest in the second stint also shows the excellent flexibility of our fuel. All in all a wonderful day for Shell and Ferrari here in Ital
Lap one saw some of the hardest racing Formula One has seen this season. Pole sitter Schumacher had beaten everybody to and through the first chicane but at the second chicane, Variante dalla Roggia, Juan Pablo Montoya tried to pass the German around the outside. Schumacher was having none of it and robustly defended and the two ran side by side until the Ferrari came out on top at the first Lesmo.
Schumacher was to hold the lead until the first round of pit stops in fact. At around Lap 13, the leaders began to pit. Raikkonen and Ge pitted together followed by Barrichello a lap later. Out on track, Schumacher was setting one fastest lap after the other - recording four in a row before pitting on Lap 15. Montoya stayed out to briefly inherit the lead but when he pitted a lap later, the normal order was restored.
Seemingly sharing similar strategies, all eyes were on the lap times. When the tyres were up to temperature, Montoya began to claw in the flying Schumacher; he was eating 2 to 3 tenths out of the gap between him and the race leader on each lap. By half distance, the gap was down to 1.2 seconds.
As it happened, Montoya pitted on lap 32 for new tyres and fuel, giving Schumacher the opportunity to make a break for it. In fact, when Schumacher pitted a lap later, he exited to pit lane still in the lead of the race.
And so it began again, with 18 laps to go, Michael Schumacher had the lead, but only 1.8 seconds ahead of Montoya, who in turn led Rubens Barrichello in third.
With 12 laps to go, Schumacher had spent a few laps suffering the unwanted attentions of Montoya once again, but at the race neared its close, Montoys charge began to fade. From having been within a second of the Ferrari, Montoya was loosing time hand over fist.
The Columbian stayed in second place in fact, and Schumacher went on to record his first win since Canada. Barrichello finished third (his first points since winning in Silverstone) and Raikkonen finished fourth. Marc Ge recorded a strong fifth place on his debut with Williams and Villeneuve, Webber and Alonso rounded out the points.
With only two rounds remaining, Michael Schumacher still leads the Driver Championship, now by three points from Montoya and seven from Raikkonen. Ferrari have also narrowed the gap to Williams in the Constructos Championship to only five points.
TheBrickyar is next at Indianapolis in two weeks time. Like Monza, it is one of the oldest circuits in the world and it all the signs point towards another historic race in the making.
