M. Schumacher, R. Barrichello & Ferrari take 1-2 at Silverstone.
Start:
The race got underway with Barrichello starting from the back of the grid.
Montoya led the two Schumachers, and Jenson Button jumped from 13th on
the grid to seventh behind team mate Jarno Trulli. Massa soun out at Copse
but managed to continue.
Lap 3: Kimi Raikkonen slipped past Ralf Schumacher
into Copse, taking third place from the German as a few spots of rain
began to spatter around the track. Meanwhile Barrichello was already up
to 12th position in the field.
Lap 12: As the rain intensified, Montoya was the first
to pit followed by Michael Schumacher while Raikkonen and Ralf Schumacher
both pitted to find tyres ready. Michelin runners took the wets and the
Bridgestone runners took on the intermediate tyres. Coulthard was the
only one out on the track with slick tyres.
Lap 15: Michael Schumacher passed Montoya while Raikkonen
was bearing down on Ralf Schumacher. Raikkonen finally passed on the inside
of Bridge corner on lap 18 and just one lap later Barrichello eased past
the other Williams to take second place.
Lap 20: Frentzen was swarming all over the rear of
sixth place runner Ralf Schumacher but disaster struck for the German
whose gearbox failed.
Lap 24: Coulthard made an unexpected pit stop after
dropping from 10th to 12th in one lap with his McLaren team not expecting
the Scot and causing him to hang about for a prolonged period of time
as mechanics scabbled around the car. Same happened for Raikkonen.
Lap 25: Coulthard's abysmal afternoon continued, the
Scot, on slick tyres as some extra rain fell, ran wide at Bridge spinning
and annihikating a road-side sign.
Lap
31: Barrichello spun in abbey after dropping a wheel on the slippery
kerb, but managed to keep as Ralf Schumacher pitted only for more calamity
in the pits as the fuel hose to the car causing the German to be stationary
for over 40 seconds.
Lap 36: Ralf Schumacher pitted again and took on the
grooved-slick tyres with some fuel. Michael Schumacher continued to lead
the race with a 20 second lead over Barrichello and 10 seconds more over
Montoya.
Lap 40: Barrichello pits follwed by Montoya. The pair
emerged in the same formation rejoining the race in second and third .
Montoya, however got a run on the exit of Bridge and passed him for second
position.
Lap
46: Kimi Raikkonen retires with a blown engine. At thr front the battle
was on between Montoya and Barrichello as Barrichello muscled his way
past Montoya into Copse to regain a formation one-two for the Ferrari
team.
Finish: Michael Schumacher came home calmly to claim
his seventh win and Ferrari's eight from ten rounds this year. Team mate
Rubens Barrichello fought back from the back of the grid to score second
place ahead of Montoya. As for the BAR, Villeneuve and Panis finished
4th and 5th - the first of the season.
Next Race: France.
|