Monaco Grand Prix Review

We've been saying for a few races now that Coulthard is the man to challenge Michael Schumacher for the title this year. And not just by default, even though Mika Hakkinen's misfortune has relegated him into very much a supporting role. Before Monaco, Coulthard was the only man to have scored points in every race. In 2001 he has added the consistency that was lacking in his previous title bids.

It was always a matter of whether or not DC could step up to the plate, and he has done so marvellously this year. After all, he can depend on his car's reliability; he has not retired from a race due to mechanical failure since Melbourne 2000. We were among those who seriously doubted if he could ever hold a (sustained) candle to Hakkinen and Schumi in 2001, but now we're almost prepared to jump onto the Coulthard bandwagon.

Last year, Alesi put his awful Prost onto 7th on the grid, and this year a miracle of similar proportions occurred when Giancarlo Fisichella planted his dreadful Benetton in 10th, having been as high as 7th late in the session. That Jenson Button, who has been outpaced by his team-mate this year, was as high as 17th showed that either the Benetton is improving, or it's just a Monaco quirk.

Other pleasant surprises included Eddie Irvine, equalling Jaguar's best-ever qualifying performance with 6th on the grid, sandwiched between the two Williams cars, while Alesi in 11th demonstrated the Frenchman's skill once again. On the other side of the ledger, Sauber came back down to earth with a poor weekend, although Kimi Raikkonen once more out-qualified Nick Heidfeld. We reckoned that Monaco qualifying would be a big test for the Finn; to outdo his highly-regarded team-mate is rather impressive.

But honestly, it was the right decision to ban these wings. On one hand, they just looked plain ugly, and deserved to be banned on aesthetics alone. But as a safety issue, the Arrows design was particularly dangerous. Not only did it impede the driver's vision, if either Jos Verstappen or Enrique Bernoldi had front-ended someone, there was nothing to stop the wing from coming back towards the driver's head at speed.

In similar fashion, if a Jordan with its wing attached got caught up in an accident, there was always the possibility of a stray tyre or something breaking the wing from its stalk, with the driver's helmet only a few feet away. The late Ayrton Senna's accident was a sickening reminder that, no matter how strong the helmets and visors are, sharp parts flying back towards the driver can have fatal consequences.

Coulthard was only able to pick his way past Tarso Marques before being trapped behind Bernoldi's Arrows for the first half of the race, and this was of course the major story of the event. Were it not for the Brazilian's blocking job, which cost DC a lap, who knows where the Scot might have finished? The whole episode turned particularly unsavoury after the race, with accusations by Bernoldi of intimidation by Ron Dennis and Norbert Haug.

To be brutally honest, it was just tough cookies for Coulthard. He was fighting with position with Bernoldi, who was thus fully within his rights to block as judiciously as he liked. To say his job was made easier by Monaco's tight confines would be an understatement - this situation would never have occurred at any other track. However, the whole idea that, just because you're miles off the pace and you have a world championship contender behind you, that you should let him by as soon as possible is frankly scandalous, but dare I say it is not too surprising an attitude from an ego like Dennis'.

REJECT OF THE RACE
Enrique Bernoldi
At first, we applauded his determination, but heroics can only go so far...

Another allegation flying around is that Arrows told Bernoldi to block Coulthard for as long as possible to as to get television coverage for their sponsors. Dennis has already made noises suggesting that there's something unsporting about that. As if he doesn't understand the value of the sponsorship dollar! In my books, it's 'bravo Arrows' for giving Orange and friends a bit of exposure (and no, I'm not saying that just because one of my close friends works for Orange!).

And yet, having said all that, we are awarding the 'Reject of the Race' award to Bernoldi. We believe that on sheer nuisance value alone Enrique probably deserves to get it! Seriously, though, common sense and sportsmanship should dictate that he keep DC behind him for a while, make his point, and then realise who and where he is, and move over. But 'a while' is not 40-odd laps. Some of his chops across the bows of the McLaren had 'desperation' written all over them, and he lost a massive amount of time to the cars ahead driving so defensively. Regardless, we can't remember the last time that a scrap for 15th aroused this much controversy in a race!

The fact is, apart from all the speed and promise Williams have shown this year, they are staggeringly short of results. Their 18 points have come courtesy of a win and a 5th for Ralf, and a 2nd for Montoya. Besides that, JPM has now recorded 6 DNFs, and not all caused by mechanical failure. Sure both drivers have been rammed up the back a few times, but all the potential in the world means nothing if the cars don't make it to the finish line for whatever reason.

A number of retirements also provoked a fair amount of head-scratching afterwards. Both Olivier Panis and Hakkinen complained that their cars were pulling to the right. Later on Frentzen failed to negotiate the gentle right-bend through the tunnel and slammed the armco. That all three were on Bridgestones might only be a coincidence, and indeed, Panis and Hakkinen seemed to have unrelated mechanical problems.

Alternately, we can cite this as the latest in a long list of examples where, if things aren't going perfectly right for the Finnish double World Championship, he loses heart and at times gives up altogether. I for one can't imagine how he could have been a Grand Prix driver in the 1970s or even the 1980s, when teams, cars and set-ups weren't as sophisticated or reliable, and when driving around problems was par for the course.

And on the subject of Frentzen's armco-slamming, it's worth mentioning that Fisichella managed to clout the Ste Devote armco twice, but for the life of me I can't understand how he got away with the first bang, which looked terrifically heavy. Undoubtedly it's good when F1 cars can be nice and strong, as that protects the drivers, but when it means that they can get away with accidents then that too is rather silly.

Jacques Villeneuve was also fairly quiet despite finishing 4th, on a circuit where he traditionally has underperformed, while Coulthard put in some barnstorming laps on low fuel to claim 5th. Amazingly, he did over 60 laps before having to make his stop, although some of that must be due to saving fuel whilst being trapped behind Bernoldi. His result was also due to Alesi making a late tyre stop, but the Prost driver clung on for their first point since 1999, just in front of a consistent but unimpressive Button.

That Coulthard didn't give up despite being stuck behind the Arrows was a credit to him, and 2 points only was an unjust reward. Even though he's 12 points behind Schumi now, there's every chance he can make that back. And if he wins the title by two points, he can point to his never-say-die charge in the second half of this race. On the other hand, if he loses the title by a few points, he can curse Enrique, and above all McLaren for leaving him behind on the warm-up lap both here and in Spain.

It has been a fantastic couple of weeks for Australians looking to F1. First and foremost is Mark Webber's stunning F3000 drive at Monaco - he picked up pole, fastest lap and led every lap of the race on his way to victory. This leaves him 2nd overall, 12 points behind Justin Wilson, with plenty of races yet to go. Go Mark!

Meanwhile, Ryan Briscoe achieved a great result in Magione a while ago, finally achieving a fantastic win in the Italian Formula Renault Championship. His teammate, Cesar Campanico started the race from pole, but Briscoe soon took the lead and never looked back, leading Campanico home for a Prema Powerteam 1-2. The next race is on the 24th of June.

Finally, in the Bristish F3 round 9 at Croft, James Courtney took a podium finish in race one, and finished ninth in race two. His teammate German Andre Lotterer, took a pair of 7th places. Overall, not a triumphant weekend for the Jaguar outfit in F3, as both had started from comparatively low grid positions. Courtney is 6th overall in the Championship, with Takuma Sato well ahead in 1st place.