2001 Italian Grand Prix Race Report
I went around the chicane I lost all the gears and that was the end of my race."
Lap 28 and making his only stop of the afternoon, Montoya came into the pits with a lead of 25 seconds to team mate Schumacher R. Stationary for 11.9s, the Colombian emerged in third place, now behind Barrichello's Ferrari. Running with a heavy fuel load, Schumacher R pitted on lap 36 and rejoined 7.9s later in 4th. The order now read: Barrichello, Montoya, Schumacher M, Schumacher R, De la Rosa and the impressive Villeneuve in 6th. The Canadian was soon in for his only stop, but managed to maintain his position - still in front of Raikkonen's Sauber.
Lap 40 and the Ferrari mechanics were out in force again. Coming into the pits from 3rd, Schumacher rejoined 6.5s later, dropping behind his brother in 4th. Barrichello was next in a lap later and following his 6.4s stop, emerged just behind Ralf's Williams in 3rd and with the field having settled down, all eyes were on Barrichello. His mirrors now full of the Ferrari, Ralf was soon locking brakes and running wide - such was the pressure from behind. Inevitably, the German paid the price, and as they exited the Parabollica, the Ferrari got a good tow and drew up alongside. Appearing to have the line for the first chicane, Barrichello turned in, only to find the Williams at his side. With Schumacher having to yield - for using the escape road, the Brazilian slipped through and set about catching Montoya who was now 7.2 seconds up the road.
Try as he might, Barrichello was unable to close the gap and as he entered his final lap, Montoya's mechanics mounted the pit wall, ready to applaud the Colombian. Having come close so many times this year, the BMW powered Williams stayed reliable to the end and so it was that on lap 53, Juan Pablo Montoya became grand prix racing's newest member. Delighted with his maiden win, the Colombian paid homage to his team and thanked them for a great day. "I am very happy," he said. "First of all, I want to thank everyone at Williams, BMW, Michelin. They've done a fantastic job for me and I'm just so pleased with the result. To everyone that's been supporting me I want to say thanks. It's been a tough season so far, we had good and bad results,
Latest Articles