It is that time of the year again: the Formula 1 circus is on the legendary circuit of Monza in Italy! Ferrari will be extra motivated to have a good result in front of the devoted tifosi, but the others have big things to fight for as well. Many engine manufacturers have brought upgraded evolutions of their power units, which might have a big influence on the performance of the cars on this high-speed track. Further down the field, Italian drivers Badoer, Lavaggi, Schiattarella, Papis and Montermini will be determined to have a good week-end too, just like the Italian Minardi and Forti teams.
Qualifying
Michael Schumacher came out on top once more, joined on the front row by his team mate. The tifosi's hopes for the race were high, because the Ferraris were on the second row. The biggest surprise of the qualifying was Martin Brundle, who put his Ligier on a 5th position, just in front of Hill. Panis did also well in the other Ligier to qualify in 8th. David Coulthard was the biggest disappointment, only managing 10th. The Forti team also had something to cheer for at their home soil, as Roberto Moreno beat Schiattarella, his team mate and both Pacifics to qualify the yellow machine on the 11th row for the first time in their existence.
Results
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³Pole 1 ³
³ Michael Schumacher ³
³ 1m 23.847s 2 ³
³ Johnny Herbert ³
³Row 2 3 1m 24.035s ³
³ Gerhard Berger ³
³ 1m 24.294s 4 ³
³ Jean Alesi ³
³Row 3 5 1m 24.478s ³
³ Martin Brundle ³
³ 1m 24.703s 6 ³
³ Damon Hill ³
³Row 4 7 1m 24.707s ³
³ Eddie Irvine ³
³ 1m 24.736s 8 ³
³ Olivier Panis ³
³Row 5 9 1m 24.769s ³
³ Mika Hakkinen ³
³ 1m 24.814s 10 ³
³ David Coulthard ³
³Row 6 11 1m 24.882s ³
³ Rubens Barrichello ³
³ 1m 25.082s 12 ³
³ Mark Blundell ³
³Row 7 13 1m 25.542s ³
³ Heinz-Harald Frentzen ³
³ 1m 25.558s 14 ³
³ Ukyo Katayama ³
³Row 8 15 1m 26.113s ³
³ Massimilano Papis ³
³ 1m 26.885s 16 ³
³ Karl Wendlinger ³
³Row 9 17 1m 26.930s ³
³ Mika Salo ³
³ 1m 27.114s 18 ³
³ Pedro Lamy ³
³Row 10 19 1m 27.853s ³
³ Jos Verstappen ³
³ 1m 28.064s 20 ³
³ Luca Badoer ³
³Row 11 21 1m 28.125s ³
³ Taki Inoue ³
³ 1m 28.304s 22 ³
³ Roberto Moreno ³
³Row 12 23 1m 28.939s ³
³ Domenico Schiattarella ³
³ 1m 29.097s 24 ³
³ Nathan van Dijk ³
³Row 13 25 1m 29.167s ³
³ Andrea Montermini ³
³ 1m 29.782s 26 ³
³ Giovanni Lavaggi ³
³ 1m 31.244s ³
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Race
Brundle continued to surprise on race day. He started well and was incredibly late on his brakes, overtaking both Ferraris and Benettons to come out of the first chicane in the lead. Already some seconds behind the Ligier, Herbert was in 2nd, followed by Alesi, Schumacher, Berger and Irvine. Schumacher and Irvine then both gained a position into the Variante Ascari. Berger would lose another position in the beginning of lap 2, as Mika Hakkinen passed him into Variante del Rettifilo. Berger took his position back in Variante Ascari. The Austrian subsequently closed the gap to Irvine again and was able to pass the Ulsterman in lap 5, although they switched positions a couple of corners later. Their fight would continue until lap 9, when Berger was finally able to pull away a little bit.
Meanwhile, at the front, Brundle had pulled a 5-second gap in the first lap, but the Benettons edged closer lap by lap. Johnny Herbert was on his tail in lap 9 and took his chance right away, slipstreaming past the Ligier on the main straight. Brundle would keep his 2nd place until he made a very early first stop in lap 11. This was probably the explanation for his good pace in the opening stages; Brundle was carrying less fuel than the rest of the field. In fact, the only other driver in the top-10 on a two-stop strategy was Gerhard Berger, who pitted in lap 14. He dropped back into the midfield and although he looked not unlikely to still score some points, he would end the race empty-handed when his engine failed in lap 20.
Irvine had lost more ground in the meantime, as Hill had also fought a way past, although it took him some laps as well. Hakkinen was the next one to fight Irvine, but the Finn did not need to make a passing move anymore when Irvine retired in lap 16. Their fight had allowed Coulthard to close up on Hakkinen. After several attempts, Hakkinen did not have an answer to the Scot's manoeuver in lap 23.
The one-stoppers came into the pits in the following laps, with Alesi being the earliest (lap 23) and Schumacher the latest (lap 30). Schumacher's team mate, Johnny Herbert, had made his stops 3 laps before and he regained the lead, albeit by a smaller margin than before the stops. Within mere seconds, it became clear how the battle for the loead would be decided, as Herbert's Benetton started smoking just before he entered Variante del Rettifilo. The race was over for the Briton and maybe even worse for him, Schumacher was now leading the race with a vast margin, in front of Berger's and Alesi's Ferraris.
Schumacher's lead would grow even further when Gerhard Berger made his second stop, in lap 35. Berger would come out of the pits in 4th, having lost a place to Hill, but still just in front of Hakkinen. Hakkinen could not keep up with Berger; in fact, it was Berger who was steadily closing the gap to Hill. In this time, there was only one battle to enjoy on-track: Jos Verstappen had rejoined after his stop in 14th, still in front of Badoer, but just behind Nathan van Dijk. Van Dijk was clearly somewhat slower than his more experienced compatriot, but he would not easliy give way to him. Verstappen did manage to get past after several laps. Verstappen would move on to also overtake Inoue, who was just a few seconds in front of the Forti driver. Van Dijk would not be rewarded for his good race, as he had to make an unplanned extra stop due to a loose wheel and fell back to the last position.
Others had bad luck in the closing stages of the race as well. Mika Hakkinen would once again not make it to the black-and-white flag. The Finn was in a comfortable 5th position when his engine failed just 6 laps from the finish. His retirement promoted Barrichello up into the points, but the Brazilian would lose his 6th position when he had to make an extra stop due to electrical issues. Barrichello would rejoin the track in 7th, 5 seconds behind Olivier Panis with just 2 laps to go. The Brazilian drove two frantic laps, but he was 2 seconds short of regaining his points position.
Schumacher takes an important win in Monza
Michael Schumacher and Jean Alesi cruised to the finish in 1st and 2nd position. Schumacher's win ensured he closed the championship gap with his team-mate to just 2 points. Gerhard Berger did catch up with Damon Hill to overtake him in lap 49. The tifosi did have a double podium for Ferrari to celebrate. Hill brought his Williams home in 4th, in front of Coulthard and Panis.
Results
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³ Pos Driver Time/Speed ³
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³ 1st Michael Schumacher 1h 17m 08.284s ³
³ Benetton - Renault ³
³ 2nd Jean Alesi +33.006s ³
³ Ferrari ³
³ 3rd Gerhard Berger +47.821s ³
³ Ferrari ³
³ 4th Damon Hill +49.930s ³
³ Williams - Renault ³
³ 5th David Coulthard +1m 09.340s ³
³ Williams - Renault ³
³ 6th Olivier Panis -1 Lap ³
³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³
³ 7th Rubens Barrichello -1 Lap ³
³ Jordan - Peugeot ³
³ 8th Ukyo Katayama -1 Lap ³
³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³
³ 9th Karl Wendlinger -2 Laps ³
³ Sauber - Ford ³
³ 10th Mika Salo -2 Laps ³
³ Tyrrell - Yamaha ³
³ 11th Taki Inoue -3 Laps ³
³ Footwork - Hart ³
³ 12th Jos Verstappen -3 Laps ³
³ Simtek - Ford ³
³ 13th Luca Badoer -3 Laps ³
³ Minardi - Ford ³
³ 14th Nathan van Dijk -3 Laps ³
³ Forti - Ford ³
³ 15th Mika Hakkinen Engine ³
³ McLaren - Mercedes ³
³ 16th Johnny Herbert Engine ³
³ Benetton - Renault ³
³ 17th Roberto Moreno Puncture ³
³ Forti - Ford ³
³ 18th Martin Brundle Engine ³
³ Ligier - Mugen Honda ³
³ 19th Eddie Irvine Loose Wheel ³
³ Jordan - Peugeot ³
³ 20th Giovanni Lavaggi Transmission ³
³ Pacific - Ford ³
³ 21st Mark Blundell Engine ³
³ McLaren - Mercedes ³
³ 22nd Domenico Schiattarella Transmission ³
³ Simtek - Ford ³
³ 23rd Pedro Lamy Water Leak ³
³ Minardi - Ford ³
³ 24th Heinz-Harald Frentzen Puncture ³
³ Sauber - Ford ³
³ 25th Andrea Montermini Engine ³
³ Pacific - Ford ³
³ 26th Massimilano Papis Didn't Finish ³
³ Footwork - Hart ³
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Drivers' Championship
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1. Johnny Herbert 68
2. Michael Schumacher 66
3. David Coulthard 41
4. Gerhard Berger 30
5. Jean Alesi 25
6. Damon Hill 20
7. Eddie Irvine 16
8. Mika Hakkinen 10
9. Rubens Barrichello 7
10. Karl Wendlinger 7
11. Olivier Panis 7
12. Heinz-Harald Frentzen 6
13. Nigel Mansell 5
14. Luca Badoer 2
15. Jos Verstappen 1
16. Martin Brundle 1
Constructors' Championship
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1. Benetton-Renault 134
2. Williams-Renault 61
3. Ferrari 55
4. Jordan-Peugeot 23
5. McLaren-Mercedes 15
6. Sauber-Ford 13
7. Ligier-Mugen Honda 8
8. Minardi-Ford 2
9. Simtek-Ford 1