Schumacher wins Italian G.P. - His 50th.

[Donny]

Schumacher seizes pole
From correspondents in Monza
September 13, 2003

WORLD champion Michael Schumacher will start the crucial Italian Grand Prix from pole position after outpacing his title rivals to claim pole position for the Monza race here Saturday.

Ferrari driver Schumacher, who leads the championship by a single point from Williams' Juan Pablo Montoya, has been under pressure to perform all weekend but he stayed cool to ease his way into the top spot.

His time of 1min 20.963sec, set under blue skies at Ferrari's home circuit, brought cheers from the crowd and raised a smile on Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo's face.

Colombian Montoya, who was out last in the session, looked set to go faster but failed to better what looked a perfect lap from his German rival and finished second faster.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello finished third in the second Ferrari with the third championship challenger, Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who is two points behind Schumacher, fourth fastest.

The second Williams of Spaniard Marc Gene, who is making his return to Formula One as a replacement for the injured Ralf Schumacher this weekend, finished an impressive fifth fastest.

Italian driver Jarno Trulli was sixth for Renault with Briton Jenson Button, of BAR-Honda, pipping Scot David Coulthard, of McLaren, to claim seventh. Olivier Panis, of Toyota, and Jacques Villeneuve, in the second BAR-Honda, completed the top ten.

Gene was first out on track in the Williams because he did not run in the Friday qualifying session but he set a respectable target time of 1min 21.834sec which remained unbeaten for much of the session.

Coulthard could only manage the third fastest time, behind British rival Button and Gene, as the lead runners began to come out for their individual one-lap efforts.

Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who became the youngest ever driver to win a race at the Hungarian Grand Prix three weeks ago, made a mistake on his run when he spun at the Rettifilo chicane and set the slowest time of the 20 runners.

His team-mate Trulli was the first to get close to Gene's time and slotted into second, 0.110sec behind with just five drivers left to complete their runs.

Raikkonen, the first of the championship contenders to take to the track, finally knocked Gene off the top spot when he bettered the Spaniard's time by a third of a second.

1st row:

1. Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari 1:20.963, 2. Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) Williams-BMW 1:21.014

2nd row:

3. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Fe.242, 4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) McLaren-Mercedes 1:21.466

3rd row:

5. Marc Gene (SPA) Williams-BMW 1:21.834, 6. Jarno Trulli (ITA) Renault 1:21.944

4th row:

7. Jenson Button (GBR) BAR-Honda 1:22.301, 8. David Coulthard (GBR) McLaren-Mercedes 1:22.471

5th row:

9. Olivier Panis (FRA) Toyota 1:22.488, 10. Jacques Villeneuve (CAN) BAR-Honda 1:22.717

6th row:

11. Mark Webber (AUS) Jaguar-Cosworth 1:22.754, 12. Cristiano Da Matta (BRA) Toyota 1:22.914

7th row:

13. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Jordan 1:22.992, 14. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (GER) Sauber-Petronas 1:23.216

8th row:

15. Justin Wilson (GBR) Jaguar-Cosworth 1:23.484, 16. Nick Heidfeld (GER) Sauber-Petronas 1:23.803

9th row:

17. Jos Verstappen (NED) Minardi 1:25.078, 18. Zsolt Baumgartner (HUN) Jordan 1:25.881

10th row:

19. Nicolas Kiesa (DEN) Minardi 1:26.778, 20. Fernando Alonso (SPA) Renault 1:40.405

[Donny]

One of my best wins: Schumacher
From correspondents at Monza
September 15, 2003

AN emotional Michael Schumacher clinched victory in the Italian Grand Prix and said that the win, his 50th as a Ferrari driver, was one of the best of his career.

The German five-time world champion kept out title rival Juan Pablo Montoya in the Williams to open up a three-point gap at the top of the standings with two rounds left.

"It's one of the greatest days in my career," said Schumacher after his 5.294sec win had given him his fifth victory of the season but his first since the Canadian Grand Prix six rounds ago.

"We have had a lot of tough races where we haven't been winning and not scoring the points we wanted to," said Schumacher.

"There was a big push at the factory during the summer break and everyone was motivated to do well.

"Everybody worked more than 100 per cent and I have to thank everyone in the factory – from the test team to the cleaning lady. They have done a tremendous job and I owe them all a big thank you."

Schumacher had to resist a fierce wheel-to-wheel challenge from the Colombian going into the first chicane and again at the second bend on the first lap.

"I locked up then and almost didn't make the chicane. I almost lost position. Juan came on the outside and we had a good fight, very hard and very fair," said the German.

"But I won that tussle and then the race."

Montoya closed down the German in the second stint of the race but after the final set of pit stops he was unable to make an impression and lost vital time behind Heinz Harald Frentzen's Sauber.

"There were some very slow back markers and they didn't move out of the way but it would have been very difficult to pass Michael anyway," admitted the Colombian who believes his title dream is still alive heading into the final two races in the United States and Japan.

"We will be very strong again in the last two races because of the downforce should suit us.

"I am only three points behind and I came out of here with the least loss of points possible."

Despite his victory, Schumacher admitted he had a panic situation when he emerged from the pit-lane after his second stop believing the Williams of Montoya had somehow got ahead of him.

The Ferrari team also believed the Colombian had pulled off a sensational move, but Schumacher was thankful to learn the car was in fact that of Montoya's team-mate Marc Gene, who was still to make a second pit-stop.

"I was on the radio and they said everything should be OK but after the second stop when I came out I was behind a Williams," Schumacher said of the incident.

"They were shouting at me and I shouted back 'how the hell did he do that?' They were then screaming 'watch out he's coming', but luckily it was Gene."

Ferrari's technical director Ross Brawn said the team had gone through "about 10 seconds of agony" before realising Spaniard Gene, who was deputising for the injured Ralf Schumacher, was the man ahead.

"We had an agonising moment when Michael came out of the pits and we thought Monytoya was in front. So did Michael," Brawn said.

"There was about 10 seconds of agony before we realised what was going on and that it was Gene."