.png "os2 trasparenza (1)")
On Thursday, May 17, 2007, is an ordinary day in Maranello, and it can be assumed that the mechanics are preparing the equipment and cars to take to Monte-Carlo for the next Grand Prix, but something attracts the team's attention. White powder is found inside two bags deposited with the intent of the tanks of Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa's cars by the chief mechanic, Francesco Uguzzoni. The alarm goes off. What is that dust? Ferrari calls the Carabinieri, who promptly show up in the chassis department of the Ges. It turns out that the same white powder is present inside the pockets of Nigel Stepney's overalls and in his locker inside the Maranello factory. Searches inside Nigel Stepney's house will lead to the discovery that the white powder was nothing more than a smoothie of Cebion, which is a vitamin, of Co-en Q10 and Phytophanere, restorative medicines (according to the chemical expert appointed at the request of the prosecutor Tibis). The investigation will lead to the discovery that the same products were present in the bathroom cabinet in Nigel Stepney's house. But for now, it is simply an investigation. Monaco is the Grand Prix that Ferrari has not been able to win since 2001. Even in the best times, there has always been an accident, a Safety car, a penalty, or some unforeseen event. If the driver here manages to make a difference - as insiders swear - good luck is capable of miracles. Jarno Trulli won in 2004, the golden year of Michael Schumacher (who on the occasion was rear-ended by Juan Pablo Montoya under Safety car), and David Coulthard in 2002, another magical season for the Ferraris. Felipe Massa explains:
"Yes, it's true, you build the result at every chicane or hairpin. They are all slow corners, it takes nothing to lose tenths on tenths. But then you need luck. That's why there is no such thing as a favourite".
Two consecutive wins and three poles in a row: so the Brazilian driver recovered points and consensus after the Malaysian gaffe, that risky attempt to overtake Lewis Hamilton that ended on the grass. His clash with Fernando Alonso - Spanish Grand Prix, first corner - is still being talked about.
"Those who claim I’ve become bad didn't know me. I have matured, it's true, but there are other things I've learned to do or avoid".
He tells of when he had only one thing in his head: to devour every single lap as if it were a qualifying lap
"I was pushing the car to 110%. Experience taught me that there are crucial moments when you have to push and others when you need to think about the engine, the strategy, the overall vision of the race".
There is a lot of Schumacher in his professional growth. Mutual esteem, trust, and exchange of advice. The student absorbed it like a sponge. The master is already around (on Tuesday evening he would have liked to play the national drivers' game, but for the first time he was forced to forfeit due to a sprain) and will be back in the pits on Saturday and Sunday to deal with strategy.
"The set-up, on the other hand, I see it with the engineers".
Strategy is a puzzle. Luca Baldisserri, the head of engineers of the Maranello team, explains:
"The new rules do not allow you to do the pit stop on the first lap of the Safety car".
So?
"So the fewer pit stops you plan, the less risk you take. But in this case, it is necessary to load more fuel, risking compromising qualifying. And then if nothing unexpected happens and the Safety car stays parked in the pits, you lose the race.".
Good luck, that is what you need as an alternative to a crystal ball.
"But even a fast car like ours is also a big help".
Unpredictability belongs to the charm of the Principality. Rain is even announced between Saturday and Sunday. Felipe Massa argues:
"Monte-Carlo is a nice place to live, ideal for someone like me who is always around the world and when he comes home he needs to recharge his batteries".
What about the race, the track, the adrenaline of those guardrails that are so close?
"It's not the best. I prefer real circuits, like Suzuka and Spa, to the city ones".
Next year Formula 1 will hit the streets of Valencia and Singapore.
“If I were the one to choose…”
Massa pauses.
"But I am not, so let's focus and think about bringing home the ten points".
In the overall standings, the Brazilian driver is third, three points away from Lewis Hamilton's McLaren and one point away from Fernando Alonso's.
"It's a very balanced championship, so it's crucial to be at the top in every race. Me and Hamilton favourites? No, there are four of us: add Alonso and Räikkönen".
There are those who insist that he has the advantage of having Jean Todt's son as manager. The answer is sharp:
"Nicolas is a good person and I get along with him. The advantage ends there: I am evaluated for the results on the track, not for what I do outside".
The evil ones say that, by now, Fernando Alonso sees teammate Lewis Hamilton as a superstitious driver when a black cat crosses his path. In fact, according to Steve Nielsen, Renault's team manager, the Spanish champion is under great pressure that comes from the speed and consistency of the young British driver:
"And I think, inside himself, he's wondering if he's faster than him. I am also convinced that at this moment his mind is struggling with a lot of doubts".
One thing is certain: Hamilton has no such problems. He shows exceptional confidence, not only on the track. He admits that in Formula 1 life is much more complicated than in the other sports he has previously been involved in, but at the same time, he claims to want to face the championship race by race, without thinking about the standings or opponents. And when someone prods him, hinting at the growing rivalry in McLaren, he responds seraphic by dribbling away the controversy:
"We work together and as time goes on the understanding improves…"
For being only 22 years old, the rookie who took the World Championship lead in Spain behaves like a veteran. Lewis' most impressive talent is that he makes everything look easy. Even a difficult track like the Monegasque one does not scare him. In the last three years, he has won two races here in the F3 Euroseries and last season in GP2, having also set pole position. Above all, he is a magician of the city circuits, having imposed himself seven times on street tracks. Lewis Hamilton's driving precision is part of a wealth of experience gained in karts, racing close to the walls without ever losing control of the vehicle. And, even though his family is of Caribbean origin, the boy that McLaren owner Ron Dennis has followed since his first laps on the track, behaves with the coolness of a Scandinavian, seemingly less emotional than the glacial Kimi Räikkönen. They say that F1's first black driver, and the youngest in history to lead the championship after only four races, has only one weak side, which is also his strength. Lewis has a very close connection with his father and mother especially with his brother Nicholas, who is disabled from birth. They follow him everywhere and only with them is he always at ease, but ready to transform himself when it comes to getting into the cockpit of his car, where he pulls the plug on feelings.
He becomes lucid, calculating, capable of thinking and acting in a fraction of a second. So far, since he landed in the world of the Grands Prix, Hamilton has made only one mistake: he went off the track, quite ruinously, in Valencia during the tests organised to test the new McLaren. But, perhaps, that accident served him to get to grips with himself and the car. Since then he has been perfect. All he lacks now is victory which could arrive on Sunday, May 27, although he does not consider himself a favourite when making predictions. Show and chills. McLaren does a bit of everything, on the day that opens the Monte-Carlo roulette with its unforgiving track, Ferrari remains on the sidelines, a little secluded, but swears not to be afraid. For the show, there is Fernando Alonso, the World Champion, the most sought-after driver by VIPs and autograph hunters, now that Michael Schumacher is in the pits but only as an executive, complete with headphones on his head. Fernando Alonso won in Monaco in 2006 and on Thursday, May 24, 2007, he started again in the same way, dominating both the first and second free practice sessions of the Grand Prix. It does not matter if his car is no longer the same, if Renault has given way to McLaren, the time for the apprenticeship is over:
"By now I understand everything about the new car and I feel comfortable, just a few little tweaks and we can be very competitive here".
The Spaniard gives a show, and his teammate, the terrible rookie Hamilton, leader of the standings after four races, gives the thrills. He also flies like a rocket, a sign that the McLarens are fearsome here, but his race stops against a wall of tyres at the St. Devote, the number one corner that claims victims every year. A small mistake, an impressive, frontal bang: unharmed driver, but a lot of damage to the car. Admits Lewis Hamilton:
"This is a ruthless track, it's the first time I've gone around here with a Formula 1 car and I expected it to be a little easier. I'm sorry for my mechanics".
We will have to put the pieces back together and it is already good that there is no racing today, there is the traditional Friday sabbatical. The appointment with the battle for pole position is postponed until Saturday, a challenge in which anything could happen, especially if it rains, as the forecasts have been threatening for days. Lewis Hamilton, the freshman who had never been wrong so far, does not seem to have taken the blow.
"I apologise to the team, but nothing happened to me. It was a frightening crash, an out-of-the-ordinary experience, but on a physical level, I had no consequences. In Monte-Carlo, there is no room for hesitation".
Nor will it do him any good to have lapped so little compared to his teammate, fourteen laps in the morning, nineteen in the early afternoon, nothing compared to the 73 made by Fernando Alonso. The problem is that Lewis Hamilton had to deal with bad luck even during the first session: his ignition motor broke and a fragment ended up inside the gearbox. Result: the whole car will have to be disassembled. The McLarens pull the pack. What about the Ferraris, once again blessed and watched on sight by super-consultant Schumacher? They appear to be behind, Kimi Räikkönen fifth and then second, Felipe Massa eighth in the first session and sixth in the following round. Worrying would be permissible, on a circuit where pole position is everything, but the atmosphere is not at all from a funeral. Kimi Räikkönen calls himself satisfied, needing to get a good feeling back after Barcelona's recent disappointment, and he confided to some friends that he had felt just that after the crazy serpentines inside Monte-Carlo. He swears to be in good shape, although his voice, as usual, does not give any impetus.
"It's not important to be in front of Massa, but in front of all the opponents. I don't race against my teammate, I race for the world title. Here if it rains it's hard for everyone, especially in qualifying, but we can play on equal terms with McLaren. It's going to be a tight duel".
Felipe Massa, back from two triumphs, is behind him for now anyway. Without drama:
"Because traffic screwed me up when I had new tyres. With the used ones I'm worth a lot more".
Optimism is throughout Ferrari and the team flaunts it shamelessly. A smile that also has the newfound Renault, despite Giancarlo Fisichella crashing, like the German Adrian Sutil (red flag for a few minutes, Spyker destroyed) and Ralf Schumacher with Toyota. Speaking of the Japanese team (Jarno Trulli fourth at the end) there is never an end to its misadventures: a broken water pipe flooded the pits and sent the telemetry screens into meltdown. Goodbye first practice session.
"If it continues like this, he risks doing a year as a supporting actor. Behind the two McLarens and his teammate Massa".
From Finn to Finn, it is not a rewarding sentence. But perhaps, for the sake of argument, it is meant as advice. Mika Häkkinen, two-time World Champion, still tied with his heart and economically to McLaren, the car that led him to great triumph in 1998 and 1999, invites the heir Kimi Räikkönen to wake up.
"That he could have problems changing cars, it was imaginable. That it was not easy for him to adapt to Ferrari, one could have assumed. But now, if he wants to win again, he has to start giving more. He has to come up with something about his car, otherwise, he has no chance. He has to come up with something magical, especially on the set-ups, a sleight of hand, a twist of fate, because this year the McLarens seem very strong to me. At Massa has succeeded so far, in the previous races he has done something special, an added value, Räikkönen has not. And if Kimi goes on in this way, he runs the risk of being systematically beaten by his teammate as well".
He points out that his is not meant to be a criticism, but a way to spur the driver who in Finland is considered by everyone as the possible heir to the champion who dared to beat Michael Schumacher. Ferrari was supposed to be the big turning point and instead, so far the cold Kimi has had to settle for some glory (the triumph at the debut in Melbourne) and many crumbs (the two third places in Malaysia and Bahrain, before the retirement in Barcelona). Even here in Monte-Carlo, despite finishing second fastest in free practice on Thursday, Mika Häkkinen does not foresee a hero’s Sunday for him.
“On this insidious track, it is always difficult to get the prediction right, but I see the McLarens as big favourites and for pole, I vote Alonso. I saw his times on Thursday, the Spaniard will likely be running low on petrol to start ahead of everyone, which is crucial here. For the race instead watch out for Hamilton. This rookie impressed me, Dennis worked very well on him, on his head, and he prepared him properly. Mentally Hamilton seems to me to be in great shape, he is already ready for the first victory and probably also for the first World Championship. He made a mistake on Thursday, but it can happen to anyone. He did it, he is unlikely to repeat it. And here he can excite again”.
What about the Ferraris?
"More Massa than Räikkönen. Unless Kimi starts putting something of his own into it".
In short, to hear someone who used to wreak havoc on the track, there is little for Ferrari fans to be cheerful about as they await qualifying and the race. The hope is that Häkkinen, present in Monte-Carlo as a testimonial of one of McLaren's sponsors, the whiskey manufacturer who invites you to drink in moderation and never before driving, has spoken more with his heart filled with loyalty to the company that pays him) than with his head. But even recent history, at least on this race, seems to agree with him, given that Ferrari has not won here since 2001, Michael Schumacher's symphony. There are those who say that the fault, should certain announced travails occur, lies with the longer wheelbase, or, turning the concept upside down, with the 8.5 centimetres less than the McLaren has and that would make it more agile on this twisty circuit. Ferrari listens and does not reply, on Friday preferring, with Felipe Massa and Kimi Räikkönen and without Michael Schumacher (he will be back on Saturday), to devote himself to long technical meetings. Perhaps he was looking for that magical touch invoked by Mika Häkkinen. Because on Saturday it is forbidden to make mistakes. Saturday, May 26, 2007, qualifying is dominated by the two McLarens of Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. Despite Hamilton setting the fastest times for the first session, Alonso outpaced him in the final stages to take the pole position, with Hamilton being held up slightly by Mark Webber. Felipe Massa of Ferrari qualified third fastest, posting a time after the clock stopped. Kimi Räikkönen made a mistake and hit the barriers coming out of the Swimming Pool Complex during the second qualifying stage, breaking his front-right suspension. The damage inflicted could not be repaired and he qualified sixteenth. Despite provisionally making the top ten, David Coulthard was penalised for impeding Heikki Kovalainen and demoted to thirteenth. Coulthard's demotion allowed Jenson Button to participate in the final qualifying stage, but he failed to move up the field and finished the qualifying session in tenth place. Of those whose qualifying went well, former Monaco resident Giancarlo Fisichella fared best, putting his Renault in the second row in fourth place. Nico Rosberg's performance marked a return to form for his Williams team; his fifth place was the British constructor's best qualifying position since Mark Webber's second place at the same track one year before in 2006.
Webber himself also fared well, filling the second slot on row three, alongside Rosberg, in sixth place. The white of Oviedo and the black of Stevenage, there is nothing else above the asphalt of the Principality. They, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, take the front row of the Monaco Grand Prix. The assorted McLaren teammates rub shoulders in public to ease - and show they want to ease - a tension that at these speeds could send hospitality roofs flying. The teammate is the first enemy, a tradition that has always been handed down in Formula 1. Certainly, when they team up they frighten. It is a well-known fact: along the 3,340-metre circuit by the sea, there is little space. There is no width to change, overtaking, the qualifying set-ups. So this pole and second place for McLaren, if it does not rain, risk becoming everything: victory and escape of Ron Dennis' squadron. The Brits in Monte-Carlo annihilated Ferrari. The other teams have been annihilated since the beginning of the season. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were the fastest from the get-go and the fastest - alternately the Spaniard, then the Anglo-Caribbean, again the Spaniard - in the three practice sessions. They flew over the kerbs, and Kimi Räikkönen bounced off them. If you add that Fernando Alonso already won last year and that Lewis Hamilton has won all kinds of pre-Formula 1 races, if you add that McLaren has triumphed 13 times in the last 25 years, you understand the nervousness at the Ferrari motorhome. Says Fernando Alonso, always serious, perpetually frowning:
"This result is unexpected, but I have to say that we are driving to the maximum and that I hope for a sunny race. Monte-Carlo is a special race, but it remains a car competition not a show at any cost, a performance of breakdowns and carambolas".
Lewis Hamilton, more or less as tall as his partner, has the tranquillity of the rookie on his face.
"Every time I come to Monaco it's better than the previous one. Every five minutes I drive I learn something new. I can't have the experience of Fernando, someone who in technical meetings knows how to guide engineers towards solutions, but we respect each other professionally and in the pits, I don't see any big problems".
Ron Dennis, historical leader of the McLaren racing department, and supporter of a free-spending Formula 1 dismisses any hypothesis of internal conflict, rejecting any question about the strongest and who, at some point in the season, will have to be supported by the team at the expense of the second.
"We are a big family, McLaren has always been looking for strong drivers: two protagonists on two cars, never a leader and a supporting actor. Fernando and Lewis are competitive even when they compete at the PlayStation, but in the end, within this family, it's like they're one driver".
One driver?
"It means that when you're in the car you are racing alone".
Lewis Hamilton answers. Every man for himself, to clarify. Each trying to chase the same legend, that of Ayrton Senna, the McLaren driver par excellence, the best interpreter of the beauty of the Monte-Carlo circuit.
"He was our model".
And that is what they both say, truthfully. Lewis Hamilton recounts his recent and violent impact with popularity.
"Success is locking me up. Every day under my father's house there are ten photographers, I need to come to Formula 1 to find some freedom".
On the other hand, Kimi Räikkönen messed it up.
"I made a mistake. And here mistakes are paid dearly".
A price so high, that it turns your dream of victory into a utopia. On the Saturday of the consecration of Fernando Alonso, perfect among the terrible corners of Monte-Carlo, king in the battle for pole position and therefore with more than half a victory in his pocket, the Finn made a mistake, leaned too violently on a guardrail and broke the steering rod of the right front wheel. A big issue, impossible to repair in a few minutes, which forced him first to park at Rascasse (at the same point where Michael Schumacher stopped last year, accused of having voluntarily disturbed Fernando Alonso in his fast lap and therefore relegated from first to last place on the grid) and then to rush back to the pits. It was at the beginning of the second round, the one that throws the ten fastest drivers into the decisive battle, Kimi Räikkönen had not yet set a useful time, his exit relegated him to sixteenth position, eighth row, the grave of any ambition. The Ferrari mechanics tried to help him in every way, the proverbial frenzy broke out in the pits, but this time the miracle was impossible. It was Luca Baldisserri, the team's strategist par excellence, who ordered the stop. Too complicated the repair, too risky to send Kimi Räikkönen back on the track, with a car that could have had problems on every turn to the right and in a full-throttle lap (necessary to conquer the pole) could have broken down for good, putting the driver in serious danger. There was nothing to do. So, while Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, the two McLarens, flew through Q3, monopolising the front row, while Felipe Massa forcefully conquered the third position, just 0.25 seconds behind the Spaniard, all that was left to do was to utter violent imprecations at the halt given by one of the Ferrari managers to Kimi Räikkönen, because this time damage and mockery, if we are to believe what the Ferrari men claim, are truly enormous. The damage is obvious, at Monte-Carlo there is no overtaking, in the race, the pursuit of Kimi Räikkönen will be all a gamble, a full tank of petrol, only one pit stop (against the two of the strongest rivals, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa), the hope that many in front will get out of the way, some accidents, some retirements, maybe a couple of Safety cars (the service car that with the new rules of 2007 can turn into a decisive variable) that can disrupt the picture. But the mockery could also have been great because according to Ferrari's thesis, Kimi Räikkönen could have taken pole position. The Finn also admits it:
"Mistakes are always painful, this is even more painful because in my hands I had a fantastic car, I felt very fast, and I didn't fear anyone".
Instead, once again he had to park his dreams, leaving only Felipe Massa with the task of defending the colours of Ferrari. The Brazilian seemed happy with a third place, a sign that he did not believe much in an exploit.
"I don't know if the McLarens have less fuel, they certainly show impressive speed. I couldn't do more".
He will fight for the podium, like the reborn Giancarlo Fisichella, a magician in Monte-Carlo, but also comforted by the newfound Renault with its new wing. The Italian driver is fourth, thinking big is possible. What Kimi Räikkönen still desperately wants to do again.
"This mistake, like Barcelona's retirement, doesn't help me, but my World Championship is not over. The season is long, but I still feel like I'm fighting for the title. In the meantime, let's try to get as many points as possible here, then from the next race I'll think about the comeback".
However, he will have to get a move on, because his rivals will not wait. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, but also Felipe Massa. Who does not love Monte-Carlo, but in the meantime states:
“With the rain, I was the fastest, I felt comfortable. This race is a lottery. What if I had the winning number?”
On Sunday, May 27, 2007, the start of the Monaco Grand Prix would see Hamilton play the team card almost instantly, sweeping to the inside of the circuit to prevent Massa from lunging past. Alonso consequently streaked into the lead ahead of the Brit, while Massa kept Giancarlo Fisichella in the Renault at bay to consolidate third. With that the McLarens were away, easing into a two-second lead before the end of a very tame opening lap. Indeed, it would take until the second lap for any real action of note to affect the field, as everyone made it around the opening lap with next to no rubbing, let alone damage. Vitantonio Liuzzi hence became the source of attention on the second lap, managing to crash his Toro Rosso-Ferrari into the barriers at Massenet while defending from teammate Scott Speed. Remarkably, given the nature of the Monaco circuit, the marshals were able to drag the remains of the Toro Rosso away without the protection of the Safety Car. As such, the race would quickly develop into a procession out front, with Alonso maintaining a one-second gap over Hamilton, while both eased away from Massa. Massa himself was able to gap Fisichella, while further down the field the sister Ferrari of Räikkönen found itself stuck behind both Hondas. With order stabilised it took until the first round of stops for the intrigue in the race to increase, with Alonso losing a lot of time behind backmarkers. Fisichella, meanwhile, would be the first of the leaders to stop, followed by Massa and Alonso three laps later. Ferrari used the first stop to gamble, putting Massa onto a fresh set of soft Bridgestones as everyone else opted for hards. This was done in a bid to challenge the McLarens and get him ahead of Hamilton, although the #2 McLaren had enough in hand over the #6 Ferrari to rejoin ahead. The gamble did not pay off in the slightest, for Massa's pace was no better on the softs and he would drift away from the McLarens. Räikkönen, meanwhile, had fared a little better as running in clear air allowed him to break into the top ten once the shuffle was over, although he had to wait until the second trip to the pits to gain more ground.
Robert Kubica would be the star of the mid-race, the Polish racer running as the fastest man on the circuit as one of the few drivers on a one-stop strategy, and even managed to get ahead of fifth-placed teammate Nick Heidfeld. Out front, meanwhile, Alonso would make his second and final stop on lap 51, with Hamilton following him in two laps later, as Massa slipped over half a minute behind. However, any hopes of an inter-McLaren duel for victory would evaporate in the closing stages, as both Alonso and Hamilton backed off as they lapped everyone up to and including fourth-placed Fisichella. They duly cruised through to claim one of the most dominant one-twos in recent memory, with Massa over a minute behind in third. Fisichella, Kubica, Heidfeld, Alexander Wurz and Räikkönen were the only other scorers. A superiority that annihilates. A punch that knocks down. All the opponents, but especially Ferrari, which feared trouble in Monte-Carlo, on a track where he has not won since 2001, but would never have imagined receiving such a wave, with abysmal gaps and a clear demonstration of helplessness in the face of the overwhelming McLaren. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton unleashed, immersed in their impregnable stroll, the others forced to step aside. In the paradox of the circuit where there is no overtaking, had it not been for Felipe Massa, third more than a minute behind, they would all have been lapped. All were obliged to respect the yellow flags waved by the marshals, all called to pull over, close to the barriers, because missiles were coming from behind, the winner Fernando Alonso, already first last year with another car, Renault, and the rookie Lewis Hamilton, the man of the first time in Monte-Carlo in a Formula 1 car, the driver who can no longer surprise. The Martian monologue, a little red and a little silver, was chilling. If they had finally given Ferrari a buffet, no one would have cried scandal. Monte-Carlo has always been McLaren's hunting ground, here it won even when it went wrong all over the rest of the world, just imagine Alonso wasting a similar opportunity now that he has in his hands a car capable of triumphing everywhere. But this success wasn't a gentle caress, it had the force of a steamroller, the Ferrari coming out of it stunned.
Fernando Alonso ran away at the first corner, and took Lewis Hamilton with him, Felipe Massa, third at the finish line and first of the humans, saw the two only at the end, in the rearview mirrors, when they were about to lap him. Let us not talk about Kimi Räikkönen: the Finn was in the middle of the grid and ended up stuck in the group. He had a winning flicker only at the start when from the sixteenth he found himself twelfth, then he queued up, he did not overtake anyone and ended up clinging to the strategy, the only weapon he could have, that one-stop strategy that allowed him to climb up to eighth position. The show was boring and in the end, the only captivating reason for discussion is the sudden (and dangerous) rivalry that broke out at McLaren, with Lewis Hamilton complaining about being forced to finish second. Fourth Giancarlo Fisichella: but only because here he drives like a prodigy.
"I did the best I could do today, I kept behind the BMWs, the McLarens have another pace, they are on another planet, Ferrari was stronger, but I managed, the important thing is to have gained the advantage to keep behind the BMWs, today fourth place is an exceptional result, like being on the podium. After such a difficult start to the season, I am happy and confident for the future".
McLaren's power is overbearing. First and second cars at the finish line, and there was not a moment of hesitation in predicting it during the hundred minutes of the race. The reference driver, Fernando Alonso, joins teammate Lewis Hamilton at the top of the standings - 38 points each - and resumes the role of leader of the World Championship. The McLaren team after five races gives twenty points ahead of Ferrari. So many, too many. By detailing the Monaco Grand Prix, then, the arrogance is sharpened, and the fragilities of others are highlighted. Between Fernando Alonso and the third, the humble Felipe Massa, there is a gap of one minute and 9 seconds. Between Fernando Alonso, the protagonist of The Perfect Race, robotic in the choice of trajectories and the petting of the guardrails, and the fourth - Giancarlo Fisichella - there is a lap. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton lapped everyone in the race, except Felipe Massa. Rarely has a Formula 1 race condensed in itself such a plummet of dominance. Fernando Alonso said:
"I'm starting to have quite a long career behind me and yet I've never been in races with gaps of over a minute".
The humble Felipe Massa said
"I knew from free practice that the McLarens in Monte-Carlo would be uncatchable".
To understand the day, this is enough: the duo was leading the race even after making the second stop in the pits. The others had only stopped once, but they were left behind. And fast laps, top speeds: all McLaren in Monte-Carlo, in a unique and boring way. Fernando Alonso the flailed, recriminating boy, his friends say that he has learned to hide the fears behind the wall of the perfect gesture, tells how he never doubted his superiority:
"I didn't start well, but it was impossible to lose the first position at the first corner, it was enough to protect it. I did it and thought: now they won’t be able to get me. You know, the battle in Monaco is a bit easier for those in front. It's a gorgeous hat trick. The advantage over Ferrari is almost a surprise. It's always special to win here, I had a lot of fun, especially thanks to a perfect car, I didn't have any problems for 78 laps. In the first phase I couldn't leave, I lost something in Jarno Trulli's lapping. I had a nine-second lead and suddenly I found Lewis just three seconds behind me, everything came back into play. I started on hard tyres, the track was not in optimal condition and I preferred not to take any risks at the beginning. When I fitted soft tyres, everything went well".
In the mirrors, Alonso never saw the Ferrari. Felipe Massa finished in third place more than one minute behind.
"Yeah, this whole gap surprises me a bit. What matters is having won".
And so came the second victory of the year:
"One of the most beautiful and intelligent. I managed to save fuel at the beginning and for the first pit stop, I stayed out two laps more than planned. That helped me".
Lewis Hamilton, a braked rookie, ultimately did not have the radiant face of the previous Grands Prix: he finished second for the fourth time in a row, but this time he would not have wanted to.
"In the final laps, I could have gone faster, but I soon realised that I didn't have to take risks and I didn't have to make my partner take them".
It just so happened that over the radio - after Hamilton had got within 0.5 seconds of Fernando Alonso by touching the barriers a couple of times and sliding into the corners - he was asked to hold his position, to stay second.
"There was no team order. But I am a rookie, Fernando has won two World Championships and I would never have been able to overtake him. Of course, I have to say that at the second pit stop, they had made me come back too early, there was fuel for another three laps and I could have".
You mean: you could have taken the first position.
"I hope that in the future it will be my turn to dictate the race".
McLaren boss Ron Dennis confirms the radio communication, but denies any castrating indications:
"The two drivers were free to race, Hamilton, however, has to accept his role in the team. I asked him to return to refuelling quickly to avoid any risk: in the face of an accident and the entrance of the Safety car, and Monte-Carlo it is always possible, having an empty tank is just a risk. You can be demoted to the bottom of the group".
It would have been a gamble, then, to allow the final attack of the scalping rookie to the captain in the lead:
"And so on the last laps, we told the drivers to keep the positions, to take home the 18 points".
Lewis listens, smiling, not resigned. On the other side, the reason for Ferrari's defeat is all his fault. And Kimi Räikkönen recognises that.
"We were competitive here, but my race was ruined by Saturday's mistake. I compromised everything. A good car, a possible win".
The Finn takes it against himself because he cannot blame anyone else. In Barcelona it had been his Ferrari that had betrayed him, an electrical problem, the breakage of the alternator wiring harness, this time no, there are no alibis, he made a mistake on Saturday in qualifying, crashing into the guardrail, and he brought this trouble with him on Sunday, in a harried race, from the vain pursuit towards an impossible comeback.
In the end, he was eighth, a miserable brick, against the full of points carried out by Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, and only thanks to a successful start, which allowed him to steal four positions, going from sixteenth to twelfth place. At the sprint on the grid, it was him, the real one, the driver that Ferrari, paying him by the pound, snatched from McLaren.
"The only good thing about the whole weekend".
The rest is all to be forgotten. A race in the middle of traffic, the impossibility of passing Jenson Button, of overtaking Alexander Wurz.
"In Monte-Carlo, it is like that, you don't overtake unless those in front of you have problems or make mistakes. No one crashed, apart from Mark Webber, and I had to settle for it. One point is better than nothing".
But that is not what Ferrari asked of him. Because so far to forget there is not only Monte-Carlo, but also the other Grands Prix (after the debut with triumph in Australia) in which he ended up behind the two McLarens (Malaysia) or behind his teammate, Felipe Massa, and Lewis Hamilton (Bahrain). Kimi Räikkönen for the moment has shown more discomfort than talent, even the illustrious compatriot Mika Häkkinen, one who knows how to win two world titles, has urged him to wake up, his apprenticeship needs to be accelerated. He is also convinced of this.
"Yes, the rivalry in McLaren can help me, Alonso and Hamilton can take points away from each other, but it's no use if I don't start winning. Now there are two favourable races, Canada and the United States, on those tracks I can't go wrong".
Otherwise, the world dream risks turning into a mirage. For now, he clings to ambition and does not intend to give it up.
"My championship is not over, I still have big chances, and no intention of giving up. Here I could have done better, the important thing is to put everything behind, me to get out of this tunnel quickly. Zero points in Barcelona, one in Monte-Carlo, is little, I realise that, but it's not over".
He does not shy away from the process, but he also does not want to look like someone afraid of being crushed by it. At its lowest point, he tries to show his fists, to bring out that ferocity that has been lacking so far. Jean Todt, the great boss who also knows how to be a father when needed, guarantees:
"He's not happy, he can't be, but these defeats will serve him well. From the next race he will be even meaner".
A sentence that sounds a lot like a wish. That at least, while waiting to catch up with the two McLarens, he will return to the same level as Felipe Massa, the driver few believed in and who brilliantly limited the damage. Professing honesty, the Brazilian.
"In the face of these McLarens, at the speed of Alonso and Hamilton, no more could be done, third place was the maximum goal".
Realism that is also anger when you think of those lapped cars slowing him down. Also Jarno Trulli, but especially Anthony Davidson with Super Aguri.
"He destroyed my race, I stayed behind him for ten laps. They punished him for this, they gave him a drive-through, but I lost sight of the two McLarens".
Arriving at the finish line more than a minute behind.
"But time didn't matter, what was important was the podium. I raised my foot, I didn't want to take any risks. I'm five points away from those two, nothing. If I win in Canada, it starts again".
An overwhelming victory. But also a suspicious one. Poisoned not by the annihilated opponents, but by the FIA, which on Monday, May 28, 2007, decided to open an investigation into the success of Fernando Alonso in Monte-Carlo, fearing team orders and a possible violation of the International Sports Code. To light the fuse, at the end of the race, it was the rookie English driver, disappointed despite the brilliant second place, because the team, as he admitted, had changed his strategy during the race making him come into the pits for the first refuelling three laps earlier) and in the final did not allow him to attack Fernando Alonso and fight for victory. Statements that have alarmed the Federation, strict in punishing any team game, since in 2002 at Zeltweg in Austria Ferrari blatantly ordered Rubens Barrichello to step aside, to leave the triumph to Michael Schumacher. At the time, the Maranello team was punished with a heavy fine ($500.000, with a doubled penalty if another similar episode occurred within a year), since that day the FIA no longer tolerates any strange communication to the drivers coming from the pits. In Monte-Carlo, according to the prosecution, something peculiar was going on and now the Federation wants to see it through. Hence the opening of an investigation focused on the first pit stop of Lewis Hamilton and also on the freezing of positions ordered in the final, Ron Dennis, the team principal of McLaren, invites the English driver to desist from the battle, which shields the triumph of Fernando Alonso and the second place of his teammate. A trial (if it comes to judgment for violation of Article 151c of the Sports Code, which considers any fraudulent conduct or any act detrimental to the interests of a competition or the motorsport world in general to be irregular) that could provide in the extreme case a penalty in the standings (perhaps the loss of victory by Fernando Alonso) or more simply a heavy fine. The news will make Ferrari smile, but it does not seem to have upset McLaren that much.
"We are absolutely calm. The FIA investigation leaves us calm because all decisions made before and during the race comply with the international sports code".
Ron Dennis adds:
"Nothing erratic was committed, nothing that could have benefited the team or one of its drivers. It is one thing to manipulate a race, it is another to follow a strategy. The strategy is the one that leads you to win a Grand Prix, manipulation is the one that artificially changes a finish order. The latter is illegal, but it doesn't concern us".
Dennis, to better clarify the concept, recalls an uncomfortable precedent.
"Only once did I have to intervene and it was an exceptional case. This was the Australian Grand Prix, the first race of the 1998 World Championship. Someone, unauthorized, had entered our radio communications and told Häkkinen to go back to the pits. Mika was in the lead, but because of that wrong order, he lost first place to Coulthard, the teammate. It wasn't fair and I intervened. Our internal rule was that in the event of a duel between two of our drivers, whoever was in the lead at the first corner had to win. In that case, it was Häkkinen, not Coulthard. I called David and told him to let his teammate pass, and he agreed. That's a team order, not what happened in Monte-Carlo, where we just wanted to secure the one-two, without taking unnecessary risks".
It must be said, however, even that episode in Australia caused a sensation, also because it came immediately after the fiery final of the 1997 season, the accident between Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve in Jerez, the German punished heavily, Ferrari who accused the Canadian of agreeing with the McLarens, because he had let Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard pass, as confirmed by the suggestions via radio of the Williams box. Just as much noise was made by Michael Schumacher's fake overtaking of Rubens Barrichello (second and third) a few metres from the finish line of the 2001 Austrian Grand Prix and above all the victory given by the Brazilian the following year. Now recriminating is Lewis Hamilton, who is challenging Fernando Alonso for protection. A strange fate that of McLaren: they thought the great enemy was Ferrari. And not the war between its drivers.