 Barrichello Leads Ferrari 1-2 in Thrilling Italian GP Sunday September 12th, 2004 By Will Gray Rubens Barrichello led World Champion Michael Schumacher in a dream one-two finish for Ferrari in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix as the dominant duo gave their fans a day to remember. Barrichello gambled on wet tyres in the opening laps and used the impressive pace of his F2004 machine to stay ahead of the pack while Schumacher battled his way back from an opening lap spin to claim second. The Italian team won the World Championship in last month's Hungarian Grand Prix and, with Schumacher securing the drivers' crown at the last race in Belgium, the pair were racing for fun. They were so in control that they were able to line up a formation finish as they crossed the line before celebrating with their scarlet-clad fans with a champagne celebration on the podium. Briton Jenson Button had led early on but had to settle for third place and the best of the rest tag once again with his eighth podium of the year for BAR-Honda but he was well off the pace of the lead cars. Takuma Sato finished fourth in the second BAR and, with both Renault cars failing to score points, the team was able to leapfrog their rivals and move into second in the constructors' World Championship. Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya failed to make the most of his front-row start and finished fifth for Williams-BMW with Scot David Coulthard sixth for McLaren-Mercedes after his teammate Kimi Raikkonen retired once again. Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia completed what is likely to be his final race for Williams with his third seventh-place finish in four races and Italian Giancarlo Fisichella claimed the final point for Sauber. After heavy morning rain the track was damp as the race began and Barrichello, who was the only lead car to start on wet tyres, made a clean get-away as Fernando Alonso shot through the middle of Schumacher and Montoya for second. Behind Barrichello the field of cars slithered their way around the first corner but Schumacher cut the chicane and had to slow to relinquish the advantage he had gained. The Ferrari driver dropped down into the pack and he spun at the second chicane while Olivier Panis, who announced this weekend he will retire at the end of the season, ended his race in the gravel trap. Schumacher was down to 15th after the first lap but Barrichello's choice of wet tyres had given him a clear advantage and he had built up a lead of 6.9 seconds by the time they came around to the start-finish straight for the first time. Pizzonia had a trip across the gravel on the second lap and as the track continued to dry Alonso quickly reeled in Barrichello and took the lead on lap five before the Brazilian pitted to change to dry tyres. That left Alonso leading Button by 5.9 seconds after six laps with Montoya in third, Raikkonen fourth, Sato fifth and Klien sixth. Barrichello was down in ninth place with Schumacher already up to 11th. Massa lost the front wing on his Sauber when he hit Nick Heidfeld's Jordan while his teammate Fisichella was passed by the charging Schumacher for tenth to put the German right behind his teammate. Alonso made the first of the standard stops at the end of lap 10 and Schumacher passed Barrichello on the main straight then, given a clear track ahead of him, put in the fastest lap of the race. Finn Raikkonen, who started from seventh place on the grid, pulled into his McLaren garage to post his eighth retirement of the season, his third in four races, after 14 laps. Button, who had assumed the lead, made his pit stop on lap 14 and he managed to come out ahead of Alonso and hold onto first place. Schumacher, who had moved up to third, came in one lap later and dropped down to 11th. The race became a procession until the end of lap 31, when a pitlane fire livened up proceedings with the Minardi of Italian Gianmaria Bruni erupting in flames during a routine pit stop. The fire was put out in a flash, however, and the crew appeared to be uninjured while Bruni was able to calmly climb out of the car before it was pushed into the garage. Button lost out in the second set of stops and came out behind Barrichello, who had now moved back into the lead, while Alonso slotted into third and Schumacher sat 20.5 seconds behind his teammate in fourth. Giorgio Pantano became the second Italian out of the race after Bruni when he retired his Jordan and Spaniard Alonso then spun out of third place and into retirement when he became beached in a gravel trap. Barrichello grew a 22.3-second advantage over Button before he pitted for his final stop at the end of lap 42 and he came out ahead of Button just before Schumacher passed the Briton to take second place. The Ferrari duo then stamped their authority on the opposition and gained enough of an advantage for them to slow down and finish 1.3 seconds apart as Barrichello claimed his first win of the year.
Published at 13:23:40 GMT
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