Brain power and horsepower
prove equally critical
Strategy was the key to last years Canadian Grand Prix, and, as
was so often the case in 2004, it was Ferrari who got it
right.
There may not have been too many passing moves around the Montreal
circuit on Sunday afternoon, but tactically it was a thriller and
there was even an unexpected twist hours after the chequered flag
had fallen.
Fridays and Saturdays practice sessions showed little sign of a
Williams revival, but all that changed in qualifying. The
BMW-powered squad finished one-two in the pre-qualifier, with Ralf
Schumacher leading the way from Juan Pablo Montoya, but when Jenson
Button set a stunner for BAR in qualifying proper, a Williams pole
seemed out of the question.
Ralf dug deep though, snatching it by less than a tenth from the
Brit, with the rest of the field trailing in the distance,
including the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello
down in sixth and seventh respectively.
By the end of Sunday, however, that P6 and 7 had been converted to
P1 and 2, thanks largely to Ferraris excellent choice of a
two-stop strategy. Their Williams and BAR rivals opted for
three-stoppers, but the best that could do was put Ralf between the
scarlet cars on the podium, and even that evaporated when Williams
and Toyota were disqualified post race for illegal brake
ducts.
The other team that may have challenged Ferrari, Renault, suffered
their first double retirement of the year, allowing BAR to close to
within nine points of their second place in the constructors
standings.
The disqualifications brought good news for others too. Giancarlo
Fisichella gave Sauber their best placing of the year with fourth,
while McLaren overcame their reliability woes to bring both cars
home in the points.
Jordan managed the same, with Timo Glock (standing in for Giorgio
Pantano) scoring an unexpected two points on his Grand Prix debut
as he finished seventh ahead of team mate Nick Heidfeld.
