A clever tit-for-tat strategy won the race for Coulthard. And, he was a most deserving winner, writes CAR deputy editor John Bentley.
Who said Formula One was boring? The high-speed train for the first third of this year’s Monaco Grand Prix certainly sent shivers down my spine, reminding me of the descriptions of the classic battles between the likes of Fangio, Farina, Ascari and Villoresi that first kindled my interest in this fantastic sport.
The same goes for the three two-car duels in the closing laps, with Michael Schumacher challenging David Coulthard for the lead, Giancarlo Fisichella battling Jarno Trulli for fourth and Heinz-Harald Frentzen desperately holding off Rubens Barrichello in the scrap for sixth place.
In the end, it was clever tit-for-tat strategy that won the race, the flag going to the most deserving winner the gods could have chosen. After being so cruelly robbed last year when his traction control system failed at the start of the parade lap, it was poetic justice that David Coulthard took the honours.
The Scot was on the pace the whole weekend, and fully deserved his first win in over a year.
On a different note: though I shared the disappointment of the thousands of fans who were upset by Ferrari’s team orders in Austria, the fact that Michael Schumacher was beaten this time out does, to some extent, vindicate team manager Jean Todt’s take on things. As he said, nothing is certain in Grand Prix racing. – John Bentley
