Montoya takes Monaco; DNF for Jos and Justin

Published on 01 June 2003 by Huub Rothengatter

This afternoon Juan Pablo Montoya has won the Grand Prix of Monaco. The Colombian earned 10 points with this victory and is closing the gap to his direct oponents Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher, who finished in 2nd and 3rd today.

Monaco gives Montoya his 2nd Grand Prix victory

The 'Automobileclub de Monaco' was organisor of today's event. At the start one driver was missing, BAR driver Jenson Button was not allowed to start. Dr Sid Watkins did not deem him fit enough after his crash of yesterday morning.
The start was without problems and again the Renaults showed their have an excellent launch control system. Alonso managed to pass Barrichello and Coulthard before Casino.
Jos Verstappen had a good manual start, he passed Panis and Frentzen. The German tried to compensate his bad start and overtook Jos in Casino. Frentzen used the kerbs near the swimming pool to much and launched himself into the wall. A safety car situation was the result.
In Monaco there are few posibilities to overtake and the weather was not prepared to influence the race. This race was dominated by pitstop strategies.


Jos Verstappen passes the 'Hotel de Paris'

The Minardi team seemed to have chosen for the right strategy. Jos and Justin qualified with a lot of fuel onboard, due to the first series of pitstops of their competitors they were able to gain a few positions. Especially Jos was able to keep up with the drivers in front of him as well as not letting the drivers behind him pass. At one point Jos was in 12th, which could have been even more since Jos was able to keep the faster cars behind him.
Unfortunately in lap 31 it went wrong for both Jos and Justin. Both Minardi's lost fuel pressure and their chance to get a good finishing position disappeared. A big disappointment for the team as the Cosworth engine proved to be very reliable in previous races.

At that moment Juan Pablo Montoya was race leader. He was closely followed by Kimi Raikkonen and both Schumachers, where Michael claimed third. The second series of pitstops of this quartet, starting in lap 49, mixed the whole grid for a moment but did not have any influence on the end result.


Kimi Raikkonen maintains his lead in the World Championship

A deserved victory for the Williams team, who will engage in the fight for positions in the drivers and team World Championship with their first and fourth places in today's race. Disappointing today were Rubens Barrichello in 8th and David Coulthard in 7th. Both drivers were a long way from their team mates but this might be due to the specialistic circuit in Monaco.