June 2003

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European GP finishing times:

1. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1h34'43"622 195.633 Km/h 2. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M +0'16"821 195.056 Km/h 3. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B +0'39"673 194.277 Km/h 4. 8 ALONSO Renault M +1'05"731 193.397 Km/h 5. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B +1'06"162 193.382 Km/h 6. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1 lap 7. 17 BUTTON BAR Honda B 1 lap 8. 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1 lap 9. 10 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas B 1 lap 10. 15 PIZZONIA Jaguar Cosworth M 1 lap 11. 12 FIRMAN Jordan Ford B 2 laps 12. 11 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford B 2 laps 13. 18 WILSON Minardi Cosworth B 2 laps 14. 19 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth B 3 laps 15. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 4 laps 16. 21 DA MATTA Toyota M 7 laps 17. 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 9 laps 18. 7 TRULLI Renault M 23 laps 19. 20 PANIS Toyota M 23 laps 20. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 35 laps

28 June 2003 Kimi Räikkönen was last out for a flying lap and he will be at the front of the grid tomorrow. The Finn just beat M. Schumacher to pole position, faring considerably better than team mate Coulthard who ended up all the way down to ninth place after a mediocre performance. R. Schumacher failed in his bid to have three consecutive pole positions and will start tomorrow's GP from the second row, alongside team mate Montoya. Barrichello and Trulli will start from the third row, with Panis and Alonso on the fourth. Heidfeld's mechanics managed to to change his engine in just 18 minutes so that he would not miss his qualifying spot, but the German messed up the team's good qork by spinning out and stalling during his flying lap. He will have to start from the pitlane or the back of the grid.

European GP qualifying session times (starting grid):

1. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'31"523 202.493 Km/h 2. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'31"555 +0'00"032 3. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'31"619 +0'00"096 4. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'31"765 +0'00"242 5. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'31"780 +0'00"257 6. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'31"976 +0'00"453 7. 20 PANIS Toyota M 1'32"350 +0'00"827 8. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'32"424 +0'00"901 9. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'32"742 +0'01"219 10. 21 DA MATTA Toyota M 1'32"949 +0'01"426 11. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'33"066 +0'01"543 12. 17 BUTTON BAR Honda B 1'33"395 +0'01"872 13. 11 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford B 1'33"553 +0'02"030 14. 12 FIRMAN Jordan Ford B 1'33"827 +0'02"304 15. 10 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas B 1'34"000 +0'02"477 16. 15 PIZZONIA Jaguar Cosworth M 1'34"159 +0'02"636 17. 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'34"596 +0'03"073 18. 19 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth B 1'36"318 +0'04"795 19. 18 WILSON Minardi Cosworth B 1'36"485 +0'04"962 20. 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1'45"500 +0'13"977

28 June 2003 Williams dominated the second free practice session with R. Schumacher closely followed by team mate Montoya, but both failed to better the time set by Panis in the first session. The McLaren of Coulthard and Räikkönen positioned themselves in the fourth and fifth spots, while Ferrari was down to sixth with Barrichello and 10th with M. Schumacher.

European GP combined Saturday practice session times:

1. 20 PANIS Toyota M 1'31"181 203.253 Km/h 37 laps 2. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'31"305 +0'00"124 29 laps 3. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'31"366 +0'00"185 32 laps 4. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'31"608 +0'00"427 30 laps 5. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'32"021 +0'00"840 30 laps 6. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'32"039 +0'00"858 31 laps 7. 21 DA MATTA Toyota M 1'32"057 +0'00"876 41 laps 8. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'32"356 +0'01"175 35 laps 9. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'32"391 +0'01"210 35 laps 10. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'32"652 +0'01"471 38 laps 11. 15 PIZZONIA Jaguar Cosworth M 1'33"076 +0'01"895 33 laps 12. 11 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford B 1'33"214 +0'02"033 33 laps 13. 17 BUTTON BAR Honda B 1'33"474 +0'02"293 25 laps 14. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'33"635 +0'02"454 33 laps 15. 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1'33"698 +0'02"517 36 laps 16. 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'34"085 +0'02"904 31 laps 17. 10 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas B 1'34"775 +0'03"594 33 laps 18. 12 FIRMAN Jordan Ford B 1'34"827 +0'03"646 28 laps 19. 18 WILSON Minardi Cosworth B 1'36"026 +0'04"845 23 laps 20. 19 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth B 1'36"381 +0'05"200 18 laps

28 June 2003 Panis put in a flying performance in the closing stages of the first free practice session and displaced Barrichello from the top of the timesheet. Coulthard, Montoya, M. Schumacher and R. Schumacher followed.

European GP first Saturday practice session times:

1. 20 PANIS Toyota M 1'31"181 203.253 Km/h 19 laps 2. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'32"039 +0'00"858 15 laps 3. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'32"471 +0'01"290 14 laps 4. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'32"477 +0'01"296 17 laps 5. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'32"803 +0'01"622 17 laps 6. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'32"852 +0'01"671 17 laps 7. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'32"891 +0'01"710 18 laps 8. 15 PIZZONIA Jaguar Cosworth M 1'33"127 +0'01"946 15 laps 9. 21 DA MATTA Toyota M 1'33"140 +0'01"959 19 laps 10. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'33"707 +0'02"526 15 laps 11. 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'34"127 +0'02"946 18 laps 12. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'34"179 +0'02"998 17 laps 13. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'34"564 +0'03"383 15 laps 14. 17 BUTTON BAR Honda B 1'34"582 +0'03"401 13 laps 15. 10 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas B 1'34"775 +0'03"594 13 laps 16. 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1'34"784 +0'03"603 14 laps 17. 12 FIRMAN Jordan Ford B 1'34"967 +0'03"786 14 laps 18. 11 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford B 1'35"332 +0'04"151 13 laps 19. 19 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth B 1'36"845 +0'05"664 9 laps 20. 18 WILSON Minardi Cosworth B 1'37"001 +0'05"820 13 laps

27 June 2003 Despite pevious rumours of a possible split up, WilliamsF1 and BMW have extended their partnership until the end of 2009. The announcement, which comes 18 months before the end of the existing agreement, was made today at the Nürburgring.

27 June 2003 Kimi Räikkönen may have been knocked off the lead of the Drivers Championship table, but he held his own in the first qualifying session for the European GP. The Finn clocked the fastest time ahead of rival M. Schumacher, Montoya, R. Schumacher, Barrichello and Coulthard. Heavy rain in the second half of the qualifying session caused Da Matta and Villeneuve to spin out. The BAR driver's accident caused the session to be red-flagged while his car was taken away. When the session restarted, it had been officially declared wet and the drivers were able to use wet-weather tyres.

European GP first qualifying session times:

1. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'29"989 205.945 Km/h 2. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'30"353 +0'00"364 3. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'30"378 +0'00"389 4. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'30"522 +0'00"533 5. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'30"842 +0'00"853 6. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'30"903 +0'00"914 7. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'31"143 +0'01"154 8. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'31"533 +0'01"544 9. 11 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford B 1'32"196 +0'02"207 10. 10 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas B 1'32"201 +0'02"212 11. 17 BUTTON BAR Honda B 1'32"479 +0'02"490 12. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'35"972 +0'05"983 13. 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1'52"300 +0'22"311 14. 12 FIRMAN Jordan Ford B 1'53"893 +0'23"904 15. 18 WILSON Minardi Cosworth B 1'54"546 +0'24"557 16. 19 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth B 1'55"921 +0'25"932 17. 20 PANIS Toyota M 1'57"327 +0'27"338 18. 15 PIZZONIA Jaguar Cosworth M 1'57"435 +0'27"446 19. 21 DA MATTA Toyota M 2'29"800 +0'59"811 20. 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 2'35"600 +1'05"611

26 June 2003 Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has signed a four-year contract with Formula One Administration Ltd, making them the official publisher of Formula One titles. Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso tested out the new game Formula One 2003 for Playstation as part of the venture's launch and were impressed with the quality and realism of the gameplay. The game was won by Fernando Alonso.

26 June 2003 Bathroom fittings producer Wilux Benelux will become a commercial partner of the European Minardi Cosworth F1 Team starting from the coming weekend. The slogan "Bathroom pleasure" and the company's logo will appear on the Minardi cars.

26 June 2003 Juan Pablo Montoya believes that he will be Champion, not quite yet though. The Colombian stated that, despite a drop in form since last year, M. Schumacher still is the fastest driver on track and that he will probably win the Championship this season. However, should anything happen to slow down M. Schumacher, such as a breakdown or a crash, then the situation could change dramatically and just about anybody could win the Championship.

26 June 2003 McLaren have admitted that the new MP4-18 has failed a crash test on the 19th of June, but said that they are confident that they will pass a second standard test, scheduled for an unreleased date. A spokeswoman for the team refused to say whether the crash test failure will delay the car's debut. The test was failed after the crash structure was redesigned to take into account the new aerodynamic package to be added to the car later on. The car failed the test because the monocoque suffered damage during the test. According to pilane rumours, the car's debut could be delayed until the Italian GP at Monza.

26 June 2003 The FIA has scrapped its plans to ban on tobacco advertising in Formula 1 from 2006. The decision was made following legal advice. The FIA is now calling on promoters and competitors to cease all forms of tobacco sponsorship from the end of the 2006 season (the 1st of October 2006). The reccomandation is unenforceable, but it could spell the end for all European GPs, as it is believed that the announcement was made in response to the European Union's recent decision to ban tobacco advertising from 2005. With the bringing forwards of the tobacco ban in Europe by one year, it is likely that Formula 1 will desert the European circuits in favour of those located in tobacco-advertising friendly countries. Advertising rows have already caused the races in Belgium and Austria to be dropped from the calendar. The Formula 1 teams that rely heavily on tobacoo sponsorship have signed advertising deals until 2006.

25 June 2003 The FIA have released an unofficial schedule for 2004. The Belgian GP has been reinstated in the calendar with a date of 29 August. The new Bahrain GP could take place on the 25th of April. If the facilities are not completed on time, the San Marino GP will be run on that date instead.

Unofficial 2004 calendar:

7 March : Australian GP 21 March : Malaysian GP 4 April : Brazilian GP 25 April : Bahrain GP or San Marino GP 9 May : Spanish GP 23 May : Monaco GP 6 June : Canadian GP 20 June : European GP 4 July : French GP 11 July : British GP 25 July : German GP 15 August : Hungarian GP 29 August : Belgian GP 12 September : Italian GP 26 September : United States GP 10 October : Chinese GP 24 October : Japanese GP

25 June 2003 Juan Pablo Montoya has been banned from driving on French roads for four months after been caught for speeding. The Colombian was clocked at 204 km/h on a French motorway. He can still drive in other countries and his ability to drive in Formula 1 is not affected.

24 June 2003 M. Schuamcher has admitted that he would rather retire from the sport than being outpaced by a team mate.

23 June 2003 Eddie Jordan has received an honorary doctorate from Dublin Institute of Technology yesterday in recognition of his outstanding achievements in international sport and his wider contribution to Ireland.

18 June 2003 After yesterday's crash in Jerez McLaren's new contender, the MP4/18, is facing more problems. The chassis has failed the mandatory FIA crash test, so the MP4/18 is not yet cleared to compete in a Grand Prix. It is unlikely that the McLaren team will manage to fix the car and pass the test on time for the European GP scheduled for the weekend after the next.

18 June 2003 European Minardi Cosworth F1 team principal Paul Stoddart bought five Arrows A23 chassis at yesterday's auction of the remaining assets of Arrows Grand Prix International. He also bought logistic material, boxes and various odds and sods. There is growing speculation that the A23 chassis could replace the current Minardi PS03 in future races. The cost has been covered by one of Minardi's sponsors. The auction is due to continue until tomorrow.

17 June 2003 Alexander Wurz suffered a bad crash in the McLaren MP4/18 during the tests at Jerez. Wurz suffered bruises to his left hand and the car was severely damaged. A McLaren spokeperson said that Wurz has left the medical center and that the accident did not appear to have been caused by mechanical failure.

17 June 2003 Eddie Jordan has launched a 150 million pounds damages claim against Vodafone in the High Court. Jordan claims that his team had agreed a sponsorship deal with Vodafone before the telecommunications company decided to go with Ferrari instead. Vodafone claims that they had been negotiating with a number of teams and that there never was a binding contract between themselves and the Jordan team. The hearing is expected to last three weeks.

16 June 2003 Bernie Ecclestone is a shareholder of the Minardi team. The news came out after Ron Dennis and Paul Stoddart had a verbal fight during the Canadian GP Friday press conference over the failure of big teams to agree upon a fighting fund for Jordan and Minardi, the two smallest teams in the Formula 1 circus. In a released statement Minardi confirmed that Ecclestone had become a significant investor in the team and that the agreement was sealed on Saturday the 14th. Ecclestone's investment in the Minardi team is a personal one and there will be no changes in the day-to-day running of the outfit.

15 June 2003 The Canadian GP enjoyed a trouble-free start as the drivers in the first few rows of the grid ordinately took race positions corresponding to the starting grid. M. Schumacher took advantge of a mistake of Montoya's to slip into second place behind his brother Ralf, whom he then overtook at the first pit stop to lead to the end. Team mate Barrichello had to go for a very early pit stop after touching Pizzonia and damaging his nosecone. He later also lost one of the bargeboards, but managed to keep Räikkönen behind and retain fifth place. The second mcLaren driver, Coulthard, had to retired with car problems. Williams had a better run than McLaren, though R. Schumacher spent most of the race glued to his older brother's tail, yet never attempting once to overtake for the lead. In the last stages of the race leader M. Schumacher and fourth-placed driver Alonso were separated by barely two seconds, with the Williams sandwiched in between them. Webber and Panis held on to bring home precious points. Villeneuve didn't go far on the circuit named after his father. The Canadian was out of the race early on when his car gave up the ghost. Eddie Jordan will also want to forget today's GP. Both his cars suffered technical probemes and retired within seconds of each other. Today's result propelled M. Schumacher in the lead of the Drivers Championship and Ferrari in that of the Constructors Championship.

Canadian GP finishing times:

1. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1h31'13"591 200.777 Km/h 2. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M +0'00"784 200.748 Km/h 3. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M +0'01"355 200.727 Km/h 4. 8 ALONSO Renault M +0'04"481 200.613 Km/h 5. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B +1'04"261 198.447 Km/h 6. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M +1'10"502 198.224 Km/h 7. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M +1 lap 8. 20 PANIS Toyota M +1 lap 9. 19 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth B +2 laps 10. 15 PIZZONIA Jaguar Cosworth M +4 laps 11. 21 DA MATTA Toyota M +6 laps 12. 18 WILSON Minardi Cosworth B +10 laps 13. 17 BUTTON BAR Honda B +19 laps 14. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M +23 laps 15. 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B +23 laps 16. 7 TRULLI Renault M +48 laps 17. 11 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford B +50 laps 18. 12 FIRMAN Jordan Ford B +50 laps 19. 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B +56 laps 20. 10 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas B +64 laps

14 June 2003 The first row of the starting grid of tomorrow's Canadian GP will be a all-Williams affair, with R. Schumacher in his second pole position in a row. Current World Champion M. Schumacher will be alongside Alonso on the second row, while Barrichello and Webber will share the third row. The fourth row will host Panis and Trulli, who had to resort to qualifying on the spare car after crashing his race car at the end of the warm up session. The McLaren failed to impress. Coulthard only managed 11th spot on the grid, but things went even worse for team mate Räikkönen. The current leader of the Drivers Championship failed to post a time after taking a trip on the grass during his flying lap and destroying his rear wing and suspension. He will start tomorrow's GP from the back of the grid. The session was dry, but wet spots were still left on the track from earlier rain. Drivers who made small mistakes in qualifying moved from dry to wet ground and were punished more harshly than normal by losing grip and precious extra fractions of seconds.

Canadian GP second qualifying session times (starting grid):

1. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'15"529 207.862 Km/h 2. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'15"923 +0'00"394 3. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'16"047 +0'00"518 4. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'16"048 +0'00"519 5. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'16"143 +0'00"614 6. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'16"182 +0'00"653 7. 20 PANIS Toyota M 1'16"598 +0'01"069 8. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'16"718 +0'01"189 9. 21 DA MATTA Toyota M 1'16"826 +0'01"297 10. 10 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas B 1'16"939 +0'01"410 11. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'17"024 +0'01"495 12. 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1'17"086 +0'01"557 13. 15 PIZZONIA Jaguar Cosworth M 1'17"337 +0'01"808 14. 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'17"347 +0'01"818 15. 19 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth B 1'18"014 +0'02"485 16. 11 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford B 1'18"036 +0'02"507 17. 17 BUTTON BAR Honda B 1'18"205 +0'02"676 18. 18 WILSON Minardi Cosworth B 1'18"560 +0'03"031 19. 12 FIRMAN Jordan Ford B 1'18"692 +0'03"163 20. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'25"400 +0'09"871

13 June 2003 Barrichello put team mate M. Schumacher, who ran off the circuit in the final sector and narrowly missed the barriers, over a second behind in a very wet first qualifying session for the Canadian GP. Heidfeld, Firman and Alonso kept Räikkönen down to sixth place, just ahead of Frentzen and Coulthard. It was a bad session for the Williams, that ended up down in the bottom half of the times table, behind the Minardi of Verstappen and Wilson. Villeneuve made a mistake and span in the straight line in his qualifying lap and had to settle for last place. All drivers from position 10 (Panis) down fall foul of the 107% time of 1'37"289. More rain is expected tomorrow for the second qualifying round, but Sunday should be dry, albeit cloudy and cold.

Canadian GP first qualifying session times:

1. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1'30"925 172.665 Km/h 2. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B 1'31"969 +0'01"044 3. 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1'32"778 +0'01"853 4. 12 FIRMAN Jordan Ford B 1'34"759 +0'03"834 5. 8 ALONSO Renault M 1'35"173 +0'04"248 6. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M 1'35"373 +0'04"448 7. 10 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas B 1'35"776 +0'04"851 8. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 1'36"463 +0'05"538 9. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M 1'36"699 +0'05"774 10. 20 PANIS Toyota M 1'37"313 +0'06"388 11. 19 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth B 1'37"426 +0'06"501 12. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1'37"479 +0'06"554 13. 18 WILSON Minardi Cosworth B 1'38"088 +0'07"163 14. 17 BUTTON BAR Honda B 1'38"109 +0'07"184 15. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M 1'38"210 +0'07"285 16. 21 DA MATTA Toyota M 1'38"244 +0'07"319 17. 15 PIZZONIA Jaguar Cosworth M 1'38"255 +0'07"330 18. 11 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford B 1'38"617 +0'07"692 19. 7 TRULLI Renault M 1'41"413 +0'10"488 20. 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1'44"702 +0'13"777

13 June 2003 Jenson Button has been given the go-ahead to take part in the Canadian GP. The BAR driver missed the Monaco GP after a serious shunt during practice.

13 June 2003 Rubens Barrichello, the only key component of the Ferrari team not to have his contract renewed until 2006, said that he is unconcerned about not signing a new contract. The Brazilian said that he has always signed his contracts at different times to the rest and that he still has one year to go on his current contract.

12 June 2003 Kimi Räikkönen confirmed that he suffered a shunt in Barcelona during closed-doors tests of the MP4-18 after losign control and going off at the last corner. The crash, that damaged the car, was a setback because the team was unable to run the last day of tests. However, the Finn confirmed that McLaren are still hopeful of racing their new car in the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring.

11 June 2003 Jordan and Jaguar could lose HP as a sponsor next season. After HP merged with Compaq, the company decided to focus its sponsorship of Formula 1 and it looks like that Williams will be the winner.

9 June 2003 M. Schumacher has extended his contract with Ferrari until 2006. Jean Todt, Ross Brawn, Paolo Martinelli, Rory Byrne and Gilles Simon also all extended their contracts until the same date. The announcement was made today by Luca di Montezemolo, dispelling recent rumours that M. Schumacher was planning to end his career in Formula 1.

6 June 2003 Kimi Räikkönen was involved in an accident during closed doors tests of the new MP4-18 in Barcelona. The Finn suuffered bruising to his knee in the shunt, that took place on the final corner of the track, and the car was damaged but it is not known by how much. McLaren are being very secretive about the tests and are not releasing any lap times. A McLaren spokesperson said that the crash was due to human error.

5 June 2003 BAR is testing at Monza with Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato. Drivers Button and Villeneuve are not testing because of health problems. Button suffered a massive shunt in practice before the Moanco GP and Villeneuve is currently suffering from backache.

4 June 2003 Jenson Button will probably take part in the Canadian GP scheduled in two weekens time, but he has been told by Sid Watkins not to partecipate in the Monza testing this week.

3 June 2003 Bridgestone have rejected M. Schumacher's criticism of their tyre at the Monaco GP. Bridgestone's technical manager Hisao Suganuma said that the tyres had performed well during the race and that Ferrari suffered because the team chose a different strategy from their rivals. He pointed out that when M. Schumacher had a clear run in the last 10 laps of the race, he was able to catch up with Montoya and Räikkönen.

2 June 2003 M. Schumacher believes that the Bridgestone tyres were partly to blame for Ferrari's lacklustre performance at Monaco. The German was unable to keep up with the leading duo Montoya and Räikkönen, both on Michelin, during the middle part of the race. M. Schumacher could not fault the car for its performance, instead he puts the tyres in the spotlight, comparing the performance of the rubber to that of rival Michelin's. Jean Todt agrees with the driver. According to him, the car-tyre package was not working as well as it could have.

2 June 2003 Ron dennis has accused Villeneuve of ruining Räikkönen's chances of winning in Monaco. Villeneuve was not fast enough to move out of the way when shown the blue flag, according to Dennis, causing the Finn to lose crucial seconds that could have allowed him to stay ahead of Montoya during the first pit stop.

1 June 2003 As it often is, the Monaco GP was a long procession of cars with all the overtaking action taking place exclusively in the pits during the pit stops. M. Schumacher managed to recoved two positions from his starting fifth place on the grid to finish third, behind Montoya and Räikkönen. Nobody really shone in the whole race, everybody concentrating just on not making mistakes. Cars on Michelin tyres fared better than those on Bridgestone, with Ferrari consoderably off the race of the leading cars until well into the last ten laps of the race, when the current World Champion put in a real effort to catch up to be in the finishing photograph but without any real hope of challenging for positions. The only emotion of the GP came from Frentzen who smashed his Sauber against the barrier on the first lap causing the safety car to come out for a few laps. Pole sitter R. Schumacher could only manage to finish fourth after a slow first pit stop in which he was overtaken by team mate Montoya, who had burnt past R&aul;ikk¨onen at the start. Montoya was able to bring home his second career victory after Monza 2001, thanks to a well set-up Williams and superior tyres as well as his own determination at the start. Promising young driver Alonso was able to move up to fifth place from eighth on the grid, while Coulthard and Barrichello ran a non-eventful race and never even tried to jostle for positions. Trulli did well to finish in sixth place.

Monaco GP finishing times:

1. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 1h42'19"012 152.772 Km/h 2. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M +0'00"602 152.757 Km/h 3. 1 M. SCHUMACHER Ferrari B +0'01"720 152.730 Km/h 4. 4 R. SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M +0'28"518 152.066 Km/h 5. 8 ALONSO Renault M +0'36"251 151.876 Km/h 6. 7 TRULLI Renault M +0'40"972 151.760 Km/h 7. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M +0'41"227 151.753 Km/h 8. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B +0'53"266 151.458 Km/h 9. 21 DA MATTA Toyota M +1 lap 10. 11 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford B +1 lap 11. 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B +2 laps 12. 12 FIRMAN Jordan Ford B +2 laps 13. 20 PANIS Toyota M +4 laps 14. 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B +15 laps 15. 18 WILSON Minardi Cosworth B +49 laps 16. 19 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth B +50 laps 17. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth M +62 laps 18. 15 PIZZONIA Jaguar Cosworth M +68 laps 19. 10 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas B +78 laps

1 June 2003 Button will not partecipate in the Monaco GP. Prof. Sid Watkins decided that the BAR driver is not fit to race following yesterday's accident in practice that caused him to miss the qualifying session. Since BAR has no replacement driver on site, the team will only run Villeneuve's car.

Last updated on by Federica Massagrande