Italian Jarno Trulli led from start to finish to claim his first formula one victory and end world champion Michael Schumacher’s winning run in a thrilling and action-packed Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday.
Renault driver Trulli, who started from pole for the first time in his 117-race career, played it cool while his teammate Fernando Alonso and Schumacher crashed out behind him in a series of incidents in the famous Monte Carlo tunnel.
Schumacher had won five races from five this season but his hopes of breaking Nigel Mansell’s record season-starting victory run were ended by his first retirement in the 19 races since last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
The race was run under the safety car twice, first after Italian Giancarlo Fisichella rolled his Sauber having been blinded by smoke from Takuma Sato’s retiring BAR and secondly when Spaniard Alonso collided with the barriers.
Schumacher crashed out while cruising at the head of the field during the second safety car period when his brakes locked and he collided with Juan Pablo Montoya’s Williams as the Colombian tried to swerve out of the way.
But Trulli left the carnage behind him to control a frantic final part of the race to keep the battling Briton Jenson Button behind him in second as Rubens Barrichello saved face for Ferrari with his fourth podium of the season.
”It’s amazing,” Trulli said. ”I’m so happy. I’ve been waiting so long to win and it came at the best race in Monaco.
”In the end I just took no risks. I was just doing what I had to do and just responding to the lap times and there was no point taking any risks. Everything was under control.
”I can’t really believe that I have won in Monaco. I’m so happy for me and so happy for the Renault team. It has been a faultless weekend and it is the best way to win — being on top all weekend.”
Button added: ”I know it is not easy to pass around here but I had to give it a try. I had the chance of hitting a guardrail but I want to win so much I had to push.”
Colombian Montoya, despite starting from ninth place and colliding with Schumacher during the race, stayed on track to claim a satisfying fourth for Williams.
Ralf Schumacher, who started 12th, had looked set to secure the final point but he was forced to retire just three laps from the end when he pulled his Williams into the pits.
The first start was aborted after former winner Panis failed to line up correctly on his grid spot in 13th place and stalled his Toyota. He was pushed back to the pits when the field set off for the second warm-up lap.
The race was shortened because of the incident by one lap to 77 laps and Trulli got away well to stay in front as Alonso claimed second when he flew past Button’s BAR from third on the grid.
Button held onto third and his Japanese team-mate Sato made a flying start, gently tapping the wheel of Michael Schumacher on the way through, to claim fourth place as Schumacher dropped behind Raikkonen into sixth.
Jaguar’s Christian Klien became the first retirement when he crashed into the barriers at Loews hairpin after losing his front wing fighting in the middle of the pack in the first-lap melee.
Sato appeared to be holding the field up behind him and on the third lap his engine gave way as he headed into the swimming pool complex, leaving a trail of smoke as he parked up on the exit.
Blinded by the haze, the field tiptoed through but as David Coulthard slowed, Fisichella hit the back of the Scot’s McLaren and rolled his car into the barrier on the inside of the complex.
Both drivers escaped unscathed but the race was run under the safety car for four laps while the wreckage was cleared. The race restarted on lap seven with Trulli staying ahead of Alonso, Button, Kimi Raikkonen and Schumacher.
Australian Mark Webber ended Jaguar’s day early when he retired as he headed into La Rascasse at the end of lap 12 and Italian Giorgio Pantano retired after pulling his Jordan into the pits with 13 laps completed.
Trulli began to pull away from Alonso and Button as Raikkonen dropped away, holding Schumacher behind him. Button became the first frontrunner to pit, stopping for 9,5 seconds at the end of lap 18.
Raikkonen pitted at the end of lap 19 to leave Schumacher free to post the quickest lap of the race in each of the following four laps before Trulli and Alonso pitted on laps 24 and 25 respectively.
Schumacher assumed the lead before stopping on lap 26 and he came out behind the Renault pair, 7,1 seconds off the lead after his series of fast laps allowed him to pass both Button and Raikkonen.
Passing Raikkonen ultimately mattered little, however, as the McLaren driver pulled into the pits on lap 28 to post the second double retirement of the season for the struggling former championship challengers.
Alonso crashed out of second place on lap 42 when he drove off-line in the tunnel to lap Ralf Schumacher’s Williams and hit the barriers with the left-hand side of his car.
The safety car was brought out for a second time and Trulli and Button immediately pitted to take advantage. Schumacher, however, not due for his stop until later, stayed out after moving to the front of the field.
World champion Schumacher’s race came to an end on lap 46 when he locked his left front wheel as he drove behind the safety car in the tunnel and clipped the Williams of Montoya, who was swerving to avoid the slowing Ferrari.
He collided heavily with the barriers, taking off his front left wheel, and was forced to limp around the track and return to the pits and leave Trulli and Button to battle it out to the finish. – Sapa-AFP