Although Lauda had publicly declared that the Jaguar Team would not hire a test driver to replace T.Scheckter right away and argued that both Irvine and de la Rosa are paid well enough to do the testing, Jaguar F3 teamster Andre Lotterer (from Germany) is reported to have been summoned to Valencia (Spain) to test with the Jaguar Team, following the Austrian GP.
 
 FIA's intention to bring a Russian GP into the F1 calendar has been announced for 2004, when the track that starts being built in just a few months at Nagatino island, in Moscow, is expected to be ready. This announcement has been interpreted as a possible threat to the San Marino, European, Hungarian or Brazilian Grands Prix, since the FIA has also conveyed their intention of not merely adding another race to the F1 calendar.
   Although it is still too early to speculate about the 2004 Season, the Imola race (San Marino GP) is reportedly thought to head this list of likely candidates: not only San Marino's contract with the FIA expires this year, but also the fact that there is another race in Italy (the Italian GP, in Monza) could bear some weight against the San Marino race.
   By the same token, the European GP at Nürburgring would figure among the possible favourites to be dropped: Germany already hosts the German GP, in Hockenheim. In behalf of the European GP, however, comes the argument that the Nürburgring organisers are reportedly ready to invest $10 million, in order to improve the track facilities.
   Brazil and Hungary, on the other hand, who may find themselves short of financial support, could thus be under threat, should a financial criterion prevail at the time room must be made in the F1 calendar, for the announced Russian GP.
   As Ecclestone has announced that there are seven other countries currently seeking F1 rights, more speculation is likely to emerge, in the long run, and involve other Grand Prix venues, as well.
 
 Additional speculation may be under way, should the recent news involving Goodyear be more than a rumor. The most successful tyre supplier in motor racing is reportedly interested in a possible return to Formula-1, aiming at the 2003 Season. As the Michelin-shod teams are said to be all on long contracts, which teams would Brigdestone be likely to lose for Goodyear?...
 
 One of the current F3000 twin drivers, Ricardo Sperafico, has just been invited by Jonathan Williams (Sir Frank Williams' son) to drive R.Schumacher's Number-5 Williams, on Monday, May 21, while scenes for an advertisement campaign are shot at the Silverstone track, the circuit hosting both the F3000 and F1 British GP in mid July.
   F3000 rookie Ricardo Sperafico will not only be driving R.Schumacher's car, but also be wearing R.Schumacher's helmet while the scenes are shot.
   Ricardo Sperafico is currently racing with the F3000 Petrobrás Junior Team, alongside F3000 jungle-boy rookie Antônio Pizzonia.   [ More on the Sperafico twins ]
 
 The Petrobrás F3000 Team is sponsored by Brazilian petroleum giant Petrobrás, a company that has been partnering the F1 Williams-BMW team for four years, supplying the gasoline that powers the Williams's cars.
   Due to this relationship with the Williams-BMW F1 Team, the F3000 Petrobrás Junior Team has functioned as some sort of branch, or extension, of the Williams-BMW F1 Team into the F3000 scenario, where the Petrobrás Team counts on technological support and know-how from the Williams Team. Frank Williams's son, Jonathan, is the key element regarding this F1/F3000 cooperation.   [ See below on the F3000 Petrobrás and F1 Williams-BMW partnership in connection with the 2000-2001 Indianapolis 500 racing events. ]
 
   Petrobrás has just recently extended its role in the F1 milieu, by means of an agreement with Eddie Jordan to supply its Lubrax products (lubricating oils) to the Jordan-Honda Team, from the 2001 Austrian GP until the end of the 2002 Season.
   As he announced the new partnership, Eddie Jordan was quoted: "In the battle to win F1 races and to win the world championship, each detail must be analyzed. Our research with Petrobrás fuel will be positive for our performance."
 
 Ricardo Zonta has been reported by the Brazilian media as each day closer to guaranteeing a seat with the Jordan Team for the 2001 F1 Season. The Brazilian media has in fact said that Zonta is supposed to take one of Jordan's seats next year, most likely the one presently occupied by Frentzen, the report added. It was likewise reported that the announcement from Jordan regarding Zonta's inclusion in their 2002 line-up is only expected to be officially made at the end of the season. Whether the above should be taken as news or rumors remains to be seen.   [ More below ]
 
 Fiat has recently announced that they have been joined by four other major constructors involved in F1 racing and members of the European Association of Car Manufacturers--BMW, Ford, Mercedes (Daimler-Chrysler) and Renault--regarding the establishment of a company that is to design a new F1 world championship for 2008 at the latest. This new venture, in principle, is to be presided by Paolo Cantarella, Fiat's chief executive.
 
 One more Grand Prix this Season is preceded by sad news: Former Minardi majority shareholder and Fondmetal F1 team boss Gabriele Rumi died on Monday evening (may 21), after losing his fight against cancer. Minardi promptly issued the following statement: "It will be extremely hard to forget the passion and the determination which have characterised his 20-year presence in Formula 1. To the Minardi team, and to motor racing, he has certainly made a considerable contribution as a manager and as a man."
 
 Jaguar's new aerodynamic package is to make its debut in the Monaco GP [ see below ]. However, Jaguar's technical director Steve Nichols has reportedly played down expectations that the team should be raising their game considerably in this coming race. While words are easy to utter, to pass on, to misinterpret, etc., there is nothing like true action to confirm or dimiss whatever may have been reported. Let's thus keep an eye on how Irvine and de la Rosa will be performing in Monaco.
 
 The Prost Team will likewise arrive in Monaco with a new aerodynamic package [ see below ]. Will Alesi and Burti be moving up the grid? Alesi seemed particularly happy with the improvements, the concrete outcome of which we'll be able to check during the Monaco weekend.
 
 The Prost and Jaguar cars have so far been pretty close on the grid. Which of the two teams will have made the most out of the latest improvements in the same area, the Monaco grid is equally likely to reveal. Neither team has scored any point so far. Could Monaco be a significant GP for either, or both?
   If I had to bet--provided, of course, that the cars have indeed improved in handling--I'd place my bet on Alesi, who has always been strong in Monaco, considering the four drivers involved. How about you? [ If you'd like to, please feel free to share your views! ]
 
 Shortly before the Monaco weekend, Ferrari announced the re-signing of both drivers.
   M.Schumacher, the highest paid sportsman, is now sure to remain with the Scuderia until the end of 2004, when the recently renewed contracts of Ross Brawn, Jean Todt, Rory Byrne, and Paolo Martinelli equally expire.
   Barrichello, in turn, who has been on a two-year contract with Ferrari, was given a further one-year extension, according to a clause present in the Brazilian's contract. This clause allowed both parties to exercise an option in order to extend that contract one year further.
   In other words, contrary to what some of the news reports have informed, Ferrari and Barrichello neither renewed their contact nor signed a new one: the existing contract was simply extended for an extra year, as allowed for within that very contract.
 
 The news from Maranello has certainly put a healthy end to much speculation that had been going on. It has additionally acted as a cooler to a newly started silly season that seemed to anticipate being one of the hottest in the last years.
   Except for a last minute surprise, speculation seems now restrained to the realm of the teams occupying the middle and end of the grid: McLaren has recently announced their interest in retaining both their drivers, continuing what is already the longest lasting partnership in the history of F1. Ferrari likewise retains the same line-up, the same being expected of Williams, Sauber, Jaguar and possibly also Prost (unless Alesi decides either to retire or to give the CART Series a try, by the end of this Season).
   The BAR team looks equally set to retain their drivers, whereas in their Honda-powered rivals, Jordan, the last unofficial news account for Brazilian Zonta as certain in their line-up [ see above ]. Provided that this is accurate, it leaves room for speculation regarding who'd be pairing the Brazilian: Frentzen? Trulli? The Italian might be returning to the Benetton Team, with which it has a contract.
   Should this happen, there would again be room for speculation regarding who would be making room for Trulli, at Benetton. Fisichella?...who is yet to win his first GP, but who scored Benetton's sole point so far, this Season? Button?...who has had a rather disappointing Season so far, consistently outpaced by Fisichella--in contrast to the young Briton's first F1 year, when he unexpectedly outqualified his more experienced German team-mate? One should not forget Australian F3000 racer M.Weber, currently testing for the Benetton Team, who was recently rumored to be on the verge of replacing Button, and who has commented that he feels he has a good chance of earning a seat with the Team for the coming Season.
   At Minardi, the young Alonso seems to have guaranteed a seat for next Season, whereas Marques's future remains incognoscible. Whether because Marques' performance has consistently been a bit short of Alonso's, or because the press must find what to write about during what now looms ahead as a very cool silly season, or because some information has indeed leaked out of Minardi, the fact is that Italian newspapers, followed by the British media, are now pointing Italian Gianni Morbidelli to be about to return to Formula 1, in Marques' seat. This substitution is allegedly planned for the French Grand Prix, in July. Morbidelli, however, who drove for Minardi for a couple of years, about a decade ago, is not the only name reported as likely to substitute Marques before the end of the Season--a fact that seems to indicate that the news on Morbidelli is rather a product of speculation, at best a rumor.In addition to this, recent news have involved the Minardi Team and Czech F3000 driver Tomas Enge, who would reportedly be hired as a test driver. The Minardi Team, however, not only test at a modest rate, but also already count on Dutchman Albers for the role of test driver. Could they be interested in a driver for a second testing role?... Anyway, the Minardi Team has (so far?) officially denied any interest in T.Enge.
   Incidentally, C.Albers is one of the other names pointed out to be about to replace Marques (along with Andrea Piccini and Gaston Mazzacane). Considering that in the only test C.Albers had with the Minardi Team the young Dutchman's times were a lot slower than Marques's, it seems unlikely that Albers would be replacing the Brazilian driver. Mazzacane would most likely mean no improvement, in addition to the fact that Paul Stoddart has repeatedly denied any interest in rehiring the Argentinian driver. Piccini also sounds unlikely: the Italian has only one point so far, against Enge's 18 points in the F3000 Championship, after the Monaco race. So, it is unlikely that Minardi would prefer Piccini to Enge. Finally, it has likewise been rumored that Marques does not get the same equipment as Alonso. What is official so far, amid all this talk, is that Minardi has repeatedly denied that a replacement for Marques is under consideration.
   As to the Arrows Team, considering the way things went at the start of the present Season, nothing is likely to be known for sure till the coming Season is about to start. The Dutch media had reported that Verstappen's manager had been contacted by Ferrari. But now that Barrichello has extended his contract, this is of course out of the question.
   There is finally newcomer Toyota, who has issued a statement asserting their interest in retaining the duo that is presently working on the development of their F1 car (Mika Salo and Allan McNish). However, as both dismissals and hiring at Toyota seem to have taken most by surprise this year, could they be candidates for a debut also in what now promises to be a mini silly season? After all, there have been rumors regarding Toyota's interest in M.Schumacher and then in Barrichello. If either Button or Fisichella, or Frentzen, end up without a seat, would Toyota feel tempted?...
   Other than the above, most Seasons start with one or more young promising drivers lining up on the grid. Who will these be and which colors they will be racing for is part of what remains to be seen and will certainly constitute food for speculation.
 
   Now that the main prospects have been lain above, I will not play crystal ball  on these pages, and just return to the topic of next year's line-up where there is news worth commenting. If you wish to exchange ideas, or share your impressions, you are welcome to drop me a note, any time.
   The same goes if you happen to read/hear related news from local media, in the drivers' and teams' respective countries. Though I try to read news issued in a number of countries, and share here the additional information I get hold of (as compared to what is standard in the professional F1 web sites), it is obvious that I cannot be aware of everything that is reported all over the world. A word from you in this regard will thus be certainly appreciated:).
 
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 This coming race will be the 48^th Monaco Grand Prix. It is scheduled to run for 78 laps.
   M.Hakkinen (McLaren), who finished 6^th last year (2000), currently holds the race lap record: 1'21"571.
   M.Schumacher (Ferrari) took pole position last year, at 1'19"475. He was leading comfortably when he was forced out with a broken suspension.
   Coulthard (McLaren) claimed the 2000 victory, with Barrichello (Ferrari) repeating his 1997 2^nd finish (then with Stewart), followed by Fisichella (Benetton) in 3^rd.
   In 1999, the pole was Hakkinen's (1'20"547), but it was M.Schumacher who took the highest place on the podium.
   It was in 1998 that Hakkinen claimed both pole (1'19"798) and victory.
 
 If possibly the most charming of all F1 circuits, with its urban glamor, hotels and casinos, not to mention its many balconies where famous race aficionados gather to watch their heroes zoom past, Monaco is just as well one of the most challenging (and awe inspiring) tracks in the F1 Calendar.
   M.Schumacher, who has won at Monaco four times and taken three poles, has pointed out that it is a race track with literally no room for mistakes.
   Although the shortest circuit in the F1 Calendar (3,37 Km), Monaco is quite a demanding track, where each driver makes approximately twenty gear changes in less than one minute and a half (shifting about 1560 times during a race!), while storming past crash barriers as close to the edge of disaster as nowhere else in the entire Season.
   As if this did not suffice, the drivers must come to terms with additional challenges such as Monte Carlo's blind corners and narrow streets, where run off areas are nonexistent--in fact, the cars whizz along, just millimeters away not only from the steel barriers, but also from street steel rails and lampposts.
 
 In addition to being the only F1 race in which the cars must travel through a tunnel (inside which they take a challenging corner at top gear--approximately 250 Km/hr), another singularity that is characteristic of the charming Monte Carlo race is its scheduling: Friday is reserved to a number of activities, including golf and a soccer (football) game featuring the F1 Drivers versus a Start Team.   [ More on this soccer match below. ]
   All Friday usual events are thus held on Thursday.
   After the day off on Friday, all activities resume as usual on Saturday, when we are offered what usually constitutes the most exciting qualifying session of the Season.
 
 Being a street circuit means that the very same roads are used by regular traffic all year round.
   As a result, the surface is far from smooth at the Monaco circuit, a fact which just adds to the many challenges awaiting the drivers every year. A few areas, in fact, are famous for being particularly bumpy, among which are the exit of the Casino corner and the Tunnel du Loews.
   Another corollary is that the Monaco track just barely allows for wriggling the puissant F1 machines at speeds up to five times higher than passenger cars usually cruise those roads, and through what must feel like a succession of straits, or bottlenecks.
 
 Downforce is not the only issue on this challenging track where, relatively speaking, top speeds are not very high.
   Mechanical grip and good traction out of corners are as essential in Monaco as in Austria (if not more)--for different reasons, obviously, considering the different natures of the two circuits.
   Not only the many bumps require true skill in setting the suspension, but also an overall well balanced car is crucial in Monte Carlo--or the driver cannot derive the confidence he needs to give it all at every corner and pull out the best possible lap time, lap after lap.
   Reliability is another critical concern in Monaco, where the continuous braking, gear changing, and heavy acceleration, all strain the cars to the limit.
   Under such trying circumstances, as every competitor must come to grips with, it is not surprising that the Monaco GP is famous also for the usually reduced number of cars that cross the finish line.
 
 The Principality of Monaco is just a step away from Italy. This means that plenty of devoted Tifosi are known to attend this Grand Prix in support of their beloved Scuderia.
 
 From a strictly practical viewpoint, none of the F1 Teams are exactly fond of the Monaco Grand Prix, where there is hardly any room in the pits. The teams must clumsily use an adjacent multi-storey car park as extension of their garages, and push the cars through the streets to the pit-lane.
   This discomfort is readily overshadowed, though, by the incredible atmosphere that the Monte Carlo race has always been framed with. As Sir Frank Williams once commented, everything is exquisitely special in Monte Carlo, the entire racing weekend immersed in an aura of fascination and glamor that no other GP in the calendar could ever match.
 
 To many of the F1 drivers, who have tax-exile apartments in the Principality, this is some sort of home-GP. Nonetheless, if they all enjoy the mystique that pervades the Monte Carlo race weekend, there are mixed feelings regarding the race track, itself--which just about maintains the same lay-out as when it staged the first F1 races.
   Some drivers have declared that they do not enjoy the formidable demands intrinsic to racing in that narrow unforgiving street circuit, such as Dutchman Jos Verstappen has recently observed while interviewed by a Dutch reporter.
   Others, such as Michael Schumacher, conversely express an appealing enthusiasm at the challenge of taming that unusually tight and bumpy circuit, no matter what strains they are put through, lap after lap: the drivers must endure fluctuating G-forces that exert a true beat-up on their necks, whilst they must also strive not to let the adrenaline urges unbalance the imperturbable concentration crucial to squeak their tangents past every impending inch of guard rail, till the checkered flag is finally waved.
 
 Grid position is known to be paramount in Monaco, where overtaking is a rare achievement among those who have braved the narrow streets of the Principality, throughout the history of the Monaco Grand Prix.
   A few overtaking tales, however, have been written particularly at three turns in Monaco. These are the ones to watch out for, when you hope for some exciting action, on Sunday:
       the sharp right-hander at St Devote, which is the first corner, and one of the few places in the track lay-out where there is some escape area,
       the famous Mirabeau, an area where braking is particularly difficult due to (the also famous) pronounced road camber, and
       the first-gear Grand hairpin that follows (formerly named Loews hairpin), where speeds drop as low as 45 km/h.
 
 This year, a car to keep an eye on at these corners is Montoya's, who seems to hint through his driving style that, in his own dialect of Colombian Spanish, impossible  rather means some challenge to strive to come to terms with . He will thus not surprise anyone if he attempts to add some excitement to this Grand Prix, and his name to the selective list of those who have subdued the unforgiving Monaco track also by adding successful overtaking manouevers to their CVs.
 
 Though not a particularly deadly track, Monaco is as unforgiving to driver error as the Austrian A1-Ring. Just in Austria, there are large escape areas, whereas in Monaco...the guard rails, traditionally smeared with black rubber, when not indented, are always ready to terminate abruptly a driver's race, and send him home.
   But this is not the sole counterpoint that comes forth as we shift our attention from Spielberg to Monte Carlo:
 
   The sunny and glamorous urban Mediterranean atmosphere of Monte Carlo emerges in sharp contrast with the snowcapped idyllic Alpine region where the Austrian track is located.
   The Austrian circuit, presently in its third edition, has been built and rebuilt, shortened, stripped off some of its favorite corners, not to mention the move from Zeltweg to Spielberg--a rather symbolic than geographical transfer. Additionally, the Austrian GP has been on and off the F1 Calendar.
   The Monaco street circuit, in contrast, is possibly the most traditional GP venue in the F1 Calendar. Moreover, given or taken a minor alteration here and there, it is basically the same circuit that it was way back in the 1920s.   [ Refresh your memory on the Austrian circuit, ]
 
   Thirty-six years ago, Australian Paul Hawkins was the last man to plunge his car (a Lotus) into the Monte Carlo harbor (Alberto Ascari having done the same ten years earlier). Since Hawkins' accident in 1965, a harbor wall has been erected by the chicane following the tunnel exit, with the aim of protecting the F1 cars and their respective drivers, in addition to the sumptuous yachts that gracefully enliven the seafront.
 
 Winning in Monaco has always had a special flavor. Additionally, Monaco appears to have selectively picked out her own myths, along the history of F1.
   Among the famous Monaco winners is the late Graham Hill, with five victories in Monte Carlo, a feat that earned him the nickname of Mr.Monaco.
   The late Ayrton Senna, who excelled Hill's mark, had already won the Monaco Grand Prix six times, when that crash in Imola tragically and prematurely snatched him from his prized racing world and beloved family. The last five of Senna's six wins were taken in consecutive years--a record that is likely to stand for quite some time.
   Having equalled Alain Prost's four Monaco wins, M.Schumacher is obviously after equalling Hill's mark of five wins this year (2001). (Coulthard, nevertheless, will do his best to counteract M.Schumacher's aspiration, and to try to repeat last year's win in Monte Carlo. Coulthard is currently runner up in the 2001 championship, which M.Schumacher leads by four points.)
   The Argentinian legend Juan Manuel Fangio, five times F1 world champion in the 1950s, scored his first F1 victory on the streets of Monte Carlo (Alfa Romeo, 1950), leading that race from start to finish. Two years later Fangio would take his second victory in Monaco.
 
 M.Schumacher, who is the only driver to have won in Monaco more than once since Ayrton Senna's last win, and who now has the chance of writing his name beside Graham Hill's, has already made some history on this spectacular circuit.
   A master in the wet, in the 1997 GP, M.Schumacher magnificently subdued both the inclement deities of downpour and the treacherous sinuosity of Monaco's soaking narrow corridors. The German ace simply forged his way to victory, granting a stunned audience an unforgettable lesson in aquaplaning. Though the honors of pole position had gone to compatriot H.H.Frentzen, M.Schumacher led that GP from the first through the sixty-second lap that closed that race, also scoring the fastest race lap: a modest 1'53"31 due to weather and track conditions.
   Another rain master, Barrichello, took second place for the Stewart team, in that same race.
   Of the drivers competing this year (2001), Irvine took the second Ferrari to third, while Panis (Monaco's 1996 winner, in a Ligier) grabbed fourth for the Prost Team, in that 1997 rainy Monaco GP. The cars finishing in fifth and sixth places had already been lapped by the race leader when they went past the checkered flag: Fisichella closed the points, coming sixth in his Jordan, whereas fifth place was Salo's (presently testing for the coming Toyota Team, then driving a Tyrrel).
 
 Incidentally, occasional thunder showers are predicted for Saturday and cloudy skies for Sunday, this year (2001). As meteorology can only foresee within a certain margin of probability, the prognosis for the weekend seems to suggest that qualifying may have to be done in the wet. By the same token, the teams cannot count with certainty on a totally dry race, either. It may be necessary to keep an eye on the track and another on the sky...
   In case of rainy whether, McLaren, whose drivers have taken two Monaco wins in the past three years, may be the team to have more at stake among the three that have won GPs so far, this Season. Who can forget last year's Nürburgring GP, brilliantly won by Barrichello, who grabbed a seemingly sure win for McLaren, right when the rain started to fall?
   Ferrari, who won the wet 1997 and the dry 1999 Monaco GPs, counts with possibly the top rain specialists on the grid, as the 1997 GP just mentioned easily indicates. Rain, therefore, may simply give Ferrari the edge.
   Neither Williams's driver are likely to be slowed by rain, the team possibly depending rather on the performance of their Michelin tyres on the wet.
   Other than these drivers, there are a few others known to perform marvelously both in the rain and in Monaco, such as Panis (BAR) and Alesi (Prost).
 
 Jordan has so far been the only team to take more than one GP victory away from the Ferrari/McLaren duo, since September 1997, when the then Renault-powered Williams Team won in Luxembourg, with Villeneuve.
   Other than Jordan, the only teams to have won races in this meantime are the Stewart Team (now Jaguar), with a single victory in the 1999 European GP (with Johnny Herbert--in fact a Stewart 1-2, with Barrichello taking second place), and the now BMW-powered Williams Team, who recently took their first win in the San Marino GP, with R.Schumacher.
   Monaco being characteristically a track where a good number of cars either crash or pull out of the race, who knows there will not be an exciting surprise on the podium?
 
 Panis, who took a sensational victory at Monaco in 1996, is now back in a car that has already made it to the podium. Could Sunday be the Frenchman's turn to climb on the podium? Or perhaps Trulli's, who qualified second last year but did not manage to finish?
 
 We may well wonder about the teams that are yet to score their first points this Season. Provided that their cars remain on the track to take the checkered flag, who knows we might not see a Jaguar or a Prost, or perhaps a Minardi, cross the finish line in the points?
 
 As briefly mentioned above, Prost-Acer are said to be introducing Henri Durand's (their new technical director) first aerodynamic modifications now, for the Monaco GP. These involve the front wing, the rear wing and the diffuser. Alesi has commented that, though this is just the beginning of the new package--the car obviously still lacking in performance--he can definitely feel an improvement, already. Should the Prost Team's hopes this time more accurately translate themselves in lap times, who knows Jean Alesi, who traditionally performs well in Monaco, won't finally bring the first point(s) home?
 
 As the Jaguar Team is likewise expected to take aerodynamic developments to Monaco [ see above ], these might equally mean the needed step forward for scoring their first championship point(s).
   Last year, Irvine finished 4^th in Monaco, earning the first 3 of Jaguar's only 4 points in the 2000 Season.
 
 The Jordan Team have been hit the hardest since launch control was reintroduced: they have had three races aborted from four starts, and seen their good streak of points finish come to a halt.
   Williams, Sauber and Jaguar, in addition to Jordan, are reported to be considering not to resort to launch control in the coming GP.
   Their motivation is the narrow characteristics of the circuit, where a car that may happen to stall on the grid, could more easily represent the risk of an accident in Monaco than anywhere else.
   Jordan's Jarno Trulli, whose stall in Austria is reportedly the first ever in his entire career, has commented that it is better to lose a couple of seconds at the start but take part in the race.
   Although McLaren and Ferrari have each had their problems at the start of the last races--stalls for the former, slow starts for the latter--both teams have stated their disposition to use launch control in Monaco. Hakkinen, on the other hand, seems uneasy with the decision, having expressed his concern over the race-start issue.
 
 The soccer match that took place on Friday see above ended 1x0 for the F1 Drivers' Team. The sole goal in the match was scored by Panis, following a good pass from M.Schumacher, 70 minutes into the game.
 
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 The Jordan and Arrows Teams both tried innovative aerodynamic solutions on the first practice day: an extra front wing. In the Arrows car, the novelty was anything bu aesthetical, a high placed spoiler, which Verstappen guaranteed did not affect visibility. Jordan's solution was more discrete, two winglets attached to either side, on the nose of the car. Neither innovation, however, may be used on Saturday and Sunday. The FIA has pronounced both illegal and warned that lap times would be disregarded for any car insisting on using such aids. The Arrows Team is said to have appealed, with no positive result.
   For the second practice day, Jordan came to the track exhibiting a different type of wing. This one is likely to meet no objection from the FIA, as it resembles the wing used by the BAR team, which is fixed behind the air intake, above the drivers head.
 
 Toward the end of the second free practice on Thursday, R.Schumacher crashed his Williams. He was subsequently send home to rest, as he complained of neck and head pains. Luckily, there was nothing serious with the German driver, it was reported.
 
 During the first free practice on Saturday, Verstappen's engine blew up, spilling oil all over, a situation responsible for an interruption of more than 15 minutes.
 
 Taking Alesi's performance into consideration, the Prost cars seem to be doing better after the latest aerodynamic improvements, as Alesi moved up considerably on the time sheets. They could have had better luck, however, in Saturday's the second free session. Shortly after Alesi had lock up at St.Devote, Burti couldn't make that same corner and went hard into the tyres. The crash unfortunately cost the Brazilian rookie the entire second free practice.
 
 The Jaguar cars likewise seem to have improved, if we are to judge it by Irvine's performance in the practice sessions--that is, if the team is not repeating what they did in Spain, where Irvine put in some great practice times, but failed to qualify any better than usual.
 
 Hakkinen's hard luck does not seem to have lifted: the Finn had a car problem right at the start of Saturday's first free session.
   Harder luck yet had Bernoldi (Arrows): due to an oil leak at the opening of the session, the Brazilian rookie ended up as the only driver not to go on track at all during that session.
   Both drivers had more to come in the second free practice: 35 minutes into the session, as Hakkinen was first and Bernoldi eighteenth, the Brazilian rookie crashed as he was going into the corner before La Rascasse. Hakkinen, who was coming behind Bernoldi, picked up the Arrows' rear wing under his McLaren's front wing.
 
 One more rookie crashed during this second free practice. On the 28^th minute of the session, Raikkonen hit the front left barrier at Piscine.
 
 At the end of the Classifying Session, Coulthard had secured his first ever Monaco pole position. It is his second pole this Season and the twelfth of his career.
 
 Hakkinen starts from 3^rd on the grid, between M.Schumacher (2^nd) and Barrichello (4^th), both Ferraris using a new front wing today.
   In 5^th is R.Schumacher, team-mate Montoya starting from 7^th.
 
 This Saturday, the Prost Team achieved their best position on the grid, with Alesi's eleventh. The progress made by the Team ought to be evaluated based on Alesi's performance, alone. For Burti, twenty-first on the grid, due to his crash in the morning, unfortunately had to classify and will have to race with the T-car, which is still set with the old aerodynamics.
 
 Minardi's Alonso will start from 18^th on the grid for the fourth consecutive time this season. He was quite happy to have outqualified both Arrows cars and Prost's Luciano Burti. Team-mate Marques once more starts from the back row.
 
 The Benetton Team was another to show significant improvement, with Fisichella happily grabbing tenth position. Team-mate Button, who did not make better than 17^th and was not altogether satisfied with the balance of his car, had the consolation of starting ahead of both Arrows, both Minardis and Prost's Burti.
 
 The Jaguar Team had their best qualifying session of the Season in Monaco, as well, with Irvine's 6^th place on the grid. Team-mate de la Rosa, however, over 1.5 seconds slower, starts in the middle of the pack (14^th place), which is about where the Jaguar cars had been qualifying so far.
 
 The Arrows Team, in contrast, had their weakest classifying session this Season, with the biggest gap to the faster cars, and a mere 19^th and 20^th on the grid (Verstappen and Bernoldi, respectively).
 
 The Sauber Team was likewise disappointed with their worst qualifying positions this season. Their drivers managed no better than 15^th and 16^th (Raikkonen and Heidfeld, respectively).
   Raikkonen, however, could still be happy for having grabbed the best grid position among this year's rookies.
 
 Although Trulli managed 8^th on the grid (once more quicker than his team-mate), this was his worst qualifying position of the Season. The Jordan Team was obviously disappointed. Frentzen managed no higher than 13^th, starting behind their Honda-powered competitors.
 
 The BAR Team, in turn, seemed satisfied with Villeneuve's 9^th and Panis 12^th, even though this was Panis' weakest starting position since he joined the BAR Team this Season.
 
 Jean Alesi had perhaps his best performance this Season, lying between third and tenth fastest in all practice sessions, to qualify eleventh on the grid. It looks like the new Prost underbody and additional aerodynamic improvements translate themselves effectively into performance gains. Besides this, the fact that Alesi loves the challenge of Monaco and has always performed well on this track might also be playing an additional positive role in this great jump forward that the Prost Team seems to be making this weekend. It seems very likely that Alesi will bring at least one point home at the end of this GP. Let's see...
   Of team-mate Burti, in contrast, I suppose this time not much can be expected this time, even though in the previous races he was in pace with Alesi. But this time there are no extra newly develped parts yet that he could use, after the crash he had destroyed the ones set in that car. Burti's crash also meant that he lost valuable practice time, even more so considering that this is his first race ever in Monaco.
 
 Irvine's Jaguar has also shown great improvement, making him a serious candidate also to bring points home. Irvine usually gets good results on this track, having scored three points for Jaguar, last Season.
   In contrast, team-mate de la Rosa's poor career to date with the team continued; as he crashed his car heavily, also losing valuable practice time in the process. After the clasifying session, de la Rosa commented thad he feels he has never been lucky in Monaco.
   Would it really be luck? Monaco seems always to have been very selective, some drivers consistently performing superbly, others never quite getting it together there.
 
 The Benettons, and more especially Fisichella, have also arrived in Monaco with definite improvements. There is thus a chance that Fisichella will add to Benetton's so far meagre points tally.
 
 As anything can happen at Monte Carlo between the green lights and the checkered flag, the race could tell quite a different story from what the grid formation may suggest, independently of how important grid position is on this circuit.
 
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 Formula One has sadly registered one more loss: this time, former Italian F1 driver Vittorio Brambilla, who died at 63 years of age, of what appears to have been a cardiac arrest, while he was mowing the lawn in his home in Brianza, near Milan, Italy.
   Vittorio Brambilla started his F1 six-year career in the 1974 South African GP, driving a March-Ford, and closed it in the 1980 Italian GP (Monza), racing for the Alfa Romeo Team.
   In a total of 74 GPs, Brambilla achieved one victory (1975 Austrian GP), one pole position (1975 Swedish GP), one fastest lap, and 21 points altogether. In addition to the March-Ford Team, Vittorio Brambilla also drove for the Surtees (1977-1978) and the Alfa Romeo Teams.
   [ Check Vittorio Brambilla's and Justin Wilson's celebration  of their maiden victories | Jean Alesi's near Brambilla-style celebration  of his first point's finish for the Prost Team (below) | the Austrian Grand Prix, and the aftermath of the race which Brambilla won. ]
 
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 Ferrari had their second One-Two, this Season, M.Schumacher crossing the finish line with team-mate Barrichello right behind.
   The German equalled G.Hill's five Monaco wins, standing now short only of A.Senna's impressive mark of six victories in Monaco (five of which in row--a record that Schumacher is not likely to beat, even though the German driver may well surpass Senna in the total number of Monaco wins, within the next three years that the German will be driving for Ferrari).
   This was M.Schumacher's 48^th career victory, which means that he is now just three wins behind all-time leader Alain Prost.
   Between laps 46 and 68 M.Schumacher and Coulthard took turns in lowering the lap record for Monaco. If the German were not having a pretty quiet and undisturbed race, one in which he could care to spare his car and tyres, perhaps the story would have been different. Under the circumstances just as they were this Sunday, however, with Coulthard in contrast desperately trying to make up for his stall before the parade lap, this smaller race for the lap record was won by Coulthard, who finaly set it at 1'19"617.
 
 Eddie Irvine, who came in third, was delighted with his first podium finish for Jaguar.
   Jacques Villeneuve was fourth with David Coulthard fifth and Prost's first points of the season were scored by Jean Alesi in sixth.
 
 Had not been for a flat tyre, which cost Alesi an extra pit stop toward the clisong of the race, the Prost Team might have gone home with two points, instead of one.
   Nonetheless, Alesi and the entire Team were extremely pleased with that 6^th place. After all, these were Alesi's first points for the Prost Team.
   Neither Alesi nor the Prost Team had scored any points since the Season before last, when Trulli came 2^nd in the European GP (October 599), and Alesi came in 6^th (driving for Sauber) in the Japanese GP (October 1999).
   Furthermore, this point could potentially earn the Team as much as $10 million in travel money for the 2002 F1 season--a sum that the Team regrettably could not save this year, as a result of having finished last in the Championship last Season.
   So, all in all, despite Luciano Burti's dificulties this weekend, the entire Team was overjoyed, and Alesi feeling that Monaco may have been the mark of better times for the Prost Team.
   In fact, Alesi was so overjoyed at finishing in the points that, on the slow down lap, he spun around at Rascasse, in the heat of celebration, just missing the barriers with the nose of his car! This unorthodox style of celebrating brought to mind both the late Brambilla in 1975 and F3000 Justin Wilson this year (2001), as they took their maiden wins in Austria and Brazil, repectively.   [ Check Vittorio Brambilla's and Justin Wilson's celebration  of their maiden victories | The Austrian Grand Prix, and the aftermath of the race which Brambilla won. | Note on Brambilla's death (above) ]
 
 This was a very disappointing race for the McLaren Team. Coulthard, who had the pole, stalled his car on the warm up lap and had to start the race at the back of the grid. He climbed his way through the field, got stuck behind Bernoldi, benefited from a good number of retirements, and finished fifth, a place he inherited from Alesi, who was forced to make an extra stop due to a flat tyre.
   The last time that the pole sitter won in Monaco was in 1998, with Hakkinen, who started from third this Sunday, and looked all set finally to have better luck this Season. However, the Finn ended up with handling problems and had to pull out of the race, mid-way through. Hakkinen has a meagre four-point tally to his name, so far.
   Coulthard revealed that the stall at the start of the warm up had been due to failure with the electronics. The Scot said that the engine simply switched off.
   McLaren is likely to be very busy this coming weeks, trying to exorcise the gremlins that seem to have settle in their launch control system. The sytem has failed for three successive races. Admittedly, this is much for a team aspiring the championship title.
 
  Coulthard has started this Season in the same style as Fisichella last year: finishing every race in the points. Hopefully, the analogy stops here, though; for Fisichella, after such a good start last year, hardly made it to the points in the second half of the Season. This was, in fact, Coulthard's tenth successive top-six finish! Will he make the eleventh in Canada?...    [ Refresh your memory on Fisichella's impressive start, last Season ] Coulthard, whose stall forced him to start from the back of the grid, was held up until lap 45 by Bernoldi, with whom the Scot was battling for position. Although rookie Raikkonen had battled Bernoldi and succeeded in passing him (not to mention Verstappen, who overtook some 4 or 5 cars), Coulthard was clearly playing it safe and did not venture a bold move over the Brazilian rookie. Only when Bernoldi pitted, Coulthard started gaining grounds, finally to battle Schumacher over the race lap record, which the Scotsman claimed for himself. A very late pit stop was the perfect strategy to move Coulthard up to sixth, place, after which he benefitted from Alesi's flat tyre and climbed to fifth.
 
  Winning is not everything: - Neither Minardi driver crossed the finish line in Monaco. Nevertheless, Minardi were reportedly delighted with Alonso’s performance.
 
  - Though Fisichella ended his race on the barriers and Button finished seventh, Benetton were reported happy to be back in real competition.
 
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  The 2001 Indianapolis 500:
 
 This Sunday was a very special day in motorsport: of the three most prestigious motor races, Monaco, LeMans and Indy-500, two took place today.
   It would be thus unfair to close this racing weekend with no reference to the 85^th Indianapolis 500, which followed the Monaco Grand Prix shortly, on the other side of the Atlantic.
 
 It is worth reminding that on September 30, 2001, the same Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be hosting the F1 teams, for another US Grand Prix.
 
  [ Click here for the 85^th Indianapolis 500 + Click here for some interesting coincidences related to the Indianapolis and Monaco races in the realm of Formula One. ]
 
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