David Coulthard scored his, and McLaren’s, first victory of the season in today’s Monaco Grand Prix. Coulthard beat Williams BMW pole-sitter Juan Pablo Montoya away from the line at the start and led all the way to the chequered flag.
| Position | Driver | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Coulthard (GB) | McLaren Mercedes | 10 |
| 2 | Michael Schumacher (D) | Ferrari | 6 |
| 3 | Ralf Schumacher (D) | Williams BMW | 4 |
| 4 | Jarno Trulli (I) | Renault | 3 |
| 5 | Giancarlo Fisichella (I) | Jordan Honda | 2 |
| 6 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen (D) | Arrows Cosworth | 1 |
| Fastest Qualifier: Juan Pablo Montoya (COL) | |||
Complete GP of Monaco results.
As it is virtually impossible to pass on Monte Carlo’s narrow, twisty street circuit Montoya trailed along behind Coulthard for most of the race with Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari right behind trying to pressure him into a mistake. The mistake never happened but on the 46th lap Montoya’s BMW powerplant gave out and he retired which moved Michael up into second place.
Montoya’s Williams team-mate Ralf Schumacher finished third and was the last driver on the same lap as Coulthard and Michael Schumacher, albeit over a minute behind his brother.
Jarno Trulli scored his first points of the year for Renault in fourth place, Giancarlo Fisichella (Jordan) was fifth and Heinz-Harald Frentzen scored another point for Arrows in sixth by keeping Rubens Barrichello’s Ferrari behind him for much of the race.
Barrichello had an interesting race to say the least. A poor start dropped him out of the top six and for many laps he was all over the back of Kimi Raikkonen’s McLaren but, of course, he was unable to pass. Finally he ran into the back of the McLaren under braking for the chicane and both had to pull into their pits for repairs. The damage to the rear of Raikkonen’s car put him out of the race but Barrichello was able to continue after his mechanics fitted a new nose and front wing to his car. The race stewards gave him a stop-and-go penalty for causing the accident and then a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane during his previous stop-and-go. Even after all these extra pit stops and penalties Barrichello finished a strong seventh but once again he was out of the points.
Felipe Massa also received a stop-and-go penalty, his was for running his Sauber into the rear of Enrique Bernoldi’s Arrows under braking for Ste Devote. This was only the start of his problems, however, as on lap 63 he crashed head-on into the Armco barrier at the same corner. Luckily he did not seem to be hurt but it took him a while to get out of his car.
The most frightening moment of the race came as Takuma Sato tried to move over to let his Jordan team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella past in the tunnel. He misjudged it, crashed into the barrier and came sliding out of the tunnel minus several wheels and much of his bodywork. He also barely missed hitting Fisichella as he rebounded back into the road after the impact.
Toyota team-mates Allan McNish and Mika Salo both retired after separate Armco related incidents as did Alex Yoong (Minardi).
Neither Olivier Panis nor Jacques Villeneuve finished the race and so BAR Honda is still the only team without a single point so far this year.
Montoya’s DNF spoiled a six race scoring streak as he had been the only driver apart from Michael Schumacher to score points in every race so far this season.