God knew Fernando needed something�more than earth and sun did SKY!

So He sent to Raikkonen a rear tyre puncture�to keep Fernando's spirits HIGH!

Kimi stabbed frantically as his victory further flew�

While Montoya saw the chequred flag whilst his tyres went askew!

And that it all happened at the Italian Grand Prix at the Monza track thereon!

Which left Ferrari's frantic hopes to excel derelict and forlorn!

Surprised? Nope? Well�the Monza track and Montoya had something common indeed! Both were weary 'n' teary at the end of the race�yet, both indubitably made it! Whereas the Monza circuit endured the brunt of all 20 cars completing the race, it left (as always) a respectable mark of speed, pace and velocity! On the other hand Juan Pablo Montoya suffered from weak tyres (nope not Bridgestone folks!)�at the finishing stages of the race (now you know they were not Bridgestone) But the Columbian steered with endurance en-toto and obsession-preminente�to zoom past the chequred flag and clinch the Italian Grand Prix 2005!

So what happened to the other robust contenders, which occasionally creep in to spoil the fun? Yes�they did exist---only that they could not make it this time�as Montoya rocked the wits outta them�with extreme dilution of course!

The race begins:

Lap 1:

Juan Pablo Montoya indeed! He zapped like a rocket from the pole position in his Mclaren coup� with little providence for other cars to draw level. Nevertheless---behind him were Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. But it did not seem that they would catch up the speedy McLaren on the speedy circuit. And talking about speed, let us remind you about Montoya's record times in the recent Monza tests---where he clocked 1minute 19.813seconds. And to add on to it --- the unforgotten memoirs of the preceding Grand Prix in Turkey--- [when the Columbian went haywire (with 3 laps to go) ensuing a dash with Monteiro---thus giving way for Alonso]. Which means the man was not only fresh from proven personal capabilities but also from the prolonged anguish to excel!

Apart from Montoya's McLaren, there wasn't any McLaren in sight�as Kimi Raikkonen had dropped down 10 places on the grid (due to an engine change) at the qualifiers on Saturday, to start the Italian GP on the 11th position. So the order in the first lap was--- Montoya, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Jarno Trulli, Takuma Sato, Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher.

And it would be best to not describe the chaos at the back of the grid�where David Coulthard dashed into the rear portion of Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault. Meanwhile, Christijan Albers smashed his Minardi into Narain Karthikeyan's Jordan (a good excuse for both constructor teams indeed!).

In the first five laps:

The cars were running roughly at the similar positions as the first lap, except that the World Championship title leader had kicked off his mission to close on the ever-increasing gap created by Montoya with four consecutive fastest laps at the start of the race.

After lap 10:

Alonso was merely 2.1seconds shy of Montoya's reign whereas Jenson Button lagged 12.8seconds to Alonso. In the 11th lap, Tiago Monteiro (who was on 15th position) entered the pits to rejoin back on 18th, while Michael Schumacher (who was on 7th position) entered the pits on the 13th lap only to rejoin on the 14th position.

And where was Kimi Raikkonen all the while...? Alas! He was still in the midfield! It seems Jacques Villeneuve had pledged to annoy the Finn driver who made desperate attempts to outperform the Sauber car. Imagine that! McLaren unable to overtake Sauber! Hah�what a paradox! But the fact still prevails that everything seemed possible at the Italian GP�Everything�(well almost!). But even so---more impossible occurrences were apparently made possible by Raikkonen as he geared up once Villeneuve was into the pits on the 14th lap. On the 16th lap Takuma Sato, who was in the 4th position, entered the pitlane only to rejoin on the 11th position, whereas on the 17th lap, Jenson Button (in the third position) took a pitstop and resumed on the 10th position. Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen was charging fiercely past the other cars on the grid�a majority of these cars had lost pace due to pit stops.

Then, on lap 19, Fernando Alonso preferred to take a break from the incessant "Montoya-pursuit" as he entered the pits. As the pursuit ended, even Montoya entered the pits on the 20th lap and resumed on 2nd position behind Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault. But not for long---'cause soon Fisichella took to the pits on lap 21---And not many watched him go, because all spectators preferred to feast their eyes with a breathtaking visual at the same lap�i.e. when Kimi Raikkonen zipped past Fernando Alonso. And then finally! On the 25th lap, Kimi Raikkonen took the first pit stop of the race. He resumed on the 5th position! So now Montoya was in the 1st position, Fernando Alonso in the second while Giancarlo Fisichella in the third.

Then suddenly! The angels of destiny played foul with Raikkonen as they zonked the left rear tyre of the McLaren even as Kimi entered back into the pits on the 28th lap. Now it seemed absolutely impossible for Kimi to catch up as he resumed at the 12th position on the grid. Although, Raikkonen vigorously accelerated through the circuit and pushed hard through the corners, he had lost his chance to the podium�or at least it seemed so--given the fact that there were about 25 laps to go and Raikkonen had to take one more pit stop.

On the 35th lap Jenson Button, who was on the fourth position, entered the pits and resumed back on 12th position. Nope! Not ahead of Raikkonen�! As, Raikkonen had raced past the cars onto the 10th position and was charging fanatically in the speed bullet. In fact his McLaren shuddered heavily at corners and curves. Soon on lap no. 36, Michael Schumacher, who was until now on a regrettable 8th position took to the pits and then resumed the race at 12th position. On lap no. 39, Alonso took the second stop of the race and resumed back quickly.

With ten laps to go:

The order was --- Montoya, Fernando Alonso, Giancarlo Fisichella, Kimi Raikkonen,, Jarno Trulli, Ralf Schumacher, Antonio Pizzonia, Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher.

Who looked where?

Montoya had paced 12seconds away from Alonso and looked at clinching the podium. Alonso obviously looked at getting past Montoya. In fact in this process, he even had even recorded some fastest laps. Giancarlo Fisichella although at a sufficiently far-flung from Raikkonen was seeking to do away with the Finn driver who was pushing hard to get near the Renault. But another piece of bad luck crept into Raikkonen's hopes�as he spun like a gyratory top on a rusty path. Kimi whirled and finally braked--- only to find that Jarno Trulli, who was in 5th position behind him, to race past. But the Finn driver did not give in�he instantaneously got back onto his toes and pressurised the Italian to allow him get past!

Hey! But this was only the discernible misfortune! What about the unapparent one? In short, had it been not been for Kimi's spinning, he would have definitely been in a position to outdo Fisichella's Renault --- which ultimately he couldn't�

Meanwhile with only a couple of laps to go, the leader of the race---Juan Pablo Montoya was encountering problems with the left rear tyre�In fact one should call'em huge problems as it would have triggered unkind unforeseen disasters to the driver if he would've braked! But fortunately he did not�so he was safe --- Only as regards mishaps and not contest�as Renault-ace Fernando Alonso was inching up nearer and the McLaren tyres were fast deteriorating. As the excitement rose higher and higher, all Renault fans were eager to see the repeat of the Turkish Grand Prix, when Montoya had made way (although accidentally) for Alonso. Would it happen? Or would it not? As everyone glued his or her eyes onto the tracks�Alonso paced up right behind Montoya�and was almost there (about less than 3 seconds shy of Montoya)�but Montoya held on!

Montoya held on to see the chequered flag!

And then came in Alonso in second position, a panting Fisichella chased by an ambitious Raikkonen. Toyotas took next two spots with Jarno Trulli in 5th and Ralf Schumacher in 6th. Antonio Pizzonia driving the Williams-BMW instead of Nick Heidfeld (who couldn't make it to the Italian GP), finished 7th. Jenson Button finished in 8th place for BAR-Honda (earning points for the team he loves the most!). Meanwhile, Felipe Massa finished 9th for Sauber team---ahead of the Ferraris [Michael Schumacher (10th) and Rubens Barrichello (12th)] which means that he did better without the Ferraris anyways---Hey! What are you thinking? Just a thought that we've quoted!

Jacques Villeneuve finished in the 11th position. And many others did�in fact everyone did�well almost! (including Jordan driver Narain Karthikeyan who lagged the grid by 3laps.)

History created?

Well for those who do not know�the Italian Grand Prix turned out to be a historic one indeed�"where each car that started the race finished all laps". Something analogous to the Grand Prix in 1961 in Holland. And of course then there was another historic Grand Prix this year at the Indianapolis in the US where all the cars that had started finished the race. Or rather you could say that the balance cars did not finish since only 6 cars had participated in the race.

Insight:

Overall, the Italian GP is a fantastic racing track�very smooth�and very fast indeed! Renowned for its speed and efficiency, the Monza circuit boasts of offering immense velocity for even the slower cars on the grid. And to talk about fast cars�Montoya's McLaren was running at 200mph when the tyre problem could have aggravated. Imagine been thrown off the car at this speed! But luckily for him it did not happen. After the race Montoya said, "I braked and I didn't want it to happen. I was lucky enough that it didn't. Looking at the tyre, as far as the rubber goes, there is nothing left but the casing but everything held up pretty well."

And to talk about the other speed bullet on the grid, one can only mull over the fact and say that Raikkonen missed out on a much-deserved victory. Perhaps he may experience better luck at the next race in Belgium (which he'd been hoping for a long time now). And with only 4 races to go, it is getting increasingly difficult to get his hands onto the World Championship title. But we never know what would occur eventually; as there is apparently nothing that keeps the Finn back...not even a lag of 27 points to Alonso�and besides Alonso's Renault may faulter any day (or this is what the McLaren fans would wish at least!)