At least I was here on a Sunday said the Monty who made the cut for the first time this season
“At least I was here on a Sunday,” said the Monty who made the cut for the first time this season.Monty then headed for Augusta where he will play the course today and then join his coach Denis Pugh at Sawgrass tomorrow as he continues to adjust to his new clubs.. Justin Wilson was airlifted to hospital in Kuala Lumpur after his arms became paralysed during the Malaysian Grand Prix yesterday. The 24-year-old British driver, who was suffering from a trapped nerve, was stuck inside the cockpit of his Minardi for eight minutes after retiring from the 56-lap race with 15 laps left because of the extreme pain. He was taken to the circuit’s medical centre with his right arm in a sling before being taken to hospital for a scan.”He had no movement in his arm or shoulder, they were completely numb,” said Minardi’s team principal, Paul Stoddart “He wasn’t in a very good shape when he came in That was a gladiator effort. He must have been in absolute agony, but he never came on the radio and said anything until he couldn’t turn the wheel any more.”When he came on the radio on his final lap, we heard the word ’steering’ and thought he had a problem with that. Then we could hear him say, ‘I can’t turn the steering wheel’.”Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello was given special dispensation not to use Hans in yesterday’s grand prix after blaming it for his crash in the opening race in Australia.. Two Grand Prix, two victories for McLaren-Mercedes.
The championship points lead for Kimi Raikkonen, only sixth place for Michael Schumacher
Two Grand Prix, two victories for McLaren-Mercedes. Raikkonen’s maiden victory owed as much to the superiority of his Michelin tyres and a crass first-corner error by the world champion as it did to the changes. However, they had played a key part in denying the German his customary pole position start.Twice before Raikkonen, who made his debut two seasons ago with Sauber-Petronas, had threatened to take over the mantle of fellow Finn Mika Hakkinen. At Magny-Cours last July he was heading for a win over Schumacher until he got caught out by an oil patch. Two weeks ago an electronic malfunction let him exceed the pit lane speed limit by a paltry 1.1kmh, and the resultant penalty dropped him to third. This time, nothing stood in his way.Alonso led initially from team-mate Jarno Trulli, Schumacher, Nick Heidfeld, Raikkonen and Rubens Barrichello. But as Trulli turned into turn two, a left-hander, Schumacher went for a gap that wasn’t there.
As American champion Mario Andretti once observed, “You get offered a lot of gaps in racing; the trick is to find one big enough for your car.”Trulli got pushed on to the grass. Schumacher damaged his Ferrari’s nose and was delayed by the need to have it replaced, and later by a pit lane drive-through penalty for causing an avoidable accident. The BMW-Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya was an innocent victim.Now championship leader David Coulthard was pushing Alonso, chased by Heidfeld and Raikkonen, but two laps later the Scot’s hopes were dashed by electrical failure. Once Raikkonen passed Heidfeld on the third lap he only had to wait for Alonso’s expected early pit stop, on lap 14, to take the lead. After that the only times the Finn did not lead were laps 20-22 after his own first stop, when Barrichello briefly went ahead. When Raikkonen stopped again on lap 40, he retained the initiative. By the flag, he was 40 seconds ahead, on a day when Bridgestone had to play second fiddle.Normally, Raikkonen has a voice like a gurgling sink and only opens up in Finnish, but this time his pleasure was all too apparent.
“I’m very pleased but I’m not sure it’s really going to sink in until tomorrow,” he said. “I was coming in to the second corner when I saw two cars hitting each other. I was going to stay on the outside, but at the last moment I saw one of the cars going backwards and I managed to take the inside line – it was the right decision.”Coulthard, despite his own bitter disappointment, sportingly applauded the man who has supplanted him as points leader. “Congratulations to Kimi on winning his first Grand Prix, which is a very special feeling for every Formula One driver,” he said.