Alonso crowned youngest champ ever!
Fernando Alonso has become the youngest champion in F1 history by finishing third in today's Brazilian GP. The race was won by Juan Pablo Montoya followed by Raikkonen. It was therefore also the first 1-2 McLaren finish of the season.
As from the start the tension was high: Montoya was clearly aiming for yet another win, Alonso already forward to the championship while Kimi Raikkonen was facing the tough challenge to get to the very front of the race. Some extra excitement was added because of the damp track.
When all the cars came off the grid, Alonso stayed in front of everyone while Raikkonen immediately challenged Fisichella for third place. Both men challenged half a lap for that place but the Renault driver finally had to let the Finn pass by. Giancarlo also lost a place to Michael Schumacher immediately thereafter as he got pushed away by Raikkonen. While the first cars came away without problems except for a few slides, the same story could not be told of Pizzona who got sandwiched between two other cars. Pizzonia's race immediately ended while Coulthard tried to go back to the pitlane with one tyre missing. He gave up however halfway the circuit and walked disappointed back to the pit. He was however unlikely to get any points as the Scot struggled with his car all weekend.
The situation resulted in a one lap safety car. Mark Webber consequently also came into the pitlane to give up the race. He would however later return to the track to improve his starting slot in Japan. When the track was cleared, Fisichella was the best back on the throttle and was able to reclaim his lost 4th place from Schumacher. Few seconds later, Alonso got passed by Montoya on the back straight. The Spaniard did not move to defend his position and remained calm, having in mind his first championship.
When both Renaults came in for their first pitstops, they got stuck in traffic after being refuelled and lost time to the McLarens. Those grey cars stayed out longer and at the time they came out, Montoya was leading over Raikkonen while both men were more than 10 seconds ahead of Alonso who was third.
The situation in front remained basically the same until the end of the race. Alonso had no reason to push any further while Montoya could simply win the race without a threat from his teammate.
In lower regions of the grid, both Doornbos and Monteiro suffered engine blowups. The first engine failure for Monteiro ends his streaks of consequent finishes in his rookie season. The Portuguese Jordan driver will go into F1 statistics with 16 race finishes, 2 of them were in the points.
The 4th man passing the finish line was Michael Schumacher in front of the second Renault of Fisichella. Renault have therefore lost the lead in the constructors' championship but meanwhile secured Alonso's drivers title.
The results are as follows:
1 JP. Montoya McLaren 1:29:20.400
2 K. Räikkönen McLaren + 2.527
3 F. Alonso Renault + 24.840
4 M. Schumacher Ferrari + 35.668
5 G. Fisichella Renault + 40.218
6 R. Barrichello Ferrari + 1:09.173
7 J. Button BAR + 1 laps
8 R. Schumacher Toyota + 1 laps
9 C. Klien Red Bull + 1 laps
10 T. Sato BAR + 1 laps
11 F. Massa Sauber + 1 laps
12 J. Villeneuve Sauber + 1 laps
13 J. Trulli Toyota + 2 laps
14 C. Albers Minardi + 2 laps
15 N. Karthikeyan Jordan + 3 laps
Did not finish
16 T. Monteiro Jordan + 16 laps
17 M. Webber Williams + 22 laps
18 R. Doornbos Minardi + 37 laps
19 A. Pizzonia Williams + 71 laps
20 D. Coulthard Red Bull + 71 laps
