Formula 1
Todt disappointed about Monaco
It's no surprise that Ferrari team principal Jean Todt was disappointed about the team's result at the Monaco Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher crashed out and while Rubens Barrichello came home third, Ferrari had hoped to continue its unbroken string ...
Published: May 26, 2004, 4:43 AM
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It's no surprise that Ferrari team principal Jean Todt was disappointed about the team's result at the Monaco Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher crashed out and while Rubens Barrichello came home third, Ferrari had hoped to continue its unbroken string of victories this season. Schumacher's incident with the Williams of Juan Pablo Montoya in the tunnel sent the Ferrari out -- obviously not the way anyone wants to finish a race.
Jean Todt.
Photo by Brousseau Photo.
The stewards decided no action needed to be taken and Todt gave his view of what happened. "When Michael was in the course of preparing his car for the re-start when the Safety Car would pull into the pits, he was hit by Montoya which caused him to go into a slide and damage his front wing, so unfortunately he had to retire."
"It's something that happens when the safety car is on the track, that the drivers prepare their cars for when the race is re-started. It was during this preparation that the accident took place."
The Frenchman conceded it was hard to accept but he was not going to dwell on it. With the next race only a few days away, there are more important things to think about. "It was an incident that it is difficult to come to terms with but it's a part of racing," he continued.
"On one the one hand, we have had an absolutely sensational start to the season and we hoped that would continue with the Monaco Grand Prix but due to a number of incidents, that wasn't possible. So now we must analyse the various different events which took place in order to tackle the next Grand Prix, the European Grand Prix, in the best possible way to try to resume our preferred programme which means winning races."
Renault's Jarno Trulli took the victory in Monaco and the team looked to be heading for a one-two until Fernando Alonso crashed out. But Todt thinks Ferrari was competitive, it was just unfortunate that the race events did not work out in the Scuderia's favour.
"Renault were stronger because they won, but we were still in a position to compete," he commented. "They have a very good car, good balance, probably a very good package for the Monte Carlo race. We felt that we would probably be a bit quicker during the race, but with the track, with the temperature, with the rubber covering the track more and more, probably we were not as quick as we were expecting."
"It's a special circuit but I think we had a strategy which would allow us to be competitive. Unfortunately, the incidents in the race didn't allow us to demonstrate that strategy so Monte Carlo wasn't the best Grand Prix of the season for Ferrari, in spite of Rubens Barrichello's third place."
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