It was apparent that Ferrari had caught up with McLaren on qualifying performance at least. In my opinion Michael Schumacher could have been on pole if he had one perfect lap - once he was quickest on the first two sectors, and on a different lap he was quickest on the final sector. However, he could not string the two together, leaving the Ferrari duo languishing on the second row of the grid. It did, however, look good for the race.

Now, I will first of all say that the twenty or so Formula One drivers in the world are the greatest there are. I can not compare my skills to theirs. However, a comfortable seat, and a keyboard give me the authority to criticise Mika Hakkinen's accident that cost him, and McLaren the race in San Marino. There he was, cruising into the lead with Coulthard the cushion between him and the Ferraris. What happened? Did a patriotic Italian women strip naked on the corner, distracting the flying Finn for a split second?! Mika's concentration simply must have lapsed - things were just a little too easy for hom, so he began to push the McLaren to the limits. He certainly found them. As Mika applied the power the rear end stepped out. Naturally, he countered this with a small dose of opposite lock. However, the front tyres appeared to grip suddenly and sent the McLaren straight at the retaining wall - no more than 10 feet away. Luckily, Hakkinen was not injured. The same can not be said for his reputation.

Coulthard must have silently rejoiced when he was radioed the news about Mika, and then as he blatted past the stricken McLaren. At that point, he thought that the race was his. Simple. Little did he realise what he would be up against. A combination of Schumacher's on-the-edge driving and Ross Brawn's fantastic strategy soon had Ron Dennis and his team sweating. Schumacher was soon ahead, and stayed there. Coulthard blamed this on the backmarkers. Sure, Michael had to pass them too, but David claimed that they made it easier for him. Sounds like something a spoiled child might say in the playground having been beaten 10-0 in a game of footy!

The truth is that Ferrari's timing with the two pit stops paid off. As Schumacher gained on thick traffic, a pit stop was made. Then, he was put back on the track ahead of further traffic - pure brilliance. The Ferrari mechanics had good reason to cheer. McLaren could only look on, especially after a pair of average pit-stops. All that was left was for Michael to stay ahead and bring the car home. That he did. A minor worry was the expiry of Eddie Irvine's car earlier in the race. A failure in a Ferrari is very unusual these days. We'll let you know as soon as we find out the reason.

So the finishing order was Schumacher, Coulthard, Barrichello, etc. Barrichello and Jackie Stewart were delighted at their first podium finish - Rubens dedicated it to the late great Ayrton Senna - a good friend of his. Charging hard behind Barrichello was freshly-shaven Damon Hill, gaining on the Stewart in the closing stages. Fisichella fought to a respectable 5th place from 16th on the starting grid. His team mate was involved in an accident much earlier. Jean Alesi was the taker of the final point of the day - Sauber's first this year.

It now looks like the order of things has changed slightly. Yes, McLaren and Ferrari are the super-teams, but now, instead of Williams and Benetton behind, we have Stewart and Jordan - there is much more exciting racing to come - we'll have the Monte Carlo report for you on May 21st. Can't wait!!