David Coulthard scored an emotionally charged victory for the McLaren-Mercedes team in the Italian Grand Prix here after a well-choreographed team effort which the 26-year Scot dedicated to the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales.
"I dedicate it to her memory," he said. "I am very aware of the mood in our country back home and I had the privilege of meeting her when I finished second in the British grand prix in 1995."
Coulthard had qualified in sixth place on the starting grid after engine problems in practice, but a superb start saw him catapult through to third behind pole starter Jean Alesi's Benetton and the Williams of Heinz-Harald Frentzen by the time the pack reached the first corner.
His McLaren was carrying rather more fuel than his immediate rivals, which not only gave Coulthard more tactical flexibility when it came to his crucial, mid-race refuelling stop. The additional fuel meant that the car would spend less time stationary in the pit lane, offering a possible chance to leapfrog ahead of the opposition.
The strategy worked to perfection. Frentzen dropped from second place for a 10.3 second stop at the end of lap 29, and the McLaren team told Coulthard to follow Alesi's leading Benetton into the pits at the end of lap 32 of the 53 lap race.
The McLaren was at rest for 7.8 seconds, the Benetton for 8.7 seconds, with the result that Coulthard was able to accelerate cleanly back into the race at the head of the field. Thereafter he drove with great composure and restraint, taking the chequered flag 2.4 seconds ahead of Alesi with Frentzen another 1.5 seconds adrift in third place.
As far as the world championship battle between Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve was concerned, neither contender was a front-running force at Monza. Both Williams and Ferrari had problems working out a competitive set-up for this high-speed circuit, although when Schumacher qualified his Ferrari a dismal ninth, five places behind Villeneuve's Williams, the usually passionate Italian fans were stunned into silent disbelief.
In the event, Schumacher finished sixth, one place behind Villeneuve, which means the German driver still leads the title chase by 10 points with four races and 40 points still to race for.
It was the third grand prix victory of Coulthard's three-and-a-half year F1 career and the second this season, his first having come in the opening race of the season in Melbourne. It also came as a great relief after weeks of uncertainty over his future plans finally ended a fortnight ago when his contract with the McLaren team was renewed for 1998.
"That uncertainty certainly means that you have to compete under a degree of pressure which disrupts you from doing your job properly," he admitted. "My only worrying moment came when I hit a kerb quite hard and got into a huge slide at the very point on the circuit where I spun off on the parade lap before the 1995 race here. Thankfully, I didn't go off this time."
Fourth place fell to the highly-rated Giancarlo Fisichella after a solid run from third place on the grid in his Jordan-Peugeot. The Italian driver was a consistent performer all weekend, in stark contrast to the increasingly erratic and unpredictable form displayed by his team-mate, Ralf Schumach er, who ended the race at the centre of controversy after pushing Johnny Herbert's Sauber into a spectacular, 190 m.p.h. accident under braking for the first chicane.
Herbert was fortunate to emerge unhurt from his collision with the tyre barrier and did not stint in his criticism of the German driver. "I just had time to brake a little when he puled to the right into my path and left me nowhere to go," said Herbert.
The official stewards reviewed the incident and eventually concluded it was a racing accident. This decision was met with disbelief from many in the paddock and highlights the problems and inconsistencies in applying sanctions from officials who change from race to race.
