Part I - The Race!

We arrive at the track at 1:00 p.m., and it is very crowded getting
through the turnstiles. I bought our bronze 34 tickets last December and
I'm glad as it appears that the grandstands are sold out. We are in our
seats by 1:15 and have time to chat with an r.a.s.f1 bloke sitting a few
seats away from us and to eat our lunch.

The cars start lapping the track at about 1:40. The aren't as loud as   
last year and I don't hear the very loud bang during the gearchanges    
that I noticed in 1993. Blundell spins right by our grandstand and I    
watch as the marshals try to push his car. It seems to be locked in     
gear and it takes a lot of effort to move it just a few feet. Blundell  
runs off back to the pits. He, like every driver who parked their cars  
here is escorted by two burly security men for their trip back to       
safety in the pitlane.                                                  

Finally the grid is formed and they do the parade lap. Blundell is      
in the spare car. We can see the start on the big screen behind us      
and fortunately everyone is through the first corner, in grid order.    
However, going into the hairpin Hakkinen loses it and t-bones Herbert.  
The rest of the pack makes it through okay and the marshals move in     
to clear up the mess. Herbert's car is easy to push to the inside of    
the corner, but Hakkinen's takes more effort. He has to beat a hasty    
retreat as the pack comes through on the second lap, but by the third   
lap all is clear. Herbert doesn't come close enough for us to see his   
expression.                                                             

The race is still in grid order for the leaders until Coulthard spins,  
which I see on the big screen, but Alesi makes a fine opportunist pass  
on Berger as Coulthard pirouettes in front of them. It soon becomes     
clear that Hill is holding up the Ferraris while Schumacher makes a     
break. Also, the rest of the pack behind the first four is well behind  
and the Fortis are lapped very soon.                                    

After Alesi gets past Hill I start to time the gap between Schumacher
and Alesi. It is very consistent at about 12 seconds until shortly
before Alesi's pit stop, when I guess his tires are starting to go off.

Then the action heats up as Berger runs out of gas and is well behind.  
He is lapped by Schumacher. Schumacher's pit stop seems very late to    
me and very quick. It is incredible how fast he was during the opening  
laps with I assume a heavier fuel load than the others especially the   
Williams cars. I don't know about the Ferraris as I know they use more  
fuel, so perhaps they had a full load on as well.                       

Meanwhile, the Jordans look like they are attached by a rope - the gap  
between them is so consistent, lap after lap. I read later on r.a.s.f1  
that they were under team orders not to fight for position, so perhaps  
Irvine could have got through. He maintained his position however, and  
obeyed orders for a fine finish for the team.                           

When Schumacher slows down the crowd rise to their feet. No matter      
whose t-shirt or hat they are wearing or which flag they are waving,    
they are all very excited at the prospect of a first win for Alesi.     
First wins are probably the rarest of events in Formula One, and the    
rare combination of a number 27 Ferrari containing a fiery driver in    
the mould of a Gilles Villeneuve is enough to get the Montreal crowd in 
a frenzy of excitement.                                                 

I desperately want to know how many laps are left in the race, but the
I can't find it in the program! Arghh! However, the couple in front
of me know and are holding up their hands every time Alesi passes us,
displaying with their fingers the number of laps left. Everyone is
screaming when he goes past, standing up and waving frantically. The
countdown is on!

Meanwhile, Schumacher is back on the track and putting on a real show,  
storming around the corners in an effort to get back into the points.   
Berger helps him in his quest by taking out Brundle. This doesn't       
bother me too much as it means thereis no possible way for Brundle to   
take out Alesi.                                                         

The finish is spectacular and I'm overwhelmed with emotion, almost      
in tears. I've been an Alesi fan since his terrific race at Phoenix     
in the Tyrrell, leading the first 30 or laps from Senna, and the        
great battle they had that day. I've always admired his great spirit    
and sportsmanlike conduct on the track, and his great loyalty to the    
Ferrari team. This win was long overdue!                                

Then we have the great pleasure of seeing him on the cool down lap.     
I see him drive down towards the hairpin, very slowly, waving to the    
crowd. He stops and waves with both arms, then sits down again and      
I could tell the engine has died. He leaps out and waves at us, his     
tremendous joy apparent to all of us. Fortunately for him Schumacher    
arrives on the scene and stops and picks him up - a few fans have       
invaded the track and I'm afraid that if Alesi had stayed there he'd    
have been mobbed.                                                       

Riding on the back of the Benetton Alesi hangs onto the airbox and      
waves at us, standing on the sidepods astride the engine. The crowd is  
going bonkers, screaming and yelling! The grandstand starts to sway and 
I am worried it is going to collapse! Finally he is out of sight and we 
all prepare to head for the pits!                                       


Part II - Pitlane Pandemonium

The pits are very crowded. I don't think we've ever made it to the pits
so soon after the finish before and I'm amazed at the number of people.
Parc Ferme is now at the entrance end of the pits instead of just after
the podium. This adds to the crush as people leaving the pits to go home
have to climb the pit wall to get out. We spend some time admiring the
cars - we can see the winning Ferrari of Jean Alesi, Hill's Williams,
Irvine's Jordan. Roberto Moreno shows up and starts to check out the
competition's cars!

The security guys are very nice and get out of the way when Mike wants  
to take pictures. He gets plenty of #27 before it is pushed into a      
garage to be checked. This is also new, they usually scrutineer them    
out in the open. After each car is checked it has to be pushed through  
the crowd to the team garage. Cars are also brought through on tow      
trucks. The tow truck drivers have to be very assertive and bull their  
way through the throng, blowing whistles to get the crowd's attention.  
Nobody is beaned by a front wing or a wheel though, the crowd is very   
cooperative.                                                            

We sit for a while on the railing waiting for the crowd to thin. The    
crowd in front of the Ferrari garages is very boisterous. There is also 
a crush of people in front of the Jordan pit. When things calm down it  
is almost five and we decide to check out the action in the garages.    

The Williams team has been starting the cars. It is nice to hear        
them at idle and being revved up, not just as they sound while being    
raced. It is music to my ears, I wish my Rabbit sounded that crisp.     
Most of the teams still have their doors open and we can see the        
mechanics tearing the cars down and packing them for shipment home. It  
is interesting to see the cars without the rear body work, noses and    
wheels. Many of the seats are held in with double sided tape. A lot of  
the mechanics are eating sandwiches, probably the first meal they've    
had all day!                                                            

We go to the Jordan pit and the crowd spots Eddie Jordan! He responds   
to our calls and comes out and takes a bow! Another team owner I see is 
Ken Tyrrell, mucking in with the rest of his crew packing for the trip  
home.                                                                   

I see a guy making off with a wheel - I wonder if security stopped him  
from leaving the park. Another trophy was a Benetton team banner that   
someone managed to get! I'd have love to get the posters of Alesi and   
Berger up in the Ferrari garage, I wonder what they do with them at the 
end of the day.                                                         

On our return to the Jordan pit we see Barrichello being interviewed    
by a TV crew. We manage to get him out to sign a few autographs, but    
things get a little out of hand and the garage door is slammed shut. A  
mechanic pleads with us to back up and let them get some work done.     

Mike notices that a lot of the equipment is made of a composite         
material - the stands for the airhoses, the moulding around the         
monitors, even the bases for the posts for roping off the garages.      

When it is almost six we decide to head home. It is always very         
anticlimactic sitting in the car eating our sandwiches before the drive 
home. We spot two Ferraris and a Porsche on our way out of Montreal.    

Stephanie 

--
Stephanie Coulshaw                                         Forza Alesi!
Ottawa, Canada