Italy 1997:
with Murray Walker.
F1 Racing October 1997.

After Belgium, I asked: "Has blondie blown it?" Well, post-Monza, we don't know. We got so used to Williams being the
team to beat it's odd to see them struggle - and not just against Ferrari (mainly due to Michael Schumacher because, for whatever reason, Eddie Irvine's results are definitely disappointing). Benetton are up there too, so are McLaren, and Jordan surely have to make the breakthrough soon.

While Martin and I were bubbling away during Monza, I was thinking "Gosh, this must look a pretty dull race". When I got to the media centre, the reaction among my peers was: how did you talk about that? It proved no problem because I thought it was riveting. By half distance it was so close that when, and for how long, the pitstops were made was clearly going to decide the issue. So it proved, with the McLaren teamwork gaining that second when Alesi and Coulthard came in but left in the reverse order. But for Mika's tyre it could have been a one-two.

A great drive by David Coulthard but, paradoxically, one of the happiest men leaving Monza must have been Michael Schumacher. After prophesying that it would be tough, ninth on the grid and 14th in the race-day warm-up proved him right. He hung in there for that single point, and whatever happens in Austria he'll still be in the hunt when he lines up at the Nurburgring. His manager, Willi Weber, is forecasting US$50 million worth of merchandise sales should Michael become champion. It seems to me what he's close to ordering the armoured cars to carry it away!

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