I promised you a moving interview between Alex Zanardi and Murray Walker…well I was half right, as Murray stayed home to get excited all by himself in his study it was Mark Blundell that spoke with Zanardi. Seriously now for a moment, there was never any doubting this man's character before the accident in which he lost both his legs, but having cheated death, his attitude is incredible… when asked if he would trade his three years in CART for his legs he said: "I would trade all the money I have in the bank to get my legs back but not my three years in the states…I loved what I was doing." He claims the better feedback you give the technicians, the better legs you get…so he may not be racing anymore but he's sure as hell still testing…a true Champion…and full marks to ITV, it had both myself and Bungle close to tears.

Murray Walker did play a part in the build up but only in an 'arty-farty', 'I love myself' way…funny thing is I thought I'd really miss him but to be honest…I don't!! Today's piece didn't change my mind either with him being patronising to the drivers, "rejoicing" (his words not mine) for Jenson Button, "rejoicing" for Mark Webber and "my mate Paul Stoddart"… remember the advert…"my mate Marmite"…you either love it or hate it, well as far as Stoddart goes I'll let you decide!!

Inevitably pre-race chitchat focused once more on the Schui - Monty battle…despite the fact that they had their team-mates sitting between them on the grid…but for me there was one thing that epitomised their differences and it was caught on film. Michael was shown standing atop a scaffolding platform watching the track and evaluating the passing cars, feeding information to his pits, while Montoya was shown trundling down the pitlane with his drinks bottle dangling from his mouth, feeding his stomach and coat down around his knees. Schumacher may be the unchallenged master of analysis but Monty must now surely be crowned the master of chill…or should that be monster of chill!?

Have you heard the latest Jaguar blunder…not only can they not get their act together on track but off track things don't seem to be any rosier, apparently they have lodged an official complaint with F1 Digital Plus (Bernie Vision) for reporting that their two drivers and mechanics are working separately and communication has broken down inside the team!! Since when was it an offence for someone to report facts…maybe they should direct their energies more towards performance than worrying about what people say about them!! Well that's me in court next week…

Martin Brundle was on form today, probably due to his dismal performance in Brazil where he nearly had to turn to the tarmac for input at the front of the grid so moved to the back of the field in search of a "nicer class of superstar"…and he got it in the shape of Allan McNish, who claimed it wasn't the start of the race that was the worry it was the next 62 laps…shame then that his race ended after about a metre as he lost drive and probably the will to live!!

Time for the whole of Italy to put down their pasta and pick up their flags as Formula One comes home to Europe and home to Ferrari. Schumacher always had this race in the bag but took out insurance just in case by commandeering his spare car that went so well for Barrichello in qualifying yesterday…he just won't let anyone else play will he!? Shades of Prost and Mansell…if like me you are old enough to remember!!

I could sum this race up very quickly and easily as follows: Michael Schumacher on pole, lead the race, won the race. They lined up two-by-two, they raced two-by-two and they finished two-by-two. The only thing stopping an appearance from Noah was the lack of rain…and believe me, by about lap ten I was praying for it to materialise just to liven things up a bit, not that I have any doubt that it would have made much difference to the result.

It was like watching the proverbial paint dry…and red paint to boot…Brundle even nominated Mark Blundell for driver of the day, for the job he did in the rental car on the way to the circuit this morning. Personally I'm about as sick of seeing red on the podium as I am of hearing about David Beckham's foot…and bear in mind I'm English and a Man Utd fan so that takes some doing!!
Williams looked out of sorts today but I have to say I feel sorry for them, Montoya has a bitch of a car, struggles with understeer all race and all the commentators can do is moan that he's not trying…he just can't win, if he backs out of a challenge he's a wimp, if he doesn't he's a maniac…let's face it there was no shortfall in effort in the previous three races and look where that got him!! Ralfy got third but was clearly not visible to fans, family or colleagues up on the podium as he skulked off with a full bottle of champagne to drown his sorrows.

Both Jordans, Arrows, Jaguars and Toyotas fell by the wayside with EJ reportedly putting an artificial speed limiter on Sato's car (set at around 60mph) in order to avoid the expense of rebuilding yet another smashed up car…it worked cos he didn't stay out there long enough to cause too much damage. Looks like my tenner bet of Massa vs. Sato is safe enough…the young Sauber driver is driving his socks off!!

While Renault (and I can't fault Button this season) shone in the Italian sun a grey-haired man, closely resembling Ron Dennis was seen removing his shirt and pacing up and down whipping his back with a large olive branch. A disastrous day for the McLaren team…maybe Ron should spend more time sorting out the problems, than flitting off around the world to choose new tiles for his brand new Paragon factory…just a thought!!

I'll leave you with a thought from the ITV studio and Jim Rosenthal…"We don't advise you to drive like this on the roads of Britain"…who does he think we are…idiots?? So be warned if you want to drive like a maniac on the roads…are you listening all you Vectra drivers out there…go to Italy, I have it on good authority and experience, that it's perfectly acceptable there!!

See you in Spain.

Reproduced with permission from PenelopeF1.com

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