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F1 COLUMNS
Welcome back, McLaren

Spain was a race about one man and one man only and that was Kimi Raikkonen. The iceman was on fire as he guided his silver and black ice-mobile onto the front row of the grid and then proceeded to fly around the track setting fastest lap after fastest lap until, after 66 laps, he was rewarded with the largest shiny steering wheel in the whole of Spain and went on to win the heart of the beautiful princess and they lived happily ever after in champagne heaven.

This was a fairy tale weekend for the Finn who has suffered a spate of technical gremlins in a car that has definitely had the speed to be a contender for the world championship.

The iceman finally came good! Montoya did not make it into the good books of the team bosses as he crashed the car on Friday in a 140 mile per hour accident and then had a 360-degree spin which must have given his mechanics heart palpitations as they faced the prospect of another sleepless night.

Juancho had to make an extra pit stop after the fuel nozzle refused to dispense any much-needed gas but the Columbian nevertheless managed to bring the car home in 7th place and earned both himself and the McLaren team some very valuable points.

The legions of fans clad in blue and yellow were there to support their new national hero - Fernando Alonso. Although the hunky Spaniard failed to deliver first place he hung onto a very respectable second and stretched his lead in the world championship race.

His efforts for the day resulted in a warm embrace from the King of Spain, a smaller shiny steering wheel and, had he been a rock 'n roll star he would no doubt have gone home with a handy selection of lingerie. Teammate Fisichella had a much better weekend - no engine failures, no technical problems, just a rock-solid fifth position and the title of being the fastest man around a single lap of the circuit ever! No silverware for the Italian but he probably still claimed a few pairs of knickers to show off at his local pub.

Michael Schumacher gave the Tifosi glimmers of hope at the San Marino grand prix but Spain is a race that Ferrari would rather forget all about - probably much like the other four races of the season. Rubens had to have a gearbox change yet again not to mention the engine change which caused him to be penalised ten places on the grid and saw him starting from 17th on the grid. He clawed his way back to finish in 9th but who cares about 9th - you get no points, no glory and a used car for the next race. Whoopee!

Michael Schumacher's supporters have been making excuses for the 7 times world champion since the beginning of the season but perhaps now would be a good time to admit that the man is not invincible. A poor first qualifying session led to a disappointing second qualifying session culminating in two punctures which ultimately caused the front suspension to break and a forced retirement in the race. Wonder how the old man feels about being on the receiving end of some bad luck - although it will probably be the boys back at Bridgestone who will come under fire so now would be the ideal time to take some leave!

Toyota is another team who will be throwing a rambunctious party - top four finishes for both drivers. Ralf out qualified Trulli for the first time this season but as most in the paddock know Ralf does not have a reputation for being the king of overtaking. If anything, Ralf has a reputation for causing collisions when attempting to pass a car. Trulli managed to get past him after their foray in the pits and Ralf spent the race admiring the rear of his teammate. So another podium for Trulli - bet the bosses at Toyota are wondering just why they pay Ralfie so much when Jarno seems to be the superstar of the team.

Mark Webber had a fantastic qualifying run but it can be attributed to the fact that he was very light on fuel being the very first driver to pit. In 2003 this was a team that was actually leading the constructor’s championship at one point and now they just seem to lack race pace and that finesse they have displayed in the past.

The Aussie driver made a silly mistake at the end of the race allowing Fisichella a fifth place finish even though he had a very long pit stop to replace the nose. Heidfeld was penalised ten grid slots for an engine change and started just behind Rubens on the grid. He also finished just behind Barrichello and gained no points. Williams need to start pushing some overtime because they are just not making the forward leaps they need in order to be competitive.

The Red Bulls scored a solitary point courtesy of DC while Liuzzi was the first casualty of the afternoon with a spin that caused him considerable embarrassment although he did try to cover it up by saying that there was something wrong with the car. Why not just admit when you make a hash of things? Although Liuzzi did manage to score points at San Marino thanks to the expulsion of BAR he's hardly setting the racing world alight - he would probably be more effective playing with matches!

Sauber had another dismal weekend. Villeneuve is back to his sullen ways and didn't finish the race. It seemed that he had turned a corner at San Marino but apparently he didn't particularly like what he saw so he decided to turn back and return to his failure-mode. The post-race grilling in the Sauber garage must be an absolute blast - bet they are wishing that they had never let Kimi elope with McLaren.

Massa managed to complete the race but in a lowly 11th place so no reason to celebrate there either. Does the problem lie with the car or perhaps Villeneuve is having a negative influence on his younger teammate. But then again, without Massa it is possible that Villeneuve wouldn't even be getting past the Minardis!

Speaking of the Minardis. This is the first race that team principal Paul Stoddard has had to miss and what happens - well pretty much the usual. Both cars were slow but both managed to stall on the line. The engineers blamed it on a computer programming error and both cars did eventually make it onto the track but both not for long. Both cars retired netting the team exactly zero in points. Minardi have been around for so long yet they just seem to be making up the numbers and are no threat whatsoever.

The canary-yellow Jordans also had a torrid weekend. Monteiro blew his engine as he took his foot off the throttle in quali 2 and Karthikeyan had a few incidents during the race with all four wheels leaving the tarmac. Both cars did finish the race and Monteiro actually outperformed his teammate - he must be feeling rather chuffed.

Next race is in Monaco. You are guaranteed to see fast cars (and we're not talking the F1 kind), gorgeous women and massive yachts. You are not going to see BAR though except for a small hospitality area. This is a country where the language is money. The diamonds will be out in full force, the throttles revved to the max.

This is a circuit where overtaking is virtually impossible so qualifying positions dictate the race. Will it be another extravaganza for Renault, McLaren and Toyota or is Ferrari actually going to feature? Can hardly wait to find out what the next episode holds in store.