Cooper Straight

The grid promised so much, and yet the result was the one we might have predicted weeks ago. For me Canada was a huge anti-climax, as I really thought that we were going to have an exciting afternoon. It was obvious that Michael's sixth place was at least in part due to him running a heavy fuel load, but the furrowed expressions in the camp confirmed that he wasn't supposed to be quite so far back.

The team had done its calculations. Williams and BAR, they reckoned, would stop three times. But Renault? Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso were going to be tough to beat, since like Ferrari they would be pitting just twice. If they got too far ahead at the start, it would be game over.

I was so confident that Michael would be beaten - Jarno and Ralf Schumacher were my best tips - that I entered into a debate on the subject with a colleague. He was so sure that Schumi would win that he was willing to stake £20 on it, and knowing that I had 19 drivers to his one, that seemed like a good bet...

I still contend that Jarno could have won that race, having had a chat with him on Saturday night, and heard how confident he was. Alas, he didn't even make the first corner, the victim of a rare Renault mechanical failure. At the time he was attempting to slip past Ralf and Jenson Button, and had he done so, he would have been well set.

As it was Ralf got in front, but after a few laps it became pretty clear that, allowing for the difference in planned stop sequences, Michael was pretty well placed. As the laps went by it became ever more obvious that he was doing just enough to ensure he would get in front. It was incredibly depressing. I don't have anything against the World Champion or his team, but I do want to see a bit of excitement. I believe he's won seven races this year without actually overtaking anyone, although that does become academic when you start at the front so often...

He hadn't even won this one with a glorious, heroic effort that he'd pulled out of the sky - the fact that Rubens was sitting on his tail was proof of that. That was perhaps the biggest surprise of the afternoon. Barrichello has been off form recently, and yet here he was, pushing Michael hard and looking like he might go quicker if he could get by. Not that there was never any chance of that. They were on different tyres (a fact the German was keen to point out after the race), which might have had some bearing on the matter, but nevertheless it was a good effort.

But, and there's always a but, by pushing so hard, and sitting in Michael's slipstream, Rubens didn't do his brakes any favours. That cost him in the latter stages, and contributed to at least one excursion over the grass.

As I noted in our Saturday preview, Ferrari had also switched brake disc suppliers for this one race, and as ever Michael appeared to adapt better to this change in circumstances.

Williams seemed pretty pleased with Ralf's efforts, but there seemed to be a little spark missing. Last year he got a lot of flak for failing to even attempt to pass his brake troubled brother, when he fact he was in similar trouble and was more concerned about those behind.

This year there were sections of the race where one felt that, in the same circumstances in the same car, Michael would have somehow eked out the vital seconds that would have meant the difference between winning and losing. Ralf did leave his team-mate behind for most of the weekend, although to be fair JPM did spend much of the race looking at other people's gearboxes.

The main beneficiary of the disqualifications was of course Jenson Button, who moved up from fourth to yet another third place, albeit behind two cars he'd outqualified. On Sunday the car just didn't have the pace the team had expected, but as at the Nurburgring he kept plugging away. Jenson showed at Imola that it's a lot easier to work your way to second if you start on pole rather than sixth or eighth, and if works, why not? His consistent high scoring has been one of the biggest surprises of the year.

It helps if the thing doesn't blow up, and following his fifth Honda failure, Takuma Sato must be on the verge of falling on his sword. After his great show at the 'Ring - where his impressive speed outweighed criticism of his lunge at Rubens Barrichello - Sato undid all the good work. He blew his qualifying run and, starting from the pit lane on an interesting strategy, just never seemed to get up to speed.

He also had a few more interesting moments with other drivers, some of which the cameras must have missed. Afterwards the normally cool David Coulthard was absolutely livid, and went down to BAR in eager search of Taku. He didn't find the Japanese ace, but told a member of his management team exactly what he thought.

DC is not the only one of his rivals who thinks Sato has to cool down a little, and even the most supportive BAR folk are finding it hard not to think the same way. However, until his engine lasts a bit longer, they can't complain too much.

I watched most of the race from the first corner, and as soon as the last stops were over, I headed back to the pits. Having been so full of anticipation before the start, it was pretty depressing, and not just because I could have found a better use for that £20.

I was also thinking about the poor show F1 was putting on for the prime time early evening viewers back in Europe. Casual punters would have read or heard about the grid and tuned in expecting to see some excitement, and while there was a degree of intrigue, a victory for Michael is not what the sport needed in this particular race.

I explained this theory to some of my colleagues. They weren't too impressed when I added that, after a disappointing afternoon like this, the imminent England v France footy match would probably be decided in the opposition's favour in the 90th minute.

Now why didn't I put my £20 on that?