Do believe the hype. After 14 races of false starts and failed hopes, Juan Pablo Montoya, the man from whom so much has been expected for so long, yesterday finally delivered, taking his maiden grand prix victory at an Italian Grand Prix overshadowed by rows, uncertainty and the dark clouds of tragedy.
Six months ago Montoya entered Formula One as the man who would be king, a US CART series champion and Indianapolis 500 victor who was supposed to turn the established F1 order of merit on its head. The Colombian, trumpeted the pundits, was perhaps the only man capable of bringing a genuine fight to defending champion Michael Schumacher.
Since then the Colombian has flattered to deceive on so many occasions.
Yesterday, though, Montoya proved the doubters wrong. After notching a third, massively convincing pole of the season, Montoya raced almost from lights to flag for victory, his path to the top of the podium interrupted only by brief leading stints from Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher in the second Williams, leads obtained after Montoya made an early mistake and during his single pit-stop.
But with his error compensated for by a disastrous first stop for Barrichello, in which his crew attempted to fuel him from the wrong rig, and with Ralf Schumacher unable to wrest the best from an unco-operative car, Montoya capitalised and raced the last 10 laps unhindered.
"I'm so happy," said Montoya of becoming the first Colombian to take a grand prix win. "First of all I'm happy for BMW and Williams and Michelin because they all did a great job with my car and also for myself."
While the race ended in incident-free celebration, it could have been just the opposite. In the hour prior to the start of the race, the paddock and grid were gripped by an unprecedented and astonishing series of bust-ups and ultimatums as the drivers attempted to stage a mini-revolt against the organisers.
Since convening in Milan on Thursday, the paddock had laboured under clouds of doubt and fear following the tragic events in the US last Tuesday.
That sombre mood was compounded on Saturday after news came through that former Jordan and Williams pilot Alex Zanardi had been critically injured in an appalling smash at the CART series race near Berlin.
The US series was making its first visit to Europe at a race hastily rechristened the American Memorial 500.
On Sunday morning the drivers' jitters grew worse as it was revealed that Zanardi had had both legs amputated following the horror smash. As the F1 drivers lapped the circuit on the traditional parade to greet fans, they decided to begin yesterday's race in procession and with no overtaking allowed in the first two chicanes, despite apparently having been denied a requested start under the pace car at the earlier drivers' briefing.
"Because of the events during the week and because one of our fellow drivers is critically injured in hospital, you have to ask whether we should race here," said a visibly upset Michael Schumacher after the parade.
"Also, after what happened with the marshal here last year (a second chicane smash caused the death of local marshal Paolo Ghislimberti) we have agreed, with the exception of one driver, not to overtake at the first and second chicane on the first lap."
That one driver was Jacques Villeneuve, the Canadian insisting he "just wanted to race". With Villeneuve out of the agreement, more were to follow.
Benetton, Minardi and Arrows refused to allow their drivers to sign the agreement, and with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone also reportedly visiting each motorhome to tell the drivers to go out and race as normal, the drivers' plans looked in tatters.
But as the clock ticked down the minutes to the start, the feuds were still in progress. Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) members David Coulthard and Michael Schumacher are believed to have had a stand-up row after Coulthard told the German that, as consensus could not be achieved, a normal start was the safer option.
In the end, the drivers relented and a normal start did occur and it immediately took out Jordan's Jarno Trulli, a recently elected GPDA member who had also petitioned for the non-overtaking start.
The Italian, who had qualified fifth, entered the first chicane in that position but was clipped by Benetton's Jenson Button who later had to pit for a new nose cone and then immediately retired with a blown engine.
It was a difficult afternoon for Trulli's team-mate, Jean Alesi. The Frenchman had suffered badly on Saturday with a troublesome car and qualified a lowly 16th. On a two-stop strategy, Alesi made rapid progress at the start, climbing to fifth, but the time spent in the pits during his two stops told too much and he finished a disappointing eighth.
The result was even more disappointing for Jordan as Jacques Villeneuve finished sixth, handing BAR the point hat pushes them into a clear fifth ahead of Jordan in the constructors' championship.
