Hungarian Splash

Hungarian Splash

  August 08, 2006    MamaeyaYT

---

OK I have to confess, I did watch the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend. Now look. What else would you have me do whilst having my dinner in front of the telly that night? Watch Oprah? No bloody way. I'd already watched Snatch countless of times before so dinner entertainment would have to be the race. Of course I expected to switch off once I finished my meal given that its Hungary. Surprisingly, the race was actually quite a fun one to watch.

Reading the comments on PlanetF1 after the race, I was quite surprised to see that many people thought the Jense was merely lucky to have won the event. The argument goes that the big three Raikkonen, Alonso and Schumi all retired and thats the only way he could have won. Are these fools on crack or something? Perhaps they too think that vibrating wing mirrors give some sort of unfair aero advantage.

For starters, Raikkonen could hardly keep his own teammate and eventual runner up from catching him. How on Earth would he have finished ahead of Jenson at the finish is beyond me. And Michael? Hmmm.... alright blame the Bridgestone rubber for his snail's pace at the start, putting paid to his chances overall. But before he retired, hadn't he already been passed by both de la Rosa and Heidfeld? Yes, Alonso lost his nut but he was inexorably being caught by Jenson before his stop. I doubt if he could do anything to keep the Briton behind. Come on people, I'm not a big Jenson fan but he absolutely deserved this win.

Michael Schumacher's first incident at the chicane involving Pedro de la Rosa was clearly another case of cheating from the multi world champion. He did gain an advantage by cutting right across the chicane but instead of yielding the position to de la Rosa, he elected to cover his line and continue on his merry way. All this when it was clear that de la Rosa had the inside line on the entry and was poised to rob the German of his position.

Never mind that Pedro eventually succeeded in passing him. Pedro need not have to go on taking risks when the position was already rightfully his. Never mind that Michael then failed in his attempt to keep Nick Heidfeld at bay and had his suspension tagged beyond repair. He should have been docked his one point because not for the first time this season has Das Prick flaunted the regulations deliberately.

Putting all this aside now, one could hardly fail to notice just how poor those Bridgestone tyres are in the wet. I'm pretty sure everyone on those tyres had at one point or another a spin or two. Even the so-called "Regenmeister" Schumacher. Well, it was pretty damned wet in Donington 1993 too but I remember the winner kept it all together quite nicely..... I remain unconvinced of Michael's ultimate ability in the wet. Good? Of course. Better than all of the current crop for sure. But Rain Master? No. Not quite.

All in all quite entertaining and its always good to welcome someone else into the winner's circle.

Read More

Monaco GP

Monaco GP

  May 28, 2006    MamaeyaYT

---

No one expects any overtaking to happen on the narrow streets of Monte Carlo. Given that lack of expectation, one could then simply enjoy the race which was in fact quite exciting to watch. Or at least until Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber retired. Up until then, they were giving the world champion a helluva run for his money. I think if Michael were in the mix today, he could have taken all of them.

Its funny this circuit. You watch cars following one another nose to tail and it seems that even on the faster bits of the circuit through the tunnel, later on at Tabac and the swimming pool, the cars seem to have no problems at all following the car in front. At some stages Kimi Raikkonen looked like he would crash into Fernando Alonso's gearbox. I suspect that had this been a touring car race, some nudging would not go amiss. But the fragile wings and bodywork of a Formula 1 car simply would not do.

I'm not sure why that is. Perhaps because on this circuit the wings are set at their maximum angles and somehow are not so sensitive to the dirty air in the wake of another car. Perhaps the turns are simply too slow to create much turbulence in the first place. But I couldn't help but feel that if the circuit were just a little bit wider, there would be more of the brake locking tyre smoking lunges that Giancarlo Fisichella and Michael Schumacher made during the course of their progress. But then again, if the circuit were any wider the turns would be faster and there goes the aero once more.

Starting on pole with Michael nowhere near him, you felt it was always going to be Alonso's race. But Kimi I thought had a definite chance of winning had that safety car not come out. As Dennis would say in the McLaren press release, he had more fuel in the tanks than Alonso did. A lot more.

Praise must also go to Mark Webber for driving a brilliant race. He too was going very quickly and fully deserved at least a podium spot. David Coulthard I thought drove solidly but was hampered by the mobile road block named Rubens Barrichello. Later on his speed was not very apparent as the Red Bull team had switched him from a two stop strategy to just a single stop and he was carrying a lot of fuel. Had he been able to execute the two stop strategy I'd bet he would have been right up there with Montoya at least if not kissing the gearbox of Mark Webber.

Sneaky Schumi in fact drove a faultless race and ended up quite a brilliant fifth despite starting at the very back on a circuit with few overtaking options. Jenson Button in fact wilted under Scumi's pressure and had to give way. But his teammate Rubens, still smarting from last year, would give Michael no room at all. But Michael's speed today was undeniable. His fastest lap way faster than that of Kimi Raikkonen's.

As I said, given the lack of expectation of any overtaking, watching the traffic jams in Monaco was actually fun. Witness David Coulthard for instance who was simply all over the place trying to keep Michael behind him in the middle of the race. Limited opportunities perhaps but a driver still needs to keep the line covered just in case.

Strategy is everything on these streets. And it would have been interesting to have seen how it would all pan out after the second stops. In the end, reliability won the day for Alonso. This level of completeness, the blend of speed, tactics and reliability (and now it seems, fair play) from Alonso and the Renault team are what will win Alonso the championship for the second time.

Read More

Spanish Grand Prix

Spanish Grand Prix

  May 14, 2006    MamaeyaYT

---

Whilst I was quite thankful it wasn't yet another Maranello victory, nevertheless I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that this was a terribly boring race today. What is it about these Tilke tracks that make them such a bore? Never mind the slow speed, hairpin infested Shanghai. Here we have a high speed track and yet its still notoriously difficult to overtake on.

As Michael Schumacher would say in the post race interview, the race was really won on the first stint. Fernando Alonso was simply running away in front leaving all else including his teammate for dead. It was these initial 17 laps that won the race for Fernando. Essentially the Spaniard ran almost the exact strategy as he did at the Nurburgring. Lighter fuel load but put the car on pole and try to run away with it.

In contrast to a week ago however, this time it worked really well. The lighter load enabling Fernando to put in a very solid first stint where he was able to pull out a 10 second gap of Fisi and 12 seconds over Michael before pitting in. Significantly also, once refueled he was able to keep pace with Michael after his stop. Somehow, Michael could not hook up his car enough in those extra laps before his diving into the pits. He was only slightly quicker than Alonso, the gap in lap times measured in tenths. At the Nurburgring, Michael was at least 1 second or more faster than Alonso before the pitstops.

In the second stint, all Fernando did was simply maintain a 10 second gap and put the hammer down at precisely the right time before refueling. Try as he might but Michael couldn't do anything about it. As Pat Symonds would say after the race, the Renault was simply too quick for anyone else. Or at least in Fernando's hands.

Traffic was always going to be a problem here given overtaking difficulties. Not helped by some backmarkers who are most notoriously difficult to pass. The two Midlands are very much guilty of this. First it was Albers refusing to get out of Alonso's way, then it was the turn of his teammate Tiago Monteiro running in close company. I can't believe people voted this idiot as rookie of the year last year. He has a bloody bad habit of getting into people's way when he's about to be lapped. It just shows either bloody mindedness or sheer incompetence through a lack of awareness on his part. I think its both. Like the whole Midland team and Alex Shnaider, he is a bloody waste of time.

Also suffering brain fade today was Ralf Schumacher. I mean, what was he thinking? He was miles behind Trulli and rather clumsily attempted an outbraking manuver, locking his brakes in the process and clipping Trullis tyres with his wing. It must have done a lot more damage for the hapless younger Schumacher retired after that. And just what is going on with Juan Pablo these days? He is not helping his cause for next year by committing mistakes like that. As if to shout his shortcomings, Juan Pablo suffered the ignominy of being beached on the kerbs, rear wheels spinning away uselessly.

Just as in 2005, there are really only two teams with any hope of the championship this year. The rest of the field were simply at sea. Just look at poor Raikkonen, almost a minute behind. Jenson Button keeping him company whilst Rubens Barrichello despite improving his own performance in the Honda was lapped by Fernando. The rest of the field long gone with no chance. Villeneuve strating at the back of the grid, was lapped before even making his first and only pitstop.

What a difference 12 months makes. A year ago it was Kimi that was in front showing Fernando how its done. This year he finishes a distant fifth in a car that simply and utterly did not have any pace at all. Honda has clearly been exposed as a pretender with not much substance. They did some sparkling lap times over the winter on this very circuit but it was very much a flash in the pan result done on vapour.

I think the result in Barcelona does show that Renault and Ferrari are quite evenly matched. It would seem that Ferrari are quicker on the tighter, more technical circuits whereas Renault are faster on the high speed circuits. Also, it could also be tyres at work here. Track tempratures reached 41 degrees in Catalunya and perhaps the Michelins have the advantage. Thankfully, the coming races have a mixture of fast and slow circuits and it will be interesting to see how the pendulum swings between both the leading teams.

Since there was not much else to comment on in terms of race action, I'd like to point out just how quick these 2.4 V8 cars are. A quick look at the fastest lap times in Barcelona over the years will illustrate this.

2006 - Filipe Massa, Ferrari 1m 16.648s
2005 - Giancarlo Fisichella 1m 15.641s
2004 - Michael Schumacher 1m 17.450s

Despite a loss of about 200 bhp and a much greater percentage lost in torque, the V8s are a only second slower than last year's V10 powered cars. You might say that the gap would have been greater since in 2005 tyre changes were banned. But then you look at 2004 lap times and you see that the V8s are almost a second quicker. And remember in 2004, the aero rules weren't quite as restrictive as the current spec cars. The wings are higher, the diffusers are smaller in size and despite having significantly less power, the cars this year are lapping faster. This time next year, Fisi's 2005 lap record will probably be overtaken. Thats the pace of development in this sport. Amazing.

One can also put to rest the argument over the V10s in the Squadra Toro Rosso cars having some sort of an advantage. Take a look at the lap times below.

2006 Vitantonio Liuzzi, STR 1m 18.488s
2005 David Coulthard Red Bull RB1 1m 16.947s (Slower than Filipe's time this year!)

Given that everyone else is a second or more slower this year than they were last year, it seems that the equivalency rules have worked quite well. At least in the high speed circuits. I'm still betting that in the next race in Monaco the torque of the V10 will tell. Just how well it will do I don't know for sure but here's a chance for Scott Speed to make it into the second round of qualifying!

One thing this race highlights is the fact that Renault are going to need someone very special to replace Fernando next year. I mean, just look at Giancarlo. Despite putting his car on the front row, he finished 23 seconds behind his teammate. Plus he put his car in the kitty litter losing him around 6 seconds on that lao. He is not the man to be leading Renault's championship challenge. If he were the leading Renault driver, the championship would definitely be in Michael Schumacher's hands for sure. Fernando is definitely a class act.

Read More

Euro GP

Euro GP

  May 08, 2006    MamaeyaYT

---

Well, well. So the Great Ferrari Fightback is well and truly on it would seem. The way Michael Schumacher won the race was fairly copybooks stuff, something we've grown accustomed to over the years. When the opposition dives into the pits (first naturally), the German would still be out, pounding the circuit and setting fastest lap after fastest lap. Effectively overtaking in the pits since doing it on the circuit is not only difficult but risky too. Still, like the man he beat, Michael is a driver you can depend on to deliver when it truly matters. When Ross says go, Michael Schumacher is like a heat seeking missile, and a fantastic sight to behold.

It was a great battle of course between Fernando and Michael but given the way the Ferraris had been going all weekend, you would have guessed that no one else stood a chance. In Imola, one could argue that it was a tactical mistake by Renault that cost them the race but at the Nurburgring, no amount of tactical prowess could save them.

Michael has a lot to thank for his teammate. Filipe did much of the hard work on Friday and in the process using up his own tyres to his own detriment, meant that Michael had plenty of brand new sets of tyres left for the race. Crucially, he had one more than Fernando Alonso. Its funny how a brand new set of tyres means so much in the race nowadays, as Fernando himself demonstrated at Imola two weeks ago. However, at the Ring, Renault placed huge emphasis on getting the pole position and in the process, using an extra set of brand new tyres. Still you wonder about these tyres. I remember a couple of years back, there were races where Michael would go out on scrubbed sets which worked better in fact. This year, brand new tyres are a must.

But really, whichever way Fernando Alonso went, he couldn't do much against a man whose entire team is dedicated to his own glory. Of course, Ferrari themselves couldn't give a damn on whether this is right or wrong. They want the world championship and Michael is clearly the favourite and is the best choice in the team to do so. So, just as Eddie Irvine and Rubens Barrichello were sacrificed for the greater good of Maranello, now its Filipe's turn. Quite why a racing driver or any sports person would volunteer to do so is simply beyond me. Sure, Renault or any other team could follow the same game plan, but somehow to my mind it just doesn't feel right.

But its a strategy thats worked for Michael and his team and really is a carry over from the days when he, Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne were at Benetton. One could argue that in those days the situation was even worse. The car was built to suit Michael's style and screw whoever else was doing driving duties. At Maranello at least they have the resources to give the second driver at least a car he's comfortable with.

And indeed, Filipe did well to bring the car home in third and on the podium. He could have done worse. In fact he could have done a Giancarlo Fisichella. Fisi may argue that Jacques Villeneuve held him up and in fact the Villeneuve did. But going up to him and berating him in public was like watching the idiot blaming the moron for his own mistake. The fact of the matter is, he did have the opportunity to do a quick lap prior to that but it just wasn't quick enough. The fault dear Fisi lies not with the waning star but with yourself. Having said that Jacques too could have moved out of the way. I'm not surprised if both these drivers are out of their teams at the end of the season and possibly both of them on their way out of Formula 1.

Despite a good turn of speed at the end, Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren simply didn't have the legs of the Renault and Ferraris up front. He may have ended up with second fastest lap of the race but in truth, the pace of the McLaren was very erratic even given its fuel heavy strategy. In the first stint, the leading four were all lapping in the 1m 33s bracket but significantly, Kimi's laps were always that little bit slower. Mere tenths but still very significant over an entire stint. Also, it did not seem to me that the McLaren had any consistent pace. On some laps Kimi would keep pace and on others he was simply at sea. But at least he comprehensively outpaced his teammate who ran a one stop strategy that never seemed to quite work out.

Everyone else were simply nowhere. Great mid field battle though with cars from fifth to twelfth running nose to tail, but alas overtaking is mighty difficult. A lot of commentators would say its due to the circuit and yes I'd agree. Its another Tilke horror. But really there are places to overtake but the aero on the cars are simply not up to the job.

Nico Rosberg's driving this weekend was very impressive given the machinery he had to work with. But I cannot for the life of me fathom why Williams decided to go for two short stints after the extra long first one got them as high as fifth. Once Nico came out again, the others in the pack dived in again not long after. And he was back in fifth. But then they pulled him in again. I mean, why mess with a strategy that had worked so well? Funny times at Williams. They've been out of the winners circle so long that they are starting to act like a typical midfield runner. Mark Webber in the meantime must be seething with yet another failure. I'm not so sure he'd turn down a Renault offer should it come to him. And I have a feeling he would make better use of the opportunity than Fisichella. Williams is a proud team with a tradition for excellence. But I have a bad feeling about them right now. I sincerely hope they don't go down the path of Lotus or Tyrell.

I think the rest of the season will really be about Michael vs. Fernando and at the moment its advantage Michael and Ferrari. He will be doing what Kimi did last season and that is chase the Spaniard all summer. However, its possible to say that Michael has the advantage of having a reliable car beneath him. And that will make all the difference. Despite what the ITV commentators have to say, I think its going to be very difficult for Fernando and Renault to pull level in terms of development. And of course now that the tyre regulations are back to what they were, Bridgestone are having a much easier time. Expect Michael to win a string of races in the summer and eventually overhauling Fernando, to the delight of everyone who will once again praise his brilliance and that of his team. Oh and the supposedly loyal tifosi, conspicuously absent last year will be back in Monza this time round.

Read More

San Marino GP

San Marino GP

  April 23, 2006    MamaeyaYT

---

He who blinks first loses. I would've thought that lesson would have been learnt time and again by the teams. Ferrari is back in the winner's circle once again but it was a close run thing. In fact, it was more of a case of Renault losing than Ferrari winning in this case.

Interestingly, the shape of the race today had very much to do with certain choices made yesterday during qualy. Michael Schumacher used up all his sets of tyres except the set he started the race on. By contrast, Fernando was saving a few sets of brand new tyres for the race. This was a risky strategy for qualifying but in the end starting from fifth wasn't all that bad. Plus, everyone suspected he was carrying a heavier fuel load than the rest. It was just a question of how much more.

I remarked yesterday that the drivers all covered a high number of laps during qualifying. The top ten drivers doing at least 20 laps or more and in the process using up their tyres for the race. Still, they have plenty of sets and the load I would have thought would be spread evenly through all of them. That means that each set would on average be doing 6 or 7 laps during qualy. Surely those extra laps would not mean so much in the race... but it turns out that having brand new rubber is crucial in the race. I'm not sure if its just for Imola or for other circuits as well. Fernando having brand new rubber after his stops meant an average of 1 to 2 seconds advantage over Michael with his qualy-worn tyres. Thats how he was able to close up to Michael in a flash after the first round of stops.

And after all that good strategy in qualifying, some twit, probably Pat Symonds, threw it all away by calling in Fernando before Michael had made his second stop. Could I have done better? Well, I think in this case, hell yeah. At a circuit thats impossible to overtake you've got to do it in the pits. The only way to ensure that would have been to keep Fernando out for much longer in a much quicker car and build the lead. Pat Symonds or whoever it was made a bad call. Fernando was fueled for a much longer stint and he had all the time in the world to put the hammer down once Michael made his final stop.

By contrast, the master Ross Brawn made an absolutely brilliant call. Perhaps sensing the activity in the Renault pit, he must have told Herr Schumacher to speed up as much as he could. In fact on the lap that Fernando came in, Michael did a high 1m 26s after lingering in the 1m 28s and 1m 27s in the previous laps. And he must have wrung that Ferrari all the way on the following lap before coming in as per Ross' orders. It was enough and kept him ahead of the Renault when he came back out. Game over despite Fernando's out lap being faster than Michael's by more than a second. Fernando must have lost some time in the pits as well.

Jenson Button was catching the leading pair prior to the final stops and some including the ITV commentators felt that he could have played a part in the battle for the lead had he not had that disastrous pitstop. That may have been so but its also telling that once again the Honda's pace in the race simply could not match their qualifying performances. In clear air for instance, Fernando Alonso was able to get down to the 1m 24s. After the second stop, Jenson Button could hardly break the 1m 26s barrier. In fact after the first round of stops had been done, Jenson found himself some 17 seconds behind Michael despite having been only a couple of seconds behind before his first stop. Teammate Rubens Barrichello fared even worse, managing to do only 1m 27s laps and ending up in tenth at the end. The only reason for Jenson being able to keep up with Michael early on was because the Honda was carrying a hell of a lot less fuel on board as evidenced by their earlier stop.

The McLarens simply couldn't live with the pace of the Renault and Ferrari up front but I thought both of them drove quite solidly. Juan Montoya was a little under pressure from Filipe towards the end but on this track it really didn't matter. There's just no way past. Still he managed a podium in a t-car ahead of his teammate. Thats got to count for something.

Speaking of Filipe Massa, we should now truly welcome him to the Scuderia or should I say, Team Schumacher. It was so obvious once Jenson Button had pit in for his first stop and Michael was clear, Filipe slowed down almost to a crawl. Where he once did 1m 25s lap he now did 1m 27s laps and clearly holding up Fernando Alonso behind him. I guess Ferrari were worried even at that stage that despite a heavily loaded Renault underneath the Spaniard Michael was not able to leave him as quickly as he would have liked. And so, they did what they've always done. Screw the second driver to let Schumacher ahead. Pants down Filipe and bend over please. We'll have none of the Malaysian GP shenanigans from you young man.

Still Michelin should be well satisfied. Their tyres were actually the ones to have on a circuit that traditionally favours the Bridgestone rubber. The Great Ferrari Fightback? On paper at least. But ominously, Fernando Alonso is proving quick and in terms of raw pace, nigh unbeatable at every venue so far this season. The rest have a lot to do. Including his teammate whose raw pace once again was nowhere near that of his own despite using a newer spec engine. Today perhaps we've seen two of the best Formula 1 drivers of the current crop battling it out in what was a great strategic battle.

Read More

San Marino GP Qualy

San Marino GP Qualy

  April 22, 2006    MamaeyaYT

---

After eighteen months and some false starts, at last we see The Great Ferrari Fightback in full swing. And in good time too. There have been some distressed and disillusioned tifosi around (no names mentioned) and this result should put the smile back on Ferrari fans worldwide. It is a crucial time for Ferrari despite what their management would have you believe but at least they are delivering.

Michael Schumacher put his scarlet machine on pole for the second time this year and finally taking Ayrton Senna's record of 65 pole positions. Took him long enough. 15 seasons more or less versus 10 for the Brazilian. Given that history books mostly focus on absolutes and the top performances, there goes statistical evidence of the great Brazilian's outright speed. Oh well, it had to go sometime and at least it goes to the man whom I believe emulates Senna more than any other in the current crop of grand prix drivers. Right down to the argy bargy when times call for it.

The Ferraris are looking very good here this weekend underlined by their pace in qualy and in free practise. Its a surprise for Renault though today. Fernando Alonso's best time was set in the first qualy session (on vapour) and its about a second slower than Michael's time. Funny given how competitive he looked in practise. Another bit of surprise was Jenson Button who set his quickest lap in qualifying in the third session where the cars have some semblance of race fuel on board. Same goes for his rejuvenated and much more competitive teammate Rubens Barrichello. Are the Hondas running light this weekend? Is Michael Schumacher doing the same?

Another thing to note about qualifying these days is the sheer number of laps the drivers put in. A look at the lap charts reveal that Michael put in a total of 22 laps in total over the three sessions. Mark Webber, who managed to qualify in 10th put in a massive 27 laps. All in the top 10 put in a total of at least 20 laps or more. No doubt of course this has a lot to do with the pointless third session where the cars run in fuel burn mode early on in the session. Still though, in the first two sessions drivers are still putting in a lot of laps.

Again, we have a disappointing Giancarlo Fisichella. Despite getting the B-spec Renault RS26 motor this weekend, he failed to make it into the top 10. This is bad for the Roman. All bad despite winning in Malaysia, I would be very surprised if he can retain his seat next year at Regie if keeps going on like this. His teammate, running the A-spec engine and into its second race now has been whipping him all weekend.

The wunderkind Nico Rosberg yet again fails to make the cut into the top 10 after being comprehensively beaten by teammate Mark Webber. Although having said that the quickest times in qualy are not that far apart between the two. Its just that the midfield are so damned close together that a 0.2 second gap can make all the difference. Its a pressure cooker in the midfield.

The McLarens have not been looking good all weekend during practise but in fact Kimi Raikkonen still managed third best time over all the three qualifying sessions, set in session 2. This is still 0.6s slower than Michael Schumacher's 1m 22.579s set in the same session. Funnily enough Juan Pablo Montoya managed to qualify ahead of the Finn for tomorrow's race although his best lap time of 1m 23.760s set in session 2 is 0.6 seconds slower than his teammate. All this despite the fact he's having to qualify in the t-car after a fuel feed problem with his regular mount.

I hate this current qualifying format because of the fuel factor you really can't tell the ultimate pace of the cars. I really wish they'd just go back to the old way of doing 12 banzai laps on low fuel so we'd all know whats going on in terms of pace.

I have a feeling there are vastly different strategies between the teams but I do know that Ferrari are definitely on form for a win this weekend. Their Melbourne weekend was hampered by tyre troubles no thanks to the bad weather in testing in the week prior to the Australian Grand Prix. The team were unable to test the latest Bridgestones and they paid for it. In Malaysia, they were hampered by engine troubles. Looks like in this weekend they've got everything down pat on a circuit where the Bridgestone tyres are the rubber to have.

With that I'll leave with the quickest times in qualy this weekend:

1. Michael Schumacher - 1m 22.579s (Session 2)
2. Jenson Button - 1m 22.988s (Session 3)
3. Kimi Raikkonen - 1m 23.190s (Session 2)
4. Rubens Barrichello - 1m 23.242s (Session 3)
5. Fernando Alonso - 1m 23.536s (Session 1)
6. Ralf Schumacher - 1m 23.565s (Session 2)
7. Filipe Massa - 1m 23.595s (Session 2)
8. Mark Webber - 1m 23.718s (Session 2)
9. Jarno Trulli - 1m 23.727s (Session 2)
10. Juan Pablo Montoya - 1m 23.760s (Session 2)
11. Giancarlo Fisichella - 1m 23.771s (Session 2)
12. Jacques Villeneuve - 1m 23.887s (Session 2)
13. Nico Rosberg - 1m 23.966s (Session 2)
14. David Coulthard - 1m 24.101s (Session 2)
15. Nick Heidfled - 1m 24.129s (Session 2)
16. Vitantonio Liuzzi - 1m 24.520 (Session 2)

And a big congrats to Herr Schumacher on setting yet another record in Formula 1

Read More

Australian Grand Prix

Australian Grand Prix

  April 02, 2006    MamaeyaYT

---

An incident packed race brought about in no small part by the cool tempratures in Albert Park. I noticed prior to the race that the track surface seemed very slippery. And so it proved even at the start of the race on the warm up.

There's no doubting the world champion's pace this weekend. But perhaps, he should thank the Midland drivers for the victory. Kimi Raikkonen's race was hampered by a vibration from a flat spotted tyre that led to him losing his front end plates. Once replaced, Kimi set a blistering pace towards the end. At the final safety car period, he lost 5 seconds getting stuck behind the Midland of Monteiro. Had he been right behind Alonso, I would have thought he would be battling the world champion right till the end.

Still, props to Alonso for realising that the Midlands would delay the pursuit behind him and duly got the drop on them the moment the safety car dived into the pits. And of course you can't fault him for superb pace throughout the race. In fact, had there been no safety car period his margin of victory over Kimi might have been considerably larger than what it was at the end.

Perhaps it would have been wiser for Kimi to have saved his engine towards the end instead of attempting a futile attempt to catch Fernando. Or perhaps he was just trying to keep the Spaniard honest.

And how about that Taku? He did a great job at the start of the race making 12th and holding up Rubens Barrichello in the works Honda behind him. I'd say that deserves a mention here. Barrichello is having a torrid time here but its all rather mysterious. Just how can he be so slow in relation to his teammate. Even the infamous Taku was a lot closer than this.

Mysterious indeed was Ferrari's pace this weekend. At the early stage, Michael couldn't even resist the Toro Rossos. Vitantonio Liuzzi managing to find a way past the 7 time world champion. At that stage Alonso was happily lapping in the 1m 27s bracket whereas Michael was plodding on in the 1m 29s. Prior to his stop, he was then down into the 1m 27s and was up to fourth at one stage. After his stop, he was definitely catching Kimi at a tremendous rate of knots. However, you could tell that Michael was on the ragged edge. If I had to guess, I'd say that he was pushing the car way beyond its capabilities and he got caught out, slamming into the wall on lap 33.

Speaking of the Toro Rossos it was fantastic to seem them ahead of the "main" team. Scott Speed managing a points placing ahead of David Coulthard. I say, David, perhaps you should be worried about being replaced by Juan Pablo Montoya next year. Still, as Martin Brundle was saying, the Toro Rossos were so good at trying to appear to be slower than the rest that they ran into problems which only just have been sorted out. Today was the pace you would expect from them.

Giancarlo Fisichella got a very public and humiliating earful from his race engineer this weekend. Same car, same tyres, same strategy and he's more than a second slower. Of course the team would be irritated. In the end even Flavio had to get on the horn to tell him to just get on with the driving. I have a suspicion that despite the win last weekend, Renault is fast losing patience with Fisi. Its very surprising because here's the man who has destroyed his previous teammates and that list includes Heidfeld, Button and Ralf Schumacher.

Speaking of Ralf, it was a job well done by him and Toyota to get onto the podium ahead of the much fancied Jenson Button in the Honda. The folks in Japan must have been pleased. All this despite having to come into the pits for a penalty due to speeding in the pitlane. Of course, fortuitously, they were aided by the safety car periods.

Moving on to Jenson, his lack of pace is also surprising. It seems that he just didn't have the confidence to push his car. The low tempratures meant that everyone was having trouble with getting enough heat into the tyres. Nick Heidfeld noticeably having to weave on the straights after each restart to get the tyres up to temprature again.

Clearly though, the Honda team have a lot of work to do on the car. The race pace simply isn't there. So too, do Ferrari if they are to have any hope of seriously challenging for the world title. Irritatingly though, Ferrari are still third in the constructors and Michael still third in the driver's chase. All this despite both cars crashing out today.

It looks very much a Kimi vs Alonso battle for the championship at this stage. However, Alonso is having a great start to the season as he did last year. Whats more his driving and the car underneath him of course is an absolutely robust, dependable and solid performer. Not to mention, incredible consistent in its pace. It will be a hard pursuit.

Read More