The San Marino GP Thread

[iGav]

I never thought I'd see the day when Fangio's 5 WDC's would be beaten, never mind Ayrton Senna's record of 65 pole positions... but what can you say to take it at Imola, in a Ferrari at the circuit where the late great man achieved his last pole. Simply stunning.

The Ferrari's have been looking strong all weekend, with Schumacher setting the pace in 2 of the 3 practice sessions, he's been sublime though... REALLY on it and ending up .9 quicker than Massa.

Honda continue their qualifying form, with Button and Barrichello in 2nd and 3rd respectively, it's finally beginning to look like Barrichello is getting on top of the Honda something which has hobbled him this season, I'm expecting him to overtake Button in pure pace come midseason.

Surprised by Renaults lack of pace, Alonso and Schumacher have been trading fastest laps all weekend so far, and to see Alonso in 5th almost a second behind is surprising. Though he should be very strong come the race.

McLaren have to be tanked up... (they really need to employ more aggressive strategies) Montoya in the spare car edging out Kimi in the dying seconds of the session to take 7th and 8th respectively, it's difficult to see them makng the podium or taking the the win from there, both drivers need to be up there fighting for pole, not languishing mid pack.

Imola has a habit of throwing up an incident filled race, see last year for example, so fingers crossed we'll get to see a close race this year too.

66 poles though... incredible.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

...and this race will be broadcast in the states by CBS, which will suck.

Nice symmetry with the pole record being broken both times at Imola. I'm thinking we could see a Ferrari vicory here...Schumi was so strong here last year, that was one of the highlights of '05. Renault's dominance looks to have slipped a bit, but I'm expecting to see Alonso at least on the podium.

I'm also looking forward to seeing Barichello improve - I think that he is on the same level as Button. And I want to see Scott Speed pass DC for a point.

More and more rumors about Schu and Renault popping up today (we know that Flav wants him) - but I think that is less likely than Kimi at Renault (we know Flav wants him too), which in turn seems less likely than Kimi and Schu at Ferrari (most fans want that ).

 

[iTwitch]

I just watched my tape of the qualifying, NICE, seems Ferrari have worked out some of the bugs. A Schumacher win would be great, Go Ferrari!

Do I smell Possies?

I read that now Flav doesn't want MS, over at F1live I think, I don't go their race weekends so it was a couple days ago.

 

[bursty]

Go Schumi go!

Apparently Ferrari has a totally new suspension setup which supposedly warms the tires up much, much quicker. Should be a good race for the Ferraris tomorrow.

 

[Counterfit]

...and this race will be broadcast in the states by CBS, which will suck.

Agreed. Ralph Shaheen sucks.

And I want to see Scott Speed pass DC for a point.

Maybe he'll wait until the green flag is back out this time.

 

[yoak]

Ahh there was a thread. We don´t get to see the qualifying here in Norway, thanks for the updats iGav.

Killing some time here on MR before race start. It´s a grey Sunday up here, perfect for F1 on the telly.

Didn´t see Imola last year, so looking foreward to this one

 

[Lord Blackadder]

A solid race by Ferrari and Schumi - they pulled off a real tactical coup by negating Renault's change in pit stop timing. And Schumi of course looked totally unflappable holding off Alonso, who seemed to be fighting with his car for the last ten laps. A good race for Massa too, finally bringing the car home in one piece and just missing a podium.

Montoya looked good as well, I think he's put last season behind him now and bringing the fight to Kimi a bit. Speaking of the Iceman, where was he? Maybe he had a bit of a drink the night before or something, but he didn't move up the grid very much at all by his standards.

A total disaster for Button - partially salvaged by finishing in the points, but that fuel rig debacle killed a podium race for him. Barichello faded out rather disappointingly as well.

Albers is probably seeking out Ide at this moment to beat him senseless after that kamikaze move he made to erase the Red Bull driver from the contention...that was a wicked crash too. Looks like Ide's apple didn't fall far from the Sato tree. I wonder if the new car (if/when it arrives) will have any effect on Super Aguri's spectacularly poor pace. At any rate, they need to get rid of Ide and pick up any available F1 driver. If they are running him only to keep the Super Aguri lineup all-Japanese they are making a big mistake.

Oh, and as I predicted, the CBS coverage was crap. Daly was actually entertaining but Shaheen is a tool - he shouts into the microphone and makes idiotic remarks...

 

[iTwitch]

Great race for Ferrari, although that first safety car put a wrench in Schumachers plans for a quick getaway?

Also, they kept saying Schu was on a three stop strategy, so I wonder if Ferrari had Schu dial back the fuel mixture to cut it to two??? (Allowing Alonso to catch up)

I was thrilled that Sam Possie wasn't announcing, not sure why I expected him. Derrik Daly was ok but I like Hobbs better. The other guy, meh!

Anyway, entertaining race, BRUTAL curbs

 

[iGav]

A solid race by Ferrari and Schumi - they pulled off a real tactical coup by negating Renault's change in pit stop timing. And Schumi of course looked totally unflappable holding off Alonso, who seemed to be fighting with his car for the last ten laps.

Schumacher was nothing short of awesome yesterday.

They need to sort out their tyre issue though, if I recall correctly this is the 3rd race that Schumacher has encountered problems after changing tyres, they need to get on top of that one and quickly if they want to mount a challenge for the title.

Though it was unexpectedly hot at Imola, and Bridgestone went with the softer compound (Michelin went with a harder one allegedly) so that wouldn't have helped matters.

Montoya looked good as well, I think he's put last season behind him now and bringing the fight to Kimi a bit. Speaking of the Iceman, where was he? Maybe he had a bit of a drink the night before or something, but he didn't move up the grid very much at all by his standards.

Montoya's problem isn't his speed... it's his lack of consistency. We saw glimmers of his speed last season when it was only sus bad luck (Canada) or team orders (Spa) that cost him victories when he genuinely had the pace over Kimi.

No idea what was going on with Kimi though... he's supposed to have had a cold, but that's no excuse really.

He's taken a bit of a hammering from Ron regarding his performance, especially regarding qualifying. Strange one... lets hope his motivation isn't slipping like it did during the first half of 2004.

A total disaster for Button - partially salvaged by finishing in the points, but that fuel rig debacle killed a podium race for him.

Lollipop mans fault for sure, though I can't believe Button didn't bury the brakes when the lollipop came back down and he crashed through it...

Also, they kept saying Schu was on a three stop strategy, so I wonder if Ferrari had Schu dial back the fuel mixture to cut it to two??? (Allowing Alonso to catch up)

I think the strategy was flexible enough to switch to a 2 stopper, and the safety car period certainly helped that.

I think Schu's slow 2nd stint was down to a few things, mainly the tyres not performing at there best, but also Schu and Ferrari realising this and slowing to run at a pace that would allow Schu to control the pace, whilst conserving his tyres for the final in lap, incidently a wise move considering Renaults decision to pull Alonso in a lap early, allowing Schu to drop into the 1.25's (from the 1.27/1.28's he was previously doing).

Certainly comments from Renaults Pat Symonds suggest that Schu and Ferrari pulled a tactical blinder.

The really significant thing was that on the free lap after Fernando pitted, Michael showed he had some performance in reserve. On the lap we pitted, he did a lap of 1:25.7 - where his average speed in the ten previous laps, was 1:27.4. The lap-times during the second stint had not suggested he had that performance in reserve.

and

I think that's what motor racing is all about to be honest. Hats off to Michael and Ferrari, because they pulled a blinder! From our point of view, we could have run our planned strategy and still finished second. But it would have been an unsatisfying second place, because there would have been a ‘what if' factor because we hadn't explored every option available to us. As it was, we tried everything we could - and it didn't come off because we saw two cars with very equal levels of performance, battling for the win.* As I said yesterday, ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained.’ But in this case, nothing lost either.

Tense race though... and a near repeat of last seasons Imola race.... and certainly helps keeping the Championship close(r).

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I wonder if the rumors about Ide being replaced by Davidson for the next GP have any substance...Ide was so bad that it made Sato look like a polished veteran by comparison.

 

[Don't panic]

I wonder if the rumors about Ide being replaced by Davidson for the next GP have any substance...Ide was so bad that it made Sato look like a polished veteran by comparison.

and that's why he's staying

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Ide is just too slow, and dangerous even compared to Sato. It's a miracle that this is the first major accident he caused...rest assured there will be others if he keeps his seat.

Bring on Ant I say.

 

[iTwitch]

Tense race though... and a near repeat of last seasons Imola race.... and certainly helps keeping the Championship close(r).

Absolutely, I was on my feet for the last 5-10 laps. I know Alonso said he'd be happy with 2nd but he sure looked to be going for it until he got a bit sloppy, then he seemed to back off. Best race of the season. Deja-Vu?

 

[iGav]

Absolutely, I was on my feet for the last 5-10 laps. I know Alonso said he'd be happy with 2nd but he sure looked to be going for it until he got a bit sloppy, then he seemed to back off. Best race of the season. Deja-Vu?

I was on my feet for last years Imola GP when Schumi was hunting Alonso down, this year though... I was crossing my fingers and fums. heh. Very tense. once Alonso had caught Schu up, was obviously faster and looked like he'd be stopping later... the game was up for me.

It was almost like a mirror image of last years race... though I think it showed a particular weakness of Alonso of getting frustrated when he's stuck behind slower cars, he was pushing hard, but making mistakes underbraking for several laps... remember Canada last season when he was stuck behind Fisi, and his car radio was broadcast and you could hear how frustrated he was, wanting the team to move Fisi out of the way because he was so much faster... etc etc, then Fisi retired with a mechanical issue, Alonso promptly put his foot down... and went straight into a wall.

There's been a lot of complaints about Imola, some unjustified if you ask me... it's a classic circuit, which does throw up some good, close, tense racing.... should be even better next season though, as they're changing the layout and opening up the circuit from the Rivazza, all the way through the start/finish straight, removing the Variante Bassa sequence, much like how it was back in the '70's.

I'd like to see them restore Tamburello too, back to it's pre 1995 incarnation.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

It was almost like a mirror image of last years race... though I think it showed a particular weakness of Alonso of getting frustrated when he's stuck behind slower cars, he was pushing hard, but making mistakes underbraking for several laps...

It looked like his car was understeering a lot, and with four laps to go he made a hash of a chicane and it was over. Alonso may be one of the more mature drivers on the grid despite his years but Schumi is, well Schumi. Alonso seemed to pressure the Ferrari very well for most of the race but with around eight laps to go he started to thrash the car about out of frustration, and try to create a pass that wouldn't happen unless Schumi went wide. Last year, Schumi stuck to Alonso's butt like glue until the flag - He kept poking the nose inside and outside but only enough to keep the pressure on, not enough to lose speed. My heart rate shot through the roof watching that.

Schumi will probably get a personal lift from this win, though he knows his car is still inferior to the Renault - but besides Flav's team I think the Ferrari can mix it up with any other car out there.

It's funny how the announcers on CBS went on about how much the local residents just love the loud noise of the race, even though they live right next to the track. It made me think of all the legal issues we saw earlier when residents tried to get the track closed down. I guess the folks at CBS don't follow F1 news too closely.

EDIT: rumors are now circulating that Schu has been offered a ton of money from Ferrari for a new contract...I'd be surprised if he said no.