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Surge

Dec 11 2005, 02:59 AM

What an exciting 2005 season it was. We saw the youngest ever World Champion, Fernando Alonso, dethrone the most decorated World Champion ever, Michael Schumacher.

We saw some great racing, some great overtaking, and some great overall action.

It was a year of surprises as well, with Ferrari's planned 10-year domination of F1 coming to an abrupt halt during 2005, and with it Schumi's dominance of the sport as well.

Some would say that the fall of Ferrari was bad, but for some of us, it was great. Great in that it showed that one should never be complacent in this game, and also, it brought back some action to the sport, which naturally meant more viewership to a sport which lost its flavour when Schumi and Ferrari were still in ass-kicking mode.

We saw one of the biggest farces this year as well, with what has become known as the DISGrace of the season at Indy, when only six cars raced, but thankfully, Indy is still on the map for the 2006 season.

What does the 2006 season hold though? Well, if ou told me that Schumi would be dethroned, AND Ferrari, I would have told you to GFY, because it just didn't seem likely to happen so soon, but hey, as Murray Walker always said, "F1 is 'IF' spelled backwards". (Wouldn't it be cool if Murray could do some guest stints on F1 from time to time. If he could get off his ass for the geezer GP, then why not now and then for F1?)

Will McLaren finally sort out their reliability issues and place their drivers in a more favourable position to clinch the Constructor's for them? Will Kimi's hunger for the title finally be satisfied in 2006? Will Montoya perhaps be his black horse this year? Will Alonso be able to prove that his 2005 season success was based on more than just luck (or bad luck in Kimi's case)? Will Schumi and Ferrari be able to rise up out of the pits if shame and ride once again in glory?

In all likelihood, this will be Schumi's final season as a driver - will that be the pivotal drive that he will need in order to be king of the track again?

Who cares really? What we want to see is some great driving and action. We want to have adrenaline pumping through our veins while we watch some awesome overtaking and team strategies take place on the track.

This is that the teams look like for 2006:

QUOTE

Renault:
Alonso
Fisichella

McLaren - Mercedes:
Raikkonen
Montoya

Ferrari:
M. Schumacher
Massa

Toyota:
R. Schumacher
Trulli

Williams - Cosworth:
Webber
Rosberg

Honda F1:
Barrichello
Button

Red Bull - Ferrari:
Coulthard
Klien

BMW Sauber F1 Team:
Heidfeld
Villeneuve

Midland - Toyota:
Albers
Monteiro

Sq. Toro Rosso - Cosworth:
Liuzzi
Speed

The calender looks as follows:

QUOTE

12/03/2006 - Bahrain (Sakhir)
19/03/2006 - Malaysia (Sepang)
02/04/2006 - Australia (Melbourne)
23/04/2006 - San Marino (Imola)
07/05/2006 - Europe (Nurburgring)
14/05/2006 - Spain (Barcelona)
28/05/2006 - Monaco (Monaco)
11/06/2006 - Great-Britain (Silverstone)
25/06/2006 - Canada (Montréal)
02/07/2006 - USA (Indianapolis)
16/07/2006 - France (Magny-Cours)
30/07/2006 - Germany (Hockenheim)
06/08/2006 - Hungary (Hungaroring)
27/08/2006 - Turkey (Istanbul)
10/09/2006 - Italy (Monza)
17/09/2006 - Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)
01/10/2006 - Japan (Suzuka)
08/10/2006 - China (Shanghai)
22/10/2006 - Brazil (Interlagos)

10 teams, 19 races, millions upon millions of Dollars, and a shitload of fans. I hope that both championships are down to the wire. May the 12th 2006 can't come soon enough for me!!!

Fishfly

Dec 11 2005, 10:48 AM

whoa what happened to barrichello? how come he's at Honda?

Valheru

Dec 13 2005, 12:39 AM

QUOTE(Fishfly @ Dec 11 2005, 07:48 PM)

whoa what happened to barrichello? how come he's at Honda?

I think he's just tired of playing second fiddle to someone that will get most of the teams focus when the teams trying to get back on track.

Anyway, the new mix of teams will be very interesting to watch.

Heir_of_Isildur

Dec 13 2005, 01:50 AM

QUOTE(Valheru 13 Dec 2005 @ 08:39 AM)

I think he's just tired of playing second fiddle to someone that will get most of the teams focus when the teams trying to get back on track.

... and making lots of money??? Well Reubens signed the contracts that clearly stated he was #2.

I'm a big Button fan, and I hope that Honda will not disappoint.

Why are people saying that it could be Scumi's last season? Have I missed some comments he made?

Interesting to see Sauber get off the Ferrari band wagon... meaning that Coulthard will be driving old ferrari's

Surge

Dec 18 2005, 04:31 AM

QUOTE

whoa what happened to barrichello? how come he's at Honda?

What Val said. I am surprised it took him so long to leave (don't remember how long his previous contracts were signed for). As things stand now, I wouldn't wanna be a driver at Ferrari either - they should call that team Team Ferrari-Schumi, cause that is what it is.

QUOTE

Why are people saying that it could be Scumi's last season? Have I missed some comments he made?

Schumi's current contract runs until the end of 2006, and thus far, he has not signed a new one. There were also rumours that Kimi would take over at Ferrari in his place in 2007.

I think that when Schumi leaves, Ross and Jean will leave as well - after all, what is the "dream team" (now the nightmare team?) if their precious world champ isn't there?

I will say it again, Schumi should have called it quits at the end of the 2005 season - ended on a high note, and be remembered that way. Now he will be largely remembered as well for the dive taken for 2005.

At the begnning of the 2005 season, Jean Todt said that Ferrari deserve movie awards... Well, he was right - with their performance for the season, they have earned themselves some Razzies!!!

Britz

Jan 25 2006, 02:20 AM

Q & A With Raikkonen And Montoya

QUOTE

testing for the new McLaren Mercedes MP4-21 has officially kicked off, and by week's end both Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya will have had the opportunity to get behind the wheel of the team's newest World Championship contender.

To kick off the training season, the team has published a brief Q & A session with both drivers, getting their thoughts on the new MP4-21 as well as the upcoming 2006 season. You can find the full Q & A session below.

KIMI RAIKKONEN

The Team McLaren Mercedes MP4-21 ran for the first time in Barcelona today, what are your feelings about the car?

For sure it is too early for me to say, as I have not driven the car yet, but it is good that the team and Pedro had the first shakedown today. There is a lot of work to be done before the start of the season, I think that we have just over 20 track days before the start of the season, and we are all totally focused on making the most of these days before Bahrain.

Are you looking forward to getting back to testing?

I have not driven a Formula One car since 16th October in China, so for sure I can't wait to get back to it this week, where I will be in an MP4-21. I will be driving on Thursday 26th and Friday 27th, and I am looking forward to seeing what the team have done. I have been to the McLaren Technology Centre a few times recently to catch-up with the team and I saw the MP4-21 in car build, so I am really excited to be getting behind the wheel next week.

What is your scheduled test programme leading into Bahrain?

I think that the test team will be on track every week between the start of the year and Bahrain. I have two days in Barcelona next week, and then the same the week after that in Valencia in MP4-21, and I will also be testing in February. As always in pre-season tests, work is focused on developing the new car and also getting used to it. After the first days, we will start to look at set-ups for the first few races and also the various upgrade packages that the team has already planned to bring on line in the early part of the season.

What are your expectations for 2006?

For sure it’s the same as every year, I want to win races and World Championships with Team McLaren Mercedes. We had a quick car last year, and I guess there is no reason why we will not have that again as we have the same strong design team. I can't sit here now and say that will happen, until we race for the first time it is not possible to say how competitive the different cars will be. Also this year, because of the new regulations for tyres and engines, it will be even more difficult to say. I can sit here and say that everyone at Team McLaren Mercedes is fully focused and pushing hard to try to achieve it. Everyone in the media seems to think that it will be us, Renault and Ferrari again this year, with me, Juan Pablo, Fernando and Michael battling it out. For me that would be great and I hope so for the fans that it is another exciting year like 2005, although with a slightly different end result! But you know people are forgetting the Honda's, the Red Bull, the Toyotas and so on. There were a lot of teams really getting strong towards the end of the season, so I think that we will have to wait and see.

What do you think the main challenges will be?

The two main challenges with the car will be the new V8 format with the engine and the tyre changes at pit stops, but you know that is the same for everyone.

How is your knee following your minor post season surgery in the last week of October?

It is fine, I recovered well and was back training at the end of November. It was a small operation to repair a minor rupture to the meniscus, so you know no big deal. The bulk of my main training and the time when the focus is to increase my fitness level, is between November and March, so I have been working hard over recent weeks with my trainer.

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA

How did the first run of the car go today at the Circuit de Catalunya?

It was good, there were a couple of minor issues, but you expect that with the new car, and you know this is why we go testing! I am in the new car tomorrow and Wednesday and I am really looking forward to driving it for the first time, it is always exciting you know to see what your office will be like for the next 12 months! Also it means that I can really start to have an input and work with the team on developing the new car. At the moment, I am scheduled for 11 days in the car before it leaves for Bahrain.

Because I will be driving MP4-21 for the first time, I will spend a few days with the team completing systems checks, getting used to the car, you know just generally breaking it in. Pedro will have completed some of the the initial checks already today. As testing continues this week, Pedro and Gary will continue to work on the same areas in the MP4-20s alongside me and Kimi with their focus remaining on tyres with Michelin and engines.

What are your thoughts on MP4-21?

It's too early to say, as I have not even driven it yet. The work rate that has been taking place within McLaren Racing and Mercedes-Benz has been amazing and we learnt a lot of positive things from last year's car, so you know we hope that can be continued into MP4-21 and just have to wait until Bahrain to see!

Have you spent any time at the McLaren Technology Centre since the end of the season working with engineering team?

I like to try and go to the McLaren Technology Centre as often as I can, which is difficult because of my schedule, but it is good to catch up with the team and everything. Between the end of the season and Christmas, I spent four days at the facility working with the engineering team and having a look at the on-going development of MP4-21. On Tuesday 10th January I had my seat-fitting in the new car and my last visit was last Thursday and Friday.

What are your expectations for 2006?

I want to be on the top step of the podium many more times than in 2005, and to be battling for the World Championships with Team McLaren Mercedes. I am a racer and I want to win and I am with the team that I can do that with. I think it has the potential to be another great year for the sport, things got really interesting last year and that will hopefully continue. Because of the changes to engines and tyres, there might be some teams doing better than expected and some doing worse, but until we have raced rather than just being on the test track it is all speculation.

What do you think the main challenges will be?

For everyone there are the two big changes I guess, to V8s and tyres in pit stops. For me specifically, I am just looking forward to an exciting second season with Team McLaren Mercedes.

Source

Surge

Mar 12 2006, 12:39 AM

Well, well, well. Ferrari back on the front row, but let's see what their fuel load was as well.

Massa was quite impressive in his qualifying - wonder if things could have been different if there was no traffic in front of him in that final stint.

Hard luck for Kimi - he didnt even have to wait until the race for bad luck to hit him. For their constant problems with reliability, I say fuck McLaren.

So, this year we see the drop from V10 engines to V8s, which equals a loss of about 200 HP. So what if they can change tyres and we have softer compounds, the proof is in the pudding, and the lap time for qualifying was not as good as last year. For this drop in performance, I say fuck you to the FIA, but lets see the final race results as well...

Heir_of_Isildur

Mar 12 2006, 02:21 AM

Yeah, the FIA have really done their best to give the sport a massive consistency problem. If you change the rules drastically every year, the manufacturers can't improve on anything they've done, so everyone is on the same level at the beginning of the season (Well, except those with big money - and I thought that was exactly what the FIA were trying to prevent).

Anyways, glad to see Schumi equalling another great name.

Surge

Mar 12 2006, 06:34 AM

That was a pretty damn good race. Kimi coming from behind to get 3rd (he is quite the back row start specialist), Alonso getting caught up in traffic, but juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust taking 1st spot from Schumi.

Some more overtaking further up the field. If this continues, then we are in for an even better season than last year!

If only they would allow new engines for each race...

Heir_of_Isildur

Mar 12 2006, 06:42 AM

QUOTE(SadisticLobotomy @ Mar 12 2006, 02:34 PM)

Kimi got lucky. The way I see it is people who screw up in qualifying get a big advantage by being allowed to do whatever they want i.t.o. fuel and stategy. Guys who do well in qualifying don't have that advantge.

QUOTE(SadisticLobotomy @ Mar 12 2006, 02:34 PM)

Some more overtaking further up the field. If this continues, then we are in for an even better season than last year!

Are you saying that last season was good? edit - nevermind, I remember your first post - whatever!

I'm glad to see my two (three) fave's doing well - Schumi, Button and Rosberg!

Surge

Mar 18 2006, 11:46 PM

Pretty exciting qualifying session yesterday. Looking forward to seeing how it all pans out today...

Surge

Mar 19 2006, 02:03 AM

Pretty lacklustre race actually.

Good drive by Fisi. That was a well deserved win, even though it could have gone differently had Alonso not had the mishap with fuelling during qualifying.

Schumi finishes behind his younger, less experienced team mate... an omen perhaps?

Fishfly

Mar 20 2006, 12:50 AM

What happened to Ferrari this week?

Surge

Mar 20 2006, 10:50 AM

Both Ferraris got the 10 place penalty for the qualifying (Massa got two for changing his engine more than once).

Schumi started from 14th, and Massa was at the back.

Anyways, final standings were as follows:

CODE

1.  2  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   1h30'40"529  205.397 Km/h
2.  1  ALONSO       Renault           M   +  0'04"585  205.224 Km/h
3. 12  BUTTON       Honda             M   +  0'09"631  205.034 Km/h
4.  4  MONTOYA      McLaren Mercedes  M   +  0'39"351  203.922 Km/h
5.  6  MASSA        Ferrari           B   +  0'43"254  203.777 Km/h
6.  5  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   +  0'43"854  203.755 Km/h
7. 17  VILLENEUVE   BMW Sauber        M   +  1'20"461  202.404 Km/h
8.  7  R.SCHUMACHER Toyota            B   +  1'21"288  202.373 Km/h
9.  8  TRULLI       Toyota            B      1 lap(s)

Heir_of_Isildur

Mar 20 2006, 01:16 PM

QUOTE(Fishfly @ Mar 20 2006, 08:50 AM)

What happened to Ferrari this week?

They both got shafted by the engine rule... tried different strategies... 1 stopping from the back is always agood strategy... 2 stopping from mid-field is mediocre.

Britz

Mar 22 2006, 03:13 AM

damn YOUmag said it start 1am when it started 11:30pm so i only caught last 3/4 hour

Wolf

Mar 22 2006, 05:16 AM

Glad to see some competition for Ferrari in the first and second space.

Surge

Apr 2 2006, 06:27 AM

Wow! Not a bad race that was.

Four safety cars? When last did one see that?

Seems as though Ferrari really is on the back foot now, with both cars going out, and even the qualifying was poor to say the least.

I can’t decide what was the funniest moment of the race, from Montoya spinning on the parade lap, to Button stopping metres from the finish line on the last lap, to Schumi crashing out of the race and then accidentally walking into the Toyota garage.

Man, that was a classis moment, having his helmet on, and looking up, and realising that he stepped into the wrong garage, and then instead of turning around and going back out, he walks to the back of the garage.

Do u guys think that Alonso drove brilliantly, or was he lucky once again? Yep, Kimi had that damaged wing, but one wonders what would have happened had those slow Midlands not have been in the way with the last two restarts from the safety car.

Three weeks until the next race… man, that is gonna be a long wait.

Britz

Apr 2 2006, 05:32 PM

Now that was entertaining

Surge

Apr 23 2006, 09:48 PM

Once again, the Italian tv director was a prick, and focused mainly on the Ferrari of Schumi. There were some scraps for position behind the front pair, but no, Mr Director has to be a regular prick, and for that, this race was no that good to watch.

Well, Ferrari got their first win in 18 months, but I'm still not convinved that they will be a threat, not to a large degree, but it remains to be seen. Tracks with better overtaking are coming up, and hopefully tv feeds with better directors as well.

Surge

May 7 2006, 11:07 AM

Ok, I'm the type of guy to give credit where it is due, so even though it hurts, I have to say that Ferrari had the upper hand this time around... again, and it looks like they are back in winning form again. But I guess if Massa is there to be the guinea pig for each race weekend, why wouldn't Schumi eat up the glory?

McLaren once again leaves a lot to be desired. Kimi's second part of the race was way of key, but the third part gave some hope. At least it was Montoya's old engine that gave in this time, which hopefully means are more reliable new engine will be running for him as well at Barcelona.

Not the most exciting of races, but at least there will be some big competition for the title of champ once again.

Fishfly

May 8 2006, 01:35 AM

Ferrari FTW!

Hey at least Massa is not at the back of the pack like in the previous years

plus he gets all the exp learing from Schumi himself!

Surge

May 14 2006, 01:21 PM

Not an exciting race, but not totally boring either.

I guess Alonso is really staking his claim now, seeing as how last year people (me included) said that he was a lucky winner, after he won a few races when Kimi's McLaren failed him.

That also said, the pace of the McLaren was aweful this weekend. I at first thought that Kimi's apalling qualifying was attributed to a car fat with fuel, but lo and behold, they turned down the revs on the car.

So, it looks like he is most def going to Ferrari next year if rumours hold true. If that happens, it could be the first time that I support a Ferrari driver.

And then Renault says that they are gonna put in a bid for a big name driver as well... wonder who that could be, as rumour has it that they want Schumi back over there. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long to hear who goes where.

Next up is one of my favourite "tracks", even though overtaking is not favoured on the track.

cyfermaster

May 14 2006, 08:28 PM

boring as heck once again.

the most exciting thing about F1 is the qualifying and seeing who misses out. I think from now on I will just watch the qualifying and the last 2 laps of the race.

QUOTE

Next up is one of my favourite "tracks", even though overtaking is not favoured on the track.

At which track is overtaking favoured?

Surge

May 14 2006, 10:22 PM

[quote]the most exciting thing about F1 is the qualifying[/quote]
The knockout sessions are nice to watch, but the final one pretty much sucks until the last 5 minutes, cause it is like watching parade lap after parade lap before that.

[/quote]At which track is overtaking favoured?[/quote]
If my brain wasn't so "gevrek" right now, I could mention a few tracks where overtaking is more favoured.

Wolf

May 15 2006, 12:08 AM

Renault was unbeatable before, they can easily be again.

kaizoku

May 15 2006, 01:16 AM

*sigh* I've lost all hope for McLaren & Kimi... :sad:

Fishfly

May 15 2006, 07:45 AM

QUOTE

Renault was unbeatable before, they can easily be again.

wasn't that Williams?

cyfermaster

May 17 2006, 04:43 AM

There was also Benneton Renault. That is who schmacher won his first 2 championships with.

Of course there will be some tracks where overtaking is more favoured, but there aren't many, and not much overtaking happens there as well.

Wolf

May 17 2006, 05:51 AM

QUOTE(Fishfly @ May 15 2006, 04:45 PM)

QUOTE

Renault was unbeatable before, they can easily be again.

wasn't that Williams?

Yes thats what i meant, Renault's motors was unbeatable

QUOTE(Fishfly @ May 15 2006, 04:45 PM)

QUOTE

Renault was unbeatable before, they can easily be again.

wasn't that Williams?

Yes thats what i meant, Renault's motors was unbeatable

Britz

May 24 2006, 10:47 PM

http://www.emercedesbenz.com/May06/24_Team...ring_Wheel.html

some bling bling for Kimi Raikkonen & Juan Pablo Montoya
gonna have a diamond mercedes star on the steering wheel

cyfermaster

May 25 2006, 11:55 AM

they would do better to get money from those people and put it towards making a car that works. Maybe they should not even put anything in the middle of the steering wheel. they will be a bit lighter, and could put in a decent lap time then.

Surge

May 28 2006, 01:46 PM

Well, a weekend with some controversy.

You guys reckon Schumi dug into his old bag of tricks for qualifying? I am undecided. Martin Brundell seems convinced that Schumi deliberately did mess things up with qualifying. IF Schumi did, man, that would be so low, and so stupid as well.

Hard luck for Mark Webber. Would have been interesting to see if Williams could have pulled a win, let along a podium for the race.

Hard luck for Kimi - that trust ol' McLaren engine showed him another speech. Was funny how once he was out of the race, he went to chill on his boat.

The look on his face also said that he was not surprised. At this rate, once Alonso joins McLaren next year, he can forget about defending his championship - if he gets it again this year, which does look more likely now.

Good to see ol' DC on the podium again, even though it wasn't a hard fought one, but the boys at Red Bull have been putting in quite an effort, and deserve some reward for it.

QUOTE

Maybe they should not even put anything in the middle of the steering wheel. they will be a bit lighter, and could put in a decent lap time then.

Well, Kimi had a decent car underneath him, until the engine caved in when the cursed SC came out. Alonso was not on pace after his pit stop. Even Webber had better pace. I was really looking forward to seeing a scrap between those front three.

To sign off, I wanna say that it is tougher being a McLaren supporter than it is being a Manchester United supporter.

cyfermaster

May 28 2006, 11:14 PM

I don't think MS did it on purpose. I know he is an excellent driver, but to miss the barrier by that little on purpose would be the ultimate skill. Of course brundell is going to say he did it on purpose. They don't really like the German, and whatever chance they can go against him they will. All the Brits. (most of) Yes Pole is important, but the pace that MS had meant that he could have still won the GP from 2nd on the grid, and the only person who could have overtaken him for pole was FA, so why would he do it on purpose? I still think it was harsh to throw him to the back of the grid. I would just have given FA the pole and put MS on 2nd. I mean if Alonso had got that lap that is what it would have been.

Apart from all of that I think it was one of the more exciting races of the year. I think ironically there was more overtaking at this race than the others...

Also it was the closest fought race until poor Kimi and Webber got raw luck.

FA riding his wave of luck again, but credit must be given to Renault for having a car with awesome reliability.

Yes McLaren were on the pace this weekend, and it was good to see (and I don't support them), I just want to see them have a car that is reliable... although... saying that I don't. hehehe. cause when FA goes there I want him to do badly.

It would be nice to see them do well this year though.

Wolf

May 29 2006, 04:37 AM

QUOTE

TOP STORY
Schumacher: I'm sorry
Michael Schumacher has apologised, while still protesting his innocence, to anyone who suspected he had tried to manipulate the Monaco Grand Prix qualifying.

http://www.wheels24.co.za/Wheels24/Home/

Surge

Jun 10 2006, 11:17 AM

Well, Schumi displaced to 3rd place for tomorrow's race, but the two leaders of the future of Grand Prix. Naturally, Schumi didn't look too pleased in during the interview. Seriously, he still has skill, but should call it quits, casue the Renault and Ferrari are not too different in overall performance this weekend, but Alons managed to snub 1st place for qualifying for the 4th time in a row (although at Monaco there was that controversial decision made, but he was on course to beat Schumi in any case on that last qualifying lap).

Tomorrow's race should be REALLY interesting, provided Kimi's engine does not fail him for the fuckteenth time!

Damn, what a stuff up from Honda on Button though. Talk about amateur hour.

Surge

Jun 11 2006, 10:01 PM

What was looking like a potentially classic race turned out to be pretty boring. Alonso just ran away with the win, and although the McLaren had the reliability, it did not have the straight line speed to pose a challenge to the Ferrari, so we were denied a lekker scrap between Schumi and Kimi late on in the race.

Overall, I think I would say this was the most uneventful race of the year thus far.

Surge

Jun 25 2006, 10:14 PM

Well, looks like it'll be another Alonso year for sure. Schumi doesn't do much to attack Alonso's lead (although yes, he does try). The Renault is simply too right now.

I am looking forward to Indy this week, since the McLaren seems to have better pace now, and there is that lovely straight. Hopefully Kimi can finally get a win this year.

Montoya continues to dissapoint. You wouldn't say that he is the same driver who overtook Schumi in a cheeky movie in his rookie season.

Ralf? Wtf was he doing on track for so long?

Surge

Jul 2 2006, 12:18 AM

Well, Schumi really kicked ass this weekedn in qualifying. Those Ferraris seem to be in line for a one-two this weekend, but then again, quaifying is one thing, and racing is another...

cyfermaster

Jul 2 2006, 12:49 AM

QUOTE

(although at Monaco there was that controversial decision made, but he was on course to beat Schumi in any case on that last qualifying lap).

I don't think he would have borken Schumi's lap time on that lap anyways. Just my feeling, but we will never know. I still think they should just have demoted Schumi to 2nd for that race. Oh well that is over with.

QUOTE

Those Ferraris seem to be in line for a one-two this weekend, but then again, quaifying is one thing, and racing is another...

Yeah they are 2 different things, but let us remember that Ferarri and this GP normally go very well together. Also Ferarri have the upper hand on the straight, which could be of a great advantage to them. Alonso is not to confident for this race either, which is a surprise.

In any event I hope it is 1. MS. 2. FM 3. KR. It will cut the lead down a bit and make the rest of the year exciting. KR can even come 2nd. Just as long as FA doesn't come in the top 3.

QUOTE

Alonso, who leads Schumacher by 25 points at the halfway point in the championship but has yet to finish a U.S. Grand Prix, qualified fifth.

If that happens again... It will be awesome

QUOTE

5 Alonso, Fernando Renault 1'12.449

Not only was he out qualified by his team mate (they must be up to something), but he is also behind Rubens... FA better hope he gets a good start (as normal) otherwise his whole race strategy could go backwards.

Fishfly

Jul 2 2006, 03:29 AM

whoa so many races go by and I have yet to watch one

I guess the whole rule change just put me off the excitement of F1

cyfermaster

Jul 2 2006, 12:03 PM

Go Schumi. Man this race makes the rest of the season interesting. Alonso was nowhere. He was lucky that RS had a problem at the end there.

I reckon if there wasn't that BIG crash at the start he could have finished even further back, but as it is I am happy that he got 5th. His lead is only 19 points now.

Ferarri are quite the dominant force here. I just hope they can carry this form on to a few more races.

Surge

Jul 2 2006, 10:00 PM

It is good that Alonso now only has a 19 point lead, but I have to say, it was a pretty boring race.

Pity we never got to see what McLaren had in store, and I reckon that they could have made Alonso finish even lower than he did (well, Kimi at least).

How does Alonso feel being so far outgunned by his team mate?

Valheru

Jul 3 2006, 04:49 AM

QUOTE(SadisticLobotomy @ Jul 3 2006, 07:00 AM)

How does Alonso feel being so far outgunned by his team mate?

Hope he comes back to earth and loses the championship. It has gone to his head already.

Surge

Jul 3 2006, 05:28 AM

QUOTE

Hope he comes back to earth and loses the championship.

I too would like that, however it would mean that Schumi wins the title, and THAT I do NOT want.

cyfermaster

Jul 11 2006, 02:05 PM

Well it is official. Montoya is no longer apart of F1.

QUOTE

"Team McLaren Mercedes and Juan Pablo Montoya have mutually agreed for him to step down in the forthcoming races of this year's Formula One World Championship," McLaren said in a statement.

"The team has decided that Pedro de la Rosa will join Kimi Raikkonen in the race driver line-up."

Personally I don't think it is a loss to the sport at all. He hasn't done anything recently. and he may have lost his seat anyways, so a good move by him IMO to leave now.

JV may be going to Nascar...

Valheru

Jul 11 2006, 10:54 PM

Pity about JPM, since i don't think he really showed us what he can do with a McLaren

cyfermaster

Jul 12 2006, 12:24 AM

He did show us that he can drive into the back of another McLaren.

I think his first couple of seasons were his best, and then he went backwards. I do think his style of driving is more suited to what he is going to do.

Surge

Jul 12 2006, 08:15 AM

QUOTE

JV may be going to Nascar...

Officially he is going to Nascar - joining a former team boss over there.

I think it is sad. Yes, he has been stuffing up lately, but on the other hand, I don't know of too many rookies who came into F1 and made daring moves on the more established drivers (remember how he overtook Schumi with that controversial move in his rookie season?).

I guess it was also out of desperation that he went to Nascar. After hsi first (two?) seasons in F1, he did say that he wanted to stay in F1 for good. Sadly, a few more seasons later, and a LOT of kak moves, it didn't seem as though he was gonna get a seat for F1 next year...

CyberStorm

Jul 12 2006, 10:01 AM

Montoya has been impressive at time but there's just a little too much kamikaze in him! He's one of my favourite F1 characters and it will be sad to see him go.

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