San Marino GP '06

What are everyone's predictions for this years San Marino GP? I think Renault are going to be hard to beat, but Schumi could mount a serious challenge, given his record there. Might also see the McLarens up the pointy end of the field.
My top 5 are:

1. Fernando Alonso (or Micheal Schumacher)
2. Michael Schumacher (or Fernando Alonso)
3. Kimi Raikkonen
4. Jenson Button
5. Giancarlo Fisichella

If the Bridgestones are going to work anywhere it will be Imola. First practice times seem to indicate that will indeed be the case.

Yea, last year that was probably Schumacher's best race (other then Indy of course). That was a great jump from 14th or so to 2nd followed by an awesome dogfight between him and Alonso. Hopefully this year will be as good.

any chance of honda having sorted out their tyre warming issue?
it's such a shame to see what is without a doubt a potentially super-fast car (as the qualifiying shows) lose out due to not being to work the tyres properly.

Top 10 Qualifying Results- Third round (second round) {first round}

1. Michael Schumacher Ferrari- 1.22.795 (1:22.579) {1:24.598}
2. Jenson Button Honda- 1:22.988 (1:23.749) {1:24.480}
3. Reubens Barrichello Honda- 1:23.242 (1:23.760) {1:24.727}
4. Felipe Massa Ferrari- 1:23.702 (1:23.595) {1:24.884}
5. Fernando Alonso Renault- 1:23.709 (1:23.743) {1:23.536}
6. Ralf Schumacher Toyota- 1:23.772 (1:23.565) {1:24.370}
7. Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren-Mercedes- 1:24.021 (1:23.760) {1:24.960}
8. Kimi Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes- 1:24.158 (1:23.190) {1:24.259}
9. Jarno Trulli Toyota- 1:24.172 (1:23.727) {1:24.446}
10. Mark Webber- 1:24.795 (1:23.718) {1:24.992}

This is Michael Schumacher's 66th Pole Position, breaking Aryton Senna and his own record.

Button does so well in qualifying but can't race worth a damn. Someone teach that man how to pass.

I'm picking a Schumacher, Barichello, Massa, Alonso, Button, Raikkonen, Webber, Trulli finishing order for the points.

Wow finally a race i could watch on TV. Go CBS!!!


And what a race, beautiful fight between Alonso and Schumi. I just loved how Schumacher held Alonso off and forced him into an early pit stop, good strategy and excellent driving from Schumacher.


At the end even with Alonso pushing hard it was clear IMO that Schumacher had the upper hand, he was far more composed than the spaniard. Alonso was clearly going 10/10 and pushing very hard in the corners which caused him to understeer over and over.

i felt quite bad for Button though, that was a very bad blunder from his pit crew not to mention dangerous.

meh CBS loads it with to many comercials and people trying to sound like they know everything about f1. f1 should stay on speed...

Aside from that that race was spectacular!!!!!!! The battle was almost identcal to the race last year at imola (only the positions were switched around.) Alsonso looked like he had a chance until lap 59 or so when he went wide on a corner. that sealed the deal. finally a true win for shumi! like shumi said "euope is when the competition really begins.."

FORZA SCHUMACHER! FORZA FERRARI!

Now that thats out, it was great to finally watch an F1 race this year. Beautiful driving from the Ferraris and Alonso. Just like the announcer said, it was kinda like last year, just with the positions reversed. This just goes to show how important qualifying is at Imola. Today was a great day for Ferrari.

Things I learned today-
1) Super Aguri really is completely worthless
2) Ide should be banned from F1
3) Button needs to take Alonso's spot at Renault next year because Honda just can't seem to race well
4) CBS announcers arn't very good

True the CBS comentators suck quite badly and there were a lot of comercials, but for me since i live in student dorms and we do not get speed, this is a major blessing since i can finally watch F1 races. This is my first race that i have watched in years that i did not know the result (the torrents come in too slow to avoid the results). So hopefully you guys will pardon my excitement and allow me another Go CBS!!!

Oh and btw dinan you are quite right Button is pissed here is a link about that:http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/4936910.stm

Button is useless, if the British press didn't constantly rave about him, he'd be about as invisible as Albers or one of the test drivers. Frankly it's sad when people like Button get given great cars but do nothing with them, yet there are fantastic drivers like Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber (Or even poor old Ant Davidson and Alex Wurz who don't even have a full drive) who are not only fantastic drivers but have thier heads about as far detatched from thier asses as humanly possible, yet are always put in rubbish cars.


I'm actually quite pleasently surprised with Super Aguri this year, they are in F1 for what seems the love of it (Hence thier want to get in as soon as possible) and Sato has done well with the car, just get rid of Ide. PLEASE


PS FORZA FERRARI! TIFOSI FO LIFE

As a race it a wasn't particularly good one, no overtaking at all, but for me it was so nerve racking that I, honestly, almost didn't watch it from about mid point. I don't think my heart could have taken it. Ultimately, I'm very happy with the result, although it seems that there are now more questions regarding the teams' performances and potential than answers.

I didn't think Honda had any chance of a good result in the race (despite what Button said afterwards), there was no reason for the "fast in qualifying - fading in the race" pattern to end and it didn't. Of course, all the problems they had during pitstops did not help.

Well that wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting. Thought Ferrari would be loads faster than they were. Is it just me or is it scary how closely this year is mirroring last tyre wise, even with the new (err... old) regs. Hopefully that will be the last Bridgestone hurrah for a couple of months. ;)

I just loved how Schumacher held Alonso off and forced him into an early pit stop, good strategy and excellent driving from Schumacher.


I didn't see it that way. Alonso short fuelled at his first stop to leapfrog past Massa and Button. That accomplished, the speed with which he reeled Schumacher in the middle stint was just gravy. Unfortunately that meant he had no choice but to stop earlier the second time. Ferrari cleverly followed him into the pits next lap and managed to minimise Renault's only chance. Well done to Michael to be quick on the one lap he had to.

Bad luck Kimi was passed by Webber early on (good job by Mark though). Made for a frustrating race for the McLarens.

Why the intense criticism of Button? BAR/Honda have always faded badly in the races for years now. I doubt it is a driver motivation/effort/talent issue, look at the nightmare Barrichello is having in the same car. I had hoped Rubens good showing in qualifying indicated he had turned the corner. But the three stop strategy deceived on Saturday and was disastrous on Sunday. Then of course there were the team blunders...

I didn't see it that way. Alonso short fuelled at his first stop to leapfrog past Massa and Button. That accomplished, the speed with which he reeled Schumacher in the middle stint was just gravy. Unfortunately that meant he had no choice but to stop earlier the second time. Ferrari cleverly followed him into the pits next lap and managed to minimise Renault's only chance. Well done to Michael to be quick on the one lap he had to.




Well the reason Alonso relled him in so fast was due to tire problem Schumi was having. From Briattore's smile you could tell he saw the victory right there if Alonso would make the pass. However by blocking him off Schumacher forced him to stay at the same slow pace and into an early pit.

I didn't see it that way. Alonso short fuelled at his first stop to leapfrog past Massa and Button. That accomplished, the speed with which he reeled Schumacher in the middle stint was just gravy. Unfortunately that meant he had no choice but to stop earlier the second time. Ferrari cleverly followed him into the pits next lap and managed to minimise Renault's only chance.

Phil, everyone at Renault said that they brought Alonso in earlier than they could and had planned. A dubious tactical move, but they had their reasons, and at least they've tried.


Bad luck Kimi was passed by Webber early on (good job by Mark though). Made for a frustrating race for the McLarens.

So who were you rooting for, Kimi or Mark? ;)

Strange weekend this for Mclaren. They didn't qualify well at all, and as it turned out, weren't heavier than Renaults or Ferraris. Also Montoya, uncharacteristically, outclassed Kimi in both sessions that mattered (qualifying and race), so credit where it's due, he did a very good job to get on the podium and finish in front of Kimi.

Well the reason Alonso relled him in so fast was due to tire problem Schumi was having. From Briattore's smile you could tell he saw the victory right there if Alonso would make the pass. However by blocking him off Schumacher forced him to stay at the same slow pace and into an early pit.

What's that got to do with Schumacher forcing Alonso into an early pitstop? :) The defending position is no big deal either, all to do with the nature of the track and modern F1 cars. Identical, but reversed from last year, where Schumacher was just as fast and just as helpless to pass Alonso.

I don't think Schumacher was having a "tyre problem", since Massa's pace dropped off at the same time. Perhaps they simply used up too many tyres during qualifying and had only worn rubber left for the middle stint? If so the lack of speed was self induced, but ultimately cleverly calculated and managed.

With the point system as it is and Imola a track where Bridgestone have the upper hand, Flav and Fernando would be perfectly happy to have walked away from Imola with eight points. Probably not so pleased with Fisichella's performance...

Phil, everyone at Renault said that they brought Alonso in earlier than they could and had planned. A dubious tactical move, but they had their reasons, and at least they've tried.

But was that the first or second stop? Their best chance would have been to go long and that wasn’t possible given the decision made earlier when they had the immediate problem of Massa to deal with. I guess that had nothing to lose as a pass on track was not gonna happen without a major screw up from the leader. If it was unscheduled then why didn't they time it better with Micheal hitting trafic. Or then again mybe they did but Schumacher was able to cover Alonso regardless...

So who were you rooting for, Kimi or Mark? ;)

Well, given the Kimi to Ferrari rumours… :)

Strange weekend this for Mclaren. They didn't qualify well at all, and as it turned out, weren't heavier than Renaults or Ferraris. Also Montoya, uncharacteristically, outclassed Kimi in both sessions that mattered (qualifying and race), so credit where it's due, he did a very good job to get on the podium and finish in front of Kimi.

Kimi said he mucked up his third qualifying session, but was quick in the first two (not that that is worth a damn). Then, being stuck behind Webber blew the first half of his race. At the end he was again bottled up behind Massa, but even with all that was only about 20 seconds behind the leader at the end. As I said, not as bad as I had feared. Montoya did shade Kimi, especially since he (and his engine) had to change over to the spare car before qualifying and he missed Saturday morning practice. Again, given the circumstances his podium was a pleasant surprise. :)

But was that the first or second stop? Their best chance would have been to go long and that wasn’t possible given the decision made earlier when they had the immediate problem of Massa to deal with. I guess that had nothing to lose as a pass on track was not gonna happen without a major screw up from the leader. If it was unscheduled then why didn't they time it better with Micheal hitting trafic. Or then again mybe they did but Schumacher was able to cover Alonso regardless...


Second stop. They brought Alonso in 2 laps earlier than they had planned.

Well, given the Kimi to Ferrari rumours… :)


So for Kimi then? :):):)

Again, given the circumstances his podium was a pleasant surprise. :)

What's so pleasant about it? ;)

Why the intense criticism of Button? BAR/Honda have always faded badly in the races for years now. I doubt it is a driver motivation/effort/talent issue, look at the nightmare Barrichello is having in the same car. I had hoped Rubens good showing in qualifying indicated he had turned the corner. But the three stop strategy deceived on Saturday and was disastrous on Sunday. Then of course there were the team blunders...

Have you heard the way the Pommy press constantly talks him up?

Has anyone else heard that Schumacher dropped 2 seconds off his lap time the lap where Alonso pitted? If this is true and Schumacher was purposefully holding Alonso up for that long then I must congradulate Ferrari on an awesomely devious strategy.

Here is what I was looking for-

Interview with Renault Engineering Director Pat Symonds

Q: Was it easy to know which lap to stop on?
PS: We had to judge it so that we didn't stop too early, and drop into Massa's clutches. So as soon as we saw we were clear, we discussed it with Fernando and gave him a choice: if he was able to overtake Michael, he should stay out; and if not, then he should pit. He pitted, we went for it, and we missed out by just 0.7s when the stops cycled through.

Q: So what was the key?
PS: 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.

Q: Is it frustrating to get beaten by such a fine margin?
PS: 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.

Fair enough. However 2 laps early is no big deal, The preferred option of going long wasn't there so they took a punt, but Ross and Michael aren't easy to catch napping. Schumacher was possibly on a very long stint hence his slow pace (conserving the tyres as well) as soon as Alonso pitted they followed and Schumacher was able to trash his tyres extracting one quick lap before pitting for new rubber.

Would have been a different proposition if it hadn't been for the strategy Renault used at the first stop. It worked perfectly then, but gave them fewer options later. Alonso went to Imola aiming for a podium so they'll be happy with that.

Is the Nurburgring next or Barcelona? Either way I expect McLaren will finally have their act together there. :)

Nurburgring in 2 weeks.