San Marino GP '06

[Neutrino]

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

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.

[ales]

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

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.

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

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.

[RallyRaider]

Originally Posted by Neutrino

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...

[RallyRaider]

Originally Posted by ales

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...

Originally Posted by ales

So who were you rooting for, Kimi or Mark?

Well, given the Kimi to Ferrari rumours…

Originally Posted by ales

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.

[ales]

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

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.

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

Well, given the Kimi to Ferrari rumours…

So for Kimi then?

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

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

What's so pleasant about it?

[Jimster]

Originally Posted by RallyRaider

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?

[DinanM3_S2]

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.

[DinanM3_S2]

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.

[RallyRaider]

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.

[DinanM3_S2]

Nurburgring in 2 weeks.