China 2006 & Ferrari engine issue

[Tom]

Well done Michael, good clean solid drive,
Alonso, very unlucky, he really should have won as he did nothing wrong, but thats life,
Fisi, mixed opinions, blocked Michael well at first then let him past after a silly mistake, did well to get out of the way.
DC, I thought he did really well, on lap 10 he was clearly thinking 3 corners ahead, a racing incident with Massa towards the end put paid to his chances though
Kimi, I'd love to play cards against that guy, he is so unlucky, why won't things just go right for him once? Wait till next year, or even Suzuka.

[Phoenix]

Phenominal pass Michael on Fisi, bad luck Kimi, and Fernando, stop being so angry, it's not like you lost a 25 point lead or something...opps...my mistake. Wel, at least you haven't lost yet, however you have not won either. Kepp it up Schumacher and Alonso and this will be a spectacular end of the season.

[manchild]

manchild, get over your childish rants.

Anybody who thinks the FIA are partial to any specific team and still watches F1 is a moron for sure.

Please write te Jackie Stewart and Bernie Ecclestone for example to inform them about that because they agree with me.

As FIA survey said - Scumacher is the most popular driver with 28% but that also means that remaining 72% of F1 fans don't like him

[DaveKillens]

Although to many I may appear biased, when I watch racing I am attracted to driver skill, intelligence, and panache. And if anyone ever wonders about my avatar, it is to commemorate Gilles Villeneuve, one of Ferrari's greats.
Although I have repeatedly criticised Micheal's character and moral compass, if he wins the title, I can live with it and won't lose a second of sleep over it. No one wins a title that doesn't deserve it.
But when it comes to the FIA and Ferrari, I am firmly convinced they are assisting Ferrari by manipulating the application of the rules. It does put a dark cloud over what should be clear sunshine and happiness and unbridled celebration.

[tpe]

"Schu probably had the revs turned down, I suspect he had something in reserve. Even then Alonso would have had to get past! What a complete comedy of errors from Renault."

I agree.

Also, that was the last race on that engine for MS (I think) and the first for FA's car. FA having to push that hard and MS having a new engine at the next race will be quite good from MS' point of view.

Nope! MS and FA are on the same engine cycle. Though, MS saved his engine for at least 1/3 of the race and FA pushed the engine very hard during first and third stind. Hmmm....

[RacingManiac]

Probably among one of MS's best wins. Like many part of his career his skill and composure is complimented by a dose of luck, and he usually makes full use of that(Hungary this year is a counter point of that). The stunning quali effort consider the condition and equipment is what allowed the win to be possible. BS though probably still need to think hard about their tire in that condition, as both Japan and Brazil can still offer big variable in weather.

As much as I wish it was all Ferrari's effort that led to the win it was really Renault who lost it. FA drove like a winner at the beginning and the end, and aside from the botched tire call he would probably have run away with it. IMO Michael was looking at a very likely second but not very likely win before the first stop.

Funny thing about Renault's rather miserable day, Fisi looks like he wants to find a hole and bury his head in it in the post race conference. And when Alonso dropped his Champaign to his crew his crew didn't catch it and it was smashed on the ground.....while MS and his Ferrari crew triumphed over the drop as well......

[bhall]

After watching a replay of the race, it's now very clear to me that someone needs to take Takuma Sato behind the paddock and beat the living hell out of him. I'm sick to death of him fouling up races for other drivers. He has no business whatsoever being in Formula 1, unless some team wants to employ him to sweep the garage.

DC was just pitiful, and he's making it worse by trying to blame Massa for the incident on lap 44. He was lapping slower than Massa, had lost the position and just took him out. A penalty would not have been completely out of order.

Still a great race to watch though.

On another note, I was thinking during the race, how bad does Williams look now? So much of their poor performace in recent years was blamed on BMW, and now BMW is doing great on their own, their competitveness growing by leaps and bounds. It shouldn't be too long before they're legitimate title contenders.

[Tp]

I was expecting Renault to win at China, not only have they been statistically better than Ferrari over the years here, but it was also wet conditions, so I preparing for Ferrari to be lapped a few zillion times in the race, going off the qualifying pace anyway.

But Ferrari/Schumacher had other ideas. They were exceptional, in fact they were perfect, never made a mistake. Schumacher drove (on the inferior Bridgestones at the start) beautifully, pushing the car to the limit only when needed to avoid compromising the engine longevity, and the Ferarri team strategy was text book - 'How to win a GP without the best package.' And it begs the question, why is Schumacher retiring?

Alonso was let down by his team, in my opinion. Judging by his exceptional pace at the end, he should of won. And for him to win the championship it's down to the whole team, not just the driver and this is probably why I feel Michael and Ferrari will win the championship. But hey who knows, F1's unpredictable, so they both have good chances to win.

[captainmorgan]

I can't beleive I'm actually defending him, but I think Sato just got caught up by a complex situation. A blue flag just means move over, theres not enough information to tell him that TWO cars are coming up and racing each other.

Optimistically speaking, he moved inside off the racing line, which looks like a respectable move, but then he saw a car in his mirrors. I'm guessing he probably got surprised, and when the car behind DIDN'T take the racing line, Sato tried to move back out of the way by going back outside, and found himself in front of another car, Heidfeld.

Heidfeld had to slow down, which compromised Barrichello who was braking hard. Impact, etc. Just like a first corner mess, except worse b/c of hte blue flags.

[zenvision]

I think the main culprit is Albers. He held up heidfeld way too much and with a bit of arrogance that I didnt like in him. A bit like Jaques on Kimi last year in Nurburgring but on the rain there isnt a margin of error as heidfeld discovered later on. Sato is really faultless and should really contest anything, even if there isnt a point in question but its more a question of pride. He was simply left with no option. He either blocked Button or Heidfeld, and he had seen Button and I doubt he'd seen Heidfeld, he's only human. I'm really sorry for him because he made me eat some humble pies during this season.

[DaveKillens]

It's nice to try to defend Sato, he does have some good points. But when I was learning my online racing skills, you never suddenly change lines when being lapped, especially when you are already off the racing line.
Post race when Micheal was alluding to the fact he backed the revs down and just coasted the last 15 laps, in all honesty I think that was all mindgames. Only his engineers know the real truth. But anyone who watched the last 20 laps know that Alonso was definitely quicker than the Ferrari in dry conditions. Personally, I believe Shu was just feeding a line of bullcrap into Alonso's face in an attempt to gain mental superiority in mind games.

[boban-mk]

You know what filling Kimi's fans have watching F1 last 3 seasons. Couple monts ago somene mention that Mercedes engine is one of most realiable one's. What a joke. .

Not only that. I've heard the rumour that some malicious people even dares to say that Kimi has a foot of lead. May they see the light.

Hardly. If you know the history of McLaren you will know that the stupiest mistakes are kept by them always. They have engine problems not for three but for ten years. Problems with breaking parts like on nobody else are 30 years old i gues. And about foot of Kimi, that will see, and as i remember he is not the only driver that has engine problems. In fact last year Montoya have many engine problems('oficially throtle, gear shifting, etc'). This year Pedro has two failures, kimi had only this one.

[Carlos]

I'm with Manchild on this one. I also think Jackie Steward has earned the right to an "expert's opinion". Even if changing out those wheels isn't against the rules---it should be. A new expression--"I've been Ferraried."

[DaveKillens]

Jackie Stewart most definitely has earned a respectable expert status. Not only was his racing career successful, but as the creater of team Stewart, he has to know the rules and politics of the industry. As well, during the few short years of Stewart Racing, it was credible, having decent performance for such a new team. Only when Ford bought them out, did the team fall into an inferior status.
We have to listen to those who are experienced, capable, and willing to speak out. What if ten years in the future Michael Schumacher speaks out on a driver or subject? I'm sure those dissing Niki Lauda or Jackie Stewart for those comments would not appreciate someone saying that Shu is an idiot and doesn't know crap?

[Carlos]

Jackie Stewart---If he was a steward---this season would probably be quite a different Championship. My mind is already on Next Season.

2006 Season---The truth is--We are all having a Good Time. Let the Good times Roll-- The end is near. The Future unclear.

Regards Carlos