What thy call it McLaren's Day
[My Australasia]
...at Brit GP last weekend. FREE from any incident and accident. Free from any damn blast. Free from any fear... 'cause of "Brits the brave" spirit. 'cause of they're not afraid. O'really.
Sorry for this very late update, [already "basi" mate]. Very tight with something else... hopefully will back to blog as normal soon.
By James Allen
The British Grand Prix on Sunday yielded a first win of the season for McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya. But any one of four drivers could have won it had events turned out slightly differently.
World championship leader Fernando Alonso was one. Starting from pole position he lost out to Montoya in a side-by-side battle on the opening lap but he had two further chances to take the lead: at the first pit stop where the pair again duelled into the 150mph Becketts Corner and at the second pit stop. Alonso had five laps more fuel in his car with seven seconds to make up but he was blocked by slower traffic and had to settle for second place.
Alonso's team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella was another. He started quietly from sixth on the grid but three-quarters of the way through the race was within two seconds of the Spaniard. Then he stalled as he left the pits, losing 14 seconds, to finish fourth.
Third place went to McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, who was the other man who could have won here. His surging drive from 12th on the grid to the podium showed that he had the speed but his chances evaporated partly because of 10-place drop on the grid after an enforced engine change but also because his race was compromised in the early stages when he was held up behind Jarno Trulli and Michael Schumacher, which allowed the leaders to build a comfortable cushion.
McLaren had targeted this as a must-win race as Raikkonen sought to narrow the 24-point championship gap to Alonso. Instead he lost a further two points to the Spaniard. With eight races to go, he will need several wins and a couple of non-finishes by Alonso to get back on terms.
Ferrari were again off the pace. Schumacher finished 75 seconds behind the winner for the second race in a row and afterwards the world champion let his frustrations show. "If you compare our performances from the two north-American races to these two we appear to be going backwards instead of forwards," he said."
Formula One teams have this week to test and develop their cars before a six-week testing moratorium begins. All are signatories to this agreement except Ferrari, so the Italian team's only hope is that they can close the gap while the others sit on the sidelines. It is a regrettable state of affairs that stems from Ferrari's decision to split with the other teams and sign a new agreement with the FIA, the sport's governing body, and F1 commercial rights owner Bernie Ecclestone for 2008 and beyond. But by going it alone they have an opportunity denied to the others. How much of those 75 seconds per race they find in the coming weeks will be of great interest to rival teams.
Top 9:
1. J Pablo Montoya (McLaren-Mercedes)
2. F Alonso (Renault)
3. K Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes)
4. G Fisichella (Renault)
5. J Button (BAR-Honda)
6. M Schumacher (Ferrari)
7. R Barichello (Ferrari)
8. R Schumacher (Toyota)
9. J Trulli (Toyota)
Ps: How about my William F1 team... still not fixs yet?
...at Brit GP last weekend. FREE from any incident and accident. Free from any damn blast. Free from any fear... 'cause of "Brits the brave" spirit. 'cause of they're not afraid. O'really.
Sorry for this very late update, [already "basi" mate]. Very tight with something else... hopefully will back to blog as normal soon.
By James Allen
The British Grand Prix on Sunday yielded a first win of the season for McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya. But any one of four drivers could have won it had events turned out slightly differently.
World championship leader Fernando Alonso was one. Starting from pole position he lost out to Montoya in a side-by-side battle on the opening lap but he had two further chances to take the lead: at the first pit stop where the pair again duelled into the 150mph Becketts Corner and at the second pit stop. Alonso had five laps more fuel in his car with seven seconds to make up but he was blocked by slower traffic and had to settle for second place.
Alonso's team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella was another. He started quietly from sixth on the grid but three-quarters of the way through the race was within two seconds of the Spaniard. Then he stalled as he left the pits, losing 14 seconds, to finish fourth.
Third place went to McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, who was the other man who could have won here. His surging drive from 12th on the grid to the podium showed that he had the speed but his chances evaporated partly because of 10-place drop on the grid after an enforced engine change but also because his race was compromised in the early stages when he was held up behind Jarno Trulli and Michael Schumacher, which allowed the leaders to build a comfortable cushion.
McLaren had targeted this as a must-win race as Raikkonen sought to narrow the 24-point championship gap to Alonso. Instead he lost a further two points to the Spaniard. With eight races to go, he will need several wins and a couple of non-finishes by Alonso to get back on terms.
Ferrari were again off the pace. Schumacher finished 75 seconds behind the winner for the second race in a row and afterwards the world champion let his frustrations show. "If you compare our performances from the two north-American races to these two we appear to be going backwards instead of forwards," he said."
Formula One teams have this week to test and develop their cars before a six-week testing moratorium begins. All are signatories to this agreement except Ferrari, so the Italian team's only hope is that they can close the gap while the others sit on the sidelines. It is a regrettable state of affairs that stems from Ferrari's decision to split with the other teams and sign a new agreement with the FIA, the sport's governing body, and F1 commercial rights owner Bernie Ecclestone for 2008 and beyond. But by going it alone they have an opportunity denied to the others. How much of those 75 seconds per race they find in the coming weeks will be of great interest to rival teams.
Top 9:
1. J Pablo Montoya (McLaren-Mercedes)
2. F Alonso (Renault)
3. K Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes)
4. G Fisichella (Renault)
5. J Button (BAR-Honda)
6. M Schumacher (Ferrari)
7. R Barichello (Ferrari)
8. R Schumacher (Toyota)
9. J Trulli (Toyota)
Ps: How about my William F1 team... still not fixs yet?
posted by 9T9 at
9:47 am
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