Formula 1 Jam

In what can be described only as a replay of the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher led a come back of sorts for Ferrari by holding back Alonso and winning the Grand Prix. The German sealed Ferrari’s first victory in about 2 seasons(excluding 2005 US Grand Prix where only 6 cars ran.)

On a day which was exactly opposite of the one last year where Michael in a faster car was fighting the defiant Alonso all the way… saw Alonso in a clearly faster car fighting Michael tooth and nail to the finish. The brilliance of the two drivers was undeniable and in probably their respective best races of their careers which truly seen by the cheers of the Tifosi when Michael took his trophy and the Boos that echoed the track when Alonso picked up his trophy.

The start was perfect for Michael as he held P1 well into lap 1 when a Safety car was called in for Ide crashing into Albers. The restart happened within 2 laps and the 4 in front just pulled away from the pack. Michael led followed by Button and trailed by Massa and Alonso. The lead upto the 12th lap to the Champ(at 4th) was just 7.8sec. Thats when Ferrari strategy showed up. Massa held back Alonso for as many as 7 laps in a track with no overtaking opportunities. The loss was bout 0.7s a lap, a move that would insure Michael’s victory but end Massa’s all hopes of making the podium.

As Michael pitted in lap 19 with a decent lead of 13s to Reigning World Champ. Alonso pitted in lap 26 and came out 9s adrift. The next 5 laps changed the face of the race… Alonso was literally greased lightening gaining at 1.3s a lap and within no time he was right at Michael’s gearbox… This is when the fight began a fight that will be remembered for years…

Alonso threw his car all over Michael and tried everything in the book and outside it to get past Michael but the experience and the maturity of the 7 time champ galored as he held back the charged up Renault driver each time. For anyone who loves racing these laps were a gift from god… Michael magic and a track which was described by many as impossible to overtake on left the Spaniard with no choice but to pit before his expected pitstop. The 6.4s stop would turn out to be the Champs undoing as he could hv waited for the German to pit and then put in a couple of very fast laps and pit and comeout at p1.

The very next lap the 7 time champ made a decisive 7.1s pitstop and emerged out of the pit lane fractions of a second ahead… The positions never changed till the end… The last few laps were marred by the Ferrari throwing up breakdust and sliding around. Alonso’s car which had been almost 20 laps in Michael’s splitstream slided and cost him a valuable 2s. That gap was enough for the multiple world champ to cross the finish line safely.

Montoya produced a spirited performance and a classic drive to 3rd place. His performance is a response to many critics who believe he has lost intrest in winning… Kimi who started at 8th(one place behind his team mate) finished a disappointing 5th. Massa finished 4th with Webber and Button taking 6th and 7th. The last point scoring spot was taken by Fisichella who had a pretty uneventful race…

Results:

    Driver		 Team			Laps  Time	 Qual Pts
1   Michael Schumacher   Ferrari   		62   1:31:06.486   1  10
2   Fernando Alonso      Renault   		62   	+2.0 secs  5   8
3   Juan Pablo Montoya   McLaren-Mercedes   	62   	+15.8 secs 7   6
4   Felipe Massa         Ferrari   		62   	+17.0 secs 4   5
5   Kimi Räikkönen       McLaren-Mercedes   	62   	+17.5 secs 8   4
6   Mark Webber          Williams-Cosworth   	62   	+37.7 secs 10  3
7   Jenson Button        Honda   		62   	+39.6 secs 2   2
8   Giancarlo Fisichella Renault   		62   	+40.2 secs 11  1
9   Ralf Schumacher      Toyota   		62   	+45.5 secs 6
10  Rubens Barrichello   Honda   		62   	+77.8 secs 3
11  Nico Rosberg         Williams-Cosworth   	62   	+79.6 secs 13
12  Jacques Villeneuve   Sauber-BMW   		62   	+82.3 secs 12
13  Nick Heidfeld        Sauber-BMW   		61   	+1 Lap 15
14  Vitantonio Liuzzi    STR-Cosworth   	61   	+1 Lap 16
15  Scott Speed          STR-Cosworth   	61   	+1 Lap 18
16  Tiago Monteiro       MF1-Toyota   		60   	+2 Laps 19
Ret David Coulthard      RBR-Ferrari   		47   	+15 Laps 14
Ret Takuma Sato  Super   Aguri-Honda   		44   	+18 Laps 21
Ret Christian Klien      RBR-Ferrari   		40   	+22 Laps 17
Ret Yuji Ide             Super Aguri-Honda   	33   	+39 Laps 22
Ret Jarno Trulli         Toyota   		5   	+57 Laps 9
Ret Christijan Albers    MF1-Toyota   		0   	Accident 20