Formula 1 Jam

At The Thursday Press Conference in Barcelona:

Q: Lewis had a little blip at the last race. How were you able to help him during that weekend and how have you been able to help him since?

Pedro de la Rosa: A blip? What do you mean? A blip could mean also to go up. We hope that the blip comes here. Yes, he had a bad weekend but all we can do from the team’s point of view is to make sure that we make it as simple as possible for him not to make any mistakes. That’s what we have been focussing on for the past few weeks, to make sure that this won’t happen again. Not that he has to change anything, but from our point of view we make sure that is simpler for him to activate everything he has to from the cockpit.

You have to be kidding! 21 other drivers dont seem to need a “simpler” way to activate things from the cockpit.

Mc Laren have simply lost the plot, they cant try to fix every mistake of the driver, thats why the drivers get paid so much. I think they are really having a negative effect on his self confidence… Something tells me this ‘blip’ might be bigger than a blip, guess we have to wait for this weekend to find out.

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There has already a lot been said officially and unofficially about the incidents surrounding the dying moment of qualification at the Hungaroring… Unfortunately there have been some perspectives that have been either overlooked or ignored by the Anti-Alonso, Pro-Hamilton and Slam-Mc Laren type of opinions that have flooded the net(A handful of honest opinions were also present and thank god for that).

I wont be talking about who did what on purpose, rather I would like to talk about facts pointed out by the important 3(Ron Dennis, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton).

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The press is calling this the closest battle for a World Championship in History. The fact is it is historic, for many reasons the biggest one being its the last season of the most successful Formula One driver of all time.

The teams head to China for the Chinese Grand Prix (GP) where the 22 fastest men compete to win only the 3rd ever instalment of the race. All eyes will be on Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher as the are neck to neck for the driver world championship for 2006. The Chinese have cleverly marketed this as Alonso v/s Schumi event and will hope that the best of the two will be displayed on the track over the weekend.

Technologically both teams(Ferrari and Renault) come to China with an improved car. How improved is the question. Renault came in with 2 engines and decided to go with the more reliable engine(read less horsepower) Ferrari have an upgraded Aero package and engine. Ferrari has also tested in wet conditions in preparation for the race, they might have an upper hand if the Rain gods decide to intervene.

With Michael set to retire winning the remaining 3 races will be the best way to say good bye and thanks to his team and his fans. If he wins it and retires he will be remembered for a long time as one of the few sportsmen that have retired on top of the sport(like Lance Armstrong).

Parts of the press has gone ahead and called Alonso the toughest competitor for Schumi in his career. They have compared the Great Mika Hakkinen, Jacques Villeneuve and Damon Hill as the other top competitors for the German but have suggested that he has never gone one on one with someone like Alonso. The facts read the when ever Alonso and Schumi have gone head to head the one that has kept his nose ahead has held his nerve for the last part of the race. Alonso did it thrice in 2 years (Imola 2005, Bahrain 2006 and Turkey 2006) Michael has done it successfully at Imola in 2006(a payback for 2005). Coming to the end the guy ahead has always won… put that thought into this years championship, Alonso is ahead with 3 races to go… can he hold it? or will Michael break the mold one last time.

The World Championship is so close that its going to be difficult to safely bet on either. Any stray incident can change the course of the World Championship. Look out for things like Safety Car periods or Qualification mistakes or even missing a corner or even pitstop problems… This season is as close as F1 can get and missing the last 3 races will be unbearable for any F1 fan.

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With only 10 days remaining to the Italian Grand Prix fans are expecting the futures of Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher(amoung many) to be announced. With news that Ferrari might confirm 3 drivers in Monza and rumors floating around the web about different drivers signing contracts it seems very unclear about what will be the outcome.

Rumors over the internet tell that Kimi has already signed a contract with Renault in Instanbul with a clause that if Michael Retires he will be free to move to Ferrari. Why Renault would agree to such a contract is beyond me… Renault has lead the Drivers and Constructors championship for over a year and a half now and had clearly established itself as the best team in the grid. Any top driver would and should not have any worries about exclusively signing Renault, considering the way they have started the last and this season.

Few weeks back there were rumors about Michael insisting that if he continues Massa be his teammate(I wonder why?). The issue was supposedly argued over by the top management of Ferrari and John Todt agreed with Michael while top man at Ferrari wanted Kimi to partner Michael. There is one universal truth about Ferrari… “What Michael Wants, Michael gets.”

The other intesting rumor came out over 2 weeks back indicating that Hiekki had sighned a contract with Renault. This would go against the Renault announcement that they would sign a top driver over a rookie for next year… The only top driver other that Michael left to decide a seat is Kimi.

My Predictions about the seats:
The Line up I would love for 2007:
Ferrari: Michael and Massa

Renault: Fisichella and Hiekki

Mc Laren: Alonso and Kimi

The Line up I think is most likely(provided Michael does not retire and I dont expect him to):
Ferrari: Michael and Massa

Renault: Kimi and Fisichella

Mc Laren: Alonso and Pedro
(With Hiekki loaned to Toro Rosso for 1/2 seasons)

What do you think the top team line up will be like? Put your predictions in the comments

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2 weeks after the shocking events in Monaco, Silverstone holds host to the 2006 British Grand Prix. This weekend holds the key to a lot of drivers and teams…

Firstly the obvious intrest of home teams…
Mc Laren the home team would love to win this one and prove that their performance in Monaco was no one off. Montoya will be looking forward to repeat his 2005 race win and Kimi looking for the top step after a brilliant 3rd last season.

Renault the other home team will be looking to improve their last year’s performance of 2nd and 4th. They will be keeping an eye out for the competition and would want to secure points looking ahead to the constructors championship. The next two races in the calender Canada and USA gave them 0 pts last year and that will clearly be on the back of their minds

Button will be looking again for his first career win but it looks very doubtful that it will be this weekend. The team that took over from BAR almost treat this as a home gp and would love to get back in the chase… its been almost a year and a half since BAR looked competitive.

Fisichella will look to build on his brilliant race in Monaco where he over took 3 top cars on track. I even herd that Flavio had made a statement saying that this race would be won by Fisi… He looks really confident and being 3rd on the championship he looks all set to give a fight to his dominant teammate.

Michael Schumacher will probably treat this race as one of the most important this year. Many Ferrari fans hv hailed his performance in Monaco as one of his best ever but I beg to differ… 22nd to 5th is great but you got to look at the bigger picture Kimi, Webber and Trulli retired, all 3 were ahead of him and if they had finished Micheal would hv ended up 8th. I know in F1 it only counts if you cross the finish line but frankly I hv seen much better performances by the 7 time champ to not think too high of this one.

This race for Micheal might become a do or die battle… Alonso’s unbelievable consistency has seen him finish in the top 2 in every race of this season and if he can do it for the rest of the season then the only way Michael can become world champ is to win every one of the remaining races (current pts diff 21 and races remaining 11). Frankly I would assume Alonso is the safest bet for the world champ this season… Despite all of Michael’s attics(parking his car in the costliest parking space in Monaco), I doubt Michael will win this one.

Alonso looks like the most confident of the lot right now… He has clearly matured into a more level headed driver than he ever was (and than most experienced drivers on the grid) and the results clearly show it. Every race day he looks more and more like a 2 times world champion.

Silverstone promises to be one of best races this season… Lets hope it delivers.

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This weekend the Spanish Grand Prix will not just be a race, It will be a celebration welcoming back the World Champ to his home race… The sea of Blue and Yellow will engulf the Circut de Catalunya… As for the Tifosi, well you will be lucky to see a speck of scarlet. This race for millions in Spain will be the true “Return of the King”.

Alonso has clearly stated that he wants to win “this one”… The best result for the Spaniard here was 2nd in 2003 and 2005. In 2003 driving a mediocre Renault(Ferrari, Mc Laren and Williams were a class above, that season), Alonso produced one of the best performances of his career chasing Michael in an unstoppable Ferrari to the finish. The brilliance of the victory was the fact that he finished 13 s ahead of Barrichello in the Ferrari and 5.7s behind Michael.

There is no settling for second place this race… Renault hv always delievered when the going got tough(remember China 2005) and looks like they will this weekend too. Something tells me this race is one for the record books… There is just one place in the mind of the Champ and its ‘Numero Uno’

There is the birth of a new term in racing and it is “AlonsoMania“. The word is going around and looks like Catalunya will be full of AlonsoManiacs.

Go Champ Go…

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All eyes will be on Albert Park in Melbourne Australia this weekend for the 3rd round of the 2006 Formula One Season. Weather seems to be the major concern just before the start of the weekend.

Last year’s Grand Prix had a few spots of rain on race day but it was the rain in qualification that directed to how the weekend would end up… A Renault 1-3 showed where the rest of the season was heading. Gincarlo picked up his first win in the Renault in his very first race for the team and Alonso impressed with a drive thru the field (started at 13th) to take the 3rd spot on the podium. Barrichello took the 2nd spot on the podium after great comeback from 11th on the grid.

Micheal crashed out in lap 46 and Montoya and Kimi managed 6th and 8th respectively. David Coulthard did amazingly well in his new RBR-Cosworth to make it to 4th and Webber impressed by ending up ahead of both the Mc Laren cars.

If history is anything to go by… I would expect Renault to be the team to beat without a doubt, Ferrari are almost there and will be a much bigger threat in Europe… yet they are defiantly capable of springing a surprise or two. Mc Laren looked strong in Bahrain and if everything goes fine they will be fighting for the podium all the way. Honda and Button will be worth watching out for, he has been consistent this season so far and I wouldn’t bet against him.

All in all rain will only add a dimension to the calculations on who will win and will add a tint of mystrey as we watch tv… I guess the question of who will become the “Wizard of Oz” will be certain only by sunday evening.

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Alonso starts this weekend as the bookies favourite according to this blog entry…

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2006/03/15/bookies-back-alonso-again/

And why not I had the opinion that Renault was the most confident with their performance… so confident that they let their car out with about 2 min 30 sec left on the clock on the first 2 sessions, Giving Alonso and Fici just one shot at qualifying. The results of the sessions speaks for itself Fici did amazingly well and the King of One Shot Qualification Alonso topped with the weekends fastest lap.

None of the other 3 challenging teams ‘dared’ to do that…

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The Malaysian GP 2006 is right around the corner and looks like Ferrari will be caught in trouble again. Massa who had his previous race ruined by a mistake in overtaking and an unfortunate pitstop that took almost 40 sec will have a bit more bad luck… It looks like he will hv to change his engine prior to the Malaysian GP costing him 10 grid places.

Fisichella who on the other hand will also probably change is engine will not recieve such a penalty… Why???

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