The 2006 San Marino Formula 1 Grand Prix

[<T-K>]

Was I the only one who found the TV coverage just irritating and downright bad?.

The commentary is starting to really get on my nerves.

As for the TV and commentary. It was poor.

I reckon the TV coverage was pathetic, absolutely pathetic

I think most of the people here agree with you.......

[Julian Mayo]

Was I the only one who found the TV coverage just irritating and downright bad?.

The commentary is starting to really get on my nerves.

As for the TV and commentary. It was poor.

I reckon the TV coverage was pathetic, absolutely pathetic

I think most of the people here agree with you.......

[Snowy]

Was I the only one who found the TV coverage just irritating and downright bad?.

The commentary is starting to really get on my nerves.

As for the TV and commentary. It was poor.

I reckon the TV coverage was pathetic, absolutely pathetic

I think most of the people here agree with you.......

[Snowy]

I can't believe I just did that!

Jame's Allen's Button bottom licking is sooooo embarrassing and cringe worthy I have decided to do the only honourable thing I can do and commit Seppuku. Farewell, I apologise most profusely for being a member of the same species as JA.

PS giving control of the coverage over to local directors has always been the most stupid thing to do in my oppinion and is one of my pet hates! Could one of you please enter that for me as I'm not long for this world.
Does Seppuku hurt if you don't know exactly where to put the knife in? I've never actually disembowelled myself before.

[BlinkyBill]

I apologise most profusely for being a member of the same species as JA.

respect

[JayVee]

- On not giving Ferrari and Michael credit I said good for them. What more do you expect me to say

Didnt sound like credit when u in the same breath mention tht this is one off & ur blue eyed boy it too quick.Sure he is & has the quickest car!Admit it JayVee,its hard to swallow.

Look Kapel, Ferrari won on tactics and may have even tricked Renault into pitting early so good for them but this only works in places like Imola and Monaco so I say good for them and for you It may bring your hopes up but if you think about it a bit you'll realise how slow Ferrari are.
I do think it is a one off, OK maybe they'll do well in Monaco or Hungary as well by holding up the other cars but it doesn't help their championship ambitions does it ?
What is hard to swallow ? Sure I would have liked Alonso to win but second is OK. I don't think any driver ever won all the races in one season

- On finding excuses for Alonso I certainly am not but you don't have to be a genious to realise that had Alonso stopped later he would have won the race. Renault made the wrong call, I am not blaming or finding excuses, it is a fact.

In Bahrain,when Renault made a good call u praised Alonso cos he won,now when he loses it the team's fault.
Now after the race,it looks like a bad call cos LAonso didnt come out in front,but if u check the lap times,Michael went 1.5 sec quicker on the lap when Alonso pitted & his outlap was in the 1:25's, so one cant really say JayVee what would have happened.

Kapel, in Bahrain, Alonso and Michael were very close speedwise. In San Marino they were not.
Kapel seriously if you pit later your chances to get ahead are much higher. Yes something could go wrong in the pit stop but under normal circumstances the guy who pits later in the final stop has the advantage.
Renault thought Michael was really struggling but it turns out that he wasn't as slow as they expected so their pit change didn't work. Renault (and that includes Alonso) didn't make it. Drivers are part of the team too Kapel

- On Massa holding up Alonso Sure it did not affect the outcome as Alonso caught up very quickly with Michael after the first stop but that doesn't hide the fact that Ferrari still employ those tactics. And if you call using the second driver to hold up your main competitor fair play then your definition of fair play is warped. To me it will never be fair play.

Reading James Allet version does not create history,he's known for anti Ferrari comments throught his life.NO data or any1,even Alonso didnt complained of Massa holding him back!!This is baseless & ur usual comments of Ferrari,we know u dont like them.

Kapel, I am not the type who uses the words of someone I can't stand. Your comments are baseless, go look up the lap times of Massa when Alonso is behind him and you'll see his lap times over a second slower than before Alonso caught up with him.
It wasn't mentioned because it didn't become an issue as Alonso made up for that during the second stint but Massa lost a podium. Bad for him.
Of course I don't like Ferrari and these tactics are the main reason why I don't Kapel.

- On this race being a reverse of last year's, well you can describe it that way if you like but there are two important facts that you choose to ignore, Unlike Michael last year, Alonso didn't really need to pass, he is so far ahead and finishing second is more than enough for him yet for nearly half the race he remained right behind Michael, he didn't just say, oh well I'll just settle for second

He did settle for 2nd, 5 laps remaining when he got frustated & made a mistake trying to pass Michael with no success.He did settle for 2nd!!Didnt make any attempts in the last 5 laps,yes not worth risking,but hey he gave up!!

Yes he did after how many laps right behind Michael ? 25 or something ? He realised that pushing that hard for that long has an effect on the handling of his car. He couldn't pass, he made the right decision and bagged 8 points.

And last year it was your so called "best driver" chasing a 24 year old kid with just 3 wins Alonso would have been excused for making a mistake. This year Michael wasn't expected to make a mistake, if he did, he would have announced his retirement a bit earlier than planned

Sure Michael failed last year,but ur so called "best driver" failed too on the same track this year But, ya i dont want him to retire that soon too.

I have yet to call Alonso "best driver". It would be too arrogant of me to call him that. He is on his way to become one of the best but it is too early. And that is the point of my comments. Alonso with his very limited experience held up Michael. Michael would be expected to hold Alonso.

Of course Alonso proved he is up to it

- And on Alonso making a mistake and before thinking I am making up excuses, no, he did a mistake but can you imagine being stuck behind the dirty air of the car ahead for half a race, can you imagine what that would do to your car ? At least when he makes a mistake he doesn't end up in the wall

Same situation last year,Michael stayed at his tail.
N I cant remember any champion not being the wall during their careers,does each crash in a wall take away a championship title or reduce ones ability?I dont think so,for me IMHO,its the driver on the limit trying to achieve best from the equipment provided to him.

Alonso was behind Michael for twice as long so you cannot make a direct comparison on the car's behaviour.
Yes all drivers make mistakes but it is when they make them is what matters.

And by the way I did enjoy the race a lot not only because of the close fight but because it showed that Alonso is the class of the field in a car that isn't that much faster than the rest.

Alonso is class of the field now for sure JayVee,but his car is the FASTEST too

In the hands of Fisichella it isn't ???? Did you wonder why ?? Alonso is leaving the team so they can't be giving him PT ??

The Renault is a great car but it seems only in the hands of Alonso

It is Alonso The Cute who is making the difference

Please to hear that & i hope v have a competitor in KIMI or JUAN or Webber to match or challenge him otherwise it'll get boring.

I am sorry to tell you that Alonso will have a different competitor at each race because he and his car are good at all tracks while the others (drivers and their cars) are only good at some tracks.

[Julian Mayo]

I can't believe I just did that!

Jame's Allen's Button bottom licking is sooooo embarrassing and cringe worthy I have decided to do the only honourable thing I can do and commit Seppuku. Farewell, I apologise most profusely for being a member of the same species as JA.

PS giving control of the coverage over to local directors has always been the most stupid thing to do in my oppinion and is one of my pet hates! Could one of you please enter that for me as I'm not long for this world.
Does Seppuku hurt if you don't know exactly where to put the knife in? I've never actually disembowelled myself before.

yup

[Kapel]

Hi JayVee,hope ur having a nice day.

All your arguements noted & a few of them accepted too.

If you read my review's first line,it says "Mayb this is the only race Michael would win this year".
I know the car is slow & no where near the Renaults or Mclarens,and i have no hope for them being as strong as they were in 2004 ever.But,my comment was to give deserving credit to the team & the driver for the performance, skill, tactics, whatever,which u appreciated only in the 2nd post.Thank you.

My hopes of Michael winning the championship is the same as JV finishing on podium in the season-"likely,but too far fetched".

[RE30B#16]

Schuey and Ferarri had an excellent weekend making Renault look complacent and even ordinary strategy wise. . . . Renault made a knee jerk reaction calling Alonso into pit before schuey even though he had a faster car, more fuel and was only half a click behind Schuey. They threw away a certain race win there!

I don't know about knee jerk, but it was a tactical error. I totally agree that Renault threw the win away with that move. I would fix responsibility on the team, not the driver. Alonso drove impeccably save for the one little mistake 4 laps from the end, but I'm not sure he could have passed.

Jenson and Honda are now clearly exhibiting the kind of fortune that afflicts also rans. The first pit stop was farcical and the second was as dangerous and incompetent as I have ever seen. . . . What was the reasoning behind filling Rubens to the brim so that he could tour around at the back of the field for an hour and a half?

Button needs to stand up and become the psychological epicenter of that team in the way Schumacher, Senna, and Prost did in every team for which they drove. He is too damn quick to have these brain farts all over the place. In another post, I likened him to Chris Amon. I take that back. He is more like Jean-Pierre Jarier [look into his career if his name rings no bells]. Barrichello needs to stop being such a nice guy and flex his muscles too!

Mclaren are persisting with a race strategy that doesn't and will never work. The car isn't as quick as the Renault but they are still exhibiting the kind of behaviour that lost them the last two championships.

McLaren needs a driver like Hakkinen, Lauda, or Senna who will make Mercedes get that engine on par with Ferrari and Renault. Honda and Toyota may have passed them by already. Raikonnen is too young and does not command the focus of the team. Montoya is arrogant and haughty, yet not bright enough to see he really is in the power position in the situation with all of his experience. I see nothing changing there. Ron Dennis is just biding his time until Alonso [and Dan Wheldon ] take over next year. Maybe Montoya will catch a clue.

Particularly of Schuey's lollypop which has a very large mirrored surface so he can see what's going on with the rear end of his car during pit stops. Why are they always one step ahead of the game?

Because Schuey is a champion! I am not a huge fan of Michael Schumacher, but I acknowledge that he is a winner, and will breakthrough if he has any chance to win. We are starting to know this about Alonso as well.

Chris

[RE30B#16]

Drivers starting the 4th F1 event of 2006 (San Marino GP) with a new engine:

Michael Schumacher - DNF in previous round
Felipe Massa - DNF in previous round
Juan Pablo Montoya - DNF in previous round
Jarno Trulli - DNF in previous round
Mark Webber - DNF in previous round
Nico Rosberg - DNF in previous round
Jenson Button - DNF in previous round
Christian Klien - DNF in previous round
Tiago Monteiro - DNF in previous round
Vitantonio Liuzzi - DNF in previous round

Ralf Schumacher - Completed previous 2 events on same engine
Giancarlo Fisichella - Completed previous 2 events on same engine
Rubens Barrichello - Completed previous 2 events on same engine
David Coulthard - Completed previous 2 events on same engine

So only 8 drivers out of 22 will start this event with the same engine used in Australia and those are:
Fernando Alonso
Kimi Raikkonen
Nick Heidfeld
Jacques Villeneuve
Christijan Albers
Scott Speed
Takuma Sato
Yuki Ide

Alonso, most likely, would have won Imola if not for the early pit stop. He hounded Schumacher the whole race for the lead. Imagine how well he may have done with a new engine instead of a race old engine!

ALONSO IS THE MAN!!!

Chris

[RE30B#16]

Well, I would have preferred Alonso to win, but he gave me max point in the 8'N'Pole comp since I chose the luckless Jenson Button to win from Alonso.

Great race by Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso. Two thumbs up for both.

A big thumbs up to Montoya for being on the podium instead of Raikonnen. Good job, JPM!

Much has been made of Massa holding up Aloso and others. Personally, I don't think he is that good yet. He was driving slower with Alonso behind him because he was driving in his mirrors which makes you slow! No doubt, he didn't want to get passed, but him knew he could not hold Alonso off for long. Still he was my driver of the day for nearly bringing the Ferrari home 3rd at its "home" race.

Button and company blew it big time! 4 thumbs down!!

Raikonnen gets a huge thumbs down for perhaps the most uninspired performance of his career to date. If he is going to perform like that, put Pedro delaRosa in the damn car!!

Williams managed to get both cars home.

I expected a better performance out of Jacques Villeneuve, Nick Heidfeld, Christian Klein, and the Toyota twins. Oh well!!

I'm looking forward to Adrian Newey turning things around for Red Bull Racing.


Imola is one of my favorite tracks. You really have to have it together to put in a really quick lap there. Alonso was magic to watch through Acque Minerale and Rivazza even behind Schumacher. MotoGp races there are really killer! I'm always a little low still because I think about Senna. In my mind, there was no one better.

Chris

[Snowy]

Button needs to stand up and become the psychological epicenter of that team in the way Schumacher, Senna, and Prost did in every team for which they drove. He is too damn quick to have these brain farts all over the place. In another post, I likened him to Chris Amon. I take that back. He is more like Jean-Pierre Jarier [look into his career if his name rings no bells]. Barrichello needs to stop being such a nice guy and flex his muscles too!

Ciao Chris
Jean-Pierre Jarier retired quite a lot didn't he? Lets not compare Jenson with him just yet, Jenson still has a fairly good record when it comes to finishing races, and scoring points consistently is still not beyond the bounds of possibility. Jenson's relationship with Dave Richards now seems to have been more than just centering the team around his abilities - which is still the motto of the team - He gave Jenson a different kind of respect and induced a more critical confidence. We must never under estimate the energy and belief a powerful and respected man can instill in a driver.

Ross Brawn's belief in Schuey gives Schuey's belief in himself an armour plating that nothing can penetrate or cause to waver.

[GhoGho]

I like the idea that Fisichella is getting a new engine that has more power than the one with Alonso. Fisichella will be even more embarassed at the end of the race

Spot on JayVee

Time for Fisi to start a new career perhaps?

[<T-K>]

I like the idea that Fisichella is getting a new engine that has more power than the one with Alonso. Fisichella will be even more embarassed at the end of the race

Spot on JayVee

Time for Fisi to start a new career perhaps?

Maybe he should think about taking up soccer(or football, just so the british guys dont get angry with me ) again......

[GhoGho]

I like the idea that Fisichella is getting a new engine that has more power than the one with Alonso. Fisichella will be even more embarassed at the end of the race

Spot on JayVee

Time for Fisi to start a new career perhaps?

Maybe he should think about taking up soccer(or football, just so the british guys dont get angry with me ) again......

Yeah, but then if he joined, say Parma, they would probably start beating Man U or Liverpool, and then the british guys would still be upset with you