The 2006 European Formula 1 Grand Prix

[Bundy]

Good close race

This time it was Ferrari who fought with Renault or Alonso to be more accurate. Ferrari were strong here and deserved the win so well done.

I was suprised with Ferraris pace. It looks like they had a better tyre than the Michelin.

Alonso did the best anyone can do in that car (look how mediocre Fisichella was) and finished second. Hey, you don't want Alonso to dominate all races. Watch him in dazzle in Spain

Well done to Massa on his first podium

Button and Webber share yet another thing

Rosberg was impressive.

Villeneuve WIPED THE FLOOR (these are rah's words not mine) with Heidfeld. Qualifying, race and all. That is the highly regarded Heidfeld and the mediocre passed by his use by date Villeneuve

Driver of the day was between Alonso, Rosberg and the driver I don't like and I voted for Alonso because I am biased

If Alonso started from pole & finished 8th you'd still vote him driver of the day.

Otherwise I agree with you once more JV.

[JayVee]

If Alonso started from pole & finished 8th you'd still vote him driver of the day.

Otherwise I agree with you once more JV.

Lots of people agreeing with me. Something must be wrong

But I am not that biased and had Alonso stuffed up I will be the first to criticise him. I don't hide
But unfortunately (for the non-Alonso fans ) he has yet to make a mistake this year.

[Bundy]

If Alonso started from pole & finished 8th you'd still vote him driver of the day.

Otherwise I agree with you once more JV.

Lots of people agreeing with me. Something must be wrong

But I am not that biased and had Alonso stuffed up I will be the first to criticise him. I don't hide
But unfortunately (for the non-Alonso fans ) he has yet to make a mistake this year.

I agree (again!!), he didn't make a mistake but he started from pole & finished 2nd not making a mistake. Surely then, logically, MS & Ferrari must have driven a better race in order to start 2nd but win the race.

[mlittle]

The key to this race was that second stop, as it was in Imola 2 wks. past. During the Speed Channel broadcast, one of the announcers(Matchett, I think....) said that had it not been for A}the flawless pit work Ferrari gave Schumacher on his second stop, and B}the couple of qual.-like laps Schumacher ran before his second stop, Alonso would've won this race instead of finishing 2nd.

Driver of the day....Michael Schumacher; he showed, once again today, why he is the 7-time WDC

Disappointment of the day......1}for the amount of money spent, one would think Toyota could keep their engine from BBQ' during the race, and 2}McLaren-Mercedes lost pace w/both Ferrari and Renault in the constructors' fight

Surprise of the day......the number of retirements; normally, one doesn't see as many retirements at the Nurburgring as occurred today.

[Snowy]

Driver of the day M Schumacher
Closest to driver of the day Kimi
Well done Alonso for showing just how good Michael is
Dissapointment (highlight for some): of the day Jenson's engine giving out
Second dissapointment: Mark's gearbox giving out
Massa is pretty blooming useful, and shows just how useful a Ferrari is!
Bridgestone are now working in most temperature ranges, Michelin now have their hands full. Jenson is unlikely to win one without huge developmental efforts from both tyre and car manufacturers.

GP2 One massive light on my F1 horizon Lewis Hamilton wins both European GP2 races!

[Julian Mayo]

I think the Bridgestones will favour some circuits and the M's others.

[Snowy]

I think the Bridgestones will favour some circuits and the M's others.

I hope for everyone's sake your right though you have to admit there has been a rather quantum shift and the Bridgestones were not supposed to work at Imola or Nurburgring according to Pat Simmons!

[GhoGho]

The key to this race was that second stop, as it was in Imola 2 wks. past. During the Speed Channel broadcast, one of the announcers(Matchett, I think....) said that had it not been for A}the flawless pit work Ferrari gave Schumacher on his second stop, and B}the couple of qual.-like laps Schumacher ran before his second stop, Alonso would've won this race instead of finishing 2nd.

Flawless pitwork always helps, but the pitwork didnt earn all 6 seconds of the lead after the stops were done, that was down to the driver. MS definately driver of the day.

Unfortunately Alonso can afford to finish 1 place behind MS all season long and still win the WDC! A bit of help from others, including Fortuna and Tyche, is required to even up the scores. Then we will see the best (or worst) of Both drivers fighting for the title.

[Snowy]

Unfortunately Alonso can afford to finish 1 place behind MS all season long and still win the WDC! A bit of help from others, including Fortuna and Tyche, is required to even up the scores. Then we will see the best (or worst) of Both drivers fighting for the title.

Perhaps we'll see some dirty tricks! I wonder if Schuey has grown up at all! Or perhaps Fernando will take Schuey out in the last race and win the championship by a single point. I'm just kidding I'm sure they'll both behave like gentlemen.

[GhoGho]

Unfortunately Alonso can afford to finish 1 place behind MS all season long and still win the WDC! A bit of help from others, including Fortuna and Tyche, is required to even up the scores. Then we will see the best (or worst) of Both drivers fighting for the title.

Perhaps we'll see some dirty tricks! I wonder if Schuey has grown up at all! Or perhaps Fernando will take Schuey out in the last race and win the championship by a single point. I'm just kidding I'm sure they'll both behave like gentlemen.

I hope so too, just at the moment FA is happy to finish 1 place back, he feels he can afford to. would be great to see a real fight where every point counts

[Andre_Brasil]

Folks, in my opinion the race was booooooooooring.

One of the worst decisions ever was to allow tires changes again. This decision alone gave the edge back to Michael, and that's it.

Anothe very bad decision taken in the past was to reduce the difference of points award to 1st and 2nd. I think it would be better for the sport if points were awarded like

8th: 1 pt
7th: 2 pts
6th: 3 pts
5th: 5 pts
4th: 7 pts
3th: 10 pts
2nd: 14 pts
1st: 20 pts

Or if the 3 or 4 worse results could be discharged.

For those who saw the GP2 races... Nurburgring is a circuit where overtaking is possible, but will it pay the risk with the current points system?

With 36 points against 21 from Michael, why would Alonso bother in compete? He can be 2nd to MS for 7 races in a row and still be the championship leader.

And with the current pit stops why would Michael bother to try to overtake Alonso when he can comfortably do 2 classification laps and get 1st place?

This may be only BS, but I was very disappointed to watch such a boring race after watching the show Lewis Hamilton put in the GP2 event. And he was not the only one... lots of fun at every lap.

Anyway, congratulations Brown/Schummy: great strategy.

p.s.: I don't know who is responsible for strategy at Williams, but Rosberg could have been 5th if he had done only 1 pit. As a Barrichello supporter (still) I'm thankful.

Massa did an ok race... I was happy for him as well.

[Julian Mayo]

[JayVee]

I hope for everyone's sake your right though you have to admit there has been a rather quantum shift and the Bridgestones were not supposed to work at Imola or Nurburgring according to Pat Simmons!

I think you are reading too much into it. Bridgestone got it right last week but didn't at Imola, Australia or Malaysia. I think we'll see a similar trend over the season.

Michael and Ferrari fans don't get too excited. Michael may have won a race or two but Alonso is teaching him a lesson or two about consistency

[JayVee]

Unfortunately Alonso can afford to finish 1 place behind MS all season long and still win the WDC! A bit of help from others, including Fortuna and Tyche, is required to even up the scores. Then we will see the best (or worst) of Both drivers fighting for the title.

Perhaps we'll see some dirty tricks! I wonder if Schuey has grown up at all! Or perhaps Fernando will take Schuey out in the last race and win the championship by a single point. I'm just kidding I'm sure they'll both behave like gentlemen.

You can be sure that Fernando will behave like a gentleman. The same can't be said about the other guy.

Remember, Alonso was clearly faster in Imola, Ferrari couldn't have improved that much in two weeks so it must be due to the tyres
Wait to see Alonso in Spain before you start thinking Michael will be a serious contender. I still think it is Kimi who will finish second to Alonso

[JayVee]

With 36 points against 21 from Michael, why would Alonso bother in compete? He can be 2nd to MS for 7 races in a row and still be the championship leader.

And with the current pit stops why would Michael bother to try to overtake Alonso when he can comfortably do 2 classification laps and get 1st place?

p.s.: I don't know who is responsible for strategy at Williams, but Rosberg could have been 5th if he had done only 1 pit.

Agree about the point system. There should be more of a gap between 1st and 2nd

Race strategy has been like this for years so unless you ban refuelling and tyre changes, it will stay like this.

Rosberg's 2 stop surprised me too. Maybe he ran out of new tyres or something