the San Marino Grand Prix!

[bigC]

after a three week break, the 4th race of the 2006 season, the San Marino GP! :D

in Friday practice, it was Renault/Ferrari 1-2 (Alonso and Schumie) followed by testers for BMW and Honda. Ferrari needs a win to stay competitive with Renault and McLaren, and also needs some points from the erratic Massa (in 5th for pratice). Fisichella was 6th, Trulli for Toyota was 7th, Wurz (Williamms) in 8th, JPM for McLaren in 9th, and Heidfeld in 10th.

will BMW continue to surprise and score points this weekend? will Button (aka, the best driver in F1 never to win a race) finally win a race? will renault walk away with another race (i hope not)? will RBR (especially Speed, who lost points last race with a penalty) finish in the points? will both McLarens finish the race (it has only happened once in three races)? will kamikazee Sato take anyone out?

i wonder how many engines will blow up this weekend?

story: http://www.formula1.com/race/news/4251/754.html
results: http://www.formula1.com/race/result/754/10.html

is the pressure building on Ferrari to win? http://www.formula1.com/race/news/4248/754.html

Honda's Davidson could be given a spot on their B team for next season. hmm, why not have him on the main team and put Barichello on the secondary team? http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=35638

[bigC]

Schumacher gains his 2nd pole of the season, and 66th of his career, surpassing the record of the late Ayrton Senna who died at San Marino in 1994. Schumie is followed by both Hondas, who had good qualifying sessions, and his team mate Massa, in 4th. Alonso is in 5th, the lone Renault, whilst both Toyotas and McLarens also qualified. Webber, in the lone Williams, qualified in 10th.

Fisichella in the other Renault was 11th and JV will start in 12th for BMW (Heidfeld qualified in 15th and crashed near the end of the 2nd qualifying session).

with the Hondas right behind Schumie, and Massa alongside Barrichello, it should be a great start for the race tomorrow.

1 Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) 1:22.795
2 Jenson Button (Honda) 1:22.988
3 Rubens Barrichello (Honda) 1:23.242
4 Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 1:23.702
5 Fernando Alonso (Renault) 1:23.709
6 Ralf Schumacher (Toyota) 1:23.772
7 Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:24.021
8 Kimi Räikkönen (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:24.158
9 Jarno Trulli (Toyota) 1:24.172
10 Mark Webber (Williams-Cosworth) 1:24.795

story: http://www.formula1.com/race/news/4260/754.html
results: http://www.formula1.com/race/result/754/24.html

[Mr_LoL]

Schumacher is back on form which is good. I hope he carries that into the race.

[bigC]

Schumacher wins and gets Ferrari's first legitimate win in 2 years (the USA GP doesn't count, since that race was a farce). all in all, it was a boring day at San Marino, with Schumie leading virtually every lap, save during pit stops. there was hardly any passing, with Alonso (2nd place) trying to chase down Schumie for the last 20 or so laps but never risking the big move to pass him. the producer seemed to think that there was only 2 cars in the race, so weJPM finished 3rd.

the biggest losers were the Honda drivers: Button, who started 2nd and finished 7th. he had trouble with a member of the lollypop guild, who signalled him ready to go, then changed his mind, as the fuel rig was still attached, oops. he remains, the best driver in F1 (never to win a race). Barrichello finished 10th, and probably wishes he was still playing second fiddle to Schumie (Massa was 4th).

Webber was 6th in the Williams and Fisichella was 8th for Renault. no Toyota scored any points the race. JV, for BMW, edged out Heidfeld, and finished 12th.

story: http://www.formula1.com/race/news/4266/754.html
results: http://www.formula1.com/race/result/754/8.html

hit em when they're up, hit em when they're down. Honda suffers yet another failure. they seem so close to victory ... then the race starts. is it time to dump perennial second runners Button and Barichello and sign some qualified talent? Button, like Sato in Super Aguri, is still with the team because of the birthplace on his passport. http://www.formula1.com/race/news/4268/754.html

a Ferrari revival is actually good for F1. whilst they dominated for 5 years, the sport needs more then one or two competitive teams. the more teams that can win on race day, the better off the sport is: http://www.formula1.com/race/news/4267/754.html

in two weeks, it's the fifth race of the season, the European Grand Prix at Nürburgring! :D :beer:

[lightman]

in two weeks, it's the fifth race of the season, the European Grand Prix at Nürburgring! :D :beer:

One circuit where it is effectively possible to pass. Then we will be able to judge the presumed Ferrari comeback for what it really is ;)

See, Imola should just be thrown out of the championship. It may be an historic circuit, but it's a ****ty one nonetheless. You start 1st, don't make mistakes, and you win. There is no space, no long enough straight and no strong enough brakes to pass. It's like a train track. Blah.

Anyway, overall, the race was really boring, but it's not the drivers fault, this time... :)

[bigC]

One circuit where it is effectively possible to pass. Then we will be able to judge the presumed Ferrari comeback for what it really is ;)

See, Imola should just be thrown out of the championship. It may be an historic circuit, but it's a ****ty one nonetheless. You start 1st, don't make mistakes, and you win. There is no space, no long enough straight and no strong enough brakes to pass. It's like a train track. Blah.

Anyway, overall, the race was really boring, but it's not the drivers fault, this time... :)agreed, i was bored out of my mind. no passing whatsoever. also, the broadcast basically only showed two cars, Schumie and Alsonso, almost as if the others didn't really matter. good result, bad race. ;)

[lightman]

the broadcast basically only showed two cars, Schumie and Alsonso, almost as if the others didn't really matter

See, it was broadcasted by RAI (that is, the talian national television)... And it was Imola. You have to understand that the only thing that italians want to see is a ferrari in front of anyone else. They don't care for the other 20 or so cars. This is a ****ed up country, trust me, seriously ****ed up. :/

good result, bad race. ;)

You meant "****ty result, bad race", right ? ;) :D

[mikechai]

Ok. I got no thread to post. European grand prix.

Seems Ferrari is back on track. Schumie wons. Alonso still picked up solid 8 points. Interesting race ahead.

[lightman]

Ok. I got no thread to post. European grand prix.

Seems Ferrari is back on track. Schumie wons. Alonso still picked up solid 8 points. Interesting race ahead.

Bad last tires set for Alonso gave the victory to Schumie.

Rosberg scored an amazing 7th place after starting 22nd.

Someone should finally kick Fisichella out of the circus.

Raikkonen did an ok race, but it really isn't his fault, Mercedes' engine isn't up to par with Reanult's and Ferrari's.

Let's hope for Barcellona to bring some more overtaking, and some less pit stop strategy...

[lee63]

I hope the put a better show on in the US than they did last year :thumbdwn: