***Shanghai Formula 1 GP 2004*** RACE

[sameerrao]

{EDIT}
well what a race, first time schumi finished a race with out points since 1999 or 8 i think in OZ when he finished 9 i think.

but i think was a good race, but what a good drive by barrichello, and schumi sets fast lap on the final lap, but i wounder what would of been the outcome if schumi didn't spin out... and what is up with the BAR teams colors?

http://img51.exs.cx/img51/8695/grid.jpg

{EDIT}

New circuit so no real history to report.

Circuit map
http://f1.racing-live.com/img/fiche_shanghai.gif
The overtaking opportunities are into turn 1, turn 7 and turn 8 in the above circuit map.

Circuit designed by Hermann Tilke and features some elevation changes unlike his other circuits. Really long straight.

Friday Practice
Dominated by Anthony Davidson of BAR whos was nearly a second faster than Button who was second fastest. His time - 1'33.289". Michael's fastest lap was 1'34.776 with Rubens about .35 secs ahead. Villenueve was about .35 secs slower than Alonso but both drivers were about a second slower than Schumi so quite disappointing. Ralf was back to speed very quickly having been faster than Montoya thru both sessions

Saturday Practice
The first practice session recorded slower times than Friday ... Ralf was quickest with 1'34''. Things improved in Practice 2 with the usual suspects back on form - Ferrari 1-2 with Michael doing a 1'33.448" and Rubens .35 secs behind. Kimi finished third fastest with 1'34.042 - impressive considering Mclaren did not do many laps at all - he shaded Coulthard by a huge margin.

Final Qualifying

Source: www.formula1.com
http://img59.exs.cx/img59/4531/qual.jpg

- Rubens on Pole
- Michael does a boo-boo - spins in turn one and aborts the lap. He will start from P20 - should be interesting race. I noticed that he was posting pretty slow times in the warm up lap - possibly his tires weren't up to temperature when braking into turn 1. Its rare that Michael doesnt take pole in a new circuit.
- Webber had tank slapper but didnt cause hime too much time
- Ralf beats Monty by 0.4
- Kimi is on P2 just 0.17 behind the pole man Rubens

Driver quotes - Qualifying
http://www.formula1.com/race/news/2263/729.html

Qualifying videos - onboard laps
http://f1videos.sites.uol.com.br/ --> no registration reqd

[vexor]

Turn one and two should be very interesting on the first lap.

[stracing]

very interesting
with the championship sewn up, i don't mind seeing schumi start from last. i want to see him pass ppl

[sameerrao]

very interesting
with the championship sewn up, i don't mind seeing schumi start from last. i want to see him pass ppl

Exactly ... I am glad that it happened now and not earlier when the championship was open. I hope he can fight his way back to the front like in Monza. Schumi must have forgotten what it means to start from dead last - can't remember when this last happened to him - Suzuka 1999 rings a bell....

I think it will be a fun race. I just hope he doesn't bash into a Minardi 50 metres into the race though ....

[dingo]

This is promising, maybe he did it on purpose...winning from last on the grid is about the only thing he hasn't done this season. :wink:

[stracing]

it was suzuka 1998. i don't think it was his fault as well, some eletronic glitch on the start line forced him back of the grid.

i just hope he passes montoya...that would be bliss :D

[sameerrao]

^^ Yep I remember now it was 98. At least his overtaking skills if a little rusty (as he is usually up in the front) will be sharpened up somewhat with Monza and now China

[davide]

This is gonna be a very very interesting race indeed!!

[Vansquish]

No kidding...we've even got JV back in a car :-D

[aks]

Kimi P2 and Michael P20!! thank god it's holidays cos this is one race i am gonna definately watch!! pls pls pls don't fail McLaren F1 cars!!

[sameerrao]

Prediction for where Michael ends up in the race? Anyone?

I say P3

[Max Power]

P1 Barrichello
P2 Raikkonen
P3 Shumi
P4 Shumi Jr

Finnaly a race where Michael is a non factor (as compared else where).....hopefully somebody will win other than Ferrari......c'mon Minardi

[ZfrkS62]

As a co-worker pointed out after Monza, if Michael spins during the weekend, he comes back with a vengance. hs real fight lies up in P11 and 9. Montoya is going to make Schumi earn that spot and Sato wont' be a push over either. Coulthard won't be much of a problem, he'll actually probably drop even further back. All the while Rubens and Kimi will be scrapping it out up front, probably opening up a huge gap ahead of the pack. One that will be overcome in the pits only. Keep in mind, Ferrari usually runs a light fuel load in qualifying so they'll be quick in the first stint. I am suspecting that Kimi is running light too.

While Kimi is talented though the relibility of his car this year has made his ability to finish, questionable. IMO the edge he drives on is beyond what the Mercedes engine can handle. It does have the potential, as Hungary proved but its just too unpredictable as i've said in previous topics.

Mid-field i think Villenuve, Fisichella, Coulthard and Webber are going to be in a race long battle we each other. If you're a Villenuve fan remember, he hasn't been in an F1 car for a year and the previous test probably hasn't been enough to get him fully familiarised with the Renault, so don't expect him to do anything spectacular.

All in all, Shanghai is going to produce one hell of a race. I think we may see Barrichello take win #2 with Michael 2nd or third depending on what happens to Raikkonen. If he can hold on I think it will be Ferrari-McLaren-Ferrari accross the Finish Line, but should his engine or even rear wing( :roll: ) decide to walk out on the job...look for Ferrari-Ferrari-BAR.

All of this of course bars the 1st turn antics inherent to Formula1 :wink:

[sameerrao]

I think as Michael will start from the tail end of the grid or in the pits - Ferrari will fuel him up a lot so that he will pit after most of the grid has already done so - that might help him climb a few places. But there is a lot of risk from starting at the back.

Last year Alonso screwed up qualifying and bumped into a Minardi or something within the first 100 metres. That ruined his race. Lets hope he makes it thru the first lap with the car intact.

But I still maintain P3 is on - who will take the win will be between 'chello and Kimi - depends on how their car will respond to the improving track conditions as the race progresses....

ZfrkS62 ... I am glad to see you have a co-worker who talks about F1 ... here in Houston ... I haven't found a single F1 fan among my friends here.

[SFDMALEX]

I say Rubens will win and Schumi will take 2nd :P

[sameerrao]

*** Shock **** Alex predicts a Ferrari win :D

[ZfrkS62]

ZfrkS62 ... I am glad to see you have a co-worker who talks about F1 ... here in Houston ... I haven't found a single F1 fan among my friends here.

It's kind of easy when you work on BMWs. especially if you share shop space with Mercedes :D :lol:

[sameerrao]

If you see Michael's lap ... take a look at the link I posted above for F1 vids - the car seemed to break away too early .. just as he was getting into the corner and not midway thru the corner like Bruni ... I am still unsure if it was a mechanical issue or low tire temps/pressures that caused it to break away like that ....

[5vz-fe]

Man oh man, what a weekend for Michael.......spin in Qualifying, knock Klien out of the race, spin in the race, getting a puncture.

[saadie]

lol .... i cant believe coullthad did that .....what the hell was he thinking .... he made ralph hella mad ..... dosnt he know he cant be jacques ..... :lol: ......

[dingo]

That was a pretty good race, but I would really like to see Button win a race this year. :D
MS still managed to get fastest lap despite all his troubles, but congrats to Rubens. :D

[sameerrao]

Man oh man, what a weekend for Michael.......spin in Qualifying, knock Klien out of the race, spin in the race, getting a puncture.

Disappointing race for Michael - unremarkable race and lousy strategy - he should have gone to a 2 stop strategy considering he started from the pit lane.

The spin he had going into the long straight was odd. I really think something was wrong with his car.

But the amount of time he was stuck behind Villeneuve was pathetic considering that Jacques was clearly not racing at his best nor was his car set up clearly - it was sliding about a lot more than Webbers car who was just ahead of him....

But on the positive side excellent race from Rubens particularly in the last 15 laps - at one time it looked like a sure win for Button as he had one less stop to do and was only 9 secs behind Rubens and Kimi who were both on 3 stop strategies. But Rubens kept banging in 1'33''s while Button was in 1'35"s which made all the difference. Kimi was able to close the gap to Button but couldnt pass him

[5vz-fe]

I think he should start at the last positon and stick with the orginal stragey. Off the start he would have at least make a few postions......

Totally agree with you sameerrao, he should have gone for 2 stop if he's starting from pitlane, but I doubt those bridgestones gonna last that long. Well, he got a puncture anyways .....

[sameerrao]

Alonso and Montoya both had a quiet race (apart from some overtaking moves with Villenueve in the beginning) but got decent results in the end.

What caused Michael's puncture - I didnt see it - it happened during the advertisement break

[Toronto]

I think he should start at the last positon and stick with the orginal stragey. Off the start he would have at least make a few postions......

Totally agree with you sameerrao, he should have gone for 2 stop if he's starting from pitlane, but I doubt those bridgestones gonna last that long. Well, he got a puncture anyways .....

he was having problems with his tires i think? forced to stop at least twice because of that,

but i think the people of china are happy on how the merc's did and now they can open a plant in the biggest car market in the world, and isn't that what F1 is all about, the marketing and profits :wink: :P

[sameerrao]

I think he should start at the last positon and stick with the orginal stragey. Off the start he would have at least make a few postions......

Totally agree with you sameerrao, he should have gone for 2 stop if he's starting from pitlane, but I doubt those bridgestones gonna last that long. Well, he got a puncture anyways .....

he was having problems with his tires i think? forced to stop at least twice because of that,

but i think the people of china are happy on how the merc's did and now they can open a plant in the biggest car market in the world, and isn't that what F1 is all about, the marketing and profits :wink: :P

My point was that he stopped once due to the flat tire late in the race ... At that time they could have filled him enough to do the rest of the race ... Its not like he was fighting for track position or something .... It was stupid that he had pit again almost at the end for fuel....

Michael was lapping at the 1'33''s during the last couple laps ... instead even if lapped a second slower to conserve his tires he would have still been faster than the stopping again with a 20+ second time penalty for this...

Anyway I am pissed off now and am going to sleep ... grrrh .....

[ZfrkS62]

that punctured tire royally fucked his race though. he was putting in a hell of a charge when it happened, but their decision not to top off his fuel when he came when was 2nd in the stupid moves category only to the Williams team not being prepared for Ralf after Coulthard hit him.

Speaking of Coulthard i think the FIA should penalize him heavily for his indescretion that pretty much ended Ralf's race. His racing today was absolutely horrible. It almost looked like he was pulling a Montoya when he passed Michael and the locked up in the immediate corner.

As for Klein, he put himself out of the race. He gave up the line when he went in wide and failed to check his mirror before trying to correct his position. he's lucky he didn't take Schumi out of the race at that point.

I saw the wheel come off Bruni's Minardi and i'm not sure if the FIA will penalize them for it since they are supposed to have that pin shoved through the locking nut to prevent that from happening. I would assume they will since they seem to enjoy handing out fines.
what i didn't see was the cause of Zonta's retirement. Apparently it happened during a break but SPEED never even mentioned it.

Congrats go out to Barrichello who seems to be becoming the master at pulling out a few extra seconds before his pit stops, he drove an excellent race and deserved every second that he was on top of that podium.
Jenson Button has got to be feeling a bit like a bridesmaid though with all of his 2nd and 3rd place finishes. Don't worry Button, you'll get the bouquet someday :lol:

All in all i would say keep China in the schedule. It produced a very interesting race weekend, on a very unique track layout.

and as for BAR's colors: British-American Tabacco wanted to push a different brand of suicide stick for this race. My guess is Lucky Strikes just aren't that big in China and they didn't want to waste advertising space on a losing brand.

[aks]

well done to Rubens, he really deserves a few Grand Prix wins under his belt, he's been more of a bridesmaid to Michael than anyone else!

well done to Kimi too, he really seems to be gettin himself back on track after first half of this season, next season looks to be a very good one, can't wait!

i am so pissed that i missed the race, i thought it was gonna be a few hours later and am now fuming!!

now that China has hosted a Grand Prix along with pretty much every other major country, where the hell is India?!??!?!?! C'mon India, we can't fall behind!!

[sau_mathur]

awesome race, but disappointed for schumi. good to see button snatch 2nd from kimi.. !! cant wait for button to get with williams next yr and get some wins under his belt.

[akumapc]

well looks like BAR are pretty close to securing 2nd place, was a pretty good race overall but not a belgium thats for sure :) The BAR livery was a one off deal for the chinese audience, since 555 brand is more popular than the lucky strike (both same British American Tobaco). It looks fucking stellar imo so here are some images I was able to scrounge!


http://www.akumapc.com/f1/bar/2.jpg
http://www.akumapc.com/f1/bar/3.jpg
http://www.akumapc.com/f1/bar/1.jpg
http://www.akumapc.com/f1/bar/4.jpg
http://www.akumapc.com/f1/bar/5.jpg
http://www.akumapc.com/f1/bar/6.jpg

[aks]

woah, the BAR cars look mad! FUCK, i wish i hadn't missed the race!

yeh, 555 is bloody popular in hong kong too

thanks for the pics mate, help me catch up a bit on wat i missed

[sikx5]

It was a mad race!!
Glad to see button up there, and also rubens no.1 again, good stuff. Poor schumi, unulucky about the spin, the puncture, it just wasnt happenin for him :|

Im glad they were able to show the race at 3pm here! i didnt have to stay up until the early mornings to watch :P

hey when i was watching i didnt see those colours on the BAR cars :?

[dingo]

aks, the cars were not like that in the race....same as usual. :D
I agree with you sikx5, it was great having it on so early (1.30pm here)...the next race is also earlier, at 3.30pm in WA and 5.30PM over east.

[aks]

Im glad they were able to show the race at 3pm here! i didnt have to stay up until the early mornings to watch


that's wat screwed me up! i forgot to check the time and took it for granted that the race would be late!!!

it's always that one time u forget isn't it? :cry:

[gis]

what a race,awesome having the top 3 finish within 2 seconds of each other.i really wanna see Button win a race this year,if anyone deserves it he does,and seeing him today is why he should stick with BAR.

[sameerrao]

Good drive by Sato - he went from the back of the field to finish sixth in an incident free race....

[5vz-fe]

Good 'quiet' race from Sato.......most of the racing footage (@TSN) focus on Kimi and Rubens........

[ZfrkS62]

IMO, Ronin, Schumacher would have finished in the points if it wasnt for the puncture. and the decision to load up on fuel when starting from the pitlane was made on the gamble that most teams were going to run a 3 stop strategy. They were going to try and keep him out longer so that he could make up ground while everyone dove for the pits. but like i said, that puncture screwed it all up.
as for his spin, i think one of his weak points this year has been his brake biasing.
he was messing around with it when he crashed in Monaco; he had been playing with it when he spun in Monza; and i would be willing to bet that he had been playing with it when he spun both times this weekend.


Aks, i think that livery that is posted above was for the 3rd car since the rules state that livery is allowed to be different on the T-car.

And damn you all for being able to watch it at 3PM...I had to stay up til 1AM to see it live. :wink:

[mindgam3]

as for his spin, i think one of his weak points this year has been his brake biasing.
he was messing around with it when he crashed in Monaco; he had been playing with it when he spun in Monza; and i would be willing to bet that he had been playing with it when he spun both times this weekend.


but then again schumi constantly changing is brake bias so much is probably just one more reason he's that much faster than everyone else

[ZfrkS62]

true. i wouldn't be surprised if he adjusted it for each corner. And since Monza's climactic conditions were changing and China was a new track with an interesting first corner complex, he probably misadjusted it. Can't explain Monaco really except for that maybe he was adjusting it at the wrong time and place. It's all speculation at this point. But look for Schumacher to DOMINATE Suzuka in 2 weeks. I think he'll be looking to avenge his two losses.

[gottacatchup]

god damn i need speed channel so bad

this actually sounds like a good race and i wish i could see it

[sameerrao]

god damn i need speed channel so bad

this actually sounds like a good race and i wish i could see it

Speed is awesome - you'll love it ... the good stuff IMO is:

- F1 telecast
- F1 decade
- WRC - this gets the short shift though with odd times
- Autorotica - good period pieces
- Wind Tunnel - phone/talk show
- Speed GT
- Superbikes and Moto GP

Its got something for everyone ... a bit too much Nascar but what the heck...

[Toronto]

god damn i need speed channel so bad

this actually sounds like a good race and i wish i could see it

Speed is awesome - you'll love it ... the good stuff IMO is:

- F1 telecast
- F1 decade
- WRC - this gets the short shift though with odd times
- Autorotica - good period pieces
- Wind Tunnel - phone/talk show
- Speed GT
- Superbikes and Moto GP

Its got something for everyone ... a bit too much Nascar but what the heck...

ya way to much nascar and that tuner transphormation thingy? but it is good, but i like my local sports channel feed of the f1 races (TSN) they use the ITv feed unlike on speed.

[sameerrao]

^^ cool!

[ZfrkS62]

i thought speed did use the ITv feed? they just have their commentators add all the insight and stuff.