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** 2004 F1 GP at Suzuka ** Updated after Race
Race results
1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari Winner 2 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW +14.0 secs 3 Jenson Button BAR-Honda +19.6 secs 4 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda +31.7 secs 5 Fernando Alonso Renault +37.7 secs 6 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes +39.3 secs 7 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW +55.3 secs 8 Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas +56.2 secs 9 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas +89.6 secs 10 Jacques Villeneuve Renault +1 Lap 11 Jarno Trulli Toyota +1 Lap 12 Christian Klien Jaguar-Cosworth +1 Lap 13 Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford +1 Lap 14 Olivier Panis Toyota +2 Lap 15 Timo Glock Jordan-Ford +2 Lap 16 Gianmaria Bruni Minardi-Cosworth +3 Lap Ret Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth +12 Lap Ret David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes +15 Lap Ret Rubens Barrichello Ferrari +15 Lap Ret Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth +33 Laps Sadly the rain led off for the race. It was bright sunshine throughout. The race was sort of boring in my mind as I expected a wet race with a lot of unpredictable things happening. Instead we had the top 4 qualifiers finish in the top four spots with only Jenson leapfrogging Sato. Kimi's poor pace in qualifying is now clear that it was due to going for a 2 stop as compared to Coulthard who was on a three stopper. He had a quiet unremarkable race and finished in the points. The same could be said about Alonso who apart from overtaking JV was never seen again on TV. Coulthard was once again caught up in an accident - this time with Rubens who was on a charge back from 15th on the grid. They collided together somewhere but this wasn't seen on camera. This race had the worst TV coverage I have ever seen - frequent loss of television feed and an inept TV drirector who would switch cameras just as a pass was occuring to show the pits where the team guys were loafing about waiting for a car to pit in. This happened at least three times and we missed watching the pass live. Another race where the two people I consider as mobile chicanes proved themselves as such - refering to Jarno Trulli and Jacques Villenueve. Villeneuve particularly was really off the pace and headed backwards. Trulli also headed backwards pretty quickly. Mark Webber lost out a couple places at the start itself - thereafter he kept falling backwards - he eventually retired on lap 20. Not sure why. F1 Qualifying 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:33.542 2 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:34.032 3 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:34.571 4 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 1:34.897 5 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:35.157 6 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:35.213 7 Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas 1:36.136 8 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.156 9 Jacques Villeneuve Renault 1:36.274 10 Olivier Panis Toyota 1:36.420 11 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:36.663 12 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.820 13 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:37.653 14 Christian Klien Jaguar-Cosworth 1:38.258 15 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:38.637 16 Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford 1:41.953 17 Timo Glock Jordan-Ford 1:43.533 18 Gianmaria Bruni Minardi-Cosworth 1:48.069 19 Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth 20 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas This time instead of copying comments I thought I will give my take of the session: Sameer's Comments: It was a damp track that was drying towards the end. In the pre-qualifying, Jarno Trulli was on pole and must have been on fumes then because he was nowhere near the pole during the actual qualifying sessions. Apart from Trulli, the top 4 in pre-qualifying landed up holding the top spots in final qualifying. Qualifying was particularly interesting in the first half as some qualifed on intermediates and others on slicks. The circuit was dry in Turn One and the back straight up to the Casio chicane. It was wet in the S curves and exiting the hairpin and in the Casio chicane as well as the curve heading into the straight. Therefore it was a mixed bag that the drivers inherited. Montoya was second out in actual qualifying and chose slicks - he was awesome to watch - with the car stepping out at several places. Even so he qualified 10 seconds faster than Bruni who went before him. The next few runners were on intermediates but couldnt beat Monty. Then Alonso went out on slicks and banged in lap nearly a second quicker. By then the circuit was visibly drying and the track started to improve a lot. The next few runners started all banging quicker laps and times started to tumble pretty quickly. Villeneuve impressed with a lap much faster than Alonso. Raikkonen was strangely unimpressive - his car was snaking quite a bit and looked a lot less stable than Coulthard who pulled in a 0.7sec quicker lap. Barrichello did a Schumacher and muffed up at the Casio chicane. Till then he looked set for P2 behind Alonso (who was on pole at that time). He lost control and went off onto the grass and ended up in 15th spot - disappointing for sure. Actually he was snaking at that particular spot in the warm up lap and should have exercised more caution on his actual qually lap. As for BAR, Jenson was smooth as silk (as ever) and did a great lap and was on provisional pole when Sato went out - Sato was true to self a little wild but ended up 0.3 faster than Jenson. The BAR team was celebrating mildly when Button got on prov pole but erupted when Sato beat him. Poor Jenson can do a convincing Rodney Dangerfield ("I get no respect") for sure :) Ralf was very smooth thru the entire lap .. he braked a little late into the chicane but didnt lose much time there. In fact his slides were almost perfect in that the car slid into the perfect entry spot into the second part of the chicane. Difficult to explain but easy to understand if you see his lap. He was 3.6 secs quicker than Monty who faced a much wetter lap. Michael was inch perfect throughout the lap - he headed Ralf by 0.3 seconds in sector 1 and then only by 0.007 in sector 2 - he nailed the chicane prefectly and pulled out 0.3 seconds ahead by the end. Retribution for the china in Spades. Trulli's pre-qual performance of course flattered to deceive and he ended up in P6 - but that was 1.2 secs faster than Panis - so shows Toyota were right in putting him in the car in 2004 itself. So this was Michael's 63rd Pole (2 short of the immortal Senna) and much awaited. I for one theough Senna's record will be beaten this year but it is not to be ... it will be next year for sure... Two instinctive drivers and ones who are not that bothered with setup lost out heavily here - refering to Raikkonen and Montoya. Montoya was done in by his pre-qualifying and has been off the pace throughout. The way I see it in a normal race weekend Montoya starts off worse than Ralf and then steadily improves in session and out-qualifies Ralf eventually. This is because he must be using Ralf's setup data to improve his car. This time thanks to torrential rains none of the drivers could improve their setups in the practice sessions - thus Montoya was left with perhaps the same setup as Friday morning - he must have a lot of work to do in the race. As for Raikkonnen - he also benefits from Dc's experience in setups but may have suffered to a lesser extent the same problem. I am basing this on the comments made by the Speed Channel commentators ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And now to one of the best current circuits in the world Suzuka in Japan Circuit History - courtesy Pitpass Japan wanted a Grand Prix as its fan-base became enormous, and everyone wanted Japan to have a Grand Prix because there were potential sponsors and engine-builders there, but nobody wanted to race at Fuji. The answer was Suzuka, which had been designed by John Hugenholtz as a test track for Honda. Because it had been designed as a test track, it had a wide range of corners over its 3.641 miles and it also had a feature unique to Grand Prix circuits, a crossover. Suzuka was first used for a World Championship race in 1987 and has ever since hosted the Japanese Grand Prix. It has frequently seen the Chmapionship decider, never more dramatically than in 1989, when Prost suckered Senna and then drove into him, or in 1990 when Senna rammed Prost out of the race at very high speed on the first corner. Japan, after all, is the home of kamikaze. Circuit map http://www.pitpass.com/images/circui...rge/suzuka.gif Circuit has everything fast straights, fast corners, hairpins, S curves... one of the best anywhere Overtaking spots: Casino triangle chicane (after 130R) and into First curve. Weather Wet during practice. Wet during the rest of the weekend. Rumour that the race is in jeopardy due to weather thanks to the likelihood of a typhoon hitting Japan 2003 Results Race Results 1 Rubens Barrichello 2 Kimi Raikkonen 3 David Coulthard 4 Jenson Button 5 Jarno Trulli 6 Takuma Sato 7 Cristiano da Matta 8 Michael Schumacher 2004 Friday Practice times Practice 1 Friday first practice times from Suzuka 1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m47.906s 2 FISICHELLA Sauber 1m48.362s 3 BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m49.846s 4 BUTTON BAR 1m49.937s 5 HEIDFELD Jordan 1m51.438s 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren 1m51.530s 7 GLOCK Jordan 1m52.602s 8 MONTOYA Williams 1m53.517s 9 DOORNBOS Jordan 1m53.603s 10 ALONSO Renault 1m54.012s 11 LEINDERS Minardi 1m55.455s 12 R.SCHUMACHER Williams 1m55.632s 13 VILLENEUVE Renault 1m57.547s 14 TRULLI Toyota 1m58.351s 15 DAVIDSON BAR 2m00.712s 16 BRUNI Minardi 2m02.825s 17 BAUMGARTNER Minardi 2m03.955s --> Bridgestones wets and intermediates had a clear advantage over Michelins - something like 3-4 sec a lap. Rain being a great leveler as well as capable of mixing up results resulted in Heidfeld in P5 and Fisi in P2... FP2 1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:45.388 2 Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas 1:46.102 3 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:46.749 4 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:46.874 5 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:48.033 6 Timo Glock Jordan-Ford 1:49.277 7 Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford 1:49.286 8 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 1:49.370 9 Anthony Davidson BAR-Honda 1:49.598 10 Jacques Villeneuve Renault 1:49.672 11 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:49.712 12 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:49.736 13 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:50.060 14 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:50.386 15 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:50.666 16 Robert Doornbos Jordan-Ford 1:51.007 17 Christian Klien Jaguar-Cosworth 1:52.232 18 Bas Leinders Minardi-Cosworth 1:52.942 19 Gianmaria Bruni Minardi-Cosworth 1:53.194 20 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:53.482 21 Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth 1:54.703 22 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas 23 Olivier Panis Toyota 24 Bjorn Wirdheim Jaguar-Cosworth 25 Ryan Briscoe Toyota |
Thanx sameerrao, I am going away this weekend to montreal to gamble, drink, and gamble and visit my bro, sameerrao will be incharge of this thread, and i will still post on the race, but i can't say that i will be online right after the race ends, i will try,
but i would like to thank sameerrao as an acting mod in this thread, good luck and thanks again. hope this will be a good race, nice track, bad weather, so it is going to be good, and don't be fooled by schumi performance last year, championship won, what is the point, but i think he will have the "feel for the hunt" this race. |
thanks sameerrao!! another great overview as usual!! :D
this weekend is going to be extremely interesting. Schumi is going to be super hungry to come out on top after his last two races, Barrichello will be eager to continue his winning streak, Kimi is going to be even hungrier for another victory and Button is probably the hungriest of all, looking for his first F1 victory. Williams is definetly going to be on the hunt. they have shown alot of aggresion at the start of the races in the second half of the season but always seem to lose their pace after the first stint. i suspect them to be on the same strategy as Ferrari in an attempt to show that they are serious about winning. Ralf had been showing great promise in China before Coulthard took him out, hopefully he will shine through again. Montoya, like him or not, has the potential to put his BMW on the front row in qualifying, whether or not he will remains to be seen. as for everyone else...i think we can expect the same shit from them. Alonso will more than likely rocket through the grid on the start but will probably steadily drop in the ranks as the race progresses. JV...HA!! he'll be back with the Jags and Jordans. |
Just caputerd the end of todays session, really just the end, shows all the lap times, and some clips of just how wet it was out there.
HERE please don't post this out side of JW. |
Given the weather it should be quite a interesting race weekend.....I wonder will the rain screw up the qualifying order again (look out schumi, don't pick the wrong spot again)
Thanks Toronto for the little clip, it is super wet out there ....... |
Japan qualifying postponed
Saturday's qualifying session for the Japan Grand Prix has been postponed because of a typhoon. Qualifying will now take place from 0100 BST on Sunday, the day of the race, with heavy rain and winds of 110 mph expected at Suzuka on Saturday. World champion Michael Schumacher was quickest in both practice sessions on Friday in constant heavy rain. "Initially when we started it was tricky - just on the limit," he said. "At the end it was impossible." The world champion's quickest lap of one minute 45.388 seconds came in the second session. Sauber's Giancarlo Fisichella was second quickest in both sessions, the Italian lapping within a second of Schumacher. Ferrari's Rubens Barrichello was third quickest in the morning while McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen improved from sixth in the first session to third as the rain got heavier and visibility deteriorated. Several drivers skidded off during the afternoon, Fisichella spinning onto the gravel on the approach to the chicane, with Jordan's Timo Glock and Minardi's Zsolt Baumgartner also losing control. Japan's Takuma Sato disappointed home fans by stopping after one lap in the morning but bounced back to finish eighth quickest for BAR in the second session. from BBC Sport |
Wow ^^ - I wonder when they will show it here in US now ?
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1am, i cant be arsed to stay up for tht :P hopefully they'll be showing the qualifying before the race on the repeat in the afternoon
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sorry mate, what I meant was 4~5 AM!!! prolly just F1 in ur dreams still keke
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OK checked up the times on Speed
All times CST Fri: Formula One Practice (repeat) - 11 pm - 12 am F1 Decade 1994 Japanese Grand Prix 12am - 1am Sat: Inside Grand Prix 9.00 pm - 9.30pm Qualifying: 9.30 - 11.30 pm Race Live: 12:00 am - 2:30am On the Limit: Jordan GP Test Jordan Grand Prix Test 2:30 am - 3:00 am Sun: Race - repeat 8pm-10:30pm Race - repeat 12am-2:30am |
That was the old schedule, they are not going to have qualifying until Sunday (here, Saturday night), so I guess the race will be on Monday (here, Sunday night).
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That's cool, that means I will just stick to the TV for 3~4 hours in a row that's all
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Here's some images from the practice sessions - Courtesy: itv-f1.com - Sutton
http://www.itv-f1.com/ImageLibrary/31379_2.jpg http://www.itv-f1.com/ImageLibrary/31372_2.jpg http://www.itv-f1.com/ImageLibrary/31369_2.jpg http://www.itv-f1.com/ImageLibrary/31366_2.jpg http://www.itv-f1.com/ImageLibrary/31362_2.jpg http://www.itv-f1.com/ImageLibrary/31376_2.jpg Rain brings out the best in F1 cars ... The last time I saw a picture of a lit circuit was in 1994 when the race was held in wet conditions as well - see tthird pic ... cool! |
Now, on F1 racing.net, they are saying that the GP may not even happen due to the extreme weather, the rain is just too much for the cars.
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Super Typhoon Ma-On should not adversely affect the running of Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix. Heavy rain at Suzuka tailed off mid- afternoon and the circuit has been left largely unscathed by the high winds. Mo-On is now heading towards Tokyo. The news will come as a relief to fans, teams and the race organisers alike. "The storm has passed Suzuka and the race shouldn't be in danger," the Japanese Meteorological Agency report. |
I hope its gonna be a wet race
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^^ I think so ... the question is how wet will it be ... I would like it wet enough for some spins, passes, squirrelly car .. but not too wet such that safety car laps become commonplace.
I remember a Champcar race last year (surfer's Paridise perhaps) when almost the entire race was behind a safety car. One of the best races that I was fortunate to witness was the 2003 F1 race at Indy. It was cold and drizzle happened within a lap or so. Then it rained enough to get the full wets out on the cars .. finally it cleared up and we had a Ferrari win. There werent many safety car laps either. Perfect. The rain was light enough that it didnt bother us in the stands... |
Updated the qualifying results and comments
Selected driver quotes (courtesy: www.formula1.com) Ralf Schumacher, Williams (2nd, 1m 34.032s): “Under these unpredictable conditions, with the track quickly changing, it was no easy qualifying. I took advantage of my poor race result in China and the consequent late starting position in pre-qualifying today, and managed to run on a dry and improving track during both the qualifying sessions. I am very happy with this result also because I know we have a good race car and strong chances to collect some valuable points.” Mark Webber, Jaguar (3rd, 1m 34.571s): "It's been a good start to the day for us here in Suzuka. We would have liked to have had more time to prepare the cars for today but as it has turned out I am really pleased to be in 3rd position for the start of the race. My first qualifying session made it possible for me to go out much later in the second session, which has helped us. The boys have done a great job preparing the car given the little amount of track time we have had and our third position is a good morale booster. I am really looking forward to the race and although it is a long race I will be doing everything I can to finish in a points scoring position.” Takuma Sato, BAR (4th, 1m 34.897s): "The conditions were very tricky but I'm pleased with my lap under the circumstances. The track has continued to get drier and faster with each car running, so I think the conditions will be good for the start of the race. The cancellation of yesterday's running was disappointing for the fans here, so I very much hope we can make up for that with a strong race this afternoon." Jenson Button, BAR (5th, 1m 35.157s): "It wasn't a bad lap considering the difficult conditions. Much of the circuit is dry but there are some parts that are still very wet and it is very difficult to see them. It's not just a slight loss of grip either; it's big oversteer as I demonstrated in the chicane on my timed lap. I'm happy to be a second ahead of the McLarens though and of course both Taku and myself are ahead of both Renaults which is a good place to start fighting to retain second position in the Constructors' Championship." Juan Pablo Montoya, Williams (13th, 1m 37.653s): “I had a quite bad pre-qualifying, mainly due to the fact that the pressure of my tyres wasn't ideal. I therefore had to take some risks in final qualifying and we decided to go out on dry tyres. This choice paid off, because I could slightly improve my position from first qualifying. We have a good race car and I am confident we can collect some points.” Christian Klien, Jaguar (14th, 1m 38.258s): "Before today's qualifying I had only managed to complete nine fast laps and those were in extreme wet conditions. I knew the guys were going to prepare the car as best they could so it was up to me to give it my best shot in qualifying. The track was drying up this morning and this has made conditions easier to drive in. My first qualifying was ok but I am pleased with my second session when I finished fourteenth. The circuit is not easy to drive and I think that this afternoon is going to be challenging." Gianmaria Bruni, Minardi (18th, 1m 48.069s): "It has been a difficult morning, as we were out first for our qualifying run. With the track still wet but drying quickly, it was a difficult choice on tyres, but in the end, we went with shallow wets. Unfortunately, the drivers whose runs came next were able to use slicks, which gave them a big advantage. Anyway, now we will just have to see what happens in the race." Zsolt Baumgartner, Minardi (no time): "It's a shame that I had a problem in the pre-qualifying run because my first sector time was not too bad. The track conditions were tricky, as the surface was drying, but still quite wet in places. The car had some oversteer in it and when the back end slid in that corner, I was just a little too late catching it. We've been a bit unlucky this weekend. This is a very challenging circuit, I have not run here before, and the track conditions have been particularly tricky. I just hope we can have a good race this afternoon." |
Itv-F1 take on the race:
Michael Schumacher banished his Shanghai qualifying woes to the history books by clinching his eighth pole of the season in imperious fashion at Suzuka. Having booked the next-to-last position in the running order with second fastest time in pre-qualifying, Schumacher benefited from a virtually bone-dry track and duly delivered. “It was very difficult with practice only on Friday, then pre-qualifying and qualifying in one hit this morning,” said the world champion. “I was luckier than Rubens being second to last car out and getting better circumstances, so there we are. I should be thankful [after] not having things so good in China, but having qualifying on the same day as the race is a bit difficult.” Brother Ralf was second quickest, some 0.5s in arrears, ensuring that the front row of the grid will be the exclusive property of the Schumacher clan. Almost all the Williams driver’s deficit was accounted for by a lock-up under braking for the ultra-tight chicane at the end of the lap. Michael was a mere 0.007s up at the second timing split but a much tidier run through the chicane made the difference. Mark Webber showed that his encouraging pre-qualifying run was no fluke by netting third on the grid for Jaguar – a real shot in the arm for the beleaguered Milton Keynes outfit that was recently put up for sale by parent company Ford. Japanese hero Takuma Sato delighted his legion of fans with a stirring lap that eclipsed the previous benchmark set by BAR team-mate Jenson Button – prompting vigorous flag waving from the large crowd and whoops of delight from his mechanics. Sato was later denied a storybook result by the efforts of Messrs Schumacher (plural) and Webber, of course, but his time proved good enough for fourth on the grid. Like a number of other big names, Button was handicapped by an indifferent time in pre-qualifying which meant that the track was still damp in places when he went out for his qualifying run. There was very little wrong with the Briton’s lap (a snap-oversteer moment at turn four being the only visible error) but he simply didn’t have the grip of some of the later runners and had to settle for fifth. By contrast, pre-qualifying pacesetter Jarno Trulli was perfectly placed and took full advantage to qualify an excellent sixth for his race debut with Toyota. The Italian, who split with Renault in acrimonious circumstances following the Italian GP, will no doubt allow himself a wry smile after putting one over his old team. Giancarlo Fisichella was hoping for a downpour in order to exploit Bridgestone’s wet-weather tyre advantage, which had enabled him to clock the second fastest time in both practice sessions on Friday. In today’s drier conditions the Sauber star had to make do with seventh. David Coulthard outqualified McLaren team-mate Kimi Raikkonen for only the sixth time this year, a tidy if unspectacular lap netting eighth on the grid for the Scotsman, while the Finn had several sideways moments en route to 12th. Coulthard’s buddy Jacques Villeneuve seems to be making progress as he readjusts to F1 machinery, and – as he did in the wet on Friday – outpaced hotshoe team-mate Fernando Alonso. The French-Canadian lost a couple of tenths with a lock-up at the chicane but was an impressive 0.8s faster than Alonso in the first sector, which comprises a very demanding series of S-bends behind the paddock. Ninth and 11th places were emphatically not what Renault boss Flavio Briatore had in mind, however, especially with arch-rivals BAR several rows ahead. The pendulum in the season-long battle for second place in the constructors’ championship may now have swung decisively in the Brackley team’s favour. Olivier Panis set himself up for a potential points finish in his final grand prix by rounding out the top ten in his Toyota. The popular ‘Ollie’ will hand over the keys to Brazilian Ricardo Zonta for the latter’s home race in two weeks time. Juan Pablo Montoya was made to pay a heavy price for a poor showing in pre-qualifying that left him third man out after only the Minardis. The Colombian had to cope with a treacherously damp track, and only just managed to keep his Williams on the island when he hit a puddle and the back end stepped several metres out of line at well over 100 mph through turn four. Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello fared even worse after missing his braking point at the chicane and taking to the run-off area. The Brazilian, who has taken pole and victory in each of the last two grands prix, will start this afternoon’s race from a lowly 15th place. |
just saw the race .. was really awsome ...
jacques with some nice moves 8) Mschumacher just doin his job .... Ralph did pritty nice .. Button again 3rd ... Sato broke his neck montoya died so did barichello :mrgreen: :mrgreen: |
Looking at today's result, it is safe to say that JV prolly won't be competiting with top teams next year.
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daaamn Schumi won again....
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I never thought that JV was all that special all these years. I was prepared to cut him some slack over his pathetic performance in China - as it was his first race and he hadnt tested and yada...yada.. yada. He qualified well and I thought .. Okay perhaps he's back in the saddle again. His performance can be quantified by one word - pathetic. Flavio must be eating his words now - Villeneuve will help us in the race to get second poition in the championship. Yeah Right! |
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Alonso's fastest lap in the race 1'34.279 while Villeneuve was 1'35.290 |
oh well :fadein: :mrgreen:
lets see what he dose next year with sauber ..... i hope he dosnt resign ... JV and MS are two of my fav F-1 drivers .... they got skills .... |
That was a fairly boring race....some nice moves but no real excitement for positions at the end. :(
I've been up since 5am watching motorsport today, the Bathurst 1000 went from 5am-3pm and then F1 from 3.30pm - 5pm. :D |
I think the race was pretty interesting.
Dingo22 that is some commitment waking up that early! Did not start till 7am here, F1 after SX nats and the news(bloody election!) Don't forget the Moto GP is on as well; I have it on good authority that Casey Stoner did pretty well!(ok I watched it on pay....) Don't forget that JV is a former worldchamp and he had to beat a rabid MS to win that title; Schumi at his no-holds-barred best like when taking out Damon in Adelaide to win the title. That Renault looked far from happy in the dry conditions, very nervous on turn in, same for FA. Maybe went with a wet orientated setup and did not have time to optimise for the dry running. Ferrari are too good in all aspects. How good did the ferrari look in comparison? They did an unbelievable job on the setup of that car! He was so far in front that I thought he was going to do a burnout in front of the team on the pit wall! :D Mark Webber had to retire due to being burned through the seat. This was apparently caused by friction of the wooden 'plank' rubbing the ground too much(low ride hight, bumpy surface, ) and from the ITV pit int was a known problem to them from testing(not as severe though). If Webber had to get out then it must have been a Ass BBQ! :shock: Noticed plenty of 'Plank' dust around the track, even at the no 1 grid spot . EDIT for correction According to the Herald Sun, it was hot engine gases entering the cockpit somehow(?) which actually melted half the seat :shock: , also said that he made the right choice to stop as according to doctors permanent skin damage would have been sustained if he stayed out longer. |
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F1 Qualifying
1 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:33.542 2 Ralf Schumacher Williams-BMW 1:34.032 3 Mark Webber Jaguar-Cosworth 1:34.571 4 Takuma Sato BAR-Honda 1:34.897 5 Jenson Button BAR-Honda 1:35.157 6 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:35.213 7 Giancarlo Fisichella Sauber-Petronas 1:36.136 8 David Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.156 9 Jacques Villeneuve Renault 1:36.274 10 Olivier Panis Toyota 1:36.420 11 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:36.663 12 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.820 13 Juan Pablo Montoya Williams-BMW 1:37.653 14 Christian Klien Jaguar-Cosworth 1:38.258 15 Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 1:38.637 16 Nick Heidfeld Jordan-Ford 1:41.953 17 Timo Glock Jordan-Ford 1:43.533 18 Gianmaria Bruni Minardi-Cosworth 1:48.069 19 Zsolt Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth 20 Felipe Massa Sauber-Petronas Not bad for a fill in driver who has not got the race fitness of the regulars. |
I was thuroughly impressed by Ralf's performance during the race. To come back after breaking his back and not being allowed to get in a car, then to run as well as he did in China, and then put the BMW in P2 for qualifying after practically NO practise and then finish in P2...simply f***ing amazing. Maybe JV should break his back too. might give him a bit of talent.
Panis drove a decent race, probably wishes he did a bit better for his last race though. WTF happened between Coulthard and Barrichello?!?!?! SPEED never got to show the replay :x That's two races in a row DC has knocked someone out of the race. i hope the FIA slaps his ass with a hefty fine...of bench his ass for the final race. disappointing race for Sato, he probably thought he was going to end up on the podium but JB just had the better set up. I think if he could maintained the illusion though he would have let TS by, but it was clear whose BAR was quickest. so the Schumacher brothers find themselves 1-2 , not an unfamiliar position, and JB once again is a bridesmaid with his 8th podium finish of the year. Good midfield battles, typical MS dominance, a surprising performance from RS... not the most exciting Japanese GP but it held my attention easily enough :D now the question is...can Rubens win in Brazil this year? After last years disappointing retirement while leading, i think he smells vengence :twisted: anyone think the Ferrari drivers will call off all bets between each other for the season finale?? |
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wow...i guess i was to hard on DC....i can't believe Rubens would make a mistake like that...
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i dunno, i think it was Trulli that he passed going into turn one and they nearly got together then..it was pretty close and he really wanted to get by him. I think Rubens may have been pushing a little harder than he should have been in a few cases. It was clear he was faster than DC and could have gotten by him on the straight. I dunno if he could have got up to Kimi though...
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finally Shumacher got his car back...and it was Barichello that fucked up....order is restored in F1 and Villeneuve is back to blaming the car for shitty performance. Speaking of the TV coverage......worthless.....I saw more of Sato holding his helmet than all the passes combined....Damn, too bad they didn't show Ross Brawn eating his banana :cry:
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I agree on the poor coverage. Not sure wat show the TV director was watching but it wasnt the F1.
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When it comes to Japan GP, Sato always get the most coverage.....that is why Epson get a 1 race deal with BAR. I couldn't believe I waited 5~10 minutes just to get the interview of Rubens and David crashing.
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