Last time he started on pole, he won and MS fell to 3rd while FA went up to 2nd. Maybe it will happen again?
It depends how u look at it. some may say Ferrari got the wrong car on pole, but some, like me, say they played a bit defensive. i think they ran massa lighter than MS to ensure that he qualifies in front of both the Renaults. if he leads the 1st few laps tomoro, the USGP this year comes into mind.
I hope I do not wake up tomorrow morning and learn that the race stewards have removed Massa from pole because he was blocking at the start of Q3. I am not saying he was. Goodnight all!
With all the reports of "sickness" and "car issues", think maybe Kimi and McLaren want to just stay out of the way of the championship? -- Kimi is going to Ferrari, and McLaren is getting Alonso, so any "spoiler" action on their part is going to get accusations of favoritism. I notice that both McL drivers are listed as "to follow" in the selected driver quotes on formula1.com. Apparently Sakon just stalled it -- Speed channel was speculating an engine sieze. Of course, a ten spot engine change penalty wouldn't bother SA much. You gotta pity the pressure on Sato and Yamamoto -- the only japanese drivers in the japanese GP, firmly in the media spotlight, and they're out there in obsolete sleds. No wonder the pucker factor was a bit much for the rookie. During Q2, after Michael's 28,9, one of the Speed channel commentators came up with "If Massa can beat that time, I'll have to take back everything I said about him in China". He was very quiet after Massa took pole.
"Rabbit". I haven't heard this term used this year, but in the past, a team sometimes used the #2 driver as the "rabbit". This car is running a lighter fuel load, probably a three stop race. His job is to set the race pace to help the #1 driver, who is generally running more petrol, and likely a two stop race. Possibly that is Massa's role in Japan. Or possibly he is that good, and is telling Kimi to watch out in 2007.
A confident Michael Schumacher signalled rising hopes of a title double for Ferrari on Saturday after he finished second behind team-mate Brazilian Felipe Massa in qualifying for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix. While Ferrari swept the front row, their main title rivals Fernando Alonso and his Renault team wound up on the third row of the grid in fifth and sixth places behind the two Toyotas. Retirement-bound Schumacher will clinch his eighth title on Sunday if he wins and Alonso fails to score. "It's been a great weekend so far for us," said Schumacher. "We are looking strong, we are on the first row and we have the Renaults on the third row and that's a very good starting place for the race." Ferrari has won six of the last seven races. Massa's Pole was his second, the team's sixth of the year and it was the fifth time they had locked out the front row. "The weekend was supposed to be dry from today on... so we are looking pretty confident in that area and we see on the Bridgestone side that we are very strong and so are the Toyotas," said Schumacher. "That's a very good position for us, considering the race and the championship. "I'm pretty happy where I am and he did a great job. We are not fighting that much against each other, we are working together and therefore I'm happy it's him." Massa believes Ferrari will be much stronger than in recent races because of the superiority of their Bridgestone tyres over those of Renault's Michelin tyres. "I managed to do a good lap and we need to talk a lot about the tyres and the car, which is behaving very well at the moment," he said. "It is nice to be here and I am happy to be on Pole." E.A. Source AFP
I think Schumacher is pretty heavily fueled - he looks good for a win tomorrow! I was really disappointed to see Kimi so far down the order. Hopefully he will start on heavy fuel and work his way forward.
Michael Schumacher has cancelled a planned holiday to next week test at Jerez, according to reports in Spain. Reporters for the newspaper Marca said the Ferrari driver, ahead of his final Grand Prix in Brazil, agreed to forego a planned break in order to fly out of Japan on Sunday night and test next Wednesday and Thursday at the Spanish venue. Renault's Pat Symonds has fanned speculation that both Toyotas out-qualified his team at Suzuka because they are running quite light on fuel. Asked by reporters if he thought the Japanese squad had genuine pace or were doing 'show laps' at its home event, the British chief said: "Probably both. They have a good tyre, but I would be very surprised if they did not pit before us." Renault officials spoke to the FIA's Charlie Whiting after qualifying at Suzuka, but the Race Director reportedly told the French team that Felipe Massa would not be penalised for impeding Fernando Alonso. The incident occurred in the initial stages of final qualifying, where blue flags are not shown to slower cars because the top ten runners usually spend the first minutes 'burning' fuel rather than sprinting for fast times. Bridgestone runners including Ferrari will be delighted with the weather forecast for Sunday. According to sources at Suzuka, race day should be even warmer and less windy than qualifying, where four Bridgestone-shod cars locked out the front two rows. E.A. Source GMM
^^ thanks for the update Impy ... I was worried for a second that the stewards might penalise Massa. Another reason perhaps why Kimi had not done so well was that he was a bit unwell. Hopefully he will be 100% shape for tomorrow
The no rain forecast will be good news for BS shod cars! I hope the Toyotas do not get passed on the first turn by the Renaults! I am starting to dislike Renault now because of their complaint to the "FIA's Charlie Whiting". Massa was in front of FA during the burn off period. No way was anyone going to set fastest lap with their max starting fuel. Here is quote from f1i: Flavio the Furious said: ''What Fernando did (at Monza) was not deliberate, but what Massa did was (deliberate).'' Here is anothe quote from speedtv.com: F1: Q&A with Pat Symonds: "We Won't Screw One Guy for the Sake of the Other Like Ferrari" Written by: Adam Cooper, RACER Magazine Suzuka, Japan – 10/6/2006
I was happy to see Massa restoring faith in some of the doubters(hopefully). I think its clear that he has improved dramatically this year, that he is very good in dry and still has a lot to learn in the wet. But I still think he will do well for Ferrari next year and may suprise some who have little regard for him. If I were running Ferrari, I would have kept MS(rather than forcing him out) and not worried about about Kimi, especially when there are some really good young drivers emerging. Look how well Kubica has done. It will be interesting next year for sure!
You make good points riverflyer! I still wonder if it is the car or Kimi breaking it all the time. I sure hope it is not true that MS was forced out. That could lead to MS driving for another team if he was not ready to be out of F1.
If you saw any of the footage after the race and before his "announcemnt" it seemed painfully clear he was being moved out, much like older bball or football guys get pieced for younger (cheaper) talent. But in this case I think it was a mistake. MS could go strong for a while and it seems like he would if given the chance. Of course this is all personal speculation and I could be way off base. Maybe Michael will post up.....
I thought the discussion about MS being forced out was over. I do not think for one second that he was forced out of Ferrari. That would have been over Jean Todt's dead body. I do believe without any doubt that MS was forced to make a decision about retirement by Monza, the proper place for an announcement. MS wanted to wait until he knew if he won the championship or not before deciding, that would have been way too long and not fair to the team or Massa. Additionally, Raikkonen's manager stated that Kimi signed up in May not knowing Michael's status for 2007. He stated that he did not think either Kimi or Michael were bothered by being on the same team. It is also believed in Europe that the way MS was treated by the other drivers following the incident at Monaco was a point that pushed Michael over the line to retirement. Then MS stated that he had decided just after the USGP in July to retire. So, no, I do not believe Michael Schumacher was forced to leave Ferrari.
No i down loaded that live tv soft ware that PSP posted up on another thread. It allows ya to see live TV from around the world for free. Simple to download and use.
I looked at the qualifying times off formula1.com to try to get a hint about this. Usually, the heavier cars are a bit slower in Q3 than in Q2, while the lighter cars are about the same. But with rubber going onto the track during qualifying, the times kept coming down across all three sessions. Massa, Ralf, and Trulli all did about 0.2-0.4 faster in Q3 than Q2, Michael was about 0.8 slower than his Q2 time, but his Q2 was over a sec faster than anyone else except Massa. On the Michelin cars, the hondas ran about a half sec slower in Q3 than Q2, Fisi was down by 0.3, and Alonso ran about the same time in both Q2 and Q3. The times say more about track conditions and tires than about fuel. It seems to say that if the track stays dry, Bridgestone is going to look good before the home crowd. If the track gets washed down again, the advantage will swing B-ward as the track rubbers in. Both Heidfeld(M) and Rosberg(B) were about a sec off their Q2 times, so they might well be fuel-heavy. The only cars to try a one-stop last year were the Saubers, from 8th and 10th on the grid. JV wound up dropping from 8 to 11th (penalized to 12), and the other Sauber was .... Massa -- who started and ended 10th. The only cars on a three stop were the Toyotas, with Ralf edging Button's BAR for pole. (Can't be sure on Trulli's since he DNF'd). Ralf finished 8th -- Suzuka has a long twisty pit-in, so surplus stops work heavily against you. FWIW
Nice analysis DGS! I bet the Renault and Alonso fans are doing rain dances all through the day and night.
A) Yahoo that Ferrai did so well. I SINCERELY hope Micheal wins tomorrow, because then it's all down for Alonso an he has to perform incredibly to win. I would lo-lo-lo-LOOOOOVE to see Alonso reduced from cockyness earlier this year to shocked depression after Ferrari came alive and Michael beat him like a red headed stepchild. I mean, Micheal so far the last couple months has just had his way with Alonso! B) Michael really is the master. Driving talent, psychological strength, composure. The man has it all. Look at his exuberence after winning the last race? It was to his benefit to celebrate to the max - kind of rub Alonso's nose in it. And the "I had a comfortable lead, so I backed off and cruised home" comment was priceless. C) Alonso is getting more and more desperate. I think that when the pressure is on, Alonso cracks. I have always thought that. People refer to him dicing it up with Schumi last year, but the pressure wasn't really on because he didn't NEED to win that race. He could have crashed out and still easily won the WDC. Now the pressure is on and look at the difference. Ferrari is high-fives all around, Michael telling Felipe he did well, Ross and Jean telling Michael how good he did, etc. Contrasted with Renault where Gino and Ferdi are being aggressive towards one another trying to beat each other out of the pits, and Alonso is leaving soon, and Gino sees himself as the "new number one". Then Alonso slamming his team saying they aren't helping much, and Flavio's had, what, 3 or 4 anti-Ferrari meltdowns the last few months alone! Renault are in bad shape. D) I think that will be Alonso's last WDC - 2005. I think Kimi is due next year. E) I hope Michael stays involved heavily in F1. He is the greatest of yesterday and today. He could undoubtedly continue for 2-3 more years and still keep winning. At 45 he could probably whip guys who are 25. The man is unbelievable. F) Do doubt Toyota is light on fuel. They want to outdo Honda. DESPERATELY. Honda is probably light too. Its WONDERFUL that Toyota outqualified Renault. I would LOVE Alonso to crack and push it at the start and go off. Not because I want Michael to win easily, I just want Alonso to be crapping his pants until an during the next race.
