Bahrain race discussion - Spoilers likely

What did I miss? Schuey put the F2005 in P2 for qualifying - in its first race. The car broke. And he was all over the back of Alonso the first several laps. Someone said it right - Ferrari's got to burn the midnight oil like Renault and Toyota have done. But they will. There's lots of season left. Don't count them out. Too many variables yet.

 

Given the three month lead time to manufacture the gearbox case, I wonder if they will have the spares available to do as much testing as they would need during the next three weeks prior to San Marino.

 

Did anyone else hear the comments from the ITV commentaters?
They said that the decision to bring forward the F2005 cost ferrari millions of pounds and some factory work in other areas had to be halted. Also if you watched the highlights of the race there were some more post race comments and one of the commentaters said that it was michal schumacher who forced the decision throw that they should race the F2005

 

Never in my life watched an entire grand prix race from start to finish, but I did on Sunday. Also watched the qualifying times on Saturday. I have heard many people (on and off this forum) say how much more interesting F1 has been this season. I enjoyed it, though would of liked to see Ferrari do better.

Ironically I ditched an old Renault early summer last year and bought a Ferrari late summer. I said that consequently Ferrari would not do well this season! Did not expect Renault to do so well! It is all my fault folks.

It seems MS and RB have slightly different opinions. see http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=32469. Though they both seem hopeful and positive. Those tyres do seem to be an issue but perhaps cooler temperatures in Europe will change things.

In the meantime this newbie is going to enjoy F1 weekends

 

Kiss of death. Very familiar with that concept. I have brought down the stock market all by myself...


Apropos: Renault sales in Spain are way up this year. I'm just glad I did the Spanish GP last year when things were a lot calmer. Alonsomania is sweeping the country, they call him "The Galactic". A little nicer than what the Italian media called Schumacher: "The man eater".

 

People keep saying that the cooler temps in Europe will help the Bridgestone tires. But won’t it also help the Michelin tires? If the Renaults are able to keep the tires looking / running like new, in > 40C weather (in 2 races), what will that mean when they are running in 20C weather? I think the cooler temp argument is out of the picture. If Ferrari get back on form in 3 weeks it’ll be for 2 reasons:
1. They’ve improved the car and
2. Bridgestone has improved the tires.

Although I’d like to see a new WC (go Alonso). We have a long season ahead of us, we will be on our 4th race in 3 weeks. So let’s not count Ferrari totally out.

One last thing, has it been determined whether or not Michael's Ferrari was lightely fueld to get such a good grid position. Will we ever know?

Again, go Alonso!

 

From what I've heard the Bridgestones really suffer from excessive heat. So in cooler weather the tire gap will not be as big. Of course that doesn't take care of a collapsing gear box or driver error. The half second gap in qualifying is probably realistic of where the team actually stands. So they're not lost, but they're also a long way from numero uno.

I also don't think Michael's car was extremely lightly fueled (as the Speed commentators suspected and indicated). He lost half a second on Alonso in the first qualifying (until Alonso made a mistake in the last turn) and that gap remained after Q2.

 

Thanks Steve.
You got the gist of what I was trying to convey. I didn't respond to Korr because he sounded really upset and I didn't want to throw any more fuel (CAM 2 ) on the fire. It's impossible to win an argument of this type in person and impossible on the Internet.

You are correct that I was annoyed at the lack of respect being shown for Minardi. They are there, largely thanks to Paul Stoddard's personal money, and they are trying. If anyone thinks they don't hope to finish in the top 8, possibly a podium, or , a win, then you do not understand what drives a man like Stoddard, the team, and the drivers. And that goes for ANY race driver.

Just before I started racing, I think it was 1980, I went to Bridgehampton to crew for a friend who was trying to get his SCCA license. While waiting for his track session to end, I got talking to a guy and telling him about wanting to run a Fiat 124 in F Production, which, at the time, had never been done. "I don't expect to win, but...." He cut me off right there. "Never set a wheel on the track without expecting to win. It may take awhile, but why spend all that money and risk your life, for anything less than the hope of winning." I never got his name, but I never forgot what he said.

I raced SCCA for 20 years, until having a stroke Christmas Eve '01, (I would have prefered coal in my stocking ) I may not race again, and then again, I may, but I will always have repect for others.

Thanks for listening.
Tom

 

Well said, Tom -

I admire your tenacity. I only had a national license for seven years. All in FF's and FSV.

There was I guy I started with, about the same time you did. We were in old FF's and running mid pack to backmarkers in FF for a couple of years. I was interrupted by a divorce and starting my own company... but this guy stuck with with and eventually (10 or 15 years later) won a National Championship in FF (a fairly impressive thing if you remember the size of FF classes in those years). He went thru four wives and three chassis in the in the process -but got it done. Sad to say he keeled over and died of a heart attack about five years ago.

But even when the two of us were running mid pack (I remember a regional at Road America once with 62 cars in the field) there was always a good competitor to race with - always that next turn to outbrake into. Those times make it all the sweeter when you do get there, and do take that victory lap with the checker. I don't think that many guys who drive fast on the street or even in solo type events against a stopwatch appreciate that; or even have much of a clue.

One thing, though, no matter how old and slow we get; they can never take those memories and that appreciation away from us.

take care.....

Steve

 

The design of a tyre's tread,sidewall,rubber compound and who knows what else is a complex subject. Road tyres are designed to do a specific job be it in the wet or dry. The rubber compound is important to how it grips and wears.

Softer would tend to grip better but wear quicker. However in extreme heat it may actually fail and grip less. I am suspecting the compounds used by Bridgestone are softer than Michelin? I would also imagine tyrewall design effects how much of the tyre stays on the track (aswell as car suspension geometery).

You are correct in that the Michelin tyres will act differently but it may be that the Bridgestone grip better in cooler temperatures due to the rubber compound being softer.

Of course this is all IMHO.

 

Barrichello clearly demonstrated both the relative performance potential of the F2005 and the decided failure of Bridgestone in this race.

He charged from the very back of the field up to fifth before the tires went away.

 

What I should of said more importantly, is that the tyres will hopefully last the race in cooler temperatures!