News from Barcelona: - Alonso set fastest lap amongst the race drivers in the 2nd session. Klien and MS right behind him. - Villeneuve looses ten spots because of an engine change: The team dropped the engine off the transporter. Ouch! - MS won't have to decide about 2007 until the end of this season.
I read this on Rueters earlier and chuckled to myself. It's a play on words as he was actually 3rd fastest in the session. The Ferraris had a 1-2 in the 1st session with Massa having the fastest lap of the whole day. Also FA fined $2k for pitlane speeding that bad boy.
I phrased it that way myself. Not a play on words. I don't count non race drivers since they can basically run anyway they want. However I do think Ferrari is sandbagging. I'm positively surprised by Klien in the B Ferrari. Awesome!
Whats up with the McL's ?? They did a total of 9 laps between the 2 cars and are way down. Agreed on the sandbagging as the 2nd session times were significantly slower than the 1st. And I still think it's a play on words as it leads one to believe that FA was the fastest of the session.
Ok, call it wishfull thinking on my part. Maybe premature, but I'm no longer counting McLaren in for the kill or the championship. I think we're seeing the effects of Newey: McLaren down, RBR up
I wonder if Ferrari were running a different compound in session 2. They may have been on softs in the first, accounting for the only times below 1:16.1 for the weekend. They may have switched to a harder compound in the second session, accounting for their being off by 1+ secs vs the earlier times (actually, that still seems to be too much of a drop off). Did Massa even complete more that 1 hot lap that second session? I only recall seeing him the one time he pulled out of the garage and had the simulated start. I don't know what to expect really. Bridgestones seemed to be a little worse off than Michelins when you look at the top 10 drivers. However, we could find out that Honda and Ferrari are holding back when all is said and done. If MS has to go on softs, though, expect a 3-stop race.
MS and Felipe were doing long stints focussing on tyre choice. They split the work load, using different types of tyres. FM said he was not trying to do a time but just wanted to understand how the tyres performed over a long run. Massa = super soft Schumi = Harder of the (soft) spec tyres used at the Nurburg. The long run of MS was very good! He managed to get his fastest time on the very last lap of that stint. I think it was a 16 lap stint. FA was not as consistent as MS. Seems that the super soft aren't the best option. (Gary Anderson said that the front left tyre on massa's car was completely worn after his stint- no sign of a groove anywhere)
I think you're right...I read some of the post-practice statements, and even Massa is talking about beating Alonso Sunday. It will take more than talk to win the race, but you have to figure that Ferrari feels they have a huge advantage with the car for these kinds of quotes to surface. Could we see a Ferrari 1-2 sweep this weekend? If you believe MS and FM, very much a possibility.
Ferrari 1-2 and 5 laps to the end MS' engine lets go and the unthinkable has happened: Massa victory!
Alonso is on a old engine, MS should be on a new one. MS was told to break it in easy and not to exceed 4000K for the first 1000 miles
I didn't know they could rev to 4 million rpm! Haha. Seems like all the teams are stepping up their game. Hopefully Schumi's success can keep him at the top all season. It seems that Ferrari has increased rear downforce with the use of new deeper wing endplates and a longer diffuser, and it appears to be helpful with the tire compounds.
i doubt. mac is really missing newey. plus, i dunno if this is just me, but imo, keeps seems damn demotivated at recent races. in fact, sounds kinda silly, but i think JPM is working is @$$ off compared to kimi. early warnings that the kimi-ferrari deal is signed, sealed, delivered?
