What a race. The best one of a long time. KIMI is amazing. He really deserved to win the world title it's a shame the car couldn't keep with him. I hope to see him in 2007 in red.
I really felt for Fisi but on the other hand I was roaring Kimi on to finish first. Kimi was so fast that after his secind pit he trailed Fisi by I think 18-19 seconds and he made those time up in about 10 laps. Amazing!
Yes, by far best race of the year. I luckily only had to stay up until midnight to see the end. (good thing I live on the West Coast!). I'm not sure what Fisi could have done to stop Kimi. The FIA has the stupid "no blocking" rule that only allows you to make 1 defensive move. Fisi used it to move to the right.Kimi just kept going straight and passed him on the left, I do believe that the McLaren is the fastest car this year. Alonso is only WDC because he knows how to conserve a car and make it finish. Unfortunatly for McLaren, JPM tries to win the race on the first lap and takes himself out, and Kimi blows more motors than a horrible French whore. I have to comment on one thing though. MS holding up FA and KR. I remember many of you guys moaning a hissy fit earlier in the season for other people (mainly Trulli) "holding up" MS. Yet when MS is the one holding up 2 other FAR SUPERIOR cars, its "a valiant effort". Eh, its a Ferrari forum, yiou're gonna obviously favor the Red cars.
Er, go through the chicane on the racing line and Kimi would not have caught him so fast and also Kimi would not have had such a speed advantage on the start finish straight. The line Fisi was taking through the chicane was costing him many seconds and making him very slow on to the front straight ... it was his fault 100% that Kimi was able to catch him and then pass him so easily. Fisi is a fool ... end of debate MS did not put a foot wrong in his defense of his race position (this time) ... maybe Trulli didn't either but can't remember and do not care about Trulli (another also ran). Pete ps: Er, the Renault was very reliable ... there is no concept of conserving motors and cars ... only fuel and tyres. Everything is controlled by electronic rev limiters, etc. You should be able to get in a F1 car, select neutral and hold your foot flat on the throttle for a full race distance and the engine survives perfectly ... thanks to the rev limiter. The Renault did ... the Mercedes simply went bang. This is modern motor racing and engines/gearboxes should not be the fragile things of yester year. If not strong enough make stronger = heavier. McLaren and Mercedes went too far ... thus not driver related IMO!
what a race, it was the best of the season for sure. Even go to watch it Live , which happens never happens here in Australia, unless tapping in the system it was great.
A great race indeed....amazing how fast the McClaren was. Kimi made everyone else look like they were driving a garbage scow! How about that blocking manuever by Webber toward the very end of the race? I could put up with a lot of nonsense, however, had he done that to me, he would have been in for a severe ass kicking! BW
Yes Alonso is a more patient/aware driver than Kimi, but Kimi is flat out faster. MSs day are not over yet. Put yourself in Fisis shoes on that last lap; your being dogged by the best driver in the world in the fastest car on the track. At stake; the race, the championship, and possibly your carreer. Nervous ? Fissi is a great driver, just not the greatest.
I think you and Pete hit the nail on the head as to why this race weekend was awesome... 1. Rain during qualifying - amazing to watch the last four battle monsoon conditions. 2. Reversed grid 3. All the drivers doing their best to get a win (except Fisico) 4. High Speed circuit with 3 overtaking spots - all the overtaking that happens is great stuff On a lesser note - I would give credit to the safety car incident for Montoya which prevented a breakaway of the leaders from the back of the pack.
Quite right. SC phases are great for racing: 1. SpeedTV gets all its commercials out of the way 2. The field bunches together for a restart Still I miss the "good ol' days" where races were red flagged and restarted. Sometimes with the confusing cumulative results...
He did not do anything wrong ... it was for position so he had the right to make a single blocking move and so he did. Importantly he did not continue to drive in to the side of Alonso's car so it shows that he knows when it was over. Yep Alonso kicked up the grass a bit ... but that is just great racing with balls ... non-Fisi and RB style Really looking forward to the next race! Pete
Thank you. Now do I need to dig up all the old theads crying about "lottery" qualifying??? Or would you guys just prefer to forget about that? Kimi- this is why he should be in the Ferrari, any more questions? Alonso- great pass on Schumacher Ferrari- what a dud this car is Fisi- where did you start? Pathetic. Pizonia- unfit for motor racing Sato- worthless Montoya- another race, another crash, we can blame everyone else, but the pattern is clear Suzuka- BRILLIANT, as always I agree, this was hands down the best race of the season. I wish they were all like this. Pete, you're right, they seemed to be racing for a win, just to beat the other guy. Different than the other races.
The move took Alonso nearly to the wall and made him go to the grass further down. I think this is not kosher. I dont think it is smart for two reasons - a) It is unsafe and b) Payback is a b1tch - Webber will get it in spades when the situation is reversed - i.e. Williams finally get their act together and build a fast car and he is trying to overtake someone. I am sure the other guys will push him to the wall. And BTW i thought Schumi's chops were henious too. Fortunately those wild moves seems to be in the past only.
Come on this is racing. He was miles from the wall and only just touched the grass. I prefer my racing drivers to have balls ... big ones . Heck I've used the grass before, just adds to the excitement. I've also blocked somebody once that caused a near punch up in the pits afterwards. Once we got to discussing lap times and he realised that we were racing for position ... and I explained that I believed I was faster than him on the tighter part of the circuit and was just trying to hold him out until we got to there ... argument over and he walked away realising that PSk is no push over, and we got to know each other much better Lets not go safety crazy ... nobody was hurt and we all enjoyed a burst of raised heart rate! Regarding your payback ... yep Webber showed that he is a MAN, not a Fisi or RB who practically wave following cars past. Some of them were but there is nothing wrong with them unless you do a double movement. Remember some drivers actually WANT to win ... not just collect a pay check. To win you HAVE to beat the other guy, and that sometimes requires a little blocking. Ask Jack Brabham probably drove the widest car ever in F1. Again cannot wait for more of this spirited stuff ... I'm pumped now!. Pete
Of course it was lottery, that's why it was so much fun! Reverse grid btw is not lottery, but a system: Your starting position is defined by the points in the championship (or last race or last year early in the season). The more points you have, the farther back you start. That way it gets harder and harder to come to the front. If you're an unstoppable force (think Kimi and Alonso) you will make it to the front of the race, but it will take you a while and force you to overtake and not just lead away from the front. If you have difficulty making it to the front, you will not get many points and hence your championship standings decrease and you will move up on the grid. It is not a lottery, it is a system. The negative is you loose qualifying, the positive is you'll have much cooler races with a lot of action and overtaking. And it probably prevents somebody from taking the crown mid season.
Andreas, just to be clear, I wasn't disputing that is/was a lottery, just disputing people's complaints. Philosophically speaking, I can't abide by an upside down grid system, as interesting as it makes things, it has to happen naturally. Then again, would it be so bad? Do a reverse grid, fastest cars start last. BUT, to prevent sandbagging, give points for qualifying so there is incentive to do well. Upside down grid, but fastest three drivers get points, 3,2,1 accordingly. It's gimicky and that's what I don't like about these systems, but you can't argue that it makes for a much more interesting race. Thoughts? (**edits, I shouldn't post while on the phone!)
Don't mean to labor on and on this topic but ... Compare what Alonso did to Michael in Imola to Webber on Alonso in Suzuka. In Imola, Alonso prevented Michael from passing in a faster car (admittedly in a circuit with limited overtaking opportunities) thru master class driving. He was watching his mirrors to see where Michael was faster and adjusted his lines so as to slow Michael on the exit of the corners like Tosa which prevented Michael from getting enough speed to overtake him. Throughout the last 10 laps or so he prevented Michael from passing without doing a boneheaded move. This is the mark of an awesome thinking driver. Webber has shown great speed in qualifying. But from a racing standpoint I am extremely disappointed in him. In fact I think he has a caveman like attitude to preventing anyone from passing like Andrea De Crasheris. I dont see an evidence of a thinking mind in his driving at all. This why in my book I have Schumi on top, Kimi, Alonso, Montoya in the next level and the rest far behind. Montoya sometime exasperates me with him over-aggression but he doesnt take people to the wall. Unless Webber is gifted a car like the F2004 and a teammate like Pizzonia he will never win the WDC. That's my opinion and I am sticking to it
Agreed, great race! It just built to a crescendo in the last lap. But this race had something for everybody, and I'm surprised no one mentioned them: 1) Webber's pass of Button coming out of pit lane. That certainly surprised me - Button, too, I'll bet. 2) The fire in the Minardi pit, with Albers out of his car, exinguishant everywhere, and then back into the race later. Thankfully, no one was injured. This incident was the scherzo in the otherwise Great Work of this race. And what a coup for Kimi, to not only win from the back, but to singlehandedly keep the Constructor's contest to within 2 points.
Agree ... and glad you did not include Senna in your rating, cause he took more people to the wall than anybody , and yet he also could drive. Look nobody is more disappointed with Webber than me this year, but he still did nothing wrong at Suzuka ... nothing. His car is miles slower than a Renault in a straight line and he did everything he could. Yep at Imola Alonso drove smart BUT also a little unfairly as he was braking in the middle of a corner to stuff up MS. Now if Webber had almost come to a stop going through the chicane to halt Alonso you all would be screaming about 'brake testing and unfair driving, etc.' AND Alonso probably would still have got past. What I witnessed at Imola was clever driving but I'm not a fan of drivers brake testing a following driver ... sort of morally wrong. That is the only reason why MS could not get past, because Alonso purposely stuffed his acceleration out of important corners. Again no rule to say you cannot do that but Webber at Suzuka was doing everything he could to halt the pass ... just like Alonso at Imola. Blocking and swerving is part of the game, ban it and you have no racing ... Pete
Senna who? Senna like Schumi like Fangio like Nuvolari like Caracciola are not humans - they are gods. Hence they were guilty of skullduggery on occasion but they have an unlimited supply of "Get out of Jail free" passes.
