European GP Qualifying-SPOILERS

Shocking...I'm starting the thread this morning with Ferrari very much in the mix for pole?

MS has the fastest time of the weekend through the second round of knockout, and the Bridgestones seem to be working well with Ferrari. It'll be interesting to see how the final grid works out.

Fisi once again missed the top 10 (due to Villeneuve, at least in his opinion), and Sato has resumed Ide's role as roadblock, costing Scott Speed the chance to advance. Montagny got in the obligatory Super Aguri spin this morning.

 

Alonso gets pole with the only lap under 1:30 for the weekend. MS and FM get 2 & 3 on their second race engine weekend. Renault was able to get FA on track with nobody in front on his fast lap, while Ferrari got caught up in traffic and MS had to get around Mark Webber on his fast lap.

Will be an interesting race tomorrow. 3 out of 5 races now with a MS/FA duel for the top slot? This could be a classic season matching the old guard (MS) with the new (FA). Massa also had a good qualifying session.

 

It is great to see Ferrari doing so well. Two solid qualifying performances in a row shows me that Ferrari is back. I can't wait for the race tomorrow.

 

My thoughts exactly. As always, though, I would have liked to, at least, see Alonso in second or lower. Here's hoping he doesn't 'run away' tomorrow.

Just out of curiousity: who was that guy in the Ferrari pit?

 

It will be interesting to see how long before Alonso will have to make his first pitstop tomorrow. It seems as if he was running quite light, judging by his time. I think it will be a close race tomorrow.

McLaren and Honda somewhat dissapointing. It would be great if they gut be up there also. If it is just going to be MS vs FA, than I think Alonso will retain his title.

 

Good to see good both Ferraris on pace, tho the 3rd session is a joke.

Rubens back in the foray, hopefully he wont take out his ex-teammate

 

Great job by Alonso - he seems to turn the wick up whenever he needs it. The mark of a true champion. I think Michael could have taken the pole if he had come in for a pit stop a little ahead and not get balked by Webber. It was that close.

Button pitted too late for tires and couldn't get a proper run - hence the relatively disappointing P7 grid spot. Good to see Rubinho go P4 - he is overdue a good race result.

I think Alonso has more fuel than Michael. Massa also seems to have a bit more fuel than Michael.

Raikonnen seemed slow even after the fuel burned off the car towards the end of the session. Mercedes has a mountain to climb this year to be back on pace.

It was funny to see Furious Fisi shout at Villenueve in Italian.

 

Not so certain about that. As Michael was at the top of the practice sheets all weekend, there is no need for him to run light as opposed to his competition. Alonso wasn't below 1:31 until the Q session, so I wonder if GTE may be correct about his fuel load. After all, how often do we normally hear Alonso talking about his fuel strategy vs the other 2 during the interview? Noticably absent for this race.

I almost wonder if Michael is running heavier and attempted to burn it off faster by turning faster laps during the earlier portion of session 3? Ferrari seemed quietly confident in their race "package" (as stated by both MS and FM in the interview).

 

Speaking of the interview, Michael looked like he had the flu or something - hope he will be feeling better for the race.

Fantastic job by Villenueve. I am not a fan of his by any means but excellent performance over the last few races.

 

Ross Brawn thinks that Alonso is lighter.

Ted: 'Are you shocked to see Renault ahead of you?'

Brawn: 'I'll be shocked if they run longer than us'

I think Ferrari are looking in good shape. The harder compound tyres are good. Everything seems good, Ferrari will be fighting for the race win.

 

Speed trap data - fastest speed posted by each team

Ranking Driver Time of day Speed (kph)
1 Michael Schumacher 14:37:43 295.6
2 Giancarlo Fisichella 14:42:29 295.4
5 Nick Heidfeld 14:41:53 292.2
6 Kimi Räikkönen 14:36:26 289.3
9 Jarno Trulli 14:42:19 287.0
10 Nico Rosberg 14:01:28 287.0
13 Rubens Barrichello 14:38:10 285.2
15 Scott Speed 14:10:10 282.2
16 Franck Montagny 14:09:48 281.9
18 David Coulthard 14:41:51 281.6
20 Tiago Monteiro 14:03:15 279.7

The McLarens are about 6 kph slower than the Ferrari. Renault are pretty close on speed to the Ferraris. At one time everyone though that the Williams had the best engine but they are nearly 9 kph behind.

Interesting to see that the Aguri car is quicker than the Red Bull Ferrari - the latter team must be really struggling and have been shown up by their junior team again.

Best Sector times (top 5 in each)

Sector 1:
1 Michael Schumacher 29.428
2 Fernando Alonso 29.523
3 Jenson Button 29.651
4 Juan Pablo Montoya 29.715
5 Felipe Massa 29.730

Sector 2:
1 Fernando Alonso 37.236
2 Kimi Räikkönen 37.343
3 Felipe Massa 37.414
4 Rubens Barrichello 37.419
5 Michael Schumacher 37.447

Sector 3:
1 Fernando Alonso 23.060
2 Michael Schumacher 23.064
3 Felipe Massa 23.097
4 Kimi Räikkönen 23.103
5 Rubens Barrichello 23.110

Source: www.formula1.com

 

It does seem like Renault will be on a short first stint. Probably short first stint, followed by a long second stint. But, I don't think MS will let him pull away like they hope for. The Ferrari really has picked up the pace over the last two races. Looks like it could be a very exciting season with FA vs. MS.

Mark

 

Fisi´s words translation: "13th because he minded his own s***...this is not fair!!you are a bastard, you'll pay for this!!"

Fisi is making a fool of himself. He had all Q2 to put a decent laptime in the Renault! (1st /2nd best car in F1! ) He isn't driving a ****box. Alonso is destroying Fisi, it's not even funny anymore.

After GF said:
"My team-mate is on pole. I don't say I would have been on pole but I could have been second, third or fourth. There would have been the possibility to race to win. Now back in 13th there is not the possibility to even get on the podium."

No podium? Can't believe he said that. Stay home and let Kovalainen drive.


Btw Villeneuve speaks very good italian.

 

Giancarlo didn't exactly cover himself in glory today. I understand his frustration, but the little tantrum wasn't really necessary. It was instructive, to the extent that it shows his increasing desperation. Fisi can be fast on his day, but he doesn't have the consistent speed of his teammate, and he's looking for scapegoats.

To be fair, the field is tighter than ever at the front. Half a second would have put him comfortably into the final session, and he just didn't find it. The car was capable of running that fast easily. I thnk what we saw today was Fisi coming to grips with the fact that he really isn't as good as his teammate. If he knew he was fast enough and just got a bad break, he could have shrugged it off. But he's seeing the writing on the wall and that's hard to swallow. All these guys think they are as fast or faster than everybody else.

I rem Eddie Irvine declaring himself the second-fastest driver in F1, after Michael. Lots of people said "what cheek!" I thought, "what humility." Rubens never could admit to himself that Michael was better; nobody on that grid would admit that ANY other driver is better. At least not now that Ide is gone.

So I guess I'll cut Fisi a littel slack for his tantrum: it ain't easy to discover that you're second-rate.

 

You know I'm no JV fan, but I agree 100% with you on this one. It was ridiculous to see Fisi wave at JV who was several car lengths ahead of him. What was he supposed to do? If Fisi thinks he is that faster, then go pass JV. As you say a case of a driver realizing he is a total looser compared to his team mate and he is on the way out of Renault and possibly F1.

I loved it how JV just nodded. Probably grinned inside the helmet.

Alonso and Michael in front row promises for a great race.

McLaren stuns me: They're down and out. In front of Mercedes management. Not pretty.

My money is still on Alonso for victory, but I'm amazed how the Ferrari's have climbed out of the Melbourne/Sepang holes. They look strong again. Good. To be honest they're doing better than I gave them credit for. My bad. I expected McLaren and Honda on #2 and #3. Sometimes it is good to be wrong.

PS: I always find it so amusing how the Speed guys are "shocked" about the drivers who get knocked out in the first round of qualification. Speed out? Big friggin' surprise. He had no traffic blocking him, he is just a rookie. He qualified where he belongs. No drama, just reality.

PPS: This is only the 15th comment. What is happening to the F1 fans on Ferrarichat?

 

Oh and btw: I loved the aerial shots of the old Nordschleife, but Hobbs got it wrong (at the end of the show) when he called a certain piece of track the Schwalbenschwanz. That was actually die Fuchsroehre.

Not that I have driven the Nordschleife (yet) IRL, but countless hours on my computer. And GT4 has a neat rolling aerial of it in its credits. Worth checking out.

 

I'm no Nordshleife expert, but I thought he had it wrong also...unless they removed that second karousel launching towards the start/finish line.

There is a curiously low amount of posts on the race this weekend...is there some kind of event happening that maybe the F1 afficianados are attending? This is like the second straight race thread that wasn't started by Carol.

 

No podium possible? Kimi has proven otherwise.

I have a bad feeling Michael just doesn't have the speed to get by young Alonso with the current cars. Unless Ferrari pull off a brilliant pit strategy, or Alonso makes a mistake, I don't think MS will be able to win. Alonso will probably get his famous rocket start in the Renault and MS won't be able to pass later on.

 

Yup, many of the usual suspects missing. Dunno why.

The 2nd Karussel is way towards the end of the lap. The aerial shot showed clearly the bridge and the hard right going down into Fuchsroehre. Heck I was so puzzled, that a Nordschleife veteran like Hobbs would make such a blunder I followed the shot as long as it was visible and it was very clear he was wrong. Heck, I have the layout of the track burnt into my memory.

 

I have never been a fan of Fisichella, and he just keeps proving why I don't like him.

What happened with the timing system? JV was on his hot lap, and then a red flag appears, and then he was listed way back in the pack. Then all of a sudden he is listed as 6th or 7th? What happened there? Did he actually complete his hot lap, and the time was used?

 

I had my first experience of the Nurburgring on GT4 last night (in a RUF BTR no less) and good golly! I have watched countless videos on it but trying it on the simulator gave me an added healthy respect for the Ring.

I'm also worried that Alonso will get a rocket start and that will be the end of that....and I think he is thinking the same thing too.

 

JV got a penalty.
He lost three of his best laps, he is now 9th on the grid.

Klien's lap was completely destroyed by Sato today. Last GP MS wasn't penalised for doing the same to Trulli.

The race stewards / FIA are useless. This is a big joke, can't believe it!
Hope cry baby Fisi is happy now.

 

Hmm, maybe Fisico had a point then. After all this is Germany, so I'd say the stewards are pretty neutral in a Fisico-JV argument (or if anything would argue for the BMW driver). Not like the other case you mention with a Ferrari driver involved in the San Marino GP.

 

If I'm reading the FIA shuffle correctly, JPM likely isn't.
JV moves to the clean side of the track, JPM moves to JV's previous position on the dirty side.

That also puts JV directly in front of Fisi.

 

I think FA will pull away but not as much as many people think. I hope and think FA is on a light fuel load, so when he goes in for his pit MS will be able to catch and perhaps pass him.

MS and Ferrari should be given more credit than I think they are getting. A couple races ago they looked like a mid pack runner at best and now this week MS is looking very fast and only a couple tenths down on FA for pole. MS was ahead most of the weekend and will be fighting for the victory tomorrow.

Mark