Formula One 2005 season thread

[jarmo]

No...but just making a point since you refer to the qualifyng laps. Trully is a much better qualifyer than a race driver, By saying that I'm not implying that he is better or worse than Alonso, but sometimes strategy may interfere with the possibility of being first on the grid.

True.

But in this case I don't think Kimi and Fernando were on different strategies.


But Kimi was fast all weekend, it's not just the car. It's the whole package that for once worked.

Driver (made no mistakes), car (reliable, fast), tyres (good performance), luck (no punctures, no major problems in the pit etc.)

You need all of those to win.

The guy who finishes second usually has a reason or an excuse for it. It's racing. 

No...I just pointed out that the big difference Kimi gained from Lap 1 to lap 15 could've gotten something to do with Alonso's tyre problems. You were saying how something similar occured in Imola while I argued with such statement. Both races were totally different, while in Barcelona Kimi's difference was 20 seconds, In Imola was just 3 when he was forced to quit.

The similarity was that he pulled away from the start.

You forget that even though Fernando had tyre problems that caused him not to be that fast, Kimi also pulled away from all the other cars. Did they also have tyre problems?  Well, Schumacher did.

Nobody has said anything about why his tyres weren't working. Maybe he hadn't found a good balance for the car or maybe he tried too hard at the start?

I do agree that this is beneficial for the show though. However, you don't worry. We won't have to talk about this anymore since Alonso is going to win every race from now on.

We'll see about that. 



/jarmo

[Drew]

Villeneuve with his second lost engine in just 5 races. His engine and suspension problem need to be looked at. Becasue it's not looking good so far.

[jarmo]

Villeneuve with his second lost engine in just 5 races. His engine and suspension problem need to be looked at. Becasue it's not looking good so far.

Spain:

Qualifying:
10. Felipe Massa? ? ? ? Sauber? ? ?+ 2,803
12. Jacques Villeneuve? Sauber? ? ?+ 5,059

Race:
11. Felipe Massa? ? ? ? Sauber (DNF)
Jacques Villeneuve? Sauber? ? ?

San Marino:

Qualifying:
11. Jacques Villeneuve? ?Sauber? ?+ 3,379
18. Felipe Massa? ? ? ? ?Sauber? ?+ 2,050 (engine changed)

Race:
4. Jacques Villeneuve? Sauber? ? + 1.04,442
10. Felipe Massa? ? ? ?Sauber? ?+ 1 lap


Bahrain:

Qualifying:
12. Felipe Massa? ? ? ? ?Sauber? ? + 3,300
16. Jacques Villeneuve? ?Sauber? ? + 6,081

Race:
7. Felipe Massa? ? ? ?Sauber? ?+1 lap
11. Jacques Villeneuve Sauber? DNF

Malaysia:

Qualifying:
14. Felipe Massa? ? ? ? ?Sauber? ? + 4,212
16. Jacques Villeneuve? ?Sauber? ? + 5,323

Race:
10. Felipe Massa? ? ? ?Sauber? ?+1 lap
Jacques Villeneuve? ?Sauber? ? DNF


Australia:

Qualifying:
4.? Jacques Villeneuve? ?Sauber? ? ? + 5,386
18. Felipe Massa? ? ? ? ?Sauber? ? ?no time

Race:
10. Felipe Massa? ? ? ? Sauber? ? ?+1.04,393
13. Jacques Villeneuve? Sauber? ?+1 lap



Championship:

13.? ?Jacques Villeneuve? ?Sauber? ? ? ?5
16.? ?Felipe Massa? ? ? ? ?Sauber? ? ? ?2



Qualifying total so far: Massa 3 - 2 Villeneuve
Racing: Massa 4 - 1 Vileneuve

Massa has been faster in qualifying three times, and beat Villeneuve in four times in the races. Yet he's behind in points.

Looks like Jacques isn't exactly delivering even though he has more points....




/jarmo
?

[jarmo]

KIMI'S OPEN-ENDED MCLAREN OFFER
Last Updated: Thursday, 12, May, 2005, 12:07
 
 
McLaren team principal Ron Dennis has made Kimi Raikkonen a public open-ended offer to stay with his team.

The Spanish Grand Prix winner has been pinpointed by Ferrari team boss Jean Todt as a potential replacement for Michael Schumacher when he retires, but Dennis says he wants to the keep the Finn in his service for as long as he can.

"We will fight to keep Kimi on the team," Dennis told Finland's MTV3 channel.

"Kimi Raikkonen will stay on this team as long as he wants.

"He has a capability of winning many, many world championships."

Dennis conceded however that should McLaren prove unable provide Raikkonen with a championship-winning car then the Finn is unlikely to hang around.

"If we don't deliver, I am absolutely sure that he will look at other teams in the future."
 
http://www.itv-f1.com



I guess Ferrari doesn't think Barrichello is the guy who's gonna be their #1 driver when Schumacher retires. I wouldn't be surprised if they go with Alonso instead.

H?kkinen stayed loyal to McLaren all the way. I can see Kimi doing the same.



/jarmo

[Ignatius]

Jean Todt has been saying that about Alonso all year long. And now Kimi. He is just trying to pressure Reanult and Mclaren by saying he's after both pilots. Alonso's just renewed his contract until 2006, it wouldn't surprise me if Ferrari kept Rubens and maybe Gene for the upcoming season ( every team needs a few years to rebuild), to then try to sign Alonso and Kimi for the 2007 championship.

[Skeletor]

It would be weird seeing Kimi drive for Ferrari.. that's, like, the enemy! And red is a communist color anyway

[jarmo]

Jean Todt has been saying that about Alonso all year long. And now Kimi.

As far as I remember, Todt has been praising Kimi even before this season.

I don't think they want to sign a rookie, so it's only natural they try to get the best possible drivers there are in F1 at the moment.....

How about this scenario: Ferrari gets Fisichella (Italian team, Italian driver) and Renault lets Heikki Kovalainen drive for them. 




/jarmo

[jarmo]

F1 WANTS YOUR OPINION
 
For the first time in the history of Formula 1, you will get the chance to have your say over the future of the sport, when the governing body makes public an online fan survey later this week, backed by global technology leader AMD.

As FIA president Max Mosley and the teams begin to define a set of regulations for 2008 and beyond, the sport's governing body is encouraging as many fans as possible to partake in the FIA/AMD multiple choice questionnaire.

"At the beginning of 2005 the FIA launched a consultation on the future of Formula One with all of the sport's stakeholders," said an FIA spokesman.

"We felt that including Formula One fans in this process was essential.

"To help shape the future of the sport we want as many fans as possible to visit our website and complete the online survey."

The FIA/AMD survey, which is open to everyone, can be found on the official FIA website -  www.fia.com ? later this week and the results will be published in the summer.

Mosley is one of many key figures in F1 that believe the fans are not given enough say in the direction the sport takes.

Renault director of engineering Pat Symonds believes that the fans can provide vital information in an era when the sport is so dramatically effected by public perception.

"I've always advocated that if we want to know what to do, we should be asking the public," he said last year.

"What we should do is go out on a Saturday afternoon while qualifying is on and ask the people in the street, in the shopping centres 'why aren't you watching qualifying, what is wrong with it? Why aren't you watching racing?'"

 
http://www.itv-f1.com



/jarmo

[Graciela]

Wow! That Mercedes is fast!! 

[Ignatius]

I've been watching F-1 for a few years now, there are still a few things I'm not too clear with.

Do both drivers from the same team have the exact same car? I'm talking about same engine, same tyres, same slightly tune-ups...is it all the same?

I would assume than the main driver have a slightly better car, but I don't think that's the case. However, how can you explain the time difference today between Kimi and Montoya & Fernando and Fisichella? We are talking about a 1 sec difference! Last year, Schumi would have a 0.2 or 0.3 difference at the most with Rubens, but this year the difference between team partners is huge, especially in Renault and Mclaren. What do you guys think? Do you think the engineers & mechanics go the extra mile with the team's top driver or are both cars treated exactly the same?

[jarmo]

I don't think McLaren uses the first and second driver tactics like Ferrari does. Ferrari is built around Schumacher, McLaren isn't built around R?ikk?nen.


Montoya just doesn't feel "at home" in the McLaren. At least not yet.

Some drivers want an car that understeers and others don't. So if the car is that way, the driver won't like driving it.

You can adjust the car, but it won't be perfect because it doesn't handle the way the driver wants it to.

I don't know how things are in Renault, but I imagine it's the same for them. The car suits Alonso better and he does seem like a better driver of the two Renault drivers.



With that in mind, what a brilliant lap by Kimi! Fernando did a great lap that I thought would be unbeatable.... I was wrong!



Edit: The FIA F1 survey mentioned in one of the news articles I posted earlier is at http://www.fia-amd-survey2005.com/

FIA must either have some high opinion on Finns or maybe not. The survey isn't available in Finnish!

Either they think we all understand English or they think Finland doesn't matter. The survey is available in Swedish. Keep in mind that Sweden has no F1 driver at the moment and that F1 is really popular in Finland (for some weird reason ).

Wonder what FIA are thinking.....? Or maybe it's just because the F1 Racing magazine doesn't exist in Finland.... Which would make sense but would be a stupid reason.



/jarmo

[jarmo]

Yes!?

Outstanding race by Kimi again. McLaren did everything right unlike Renault who chose the wrong strategy.

McLaren worked far better on saving the tyres. They used the softer ones and still they weren't nearly as bad as Renault's tyres.


'Crazy' Schumi provokes Ralf outburst

'He should have switched on his brain before he tried a move like that'
?
Ralf Schumacher has accused his world champion brother Michael of a "crazy" move which could have killed both of them.

Michael pulled alongside his brother's Toyota at high speed on the run to the chequered flag in the Monaco grand prix yesterday, just missing out on taking sixth spot by the smallest of margins.

But Ralf, who was forced to jink away from the Ferrari for fear of an accident, was angry that his brother attempted to squeeze between him and the concrete wall at such high speeds.

Ralf said: "He's crazy. He should have switched on his brain before he tried a move like that. Another millimetre and one of us could have been dead."

Michael's disappointing result was compounded by criticism from two of the drivers closest to him with team-mate Rubens Barrichello adding to Ralf's complaint.

Barrichello was angry that Schumacher passed him for seventh on the last lap, accusing him of risking an accident.


http://sport.guardian.co.uk


FIA CONFIRMS NEW QUALIFYING PROCEDURE
Last Updated: Monday, 23, May, 2005, 14:20
 
 
The FIA has confirmed that Formula 1's qualifying procedure will change for next weekend's European Grand Prix.

Qualifying will now comprise one single session on Saturday afternoon instead of the unpopular aggregated format that has been in place since the beginning of the season.

The one-lap session will see competitors run with race fuel under parc ferme conditions as was the case in 2004.
 
http://www.itv-f1.com


/jarmo

[Ignatius]

Yeah...Renault did everything wrong.

Fernado had managed to keep the difference below 5 sec before the safety car took the course. Kimi would've won most likely, but Renault handed in the win. The tyres selection proved to be a mistake as well, making the renault almost undriveable. Also the car couldn't obviously run as fast since it was carrying 110 kgs extra.

No excuses anyway, Kimi seemed to be in great form. His car is also running very well.

It'll be interesting to see what happens next week.

[jarmo]

You have to remember that Kimi was 0.5 seconds faster in qualifying 1.

That proves the car is faster even when Renault and McLaren are running with low fuel loads.


I'm not sure if the cars were that different at the start. I suspect Kimi was planning on pitting after the Renaults considering his slower time in qualifying 2. Renault made their stops earlier than planned thanks to the safety car while McLaren probably went along with their original plan (because they missed the opportunity).

Now, if the Renaults hadn't fitted their cars with bigger fuel tanks, they would've had to make two stops (or delay the first stop until they reached the window for a one stop strategy).



/jarmo

[Cocaine__tongue]

Congrats to kimi (and jarmo...). A great drive by the finnish driver and a very very bad management of the situation by renault. Bad tyre selection, horrible pit strategy....briatore, stop staring in the sun with heidi, naomi etc....and start making good decisions.....

[jarmo]

Congrats to kimi (and jarmo...).

Thanks, but I had nothing to do with that.   


Wonder what Ferrari will do next weekend? Everybody should know their strategy by now. Bad qualifying, one pit stop, better lap times later in the race.




/jarmo

[Ignatius]

You have to remember that Kimi was 0.5 seconds faster in qualifying 1.

That proves the car is faster even when Renault and McLaren are running with low fuel loads.

/jarmo

True.

The great thing about this sport is that some many little things can have such a tremendous impact on the final result.

Alonso said during qualifyng 1 he was a little bit cautious after Ralf had collisioned his car during his lap. Kimi may have not been as cautious as Fernando, hence the .5 sec gap.

During qualifyng 2 however Alonso was faster cause his car was running with lower fuel loads. However, Kimi created a 5 second difference during the first 20 laps with higher fuel loads than Alonso, so either kimi's car is even faster than Alonso's with more fuel, or the tyres really had a devastating effect for Fernando.

Either way, it's fun to theorize about what could've happened what could've happened hadn't Alonso stopped when the safety car took appeared on the course.

Truth is, Kimi's car seems faster now. Renault's engineers better work their ass off this week to pair up with Mclaren.

[jarmo]

McLaren has been fast, good to the tyres and reliable the last two races.

Just like a good winning car should be. You won't win races when your tyres look like slicks.....

Renault was the better car at the start of the season simply because they had the reliability and power that McLaren lacked back then.

Also, you need to build a car that will work in the qualifying or you'll be like Ferrari. I guess it's easier to win when you start at the front of the grid than when you start as the 11th car or something.



/jarmo

[Cocaine__tongue]

The future clearly belongs to Kimi and Alonso. They will dominate the f1 circus for quite some time. As long as their cars look alike (in terms of speed, reliability, etc..), we will witness very interesting duels. Let's hope years of dominance of only one car (ferrari in the past) don't happen again, the spectacle wouldn't just be the same!!!.

[jarmo]

TODT: QUALI CHANGE MAY HELP US

 
Ferrari boss Jean Todt believes changes to Formula 1?s qualifying format which will come into effect at this weekend?s European Grand Prix may benefit the Maranello team.

The new qualifying system was rubber-stamped on Monday and will see the existing aggregate format streamlined into a single session on Saturday, in which cars will qualify with race fuel on board.

Ferrari?s big problem this year has been a lack of performance from its Bridgestone tyres over a single flying lap, which has meant the world champions have qualified poorly and therefore been unable to exploit their race pace.

On the face of it that situation will not change as each driver will still only get a single hot lap under the new system.

But Todt believes the fact that there will only be one session will open up more strategic options.


Under the current aggregate system, teams know how much fuel they can afford to run with in Sunday qualifying to maintain their grid positions from Saturday and set their fuel strategy accordingly.


Now there will be more unknowns and, conceivably, a wider variation in fuel loads.


?I am sure [the new system] will not disturb us,? he said. ?I think it will probably be better for us.?

The Frenchman acknowledged that qualifying pace remains the team?s Achilles heel.

?We need to have more immediate performance on one lap, it?s our weak point,? he said. ?We know and we are working on it.

?We know that during the race we are very competitive. During a certain part of the [Monaco] race we were three seconds quicker than the other competitors.

?During the race when the track is clear we are quick. But the problem is that we compromise our racing by starting so far behind.?
 


Not a big surprise...



/jarmo