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[Pimpwerx]

Quick recap: Renault's taken the first 4 races. The first to Fisi, and Alonso got the last 3. Ferrari looked incredible last race, and should have won, but met some misfortune. McLaren was also very strong, and look to continue that pace this weekend. Looks to be a 3-way battle this weekend with BAR out for the next two races. BTW, Monty's back.

Practice Session 1:

 1. 35  DE LA ROSA   McLaren Mercedes  M   1'15"675  220.115 Km/h  
 2. 37  KLIEN        RedBull Cosworth  M   1'16"821    + 0'01"146  
 3.  8  HEIDFELD     Williams BMW      M   1'17"047    + 0'01"372  
 4.  1  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   1'17"574    + 0'01"899  
 5.  9  RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   1'17"851    + 0'02"176  
 6. 14  COULTHARD    RedBull Cosworth  M   1'17"977    + 0'02"302  
 7. 38  ZONTA        Toyota            M   1'18"103    + 0'02"428  
 8. 15  LIUZZI       RedBull Cosworth  M   1'18"112    + 0'02"437  
 9. 17  R.SCHUMACHER Toyota            M   1'18"204    + 0'02"529  
10. 10  MONTOYA      McLaren Mercedes  M   1'18"402    + 0'02"727  
11. 12  MASSA        Sauber Petronas   M   1'19"328    + 0'03"653  
12. 11  VILLENEUVE   Sauber Petronas   M   1'20"621    + 0'04"946  
13. 18  MONTEIRO     Jordan Toyota     B   1'20"773    + 0'05"098  
14. 39  DOORNBOS     Jordan Toyota     B   1'20"912    + 0'05"237  
15. 19  KARTHIKEYAN  Jordan Toyota     B   1'21"628    + 0'05"953  
16. 21  ALBERS       Minardi Cosworth  B   1'21"635    + 0'05"960  
17. 20  FRIESACHER   Minardi Cosworth  B   1'22"454    + 0'06"779

Rubens had some hydraulic problem, so only did an installation lap. Sorry about no lap count, I'm getting these from F1-Live.

Practice Session 2:

 1. 35  DE LA ROSA   McLaren Mercedes  M   1'15"062  221.913 Km/h  
 2. 38  ZONTA        Toyota            M   1'16"220    + 0'01"158  
 3.  8  HEIDFELD     Williams BMW      M   1'16"527    + 0'01"465  
 4.  9  RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   1'16"586    + 0'01"524  
 5. 16  TRULLI       Toyota            M   1'16"653    + 0'01"591  
 6. 14  COULTHARD    RedBull Cosworth  M   1'16"797    + 0'01"735  
 7.  6  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   1'17"200    + 0'02"138  
 8. 17  R.SCHUMACHER Toyota            M   1'17"264    + 0'02"202  
 9.  5  ALONSO       Renault           M   1'17"356    + 0'02"294  
10. 10  MONTOYA      McLaren Mercedes  M   1'17"555    + 0'02"493  
11.  2  BARRICHELLO  Ferrari           B   1'17"702    + 0'02"640  
12. 12  MASSA        Sauber Petronas   M   1'17"931    + 0'02"869  
13.  1  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   1'18"042    + 0'02"980  
14. 11  VILLENEUVE   Sauber Petronas   M   1'18"336    + 0'03"274  
15. 15  LIUZZI       RedBull Cosworth  M   1'18"444    + 0'03"382  
16. 37  KLIEN        RedBull Cosworth  M   1'18"802    + 0'03"740  
17. 19  KARTHIKEYAN  Jordan Toyota     B   1'18"858    + 0'03"796  
18. 39  DOORNBOS     Jordan Toyota     B   1'19"125    + 0'04"063  
19. 18  MONTEIRO     Jordan Toyota     B   1'19"140    + 0'04"078  
20. 21  ALBERS       Minardi Cosworth  B   1'19"581    + 0'04"519  
21. 20  FRIESACHER   Minardi Cosworth  B   1'20"686    + 0'05"624

Ferrari was off the pace on the day (can't see P2 on tv until 2am EST on SpeedTV), but in the post-race interviews, the team seems confident on its race pace. Rubens actually said it's kinda like Imola, which could mean they'll be qualifying heavy and charging to the front late in the race. We'll see come P3 and P4. But I'm betting on a Kimi pole. McLaren looks great again, but remember that PDLR is their Friday driver, so he's running light. Kimi should be able to post a high 1:15 tomorrow?

It's early to call the race, but IMO, this is a nexxus for Renault. Alonso is gonna be on the back foot the rest of the season. McLaren and Ferrari have leapfrogged them IMO, and won't relinquish the car advantage except at Hungary and Monaco (again, IMO). I pick Kimi for the win Sunday, b/c I don't really expect Ferrari to qualify in the Top 5. Top 10...maybe. And with overtaking still at a premium, I don't expect that they'll be able to catch the Flying Finn. And Monty should be in there with a shout too. I hope he can get back up to speed quickly.

AFAIK, he was playing tennis b/c Ron Dennis wanted him to do some physical training or something, and that's how he got injured. I don't know if there's any truth to that, but it's good to see him back in there. If for no other reason than to take points off Alonso. I think this is when the WDC chase really begins, b/c now McLaren looks to be back at full strength. I like Alonso, but until Schuey retires, he'll always be 2nd best. PEACE.

 

[Pimpwerx]

UPDATES: Heidfeld has a 10-place penalty for an engine change. BMW had to emergency ship two engines to Barca for Mark and Nick. But Mark won't be punished b/c he stayed off track since he was due for a new engine anyway. Rubens also drops 10 spots. Monty had his the wall yesterday as well. Also, Michelin teams seem to be concerned about blistering for tomorrow's race. Something to consider.

Practice Session 3:

 1.  6  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   1'15"605  220.319 Km/h  
 2.  1  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   1'15"631    + 0'00"026  
 3. 17  R.SCHUMACHER Toyota            M   1'15"860    + 0'00"255  
 4.  2  BARRICHELLO  Ferrari           B   1'16"004    + 0'00"399  
 5. 15  LIUZZI       RedBull Cosworth  M   1'16"241    + 0'00"636  
 6. 14  COULTHARD    RedBull Cosworth  M   1'16"323    + 0'00"718  
 7. 10  MONTOYA      McLaren Mercedes  M   1'16"560    + 0'00"955  
 8.  9  RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   1'17"363    + 0'01"758  
 9.  8  HEIDFELD     Williams BMW      M   1'17"615    + 0'02"010  
10.  7  WEBBER       Williams BMW      M   1'17"701    + 0'02"096  
11. 18  MONTEIRO     Jordan Toyota     B   1'17"870    + 0'02"265  
12. 19  KARTHIKEYAN  Jordan Toyota     B   1'18"198    + 0'02"593  
13. 12  MASSA        Sauber Petronas   M   1'18"209    + 0'02"604  
14. 16  TRULLI       Toyota            M   1'18"215    + 0'02"610  
15. 11  VILLENEUVE   Sauber Petronas   M   1'18"686    + 0'03"081  
16. 20  FRIESACHER   Minardi Cosworth  B   1'20"417    + 0'04"812  
17. 21  ALBERS       Minardi Cosworth  B   1'21"145    + 0'05"540

Based on past weekends, Ferrari does its race setup in P3.... Not sure about the number of miles, but I would not be suprised to see Ferrari running in the low 15's on their in-laps tomorrow. Look at RBR. 8O Jaguar was really dragging ass over the years, b/c that team is looking good this year. Good on Liuzzi.

Practice Session 4:

 1. 17  R.SCHUMACHER Toyota            M   1'14"280  224.249 Km/h  
 2.  9  RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   1'14"462    + 0'00"182  
 3. 10  MONTOYA      McLaren Mercedes  M   1'14"672    + 0'00"392  
 4.  7  WEBBER       Williams BMW      M   1'14"689    + 0'00"409  
 5.  5  ALONSO       Renault           M   1'15"030    + 0'00"750  
 6.  6  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   1'15"048    + 0'00"768  
 7. 16  TRULLI       Toyota            M   1'15"087    + 0'00"807  
 8.  8  HEIDFELD     Williams BMW      M   1'15"253    + 0'00"973  
 9. 14  COULTHARD    RedBull Cosworth  M   1'15"339    + 0'01"059  
10.  2  BARRICHELLO  Ferrari           B   1'15"374    + 0'01"094  
11.  1  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   1'15"378    + 0'01"098  
12. 12  MASSA        Sauber Petronas   M   1'15"511    + 0'01"231  
13. 15  LIUZZI       RedBull Cosworth  M   1'15"546    + 0'01"266  
14. 11  VILLENEUVE   Sauber Petronas   M   1'16"291    + 0'02"011  
15. 19  KARTHIKEYAN  Jordan Toyota     B   1'17"569    + 0'03"289  
16. 18  MONTEIRO     Jordan Toyota     B   1'17"848    + 0'03"568  
17. 21  ALBERS       Minardi Cosworth  B   1'19"031    + 0'04"751  
18. 20  FRIESACHER   Minardi Cosworth  B   1'19"296    + 0'05"016

This is qualifying setup...duh. Kimi is stupid fast. He'll get pole tomorrow. I have no doubt about it. Bridgestone is still suffering single-lap performance. If it wasn't for their ability to make a killer race tire, this would be upsetting. It's been a problem since 2001, when Michelin almost gift-wrapped those 7 poles for JPM. I'm not sure how these times compare to the track record. I might check that later.

Qualifying Session 1:

 1. 16  TRULLI       Toyota            M   1'14"795  222.705 Km/h  
 2.  5  ALONSO       Renault           M   1'14"811    + 0'00"016  
 3.  9  RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   1'14"819    + 0'00"024  
 4. 17  R.SCHUMACHER Toyota            M   1'14"870    + 0'00"075  
 5.  8  HEIDFELD     Williams BMW      M   1'15"038    + 0'00"243  
 6.  7  WEBBER       Williams BMW      M   1'15"042    + 0'00"247  
 7.  1  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   1'15"398    + 0'00"603  
 8.  6  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   1'15"601    + 0'00"806  
 9.  2  BARRICHELLO  Ferrari           B   1'15"746    + 0'00"951  
10. 14  COULTHARD    RedBull Cosworth  M   1'15"795    + 0'01"000  
11. 12  MASSA        Sauber Petronas   M   1'15"863    + 0'01"068  
12. 10  MONTOYA      McLaren Mercedes  M   1'15"902    + 0'01"107  
13. 15  LIUZZI       RedBull Cosworth  M   1'16"288    + 0'01"493  
14. 11  VILLENEUVE   Sauber Petronas   M   1'16"794    + 0'01"999  
15. 19  KARTHIKEYAN  Jordan Toyota     B   1'18"557    + 0'03"762  
16. 18  MONTEIRO     Jordan Toyota     B   1'19"040    + 0'04"245  
17. 21  ALBERS       Minardi Cosworth  B   1'19"563    + 0'04"768  
18. 20  FRIESACHER   Minardi Cosworth  B   1'20"306    + 0'05"511

Well...I was way off yesterday in guessing the provisional pole time. High 15's my ass. I shoulda known better since it was just Friday. Kimi is the fastest man, regardless of what the current standings say. He was 4th man on track, made a mistake, and still within a cunt hair of pole. Still his pole to lose. He a small error in S1 that might have cost him a couple tenths, so he should really be P1 right now. Less than 1 tenth seperates the Top 4. 8O. Should be interesting. Toyota is strong, which is great to see. But Trolley is still whoopin that ass all over Ralf. :lol Heidfeld will drop 10 places on the grid, as will Rubens. But good job for Nick beating Mark in qualies. Alonso did well in front of his home fans, but he's not gonna get a pole for them. I like him, but I'm praying for some sort of mechanical gremlin to make that WDC lead more attainable.

But my boy, Michael is in 7th, a comfortable 2 tenths ahead of Fisi. If he doesn't cock it up again in Q2, he'll be running fairly heavy, especially since the Speed announcers claimed that he was running the harder compound BStone brought (they brought some special fronts just for this track). He should be 6th after Heidfeld drops down. IMO, Kimi will get away quickly and drop some jaws, but it's my hope that the lead group can stay in touch with Kimi, while Michael stalks (or better yet, picks them off with overtaking...but I doubt it). And then, after the first round of stops, he's putting in enough ridiculous laps that he emerges in 2nd, tracking Kimi down. I expect the Michelin teams to fall off in pace, and get consumed by the Ferraris. Rubens should be charging hard, and should be safe for a points finish. He doesn't get enough credit, b/c he's only a tenth off Michael despite running early in the session.

Anyway, some wishful thinking on my part. Kimi fans should be happy b/c he looks to be the favorite for tomorrow's race. Renault and Fonso should be worried, b/c while Ferrari is clearly on the charge, they've also got to contend with McLaren and Toyota stealing crucial points off them. Leaving Bridgestone for Michelin will end up being the biggest mistake these teams have made. I'm starting to think it's worked to Ferrari's advantage in the long run, rather than a disadvantage. They don't share Bridgestone wins with anyone. Renault will see Mac and possibly Toyota and Williams taking some of their wins.

Oh, and what would an F1 thread be without some JV bashing from me? :lol A second down on Massa. Embarassing. Looks like Imola was a one-off, huh? And I gotta give props to Liuzzi (eventhough he didn't beat DC) and Karthikeyan for showing well for the rookies. In particular, I think Karthikeyan is showing some really good potential. Holding it down for the brown in F1. PEACE.

EDIT: BTW, I'm starting to think that Michael will only get one fluke pole this year if he gets a wet qualies or something. Or maybe at his favorite stomping ground in Suzuka. But it's like the ghost of Senna has set a force field around that record. :lol Has he cursed BStone qualifying performance from the other side?

 

[celestial body]

FP4 is always a good indicator of quali 1 times because it's a good chance to verify your set-up and tyre choice in similar conditions. Generally the Friday sessions are for long runs but sometimes the 3rd drivers are asked to go hell for leather on 5 lap stints with low fuel to get some ball-park figure to work to. Bridgestone is blighting the Ferrari performance but I will withold judgement until after the race, as they could have a decent pace.

EDIT: good call on Kimi by the way, if the soft tyres hold I think he has a better chance to win this race than anyone else.

 

[Shinobi]

I haven't watched any of the F1 stuff yet, but hope to watch the first qualies later tonight (think it's getting reshown at 8pm and 2am).

The problem is how is Kimi's car gonna hold up. He should've won San Marino as well, or at least been on the podium, but the damn thing gave up on him. And that's happened far too often the last couple years. Everybody remembers the Hockenheim race from a couple years ago where he was a half lap in front barely 20 minutes in before the engine blew the fuck up. Not to mention last year when his damn rear spoiler flew off on the same course. :lol If it wasn't for these voodoo spells, Kimi would have at least five career wins and a world title in his back pocket.

Not sure what happened with JV...he was right in touch with him until the qualies. Might be he dislikes the one lap thing as much as Coulthard does. Isn't like Massa is lighting it up either, so I wouldn't use this result to look down on Jacques.

Anyway, I wanna see Kimi and Alonso have a nice long battle tomorrow. Got robbed of that the last time around, so they owe me. They're obviously the future of the sport, and could develop an incredible rivalry over the next decade. And if Michael wants to poke his head in there every once in a while, that's cool as well. :lol

 

[ourumov]

I would like Alonso to not end the race...

 

[LusDekkar]

I'm looking forward to the race. Kimi was disadvantaged because he had to go out early whereas alonso was out last. So kimi did really well to get where he is. It's nice to see toyota doing well, hopefully they can keep it up for qualy 2 and the race. The top 4 are only separated by such a tiny fraction of a section. Qualy should be good, wonder if any of them will choke.

 

[Shinobi]

Well...that was something. Guess I can't say much until around 3pm (race is on in the US at 1pm on CBS...second qualifying session is on Speed Channel at 12pm). But er, yeah...that was something.

 

[Project Midway]

Wow, Kimi finally got a break, Mclared was fast *and* reliable. Kimi was amazingly fast...driving ~ 1 s faster laps than Alonso at the start before first pits.

 

[Cronos]

Yeah, the race itself wasn't that interesting, not much happened in the way of overtaking etc. But Kimi won!! Seems like Bridgestone has some serious problems though. Wonder how long Ferrari's gonna put up with it. Strange thing, the Dutch commentator of the race was talking about how Jean Todt mentioned he was very impressed with Kimi (not just talking about this race), and was more or less considering getting him when Michael retires. Though it's probably bullshit, I've never heard rumors like that before. Weird... Would give Shinobi a heart attack I think, if it really happened.

 

[Shinobi]

Haha, I wouldn't care...I'm a Kimi fan first and foremost. I don't hate Ferrari, hell they've always been among my favourite car makers, but I've never liked seeing anyone being a dominant force like they were last year or in 2002.

There was talk that Ron Dennis signed Kimi up when he did for the expressed purpose of keeping Ferrari from doing so, as they had interest even back then (which makes sense since he was driving the Ferrari-powered Sauber so well in his maiden season). I'd rather he stay with McLaren just cause those silver cars look so cool, but wherever he goes is good with me.

I have found it surprising how Alonso was getting talked about as seemingly the only heir to Michael's dominance throne. Somehow people forget that Kimi was the first guy that beat Michael head to head last year at Spa, and has had a few other opportunities to win besides. Today simply proved that he can win a romp just as well as Mike or Alonso. Make no mistake though, there's a delicious rivalry that's on the offing with those two...think it's pretty clear that those two (along with Michael) are a class apart at the moment.

 

[Cronos]

Make no mistake though, there's a delicious rivalry that's on the offing with those two...think it's pretty clear that those two (along with Michael) are a class apart at the moment.

Yeah definately. If McLaren keeps up the cars like this, and no more weird malfunctions, there could be a very interesting battle between the two guys (Kimi and Alonso). Must say I also always had a weak spot for Fisi, and while he had some bad luck today, he drove a very good race!