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[Shinobi]

Kicking this one off early, due to the different times. Practice is on Speed Channel later tonight at 2am EST, with qualifying on at 2am EST Friday night/Saturday morning. Then the race starts at 2am on Saturday night/Sunday morning.

This has been one of the most exciting lead ups to a F1 race I can remember in a while, which is bizarre considering both championships are already decided and there's only three races to go. The new Shanghai International Circuit has been getting rave reviews so far, though how much passing will be possible remains to be seen. A lot of people are looking at this race as a huge boon...it's a huge untapped market that F1 is hoping to be able to get new sponsorships from, in a time where sponsorship dollars for teams have been at a premium for several years now.

We've also seen a ton of changes and big news in the paddock...the return of Ralf Schumacher from injury, the replacement of drivers Jarno Trulli (signed with Toyota for next season, though he might be in the car at Suzuka in two weeks) and Jordan's Giorgio Pantano with Jacques Villeneuve (yes!!) and Timo Glock respectively, the sudden and shocking move by Ford to put the Jaguar team and Cosworth engine company up for sale, and the ongoing soap opera with Jenson Button and the Williams/BAR contract dispute (the hearing for that was put off until October). So there's a lot going on. I probably haven't looked forward to a race this much all year, and that includes the British GP where my boy Kimi was on pole. Here's hoping the race can be as intense as the buildup.

 

[sonatinas]

dre, it will knock the socks off the shanghai peeps, as long as they keep on coming back, it will be pretty cool

 

[Shinobi]

Yeah, all indications are it's a huge hit. They're contracted till 2010, and I imagine they'll be running this race long after that.

Anyway, the second practice session is now being shown on Speed Channel.

 

[DrM]

Michael Schumacher cringed but retained his composure as he took on the role of Formula One teacher for a flock of uninformed Chinese journalists. The Ferrari driver was asked at Shanghai's Grand Hyatt International Hotel: "Why do you always race in red - is it a lucky colour?"
Next, someone asked Michael if he thought he could win the drivers' world championship at the new $304 million Shanghai circuit. Again, with poise, Schumacher kept calm and said that feat - his fifth in succession - had been in the bag for more than a month.
The ruse went on - what did the seven-times title winner feel when he discovered that Ford-backed Jaguar, his 'old' team, would not compete beyond October's Interlagos race? Schumacher was polite when he pointed out that he had never even sat in a green F1 racer.

Good job, Michael.

 

[LusDekkar]

hahaha, I'd love to hear what he actually said though!
I'm looking forward to the race, I've only seen pictures of the circuit as i odn't nkow what channel practice is on (if anyone knows which CCTV is playing it...) so i have to wait for qualifying before i get to see the track. Picturse make it seem good though.

 

[Vitten]

Looking forward seeing this one live. Track and the infrastructure sure look impressive.

What's up with BAR's new colour scheme ??

 

[Shinobi]

British American tobacco only sells the 555 brand in China, as opposed to Lucky Strike. Only Davidson's car got the full blown colour change, which is kinda a shame...would've been cool to see the regular cars getting that paint job, though they do have the 555 logo on the side.

Anyway, qualifying is just about to begin.

 

[duckroll]

Ferarri bookends!

Barrichello is at the start of the grid and Michael Schumacher is stuck at the end of the grid after a spin in qualifying....

Tomorrow's race should be fun

 

[Shinobi]

Holy cats...I thought Schumacher's rear tire blew up the way he just span out. Wow...you just never see that from him when the chips are down.

 

[Shinobi]

The qualifying times and starting grid...


Grid for Sunday's Chinese GP

1 BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m34.012s

2 RAIKKONEN McLaren 1m34.178s

3 BUTTON BAR 1m34.295s

4 MASSA Sauber 1m34.759s

5 R.SCHUMACHER Williams 1m34.891s

6 ALONSO Renault 1m34.917s

7 FISICHELLA Sauber 1m34.951s

8 PANIS Toyota 1m34.975s

9 SATO BAR 1m34.993s

10 COULTHARD McLaren 1m35.029s

11 MONTOYA Williams 1m35.245s

12 WEBBER Jaguar 1m35.286s

13 VILLENEUVE Renault 1m35.384s

14 ZONTA Toyota 1m35.410s

15 HEIDFELD Jordan 1m36.507s

16 KLIEN Jaguar 1m36.535s

17 GLOCK Jordan 1m37.140s

18 BAUMGARTNER Minardi 1m40.240s

19 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari no time

20 BRUNI Minardi no time


* Sato to be dropped 10 places for changing engines

 

[Ghost]

Wow the circuit looks great, gives me great hopes for the olympics.

 

[Shinobi]

Bumpin' the thread up...pre-race show starts in about ten minutes, with the race getting going in 40 minutes.

 

[Shinobi]

Damn, Button got smoked at the start...

 

[Shinobi]

Another fantastic race. Three good races in four? In F1? What year is this, 1973?

I'm gonna assume most of the F1 crowd haven't watched it yet due to the irregular starting time, so I'll leave the results out until later.

 

[Hooker]

Ah man, I TOTALLY forgot about it. I didn't even see the finish, just the part where they gave out the trophees and anthems

 

[Shinobi]

Man, I hope it's repeated where you are...Speed Channel always repeats the F1 race here at 9pm, so I'll be watching that.

 

[Hooker]

Yup, at 12:30

2,5 more hours

 

[Grubdog]

Another fantastic race. Three good races in four? In F1? What year is this, 1973?

I'm gonna assume most of the F1 crowd haven't watched it yet due to the irregular starting time, so I'll leave the results out until later.

I agree, awesome race, F1 is looking so much better at the moment.

Good idea too, they actually showed the race live (or close) here in Australia so i'm not behind this time, but usually before the race starts here I pop into one of these threads and spoil it all for myself.

 

[Cold Shadow]

http://www.formula1.com/photos/270x240/tvimages/2004/chinese/satpic10.jpg

http://www.formula1.com/photos/190x177/sutton/2004/d04chn1053.jpg


whatever

 

[Hooker]

You might want to edit that bud, a lot of people don't know the outcome yet

 

[Shinobi]

Yeah, edit that post Shadow.

 

[dskillzhtown]

You might want to edit that bud, a lot of people don't know the outcome yet

How can anyone following F1 for the past few years not know the outcome?

 

[Hooker]

Time difference perhaps?!


And 95% of the channels who broadcast the race will re-broadcast it at a respectable time. Watching a race, ballgame movie or any other show while knowing how it will end doesn't work.

 

[dskillzhtown]

Time difference perhaps?!


And 95% of the channels who broadcast the race will re-broadcast it at a respectable time. Watching a race, ballgame movie or any other show while knowing how it will end doesn't work.

I am thinking my brand of humor went over your head.

 

[Shinobi]

How can anyone following F1 for the past few years not know the outcome?

:lol Well it was a slightly different result this time.

That was subtle as hell BTW...I wouldn't have got it had you not explained yourself. :lol

 

[Vennt]

Great race, and yes this season is proving to be one of the most watchable in years.

Great drives from Button & Raikonnen, and an awesome, flawless drive from Barrichello, but what the hell happened to Schumi this weekend? - He's totally "off the boil" and you do have to wonder if his hunger is dying. This weekend will affect him IMO and I wouldn't be surprised if he's only got a year or so in F1 left.

I personally hope he retires at his current peak, for the good of the sport - it would be good to see him drive something different, Le Mans perhaps, and I'd hate to see such a great driver follow Alesi & Burgher's steps of continuing to drive past their sell-by date

 

[Pimpwerx]

Wow! That was a good race overall, although miserable for Michael. Rubens had a great race, just being faster than Kimi and able to stay ahead when Kimi was quicker. He made no mistakes and put in the hot laps when he needed. He was sharp all weekend. Good job, Rubens. Like I said, with Michael out of the picture, Rubens is having a monster season. Benson drove a good race, and looked like he was a lock for a big win at one point, but his lap times didn't come down quick enough when it mattered. But he did say he was suprised to have qualified as high as he did, and he did scramble through the pack to get back to his position, after a slow start. He actually passed someone. Speaking of which, Ralf Schumacher also did before being punted by DC. It was DC's fault IMO, but no penalty should come of it since Ralf did the same thing to Alonso earlier this year and wasn't penalized. Ralf's had a great recovery drive though. He was a consistent 0.3s ahead of Juan all weekend.

Kimi did great. He hounded Rubens most of the race, and just lost out to Jenson. The kid is quick. Alonso was mostly nowhere, didn't do a whole lot. Meh, the car was shit, as JV showed. Now here come my sour grapes.

Michael...this wasn't his weekend. He had a guaranteed pole and win turn into a no-points trundle. Eventhough he struggled early on, he still had pole position pace, but spun badly. Matchett and Hobbs blame tire temps from the out lap. He did also have a moment at the final turn before the start-finish line. But that just meant a podium was hopeless, he still had a chance at a Top 5, or even better. The stupid parc ferme rules meant he had to make a pitstop at the start eventhough almost everything else on the car was probably changed. Anyway, he was moving through the field well. He passed a lot of guys on track again, but that spin blew any real chance. He was pulling another Suzuka 98, eating up his tires while working through the field. We hardly saw any of his passes, but he must have picked off more cars than anyone, and they weren't all Minardis and Poordans. Then he got behind JV with too much fuel onboard and putzed around for JV's full fuel stint. I was pretty annoyed by that b/c the director didn't show any of it. I didn't know if there was a duel, or if it was just a game of follow the leader. Anyway, Michael was still well on his way to points when the tire went. But that's the gamble they took. They went with two heavy loads early instead of a light one early to pass the backmarkers. But like again, he did the same thing in Suzuka, he'll destroy tires coming through the field. Then that extra stop kinda puzzled me at first, especially since he was going slow afterwards, then I realized he was going for fastest lap and just stopped for fresh rubber since he's already ruined the last set. :lol No real consolation there, it was a poor weekend for someone who knows he should have won the race.

JV...man, I wish there were good things to say. WTF happened in the race? I know it's a short turnaround from sitting at home, so I guess that's fine. He looked alright in practice, and being 3 tenths off the guy Flavio thinks is the second coming can't be too bad. Alonso is one of the young talents and is gonna outrun Jacques most days. Hopefully JV can get it together soon. Gonna be tough though. Otherwise, he should be used to hanging with the Jags and Toyotas. That's where he was with BAR, and where he'll be with Sauber. Anyway, Renault deserve to lose 2nd in the WCC b/c Trulli there was nothing reall wrong with Trulli besides being poor in races. But he still scored his share of podiums and a win, so he wasn't that bad, obviously. Flav's a jackass, I'm glad he's retiring soon.

Anyway, this track is pretty cool. I thought it was gonna make for a boring race, but there are legit overtaking places on the track, and the action is pretty good. China has done a damn fine job with their first F1 effort. Tilke should make more tracks like this, and less of the identikit abortions they've been making to date. FORZA FERRARI!!! PEACE.

 

[Shinobi]

The biggest injustice in F1 this year is the treatment Trulli received. I'd love to see him hop into the Toyota in two weeks and score a high finish.

It's a pretty cool track...I didn't hear one negative about it, aside from how far away it is from Shanghai. As far as Michael goes, I just don't think it was his day. It was a brand new track, and you're either gonna guess right or completely wrong the first time you're there. Reanult weren't all that hot there (I was hoping JV would finish 8th or better, but at least he finished ahead of Michael!), and Montoya didn't do much of anything this weekend though still grabbed a couple points. Chances are Michael will rip shit up at Suzuka, just to quell the latest "OMG HE'S LOSING THE FIRE!!" rumours that always start up whenever he goes three or more races without a win.

 

[Cold Shadow]

and JV sucked, didn't see him at all in the race

 

[Shinobi]

Are you kidding? They showed him non-stop the last five minutes...battling with Mark Webber for 10th. :lol It wasn't a great drive, but he beat Michael Goddamnit!