Michael Schumacher
returns to form and dominates the European Grand Prix. Rubens Barrichello
finishes second ahead of Jenson Button, Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso.
A few highlights;
Michael
Schumacher continues to show that he is in a class of his own. Rubens
Barrichello was on a different strategy and managed second but why does
Rubens keep choosing risky strategies that almost guarantee him to be
stuck in traffic ?
Jenson Button
was outclassed by Takuma Sato here and was handed 3rd place when Sato
retired with yet another blown engine. One wonders why do the Honda
engines blow with Sato but not with Button ? Sato's drive was superb up
until his ill-fated attempt to pass Barrichello. Was that just immaturity
? In any case, it appears that BAR are the team that will be closing in on
Ferrari over the next few races.
The Renault's
managed 4th and 5th continuing to show impressive reliability but they
were not on the pace and one wonders when they'll have enough horses in
that engine for them to threaten Ferrari.
Giancarlo
Fisichella in the Sauber was impressive starting from the back of the grid
and finishing 6th. It appears that the Bridgestones are having a clear
advantage over the Michelins. Moreover Sauber are now ahead of McLaren in
the Constructors' Championship.
Speaking of
McLaren, another double retirement both due to engine failures. Are these
guys running their engines hoping that they will last but knowing they
will not ?. The B version is supposed to be tested next week but if the
engine keeps blowing, nothing will change!
Mark Webber
drove a solid race and ended up 7th ahead of the sole remaining Williams.
What do you
think of Montoya's start ? An ambitious move that caused disaster for his
team-mate and da Matta ? He managed to score a point but he was out of
contention.
Toyota had a
bad race with da Matta out on the first corner and Panis struggling on
softer compound tyres. He ended up behind Heidfeld in the Jordan who was
on Bridgestones!
Your
thoughts ?
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What others are saying:
The best thing
about the European Grand Prix was that (like Monaco) I got to watch it in
Europe with the English TV feed. I don't know why the Speed channel bothers
with the guys they have..
That's it. Oh, Isn't Ralf just the best?......Even when he's off the track he
still manages to run over another car. It's quite brilliant really.. when you
think about it - Tom H - USA
The European grand
prix was pretty boring once Michael was out front, to Michael he was probably
sort of praying Kimi was in second place because he knew that the Mclaren was
reasonably slow at this early stage of the grand prix.
I would rate this grand prix a 6 out of 10 for excitement compared to the
Monaco grand prix which would have been 10 out of 10 - Matthew R -
Australia
Now I wish that
they could have had the European race before Monaco, because now I have 2
weeks to think about how 1 sided this is. When you put this group on a track
the size of the Nurburgring, it just shows the desparity in competition. It's
no fun, and it's hard to understand as a fan.
I don't like Sato so I can't call his drive superb. The only thing superb is
his car. If Kimi Raikkonen was in that car, he might have won! Or for that
matter, insert a host of drivers names in that sentence.
With the exception of Fisichella doing as well as he did, and Toyota
continuing to embarrass me, there isn't much to talk about with this
race.
How does a team like Jordan ( no offense Eddie ) beat a team like Toyota, who
has more money than the whole country of Ireland ?
Lets get to the silly season. I think that Toyota will get at least one German
driver (Heidfeld or Ralph) simply because they are centered in Germany.
I think DC will get a good drive, because he has actually held his car
together better than Kimi.
JV has to drive with someone, or we have to get another Canadien in F-1
because Canada is boycotting the sport until it's done. And F-1 can't afford
it. In fact, I bet there is some sort of announcement before the Canadien GP
arrives, or there will be a sparse crowd in attendence.
I just hope there is something that happens before the end of the season to
make this more fun to watch - John N - USA
Hi All, It is
quite staggering really; when you think back to the pre-season and all the
hype of Ferrari being toppled by the Williams with their BMW motor &
McLaren with Mercedes-Benz engines. Sorry, but the fact is all the other teams
need several big steps to catch Ferrari!
Another One-Two finish at the Nurbergring was just wonderful. Montoya should
have a stern review of driving by FIA and they must start to hand out
penalties! Case closed!
The Italian team of Ferrari are the BEST! Nothing more to say! Their cars have
the ability to have different tires and fuel loads and they are still the
fastest and do not break! No DNF's! The cars are Bulletproof! They really have
the best Engineering! The heart and home of the finest quality Formula One
cars world is in Italy!
I am also happy to see both Renault and BAR doing so well. They are the teams
putting life back into Formula One! The mix of new, young drivers, new engine
suppliers and new chassis are a delight! Regarding Juan Montoya, He is a very,
very sorry case! Anyone that just continues to crash into so many people
should be warned, penalized and then banned! There are real lives on the line
here! If he likes to crash then send him back to CART or NASCAR, not Formula
One.
It is stunning to see Ferrari win over and over again! I have such pride and
admire them for their Engineering strength! The Legend of The Prancing Horse
Continues! Froza Ferrari!
P.S. Who has had the fastest laps this season and who has had the most top
speed times this season? Ferrari? Yes, Ferrari! See you in victory lane! - Frank
P - USA
Kudos to Ferrari:
they gave what Mr. Umberto Agnelli deserved. That's how a team must be
managed. The opposite example is Williams, where one pilot takes the other out
of the race. Stupid moves like that should be penalized next race. Poor Da
Matta...
Why do people think that Coulthard would do any good to Williams? And
Villeneuve who was outdriven by Button? They are history and Juan
"fat" Pablo Montoya is going the same way - Andre B - Brazil
When we are
talking about engine failure, are engine failures due to manufacturer errors
only? why no error for Schumi for so long or he know how to strain the engine
to get maximum out without failure. I will ask why Sato blow engine always not
his team mate? Why Raki is always first to blow and why Rubens have car
failure while Schumi not? Is it manufacturer error only or we should respect
persons who knows how much you can strain a machine and get maximum out.
Last year Ferrari was not fastest, but that doesn't means Schumi go on blowing
engines ..
I think there may be a point in my say ... Hardeep - Thailand
Another race,
another bore. Full credit to Ferrari though, they're so far ahead its not
funny (at least one of their drivers is). I think you can no longer call
Rubens a racer. He is held back by his team, which is his fault for continuing
to drive for them and he is also pretty ordinary in terms of pace.
I'm a die hard Webber fan but I am egging his Jaguar to fail every race. If it
fails, he can leave and not spend another year in a green machine that is the
joke of the manufacturers.
Toyota may be ordinary, but at least they are trying to get things right and
inject a decent budget into their F1 program. Thank god Ralf crashed on the
first lap. I think all the drivers would have been relieved. As for my silly
season predictions: Webber/Coulthard for Williams and the rest I don't care
about - Sasman - Australia
Full credit to
Sato for driving a fantastic race and also for his efforts in pre-qualifying
and qualifying. His overtaking maneuver, albeit a bit overambitious, should be
viewed in positive light as signs of a brave and aggressive young driver
setting high goals for himself and the team. It is a shame he had to retire
with an engine failure. BAR is definitely the team that has caught the eye of
all F1 spectators this season, and Button with 5 podium finishes in 7 races
certainly looks to be heading in the right direction for a future world
championship.
While Schumacher was as usual at his ruthless best, it is quite appalling to
see Barrichello unable to challenge for victory. The possibility of
Barrichello winning a race for Ferrari before Schumacher gets the drivers
championship under his belt is as remote as the possibility of snowfall in LA.
It is simply the way Ferrari runs things. Having said that, one has to admit
that Schumacher and Ferrari have been brilliant and look set for another
dominating championship victory.
Mclaren's performance has been outstandingly shocking. Raikkonen, with such
abundant talent, deserves a car that lasts race distance to say the least!
Williams also seems to be way off the pace, for otherwise it would be
unfathomable to see Montoya struggling to earn the final point, the incident
at the start notwithstanding. As for Ralf's misfortunes, he is now almost a
non-entity in the field of the big-guns anyway.
Renault is putting up very consistent performances. Trulli in particular has
been impressive. While BAR seems to be superior on the faster circuits,
Renault could still end up second in the constructors championship given their
reliability and superior traction control/ mechanical grip. Hopefully they
will challenge for the win at Hungary.
A fine effort by Fisichella on the Sauber, and a commendable drive by
Webber.
A word about silly season and who's going where - Montoya must be cursing
himself for choosing Mclaren, but hopefully things will be better by next
year. Ralf is surely out of Williams, and he will hopefully be replaced by
Webber. It is anyone's guess as to who will take the other Williams seat. Will
it be Coulthard? Villeneuve back?? or Jenson Button? Jenson Button is probably
better off on the BAR. But the one man who in my opinion deserves a spot with
one of the top teams for all his fine efforts on lesser cars is Giancarlo
Fisichella - Blitz - LA, USA
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