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Friday Practice Session 2
POS DRIVER NATIONALITY ENTRANT TIRE TIME
1. Anthony Davidson British Honda 1:26.822
2. Alexander Wurz Austria Williams-Cosworth 1:26.832
3. Robert Kubica Poland Sauber-BMW 1:27.200
4. Jenson Button Britain Honda 1:27.213
5. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault 1:27.443
6. Michael Schumacher Germany Ferrari 1:27.658
7. Kimi Raikkonen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.773
8. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda 1:28.075
9. Juan Pablo Montoya Colombia McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.200
10. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 1:28.227
11. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Renault 1:28.280
12. Jacques Villeneuve Canada Sauber-BMW 1:28.440
13. David Coulthard Britain Red Bull-Ferrari 1:28.531
14. Mark Webber Australia Williams-Cosworth 1:28.860
15. Nick Heidfeld Germany Sauber-BMW 1:29.053
16. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota 1:29.138
17. Scott Speed United States Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1:29.196
18. Ralf Schumacher Germany Toyota 1:29.379
19. Tiago Monteiro Portugal MF1-Toyota 1:29.713
20. Robert Doornbos Netherlands Red Bull-Ferrari 1:29.876
21. Christian Klien Austria Red Bull-Ferrari 1:29.879
22. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 1:29.933
23. Neel Jani Switzerland Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1:30.686
24. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1:30.734
25. Christijan Albers Netherlands MF1-Toyota 1:30.830
26. Markus Winkelhock Germany MF1-Toyota 1:31.260
27. Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 1:32.556
28. Yuji Ide Japan Super Aguri-Honda 1:34.224
Comments
Apparantly it will be investigated by the FIA after the race.
have toyota made it through the dark tunnel? ;-)
Lovely seats right opposite the pit exit and just a little up from the finish line.
So many impressions; qualifying was a lot of fun. Just the first 15 of the last session are a bit dodgy.
But after the race it was taken from him and he got a $5000,- fine !!!
Did you hear RBR on the radio to DC: You have GOT to overtake Scott !!!
And Renault to Fisico: you're 2 sec. slower as Alonso. You can't be 2 sec. slower. Come ON!
:D
All Michellin runners struggled for heat in the tyres except for Alonso. Webber had a great chance for a podium, but it looks like Williams seamless gearbox is not quite seamless.
Lease, glad you enjoyed yourself, as it turned out there were so many empty seats behind me on race day I could have got you in plus the rest of your family, and also any FM members who wanted to go.
Melbourne always seems to bring up unusual results, and unusual driving habits. Must be the beer!
Montoya, Rubens and Fisi need to have a hard look at themselves. Add Massa to that list.
If Williams can get their reliability right, they will be the top Bridgestone team.
TOIT add them to the list. Williams really showed them up on tyre selection. Looks like Wurz's technical feedback is paying in bucket loads.
Super Aguri, great effort by Sato to keep Rubens at bay for that long.
STR, despite what some people here think they did well, up until Tonio's impersonation of a crash test dummy.
BMW and Ralf, well done however were flattered by attrition. But you need to finish, and that's what matters.
Fernando, It's only round three and it already looks like MS's 2004 will be revisted. Not what Max and Burnie want.
I think some drivers need to be more alert on the restarts, Jenson! I know he had issues with his tyres, but he made it so easy.
Roll on Imola.
[Edited on 2-4-0606 by SuperRoo]
Interesting to hear the Fish getting shit from his chief mechanic. I thought those guys were supposed to be in your corner? One could be excused for wondering whether he was just being tolerated in that team.
Not sure that I agree with Webber being hard done by. At the time that he went out, I'm sure that the ti9mer showed that he only had 27 seconds on Ralfie. Would have been close, I reckon. The lesson surely is 'don't go long in places like Melbourne and Monaco. The safety car will get you every time.
On Staurday, whilst sitting in the stands during qualifying there popped up a picture of Martin Brundle on the big screen, looking pensive. Why show that goose, thought I. At home the next day looking at the telly, I was surprised and absolutely delighted that instead of taking the ITV commentary team, that for a change channel ten used their own team, including.................Murray Walker! Yep, Muzza started with 'GO GO GO at the Australian Grand Prix!!!! and never looked back. It was classic stuff, with Murray getting confused at every opportunity; including - and irony is a sweet thing - calling the STR of Scott Speed, David Coulthard for quite some time. Absolutely terrific stuff.
Was amazed to hear the Swervemaker being interviewed about his off. The guy snuck in a question about him being behind an STR and whether they had an unfair advantage. No comes back the reply; they are just good today. Go figure.
Webber had already done Ralf once, and according to grandprix.com had another six laps of fuel left to burn. He was EASILY the heaviest car in the top 10 and thus did an outstanding job in qualifying to get it to 7th. At the time Ralf went into the pits, Webber was lapping over a half second faster than the Toyota, and with all that fuel still to burn. You'd think he'd be lapping at at least 1.5 seconds quicker than Ralf after Ralf's pitstop, and thus Mark should have been 35-40 seconds clear of Ralf by the time he pitted.
Webber had a slow lap, the lap before he went out after making a mistake, so he had lost a fair advantage. Yes, he put a good move on Ralf early on, but had not managed to maintain much of a speed advantage IMHO.
I'm not saying that he wouldn't have got Ralf in the end, just that it wasn't a done deal.
One of the things that impressed folks when Webber was with Minardi, and his early days at Jag was his ultra-consistent lap times. That just doesn't seem to be the case anymore and he seems to manage some sort of 'incident' pretty much every race.
I want the boy to go well as much as any other Canberian, but that shouldn't stop one from maintaining objectivity. If we cast our thoughts back to Rosberg's fastest laps a couple of races back, then Webber's performances deserve a little bit of a hhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm?
Williams, same shit different motor. TOIT same shit same motor. Time for the swervemaker to hang up his driving boots.
Could someone please tell me again why they hired Massa?
so the first three races came and gone and still str = 0 points despite their V10.
Petrol - the Williams, McLaren, Renault, Honda, Ferrari, and probably Toyota all have the BMWs covered. They would have been lucky to get points yesterday without the retirements. Yes, you have to finish first, but it's easier to make a faster car reliable than make a slower car faster. Heidfeld is a sublime driver though, and if he 'publicised' himself more and had a real personality he would be a driver in a top team, no doubt.
I'd put Heidfeld above Button frankly, and probably Montoya.
re: Fisico. Alan Henry of The Guardian (and F1 Racing) fights his corner. He argues the car's electronics were f*cked including the clutch; with that knowledge the boy did well.
As for Massa, Todt is not known for his loyalty. I'm sure Di Montezemolo is already asking about the get out clauses in Massa's contract.
Somehow I don't feel at all sorry for Todt and Brawn, as they face failure again. What goes around, comes around.
...not that they care one iota about our feelings, of course.
Spin
Same old line.
Did Barrichello quit F1?
Mind the gap.
[Edited on 3-4-0606 by viges]
I fear Barrichello has done a Hill and retired before he stopped driving. When one thinks of all the years he was complaining of not being able to race at TOIT.
PS GREAT RACE! Whats more incredible is that it was great racing on a street track!
Trouble is there's so many cars with red wings, red noses that TOIT have lost that advantage.
Had to happen :)
Spin
Strewth Roo, it's four years! Pass me a cold one.
Melbourne is the best GP I've been too. Barca is a close second.
Imola was fab for Minardi reasons but as an 'event' it is marked down - particularly the trains back to Bologna!
[Edited on 4-4-0606 by viges]