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I hope this good form continues, and improves, at Imola. Given the fact that the car is older than dirt, it was surprisingly fast. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Meanwhile, Webber was unspectacular. McLaren was going well, especially towards the end of the race. Pedro did OK, but I think the surprisingly good pace of the car flattered him a bit. Red Bull dozed off :(.
I was again impressed by the quality of the races the Bahrain track produces. Good entertainment, even better than last year.
Friesacher lost about 20 seconds to Monteiro after both pit stops. Before the first pit stop he was ahead of him. After a few laps he was in pace again. I wonder where this loss of time came from...
Also, watchig the race it seemed like there were only 8 teams taking part. In the past I think they have shown the back-end skirmishes too. It would have been nice to have seen some clips about the Friesacher - Monteiro battle.
Good result i think for the Minardi's. Sad that after his great start Albers hit Coulthard. (i think Albers was to greety:P but Coulthard did brake extremely fast) But Christijan was after his pistop average 0,5 per round faster then patrick. Patrick did a good Job finishing 12.
PdlR put on a really good show, euqaled his career best finish. Might have been able to challenge for a podium if he had a better start, or didn't keep mowing the grass at T1... :D
Fernando bolted, but that was understandable. We did get to see him cool as ice with the Swervemaker behind. Very impressive.
Pedro provided a lot of entertainment towards the end but you've gotta wonder where he was during qualifying. I don't think anyone would hire him after that, though. He had a car that clearly superior to anyone else on track and drove the thing all over the place. Fun though.
Trulli maintained pretty impressive times but as reported elsewhere, it may have been a different story if he had been pushed.
Lots of dices in the middle, which would have been nice to see more of. Not a normal race in that respect.
Webber was funny as. Somehow, he manages to leave people in two minds as to whether he is a genius with a crap car, or just no bloody good. Certainly Brundle has it in for him, which has to be in Webber's favour. That guy is a complete goose.
Would have been nice to see something of the Minardis since they had a pretty good day. Fastest times were still way off and I think someone else pointed out that they were a bit flattered by the long straights. On one occasion I saw Button come out of a corner and move out, only to have to pull back in as the Minardi pulled away.
God I'm getting sick of the ITV stooges. Go Button! Go Button! And I was about 5 mins from getting on a plane and bitchslapping Martin Brundle for his arrogant backseat driving of PdlR
Yeah, i've certainly noticed that Brundle doesn't have much time for Webbo - can you imagine him sitting there armchair coaching DeLaRosa to take Coulthard's position? :rolleyes:
James Allen certainly gives Webbo a fair go, but there aint much support from Brundle when James gives the mic to him for some 'expert' comments. And Allen never second guesses Brundle.
Maybe Mark doesn't fawn all over Brundle during the Pit Walk? (that we never see down here). :( ;)
Yeah, Brundle was annoying. Pedro DLR was a bit ragged but I thought that was understandable given his lack of race battling for a few years.
At least he was giving it a go, and learning what the car could and couldn't do. Maybe rattling Webboa bit. In any event it finally paid off when he made his move.
Could you imaging if Brundle had been on the radio, telling PDLR what to do what Pedro would have said back to him?
..The team did better than most expected, and both finishing was good. Well done to Fernando for another good win.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Joe Saward saw the Webber/DeLaRosa stoush somewhat differently to Brundle.
Here's a little snippet from his post race report on grandprix.com:
In the circumstances he was not in a position to offer much resistance to the rampaging de la Rosa - but he did. And he did it brilliantly. Wherever Pedro wanted to be, there was Webber. There were times when you could see that Pedro was a bit rusty but he kept his head, thought out the problem and tried again. This was racing for grown ups with none of the unsporting lunges and crashes that have typified the Schumacher era in F1. It was motor racing like it used to be and how it should be. Both men obviously respected the other and trusted him. It was a cat and mouse game but not the slapstick of Tom & Jerry that one sees all too often. Webber did everything he could but in the end, with just three laps to go, Pedro finally foxed him into submission. Mark reckoned that he had even that move covered but at the critical moment he found that his front tyres had no grip left. It was all over.
Oh give me a break. Does he intend to imply that Schumacher is the man responsible for the lack of racing in recent years? that's utter shit. The schumacher era is early 90's to present. The racing only became shit when the sport started losing teams, that's the late 90's. a majority of his career has been spent in a sport with a lot of racing and passing.
You haven't noticed when MS doesn't imediatly jump to an insurmountable lead, and actually has to race mid pack he tends to hit people? Also, does "Chop Schui" mean anything to you ?
Jello, you're the only one making the leap equating Schumacher to the lack of racing in recent seasons, that is of course the other teams' fault! Schumacher does however seem to expect others to pull over for him, chops at the start because he's not very good at it and he IS involved in a lot of incidents in which the only constant is his involvement.
If you want to suppose that as the best driver of his era he sets the tone of behavior for others, and I do think that's true on both counts, then the bold type is true. The 'one move' rule is a good example, Schumacher is the one who started taking this to ridiculous lengths and the others have followed his lead. In another era this behavior would be totally unacceptable. Remember this is a guy who has deliberately crashed out opponents when forced to fight closely. He only looks majestic as a front runner.
Just finished watching the GP. I do not know what race you Schumi haters were watching but it looked to me like he had a gearbox or rear brake issue. Nothing out of sorts or sinister. Even Alonso said he was faster in the first stint.
Maybe your hatred of the man clouds your viision. On many levels.
I'm with you Jello. We are watching the reaction of the greatest driver of our time and his Team in tough times....
As far as our performance ... solid. Slow as hell , but racking up mileage for our shoes skillset is a good thing. Don't get too excited about Imola - new car can mean reliability issues. I hope not butIi am keeping an open mind.
All I do know is that a new car is going to be GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To address the criticism directed. I'm afraid I did not find the race particularl exciting. Here are my thoughts on the staus quo; Minardi - everything seems to be hanging on the new car. In bahrein over a race distance Jordan put a lap on the leading Minardi. Thats arounds 1.7s a lap advantage. The problem for Minardi is the new car has to be quick straight out of the box. Reliabilty, that can be improved. But speed thats more difficult to find. The engine should bring a second under the new aero regs. The rest has to be in the chassis. I'm remain sceptical that we will be ahead of Jordan. I still expect Freisacher to consistently outperform Albers, which he did again yesterday. Sauber - his mistake was not to sign a development driver. He's now left with one driver who can't solve a problem and Massa who's happy to drive around them. BAR, whats the fuss about Button. I can't see why Williams would be keen to resign him. The guy's just not quick. Whether or not the season explodes depends on whether TOIT can adapt their new car in time. Catchup F1 is a tough ask. Could turn out to be another 94 season with one team with a sorted car and another trying desperately to bridge the gap. Finally regards tyres. Trying to change the testing regs wwas doomed to failure. Particularly in a rule setting that demands unamnimity. The solution is not to restrict tyre suppliers. I think F1 could further be spiced up by Goodyear's return. No the solution is for the FIA to mandate that tyres can only be provided on the Friday of a GP meet. Limit each team to say 6 sets a weekend. Whats left over they can test on Problem solved. To avoid any dispute implement it under the sporting regs. They don't need unanimity.
To address the criticism directed. I'm afraid I did not find the race particularl exciting. Here are my thoughts on the staus quo; Minardi - everything seems to be hanging on the new car. In bahrein over a race distance Jordan put a lap on the leading Minardi. Thats arounds 1.7s a lap advantage. The problem for Minardi is the new car has to be quick straight out of the box. Reliabilty, that can be improved. But speed thats more difficult to find. The engine should bring a second under the new aero regs. The rest has to be in the chassis. I'm remain sceptical that we will be ahead of Jordan. I still expect Freisacher to consistently outperform Albers, which he did again yesterday. Sauber - his mistake was not to sign a development driver. He's now left with one driver who can't solve a problem and Massa who's happy to drive around them. BAR, whats the fuss about Button. I can't see why Williams would be keen to resign him. The guy's just not quick. Whether or not the season explodes depends on whether TOIT can adapt their new car in time. Catchup F1 is a tough ask. Could turn out to be another 94 season with one team with a sorted car and another trying desperately to bridge the gap. Finally regards tyres. Trying to change the testing regs wwas doomed to failure. Particularly in a rule setting that demands unamnimity. The solution is not to restrict tyre suppliers. I think F1 could further be spiced up by Goodyear's return. No the solution is for the FIA to mandate that tyres can only be provided on the Friday of a GP meet. Limit each team to say 6 sets a weekend. Whats left over they can test on Problem solved. To avoid any dispute implement it under the sporting regs. They don't need unanimity.
Important is the fact when will be Minardi testing the new car and for how long (how many days before Imola). I have heard that a dutch reporter have seen pictures of the new car but did not say much about it, also he said that in the windtunnel the new car did show much improvement. It is a new car so they must learn many things about it and i think it cost time to be on top of the Jordans. I disagree the fact you say about this: I still expect Freisacher to consistently outperform Albers, which he did again yesterday. Albers was the quickest man in Quali and he was also the quickest man in the race, he had 40 seconds delay at Friesacher after his touche with Coulthard, at the end he finished only 15 seconds behind Friesacher. Friesacher did the fastest lap time in Race and was finishing above Albers but overall Albers did a better race pace. Friesacher is a good driver but i really think Albers has more talent and will show this threw the season. I hope that Minardi will give both drivers a good PS05 and maybe they will score some points this year.:hehe: Also i hope Friesacher will stay at Minardi after the reporting that Austrian Haider have still to pay.
By the way - and ony viewers os Speed Channel would have heard this but near the end of the race Bob Varsha, the main announcer said something that went a little like this:
"The Minardi Club on the West coast is watching and they must be pleased to see the two Minardi's ...."
Comments
Meanwhile, Webber was unspectacular. McLaren was going well, especially towards the end of the race. Pedro did OK, but I think the surprisingly good pace of the car flattered him a bit. Red Bull dozed off :(.
I was again impressed by the quality of the races the Bahrain track produces. Good entertainment, even better than last year.
I mean, Pedro was absolutely great.
Also, watchig the race it seemed like there were only 8 teams taking part. In the past I think they have shown the back-end skirmishes too. It would have been nice to have seen some clips about the Friesacher - Monteiro battle.
Sad that after his great start Albers hit Coulthard. (i think Albers was to greety:P but Coulthard did brake extremely fast)
But Christijan was after his pistop average 0,5 per round faster then patrick.
Patrick did a good Job finishing 12.
Ciao guys, up to Imola
Now we count the days untill the PS05 debuts!!!
Anybody know when we test it?
But I think they will announce their testing-dates soon... well, I hope :rolleyes:
This is a portion of an email I sent a day or so before Bahrain. My friends reply - hisreply is in all caps
Keep cool - I am sure it is very hot there. Just remember - only one
more race and the new car so things will improve!
VERY KEEN...
Fernando bolted, but that was understandable. We did get to see him cool as ice with the Swervemaker behind. Very impressive.
Pedro provided a lot of entertainment towards the end but you've gotta wonder where he was during qualifying. I don't think anyone would hire him after that, though. He had a car that clearly superior to anyone else on track and drove the thing all over the place. Fun though.
Trulli maintained pretty impressive times but as reported elsewhere, it may have been a different story if he had been pushed.
Lots of dices in the middle, which would have been nice to see more of. Not a normal race in that respect.
Webber was funny as. Somehow, he manages to leave people in two minds as to whether he is a genius with a crap car, or just no bloody good. Certainly Brundle has it in for him, which has to be in Webber's favour. That guy is a complete goose.
Would have been nice to see something of the Minardis since they had a pretty good day. Fastest times were still way off and I think someone else pointed out that they were a bit flattered by the long straights. On one occasion I saw Button come out of a corner and move out, only to have to pull back in as the Minardi pulled away.
At least it was all worth staying up for.
Bye-bye Jacques.
Go Button! Go Button!
And I was about 5 mins from getting on a plane and bitchslapping Martin Brundle for his arrogant backseat driving of PdlR
James Allen certainly gives Webbo a fair go, but there aint much support from Brundle when James gives the mic to him for some 'expert' comments. And Allen never second guesses Brundle.
Maybe Mark doesn't fawn all over Brundle during the Pit Walk? (that we never see down here). :( ;)
Pedro DLR was a bit ragged but I thought that was understandable given his lack of race battling for a few years.
At least he was giving it a go, and learning what the car could and couldn't do. Maybe rattling Webboa bit. In any event it finally paid off when he made his move.
Could you imaging if Brundle had been on the radio, telling PDLR what to do what Pedro would have said back to him?
..The team did better than most expected, and both finishing was good.
Well done to Fernando for another good win.
Here's a little snippet from his post race report on grandprix.com:
In the circumstances he was not in a position to offer much resistance to the rampaging de la Rosa - but he did. And he did it brilliantly. Wherever Pedro wanted to be, there was Webber. There were times when you could see that Pedro was a bit rusty but he kept his head, thought out the problem and tried again. This was racing for grown ups with none of the unsporting lunges and crashes that have typified the Schumacher era in F1. It was motor racing like it used to be and how it should be. Both men obviously respected the other and trusted him. It was a cat and mouse game but not the slapstick of Tom & Jerry that one sees all too often. Webber did everything he could but in the end, with just three laps to go, Pedro finally foxed him into submission. Mark reckoned that he had even that move covered but at the critical moment he found that his front tyres had no grip left. It was all over.
Thanks Joe. ;)
The anti-schumis are fuckin pathetic.
You haven't noticed when MS doesn't imediatly jump to an insurmountable lead, and actually has to race mid pack he tends to hit people?
Also, does "Chop Schui" mean anything to you ?
monza 04 was an example of MS doing some passing, if that's all you care about.
;) :hehe:
Maybe your hatred of the man clouds your viision. On many levels.
I'm with you Jello. We are watching the reaction of the greatest driver of our time and his Team in tough times....
As far as our performance ... solid. Slow as hell , but racking up mileage for our shoes skillset is a good thing. Don't get too excited about Imola - new car can mean reliability issues. I hope not butIi am keeping an open mind.
All I do know is that a new car is going to be GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here are my thoughts on the staus quo;
Minardi - everything seems to be hanging on the new car. In bahrein over a race distance Jordan put a lap on the leading Minardi. Thats arounds 1.7s a lap advantage.
The problem for Minardi is the new car has to be quick straight out of the box. Reliabilty, that can be improved. But speed thats more difficult to find. The engine should bring a second under the new aero regs. The rest has to be in the chassis. I'm remain sceptical that we will be ahead of Jordan. I still expect Freisacher to consistently outperform Albers, which he did again yesterday.
Sauber - his mistake was not to sign a development driver. He's now left with one driver who can't solve a problem and Massa who's happy to drive around them.
BAR, whats the fuss about Button. I can't see why Williams would be keen to resign him. The guy's just not quick.
Whether or not the season explodes depends on whether TOIT can adapt their new car in time. Catchup F1 is a tough ask. Could turn out to be another 94 season with one team with a sorted car and another trying desperately to bridge the gap.
Finally regards tyres. Trying to change the testing regs wwas doomed to failure. Particularly in a rule setting that demands unamnimity. The solution is not to restrict tyre suppliers. I think F1 could further be spiced up by Goodyear's return.
No the solution is for the FIA to mandate that tyres can only be provided on the Friday of a GP meet. Limit each team to say 6 sets a weekend. Whats left over they can test on Problem solved.
To avoid any dispute implement it under the sporting regs. They don't need unanimity.
I have heard that a dutch reporter have seen pictures of the new car but did not say much about it, also he said that in the windtunnel the new car did show much improvement.
It is a new car so they must learn many things about it and i think it cost time to be on top of the Jordans.
I disagree the fact you say about this: I still expect Freisacher to consistently outperform Albers, which he did again yesterday.
Albers was the quickest man in Quali and he was also the quickest man in the race, he had 40 seconds delay at Friesacher after his touche with Coulthard, at the end he finished only 15 seconds behind Friesacher.
Friesacher did the fastest lap time in Race and was finishing above Albers but overall Albers did a better race pace.
Friesacher is a good driver but i really think Albers has more talent and will show this threw the season.
I hope that Minardi will give both drivers a good PS05 and maybe they will score some points this year.:hehe:
Also i hope Friesacher will stay at Minardi after the reporting that Austrian Haider have still to pay.
Bye
Nowadays there are 2 cars less (10 teams) and they only show us the top-7 teams cars !!!!:o
Where were Sauber, Jordan and Minardi.
When there was a fight on track and Alonso had to pit, they decided to show the pitstop in a small box in the upperright corner.
So, why can't they do that with Minardi's (and Sauber's and Jordan's) pitstops????
There's NO excuse !!!!!!!!!:mad:
"The Minardi Club on the West coast is watching and they must be pleased to see the two Minardi's ...."
Pretty cool eh?
Btw. I think Minardi performed suprisingly well in Bahrain considering how old and crapy the modified PS04B's are.