Gentlemen, start your engines!

[Alex]

ooooh, Kimi's bad luck in action again... he should really consult with an exorcist so he can expel that demons that haunt him since the beginning of the season.

wonderful race by Montoya

wonderful race by Massa He had a spectacular 1st lap, coming from 13th to 7th.

To me, it is sad to see the decadence of Ferrari; not only because I'm a tifosi myself, but also because I'm a huge Schumacher fan. And it was really painful to see his disappointment after the race, because he could not hold his third position. It's sad when a myth of the sport cannot retire with some dignity.

Alonso is a damn fine driver, but I doubt he would be in such a comfortable position if Kimi hadn't had such bad luck in the last races.

Now, we all know, the championship is over and Alonso is the new F1 champion. Congratulations to him.

[Zoid]

Originally posted by Alex

To me, it is sad to see the decadence of Ferrari; not only because I'm a tifosi myself, but also because I'm a huge Schumacher fan. And it was really painful to see his disappointment after the race, because he could not hold his third position. It's sad when a myth of the sport cannot retire with some dignity.

Well, he should´ve retired last season. He has beaten every record available (except Sennas pole position record IIRC). And if Fiat doesn´t get their finances straight he won´t get that.

Alonso is a damn fine driver, but I doubt he would be in such a comfortable position if Kimi hadn't had such bad luck in the last races.

Now, we all know, the championship is over and Alonso is the new F1 champion. Congratulations to him.

I´ve waited for this ever since he made his debut in F1.

[BlackCat]

Weird start grid tomorrow :

1 Schumi
2 Montoya
3 Trulli
4 Kimi
5 Little brother
6 Alonso

Could actually give Alonso some headache until the first pitstops. Except maybe Schumi - anyone that will take a bet that he goes to pit before lap 10 ?

[Thorgal]

Renault seems slow here. I would not expect it. 1-2 to McLaren if Kimi doesnt mess it again. Third to Alonso.

Schumi lap was tooooo fast. I think he will pit in the warning lap or so.

[Zoid]

Renault had big trouble with oversteering according to Alonso. He´ll have to do something really inspired to win this IMO...

There´s a real possibility for a 1-2 for McLaren if Kimi´s car doesn´t crap out on him again.

[Alex]

There are some interesting news circulating in the paddock: Barrichello signed with BAR for two seasons, starting in 2006, and Massa is going to Ferrari in 2006 to replace him.

There is no official announcement of this yet, but I expect to see something about it in the next few days.

And Schumi is back.

Even if he has to pit before 10 laps.

Now Kimi has a good chance to win, what with Alonso starting only in sixth. But his McLaren will have to finish the race this time.

[BlackCat]

Tsk, tsk, I think that you have too much confidence in Alonso - Kimi has never had any trouble beating him as long as his engines doesn't explode or if he has to start ten rows back .

Though, it's gonna be a interesting start tomorrow - can Trulli get in between the two Mercedes and all the others and block them ? A race between Kimi and Montoya could be quite fun.

[Zoid]

As Trulli is starting as number 3 I think he has every opportunity to make his (in)famous roadblock impression again. Thus letting Montoya and Schumi speed away into the distance...

[Alex]

Well, not the most exciting race ever, but one cannot expect much from a circuit where everything is decided on the pitstop strategy.

Good to see Raikkonen winning, he really deserved this. Perfect race from start to finish.

Schumacher did what he could do with a subpar Ferrari - the three pitstops tactic was certainly useful, because he was running on low fuel all the time and could thus be a little faster.

Surprising race from Ralf, I wasn't expecting to see him in third.

And what the hell happened to Renault in this race? They were never able to match the McLarens or the Toyotas... Anyway, Alonso didn't score any points this time, and this is a good thing for the championship.

Now we just need another race like this and things will start to get interesting again.

[Thorgal]

Solid race for Kimi but dont forget this was a Montoya´s one until his car broke down and Kimi herited it.

Schumi is Schumi, if the cant do better nobody can.

Toyota was brilliant. 3rd and 4th

BTW Was Williams racing too?

Ralf crashed with Alonso at start. After that Alonso said his car aerodynamics were very damaged all the race. Ask it to Coulthard. Fisi simply was slooow again.

[Alex]

Yeah, somehow I got so excited with Raikkonen's victory that I forgot how Montoya would have won if his car didn't break...

Well, Alonso certainly had that problem at the start, but in practice sessions and in qualifying we saw him struggling to get something from his Renault...

[Thorgal]

Yes, Reanult seems slower not only vs McLaren but even versus any other car.

In qualify he made a mistake in the last turn and lost above 0,3 seconds. Surely becuase he was pushing too hard in that car.

[Zoid]

My post #215 was quite accurate, except that it was Montoyas car that crapped out And seeing as the Renaults were quite difficult to drive even before the fender benders in the first corner, I´m not surprised Alonso was so far back in the field.

Raikkonnen really deserved this win and it keeps the championship alive!

[BlackCat]

I'm not sure that Montoya was in so good a position - when his car broke down Kimi was only 9 secs behind, eating 1 sec pr lap and still a pitstop to both.

Anyway, considering that it is a difficult lane there was some race here and there - Barrichello made a real nice takeover despite it started as a driver error - if it had been one of the old ones, I don't think he would have succeded, but since it was a newbeeie ...

Sad day for Red Bull. They probably would have been in the points if they hadn't crashed .- at least they could leave with the knowledge that it was no fault of theirs - all blame goes to Ralph when he didn't follow rules.

And what the heck are we supposed to do for the next three week ? - we need a bump of this thread once in a while, otherwise it will be a mess to find it again

[Thorgal]

Montoya´s car "palier" (dont know how this thing is called in English but it has something to do with car transmission) was broken many laps before Juan retired. Pedro De la Rosa, McLaren driver and spanish TV commentator (thanks to god becuase the other F1 commetators are a couple of idiots) said it is a piece that can only be damaged in starts or pitstops because driver releases the clutch to quick. (So if true, it is the driver to blame this time)