f1 @ c.c.c.p.: the rain that never came

michael had his strategy all planned out for hockenheim. he had the softer tyre compound, heavy fuel load to reach him mid race, a good qualifying spot, a good speed off the line, and his superb driving skills. all he needed was the rain.

dark clouds all weekend [f1racing.net]

unfortunately, it never came.

well at least that is what i suspect of their original intention. he made all the right decisions on the setup of the car, but he needed to gamble on the rain. the rain will allow him to change into the wet tyres when his dry tyres worn out. and boy did they wear out quick. that was the whole point though, so that he can go agressive on quick laps to keep in touch of the leaders.

we could see he overtook button after the second corner of the first lap, and he managed to tackle alonso for a while. yet after a couple more laps, he dropped behind and button was at his tail. he managed to keep a two seconds gap throughout much of the race, but after the second pit stop it was too much to ask of michael. he not only lost his place to button, but then to montoya and fisichella. it could have been worst if it wasn't due to his superb driving.

we can see that the f2005 has the speed and balance. instead, it doesn't have the tyre durability to provide the car the fast pace the whole duration of the race. it is more than obvious now, and there's nothing ferrari can do to protect bridgestone's good name. people aren't that stupid to know who's at fault.

they can blame their aerodynamics all they want, for this car isn't designed by rory bryne, but aerodynamics doesn't slow the car down midway through the race. they may blame the engine for lack of power, but we know that's not the case and reliability is excellent. they can't blame the drivers, pit crew, or the strategists for they have been so hardworking and flawless. bridgestone oh bridgestone, they not only lose the championship for ferrari, they embarrassed the champions.

with all that said, was it a good gamble? i would say it certainly was. if it wasn't for the gamble, michael would be like rubens. although rubens was on the hard compound, his car also had no grip at all. he only managed to scrap tenth place. despite running on bald rear tyre, michael managed to defend and hold on to fifth, which is pretty good considering the worst case scenario. without the tyre problem and with kimi's retirement, he would have been on the podium.

haunted [f1racing.net]