what the? yeah, kimi fumbled under pressure and made an error before the first corner, possibly flat-spotted his tyre along the way. he couldn't quite recover and only managed to qualify fifth. alonso took the pole.
alonso is going to make history at brazil this weekend for being the youngest driver ever to win the drivers championship. it doesn't matter where everybody else finishes, or whether kimi wins the race, alonso just needed to finish on the podium. i don't see him not finishing on the podium, so it's as good as done.
unless...
unless kimi wins the race, montoya took second, and button third. or maybe alonso makes a mistake and crashed out. or maybe it was knocked behind by pizzonia/webber/sato. or maybe the car died on him. or maybe the weather played a little trick on alonso.
of course, there's still the constructor championship to watch out for. obviously it isn't as interesting as the driver's championship. and it is possibly's mclaren's anyways.
i'm not sure whether i'll watch the race or not, because it's live late at night. depends whether i can keep my eyes open, because i'm not sure what i'll be hoping to see. hopefully there will be plenty of dramas (ie accidents, especially for alonso!). :)
if you want to be part of the 'historic' moment, then stay up and watch the race.
sorry for the lack of creativity with the title of the post, but the 'sad' fact is i can use the same title for all the remaining races.
of course, this is barring accidents, unreliability, and in spa - weather.
there's no point denying the superior form of the mclaren. after securing the front row in qualifying for the first time (surprising - yes, given the form of the car) this season. could they finish the race with their first 1-2 since years ago? my guess is yes.
again you're free to challenge me. however i find that there aren't that many non-mclaren blog-reading fans, so i don't expect anyone to disagree with me.
actually, the more important question isn't whether there will be a first 1-2, but rather who will finish first of the 1-2?
finally we have the mclarens side by side at the front. we should be able to see how competitive they are with each other, or whether there will be any competitiveness. here is what i suspect: kimi will go ahead of montoya once the lights go off.
montoya will appear to have started slightly slow, allowing kimi to go ahead of him. that moment will be the best for mclaren to take the team order issue out of the equation, so you'll minimize any sort of argument or debate. they did the same thing in hungary when montoya let kimi through in the first lap, and they simply said, "they were on a different strategy."
i hope montoya's ego will not allow that to happen. i am not a fan of montoya at all, but i really want to see him lead and eventually winning the race at spa. he qualified well, and he is truly a fast driver. he should use this opportunity to prove the point that he is indeed faster than kimi. he has to duke it out, make it a show for us.
i guess alonso might need to wait a few more races to secure the championship. the pressure is building, and we can see from his qualifying performance. maybe he has a little more fuel, or maybe they are being conservative after fisichella's engine change. whatever it is, starting behind trulli could make the race more difficult. he has to have a good start.
other notable news:
tyres: williams will be on bridgestone next season. i wonder how button will react to that as the williams package seems more and more unattractive. toyota is at advanced talking with bridgestone, and is expected to switch as well. surprisingly, red bull (using ferrari's engine next season) is sticking with michelin.
teams: minardi will be gone from the grid next season after red bull announced the purchase of the team. there is no name for the team yet, but it will function like minardi in which rookies will get a chance to enter f1. we might see liuzzi in one of those cockpits next season.
grid: both minardi beat the jordan at the spa grid. amazing improvements for the minardi and very glad to see their performance. the flying indian, unfortunately, becomes the slowest driver on the grid and is looking more likely to be axed from f1 next season.
weather: only the rain can ruin the above predictions. many cars are setup with the rain in mind, thus explaining the slow straight line speed. ferrari is definitely praying for rain to create some chaos. yet honestly, how well can they perform in the rain? who knows, maybe the michelin has greatly improve the wet tyres. overall, i think a wet race is pretty fun as well, so let it rain.
i can't believe words of wisdom can come out eddie irvine's mouth. most of the time he's either talking shit or insulting people. yet i was surprised by him when i read this article.
i wasn't really surprised with what he was saying about ferrari, but i was surprised that irvine actually shares my sentiment on kimi's car-breaking driving style.
Irvine also cast a quizzical gaze at McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen, who he says has endured a suspiciously unreliable year with the MP4-20. "They have a reliability problem," Eddie agreed, "but an aggressive style of driving can also lead to faults."
i think that's exactly what is happening with kimi's car. kimi just breaks it. the fact is, we don't really care about how fast the straight line speed is. we don't care who's on top of the practice time sheet. we don't care about the fastest laps and who gets pole position. as long as you don't win the race or the championship, nobody could care at all.
in this new era of f1, drivers need to race smart and not like a testosterone-filled aggressor. michael schumacher and alonso are whom i consider to be smart drivers because they appear to be more analytical. on the other hand, webber, montoya, and kimi are aggressors because they appear to drive by instinct and they probably equate win to speed.
let's face it, kimi and montoya might be great drivers; however if they cannot win the championship although they have the best cars on the grid, then there's a serious problem. the car is already not reliable, so why push so hard unnecessarily?
the fans might enjoy aggresive driving, but then they might as well watch nascar.
i especially found it funny (weirdly) that the image they chose for displaying 'pay driver' to be alex yoong.
update: based on the helmet, i realized this isn't actually alex. all those magnum and kl stickers made me thought it was alex. this is in fact mark webber; however i am not sure whether webber was a pay driver.
is this how alex yoong (and dare i say malaysian in motorsports) will be forever remembered in formula 1? well, i hope he has a great performance in the upcoming a1 gp. i remember that he did very well in carting after leaving f1. unfortunately, he ran out of sponsorships and had to leave that too.
anyways, many people have debated on the importance of tiny teams such as jordan and minardi in formula 1. personally, i feel they are an important part of the sport. many drivers came into formula 1 through these small teams. while some were horrible drivers, some turned out to be huge stars.
it is just like any other job. if you want to work for the best in the industry, sometimes you need to start small and work your way up. sometimes you even have to do unpaid internship to get noticed. i think it is the same with f1. you've got to start from somewhere. competition is harsh.
currently we have jordan and minardi, with jordan to become 'midland' next season and minardi possibly to become 'red bull team usa'. what i wish to see is that a couple more independent teams on the grid. they may not be challenging the championship, but sometimes i enjoy the competition between the backmarkers. they also have a point to prove.
with minardi gone, we might just miss the potential drivers who just don't have the opportunity. that would be sad.
without a doubt kimi will win monza (barring accident or further unrealibility). that's my prediction but you're free to challenge me.
by the second stint of the race, the mclaren of kimi raikkonen will lead the gp. he will then win the monza gp without a problem. for mere observers, it would be an "unbelievable" win. although it will be amazing it isn't unheard of, so let's not get carried away. besides, he is expected to win.
it is of course with some analysis, that i make this prediction. of course ron dennis seems to believe a kimi win is "definite", but i can see why the team is so confident.
first off, the car is superb. even with maximum fuel, the mclaren seems to fly like a rocket as compared to the renault. i am sure kimi qualified with a car full of fuel. this will ensure his car last longer than the others so he could past them during the first pitstop. next, we have kimi who is known to be a robotic driver programmed to push limitless. he has neither emotion nor human senses, for god's sake he is an iceman! ;)
overtaking at monza is possible. i'm not sure whether the new aerodynamic rule will make it difficult this year, but the powerful mercedes engine should allow kimi to overtake a couple of cars within first two laps. to make the win more likely, montoya is expected to play the supporting role. his job will be to hold off alonso as much as possible without creating a huge lead.
there's no point for montoya to win, so i don't expect to see that happening. hell, we might even see him collide into alonso at the first chicane! imagine that, wouldn't that be exciting? of couse, kimi needs to avoid similar accident at the first chicane as well. having fishicella, coulthard, villenueve, and ralf schumacher around him may make it a lot more difficult. boy wouldn't that be exciting as well?
final point. trulli qualified at fifth, so we expect to see a train of cars stuck behind him and the two agonizingly slow ferraris. i'm not sure whether the ferraris will be faster this race, but michael's qualifying lap was pretty amazing given he came out very early. if the tyres degrade too soon, then this race is as soon as turkey for them.
can't wait for monza! gentlemen, start your engines...
what was once track enemy turned out to be each other's supporter. david coulthard has been consistent in his support for michael schumacher ever since he left mclaren. the two seemed to have put the historic battles behind and can now see levels.
maybe it is the age talking, or that they have put behind those stupid political talk behind. whatever it is, i think it is just great to see the two being 'friends'.
in case you're wondering what shit i'm talking about, i am referring to the comment by dc towards michael. "schu may be down but not out", was his comment amidst stupid criticism who clearly doesn't give michael any credit. you may hate schumacher, but you have to talk with maturity and facts.
here are the quotes that i have duplicated for easy reading:
"I'm not sure it's as dramatic as it being the end of an era,"
"Obviously nothing lasts forever, and Michael is still in Formula One anyway, and will be next year.
"Whether he is in decline, I don't know. I can only observe, and I would be surprised if he was in terms of his potential performance.
"All you can do is compare Michael to his team-mate [Rubens Barrichello], and he is pretty much in the same place.
"What everybody would like to see is three or four competitive teams battling for the championship, and Michael being part of that."
"Whoever wins the championship this year, Fernando or Kimi, they will not have actually beaten Michael,"
"Yes, they will have finished in front of him, and they will have won the title, but they can't say they've beaten Michael Schumacher because the Ferrari is not in the same formula.
"Right now you've the Michelin formula and the Bridgestone formula. That's the reality of the sport because tyres are so influential.
"For a more pure world championship, you need to have one manufacturer. That would take away a very big variable.
"I've raced in F1 when there's been one tyre manufacturer, and obviously now when there is competition.
"The great thing with competition is being part of it, developing something that makes the car go quicker. There's nothing better.
"But then the downside is if you end up with the wrong tyre - more so than with engine or chassis - you can't win. As simple as that.
"As best as I can tell, all indication is their problem is tyres, and that's affecting the whole package."
"What's remarkable is not that they are having a difficult year this year, but how incredible their performance was for five straight years. They redefined Formula One,"
"They had a car that went seasons without failing, whereas McLaren still have a car that fails several times a year.
"I think the hat should still be firmly off to what they did, rather than spending too much time trying to work out their problem, whether it's the car, Michael or the tyres."
here's to dc. cheers!
everyone knows what is wrong with the ferrari this year. although no one dares to confirm it, not even the ferrari bosses, the speculation (i dare not say 'fact') remains to be the tyres are at fault this year. gathering from the above comments, dc seems to think that is the case as well.
ferrari won their first constructor championship (after the long drought) when all teams were on a single tyre manufacturer. i would say ferrari and michael took over the initial crowns truly on merit. the continue to do so for a couple of years until it become apparent an era was starting.
however for the sport's popularity sake, after several years of red domination and the opposition failing to ever come close, rule changes were needed to destroy ferrari's domination. however it took six years of constant rule changings to finally get a formula for the other teams to 'win' it back. we all know what that fucked up formula is.
i wouldn't discredit renault and mclaren because they are superior this year. the raw speed from mclaren is amazing, and the fantastic reliability of renault is above par. they are the strongest teams this season, and they deserve to battle it out.
however, we will never know. quoting dc, "whoever wins the championship this year, fernando or kimi, they will not have actually beaten michael. [...] because the ferrari is not in the same formula."
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