f1 @ c.c.c.p.: renault takes it all

[review]

after the eventful japanese gp, wasn't shanghai gp just a bloody anti-climatic race? it did tell us who won the constructor, and that was about it.

where was ralf? [f1racing.net]

the shitty gp started off with a freak accident involving albers and michael schumacher. i was pretty pissed as images of albers crashing to the side of michael's ferrari was replaying itself on tv. that minardi was practically flying as it went on top of the ferrari, what more it happened at the outlap to the grid! accident during that period is worse than accident under safety car, because it never should have happened.

michael's race was ruined at that point. his qualifying effort became pointless and he had to start from the pit with the spare car. although the spare car was fixed up to his custom settings before the race begun, it was the first time the car moved a wheel. it was unfamiliar zone and the behavior of the car was unpredictable. combined with heavy fuel load and pretty shitty cold tyres, the car spun out and ended michael's race prematurely. total disaster.

anyways, the race itself was so boring the commentators commented about it. after the first lap, there were no accidents and no major overtakings. all the cars were following each other and a twenty-car train was formed instantly. maybe it was the last race and everyone was just relaxing. nothing was going on for more than 1/3 of the race.

until...

faulty drain cover [f1racing.net]

the drain cover came loose and was sticking out vertically. montoya, being the mclaren bad luck magnet, knocked it hard and basically puntured the right front tyre. we later found out that it also ripped the underside of the car apart, and eventually causing an engine failure. montoya retired the race and mclaren's constructor chase was virtually over. he also lost the third place in the driver's championship to michael schumacher. what a loser!

although the safety car came out twice, it wasn't enough to help kimi chase the renault of alonso. it wasn't that the mclarens were slow, but it was because the renaults were fast. they brought in new parts and new engines to the race, and those improvements helped the team to stay ahead. i bet even mclaren was surprised by the french team's leap after just one week from japan.

my prediction was half correct. alonso sprinted and fisichella defended from a normal-driving kimi. montoya was out of the equation because he never did get past kimi. with that simple strategy, renault deservedly took their first constructor's championship as a team.

congratulations to renault for beating mclaren. one of the polls stated that mclaren deserved to lose both championships. james allen stated that mclaren had the best package since april; however they weren't able to take advantage of that. furthermore, the team was lucky to be in contention at all because kimi's car broke during the practice sessions. four times that happened and imagine zero points for those races.

finally, it was just hilarious to hear alonso singing "we are the champions" though the team radio. 2005 is definitely renault's year.

time to celebrate for renault [f1racing.net]