Both Liuzzi (Torro Rosso) and Rosberg (Williams) changed engines and so lost 10 grid spots. Liuzzi started 22nd with Rosberg 19th. The coverage from Channel 10 started a little after 10:30pm. The race started live at 10pm, so the coverage of the race started about 45 minutes later, which isn't to bad since this race they decided to pause the tapes for each ad break which meant that we didn't lose the laps, but instead we had Diffy and Crompton talking for a couple of minutes after each ad break. That is about as much of those two that I can stand.
As the cars set off for the Warmup lap, Sato (Super Aguri) struggled to get away from the line. He did line up on the Grid with everyone else, but after the start part way around the first lap he pulled the car off track with a Transmission problem.
Most of the top few drivers got away well, and with Massa starting 2nd behind Schumacher (both Ferraris), he immediately moved across the track to block Alonso (Renault). Alonso tried going around the outside of the first corner which would give him the inside for the next turn, but had to back off after Massa squeezed him. Alonso tried the outside line into the hairpin, but couldn't make the move or even the switchback move. He almost lost the position to Truili (Toyota) as they exited the hairpin. Luckily Truili managed to slow before coliding. The top 7 remained in the same order as they were on the grid.
Webber made a good start and was able to pass de la Rosa (McLaren) and Coulthard (Red Bull). This hurt de la Rosa's race as he was being held up by Webber until the first round of pitstops. They were lapping a second to two seconds slower than the leaders.
Villenuve (BMW) also made a good start passing Speed (Torro Rosso) and Albers (Midland). The first couple of laps saw some unsuccessful passes in the lower half of the top ten. Kimi (McLaren) tried a few times to pass Ralf (Toyota), but couldn't make it stick.
After 4 laps Schuamcher had a 1.9 second lead over his teammate. Alonso was able to match the times of the Ferraris, but was being held up a little bit by Massa. Rubens Barrichello (Honda) was running 12th early on but ran wide on lap 9 allowing Speed to take the place. A queue had formed behind the Honda driver as he stuggled to lap under 1minute 20 while Scumacher was in the 1:18s.
Monterio has a mechanical problem that locked his diff and cause the car to spin into one of the chicanes. The front of his car hit the curb and got airborn as the car slid. He then coasted into the pits on the following lap. It looked quite spectacular.
Villeneuve made a pass on Rubens but then lost it again as they exited the corner. By this stage they were both more than half a minute behind the leaders.
Drivers can either do a two or three stop strategy, with the three stopper being quicker under normal circumstances. Massa was the first to pit on lap 16th, which released Alonso to chase Schumacher. Both Alonso and Kimi pitted on lap 17, with Alonsos stop being longer, he fell back from Massa when he rejoined. A lap later Schumacher, Fisi and de la Rosa made their first stops, this left both Toyotas running one-two. Truili led two laps before pitting and then Ralf led two laps.
Ruben's had an Engine failure on lap 18, which ended a dismal weekend for the him.
After the stops, de la Rosa had passed Webber, and Button kept his lead over Rosberg.
Ralf's pitstop was a long one after a problem with the left rear tyre. This dropped him behind Kimi and Fisi.
Heidfeld, Albers, Villeneuve, Speed, Coulthard, Klien and Liuzzi were still to pit and were all on two stop strategies. Liuzzi and Klien were the last to pit on lap 31.
Kimi's second stop was earlier than expected and there were thoughts by the commentators that he had a problem with a tyre. But really it wasn't much shorter than the other drivers. With Massa pitting 2 laps later and Schumacher another 4 laps later. Alonso was the surprise by not pitting until lap 42. When Michael rejoined after his second pitstop he was right behind Alonso which meant the Renault Driver led for a couple of laps. Alonso's second pitstop was 9.5 seconds stationary, which suggested that it could have been his final stop.
Realising that Alonso couldn't beat Schumacher with strategy they decided to make him only stop twice which allowed him to take 2nd place when Massa stopped for the final time.
Truili had a brake problem which put him out on lap 39. Meanwhile Webber pitted for a second time after he had a spin caused by the left rear tyre delaminating. After rejoining on the next lap the same tyre went again so hit pitted and the team spent a few minutes trying to figure out why it happened. He rejoined and did another 7 laps before finally retiring. Webber has had a shocking season with being involed in other peoples accidents and many mechanical issues throughout the year. The Williams just hasn't been fast enough this year. Monaco was the only really good showing that Webber has had.
Button retired on lap 61, which brought to an end a terrible weekend where they couldn't find enough speed to break into the top ten.
After the second round of pitstops Ralf emerged ahead of Fisi. Massa's third pitstop put him behind Alonso, and he didn't have the speed to catch 2nd place. In the closing laps Alonso reduced Schumacher's lead as Michael cruzed to another win. The margin in the Championship is now down to 17 points with 7 races remaining this season.
The Offical Results are:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment