7.7.06
I’m amazed at the resilience of Formula One. It seems to be constantly tearing itself apart in disputes whilst actually getting bigger. The latest argument is, of course, whether there should be continuous engine development or it should be frozen. Max Moseley’s assertion that more power and revs were irrelevant in the real world must have jarred with several manufacturers, not least Ferrari. As for his suggestion that the money saved on engine development could be spent promoting US Grand Prix, I can clearly hear the spirit of Enzo asking “and exactly how will that help my cars win Grand Prix?” However, it will all be resolved and the series will strengthen still further. Just think back to the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s when US CART racing was put forward as the rival to F1. F1 went on to its biggest growth ever while internal rifts split the US series. The whole US big single-seater scene is now just a backwater. When the Editor asked me to cover this race, I realised with a shock that I had no idea who won the Indy 500, once one of the three classics with Monaco and Le Mans. It was Sam Hornish Jnr., I bet you knew that, but do you know in what car built to what formula? (it was a Dallara Honda built to Indy Racing League regulations). [Actually it was a pretty good race, see pic - Ed.] Now we had real cars and real drivers at Indianapolis, where Schuey had won four times already. Wouldn't you just love to see an F1 car do a few laps of the real circuit? After last year's farce the teams wanted to put on a good show. From TV it looked as though this year the fans had voted with their feet. Team personnel seemed to outnumber the spectators with vast banks of empty seats, but the powers say there were 130,000 there, so it must have just been a trick of the light. Qualifying Qualifying held a few surprises. Crazy Dave isn’t used to being
bumped out in the first 15 minutes and nor is Nico Rosberg but they
were at Indy; as they were on different makes of tyre, Driver Excuse
No.1 could not be used. Conversely the MFIs had a great day in 14th
and 15th. Nico did not take his car to weighbridge scrutineering after
his 19th place, so was bumped to the back of the grid; he says he just
missed the signal whilst concentrating on his pit-lane entry speed.
McLaren languished in ninth (Raikkonen) and 11th (Montoya). A friend suggested that maybe Montoya had found good odds at the bookies on Lewis Hamilton replacing him next year and decided to make his investment secure….but then withdrew the joke after contacting his lawyers. The Race In the absence of blaming poor Juan Pablo for the turn 2 incident, I believe true responsibility for the loss of a third of the field lies not with any driver but with the circuit designer. The infield section is too narrow, lacks grip, and turn 1 is too slow after the speed of the main straight. As Montagny said, you cannot stop a car from 200kph when the car in front is 5 metres away. So with 15 cars, we had the restart and Takuma Sato immediately had one of his kamikaze moments and took out the normally safe Monteiro, much to the latter’s fury as this was potentially MFI's best race of the year, so we were down to 13 - getting close to the 6 of last year. Felipe Massa had a great restart, pulling out a lead the length of the grid over Schuey who was really caught napping. Alonso stayed third, and visibly held up Fisichella until lap 15. Schuey stayed calm in second, seemingly making little effort, while Fisichella pursued him vigorously but unsuccessfully, though putting Alonso in the shade. On lap 24, baggy-suited, pop singing, Canadian Villeneuve’s BMW cried enough, and unable to find a disabled parking space, he left it trackside, gently smoking with the rears locked up - Bimmer owners ignore those service lights at your peril! Michael pitted on lap 29, giving us the only nervous moment of the race as he twitched into the pitlane. The stop was 8.2 seconds compared with Massa’s 7.3 on lap 30, but as Massa’s in lap was 2 seconds slower he rejoined behind Schuey. This was later blamed on a clutch problem, but it was fortunate as it gave Schuey the lead and it's difficult to see how this would otherwise have happened as "team orders" are not allowed of course. Michael was never headed again, even on his second stop. The whole race was, for Tifosi, a welcome throwback to the heady days of dominance – was it really only two years ago? Schuey’s last 43 laps looked so controlled, stress-free and easy – if those are words one can apply to getting a fastest lap and hitting over 330kph on the straightaway. Fisichella ran through to third, pushed hard at the end of the race by Trulli who started 19th, avoided all the troubles and was rewarded with fourth. Alonso inherited fifth when Ralf Schumacher’s Toyota died on lap 63, but spent most of the race looking lost. Maybe the greats have off days, but Alonso seemed badly hit by not having the dominant car he is used to and he just didn’t handle the pressure. Opening race understeer turning later to oversteer is often a classic sign in the lower formulae of confused driver syndrome, and his post race comments were clutching at straws. Let’s hope this confidence crisis travels well back to Europe, also the delightful prospect of driving for McLaren must be looming ever larger... The remaining points were taken by Charibello, Coulthard and Liuzzi, who scored Toro Rosso’s first point ever. The last two had won battles with Rosberg and, it pains me to say it, Coulthud thoroughly out-drove him and out-psyched him as Rosberg emerged from his second stop. I’m beginning to think that I’ve been wooed by his aggressive (or wild?) driving style, just like his Dad’s, but after the first race he’s been a disappointment and the style that looks great in an FW07 is frankly wrong for an FW28. On the podium, Schuey was euphoric. He tried to explain it in the press
conference but I think the real reason was that the Scuderia had scored
a 1-2 without moving out of the comfort zone. They move back to Europe
with a massive confidence boost; Alonso should be scared, and I believe
he is. Whilst Indianapolis “road” circuit is a featureless,
dull and silly track which would be better either converted to a golf
course or tarmac’d over for car boot sales, it may just have been
the venue for the turning point of the season. Michael, keep that space
free in the trophy cabinet!
Click here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page.
|