MGCMAN got his wish!

Alonso becomes the youngest F1 winner ever!

 

First Spanish race winner
First race winner born in the 1980's
First win for Renault in twenty years
First non-turbo win for Renault
Youngest podium ever...Fernando, Kimmi, and Juan Pablo!

Got us a championship battle now too, with three points separating first through third!

 

Alonso and Renault won all on their own without luck playing much of a part. They won it with track position and great strategy. It was a very impressive victory. The MINI needs that traction control.

This championship race has got me really worried being a Schumi fan. I can't help but imagine what the Ferrari could do with Michelin rubber, because I still think that the Ferrari is a pretty awesome car.

I think Williams just has to support JPM fully now, don't you?

 

On an F1 BB some folks were complaining that Webber was holding up the pack and that allowed FA to build up his lead. Oh well, if ya can't pass someone whose fault is that? RS did a stellar job passing today.

I hope JPM can pull the championship out without Ralphs help.

Too bad for Ruby, he was going well before the mechanical failure.

Cossies are the worst engine on the grid.

 

>>Cossies are the worst engine on the grid.

ageed.

 

Do you guys think JPM is actually going to do it though (a bit OT) move to Mclaren? since Williams and his agent can't come to an agreement? or is he staying with BMW?

I'm not a big follower of the drivers, but I'm a big Mclaren fan. not a JPM fan since 3yrs ago(?) when he didn't take responsibility for the turn marshalls death from him causing an accident from brake testing someone. JPM in mclaren would make me support toyota, backmarker or not....

 

McLaren resigned both drivers and their test drivers for 2004...last week. :smile:

 

Just taking a little time off from my Alonzothon celebration. Woohoo! Fernandito did it, and made it look easy at the same time. Renault has the aerodynamics needed to win a championship, just gotta get the hp up. Look for more goodness in '04.

Tires? Michelin has the momentum, but Bridgestone is heading home (Indy for its Firestone brand and Suzuka for the HQ of Bridgestone) After Hungary, I'll bet that there are a few who commit hari-kari back in Japan today.


So where are we?

M. Schumacher 72
J.P. Montoya 71
K. Raikkannen 70


Three GPs left

Predictions:


Imola - High Speed Circuit = HP (horsepower and Hewlett-Packard aka Williams-BMW) I give this one to the horsepower kings in Munich. Go JP

Indy - Long straights, tight infield = well ballanced package (superior aerodynamics and horsepower) Ferrari has a chance here, along with McLaren and Williams. Too close to call. But my gut tells me Kimi.

Suzuka - Driver's circuit = Montoya over Schumacher. Last race and Schumi hasn't clinched yet, shades of Adelaide '94 or Jerez '97? Der Bad Boy must give his all, but I think that Juan Pablo wants it worse.

Expect a great finale to '03.

 

MGCMAN -
Nice analysis, but you are picking JPM over Shoey at Suzuka? He has tasted the water, and it is good...so to speak, Schumacher has just as much motivation as Juan, he will pull it off. Not that i wouldent want to see montoya win, but we will see.

 

Ooops....JPM was lucky to have not been caught up in the debris...

 

I'm a dyed in the wool Schumi freak. Got a "shrine" to the Great One (36 different 1/18 scale models, 2 autographs, etc.). My wife is a 100% JP fanatic. Makes for one tough life, boys and girls. I'm used to adversity. I want a sixth title something bad for the man, but to keep the old household functioning, well let's just say that this is JP's championship to lose at this stage.

Hope to see y'all at Indy in a month, I'll be the one with the 20' pvc flagpole sporting the prancing horse.

 

Do you have any idea where the wheel finally ended up? I was really scared the wheel would just bounce and roll into the crowd

>>

 

While the camera didn't show it, I suspect that the wheel wound up in the same gravel trap and tire barrier as poor Rubens. What you said is certainly true though. In 1998, I was sitting at Eue Rouge for the Belgian GP, when on the first lap, Couldhard lost it coming out of La Source. Major, Major collision action involving 11 cars, I think. Anyway, wheels body parts (vehicle only thank God) and assorted suspension bits blew past my grandstand at 100mph+. Luckily the catch fence worked, no spectators harmed. But there have been incidents in the past. Imola 1994 - Pedro Lamy's Lotus was obliterated at the start. A wheel jumped the fence and caused serious damage to some spectators. The cleanup was subpar from that accident, and it has been postulated that a sliver of carbon fibre punctured a rear tire on Ayrton Senna's Williams, causing the driver to lose his life, just seven laps later.

 

Do any of you guys post at AtlasF1?

MGCMAN - do you and your wife watch races together?

The rest of the season should be a cracker. I look forward to seeing if JPM can continue to pressure Michael and how Michael responds.

Bridgestone vs Michelin will be the key.

 

WOW !! Almost a three way tie going into the last three races !!

It doen't get any closer than this ladies and gentlemen !!!!

Ron

 

WHOOO! I just got my tickets to this years USGP, Northwest vista. :smile: I can't wait, this will be the first time I am seeing a F1 race in person, after watching it on TV for 9 years
MGC - Thanks for the info!

 

chandler, congrats!

It will be by far the loudest, sweetest sounds you will ever hear!

Enjoy.

 

Chandler,

Great to know that you'll be there. If you have any other ques. on what to bring, wear, etc. p.m. me and I'll try to provide to the best of my ability. To answer an earlier inquiry, yes I watch F-1 with the wife (JP Montoya), and the twins. One is a Schumi nut like myself, the other is a Trulli/Alonso fan (presently on cloud 9). And yes, the fur does fly around our coffee table when the GP comes on. We are all going to Indy again, so it will probably preclude the MINI taking us, as there just isn't enough space for four, and my giant Tifosi collection. Yes, Indy should ROCK this year. What a finale.

 

The final three races of this season will be HOT indeed; a total drag-race to the end
Everyone seems to think that Montoya is going to take the championship, but I'm not too sure just yet. Personally, my vote goes out to Kimi. I have no doubts he has the potential, as long as he drives aggressive but smart. Actually, the same goes to Montoya. Schumi is losing grip, and now has to recover from this mental deficit. I do feel that their package is still very strong, and we can't count him out yet.

I was shocked to see Rubens Ferrari explode like that at the end of the straightaway, how scary! There was nothing he could do, and that's the worst kind of "ride" into the barriers, ouch! I'm glad that he's ok, but I feel for him getting the short end of the Ferrari stick once again!

 

FIA has thrown a bone into the championship. Charlie Whiting has said that they could be measuring tire width after races instead of current practice which is measuring the tires when new. If treads are found to be less than 270mm wide, cars could be disqualified. Michelin is threatening boycott.

B'stone watched Hungarian GP tapes and suspected something with the Michelins. Problem is FIA regs do not explicitly regulate worn tread width.

Bogus.

 

I agree, bogus.

The Bridgestone's have always been manufactured with more of a "square" cut, while the Michelins are "rounded" where the tread meets the sidewall. I think this is part of the political ugliness that a certain Bridgestone user from an unnamed southern European country might be trying to muscle the FIA into regulating. Just let the boyz race.

 

I agree that the timing is terrible. This should have been worked out before the season began.

On the other hand, I don't think it is bogus. It has always been suspicious when Michelin runners were running double or full-race stints on their tyres which were many times slick looking at the end of races. I haven't noticed the tyres these past few races, but it has got to be an advantage with the larger contact patch or whatever.

 

It seems to me that if the FIA is changing the rules then the onus is on the FIA to justify why now? If the FIA decided to do this after Australia then this would not be a big issue. But we are suddenly in the middle of the tightest WDC/WCC battles in years with a certain southern European team losing momentum. It is too cicumstantial to ignore.

 

[about the tire issue timing] another case of Schumi cries and everyone obeys?

I think it's crap to change rules mid-season, period! If they measure tires at the beginning of the race and that's it, that's the rules and no bitching just cuz you're a company that's a bit off the pace recently. The timing of this ordeal couldn't be more suspicious. Thumbs down!
Ryan

 

Hhmmm, the tire issue is unfortunate at this time.
Finally, finally we hav an F1 season that is exciting up to the end!
And someone has to come along and throw in a monkey wrench.
I can see both sides though, but to be honest, I think rules should not be changed mid-season. However, is that really being considered here? I thought the rules state that contact patch cannot exceed given specs - not ever, but rules don't state when that can be measured. It is just that so far, FIA only ever measured before races, not after. Because of the either clever (as in intentional) or accidental exploitation of this fact, and because of complaints by others, FIA may measure after the race, but I don't think a rule change is involved. Am I wrong?
This is not actually a new issue, and in the past there have been instances where the condition of tires after the race was monitored, in this case because of tread wear and the disappearing grooves resulting in larger contact patches. So, to my knowledge, there is a precedent for the current complaint.
I would say it is unfortunate that this has to happen now, and that complaints have to be filed. Like MGCMAN says, let them race. At the same time, it is unfortunate if some companies apply such trick intentionally - though no one can porobably say whether MIchelin is truly employing such tricks intentionally.