I think Alonso set his fastest lap but the sector time was not his quickest so no penalty.

I did not get a chance to watch the race yet waiting for SpeedTV's coverage, but apparently Schumi put in a superb performance

Oh well...what might have been great battle for victory will have to wait

I hope eventually Ferrari just lets loose with more rev's for the engine so they can kick conservative Alonso butt and he will be conservative too because he is a champ and can't risk too much

Maybe Ferrari did that in Monaco, but I don't think more revs would help much there, do you?

 

Drivers rarely have enough open road to take advantage of any power increase at Monaco, except during qualifying (unless someone parks their car in the middle of a turn, of course...)

MSchu's result was very good considering he started from pit lane (not the last row, as CBS kept saying), but it was mostly attrition and a typically perfect Ferrari pit strategy that moved him up through the field since on-track passing is nearly impossible at Monaco. He did have a nice pass on Button coming out of the tunnel. I imagine Speed will give us a lot more updates as to his lap times after he got past him. Those laps may have allowed him to gain more places as drivers ahead pitted, but CBS didn't provide any insight into it.

He was turning the fastest laps of the race at the end, but of course the track didn't allow that to make much difference in the final result.

 

Right...but watching CBS you got the distinct impression that part of the reason MSchu pitted was because he was being hopelessly held up by Button. If he emerged from the pits in the clear, it's no surprise he was doing some pretty fast times.

 

Everyone,
I just posted info on the MINI car cruise at the 2006 USGP. Check it out and come have some fun!

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=71057

Thanks!
Aaron

 

hey check this out! maybe they want to sell some engines so they can pay kimi's salary?

 

I saw that too. It would be a shame if Ferrari lost Kimi to Renault. I would love to see a Kimi - Schumi dream team though me thinks the likelyhood of anything like that happening is about as promising as Super Aguri finding the podium in Canada.

 

Stranger things have happened, whowoulddathunk that Midlands would have had a podium at last year's USGP?



Uh, me. I woulddathunk it.

 

Personally, I just want to see Kimi at Ferrari. Winning at Ferrari.

I don't think the "dream team" would bode well for Kimi. In my mind, the trio of Schumacher/Brawn/Todt will only open their "hearts" to his goal of becoming World Champion so far that it doesn't deter Schumi's desire to go out on top.

Kimi deserves a car that can compete and finish races. He's proven that he's the fastest man alive and deserves 200 % support from his team. I would really like to see him have a shot at the championship before his fire is extinguished. Much like Button, I sense the toll being so close yet so far has taken on him.

I've had a hard time accepting the nonsense at Monaco. Schumacher has permanently tainted his place in history . . . even if he was just doing what Brawn told him to do. I thought he had graduated from such behavior. It is sad that he hasn't really grown that much, if at all.

 

Is there not an open seat at Renault next year? I'd expect Kimi and Montoya to be begging for it rather than a seat at Ferrari with or without MSchu.

Renault just committed themselves to F1 through 2011, so any concern about the team's long-term stability should be erased. The only upside for Ferrari is their extensive experience with Bridgestone tires. When they become the sole tire supplier next year, Renault will have to play catch-up.

Alonso's fortune's don't look good for next year considering he is going to a McLaren team that just lost Adrian Newey. He can look forward to more of McLaren/Mercedes' unreliability without even the benefit of a top tier designer. Live it up while you can Fernando!

 

It will be interesting to see how well the Renault adapts to the Bridgestone tires.

 

Has it even been decided who the tire supplier is for next year's championship? I was under the impression that F1 was still taking bids; the only thing being for sure is Michelin opting themselves out. Though Bridgestone does seem the obvious choice.

Anyway, it's a shame that people are still holding Monaco against Schumi. Though the stewards made their decision and the video footage made it seem as though the act was deliberate; none of us aside from Schumi and his confidants really knows what the circumstances of his stop were. And even if it was deliberate, he paid his price and it most likely cost him the race; a race he desperately needed to keep his championship hopes alive. Why would/should it taint his place in history? History has proved that people with the strong will to win will try silly things from time to time in order to increase their chances of assuring their own success. He is certainly not the only great driver to make questionable decisions on the track. Michael's history is already well written; he is one of the greatest, fasted, and most successful drivers the world has ever seen, and unless he and Ferrari have cheated to achieve what they have together, then his history will not have a "*" next to his statistics

 

For my money . . . sportsmanship is pretty important. Schumacher has, over the course of his career, exhibited behavior questionnable in that regard.
Sure, I give him a little slack for the simple fact that he's a human being with an incredible will to win . . . but that doesn't excuse tactics like veering off the start line forcing his competitors to take evasive action.

To be honest, I think a great majority have been pretty lenient on him. I had the false impression that he had finally matured and had decided to be a "gentleman" but I was wrong.

Regarding Monaco . . . sure, he paid the price, and hopefully recognized that he only hurt himself in that situation. Considering the way he drove, I'm certain that he would have won had he simply accepted his front row position instead of pole.

He will go down as one of the great natural talents . . . however I'd bet a million bucks that there will always be a "but" associated with his records. True, perhaps only a sidenote . . . but a rather sad and unnecessary one at that.

 

FYI, I am one of the rather lenient . . . I like Schumacher . . . I would like to see him win another championship . . . but I do think his name will be tarnished by his history of unsportsman-like actions and I miss the days when Hakkinen (a true gentleman) was giving him a real run for his money.

I also think Kimi and Alonso are showing that they are great sportsmen.

 

I agree with your assessment of Kimi and Alonso. Those two cats not only seem to be great sportsmen (though it's tough to judge in Kimi's case because he's so Finnish) but they also have enormous potential as they are blazing fast. However, I'll be happier when Alonso leaves Renault. It's not that I don't like Renault, I just don't like Flavio Briatore. That guy just bugs me. In a sport full of pretense, he seems to be one of the most arrogant. That being said, I've never met the guy. He could be a perfect gentlemen; after all, he is the father of Keidi Klum's child

 

Flava Flav?

I'd bet you'd change your mind if you could hang on his yacht! . . . He's Italian! He must be a great guy!

F1 needs characters and he's one of the few left . . . I miss Eddie Jordan. Wish they'd let him buy his old team back.

 

Amen. I love Eddie Jordan. I was equally happy to see Villeneuve get back in the scene after his hiatus though I completely disagree with many of his viewpoints. True, Flavio adds character to the paddock and he's nearly an essential fixture in F1; he's been around forever. It still doesn't mean I have to like the guy...unless he were to invite me to kick it on his yacht...

 

Heck, he might show up at Red Bull selling Renault engines . . . you never know!

 

That may very well happen. Too bad Deitrich can't coax his friends over in Wolfsburg to jump into the F1 action. How cool would it be to see Bugatti or Lamborghini racing again. Hell, I'd be happy to see the Audi name in F1; they've won LeMan's so many times in the last decade, what else do they have to prove on that circuit. Unless of course they challenge for the overall win with a hybrid...hmmm...

 

I'd love to see that...Audi still say they can't afford it..but What I think they should do is start by supplying engines for a team, like Red Bull...and then buy their way in later. If successful of course.

 

saakey, you couldn't be more right. They should simply start by suppling engines and see how it goes; but get in the game for crying out loud!

However, I must beg the question: If a company like Ferrari can fund a competitive F1 team (granted they have the infrastructure built to do so), how can the Volkswagen Group claim they don't have the money? The excuse that the Veyron project was so expensive to develop that they simply don't have the budget at this point in time is preposterous. It's not as if the Veyron had a production cost on par with a NASA shuttle mission. I think the executives at Volkswagen need to stop paying themselves the GDP's of small African nations and do something practical with the cash...blow it in Formula 1

 

I thought for sure that VW was going to come in (using the brand Seat) when Sauber was going up for sale. They were already using Sauber's wind tunnel for road car testing because it can take a full size vehicle...now I suppose BMW is using it?

 

Really? I'd be interested to know what brought you to suspect they would use the Seat brand. Considering the fact that Seat is not a global brand (unless they were thinking about using F1 as a vehicle to launch the brand globally), I would think they would be more apt to using a different marque in the VW Group that already has a global cache.

As for BMW using the Sauber wind tunnel, I'm sure they use that exclusively now.

 

Interesting discussion . . . a couple of thoughts

Audi would be a great addition to F1 and I think it would be a great boost for the marque, however I'd love to see Lamborghini powering Red Bull/Toro Rosso, thus giving a little weight to that moniker.

Ferrari has historically claimed that they sell street cars only to finance racing operations . . . as opposed to everyone else who is racing to promote street car sales. Thus some of the grumbling heard every year up and down the paddock in regards to Ferrari's posture with the FIA.

 

Why doesn't VW jump into F1? Look at Toyota! How can you convince a board of directors to spend hundreds of millions of dollars with Toyota setting an example like they have the past few years?

I refer back to my earlier post about how difficult it is to win in F1:
It takes more than money to win in F1, it takes a visionary leader as well. Based on recent history, those people are even harder to find than money!

 

I share many of the sentiments expressed regarding the F1 personnel, including MS. I am an MS fan, but I am a bigger fan of more competitive racing. He certainly makes every effort to make it to the front.

I have always followed F1 and attended a few races, but it is hard to share my enthusiasm and appreciation with many Americans. My brother was at Silverstone for the recent British GP; he enjoyed a corporate drivers clinic in sports and formula cars, but he felt that the F1 race was just loud and boring. More passing is needed; most American racing fans do not view pole to finish winners and advancements based on pit strategy particularly exciting. I concur with this, but I will continue to watch every race.

I especially like watching the European races and qualifying on ESPN early Sat. and Sun. morning. I wish CBS would stay away.