The Grand Prix of Europe - Tactical games at Nürburgring
L.Pecháček/ foto T.Leixner | 18.5.06 | Komentáře - L.Pecháček 2006
F1 comments L.Pecháček
The fifth race of this year's Formula 1 Championship was expected with a special kind of impatience.
The Ferrari's victory in Imola indicated they might return into the fight for the title. The GP of Europe was expected to confirm or deny that. The practice and qualification sessions showed that it would rather be the come back. However, there still was the current World Champion Alonso with Renault, who took his first pole position this year (10th altogether) and is famous for his not making mistakes under pressure. That was the time for refined strategy of Ross Brawn, taking its toll during pitstops.Both Williams cars had to deal with an unpleasant complication. The team had to exchange both Cosworth engines and both drivers Webber and Rosberg had to move 10 places back on the grid. Villeneuve was penalized for unfair slowing Fisichella down, which meant that his 3 best qualification times were disregarded, placing him 1 position backwards to the 9th position behind Montoya. After the first row Alonso - M. Schumacher, there were Massa and Barrichello, Räikkönen and Button, Trulli and Montoya, Villeneuve and R. Schumacher. All teams encountered tire problems this time. The surface at Nürburgring is very rough, causing a lot of wear to the tires, especially in braking. Therefore you could witness smoke from the tires when coming to the corners and many cars ended up spinning out of the track.Nepøíjemnou komplikaci mìly oba vozy Williams. Tým musel mìnit oba motory Cosworth a oba jezdci Webber i Rosberg byli tak posunuti na startovním roštu o 10 míst dozadu. Villeneuve byl potrestán za nedovolené brzdìni Fisichelly v závìru kvalifikace škrtnutím 3 nejrychlejších èasù a odsunut na startu o 1 místo na 9. pozici za Montoyu Za první øadou Alonso - M.Schumacher se na startu seøadili: Massa a Banichello, Räikkönen a Button, Trulli a Montoya, Villeneuve a Ralf Schumacher. Všechny týmy mìly tentokrát problémy s pneumatikami. Povrch Nürburgringu je velmi drsný a gumy dostávají zabrat zejména pøi brzdìni. Proto se tolikrát pøi nájezdu do zatáèek kouøilo od pneumatik všech týmù a nejeden vùz skonèil v tréninku v hodinách mimo tra.120,000 visitors thus could look forward to the race. Both protagonists met the expectations. Alonso set off in the lead of the pack followed closely by Schumacher. Behind them, there were Massa, with Räikkönen who passed Button, then Trulli, Barrichello, Villeneuve, Heidfeld, Fisichella, Montoya and Webber. As soon as the first lap R. Schumacher hit Liuzzi from behind, damaging his right rear tire and the Italian from Toro Rosso retired. Coulthard got involved in the crash too and retired one lap later. The focus was set on the first two - Alonso and Michael Schumacher. A short period of Safety Car after Liuzzi's retirement luckily didn't mean anything. The leading couple didn't get more that a second apart from each other. Before the race Michael made no mystery of the fact, that strategy is more important than the position on the grid. And he was right. The first pit stop didn't solve anything yet. There was no change in the standings. The decision came in the half of the race during the second pits. Alonso pitted first. Schumacher stayed three laps more, taking one lap record after another. It was necessary to gain at least 25 seconds in order to get ahead of Alonso. He succeeded doing so. Moreover, his mechanics serviced him 2 s faster than Alonso's Renault team. Coming out of the pit lane, there were no doubts: Michael Schumacher was before Alonso. Räikkönen was before them, but he had to take his pit stop yet. The standings settled at: M. Schumacher, Alonso, Massa, Räikkönen, Montoya, Rosberg (from the 22nd position!), Barrichello, R. Schumacher, Villeneuve and Fisichella. Montoya and Ralf Schumacher retired in the lap 52 from the ten. The others crossed the finish line.The first 4 about 5 s behind the winner, the rest of them more than one minute later.The race proved that Ferrari really is back in the game and it will not be easy for the other teams to cope with them. Especially after also the second pilot Massa showed excellent performance getting to the podium for the first time. Räikkönen with McLaren couldn't be a threat for the main protagonists and it seems that the problems from the last season go on - moreover Montoya retired with a mechanical trouble. Barrichello collected points for Honda this time, as Button retired before the half of the race. The last points went to Rosberg, who proved excellent shape both his own and Williams, and to Villeneuve with BMW Sauber. There is no rest for the contestants as the next GP of Spain starts already next week and Alonso will definitely want to win at his home circuit. So the duel with Michael Schumacher may proceed.
Final standings: 1. Michael Schumacher (GER) Ferrari, 2. Alonso (SPA) Renault, 3. Massa (BRA) Ferrari, 4. Räikkönen (FIN) McLaren - Mercedes, 5. Barrichello (BRA) Honda, 6. Fisichella (ITA) Renault, 7. Rosberg (GER) Williams, 8. Villeneuve (CAN) BMW Sauber.After 5 laps: 44 Alonso, 31 M. Schumacher, 23 Räikkönen, 18 Fisichella, 15 Montoya and Massa, 13 Button, 7 R. Schumacher, 6 Barrichello, Webber and Villeneuve, 5 Heidfeld, 4 Rosberg, 1 Coulhard, Klien.
Constructors Title: 62 Renault, 46 Ferrari, 38 McLaren, 19 Honda, 11 BMW Sauber, 10 Williams, 7 Toyota, 2 Red Bull Racing.
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