The Grand Prix of France 2006 - Magny Cours - Michael is serious about it F1,Formule 1, construct, konstrukce | Constructors F1 Constructors F1

The Grand Prix of France 2006 - Magny Cours - Michael is serious about it

L.Pecháček/foto J.Křenek | 16.7.06 | Komentáře - L.Pecháček 2006

F1 comments L.Pecháček

The seven times world Champion does not deny that he is dead serious about his attempt for the eight title. It didn't look like that in Magny Cours at first. He reached the sixth time, on Saturday the fourteenth even, when his Ferrari caught fire after five laps. BMW-Sauber was fastest with their brand new sails like wings in the front, but nobody took them for serious. The qualification was something completely different. There was a fight of the pilots of Ferrari, Renault and Toyota for the pole. In the end it was M. Schumacher and F. Massa to be in the first row, Alonso and Trulli in the second, R. Schumacher and Räikkönen in the third, Fisichella and de la Rosa in the fourth and Coulthard and Webber in the fifth. Only J.P. Montoya, who wants to leave the F1 and start in American NASCAR, was missing.

The Magny Cours circuit is exceptionally flat with quality tarmac, which, however, puts a lot of stress on tires and brakes - especially in hot weather, which was this year's case. Some teams (Ferrari, Renault, Williams and BMW) released new specifications of cars for this race. Mainly the 2400 ccm engines have been going through a gradual development and there are some new aerodynamics elements on the bodyworks.The race disclosed the Ferrari's strategy from the very beginning. M. Schumacher was speeding away and F. Massa kept Alonso in safe distance. The standings hadn't changed until the first pit stop, which only reconfigured it anyway. Räikkönen got before Trulli who later retired. Webber's left rear tire didn't stand and Barrichello, Sato and Monteiro were also out of the game. The last stint of the race brought the tactical battle between Ferrari and Renault in pit stops. Alonso went to the pits first in the lap 45 and refueled till the end of the race. Massa followed in the lap 52 and returned after Alonso. But Michael Schumacher had a half a minute advantage by then and stayed first even after the pit stop. He only kept his distance from Alonso afterwards. He crossed the finish line safely before Alonso, Massa, R. Schumacher, and Räikkönen. Fisichella and de la Rosa reached points with full number of laps. Heidfeld finished 1 lap behind though with 1 point. Alonso's advantage decreased to 17 points, which is an important number now. There are 8 races till the end. Should Michael Schumacher win all of them and Alonso kept coming second, it would be Alonso to win the Championship. F. Massa's watching Michael's back is going to be a crucial thing. 

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