2006 Australian Grand Prix - Race 3/18

//Mike said:
Wouldn't mind Flib to clear it up though :).
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5mm movement with a 50kg weight on them.

Better let you know that at 100mph the front wing produces 10 times that.. :rolleyes:

Also - the floppy mirrors do not come under aerodynamic devices - the right one generally contains the telemetry transmitter that why it doesn't bounce - the left one is just made as light as possible. They are practically useless anyway.

If you lose one of them it doesn't really matter - unless you're in a Ferrari in which case the the aerodynamic effect they have is lost.

Simon/~Flibster
 
Lehman to buy back F1 stake

New York-based bank Lehman Brothers might not be finished with the world of Formula One.

While recently selling its 14 per cent stake to now 100 per cent owner CVC Capital Partners, Lehman negotiated an option to buy back into the Grand Prix racing group.

England's Independent newspaper wrote that Lehman 'is set to purchase a stake' in the sport's new CVC-run parent body, Alpha Prema.

''The option is valid for several weeks and Lehman is expected to exercise it shortly,'' the paper said, citing sources.

Lehman, along with fellow banks Bayerische Landesbank and JP Morgan, inherited their shares in F1 after the Kirch group went broke in 2002.

But Lehman was the only one to retain a buy-back option.
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Anyways, what can I say about the race, apart from its was Brilliant.

It was a perfect example of what F1 is all about.

Where do I start...

Yet again, world class performance from Alsonso. Definatly is on it on right now. Has the fastest car and best package under him atm, lets hope that changes for McLarens sake.

Good drive from Kimi. As expected, even though, thought he would have gone for the win if the SC car wasnt out the first time and Button got took over. Great that he set his fastest lap on the last one, pushing till the end, thats how it should be done.

Cant believe that Montoya, spun it on the formation lap. Why did he have to let the 2 drivers (Webber, Heidfield was it?) through though? Was that at the start or after one of the SC during the race? Forgot, too much happened, lol. I was suprised that when he got hit by Button, I think it was, he didnt have suspension failure like that Kimi had in Malaysia. I suppose you got to hit the tyre at the right angle... JPM, did extemely well to keep the car out of the Schummy wall, when he went over the bump too, shame that the engine cut out and had to pull over.

Button, Button, Button... just wasnt his day was it. Knew he couldnt win the race even on pole. Just didnt have the pace. Bottled it behind the SC. Wasnt alert as Alonso. I actually thought Alonso passed him before the start / finish line but he didnt, I hoped he did though, get a drive through penalty or something. Im sure he could have got closer to the line at the end, when his engine let go, was a shame.

Great peice of drifting from Fisi, when he was behind Button when he went over the oil on the track. Well kept hold of, a good peice of driving.

Bad day for the Ferrari's. Deserved them right for Ross Braun (sp?) having a little cheeky smile on his face when Montoya spun it on the formation lap. Schummy pushing too hard was his downfall to his crash, oh well, he might learn for next time. Liuzzi, overtaking him was a good move. Shame that Scot Speed couldnt do the same. Looks to me that Schummy doesnt have the consistency really throught the race. The Ferrari team has kinda gone down hill from Bahrain, Im sure it will pick up for them though very soon.

Overall, it was a great race and very entertaining. Lets hope that we have more races like it but at Renault's expense with them crashing out of the race :D
 
BBC Sport said:
Alonso expects charge from rivals

World champion Fernando Alonso expects his commanding early season lead to dwindle as his rivals make improvements to their cars as the season progresses.

Renault design boss Pat Symonds has said he expects Ferrari, on Bridgestone tyres, to win at Imola on 23 April.

"We have to take our opportunities and win these races now," said Alonso. "The other teams will improve and be similar to us or quicker than us.

"Imola is a different challenge and it will be more difficult than ever."

Alonso has won two of the first three races this season and has already amassed 28 points, 14 more than team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen.

He looked totally in control in winning the Australian Grand Prix, despite four safety car interventions and carnage all around him.

Ferrari, meanwhile, came away from Melbourne with no points and are well behind Renault in third in the constructors' standings.

Felipe Massa crashed out on the first corner and seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher steered into a wall 24 laps from the finish.

"It was a weekend to forget," said Ferrari chief Jean Todt. "Going home without points is a very bitter feeling, given that we had all we needed to succeed here."

Schumacher, who endured a miserable weekend, said: "I tucked in behind Jenson Button and unexpectedly I got some heavy understeer.

"Our main problem was keeping the tyres up to temperature, especially in the first part of the race and also because there were a few safety car periods.

"At first it was difficult to drive as after locking the wheels a few times the tyres were completely finished. It's clear we have a lot of work to do."

Kimi Raikkonen is confident his McLaren team have caught up with Renault despite finishing second behind Alonso.

Raikkonen had a final lap of one minute, 26.045 seconds, the fastest lap of the day, and finished 1.8 seconds behind the Spaniard.

"I am really pleased because we now have a package which is level with the Renaults which I think we demonstrated in Melbourne," he said.

"I was really pushing but in the final safety car period one of the Midland cars was between Fernando and I, which meant I was unable to get really close to have a go.

"It was an enjoyable race, and I can't wait for Imola."
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Montoya questions McLaren tactics
Juan Pablo Montoya may have had plenty of reasons to chastise himself after an incident-filled Australian Grand Prix, but afterwards he openly pointed fire at his team and teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

Although the McLaren driver spun on the warm-up lap, then behind the Safety Car early in the race before finally running wide across a kerb to end his afternoon, the Colombian's biggest disappointment was with Raikkonen and the team management.

He said he was pretty unimpressed with Raikkonen's aggression towards him on the opening lap of the race, when they nearly banged wheels at both the first corner and then the quick chicane out the back of the circuit.

"Yeah, the last race was the same," he said. "He threw the car at me and he did the same here. But it doesn't matter - we are racing. I am not going to sit down and cry about it."

Montoya also said he was baffled about why Raikkonen put in the fastest lap of the race on the final tour.

"It was Kimi being heroic on the last lap and putting the fastest lap in, because it was half a second quicker than any other lap he did in the race. So he was either slow or thinking about something else other than driving except on the last lap.

"If you think about it, how do you go half a second quicker on the last lap? What do you gain out of it? It is not going to be a circuit record because the circuit record is 1m24s for Michael (Schumacher), so what are you risking? Going off on the last corner? I don't know."

When asked why there appeared to be an increased level of tension between himself and Raikkonen compared to last year, Montoya said: "I think (because) I am in a good position. Last year I wasn't in a position to fight him so I don't think he felt threatened by me."

Montoya's frustrations also boiled over towards the team after the race, claiming he was 'shocked' that the team opted to change Raikkonen's damaged nose at the final Safety Car pitstop because Montoya was stacked up behind him.

"I was kind of shocked the team did that," he said. "When you are doing stacked pitstops and you can put both cars on the podium, they decide to change Kimi's nose.

"Yes, he did damage the endplate but the end result was that I ended up going up over a kerb, the car ended up shutting itself off and that cost us points. If they wouldn't have done that (changed Raikkonen's nose) then I wouldn't have been behind Ralf (Schumacher) at any point."

Montoya confirmed that he had spoken to team boss Ron Dennis about the matter after the race, but he still believed it was the wrong decision.

"Ron said that Kimi had the pace to win the race and it turns out that he didn't. So we ended up with him finishing second and me not finishing so for the constructors' (championship) that cost us at least six points."

Speaking about his own exit from the race, when he ran wide at the final corner across a kerb, Montoya said: "I went on the kerb and bringing the car back it just turned itself off. It was just flapping from side to side when it shut itself off.

"It seemed like the system reset itself and went off. When the systems all came back on, the car was in neutral but everything else was off.

"It is a shame because the car was good. Renault was a bit quicker than us, but not much. I think I was a little bit quicker than Kimi, so I think we would have been okay (without the spins). I think Fernando would have beaten us, but I think we had a good enough pace."
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Ok, have your dummy back Juan Pablo :rolleyes:

But there's a cracking new entry for the drivers official excuse book towards the end - "I went off because they changed my team mate's nose". Stunning, absolutely stunning.
 
Juan, without doubt is the most overrated driver on the grid. I remember way back in 2003/2004 when he joined Williams from America - before he'd even sat in the car he's been crowned "monster Montoya" a certain world champion.

This was the man what was going to teach F1 drivers how to overtake. Yes, there were instances of him barging himself past, but I never thought this could be attributed to his skill, more so the skills of his opponents to avoid a certain collision.
 
Dutch Guy said:
JPM has never impressed me, he should just stop F1 and take Villeneuve and M.Schumacher with him ;)
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:rolleyes:

M Schumacher and Villeneuve have given tons to F1 and to it's fans Schumacher has kept F1 exciting since he first arrived in F1 as has Villeneuve.

Drivers like schumacher and Villeneuve are F1 and they will be a great loss when they do retire.
 
I have to say I've never understood all the fuss made about Montoya. He's got a big mouth and not much to back it up with. So he won some US series or other where all the drivers go round in circles for a couple of hours, big deal :confused: I always thought that's where old F1 drivers end up when they are past their prime :p
 
Montoya did 1 move on Michael Brazil 2001 and people went crazy for him, everyone was hoping this guy could beat Schumacher and he never did.

on his 15th race Montoya won Monza 2001 so he's better then another over rated driver Jenson Button
 
Livestrong said:
:rolleyes:

M Schumacher and Villeneuve have given tons to F1 and to it's fans Schumacher has kept F1 exciting since he first arrived in F1 as has Villeneuve.

Drivers like schumacher and Villeneuve are F1 and they will be a great loss when they do retire.
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When they were in their prime they were great but IMO they continued too long.

Villeneuve has been an irritation for a while now (Hockenheim 2005 for instance) and M. Schumacher is only good if he wants to be and has a car he can win in, when pushed or irritated he just loses it.

I will not miss them at all, there are plenty of other drivers that can offer a lot more enthusiasm and exitement.

And please do not rolleyes me, I doubt I am the only one that thinks this way about MSC and JV ;)
 
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