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2004
Formula 1 Spanish
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At the San Marino Grand Prix, Ferrari faced some competition from BAR when
Jenson Button managed to grab pole and lead the race for the first stint.
Michael Schumacher worked hard to overtake Jenson Button via the pits and then
never looked back. Rubens Barrichello on the other hand couldn't do the same
and ended up in 6th place. Between the 2 Ferraris there was a BAR, 2 Renaults
and a Williams. Here is a team by team review: Ferrari: Won the race with a superbly executed strategy but
appeared to have made a blunder with Barrichello's strategy. The car is
strong and reliable and will be very hard to beat. Drivers: Michael Schumacher drove a faultless race and executed a race winning strategy starting from second. He has proven yet again that he is there to win the championship and won't give up easily. 5 in a row can be expected. Rubens Barrichello had a poor race by contrast to Michael at Imola with a poor strategy. We cannot tell whose fault it is but the Brawn - Schumacher combination at Ferrari can't be replicated with Barrichello it appears. A podium finish is possible if he and his team get their strategy right!. Renault: Remain in second place following Imola but have
less than half the points Ferrari have accumulated. They are one of two
teams that may have a chance of challenging Ferrari at this circuit. Like
Ferrari they are the only team to have finished both their cars in the
points so far this season. Drivers: Fernando Alonso drove an impressive race at Imola after having a bad start and made up for it by overtaking a number of top drivers via the pits. He will be more motivated in front of his home crowd. Last year he finished second, he'd be hoping for a win but it will be difficult. Jarno Trulli managed to finish 5th in Imola which isn't a bad result but his team-mate's performance showed that he isn't on par with him. Points likely. BAR: Are on equal points with Williams but lead them based
on higher finishing positions. The car is certainly fast and it is strong
aerodynamically which suites this track. They will be strong and don't be
surprised if they score another Pole but reliability is a concern. Drivers: Jenson Button started on Pole and lead the San Marino Grand Prix for the first stint. Michael then appeared to have demotivated him as he settled for second. Still a great result which he can certainly build on here. Podium possible, win difficult. Takuma Sato retired with a blown engine at Imola but he was running 8th at the time. At some tracks he appears to match Button but on others he is no where near him. Expect a close fight in Spain. Points likely if the car lasts!. Williams: Dropped to 4th in the World Championship ranking
and must be embarrassed to have both Renault and BAR ahead of them.
Williams are a strong team and will bounce back. It is unlikely that
they'll make their recovery here though. Drivers: Juan Pablo Montoya managed to finish 3rd at Imola. Had it been behind 2 Ferrari's would have been acceptable but to finish a long way behind a BAR must be frustrating. Expect more of the same at Barcelona. Ralf Schumacher yet again bumps into another car. One wonders what Ralf is trying to achieve by his actions. He certainly isn't doing himself any favours. Points likely though!. McLaren: Sitting on 5 points against Ferrari's 64. This is the
team that at one stage in the pre-season was the hot favourite. They are
clearly struggling inside the team and unless Ron Dennis pulls them
together, McLaren will drop out of the top teams. Drivers: David Coulthard had an incident at the start with Alonso that cost him his front wing. He was out of contention from that moment as the car was quick enough to gain back places. In Spain they should do better but don't expect anything higher than 5th if the car lasts. Kimi Raikkonen finally scores a point thanks to Sato's engine failure. It remains to be seen how much of an impact the poor performance of the McLaren made on Kimi. I suspect little and once the car is sorted he'll show us again what a great driver he is. Points possible if reliability holds. Sauber: Almost scored a point at Imola with Fisichella finishing
9th. They appear to be just behind McLaren in terms of performance. Still
points are too difficult for them. Drivers: Felipe Massa finished 10th at Imola and was far behind to score points on merit. Not much will change in Barcelona. Giancarlo Fisichella needed another car from the top teams to drop out in Imola for him to score his first point of the season. That didn't happen and he'll have to hope for more cars in front of him to retire so he can have a chance of scoring points. Jaguar: They may cause a little surprise at Barcelona by
beating Toyota and Sauber and perhaps mixing it with McLaren. They need
better reliability though. Drivers: Mark Webber had an engine problem at Imola and that may have cost him a point. If reliability holds he may score a point or two if enough cars in front drop out. Christian Klien didn't do that well at Imola as it was a new track for him. Barcelona will be a different story as he is familiar with the track. Points will be difficult though!. Toyota: They are reliable and have a powerful engine but their
aero is weak and that won't help them in Spain. It is unlikely that
they'll score points. Drivers: Cristiano da Matta retired in Imola after spinning out. He'll try to make up for that mistake in Barcelona but his car won't help him much!. Olivier Panis finished 11th at Imola which isn't a good result. Expect more of the same at Barcelona. Jordan: Had both cars retire in Imola. They are clearly
struggling and don't appear to be able to improve performance without
compromising reliability. Drivers: Nick Heidfeld retired with transmission problems but he was running at the back anyway with no chance of scoring points. Expect a similar result. Giorgio Pantano suffered from hydraulic problems at Imola. The car isn't competitive and he will struggle in Spain. Minardi: Managed to get one of their cars to the finish albeit
4 laps down. The team continues falling behind the rest. Drivers: Gianmaria Bruni had to withdraw from the race due to brake balance problems. He needs a huge break if he hopes of making the top 10. Zsolt Baumgartner seems to be able to finish races but he aint fast!. Bridgestone Preview - Michelin Preview Join
8 'n'
Pole and see how your predictions stack up against the others. Note: Official team preview links when available
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