Rubens
Barrichello wins the 9th race of the season ahead of his team-mate Michael
Schumacher and McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen. Ralf Schumacher was 4th ahead of
Jenson Button and Felipe Massa.
Michael
pushed Rubens until the second pit stops but couldn't get past. Ferrari then
asked their drivers to slow down and hold position. They allowed Rubens to win
the race this time. Was that a good decision by the Ferrari team ?
McLaren while over half a second slower in qualifying were certainly quicker
than Williams in the race. They appear to be gentler on the tyres ?
The Montoya - Coulthard incident, a racing incident or was one of them to
blame ?
Solid racing from the 2 Renaults and the 2 Saubers.
The high rate of finishers. It was surprising to see just 6 cars retire and 3
of them due to accidents!
Your
thoughts ?
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What others are saying:
I can't believe the crap I am hearing about Montoya,
everyone has engine failures, pure and simple. Remember the start of the year
when Ruben's blew up all the time, remember last year it was Mika, previous
years we have Ayrton, Nelson, Nikki etc etc.
Were we labelling them car breakers, Senna maybe but he was a freak who pushed
the car beyond it's limit. I see Ralph and Montoya's telemetry after every
debrief, and to travel at the same speed, or quicker than Ralph he is often
using less rpm as well as having more fuel on board. So it is a case of if you
don't know, don't comment.
The incident with David was a racing incident, and nothing more, though it was
a bold move that did not come off, if David had waited different story, no
story actually and I think this is the crux of the matter - Cooky - Australia
The races just keep getting better and better! I think
Ferrari let Rubens win the race as a public relations act. Having said that, I
also believe he earned it. As was pointed out, the situation now is entirely
different than it was in Austria. The championship is a little more secure,
there are fewer points for the other drivers to pickup and I think Ferrari are
thinking about a 1-2 in the drivers championship. Ferrari is so dominant right
now that they control their destiny. Ferrari's actions in Austria still p**s
me off, but they were within the rules, 'nuff said.
McLaren appears to be on the way back. They were certainly quick in the race.
The DC/JPM incident was a racing incident. JPM had the lead and was trying to
defend it, unfortunately it turned out badly for both drivers. JPM said later
that his tires had gone off, and, as DC said, the gentlemanly thing to do
would have been to move over if you know you can't compete, but I guess "Gentleman"
are in short supply these days.
The front runners, particularly the McLarens, need to watch their backs the
Saubers and the Renaults are looking better and better - Jeff S - USA
By being a spectator at motor-sports since ca. 1948, I
believe that makes me some kind of an old timer and so I feel somewhat
predestinated to say a few words about the Columbian young man; Montoya.
The present day philosophy of BMW is in contrast of the Company's long
standing quality and reliability-based successes. Living some years (decades
really) in other parts of the world I understand somewhat the attitude of
Montoya as well beside of the European drivers'. The car-racing, the sport
itself has a generally accepted description as "Gentleman Sport,"
which basically originates from the very simple starting point; namely that
although the winning is important, but sleeping in bed following the race
instead of being in the morgue is far more important. The European and most of
the other drivers of course as well thinking on the very same line too, except
Montoya. He is lacking all the finesse of the mechanical understandings of the
machine he is driving and at the same time he is a dangerous, all risk taking
racer, who completely disregards the safety of others' beside of his
own.
BMW is not a bad Company as we all know it. The Company stands among the three
of the best traditional motor manufacturers, not exotic cars like Ferrari, but
a commonly used car, manufacturing high volume series, performing very well
today too on the everyday market. Although a driver's death is not going to
cost more than a destroyed car and a wreath on the grave in the name of the
company, since the drivers are carrying their own insurances, I believe this
mentality is not among the conceivable responsible approaches how to
accomplish the best results, - especially on the long run. BMW does not need
to embark on this road even if is being run by Williams, the British owned
stable. The company should have some saying in this matter, in contrast of
Herr Berger's opinion. There is an attitude in the country where Montoya is
from, Columbia, along with several other Latin American countries, -
fortunately Barrichello is not among those - that risking the life is the
norm. This sentiment is deeply seated, originates from the social conditions,
which in other words means that the life is cheap! Montoya of course would
risk others' life first before his own, it is a human nature, and essentially
he will risk it.
On the other, - the better - occasions he pushes the car over to the limit,
resulting the blown engine. At the Nurburgring race, when the Montoya's skill
just wasn't adequate enough to hold up Coulthard, he chose knowingly the speed
in the curve what he was not capable to maintain without spinning out,
therefore, crashed into Coulthard's car, - here again - taking the "risk
all" attitude. Normally the crash like this is a "non event"
episode, which could and does occur over and over to every driver, but the
problem with Montoya is far more dangerous and vectors into future
possibilities - Spectator - EU
Excellent Decision: With no Montoya neither Coulthard in the
track 6 more points in the championship for Schumi and a win for Rubens to
fight for runner up of the year is full house for the Ferrari Team. Remember
they will face the FIA next Wednesday and they look good with this - George
Lao - Costa Rica
I'm disappointed in Montoya. Coulthard was clearly faster
and by his own admission his tyres were worn. There comes a point where you
have to get out of the way for the obviously faster car, the same way
Coulthard did last year in this race (I think he let Ralf by). I cant
understand why they didn't call JPM in for a tyre change when he needed one
badly with Coulthard right behind him. Sad - Peter M - USA
It was an interesting race, but also boring, because lacked
in intensity. Only the incident between J.P. Montoya and Coulthard, and the
uncertain Barrichello victory with Shumi on the back added some spice to this
race.
Ferrari played a winner card here letting Rubinho win, but it also seemed
political in the face of an upcoming hearing in front of the FIA to soften
their possible reprimand or disqualification, only upcoming events will give
us the reason when this situation repeats to see what Jean Todd would do
then.
The race accident between Coulthard and Montoya was just that a Race
accident.
It was really a shame to see the Williams struggling after such qualifier demo
on Saturday. Some commentator said BMW engines were "tamed" in their
RPM's because the engine factory could not afford the embarrassment to have
another "engine failure" in front of their countrymates. Definitely
it was not the same engine of their qualifier, and even if Michelin will not
admit it, their tires were not up to the task, sorry - J Herrero -
Dominican Republic
To whom it may concern, Once again we have another contrived
finish. One question - what was the difference between last night's result
& Austria? Team orders were in play - Michael caught up to Rubens from 10
seconds behind and had it been any other car in front he would have taken
them. But no, this is not allowed because it's Michael who is behind.
Next thing, commentary. I think Martin Brundle & James Allen should take a
leaf out of Martin Tylers book (the English Commentator) BIAS - they are two
of the most biased commentators I have ever heard. For starters, with
Montoya's & Coulthards collision, immediately it was Montoya's fault.
Coulthard knew the risks of the outside move, and Montoya is a racer, just
like Coulthard.
Secondly, the bias shown towards Michael whenever he leads or follows what the
team wants him to do. In case you haven't realised, this is a team sport &
team rules do apply at times.
People have said Schuey is the luckiest driver around, but the fact of the
matter is, he has had his fair share of bad luck. People don't realise what
Schumacher has done for the Ferrari team. It would be fair to say that without
Schuey, Rubens wouldn't have the car he has today, and Ferrari wouldn't have
their World Titles. Also, don't forget what he has done for the safety and
promotion of the sport.
If you are sick of Schuey winning all the time, maybe the others should try a
bit harder. Kind Regards - F1 Fan - Australia
Wasn't that a shame that Michael could not fight for victory
in is "home" GP, being politically correct? Where are now all those
who defended the truth of this sport? Not defending Schumacher for sure!!!I - Albert
G - Portugal
t made logical sense to let Rubens win, as he has a chance
to come second in the world championship and make it a Ferrari one-two. With
only a few points covering first to fourth place, the race for second place is
still wide open. With the extra four points for winning, Rubens has closed the
gap markedly in the last few races - Lindsay C - Australia.
I wish that Ferrari would make up their mind. Either enforce
team orders or don't. If they choose to treat the championship as a team sport
then so be it - they do have the right to choose that. I for one saw nothing
wrong with Ferrari's actions in Austria. It was simply a matter of Ferrari
choosing a team strategy over a driver strategy. They could, however, have
been a little more subtle in their execution.
As for the Euro GP, I think that Barrichello's post race comments tend to say
it all (I am paraphrasing here because I am too lazy to search for the exact
quote) - Ferrari are now more confident than they were a few races ago and
feel that it is ok to throw a few wins Reubens' way.
One last thing about team orders - they can tend to cheapen the value of the
driver's championship. This year there is no question that Michael is the best
driver in the best car, however in years to come will things be so clear cut?
- Adrian - Australia
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