The second win for
Ferrari and Michael Schumacher in a row and the first for the new 2003-GA. It
was an entertaining race with a few incidents and some overtaking. The result
also made both Championships much closer.
A
few of the highlights:
Michael
Schumacher won the race but the new Ferrari wasn't as dominant as the
'old' Ferrari was last year. Have Ferrari reached the 'limit' in improving
their car ? Or was this due to the tyres and the nature of the track ?
Fernando
Alonso, only in his second season of Formula 1 yet has managed to finish
in the points in every race so far this season and 3 of them were on the
podium along with Raikkonen
we have 2 of the youngest drivers in the field in the top 3 in the
Championship. Are they the threat to Michael Schumacher's dominance.
Renault was
the only team to race Ferrari. McLaren may have but they retired. How did
they do it given their considerable lack of power and lack of testing!
Raikkonen
running into the back of Pizzonia, could he have avoided it ? Should the
race have been stopped ?
Why isn't
Barrichello putting a similar performance to Michael ? He ended the race
18 seconds behind.
David
Coulthard had two tangles with other drivers, was he at fault in either ?
Should he be penalised ?
The
backmarkers, can something be done about them ?
Your
thoughts ?
Of course you can comment on other aspects of the race - Have
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What others are saying:
Sorry Nazri. Alex Yoong shouldn't be in F-1 at all!
Check out his status in CART now. You would know what I meant. He is just a
paid driver. He didn't excel in F-1 and I doubt he is going to have any
achievements in CART.
Minardi wanted him because they thought they could get financial aid from Alex
Yoong.
Don't get too carried away by Nationalism! - CJ - Taiwan
I, too, am a Ferrari nut (and still respect myself:). And remember: Ferrari
has had long, l-o--o-n-g lean years and is currently coming down off an
incredible high. But let's face it: the reason for their recent success is not
their "heritage," nor their deep pockets, nor some kind of invidious
insider status with the rules makers and course designers. Money can't buy you
love and it also can't buy you a podium. Witness Jaguar/Ford and Toyota and
Honda. (Honda used to OWN F1 in the engine department and there have been good
days for Ford/Cosworth too.) But what you need to win in F1 this year (or in
any year) with regularity is a T E A M. And teams are made up of individuals
who are willing to WORK TOGETHER, not those prima donnas who are always trying
to find an explanation in someone else's actions for their own failures.
Plenty of fans don't like Michael or Ferrari simply BECAUSE they win so much.
But when they don't win, they don't panic and they don't blame. Notice how
Michael always praises the car (even, I suspect, when it doesn't deserve
praise!) and always praises his team. I suspect that for many who consider
themselves wise and sophisticated, his words are simply "spin." But
they are ignoring the fact that Michael worked as hard at assembling and
maintaining this team as he does at driving the machine they provide him with
every other week. And when you work that hard at sharing your passion with
your team mates, I think you get more than a little back for what you
give.
If Jaguar/Ford had been run, from the top to the tyre-changers, as
professionally as Webber, for instance, has done HIS job this year, things
might have been different before this point. (I still think that Bobby Rahall
was trying to build a team and would have been a good match for Mark. Fat
chance, though, with Nikki lurking on the edge of the pits and Eddie in the
driver's seat!)
Alas, it looks like the proud and mighty Toyota Group is taking its cues from
Jaguar / Ford instead of studying the Red machine or McLaren.
Right now Williams is in a sticky patch, but we used to get more excuses every
week from J.V. last year than we've gotten all this year from Sir Frank!
Now to the race: I'm sorry that Fisi's engine let go, but he must not have
been well set up because he never looked really comfortable (of course, since
I was watching a Spanish T.V. feed, I didn't see a lot of him!). I have to
agree with others here that it would have been an entirely different race had
Pizzonia not fluked and killed his engine on the grid. We would have finally
had a chance to see Kimi versus JPM!
I don't know what happened to Jenson Button; he rolled backwards from a pretty
good starting slot. As to J.V.: the way he slagged the thing around in
qualifying made his race pretty much a matter of following the parade --and
why did his engine blow? Not, certainly, because he was over loading
it!!
The main disappointment for me was the continuing slide of Sauber. Nobody
seems to be explaining how a car with an excellent engine, good drivers and a
top flight design is bracketed in the standings by Eddie's Jordan and B.A.R.!!
What will be fun to see in Austria is where Jarno and Fernando end up on the
grid. I'm predicting (and I know it's foolish) that J.T. will be in the third
or fourth row and Alonso right behind him. Who will be in front? M.S. and
Ferrari, of course. Next to him, I'm thinking Kimi, and behind them in row 2:
Rubens & J.P.M. if those six could sort themselves out on the first
corner, we'd see some RACING in the first stint, if not all day! - Jim W -
USA
Michael has already got the secret. What's the secret ? In the first,
second and third course we saw the Ferrari not have a good position in
qualifying session but after Third course they found the secret. Because of if
you have good score on Friday that means you can get last off on
Saturday. And then you could observe the other players score and decide
your fuel quantity. And then you could get good score for pole position. That's
all... Humane W - Taiwan
Hello again gents, I'm back with couple new thoughts. Firstly Andre B. from
Brasil I'm a HE not a She but honestly is a common mistake here in USA (Marie
Anne, Marion, Marian, same s.... You know the expression)
Seems the spirits post Spanish GP are in very high temperature. BMW boss
Berger is smoking against Williams chassis failure blaming the team sloppiness.
In the midtime Dr. Theissen and BMW Motorsport division states they will
remain in F1 beyond 2004. Now the question is under Williams or with BMW owned
outfit .Or a middle set up Williams being bought by BMW ??? Stewart was a good
example. Renault will be also in no mans land for a while because the designer
of Renault revolutionary engine, Jean-Jacques His is departing the outfit.
After almost 20 years and I recall mid nineties Renault success is hard to
believe everything is Ok on Renault paddock. Or he couldn't t take Briatore
anymore. Too bad for Renault , for F1 and too bad for Alonso.
In the Ferrari side there is a response to the critics of 2003GA with regards
of speed or /and horse power. Chassis seems one of the best but like I made my
early comments the car seems underpowered-versus expectations and Ferrari team
description. Anyway Jean Todt told in Italian press the new 2003GA has some
new surprises for rival teams. And honestly Jean used to keep his words. So
until McLaren will be up and running Ron Dennis needs to read between words.
Taking in consideration all of the above seems like Spanish GP starts couple
new problems on the grid. There is no smokes without a fire did you agree with
me? Thanks Marian - Romanian living in the USA
It seems that almost all F1 fans hate the new rules but for me, without the
new rule do you really think that Jag and Renault could grab the pole
position?.. maybe yes but still maybe no... think about it.. without the new
rule Ferrari will still be dominating the games. ain't it bored u to see that
it always Schuey win the champs?? but we may have different opinion rite...
Whatever it is I want all of u to realise something. The success of Alonso and
Webber this season. they are amazing rite. but who should we really give the
credit to?.. don't be surprised. It's Paul Stoddart of Minardi who really
sensed their talent. Without him this guy may still be in F3000 or any other
races except F1. But I don't see any credit been given to him. Too bad.
And one interesting idea.. what if Alex Yoong been given a chance to to race
for a good team. He may screw up badly but he may show some unexpected performance.
Who knows. so guys, may F1 will always be as exciting as now.
And to FIA...your idea on new standard rear wing and engine are really suck...
p/s have u guys heard about rumours on Ferrari being offered with some
millions cash to leave F1 and join other race... Nazri - Malaysia
Sorry Nazri, but I don't share your sentiments on the new rules.
I am of the opinion that the excitement of the first three races had not much
to do with the new rules. They would have been just as exciting under the old
rules as the excitement was generated by weather (Aus + Brazil) and
indiscriminatory driving by Shumi (Malaysia) as well as a couple of
retirements (to be expected as no one can carry on indefinitely without
problems).
I have a problem with the new qualifying format. There is really nothing
exciting watching one car go around the track on its own with nothing to
compare it to - not even itself to see if they have made improvements. If
anybody is on pole or somewhere further down, you don't know if they are
having problems or are light or heavy on fuel. You don't know if they should
be where they are or not. Furthermore, a driver makes one mistake on his
single qualifying lap and he is out of the race by Saturday.
This rule possibly deprived us of a magnificent race had Kimi not bungled his
qualifying lap. Just imagine Schumi and Alonso having their dice and Kimi
joins the scrap. THAT would have been interesting. Qualifying is now ever so
boring and the lack of interest flows through to the race
(unfortunately).
However, the new points system makes for more interest as is an improvement.
They should have kept the changes to the points alone and kept the rest as it
was. (Now we don't even know if F2003-GA is really better than F2002 or not!)
- Johan M - South Africa
Kudos to Marian, she said it all. I still think that Michelin is doing a
better job than Bridgestone. And Renault will be a strong contender: the 2
extra hours on Friday have proved to be useful to improve the setup.
Barrichello made a mistake in his setup that caused his front tires to loose
grip after 5 laps. His pit stops went well, and they changed the front wing
setup in the last one, although he was already dead on third.
Letting Michael go in first corner was a question of survival: they aren't
William's drivers...
Toyota did well in Barcelona in 2002 as well. It's just a track that everybody
knows very well.
And what about Avenue Ralf? Lucky him Da Matta had breaks problems otherwise
he would be 6th. Poor BMW... Andre B
- Brazil
There is no way for us to deny that F1 is getting better and better. for me
this is the best season ever. a lot of unexpected thing happened thanks a lot
to the new set of rules. Renault, McLaren Jaguar, Toyota and Minardi
show a lot of improvement compared to last season. I hope Sauber will be
stronger after this and how I wish that Alex Yoong is around.
F1 THE GREATEST SPORT ON EARTH - Nazri - Malaysia
Forget Ferrari, there are more important things to discus. The car is fast
but unexpected too slow for our expectations. I'm a Ferrari nut but I do
respect myself. Schumy was lucky being in pole position. I hope Ferrari will
improve and Bridgestone too otherwise ...
Alonso...WOawwww. This guy has some blue blood. He is the new wave and with
Kimi , they are going to do a lot of damage. Mantoya needs to pay attention
not to endorse other drivers (re DaMatta). The kid IS COOOL. Seems like
Briattore really discovered another champ. Too bad for Webber being stuck in
that fordish cat.
And the car .... I looked at Renault during qualification and you can't
believe how that car is flexing .And the engine, seems has more horses then
before and all of them on the high end ,very suitable for the Catalan circuit.
I just wait to see the car in Monaco or HUNGARY.
Kimi was a victim and Pizzonia was lucky. Someone to blame? No. To stop the
race? WHY..? Let's face it, it was a race accident. Not at high speed, not in
a difficult position ,so...let' s blame Ferrari or FIA because the race
director didn't stop the race.
Barrichello...hmmm, wellll... he could pass Schummy in first corner but looks
like Michael has a psychological advantage over Rubens. During the race he was
the second violin in Ferrari orchestra, but I still believe his pit stop drop
him a lot.
D.C.-he was, he is and always will be the ethernal contender. I didn't see
first incident but he got it from Jenson. Race is not just about who's the
contender or who is the rooky. Jenson did very good and now I still wish for a
rematch but between Villeneuve and D.C. We are going to see a ,lot of sparks.
To be fined - whell, it is an idea. To be penalised. No ,will be another excuse
for D.C.
The race has of lot of technical surprises like Toyota high power at high end,
Jordan chassis flexing and oversteering ,the incredible BMW power in contrast
with team inability to do a decent set up.
So gents how was your week-end? My best regards, Marian - Romanian living
in the USA
McLaren would not have won the race had their continued but they would scored
points maybe coming 6th and 7th and a possible 4th but not a podium finish - Adam
- Austria
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