As a staunch Ferrari supporter, seeing them go down earlier today was heartbreaking

Giancarlo Fisichella (well lucky it was an Italian) won for Renault....

This thread is for any news on the GP 2005 season.

I second that

I have to say, I would have more time for Ferrari (and even Formula One) if Jean Todt and his cronies would arrange for Michael Schumacher to play second fiddle to Rubens Barichello for an entire season.

Poor old Rubino comes across as such a nice unassuming individual, and Michael is... well... Michael.

"Yeah, yeah" [yawn, yawn, stretch, stretch] "you're the best, big deal, now give someone else a go."

I was delighted to see Schumey starting from the back of the grid. And I was even more delighted to see him failing to steam through as far as sixth. Ha, ha, ha.

Doubtless he will win ten races this year.

If only Sauber had changed engines five years ago, then we wouldn't've had to witness all their drivers getting off the racing line the moment a scarlet car hove into view. "Oooh mustn't get in the way, we won't have any engines next season."

I do wish they'd revoke the STUPID blue flag law. Part of the fun of racing used to be seeing someone like Brundle holding up someone like Senna for a couple of laps... simply because he could, despite being three laps behind.

There's little enough skill in driving a computer car, but when you take out more than half of the over-taking manoeuvres by waving a blue flag at back markers... phew... not very exciting.

Still, as someone mentioned on Saturday during "quallie", there clearly is a God and as the heavens opened at exactly the moment that the world champion took to the track, he [God] clearly didn't want Schumacher to win either.

I was slightly disappointed to see that Bridgestone and Michelin had sorted out the difficulty of building a tyre that would actually last for 200 ks (or whatever the sum is) - I had high hopes of watching the top drivers struggle to steer their treadless high performance beasts at death defying speeds in the latter laps - how dull that the teams decided to use something more akin to a family saloon car tyre.

So they pick a tyre and they have to use that one for the race... no tyre changes... What happens if it rains half-way through?

As a footnote, I was very pleased to see Fisichella get the chance to cross the line in first place, and stand on the top step of the podium. His first race win was not such a cut and dried affair, I think Hakkinen listened to the Finnish anthem that day. So well done Giancarlo.

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I am VERY SURE that Ferrari will be back with bang cuz the rule!!!I'll be glad when that happens.I just can't stand Renault,Williams and McLarens.Nice to see Chris Klien,one of my personal favourites doing decently.And watch out for Narain Karthikeyan,my countryman.He's a great guy.Been following him since years.

Sorry to disappoint ID, but Karthikeyan is in there because he has the money, and because its Jordan's last year!!! In agreeance though, some of my mates met him at the GP and reckon hes a good guy, stopped for a convo and everything..RBR might have a decent year with Coulthard and Klien, but Ferrari again!!!

I don't think I have anything against Karthikeyan at a personal level but its just that I've never liked Jordon too much - I've never been a fan of people drving race cars in yellow for that matter... And coming to think of it there might be another reason why Karthikeyan and Jordon might be getting a little on my nerves, I hope people don't get me wrong, I know he's the first Indian to take part in a F1 race and this and that but there have been other people from other countries who've been the first too, few seem to have created this much hype - somehow I'm not a big fan of people getting unjustified hype. Its good that India is making its presence felt in many different kind of sports but then everything should be kept withing a context.

Anyhow I'd just like to respond to Oliver's comments a bit. Of coarse people find Michael boring, those who don't support Ferrari will obviously find him boring. Not his fault O that's he's the best driver ever seen, or is it? Other cars and drivers need to step up themselves (like they did in Melbourne) no point in blaming Scumacher (or the rules even for that matter)...

I've been watching Formula One since around 1975/6. The year before James Hunt won the driver's title was my first season. Coverage then, was nowhere near what it is today, though I do remember watching the Japanese Grand Prix at Mount Fuji, when Hunt finished something like fourth in pouring rain to claim the title from the all but dead Niki Lauda.
I was watching a live television feed late at night during a party in Surbiton. Whatever happened to the hostess? Who knows?

In the past (different eras, different sport) the drivers were more involved with the actual racing of the vehicle. Having the cars stuck to the road and being able to adjust how the engine is running by a change of computer programme, just isn't quite... well... cricket. Not in my book anyway.

Having watched very crackly old footage of road racing, I remember seeing drivers actually sprinting to their cars at the beginning of the race - starting them up themselves, using a KEY in the IGNITION. Things have certainly changed, and I'm not at all sure it is for the better.

Derek Warwick (a British also-ran from twenty years ago) said that the winner should be the person who goes fastest for longest. To me that suggests that a chap at the back of the field has as much right to the racing line as the guy who is trying to lap him. I think it is the only rule I would change now. Obviously computers are here to stay and it is pointless to argue against them. But the blue flag thing is DUMB.

There is no doubt in my mind that Michael Schumacher is the best driver in Formula One since Ayrton Senna. He has also had the best car by far for the last five years. I have the vague feeling that without a certain amount of monetarily affected politics in the sport, the lack of blue flags and a little more keeness to stay in the way from certain other teams, like Sauber Ferrari (whoops, I mean Petronas) would've made some of Michael's winning margins rather less large.

I don't think for a minute that he wouldn't've won all those championships, but there may have been a little more pressure on him to do it. Afterall when you have a rule (another silly one) that states something along the lines of "the slower driver in front can only move one way when he is trying to stop a faster car from passing him" one should expect that a lack of adherence to this would have one fined a few (say ten) points for dangerous driving. In which case Schumacher's first championship win for Bennetton would have been Damon Hill's first for Williams. Schumacher, if you can't remember crashed his car into the barrier and then drove his stricken car back across the track to take out Hill. That's called cheating, in my book.

Gosh Damon Hill would've been a double champion. Oh no, he wouldn't because Frank Williams always fires his drivers when they become World Champion in case they demand too much money.

Anyway, here we come to the nub of the matter. Damon wasn't brilliant, but he did have the better car that year. Had Senna not died, it would've been his championship, in the event Schumacher broke the rules, was unpunished by the F1 board, and won the title. It wasn't a driving accident, it was a premeditated shunt. And it was very clear to anyone watching.

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I just had an F1 History Lesson..Thanks Oliver, I'd recommend it to the great posts...If it were about Cricket!!!

If you want a guy to drive a car that's twitchy and run it on the ragged edge (especially in damp conditions, or when you can't see enough to race safely) then those two are your guys.. but to my mind Alain PRost (the professor) was a far better driver than the pair of them.

Both Senna and Shumacher are hard on tyres (and engines, etc). Recent dumb regulations allowing a stack of tyre changes and refueling have allowed such drivers to really dominate (especially in races where pit stops don't cost too much time). Now the regs are finally getting a bit more sensible.. and those who can actually drive a proper race (rather than just sprint like lunatics) should really close the gap.

It's no co-incidence that the other Ferarri was on the podium in the first race: smoother driver.

The big problem with F1, to my mind, is that every effort to control speed has been through reducing traction. I used to live next to a guy who designed the damn things and as he said... "if you want them to go slower then reduce the power... don't reduce the one thing that enables them to get close enough together to actually race".

Of course.. low downforce also plays into Shumacher's hands: guys like Coulthard (fantastic driver, knocked spots of his various McClaren team mates these last few years on any moderate-high downforce circuit where he could actually get enough traction to show his strengths) will always be penalised by things like grooved tyres (I doubt Damon Hil could even get the car around the track: he drove in the days of very, very good front end traction and needed every bit of it).

With any luck these tyres will wear down to slicks under the new regs and we can see some cars actually trying to overtake once again :-)

This sport to me should be a must-see, glamourous locations, semi naked models ,fast cars but after watching a qualifier at daft-o-clock in the morning after a night on the sauce all I want to do ais A: Sleep, or B: Buy a Scalectrix. There'd be more over taking in my scalectrix races too !

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