Sunday, April 23, 2006
# posted by Rich @ 5:21 AM
San Marino: pre-race
With Michael Schumacher starting from Pole position in front of the Tifosi and essentially on Ferrari home soil, you probably wouldn't bet against him for the win. Fernando Alonso, on the other hand might. Alono has been quick all weekend, and has been playing a game of cat and mouse with Michael in the practice sessions to see who could go quickest. Couple that with the fact that Alonso has really been dominant so far this year, and in a straight fight betwen the two in Bahrain, Alonso came out on top.
And let's not forget lst year's race, where Alonso showed his class and his skill, and kept Michael behind him to take a superb victory. Let's not forget the Hondas of Button, 2nd on the grid, and Barrichello, 3rd on the grid. The Hondas, and especially Button, will be hungry for that first victory. We shouldn't rule out the two McLarens of Montoya and Raikkonen, starting 7th and 8th respectively. Last year the McLarens were quick at this track, and Raikkonen could have won were it not for a half-shaft failure.
Fuel strategy will play a large part of the race. As always, it is difficult to tell what the exact strategies are, but I would suspect that mot people will 2-stop. Michael is probably light on fuel for the start, and will stop relatively early, but will do a long second stint. The Hondas could be on a similar fuel strategy to Michael, but probably don't have the pace to fight him. Most of the others should follow a more normal strategy. And then of course there are the McLarens . They are probably starting on heavy fuel and 1-stopping, hence their low grid positions.
The race is 62 laps. Pit stops for a 1-stop strategy should come around laps 29-33; 2-stops around laps 18-22 and laps 29-43; 3-stops around laps 14-16, 30-32, and 45-47.
My predictions for the race? Well if I stick to my previous predictions, I have to say Raikkonen for the win, but I am not sure that is likely (Alonso or Schumacher are more likely). But my top 8 is as follows: Raikkonen, Alonso, Michael, Montoya, Button, Ralf, Fisichella, Rosberg. Massa will probably sling it off the road, possibly at the start (he is starting from 4th, thus has quite a high chance of slamming into someone under braking for the first corner). Alonso will make another blinding start and be up to 3rd by the first corner. Barrichello's engine will expire much like Button's did in Melbourne, Ide will probably have a big crash at some point, and Scott Speed will probably end up having a tussle with David Coulthard, resulting in both of them crashing.
Let's see how much of that comes true!
And let's not forget lst year's race, where Alonso showed his class and his skill, and kept Michael behind him to take a superb victory. Let's not forget the Hondas of Button, 2nd on the grid, and Barrichello, 3rd on the grid. The Hondas, and especially Button, will be hungry for that first victory. We shouldn't rule out the two McLarens of Montoya and Raikkonen, starting 7th and 8th respectively. Last year the McLarens were quick at this track, and Raikkonen could have won were it not for a half-shaft failure.
Fuel strategy will play a large part of the race. As always, it is difficult to tell what the exact strategies are, but I would suspect that mot people will 2-stop. Michael is probably light on fuel for the start, and will stop relatively early, but will do a long second stint. The Hondas could be on a similar fuel strategy to Michael, but probably don't have the pace to fight him. Most of the others should follow a more normal strategy. And then of course there are the McLarens . They are probably starting on heavy fuel and 1-stopping, hence their low grid positions.
The race is 62 laps. Pit stops for a 1-stop strategy should come around laps 29-33; 2-stops around laps 18-22 and laps 29-43; 3-stops around laps 14-16, 30-32, and 45-47.
My predictions for the race? Well if I stick to my previous predictions, I have to say Raikkonen for the win, but I am not sure that is likely (Alonso or Schumacher are more likely). But my top 8 is as follows: Raikkonen, Alonso, Michael, Montoya, Button, Ralf, Fisichella, Rosberg. Massa will probably sling it off the road, possibly at the start (he is starting from 4th, thus has quite a high chance of slamming into someone under braking for the first corner). Alonso will make another blinding start and be up to 3rd by the first corner. Barrichello's engine will expire much like Button's did in Melbourne, Ide will probably have a big crash at some point, and Scott Speed will probably end up having a tussle with David Coulthard, resulting in both of them crashing.
Let's see how much of that comes true!
Labels: Formula 1, Grand Prix
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