West6MT

Since no one else has put it up yet,.................

Pos No Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3

1 3 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.214 1:14.410 1:14.070

2 5 Michael Schumacher Ferrari 1:14.904 1:13.778 1:14.205

3 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:14.412 1:14.094 1:14.569

4 12 Jenson Button Honda 1:15.869 1:14.378 1:14.862

5 2 Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 1:15.916 1:14.540 1:14.894

6 11 Rubens Barrichello Honda 1:15.757 1:14.652 1:14.934

7 1 Fernando Alonso Renault 1:15.518 1:14.746 1:15.282

8 7 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 1:15.789 1:14.743 1:15.923

9 4 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 1:15.655 1:15.021 1:15.936

10 14 David Coulthard RBR-Ferrari 1:15.836 1:14.826 1:16.326

11 9 Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth 1:15.719 1:15.094

12 15 Christian Klien RBR-Ferrari 1:15.816 1:15.141

13 8 Jarno Trulli Toyota 1:15.430 1:15.150

14 17 Jacques Villeneuve Sauber-BMW 1:16.281 1:15.329

15 10 Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth 1:16.183 1:15.380

16 16 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-BMW 1:16.234 1:15.397

17 20 Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Cosworth 1:16.399

18 19 Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota 1:17.093

19 22 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1:17.185

20 18 Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota 1:17.836

21 23 Sakon Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda 1:20.444

22 21 Scott Speed STR-Cosworth No time

Chief F1 Fan

Go Jense and let's see Kimi win this thing, Alonso P.2, Schu: DNF

West6MT

Get outta here Chief,............nonsense comments.



Ferrari 1, 2

JB 4th (kimi stole 3rd with like 10 or so laps left,...too bad no 3rd for JB, but 4th is good)

Too bad about Rubens engine failure or whatever

Chief F1 Fan

whatta snoozefest. McLaren goes out on 9 laps of fuel just to get pole at the home race for Mercedes. At least the Kimster got on the podium. I laughed when Massa was saying in the post-race interview that it's good to be on the podium. I thought, don't get used to it b/c you probably won't be around next year. Poor bastard. Michelin have obviously fallen behind in tire development.

fsttyms1

Go ferrari

F-C

Revenge of Honda. I never lost faith.
Kudos to Button and the whole team. Too bad they couldn't get the podium spot from Raikkonen, but considering the fiasco from two weeks ago, it's almost a miracle.

dom

Ya they did well considering but why did the performance of the car fall off so badly after their final pit stop? He was at the mercy of Kimi, he went by him far too easily.

F-C

That was very strange. Button got out in front of Raikkonen and I was sure that he would stay in front for the podium spot. My guess is that it was just a bad set of tires?

kurt_bradley

Kimi was on the same Michelins. It's sad how bad the tires are doing against the Bridgestones. It's not fair to the teams being supplied Michelins that they're just throwing the rest of the season because of the departure.

F-C

I meant that Button's last set was probably a 'bad' set. Tires are for some reason, not always of uniform quality, even if they come from the same factory.


Do you really think that is the case? I don't believe that Michelin has given up, because they won't be back next year. OTOH, I'd imagine that they would be throwing everything they have to go out on a high. IMO, Bridgestone has finally stepped up.

kurt_bradley

You never know, I guess. I do agree that Bridgestone has gotten their shit together.

dom

I still think Fernando is lock for the championship. MS would have to win all remaining races to secure the title or have Fernando have a few more results like yesterday. That just isn't going to happen. Look for Renault to win at least 1 to 3 more races this season.

kurt_bradley

Wouldn't it be interesting to see MS end up winning 11 races this year to spoil that effort from Renault? What a way to go out. I don't really see it happening, but it's good to see Ferrari really heating up the constructor race.

dom

Not sure what feed you guys got in the US but the British announcers we get here made a point of mentioning that Renault had put the Michelins they'd just taken off Alonso's and Fisi's car after the last pit stop out the back behind the garage for everyone to see. Appatrently they don't usually do that. But they were so blistered they decided to make a statement to Michelin.

kurt_bradley

It was mentioned. Especially the part where they just stacked up the tires in front of the garage after coming off. There was even a shot of a Michelin guy walking past them.

Man, it's dead today. There's more action in Motorsports News than there is in Ramblings.

F-C

I'm surprised no one is mentioning the mass damper system in the Renault.

Renault using mass damper system: Class of the Michelin runners
Renault not using mass damper system: Behind McLaren and Honda

I have a feeling that unless Renault returns to using the mass dampers, Alonso will lose the championship. The difference in performance is just so great.

To me, Alonso's stock has greatly fallen. He was pretty much nowhere yesterday, even being outclassed by Fisichella. Was his great performances in the past just due to Renault using an "illegal" device?

dom

The announcers did say that the FIA has allowed Renault to again start using "something" next race. I didn't hear exactly what it was but I think that was it.

What is it anyway?

F-C

AFAIK: The mass damper system is a mechanical device that is situated in the front nose of the Renault. It seems to be a moveable weight system. It helps the front balance of the car, by moving the weights to react to the cornering of the tires. Renault seems to have been using this since last year. I believe this is why the Renaults handle so well. Remember how well the Renault went, especially at the start of the year, when all the teams were struggling with front end grip? Anyway, the FIA appears to have been aware of this device for a few month, but has finally come out to ban it starting with the German GP. The FIA claim that this is an illegal AERODYNAMIC device, because it helps the front end of the car balance. Seems kind of weird that a mechanical device is ruled an illegal aerodynamic device.

fsttyms1

But remember with how aggressive alonso is, if he fails to get a pole spot and continues to have to start a few back like he is, all it takes is 1 slip up to take him out of the race making it a really really close race in the points

West6MT

The damper takes the form of a free-moving mass inside a vertical spring. Its function is to reduce the sensitivity of the car's front end to differing load variations between high- and low-speed sections of the track, and to counteract the negative effects of rebound over kerbs, so as to keep the car perfectly balanced and hence - indirectly - improve its aerodynamic efficiency.

Think,..........a coke can filled with oil, with a weighted puck inside, that moves up and down in opposition to the way the front end of the car is moving (ie car bounces up because of a bump, the weight will move down within its coke can to counter the upwards motion of the front end).

F-C

Mass dampers to return...for now.

Chief F1 Fan

Glad to see the dampers back. I wanna see Fernando win this year.

F-C

I just don't understand the logic here. If the device is illegal, then the points gained should be retroactively deleted.

kurt_bradley

Why does the FIA have brain farts like this? Let's just remember things that were deemed illegal in the past where points were deducted: 2-litre "ballast fluid tanks" on the ol' BAR, berillium, etc...

Chief F1 Fan

Maybe b/c it's the FIA's way of saying we fucked this one up by disallowing a clear ruling on the use of dampers in spite of there being an indication by the stewards at the German GP they could be used. I don't understand the logic that says it's an aerodynamic device either. Springs, shocks, anti-roll bars all have an effect on aerodynamics yet the FIA has not banned those.

Edward'TLS

At least it has proven the point that the mass damper gadget will make a big difference in performance. Are you all listening : Ferrari, McLaren, Honda, BMW, ...