its a tie!

**BoyFerrari** · October 2nd, 2006 12:57 AM

Originally Posted by bbt

that's not the point at all. the point is that, as you have previously mentioned, fisichella had NO chance of closing the gap between himself and schumacher.

Yes. Because the final laps were already dry and Bridgestone is better than Michelin on dry. It only started to drizzle again in the final 3 laps when Schumi was already cruising to victory.

Originally Posted by bbt

alonso, on the other hand, was able to close the gap. in other words, fernando alonso was indeed faster

Because Schumacher was already cruising at that time and had no need to compete with Alonso for best lap times since he was sure to take the checkered flag first.

Originally Posted by bbt

"On a wet track Renault’s Alonso swept to a 25-second advantage over Schumacher in the Ferrari prior to the first set of pit stops. But then things began to go wrong for the champion. First Schumacher stayed on the same set of intermediate Bridgestones during his stop, whereas Alonso changed his Michelin front inters. The new ones did not give him anything like the performance of his originals. Then, to compound everything, a sticking right rear wheel nut in Alonso's second stop cost him at least seven seconds.

You are quoting that part of the race when Alonso was ahead on wet tyres. We are not talking about that time since we are not contesting that he was fast on Michelin wets. That's not the discussion we have now.

Originally Posted by bbt

...Alonso’s final set of dry tyres was back up to par, and he soon caught and passed his team mate and started to slash into Schumacher’s advantage."

This statement simply narrated the event. It didn't say that Schumacher was in no mood to match Alonso's lap times since he was cruising to victory already evenif Alonso had a delta rocket on his engine.

Anyway, I'm not degrading Alonso's effort (for your consolation). Alonso was indeed fast, but you can't quote the last laps here to emphasize that point because Schumi was not in a mood to do neck-to-neck battle at that point. Maybe you can pick another incident in the upcoming Suzuka GP and hope you get a shoot-out between the two.

**noj** · October 2nd, 2006 04:07 AM

jackie stewart once said "the best way to win a race is by maintaining the least speed required to keep the other guy well behind" :naughty2:

**weremanok** · October 2nd, 2006 06:16 AM

Unless Fisichella was on intermediates, I don't think Alonso can erase a 25 sec gap with the same set of tires and machinery. Not even Schumacher can do that to Massa.

The only reason Alonso was able to catch Schumacher in the final laps is that Schumacher already slowed down to preserve the engine and prevent an unfortunate event to happen. The fact is that Alonso was driving like crazy to catch Schumacher and hope that Schumacher will have any kind of accident or mechanical failure. Schumacher on the other hand was very cautious and is only concerned of driving his Ferrari home and is not really concerned on the charging Alonso since he has a very big gap between them. He just drove it just enough to win the race in the end.

If the roles were reversed such that Schumacher was able to erase a 25 sec gap on Massa and Alonso was leading the race, I'd bet all the Ferrari haters will have a field day on that one. It's just not possible. Also, if Schumacher was able to catch up to Alonso on the final laps, all the Ferrari haters will just say that Alonso already slowed down to preserve his machinery. Let's try to be objective here.

**jim** · October 2nd, 2006 06:40 AM

Originally Posted by weremanok

If the roles were reversed such that Schumacher was able to erase a 25 sec gap on Massa and Alonso was leading the race, I'd bet all the Ferrari haters will have a field day on that one. It's just not possible. Also, if Schumacher was able to catch up to Alonso on the final laps, all the Ferrari haters will just say that Alonso already slowed down to preserve his machinery. Let's try to be objective here.

I don't hate any team in F1. I don't hate any driver in F1. I love them all

I believe that all of them are smart and Ferarri just did what it needs to do, that is to block the opponent, keep the car safe and get the chequered flag. It's just playing smart, plain and simple

**CVT** · October 2nd, 2006 07:17 AM

Great race! Great race! Great race!

Michelin obviously overtook Bridgestone on wet tyres development....

**CVT** · October 2nd, 2006 07:49 AM

Originally Posted by BoyFerrari

Here is an incident even a blind man will take notice: How can Fernando Alonso who is 25 seconds behind on 3rd place catch up and overtake his teammate Fisi when both of them are already on dry tyres, if not for TEAM ORDERS.

How the tables have turned. I don't hear anyone complaining though. Looks like as long as you are not Michael Schumacher, it's perfectly okay to let your champion teammate miraculously rocket himself ahead so he can defend his title or risk being lynched by an angry mob of conquistadors and matadors.

Hi BoyFerrari,- I am a Ferrari/MS fan like you. But please, let's not take away the great effort from Alonso. I think he deserved number2 for this race, as he drove like hell, after the screw up in the pit. As I said earlier,- Renault/FA is championship caliber, too.

Now, did he(Alonso) risk losing his precious Renault engine in Suzuka?

We'll see this Sunday(no more rain, please)!

This is going to be interesting....

:starwars:

**ARB** · October 2nd, 2006 08:14 AM

the 40 second gap between the renaults is not because alonso was quicker they did it on purpose so that people would think that alonso was very quick compared to fisi. 25 seconds in 3 laps! ha tama if sa Ferrari nangyari yon ano kaya ang mga hirit ng mga anti Ferrari.

I think renault should be investigated because of this incident! Fisi even tried to close the door on Michael when he came out of the pits! talk about dirty tactics, buti na lang Michael is such a good driver he countered it well.

**CoDer** · October 2nd, 2006 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by BoyFerrari

25 seconds in 3 laps, I say Fisi had his Puma sneakers stuck on the brake pedal.

Team order nga yan sir BoyFerrari.

Schumis the man!

O mga schumi haters tira na!

Ay tumira na ba?

**bbt** · October 2nd, 2006 08:42 AM

Originally Posted by BoyFerrari

You are quoting that part of the race when Alonso was ahead on wet tyres. We are not talking about that time since we are not contesting that he was fast on Michelin wets. That's not the discussion we have now.

what i was quoting was actually the explanation given why alonso slowed down. what i'm trying to say is that alonso is normally faster, it's just that his package wasn't working properly for him.

Originally Posted by BoyFerrari

This statement simply narrated the event. It didn't say that Schumacher was in no mood to match Alonso's lap times since he was cruising to victory already evenif Alonso had a delta rocket on his engine.

my point is not that alonso was faster than schumi, but that he was sufficiently fast enough to overtake fisi.

Originally Posted by CVT

Hi BoyFerrari,- I am a Ferrari/MS fan like you. But please, let's not take away the great effort from Alonso. I think he deserved number2 for this race, as he drove like hell, after the screw up in the pit. As I said earlier,- Renault/FA is championship caliber, too.

this is exactly my point

**coiter** · October 2nd, 2006 09:50 AM

sa tingin ko obvious naman na team orders. unless may serious problem si fisi to slooooow down. and when alonzo made the overtaking maneuver, walang ka challenge challenge kay fisi. no defensive move at all. unlike button and barichello (both from honda) who fought it out tooth and nail even to the last lap. though i'd have to agree that alonzo was indeed flying in the last few laps. he was really pushing it hard. galing din talaga. and this would be a great last 2 races.