Michael Wins Breathtaking San Marino GP!

[squala]

This time, it was the reverse of last year. Alonso was right on the tail of Michael at the middle part of the race, attempting an overtaking maneuver. The scarlet car has some tire graining, but the Renault was obviously the superior machine throughout the weekend. Nonetheless, the German was hardly shaken until the Spaniard was taken into an earlier second pitstop. In his own pitstop, Michael managed to go out ahead of the Renault where a second cat-and-mouse chase happened. Still, the 7-time champion showed no signs of faltering. He did not commit any mistake for Alonso to pass. In fact, it was the latter who ran wide after pushing hard, giving the Ferrari a comfortable final two laps to take victory. Montoya managed a silent third.

Personally, I would have to give all the credit to Michael. He has defied critics of his age by racing like a fresh young driver. Despite being the oldest on the grid, Schumacher proved he still has what it takes to win another world championship. Perhaps this is one of the best races of his career. At least he did win honestly.

So, are Ferrari back to their winning ways? Or will Renault the titles? We have yet to find out!

[scarab]

...uy, nakasingit pa pala si montoya. di ko kasi natapos yung race.

[mazdamazda]

what a great race...

schumi holding off alonso... ferrari's brilliant pitstop strategy with renault blinking first... alonso committing a mistake... good 4th place for massa...

though the lollipop incident was funny. hehe.

[niky]

San Marino has always been better for Ferrari than Renault. But at least this puts Michael in a good position for a place finish in the championship (though I think Alonso is going to be unbeatable for the series).

[coiter]

galing ni schumi! kitang kita ang experience. obvious naman na he had the inferior car and equipment. but the pit stop strategy and steady nerves really made the difference.

patawa nga yung nangyari sa honda. how could the lollipop man be so careless. sayang. buti na lang walang nasaktan. pero malamang kung nakataas visor ni button bulag yun hehehe

[XTO]

it's quite difficult to overtake in san marino that's why the grid position is so important. michael wants to break the 65 pole position record (65 poles) of the great ayrton senna in their own turf and where senna died 12 years ago. unfortunately the mc laren was not that competitive and the renault showed more speed. had it on a wider track am sure alonzo would have taken the gp easily. michael deserved to win and credit. kakahiya kung malalampasan siya ng bata, ferrari pa naman. well that's racing.

[RedHotBlood]

good thing schumi grab the pole position but if he didn't, things would be sooo different, with an aggressive alonso on a faster renault car? Strong will and determination (experience wise) led schumacher to win the race, buti naman at matagal nang tahimik ang ferrari since last year. Hooray for Ferrari!!!

[artpogi]

nice drive by Schumi, didn't get rattled by Alonso's attack and so was Alonso, great drive.

But if that track has more overtaking opportunities, Alonso could have passed Schumi. IMO for the current F1 season, Renault cars are faster than Ferrari.

[typhoon]

Pasaway talaga yung Ide ano. Inararo nya sa likod si Albers tapos si Montoya inasar may isang stretch din ata na ayaw nya tumabi hehehe. Ilang races na pasaway yan e.

[CVT]

I hope that this win can jumpstart Ferrari's campaign for the year and eventually, upend the rest of the field. Although Renault-Alonso is arguably championship caliber, as they're in the podium for the first 4 races.

More interesting (but out of the spotlight) is the Honda team of Jenson and Rubens, who were P2 and P3 (respectively?). After the race, Jenson barely made it to the top 8, with Rubens just outside. I wonder if Rubens were still racing for Ferrari... It could have been a different toss-up for these teams.... tsk tsk

[wrcastro_ph]

Yes.... a very nice one from Schumi..... wala yata talagang nakaka overtake sa Imola. specially kung sa top 5 runners. lumalayo na ang points ni Alonso... mukang sya na naman ang Champion this year.

[artpogi]

my observation of the Honda team, including the past two seasons, is that their team strategy during the race leaves a lot to be desired.

For the current season, their car is okay, probably not as fast as Renault's but definitely their's is at the top bunch of teams with fast cars.

It's just that I notice that their race strategy is not that well thought out and sometimes they have a reliability issue during racedays.

Must be frustrating for Button, especially for Reubens

[mazdamazda]

AFAIK... the lollipop man is also the pit crew head.

[niky]

Honda's got some of the same car problems as Toyota had last season. They're fast, sometimes very fast... but they can't maintain that pace for the entire race. At least Jarno Trulli didn't have Jenson Button's monumental bad luck.

[artpogi]

They're fast, sometimes very fast... but they can't maintain that pace for the entire race.

quite true

[squala]

The lollipop guy let Jenson right when he saw the fuel hose being taken off. It turns out the hose got stuck, and perhaps out of panic, he put the lollipop back down, giving Jenson some beating there.

As for overtaking, yes it's quite hard to do such a thing in Imola. The circuit was modified after Senna crashed to his death, which made it safer at the expense of excitement. This is one of the tracks I really don't like. But I still believe either Montoya or Raikkonen would have gotten past Michael given the same situation. The McLaren pair are among the best overtakers on the grid.

[BoyFerrari]

If you watch the slow-mo replay, the fuel rig mechanics never made any motions to pull-out the nozzle from Jenson's car when the lollipop was abruptly raised. They were still fueling Jenson's car that's why a mechanic got drenched with petrol when the nozzle was torn-off after Button sped away. Looks like a human-error gaffe to me by the lollipop man, rather than the nozzle failing to disengage and screwing the lollipop man's pre-emptive timing action.

With Schumacher's defensive driving technique, Renault realized that there was no way Alonso can get past that Ferrari in Imola, so they quickly changed strategy and decided to make it a "battle of the pit crew" instead. In fact, I think that strategy made the final laps of the race more exciting to watch on TV rather than watch Alonso tailing the Farrari hopelessly and they go to the pits at the same time. It was exciting to see whether Schumi will come out of the pits just in time to block Alonso again. And that was exactly what happened. It made me jump to my seat.

[slicker_boi]

If you watch the slow-mo replay, the fuel rig mechanics never made any motions to pull-out the nozzle from Jenson's car when the lollipop was abruptly raised. They were still fueling Jenson's car that's why a mechanic got drenched with petrol when the nozzle was torn-off after Button sped away. Looks like a human-error gaffe to me by the lollipop man, rather than the nozzle failing to disengage and screwing the lollipop man's pre-emptive timing action.

With Schumacher's defensive driving technique, Renault realized that there was no way Alonso can get past that Ferrari in Imola, so they quickly changed strategy and decided to make it a "battle of the pit crew" instead. In fact, I think that strategy made the final laps of the race more exciting to watch on TV rather than watch Alonso tailing the Farrari hopelessly and they go to the pits at the same time. It was exciting to see whether Schumi will come out of the pits just in time to block Alonso again. And that was exactly what happened. It made me jump to my seat.

Haller, Ferrari are among the best when it comes to pit strategy. It was wrong to let Alonso earlier because by the time Schumi's car gets in, the Renault will already be heavy. I'd rather that they waited for Michael to pit in first while Fernando could have done a semi-economy drive as his car is all over the Ferrari anyway.

[BoyFerrari]

Haller, Ferrari are among the best when it comes to pit strategy. It was wrong to let Alonso earlier because by the time Schumi's car gets in, the Renault will already be heavy. I'd rather that they waited for Michael to pit in first while Fernando could have done a semi-economy drive as his car is all over the Ferrari anyway.

Err... are you giving your opinion or did you actually watched the interview of Renault's Flavio Biatore? Both cars were running on empty and would have pitted at the same time - something Renault gambled to avoid so they decided to pit Alonso early.

[mazdamazda]

Err... are you giving your opinion or did you actually watched the interview of Renault's Flavio Biatore? Both cars were running on empty and would have pitted at the same time - something Renault gambled to avoid so they decided to pit Alonso early.

actually, he has a point.

Renault thought and gambled that the Ferrari was already at the edge of tire adhesion... and that even with a heavier fuel load they can overtake the Ferrari at the pits.

But right after Alonso pitted, Schumi pulled off a stunner of a lap... taking off 2 seconds from his previous laps.

To note also that the Ferrari pitted longer than the Renault.