End of season is drawing and...
-
Teams are left with Four GPs to
- Catch up for Constructor Championship(McLaren)
- Defend their throne(Ferrari)
- Defend their current position in the standings(Alonso;Renault)
- Catch up in the standings (Toyota vs Ferrari; McLaren vs Renault)
- Catch up in the standings (Montoya vs Michael; Kimi vs Alonso)
The end will be intensifying for the teams... -
The current Championship (constructor) List
Pos Constructor Points
1 Renault 144
2 McLaren-Mercedes 136
3 Ferrari 86
4 Toyota 78
5 Williams-BMW 54
6 Red Bull Racing 27
7 BAR-Honda 25
8 Sauber-Petronas 14
9 Jordan-Toyota 11
10 Minardi-Cosworth 7 -
Current Championship(Driver) List
Pos Driver Nationality Team Points
1 Fernando Alonso Spanish Renault 103
2 Kimi Räikkönen Finnish McLaren-Mercedes 76
3 Michael Schumacher German Ferrari 55
4 Juan Pablo Montoya Colombian McLaren-Mercedes 50
5 Jarno Trulli Italian Toyota 43
6 Giancarlo Fisichella Italian Renault 41
7 Ralf Schumacher German Toyota 35
8 Rubens Barrichello Brazilian Ferrari 31
9 Nick Heidfeld German Williams-BMW 28
10 Jenson Button British BAR-Honda 24
10= Mark Webber Australian Williams-BMW 24
12 David Coulthard British Red Bull Racing 21
13 Felipe Massa Brazilian Sauber-Petronas 8
14 Tiago Monteiro Portuguese Jordan-Toyota 6
14= Alexander Wurz Austrian McLaren-Mercedes 6
14= Jacques Villeneuve Canadian Sauber-Petronas 6
17 Narain Karthikeyan Indian Jordan-Toyota 5
17= Christian Klien Austrian Red Bull Racing 5
19 Christijan Albers Dutch Minardi-Cosworth 4
19= Pedro de la Rosa Spanish McLaren-Mercedes 4
21 Patrick Friesacher Austrian Minardi-Cosworth 3
22 Antonio Pizzonia Brazilian Williams-BMW 2
23 Takuma Sato Japanese BAR-Honda 1
23= Vitantonio Liuzzi Italian Red Bull Racing 1 -
I think we can forget Ferrari defending the WCC.
I'd like to see Renault getting the championship for once - as a team (not as engine constructors), they've come close a couple of times, but it's never quite held together to the end. -
They cud win by even getting 2nd all the way with Kimi winning the rest...Originally posted by Gedanken:I think we can forget Ferrari defending the WCC.
I'd like to see Renault getting the championship for once - as a team (not as engine constructors), they've come close a couple of times, but it's never quite held together to the end.
By then, Kimi wud be 116, while Alonso is high at 135...
In the case wer Montoya is in 2nd all the way, forcing Alonso 3rd,
Kimi is still at 116, Wif alonso At 127... Its a bright future for Alonso while Kimi have to wait for next season...
But the season has not end yet... Miracles cud happen
-
Eight points is a bit close to call, especially with Montoya delivering more than Fisichella. I suspect that it'll be Alonso WDC and McLaren WCC.
-
Wat 8 points?Originally posted by Gedanken:Eight points is a bit close to call, especially with Montoya delivering more than Fisichella. I suspect that it'll be Alonso WDC and McLaren WCC. -
McLaren are 8 points behind Renault in the constructors' championship.Originally posted by SBS9828X:Wat 8 points?
If Alonso gains 4 more points than Räikkönen tomorrow, he will seal the drivers' championship. Schu Sr and the Monster are already out of it mathematically...I hope the latter and Jarno Trulli do their best to help the Iceman tomorrow. -
schumacher...haih..lost his touch.
-
Unless something goes catastrophically wrong tomorrow, I don't think we'll see a new WDC yet. However, as James Allen has said, "There always seems to be a 'but' with McLaren", so you never know.
Me, I'm going to get my fridge full o' brewskis ready and watch the fun. -
Lost his touch? Did he ever have it in the first place?Originally posted by alexkusu:schumacher...haih..lost his touch.
-
so u think its all in the cars?Originally posted by Gedanken:Lost his touch? Did he ever have it in the first place? -
Nope, it's not just in the cars - it's also in having an ironclad contract where your team mate has to give way to you.
Schumacher has only been able to do what he's done by the combination of the car, team orders and outright cheating. In 1994, he won his first championship by knocking Damon Hill off the track, and he tried doing the same thing to Jacques Villeneuve in 1997. In Austria '02 and '03, he had Barrichello pull over so that he could win and take points.
Look at the really close battles in the championship, and you'll see drivers within a dominant team fighting it out with no punches pulled. Examples are Mansell/Piquet (1987), the classic Prost/Senna battles (1988-1990). MS, on the other hand, has had Ferrari make Eddie Irvine and Rubens Barrichello bend over and take it from him.
On top of that, Ferrari disadvantaged all of the other Bridgestone runners by making an exclusive arrangement to develop the tyres specifically around their cars, and that's why so many other teams got fed up and moved over to Michelin. This year's been great, because that monopoly has come back and bitten Ferrari and Bridgestone in the ass. Now Luca di Montezemelo has come out and whinged like a spanked b!tch about the rules, but he was surprisingly quiet when the rules served his purposes.
On top of that, there really hasn't been much competition for him. Everybody on the grid is scared of his "chop", but back when he started, guys like Senna used to drive around it like nothing happened.
What it comes down to is this: MS is by no means a bad driver, but it's a crying shame that he's a 7-time world champion. Between the rules, Ferrari's dominance, team orders, a lack of great drivers of the likes of Senna, Prost and Mansell, plus plain cheating, lies his 7 championships. If he played it the way Fangio or Senna did, I'd say he'd be a 3-time WDC at best. -
I must admit. He does, skills-wise. maybe not better than Senna but certainly amongst the Prost or Piquet level. But... his sportsmanship leaves something to be desired. He's no gent, no doubt.Originally posted by Gedanken:Lost his touch? Did he ever have it in the first place?
He's actually 3rd in the standings now which I can't even begin to imagine how that i possible. But my personal prediction will be that Monty overhauls him in the points, Kimi won't win the driver's championship but McLaren will take the constructor's championship. -
Actually, Barrichello gave way in 2001 and 2002, for 2nd place and the win respectively. Got your point though. Remember the seasons when Barrichello had multiple retirements while Schumacher enjoyed near-perfect reliabilty? I don't expect Massa's situation to be any different.
-
say btw Ged, any chance of getting a couple of free tix from Alan to the BTCC race on the 18th Sept? I really enjoy watching Yvan and Matt Neal duke it out and ITV only shows the races at 3.30am on mondays!
*fingers crossed* -
Ah yes, '01 and '02. Pardon me - the miserable, boring Schumacher years have all become one big blur.Originally posted by Kuali Baba:Actually, Barrichello gave way in 2001 and 2002, for 2nd place and the win respectively. Got your point though. Remember the seasons when Barrichello had multiple retirements while Schumacher enjoyed near-perfect reliabilty? I don't expect Massa's situation to be any different.
Yeah, over on another forum, we used to place bets on how many laps Rubens' car went before it broke down, and which part (engine, transmission etc) would be the offending piece. -
Hate to tell you this, Heng, but the esteemed Mr Gow and I had a major falling out. He was being a right arsehole to a mate of mine, so I left to set up another forum. In any case, he was a real tightarse anyway.Originally posted by HENG@:say btw Ged, any chance of getting a couple of free tix from Alan to the BTCC race on the 18th Sept? I really enjoy watching Yvan and Matt Neal duke it out and ITV only shows the races at 3.30am on mondays!
*fingers crossed*
An associate of mine is setting up a recruitment project with some German racing mob and wants me in on it, so we'll see how it pans out over the next 2 months. Could have some new contacts there. -
opps.Originally posted by Gedanken:Hate to tell you this, Heng, but the esteemed Mr Gow and I had a major falling out. He was being a right arsehole to a mate of mine, so I left to set up another forum. In any case, he was a real tightarse anyway.
An associate of mine is setting up a recruitment project with some German racing mob and wants me in on it, so we'll see how it pans out over the next 2 months. Could have some new contacts there.
oh well I do feel sometimes that most racing series bosses are like that anyway. Look at Bernie.
Lemmie know about the German thingy. sounds fun -
woot!~~ 1 more race left to go...
-
I'm going to miss the sound of V10s, I grew up watching F1 after V12s were phased out.
I can't wait to see the new qualifying format though. -
hey the V10 ban starts next year? Oh me goosh!
-
Ferrari, McLaren look ahead
Oct 18, 2005
The Straits Times
SHANGHAI - AS RENAULT celebrate their first Formula One constructors' title, rivals Ferrari and McLaren remain defiant and confident they will return stronger and better.
Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher insists Ferrari have what it takes to re-establish themselves as the leading team next season.
Ferrari won 15 of the 18 races last year en route to the German's seventh driver's title. But McLaren and Renault were the dominant force this season with Fernando Alonso finishing 71 points ahead of his predecessor.
Schumacher told his website: 'When you consider that we dominated last season and other teams managed to leap ahead of us this year, then there is no reason to believe we cannot do the same and be the best in 2006.
'We will work hard in the winter to achieve our target. This team is a class outfit and nothing has changed in that respect. We have a new challenge now and everyone, especially me, is looking forward to it.'
He is contracted at Ferrari for just one more season but has given no indication of wanting to retire.
McLaren boss Ron Dennis was less disappointed than Schumacher regarding the concluded season.
'We're not going to go out of this paddock... with our chins on our feet,' he said. 'We've done a pretty good job, we deserve the criticism that we level at ourselves, but we are hardly dismal failures.'
McLaren ended the season with 10 wins, two more than Renault, but otherwise empty-handed.
'We can't go away feeling that we've failed massively because if you come to McLaren and you see our corporate overview, the vision statement for McLaren Racing is to compete in and win every grand prix,' Dennis said.
'It doesn't say win world championships. It says enter every world championship race and win it.
'We recognise the importance of world championships and constructors' titles but we can hardly go away from here saying that we've failed miserably,' he added.
McLaren and Renault were in a class of their own all year.
They won every race except the six-car US Grand Prix won by Ferrari after the Michelin-equipped teams withdrew over tyre-safety concerns.
There was no doubt that McLaren had the faster car for much of the championship. But they paid the price for a lack of reliability and the other teams' inability to take points away from Renault.
Dennis said his team should also have been more aggressive with their new car early in the season, when Alonso built up his comfortable points cushion.
'We were too cautious in the first four grands prix,' he said.
'With the benefit of hindsight, we could have been more aggressive in the introduction of developments both on the car and engine that came in Spain.'
Dennis insisted that 'overall the performance of our cars has been good'. -- REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE