***Shanghai Formula 1 GP 2004*** RACE

[sameerrao]

*** Shock **** Alex predicts a Ferrari win

[ZfrkS62]

Originally Posted by sameerrao ZfrkS62 ... I am glad to see you have a co-worker who talks about F1 ... here in Houston ... I haven't found a single F1 fan among my friends here.

It's kind of easy when you work on BMWs. especially if you share shop space with Mercedes

[sameerrao]

If you see Michael's lap ... take a look at the link I posted above for F1 vids - the car seemed to break away too early .. just as he was getting into the corner and not midway thru the corner like Bruni ... I am still unsure if it was a mechanical issue or low tire temps/pressures that caused it to break away like that ....

[5vz-fe]

Man oh man, what a weekend for Michael.......spin in Qualifying, knock Klien out of the race, spin in the race, getting a puncture.

[saadie]

lol .... i cant believe coullthad did that .....what the hell was he thinking .... he made ralph hella mad ..... dosnt he know he cant be jacques ..... ......

[dingo]

That was a pretty good race, but I would really like to see Button win a race this year.
MS still managed to get fastest lap despite all his troubles, but congrats to Rubens.

[sameerrao]

Originally Posted by 5vz-fe Man oh man, what a weekend for Michael.......spin in Qualifying, knock Klien out of the race, spin in the race, getting a puncture.

Disappointing race for Michael - unremarkable race and lousy strategy - he should have gone to a 2 stop strategy considering he started from the pit lane.

The spin he had going into the long straight was odd. I really think something was wrong with his car.

But the amount of time he was stuck behind Villeneuve was pathetic considering that Jacques was clearly not racing at his best nor was his car set up clearly - it was sliding about a lot more than Webbers car who was just ahead of him....

But on the positive side excellent race from Rubens particularly in the last 15 laps - at one time it looked like a sure win for Button as he had one less stop to do and was only 9 secs behind Rubens and Kimi who were both on 3 stop strategies. But Rubens kept banging in 1'33''s while Button was in 1'35"s which made all the difference. Kimi was able to close the gap to Button but couldnt pass him

[5vz-fe]

I think he should start at the last positon and stick with the orginal stragey. Off the start he would have at least make a few postions......

Totally agree with you sameerrao, he should have gone for 2 stop if he's starting from pitlane, but I doubt those bridgestones gonna last that long. Well, he got a puncture anyways .....

[sameerrao]

Alonso and Montoya both had a quiet race (apart from some overtaking moves with Villenueve in the beginning) but got decent results in the end.

What caused Michael's puncture - I didnt see it - it happened during the advertisement break

[Toronto]

Originally Posted by 5vz-fe I think he should start at the last positon and stick with the orginal stragey. Off the start he would have at least make a few postions...... Totally agree with you sameerrao, he should have gone for 2 stop if he's starting from pitlane, but I doubt those bridgestones gonna last that long. Well, he got a puncture anyways .....

he was having problems with his tires i think? forced to stop at least twice because of that,

but i think the people of china are happy on how the merc's did and now they can open a plant in the biggest car market in the world, and isn't that what F1 is all about, the marketing and profits

[sameerrao]

Originally Posted by toronto Originally Posted by 5vz-fe I think he should start at the last positon and stick with the orginal stragey. Off the start he would have at least make a few postions...... Totally agree with you sameerrao, he should have gone for 2 stop if he's starting from pitlane, but I doubt those bridgestones gonna last that long. Well, he got a puncture anyways ..... he was having problems with his tires i think? forced to stop at least twice because of that, but i think the people of china are happy on how the merc's did and now they can open a plant in the biggest car market in the world, and isn't that what F1 is all about, the marketing and profits

My point was that he stopped once due to the flat tire late in the race ... At that time they could have filled him enough to do the rest of the race ... Its not like he was fighting for track position or something .... It was stupid that he had pit again almost at the end for fuel....

Michael was lapping at the 1'33''s during the last couple laps ... instead even if lapped a second slower to conserve his tires he would have still been faster than the stopping again with a 20+ second time penalty for this...

Anyway I am pissed off now and am going to sleep ... grrrh .....

[ZfrkS62]

that punctured tire royally fucked his race though. he was putting in a hell of a charge when it happened, but their decision not to top off his fuel when he came when was 2nd in the stupid moves category only to the Williams team not being prepared for Ralf after Coulthard hit him.

Speaking of Coulthard i think the FIA should penalize him heavily for his indescretion that pretty much ended Ralf's race. His racing today was absolutely horrible. It almost looked like he was pulling a Montoya when he passed Michael and the locked up in the immediate corner.

As for Klein, he put himself out of the race. He gave up the line when he went in wide and failed to check his mirror before trying to correct his position. he's lucky he didn't take Schumi out of the race at that point.

I saw the wheel come off Bruni's Minardi and i'm not sure if the FIA will penalize them for it since they are supposed to have that pin shoved through the locking nut to prevent that from happening. I would assume they will since they seem to enjoy handing out fines.
what i didn't see was the cause of Zonta's retirement. Apparently it happened during a break but SPEED never even mentioned it.

Congrats go out to Barrichello who seems to be becoming the master at pulling out a few extra seconds before his pit stops, he drove an excellent race and deserved every second that he was on top of that podium.
Jenson Button has got to be feeling a bit like a bridesmaid though with all of his 2nd and 3rd place finishes. Don't worry Button, you'll get the bouquet someday

All in all i would say keep China in the schedule. It produced a very interesting race weekend, on a very unique track layout.

and as for BAR's colors: British-American Tabacco wanted to push a different brand of suicide stick for this race. My guess is Lucky Strikes just aren't that big in China and they didn't want to waste advertising space on a losing brand.

[aks]

well done to Rubens, he really deserves a few Grand Prix wins under his belt, he's been more of a bridesmaid to Michael than anyone else!

well done to Kimi too, he really seems to be gettin himself back on track after first half of this season, next season looks to be a very good one, can't wait!

i am so pissed that i missed the race, i thought it was gonna be a few hours later and am now fuming!!

now that China has hosted a Grand Prix along with pretty much every other major country, where the hell is India?!??!?!?! C'mon India, we can't fall behind!!

[sau_mathur]

awesome race, but disappointed for schumi. good to see button snatch 2nd from kimi.. !! cant wait for button to get with williams next yr and get some wins under his belt.

[akumapc]

well looks like BAR are pretty close to securing 2nd place, was a pretty good race overall but not a belgium thats for sure The BAR livery was a one off deal for the chinese audience, since 555 brand is more popular than the lucky strike (both same British American Tobaco). It looks fucking stellar imo so here are some images I was able to scrounge!





http://www.akumapc.com/f1/bar/4.jpg
http://www.akumapc.com/f1/bar/5.jpg
http://www.akumapc.com/f1/bar/6.jpg