One Great Race, One Great Racer
It's just over, the 2006 Monza grand prix that is. What a race! I did not think, not in the wildest of my dreams, that this race would be this great. But then, its a matter of perspective, I mean if you are an Alonso fan, you'd say this was one of the worst races ever.
The race started with something. Kimi had a great start. So was for Kubica and Alonso. Phillipe was the one that got penalized in all that, getting behind Kubica. He never managed to get in front of the Pole. BMW Sauber had a good package, although they were a bit lagging in the slower sections. Ferrari had the best package: at times, Schumacher would be about half a second faster than Kimi.
The first stint had Kimi as leader, but just by 3 seconds, to Michael. After the first stops, Michael was ahead of Kimi, by about 3 seconds. After that, the race was pretty uneventful for the German and Finn. However, the race was on for those on the back. Massa would not let go of Kubica, whose engine power proved much better than Massa's overall excellence, and meant that the Brazilian could not attempt many overtaking maneuvers.
The second stops just confirmed Michael's lead over Kimi, it was back in 3rd, 4th and 5th place that made all the difference. Being bottled up, Massa went in first, and few laps later, Kubica and Alonso went in together. Alonso had much better, all-be-it longer, pitstop, but he managed to get alongside the BMW Sauber of Kubica. On the exit of the pitlane, Alonso got the better of Kubica, the better part for him was, he was able to leap-frog on Massa as well in pit-strategy. So there he was, in 3rd position, with not-so-comfortable-but-nice lead over Kubica, and suddenly there's a plum of blue smoke coming out of the back of his Renault at the end of start-finish straight. Kubica misses the oil, but Massa hits it and goes straight on the bumpy ride across the chicane, and manages to get a right front puncture. The in-and-out maneuver cost him his 4th place and had to settle for 9th. Anyway, that was one of the highlights for the championship.
And with the eventual settlement for second place by Kimi, Michael had a comfortable victory. Massa tried his best to take a point, but failed, and finished ninth. The good news was that Michael scored 10 full points, while his championship rival Alonso scored none, resulting in 108 points for the Spaniard and 106 points for the German. The better news was that Ferrari leap-frogged Renault in Championship standings by 3 points (168 to 165).
The main drama was still in the making, after all the race and trophy presentation ceremony. In the Post-Race Press Conference, Michael announced what was already speculated. He's about to retire after the end of this season. It was one emotional situation, when he announced it. Almost made the presentator speechless.
Its kinda hard to imagine, particulary for the likes of me, Formula 1 without Michael. He has been there for about a decade. At the age when people start to think about future plans, he was winning races. Even with retirement in sight, he was pushing 110%. Now the real dillema for me is, in the abscence of Michael, who should I support, and follow. I am not so sure, without him, Ferrari would be so great a team, not with Massa as the lead driver. Kimi could get somewhere, but I seriously doubt it. Renault will have a good team, and has some really good driver lineup, but I don't like that team. Button has been named the replacement for Michael, but Honda team is not up to scratch, not till now. BMW Sauber and Williams have good package but lack the consistency. Red Bull Racing may show something, but Cosworth engines they are planning to use for 2007 season did not show anything with Jaguar, so I am a bit skeptical. Torro Rosso are just smaller version of RBR, so even if they have great drivers, they will not perform well. MF and Super Aguri are just back markers. So who is my preferable World Champion and Constructor Champion? Hmm... may be Kimi and Ferrari? I'd like to follow Ferrari, but chances are good that Renault will snatch both, however much I'd hate it. Anyway thats more than a year away, plenty of time for me to change my mind. One thing is for sure, I'd follow anyone I do not hate who performs well in the opening rounds of Formula 1 2007 season. For the time being, let me think over all of these and spend some time alone. I desperately need some time to analyze and think everything over.
posted by Saurabh at Sunday, September 10, 2006
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