**French Review**

[alex_gt]

Wow what a race in France :chkflag:

I believe Kimi deserved that Race but due to no Oil Flags tut tut not good enough The young Fin Span off at full pace. Schumacher took full advantage during Yellow Flags :rscared: eerr That's against the Rules Micheal :shakehead....

Does everyone agree :mclaren: would be right to Question the Marshalls on that Controversal :ferrari: Overtake ?

What do you think?

And What happened to the Monster :fdevil:, is it just me or does he seem to lead many races but fall back towards the end?

Why does Barricello always get the Bad ferrari luck? mmmm stange how Schumy always gets off the Jacks ok with a running engine yet not Rubens...

From ITV.com

Michael Schumacher has equalled Juan Manuel Fangio's record of five world titles by winning a hotly contested French Grand Prix at Magny Course.

With just four laps to go Kimi Raikkonen ran wide at the Adelaide hairpin allowing Schumacher to sneak through.

The Finn had been on course for his maiden win following a race dominated by stop-go penalties and pit-stop blunders. The McLaren driver had been superb throughout when some leaked oil from an Allan McNish engine blow turned the race upside down.

And, as so often, it was Schumacher who kept his cool to collect his 61st race win as he drives himself deeper into the record books.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis was unhappy that Schumacher had pushed past Raikkonen because the yellow flags were out. But it would be a shame if the controversy was allowed to detract from Schumacher's monumental feat.

The German was clearly overcome with his achievements as he hugged Jean Todt.
Such scenes hadn't seemed possible at the midway point when he was forced to surrender the lead after he'd crossed a white line as he exited the pits.

A drive-through penalty saw him fall back to third as the paddock pulsed to any number of pitstop combinations.

Williams seemingly failed their drivers as successive slow stops saw their drivers fall back and place the McLarens in the ascendent.

But human error was still to play its part as Ralf Schumacher and David Coulthard made identical mistakes to Schumacher, before Kimi misgauged the hairpin.

So another famous victory for Ferrari. But Rubens Barrichello must be in despair as he curses yet more bad fortune. The Brazilian was left on his jacks as the formation lap got underway.

That was by no means the only drama at the start. Takuma Sato, Pedro de la Rosa and home favourite Olivier Panis got tangled up at turn one although all three were able to continue. And Felipe Massa received a penalty for jumping the lights.

The first phase of the race was then all about Michael Schumacher working his way past Juan Pablo Montoya.

While his Ferrari had the greater pace he left it to the first scheduled stop. At first he appeared to have got his calculations right as he edged just in front of the Williams only for the stewards to haul him back.

By this time, Montoya had fallen back to fourth with grip problems but Raikkonen looked like ensuring the championship remained open for another week before his fateful slip on McNish's oil.

Sixth was claimed by Jenson Button, who proved a point to Renault - who are axing him for next season - by comprehensively outperforming team-mate Jarno Trulli.

Other performances worthy of note included that of Eddie Irvine, who was running strongly in seventh before the rear wing of his Jaguar flew off at high speed, pitching him into a lurid spin. The new R3b package is a vast improvement but clearly it is still fragile.

Mark Webber drove a magnificent race to finish eighth, just one lap down and three ahead of Minardi team-mate Alex Yoong.

 

[aljones]

Well, I think Shumacher was well within his rights to pass Kimi, as Kimi wasn't actually within the white lines marking the track at the time Shumi passed him. If the oil flags had been out, Kimi would have approached the corner with more caution, and would have probably kept the lead, and won the race. Shumi did nothing wrong, and while I never have liked the guy, he won the race fair and square.

 

[sn00pie]

Schumacher overtook a car under a yellow flag situation.

The FIA F1 rules state: "no overtaking may take place during a yellow flag situation".



Schumacher should have been disqualified.

 

[vat_man]

Originally posted by rufrgt_sn00pie2001
Schumacher overtook a car under a yellow flag situation.

The FIA F1 rules state: "no overtaking may take place during a yellow flag situation".



Schumacher should have been disqualified.

Have you read the other thread?

If you watch the replay, you'll see a white line on the outside of the Adelaide hair pin. That corner doesn't have a gravel trap - it's high grip tarmac all the way up to the wall. The white line defines the outside of the race track, much in the same way it does for the exit of the pit lane.

Now, Schumacher actually passed Raikkonen when Kimi was off the track - this is permitted under yellow flags. Schumacher also had right of way, as any car regaining the track MUST give way to cars on the track - Schumacher played that hard but fair.

I'm no fan of Michael's (as is well documented in these forums) but I have no issue with that move - you're entitled to pass cars that are off the track, and Kimi was off the track in that instance.

 

[sn00pie]

Originally posted by vat_man

Have you read the other thread?

If you watch the replay, you'll see a white line on the outside of the Adelaide hair pin. That corner doesn't have a gravel trap - it's high grip tarmac all the way up to the wall. The white line defines the outside of the race track, much in the same way it does for the exit of the pit lane.

Now, Schumacher actually passed Raikkonen when Kimi was off the track - this is permitted under yellow flags. Schumacher also had right of way, as any car regaining the track MUST give way to cars on the track - Schumacher played that hard but fair.

I'm no fan of Michael's (as is well documented in these forums) but I have no issue with that move - you're entitled to pass cars that are off the track, and Kimi was off the track in that instance.

Yeah, I just read that...

I still hate him though.

 

[vat_man]

Well, as I said in the other thread, it's not like he deliberately rammed anyone, or won from the pitlane...

 

[sn00pie]

Originally posted by vat_man
Well, as I said in the other thread, it's not like he deliberately rammed anyone, or won from the pitlane...

True, true...

Were you laughing your ass off when he got that drive through or what? Be honest!

 

[Kelly]

Originally posted by rufrgt_sn00pie2001
Schumacher overtook a car under a yellow flag situation.

The FIA F1 rules state: "no overtaking may take place during a yellow flag situation".



Schumacher should have been disqualified.

He done the same as anybody else would have done in that situation, was he supposed to just stop and wait for kimi to get back on track? before following to then overtake him somewhere else anyway

 

[TALONclaw]

I liked how Kimi gave him a glare on the podium before shaking hands.

 

[vat_man]

Originally posted by TALONclaw
I liked how Kimi gave him a glare on the podium before shaking hands.

I think that's just Kimi's normal look.

rufrgt_sn00pie2001 - yes I did have a little laugh, but I knew deep down it probably wasn't going to be enough to stop him.

 

[Talentless]

there went button's career.

 

[vat_man]

Originally posted by Talentless
there went button's career.

Well, let's think about this for a minute.
- Funding is secure for the team until 2006.
- Dave Richards from ProDrive is firmly in charge of the organisation, and not compromised by Flavio Briatore.
- Honda will be increasing their involvement, with it looking increasingly likely that Jordan will be running customer Cosworths next year.
- You have a former world champion who is still rated as one of the best F1 drivers in the business as a team mate

I'd agree it's a punt for Jenson, but even if the car's a dog, if he outdoes Villenueve it'll raise his stock. It has the potential to really raise his stakes - and don't forget how young he is!

 

[Talentless]

I thought i was posting in the button to bar thread??

 

[Talentless]

*had posted

 

[alex_gt]

Originally posted by rufrgt_sn00pie2001


True, true...

Were you laughing your ass off when he got that drive through or what? Be honest!

Yea I was lovin it....' haha Schumacher', but it was a different story when Drivers I liked did it 'no not Coulthard'....... :smilewink

Originally Posted by Talentless:
There went Buttons Career

eerr I think not, BAR will give Jenson full support and in a couple of seasons Time I reckon he might be sticking two fingers back up at :renault: