Grand Premio de Espania 2005

[zoxxy]

All i can say is...




GO KIMI!

 

[xcsti]

I came home today to find my dad plopped on the couch watching the race. I was like WTF!!! When did you guys get speed channel?? They actually broadcast in on CBS. I wish I had a TV.

 

[SouL]

Phenomenal qualifying and race pace from Kimi. I think a lot of people were suspecting he'd be on a light fuel load.. but clearly wasn't. Wonderful display of dominance!
Renault were on top form again. It's good to see both drivers finish in the points. Fisichella should have finished much higher if he hadn't needed that nose change.
That move by Webber was utterly stupid. I hope they give him a penalty (or strip him of his points) like they did to Ralf. Cutting off someone in the pitlane, I would think, is a FAR less dangerous than blocking someone at 200MPH. I understand he's being competitive... but endangering the life of another driver is completely unnecessary.
Toyota had an excellent race day. 3rd and 4th is a pretty solid result.

Ferrari and Bridgestone seemed to be doomed when it comes to warm race days. MS had 2 punctures within some 2 laps, and Barichello was lapped Kimi. Post race someone asked Michael about his tires and I thought it was absolute BS that he said that his tires were still in good condition. In the slow-motion replays of the 2nd blow out... 2 rows of blistering were clearly evident on his front left.

Monaco is going to be tough for Ferrari to bounce back in. Michael's DNF and Barichello's 9th place finish means they'll be one of the early cars out for qualifying. It'll be an uphill battle for those 2 to pick themselves up reasonable grid positions. Well not so much for RB, I guess. 9th is that far back.

 

[livemusic]

Yeah, things are getting really cloudy for Ferrari now. Another bad race for them, and Michelin´s are better on Monaco so they´ll need to give it all there.

Great race for Kimi, congrats to him! 👍

And what´s up with Webber? He can´t see another driver on the rear mirror without going off the track.

 

[Brett]

It wasn't the absolute best race to watch, but it was entertaining nonetheless. No one even came close to touching Kimi after the start. I am very happy for him, as this has been a long time coming. Alonso did well, but not spectular. Toyota looked pretty good, though not overly fast. It looking like this is going to be a good season this year.

 

[kensei]

My prediction for the race.

1) Kimi
2) MS
3) Trulli
4) Alonso
5) DC

That is how I see it...

Two out of three podium spots ain't bad. I almost put Alonso in 2nd but thought Ferrari/Bridgestone had their tires back on track, I was wrong....


Ferrari, Like I said many times before never count them out but it ain't looking good for them right now, especially considering we haven;t even entered summer yet with hot races in Europe. If Europe has a cool summer Ferrari might have a chance but if it is hot it's over. I still think the F2005 is the best car on the grid, all but the tires. Bridgestone just doesn't have the test miles or data to compete with Michelin. I think in some cooler races or in the wet we will see Ferrari fight for podiums, but otherwise I think their season is over.

Webber...umm...you know, he was supposed to be the next hot thing...but honestly I don't see it. I've never bought into the Webber hype but thought he deserved a shot with a good car. Not that the Williams is that great but it is better than a Jag or a Minardi. Webber qualified well, super light and blew it yet again on the start like always. The other issue with him is his blocking tactics. I have no problem with a driver having a wide car or blocking in some instances but Webber is just silly about it. That move he pulled on Fisi was nasty. Fisi had the spot. Webber chopped at him when it was all but over. I can't see the FIA not penalizing Webber for that. As strict as they have been this season with stuff I can't see hum keeping his finish spot and/or points.

Toyota. Definetely the real deal on circuits were aerodynamics counts over mechanical grip. Circuits like Monaco and the Nurburgring and the like will challenge them but if they can get their car to have better mechanical grip then they will be fighting for wins each GP. Right now they will just be fighting for poduims. Trulli and Raplhie earned their finishes. They lucked into nothing.

McLaren. Since the start of the seaosn the McLaren has been by far the fastest car and best mix of aero and mechanical grip on the grid. Better than the Renault. The issue has been reliability and tire wear. They seem to have fixed the tire issue however reliability has never been a strong point for McLaren in the past years. I expect them to fight for wins but don't think they can take either title, especially the constructors.

Kimi...wow!

Trulli...wow!

My two guys killed it this weekend.

JPM drove and entertaining race. I think he came back a race (or two) early. But with de la Rosa and Wurz hungry to race again and having done so well I can see why he wanted to get back into it. I hope he regains his form. I'd like to see him on the podium.

Minardi...they are almost to the point where they are a hazard to even be on the same circuit with real F1 cars. It's becoming a problem. Albers and the other guy have no future in F1. Albers should have stayed in the DTM.

Did anyone miss BAR? I didn't.

Good race, I'm glad my guys did so well. I can't waist for Monaco.

 

[DRT2RM]

I missed BAR - well, actually, Takuma Sato

Finally the McLaren was reliable for Kimi. He definately deserves the win.

And Toyota's double points is another great effort and are showing that they can be pretty consistent in races.

 

[Jay]

Well I Couldnt see Kimi winning it before but I was dead wrong, good on him 👍

 

[786]

very dominant performance from kimi...there seem to be alot of strong teams this year and thats a very good thing...hopefully ferrari will get their act together soon and when honda comes back we will have some great battles...this is turning out to be a great year to be a F1 fan...

 

[Jay]

MS did pull off a blistering hot lap sometime in the race didnt he?

Any Idea what cause the two punctures for MS?

Minardi.....!!?? what a joke, I wouldnt want to be behind them on the grid.

 

[Blake]

First of all, the formalities, GO KIMI!!!!!!

Did anyone miss BAR? I didn't.

Nup, the grid is better off without them.

Entertaining race, not like Imola but entertaining none-the-less.

Kimi just ran away with it, Montoya was dissapointing but that fuel rig problem cost him a likely podium.

Michaels championship is all but over.

Renault were impressive again, and Fisi's late race pace was pretty phenominal.

Minardi were a joke, a safety hazard even. I'm so suprised no-one hit them, props to Nick and Rubens.

Webber was eh. That car looks horrid to drive and generally off the pace. But his errors when he's got traffic behind him are a bit suprising.

Well done to Toyota, well deserved 11 points 👍

Decent race and I'm glad to see Kimi walk away with it

Blake

 

[snypa]

Ferrari, Like I said many times before never count them out but it ain't looking good for them right now, especially considering we haven;t even entered summer yet with hot races in Europe. If Europe has a cool summer Ferrari might have a chance but if it is hot it's over. I still think the F2005 is the best car on the grid, all but the tires. Bridgestone just doesn't have the test miles or data to compete with Michelin. I think in some cooler races or in the wet we will see Ferrari fight for podiums, but otherwise I think their season is over.

.

I agree with you about the F2005 potential.......but it's just ruined by the tires at the moment. Like you said, Bridgestone suffers from a lack of datas, despite all of the efforts done by Ferrari in private tests the last weeks.
Nevertheless, I think Bridgestone will have time (they will make it, they're obliged to) to build a good tire for the hot summer races.
Remember 2003, everybody said they were finished. The year after, their tire was just as good as the Michelin and the scuderia blew the championship.
So I think Ferrari can react, the car is probably the best when the tires are ok (Michael put the 2nd best lap despite the bad tires in Spain). The problem is that the championship seem to be already lost now for them.
But I would'n be surpised to see Ferrari regain quickness in the second part of the season.

Impressive race from Kimi, Mac laren is now able to exploit the potential they showed in the first races. Kimi should be a real Title competitor for Alonso, if Mac laren is able to provide him the same car all of the season (fast, soft on tires and reliable). And if Montoya manages to find the good pace, it will be possible to see 2 cars in front of Alonso (without speaking about the Toyota, wich were not so far from the Renault yesterday).

It's just too bad that Michael is not able to defend his own title at the moment.

 

[DQuaN]

I laughed so hard when it showed a replay of the start from behind the cars! All the cars took off and the two Minardis just let of a massive puff of smoke and sat there!

 

[ixnay]

Ferrari aren't ruined purely by tyres....

Gearbox failures, engine failures, hydraulic failures...

Ferrari MUST take at leats 20% of the blame.

All the Ferrari fans love blaming Bridgestone this year.

 

[snypa]

Ferrari aren't ruined purely by tyres....

Gearbox failures, engine failures, hydraulic failures...

Ferrari MUST take at leats 20% of the blame.

All the Ferrari fans love blaming Bridgestone this year.

One of the reason why Ferrari had failures is that they were obliged to launch the F2005 earlier than expected. Why did tey do that ?
2 major reasons :
1. The modified F2004 wasn't strong enough to compete with the new 2005 F1
2. The tires were not competitive in malaysia

You have to admit that when the tires are good, this car flies. In Barhein, if schumi would have not suffered from a failure, that would not have changed anything at all, the tires just couldn't last the whole race.

the facts about the bridgestone tire, at this moment, are :
1. It's unefficient on the first laps, causing severe problems in qualifying sessions
2. it can't last more than 75% of the race, except when T° are cold

so, yes, several people think the first problem of Ferrari at the moment is a tires problem.