United States Grand Prix

[Mike Rotch]

Quite an exciting race, but mostly for the wrong reasons - Ralf's crash and the race officials ineptitude.

Great race by Michael. He came out tops in the two instances he needed to; first when he overtook Reubens, and secondly when he shut the door on Reubens. But at least Reubens has picked up his pace now to a point where he is racing Michael, not like earlier in the year when he was way down.

I even felt a twinge of sympathy for Montoya. Having to run to your T-car as the parade lap is about to begin must honk some. I am interested to hear what the cause of Ralfs crash was. He didnt seem to think he 'pinched' the curb, so it was either another Michelin Tyre failure or a collapsed suspension. A nasty accident, and I hope he recovers soon.

Alonso had a superb start, and must has lost some years off his life with the speed of his accident Trulli did well to finish where he did, starting at the back.

Broken record time! More respect to Kimi. One more stop then DC and he still finished ahead of him. 👍 And Toyota? Where did they find their pace all-of-a-sudden? Good, clean drive from Panis. And :tup to Paul Stoddard. He must have a smile larger then the Danube.

Sato had greatr pace the entire weekend. Had he pitted on under SC, he might well have won. Button, well,

And then the race officials. Why a) did they take so long to attend to Ralf? b) Why didnt they take the SC through the pit lane to avoid the debris? and c) why did they take so long to alert Williams to their penalty? Poor showing chaps.

 

[SkylineObsession]

Trulli and Sato could also have slipped on Webber's oil...

 

[Blake]

It was a good race, apoart from the predictable result. Poor Montoya, from having to sprint to the T car and having a very unsettling start to being penalised for it. After they didn't give him a penalty for a while I was almost hopeful of his success.

Alonso, suprising crash but luckilly he kept sliding down the wall and that took alot of the danger away from the crash.

Ralf was lucky he didn't get too badly injured. At the beggining of this race I was thinking that it had as much carnage as an irl race.

Anyway, go Trulli!

 

[SouL]

The announcers said that Button's retirement was because of a failing gearbox, I think.

The Sato move on Trulli... tough call. DC on the racing line entering the turn didn't give Sato a whole lot of room to make a move on Trulli. I don't know. But somehow they both ended up off the track... with Sato taking a little short cut and simply driving through the grass. Hahahaha

You still have to give Sato credit for being brave/stupid (depends on how you see it, I suppose). He was pretty much the only guy on the track that was making a serious effort in passing other drivers. The move he pulled on Panis was very risky. If Panis didn't see him I'm sure the 2 would have touched.

It'll be interesting to see how the rest of Sato's season unfolds. I think at the moment a lot of the drivers are afraid of his agressiveness... which I suppose works for Sato's favor. He can push and make moves on all the other drivers knowing with confidence that they'll give way simply because they're afraid Sato might hit them.

And uh... kudos to both Montoya and Trulli. Both those guys started from the back and somehow found their way near the front of the pack. It's a real shame Montoya got black flagged. He seriously deserved some points.

 

[Darin]

Yes, Button's retirement was a failing gearbox...

I'm still wondering to what happened to the penality on Micheal Shumacher from passing during a caution. It was ignored, and Montoya was being investigated. Damn FIA favors ferrari not anyone else...

 

[sinner]

I still haven't figured how Schumi got in front of the BARs after pitting with the safety car out...

 

[Darin]

The FIA Favors Ferrari.

 

[Mike Rotch]

I still haven't figured how Schumi got in front of the BARs after pitting with the safety car out...

Schumi pitted on the lap directly after Ralf crashed, Sato didnt. Whilst Michael was in the pits, Sato was slowly dodging his way through Ralfs debris. By the time he passed the mess on the track, schumi was in the pit exit lane and by the time the 1st corner arrived, Schumi squeezed into the lead again.

 

[sinner]

Do you remember how big his gap was from Sato before he pitted? it just amazes me how perfectly they timed it...

 

[Mike Rotch]

That, and BAR dropped the ball by not pitting when he pitted.

 

[Nasadus]

I really love watching Sato,that is how racing should be done for god's sake.It's simple really,when he is behind you he will try to overtake you at the next corner, he won't wait,why should he anyway.So a big 👍 to Sato for making F1 enjoyable to watch.
All in all i really liked this race,glad nothing serious happend to Ralf,he seems ok right now.

Too bad Rubens didn't take the lead when he was on fresh tires,after the 2nd pitstop he tried to overtake Michael(at the wrong moment though) but Michael didn't move off the racing line.Rubens wasn't really next to Micheal in that corner anyway so he had no chance to overtake.And Ross Brawn said before the race that they were allowed to fight for positions as long as they din't do anything stupid.

 

[SkylineObsession]

Indeed. Sato and Montoya seem to be the only ones who *really* know how to pass in F1.

 

[Blake]

Agreed^.....

 

[Mike Rotch]

Indeed. Sato and Montoya seem to be the only ones who *really* know how to pass in F1.

Yea, that Michael guy is useless, especially in traffic.

 

[SkylineObsession]

He doesn't take as many risks though.

 

[RSCosworth]

Good race.

Sato did a good job and earned his podium. He´s a very aggressive driver. Did you see how he passed Panis? They almost crashed. Too bad for Button, gearbox failure.

Again, Ferrari got a one-two win..

Toyota really surprised me. Go Panis! 👍

Renault had a bad weekend. First Trulli had electrical problems on qualification and Alonso´s tire popped in the race. But Trulli did good, he started 19th and finished 4th. But still, I was a bit disappointed on Renaults performance.

McLaren.. Well, they got points, but mostly due to other drivers retirements. Again, Kimi suffered electrical problems, and that caused him a 15 sec pit stop. Coulthard didn´t seem to have any problems, but he was very slow. Not good, Mclaren.

I´m glad that Ralf wasn´t injured. Montoya was driving amazing race, he started last and he was second before his black flag. FIA did bad job, first they let Montoya to drive an amazing race, and when there is about 15 laps left, they give him a black flag. Another dark weekend for Williams.

I´m sure that Minardi was one of the happiest team after the race. Baumgartner was 3 laps behind the lead but still got a point. Good job.

Jaguar was pretty good over the weekend, but in the race Klien crashes. Webber could have scored some points, but then he retired. Bad weekend for them too.

Fisco was having problems during the race many times. Then in the end, he was 8 laps behind the lead I´m sure he drove just in a hope for a point if someone retires.

Jordan was not good at all. Both drivers retired. Well, I didn´t wait for anything special from them..

Just some of my thoughts..

Laters

 

[Schrodes]

He doesn't take as many risks though.

Why would he take risks if he can win without taking risks?

 

[K_Speed]

Montoya did a great job. Just sux that he got disqualified . I think he has most experience on this track. And really drove fantastically. He could have been 1st....

always my favorite drivers never make it (Montoya, Barrichello)

lol

 

[Darin]

Yea, that Michael guy is useless, especially in traffic.

Cause Micheal Shumacher is never in traffic he is always 1st.

I bet the FIA has some special parts on the ferrari to make them faster. Cause I don't think just 1 Manufactorer can dominate againest all the rules FIA put down.

 

[Eagle]

I think it's naive to believe Ferrari cheats, I think the simple truth of the matter is they have more money than anyone else, and that makes all the difference - they can invest in all the tehcnology, all the people, everything they need. They have Michael Schumacher, who is in my opinion the greatest F1 driver yet (it's always going to be hard to compete with the legacy of dead racers and previous generations, but when you stop and look at what he's achieved and the times he's achieved it in, it's phenomenal), they have Jean Todt who has one of the most impressive and determined minds ever, and Ross Brawn, who yet again is class of his field... it goes on like this. There's a number of reasons for their continued success, but all of it revolves around those 3 men and their sheer determination to turn Ferrari from a laughing stock into something truly awe inspiring.

Some of Sato's moves were brilliant, some were questionable. That's the way it goes, I wasn't trying to say he made the wrong call, just that Trulli won't be happy because that's the second time it's happened Michael wove his usual magic with pit stops and restarts to emerge in front. When did he pass under caution?

 

[Mike Rotch]

Cause Micheal Shumacher is never in traffic he is always 1st.

I bet the FIA has some special parts on the ferrari to make them faster. Cause I don't think just 1 Manufactorer can dominate againest all the rules FIA put down.

Bravo! You have got it. The FIA and Bernie secretly let Ferrari break the rules, thus allowing them to dominate the sport. That way, television viewership drops and everybody gets less money. God, you post some garbage sometimes. 👎

And Michael is never in traffic? Yep, spot on with that one

 

[Blake]

lolhahahaha

 

[Darin]

I think it's naive to believe Ferrari cheats, I think the simple truth of the matter is they have more money than anyone else

You're wrong Eagle. Toyota has the biggest budget.

 

[Darin]

Bravo! You have got it. The FIA and Bernie secretly let Ferrari break the rules, thus allowing them to dominate the sport. That way, television viewership drops and everybody gets less money. God, you post some garbage sometimes. 👎

And Michael is never in traffic? Yep, spot on with that one

👍

 

[Blake]

You're wrong Eagle. Toyota has the biggest budget

You're worng, Toyota have 2nd biggest budget!

 

[Darin]

Nope. If you listened to guys talking during the US gran prix, they specifally said, "Toyota has the best budget is F1 currently."

 

[toler]

darin´s right. 300 millon € plus, next year i´ll be even bigger with sony and bill gates supposedly joining in as new sponsors. the "PS2 - windows XP - toyota" - sounds nice doesn´t it !?!

 

[Mike Rotch]

darin´s right. 300 millon € plus, next year i´ll be even bigger with sony and bill gates supposedly joining in as new sponsors. the "PS2 - windows XP - toyota" - sounds nice doesn´t it !?!

Dont you mean, the Team PS2 - XBOX Toyota

👍

 

[Blake]

Nope. If you listened to guys talking during the US gran prix, they specifally said, "Toyota has the best budget is F1 currently."

Do you get the ITV commentators? If not I wouldn't have heard that. If you do I must have missed it when I was getting food.

 

[Eagle]

Again I can only go by Martin and James and they say Ferrari. In either case I'd have to say the term 'best' certainly doesn't apply to Toyota's budget because for all their spending their progress has been minimal.

Mike Rotch said it better than anyone else could have at the top of this page, bravo.

...we learn that it has one of the biggest budgets in F1. The exact extent of the financial resource at its disposal has not been disclosed but is thought to be more on par with the scarlet giants Ferrari than minnows Minardi. Its workforce is certainly one of the largest, with around 500 employees, second only to Ferrari with 680.

Link: http://www.f1i.com/teams/PANASONIC_TOYOTA_RACINGprofile.html

Ferrari cannot hide from the fact that their budget for 2003 was $US302.75 million

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2004/02/29/smmoss29.xml

Link: http://www.fastmachines.com/archives/f1/001603.php
The above site has quite a large breakdown of the numbers and refers to an article in Formula 1 Magazine, March 2003. If someone has a copy it'll save me trekking through archives.