Thunder Down Under as Alonso seals Melbourne epic
That was one heck of a race yesterday. A look at the results sheet and any F1 fan can be forgiven for mistaking this as a Monaco race. How else would you explain 12 finishers (out of 22), 4 safety car periods and an unexpected podium finisher.
Well, it was not Monaco but Albert Park Melbourne that threw up a dramatic race - the drama which started in the formation lap and continued even after the race winner too
k the chequered flag.
The formation lap saw Juan Pablo spin while trying to warm up his tyres and just when it looked that he will lose his grid position came out the yellow flags as our other bad luck magnet and Sepang race winner Fisichella had a dead engine sitting at p2. Fisi had no option but to start from the pitlane resulting in an extra formation lap thus allowing Juan to work his way up to his p5 grid position.
Now to the race as the five red lights go off. Last night as I was getting ready for my saturday night bash at 'Liquids', I just managed to get the news that Jenson Button is on pole. I just wondered that this could be the day when that long wait for the first race win will be put to rest. It took just a couple of laps and the first safety car intervention for all of us to know that Jenson still has to wait. After just about surviving Fernando Alonso into the first corner, Button somehow stayed in the lead but once the safety car was in it was all over for Jenson. His tyres lacked grip and were cold (that's what i read in the various sites) and soon it was everyone, starting with Kimi, getting past him.
It was familiar stuff after that with Kimi chasing Alonso. However, the Renault was far too fast for anyone. A Maclaren 2-3 was most likely as Juan Pablo was finally driving like... well like him and fast catching up on his team-mate. This was till the time Michael crashed and the safety car came out again. Dash for the pits for everyone and oh! Kimi needed a nose change and Juan Pablo was help up. This allowed Ralfie's Toyoya to sneak in and while Montoya recovered a couple of places to P4 it was Ralf who was ahead in line for the final podium. This was when Juan, pushing too hard to get p3 made the mistake and the race was over for him (Too bad for him as there is only one seat left at Maclaren between him and his team-mate next season).
The drama was still not over as Fisi recovering from a pit-lane start closed in on Button and pressed for p5. Button looked to have secured p5 but meters from the finish line his Honda engine blew up and what looked like a likely first win after the quali turned on into a nightmare all going up with the smoke of the Honda engine. Of course the team revealed that it was a deliberate ploy to not finish in order not to lose 10 grid places at Imola. Smart move.... who cares for 3 points for a p6.
Inspite of all this drama however the result was nothing different..... Ice cool Alonso the winner and Iceman Kimi second after clocking the fastest lap, well all too late in the last lap of the race.
All in all, all that talk about this being the most competitive season ever is all going up in smoke just like the Honda engine and it looks likely that it is going to be a repeat of 2005 - Renault taking an early lead and Maclaren doing the catching up for the rest of the season with Fisico and JPM continuously running into some sort of bad luck (either self imposed or by fate).
Verdict....
For all the drama in the race, the result was never in doubt. Alonso drove like God and no matter how many safety car interventions were there and no matter how many times his lead was nullified because of that, he was unruffled and made it look all too easy. This race would have probably been a classic like San Marino and Suzuka 2005 had Fisi started on p2 and Montoya finished. What a cracker it would have been then to watch Alonso V Fisi and Kimi V Juan...... After all there is nothing more fascinating in F1 than team-mates battling it out a la Senna V Prost.
That was one heck of a race yesterday. A look at the results sheet and any F1 fan can be forgiven for mistaking this as a Monaco race. How else would you explain 12 finishers (out of 22), 4 safety car periods and an unexpected podium finisher.
Well, it was not Monaco but Albert Park Melbourne that threw up a dramatic race - the drama which started in the formation lap and continued even after the race winner too
k the chequered flag.The formation lap saw Juan Pablo spin while trying to warm up his tyres and just when it looked that he will lose his grid position came out the yellow flags as our other bad luck magnet and Sepang race winner Fisichella had a dead engine sitting at p2. Fisi had no option but to start from the pitlane resulting in an extra formation lap thus allowing Juan to work his way up to his p5 grid position.
Now to the race as the five red lights go off. Last night as I was getting ready for my saturday night bash at 'Liquids', I just managed to get the news that Jenson Button is on pole. I just wondered that this could be the day when that long wait for the first race win will be put to rest. It took just a couple of laps and the first safety car intervention for all of us to know that Jenson still has to wait. After just about surviving Fernando Alonso into the first corner, Button somehow stayed in the lead but once the safety car was in it was all over for Jenson. His tyres lacked grip and were cold (that's what i read in the various sites) and soon it was everyone, starting with Kimi, getting past him.
It was familiar stuff after that with Kimi chasing Alonso. However, the Renault was far too fast for anyone. A Maclaren 2-3 was most likely as Juan Pablo was finally driving like... well like him and fast catching up on his team-mate. This was till the time Michael crashed and the safety car came out again. Dash for the pits for everyone and oh! Kimi needed a nose change and Juan Pablo was help up. This allowed Ralfie's Toyoya to sneak in and while Montoya recovered a couple of places to P4 it was Ralf who was ahead in line for the final podium. This was when Juan, pushing too hard to get p3 made the mistake and the race was over for him (Too bad for him as there is only one seat left at Maclaren between him and his team-mate next season).
The drama was still not over as Fisi recovering from a pit-lane start closed in on Button and pressed for p5. Button looked to have secured p5 but meters from the finish line his Honda engine blew up and what looked like a likely first win after the quali turned on into a nightmare all going up with the smoke of the Honda engine. Of course the team revealed that it was a deliberate ploy to not finish in order not to lose 10 grid places at Imola. Smart move.... who cares for 3 points for a p6.
Inspite of all this drama however the result was nothing different..... Ice cool Alonso the winner and Iceman Kimi second after clocking the fastest lap, well all too late in the last lap of the race.
All in all, all that talk about this being the most competitive season ever is all going up in smoke just like the Honda engine and it looks likely that it is going to be a repeat of 2005 - Renault taking an early lead and Maclaren doing the catching up for the rest of the season with Fisico and JPM continuously running into some sort of bad luck (either self imposed or by fate).
Verdict....
For all the drama in the race, the result was never in doubt. Alonso drove like God and no matter how many safety car interventions were there and no matter how many times his lead was nullified because of that, he was unruffled and made it look all too easy. This race would have probably been a classic like San Marino and Suzuka 2005 had Fisi started on p2 and Montoya finished. What a cracker it would have been then to watch Alonso V Fisi and Kimi V Juan...... After all there is nothing more fascinating in F1 than team-mates battling it out a la Senna V Prost.
posted by Avishek @ 7:37 AM
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