French Grand Prix – race

July 3, 2005 by paul
Filed under: Uncategorized

Grid: FA, JT, [KR*] MS, TS, RB, GF, JB, JM, FM, JV, RS, MW, KR, NH, DC, CK, NK, PF, TM, CA.

*Kimi Raikkonen penalised 10 grid spots for a change of engine. Apparently his replacement is an older (and lower) spec one!

It’s a warm one – track temperature 51°C; air temp 30°C; wind 0.5-1.5m/s; humidity 40%; pressure 993.6 mBar.

Formation lap: JT leads the grid round for the 4th time this season.

Lap 01/70: TS passed by RB in Turn 1
Problems with the live timing system again, same as yesterday?

02: FA, JT, MS, RB, TS, GF, JM, JB; JV=10; KR=11; RS=12; DC=15
CK pulls off from P17

03: FA already has a 2.8s lead of JT
FA fastest lap 1:17.056

04: FA f/lap 1:16.781 – lead over JT now 4.1s
KR passed JV for P10

05: FA f/lap 1:16.551; lead 5.5s – is he pitting early?

06: FA f/lap 1:16.502; lead 7.0s
PF (P19/last) is 33.2s behind FA
Closest battles: MS 0.6s behind JT; FM 0.9s off JB; DC 0.6s off NH

08: ITV-F1 report CK’s fuel pressure dropped and killed the engine

10/70: FA no longer putting in fastest laps but lead over JT up to 12.9s
FA, JT, MS, RB, TS, GF, JM, JB; KR=10; JV=11; RS=12; DC=15

14: PF is first to pit – his pit team appear to be pulling something off both side pods

16: Toyota team ready … for RS; TS, FM pit too

18: RB pits from P4 – 8.1s stop

19: JT & MS pit together – very quick stop for MS and he’s out first
NH pits too

20/70: GF pits, as do JB, JV & MW – refuelling rig problem for GF

21: FA pits – 7.6s – including a front tyre pressure adjustment
Yet to pit: JM, KR & DC

22: FA, JM, KR, MS, JT, RB, TS, JB
DC pits from P9 – he & NH get close as DC exits the pit lane

23: TS passes RB as a gaggle of cars squeeze through the hairpin
The two McLarens (JM & KR) are pushing hard, to stay ahead of MS when they pit in the next couple of laps

25: KR f/lap 1:16.434 – lead over MS just 17.9s, not enough to rejoin ahead
TS pushing JT hard

26: JM pits – 9.4s?
KR f/lap 1:16.423 – the only one yet to pit

27: TS out braked himself in the hairpin (trying to pass JT) and ran wide – silly move

28: KR 22.7s ahead of MS; McLaren team getting ready for him

29: KR pits – 9.4s stop – rejoins safely ahead of both JM and MS!

30: FM brings his Sauber in to the pits and retires
FA has a 29.4s lead over KR – a whole pit stop in hand

31: TM puts in a personal f/lap 1:20.196 (current race f/lap KR’s 1:16.423)

32: MW pits – struggles to get the Williams going again but rejoins still ahead of TM

33: ITV-F1 report MW has “excessive heat in the cockpit” and has stopped on track? (Appears to still be running)

35/70: FA, KR, JM, MS, JT, RB, JB, GF; TS=9; JV=10; RS=11; DC=13; retirements = CK, FM, MW.

36: MS pits from P4; TS pits from P9
ITV-F1 report Sauber have fixed FM’s hydraulic problem and he’s rejoining

37: PF pulls off – rear puncture
FM pits again

38: Official FIA timing struggling again – “Please wait…” (2nd time in a couple of minutes)

39: NH pits from P11
FA lead over KR 33.1s

40/70: DC personal f/lap 1:17.877

41: RB pits from P6
CA off in the gravel … and nearly gets run over by the recovery crane! Rear left puncture?

42: FA pits from P1, with 33.9s lead over KR – 7.6s stop

43: FA still has a 32.6s lead!
FA, KR, JM, MS, JT, JB, GF, JV; RS=9; RB=10; DC=11; TS=12; retirements = CK, FM, PF, CA.
FIA timing display showing a mess of strange characters too!

44: DC pits from P11
Replay of MS locking up and flat-spotting his front left
RS pits
JM slowing? Losing about 0.7s per sector

45: GF pits – a better stop than his first one
JM struggling to hold off MW from unlapping himself

46: JT pits from P5
MW passes JM fairly easily
Track temp still ~52°C; air temp 30°C; wind 1.3m/s

47: Onboard with JM – very slow through the final chicane but doesn’t pit – passed by MS for P3
JB pits

48: McLaren clear the pit box ready for JM to retire … but he pulls off the track and retires (his 1st of the season)

49: NH pits from P12
FA laps RB (P8)
JV pits from P4(!)

50/70: FA, KR, MS, JV, GF, JB, JT, RB; RS=9; DC=11
NH pits again – stop #4!

51: TS off into the gravel again – recovers – replay shows it’s not really his fault – car ahead of him (RS?) threw up gravel
Oh, and now the FIA’s commentary has disappeared, but at least the timing is working (for now)

52: MS pits from P3

54: ITV-F1 interview JM – hydraulic problem
GF closing on MS, but GF will need to pit soon

55: Closest battles: GF 0.6s behind MS; RB 1.0s off JT; DC 0.5s off JV
FA, KR, MS, GF, JB, JT, RB, RS; JV=9; DC=9; retirements = CK, FM, PF, CA, JM.
FIA timing stopped AGAIN!

56: KR & RB both pit

58: FA lead over KR 33.1s; MS 41.3s off KR; GF just 0.6s behind MS
TS pits from P11

59: FA pits; 5.4s stop; he’ll retain P1 easily
NH pit stop #6!
GF pits from P4, which will be a relief for MS – stalled it!

60/70: DC pits from P9
FA, KR, MS, JB, JT, GF, RS, JV; RB=9; DC=10

61: KR now 18.0s behind FA and 47.0s ahead of MS; JB 11.4s off MS but lapping slower than MS (and JB is next to be lapped)

62: ITV-F1 says Ferrari insist there is no problem with MS

63: FA laps JB (P4)

64: MS opening the gap to JB (now 13.2s) and JT is only 4.4s off JB in P5

65/70: FA, KR, MS, JB, JT, GF, RS, JV; RB=9; DC=10; retirements = CK, FM, PF, CA, JM.

67: FA just about 6s behind MS – he probably won’t have time to lap him

70/70: FA crawls across the line in front of a huge crowd waving Renault flags
FA, KR, MS, JB, JT, GF, RS, JV; RB=9; DC=10; TS=11; MW=12 (2 laps down)

Post-race:
Whooops! The flags are back to front – KR’s Finnish flag above MS, and MS’s German flag above KR. D’oh!
FA points to the Michelin logo on his cap as he stands on the top step of the podium

FA said the last few laps went very slowly, waiting for the chequered flag
KR: “Second place is quite good for us” … remember he was 13th on the grid after having to replace a blown engine
MS: “Stuck behind Juan [Montoya]” … if you’re faster, pass him or shut up!

Provisional Results:

F.Alonso (Renault)
K.Raikkonen (McLaren)
M.Schumacher (Ferrari)
J.Button (BAR)
J.Trulli (Toyota)
G.Fisichella (Renault)
R.Schumacher (Toyota)
J.Villeneuve (Sauber)

Points:

F.Alonso	69
K.Raikkonen	45
M.Schumacher	40
J.Trulli	31
R.Barrichello	29
N.Heidfeld	25
M.Webber	22
R.Schumacher	22
G.Fisichella	20
D.Coulthard	17
J.Montoya	16
F.Massa	7
A.Wurz	6
T.Monteiro	6
J.Villeneuve	6
N.Karthikeyan	5
J.Button	5
P.de la Rosa	4
C.Klien	4
C.Albers	4
P.Friesacher	3
V.Liuzzi	1
T.Sato	0
A.Donaldson	0