Brazilian Grand Prix – Race
Trulli was given a 10-spot penalty for an engine change; Sato was penalised 10-spots for running into MS at the previous race, and Doornbos aborted his qualifying lap after a spin.
If Alonso finishes on the podium, he’s World Champion, at the youngest champion to boot, with two races (Japan + China) still to go.
Raikkonen’s chances of taking the title are very, very slim now, but Renault boss Flavio Briatore has said there’s to be no planning for a party, so as not to tempt fate.
TSN showed golf yesterday instead of qualifying; today they’re showing NASCAR instead of the race. What?! So we’re stuck with SpeedTV again, so we may have to turn the sound off just to prevent us shouting at the commentators!
Apparently overnight KR changed the front-right tyre that he locked up in qualifying – won’t that mean a penalty? No, the FIA have given him the OK to do it.
JV is starting from the pit lane instead of P11 – apparently the team changed a part that they’re allowed to change but didn’t get approval from officials before they did it.
Track temperature 23°C; air temp 24°C; wind 1m/s; humidity 64%; pressure 925.7mBar.
FA leads them away on the formation lap.
TM enters the pit lane instead of taking his place on the grid.
01/71: FA stays ahead of JM into Turn 1.
KR passes GF and then MS almost side-swipes GF.
AP is out of his Williams, and the Safety Car is out.
Replay: looks like DC tried to squeeze through and clipped AP.
02: SC deployed.
MW pits … and the team put out a fire! That’s both Williams out.
SC lights out – in at the end of this lap.
JM is very close to FA as they approach the line.
03: JM pushing hard and passes FA for P1.
GF passes MS too.
04: JM, FA, KR, GF, MS, JB, CK, RB. Retirements: DC, AP, MW.
TS already up to P11 having started right at the back of the grid.
05: JM fastest lap 1:13.959
06: JM f/lap 1:13.867
07: FA f/lap 1:13.746
08: JM f/lap 1:13.160
Is JM light fueled? Most drivers are expected to 2-stop (~laps 24+48) but there may be some 1-stoppers (~lap 35)
09: JM f/lap 1:13.002
10/71: Track temperature has dropped a degree to 22°C
11: TS is just 0.3s behind FM who’s in P10
13: Interesting fact from the offiicial F1 feed: if Monteiro finishes this race he’ll equal Michael Schumacher’s record for the number of successive finishes!
14: JT passes NK for P12
16: MS posts a personal fastest lap 1:13.505
17: FA has put in successive fastest Sector 1 times but hasn’t yet posted a … hang on…
18: FA f/lap 1:12.827
FM pits from P10 – a very early 2-stop or is he 3-stopping?
19: NK pits from P13 – a long stop – rejoins in P17/last
20/71: JM, FA, KR, GF, MS, JB, CK, RB
21: CA pits from P12
22: JM f/lap 1:12.824
FA f/lap 1:12.653
JV finally passes RD for P12
23: FA pits from P2 – that’s earlier than expected – 8.1s stop – rejoins in P6 ahead of CK
24: GF pits from P3 – 8.5s
RB pits from P8 – 8.6s – smoke from the left side-pod
25: CK pits from P6 – 10.1s
26: MS personal f/lap 1:12.800
JV personal f/lap 1:14.054
27: MS pits from P3 – 8.8s – rejoins alongside GF … and MS takes the spot
JB pits from P5
RS pits from P7
28: JM f/lap 1:12.650
McLaren pit team getting ready
29: JM pits from P1 – 8.2s – easily takes P2 well ahead of FA
KR personal f/lap 1:12.674 and inherits P1
30: KR f/lap 1:12.268
KR yet to pit; he’s got a 32.8s lead over FA
31: Looks like MW has rejoined, about 25 laps down.
JM locks up and could have flat-spotted his front right
32: KR pits from P1 with a 34.5s lead – 10.0s stop – rejoins behind teammate JM
Still to pit: TS (P6), JT (P8), JV (P12)
33: JT pits; rejoins in P12
35/71: FA is 9.8s behind KR, who is 2.0s behind JM. MS is 14.8s behind FA in P4.
JV pits from P11
36: RD brings a sick-looking Minardi into the pits, spewing smoke. Enters his box and is told to kill the engine.
MW will pass RD in ~24 laps time!
39: TS is the last man to pit, in from P6; rejoins in P10 ahead of JT.
40/71: JM, KR, FA, MS, GF, JB, RB, CK. Retirements: DC, AP, (MW) RD.
RB is just 0.2s behind JB
41: So when will JM let KR take P1? Surely JM should be backing FA back into MS?
44: RB locks up in Turn 1 as decides not to try to pass future BAR teammate JB
45: RB elbows his way past JB in T1 this time
47: NK in for pit stop #3!
RB posts persnonal f/lap 1:14.535
48: RB personal f/lap 1:13.373
49: FA pits from P3 – 7.6s – rejoins behind teammate GF (P4)
50/71: GF pits from P4 – 6.8s – rejoins ahead of RB
51: Ferrari team ready for RB – locks up his right front as he enters the box – 6.8s
53: JM, KR, MS, FA, GF, JB, CK, RS
JM has lapped everyone up to + including RS in P8
54: JM pits from P1 – rejoins in P2
55: MS pits from P3 – rejoins in P4, between FA and GF
56: JV pits, even after a late 1st stop (lap 35)
58: KR posts 1:12.601
CK looks to be struggling
59: TM is coasting – will he finish and equal MS’s record? Looks like the engine’s blown
60/71: KR pits from P1, just 18.5s ahead of JM and 44.0s ahead of FA – 5.8s stop – rejoins just behind JM
61: MW is just 1 lap away from passing RD, who retired way back on lap 36
MS is ~17s behind FA in P4, so it looks likely he’ll win the Drivers’ Championship … unless that counts as “doing a Murray Walker”!
With a McLaren 1+2, they’ll take a 2 point lead over Renault in the Constructors’ Championship though.
62: Now that MW has passed RD, he might as well park the car – he’s 17 laps behind TM and there’s only 9 laps left.
67/71: JM, KR, FA, MS, GF, RB, JB, RS; JM has lapped JB in P7
MS has dropped back to 17.5s behind FA
69: The front-runners’ tyres are all looking pretty tired – will any of them be found to be illegal?
70/71: JM, KR, FA, MS, GF, RB, JB, RS
71/71: McLaren 1+2 (JM, KR)
FA finishes 3rd and therefore (unless anything happens in scruteneering) he’s World Champion.
MS, GF, RB, JB + RS take the rest of the points-paying positions.
- J.Montoya (McLaren)
- K.Raikkonen (McLaren)
- F.Alonso (Renault)
- M.Schumacher (Ferrari)
- G.Fisichella (Renault)
- R.Barrichello (Ferrari)
- J.Button (BAR)
- R.Schumacher (Toyota)
9=CK; 10=TS; 11=FM; 12=JV; 13=JT; 14=CA; 15=NK
Unclassified: TM, MW, RD, AP, DC.
Raikkonen looks a bit dejected on the podium, but it was a real outside chance that he’d beat FA.
Alonso’s wearing silver boots! Mmmkay.
T-shirt of one of the Renault team: “World Champion! Schumacher who?” 
Youngest F1 race winner and now youngest World Champion.
Interviews:
JM: “Finally we got a 1,2 that we’ve deserved since the beginning of the year”
KR: looks like he’s had a quick cry! “A good finish for the team”
FA: When asked who he’d thank for helping him become World Champion: “thanks to three or four people, no more than that”!!
Note: 7th & 8th places not awarded at US GP
F.Alonso
117 == World Champion
K.Raikkonen
94
M.Schumacher
60
J.Montoya
60
G.Fisichella
45
J.Trulli
43
R.Schumacher
38
R.Barrichello
38
J.Button
32
M.Webber
29
N.Heidfeld
28
D.Coulthard
21
J.Villeneuve
9
F.Massa
8
T.Monteiro
7
A.Wurz
6
N.Karthikeyan
5
C.Klien
5
P.de la Rosa
4
C.Albers
4
P.Friesacher
3
A.Pizzonia
2
V.Liuzzi
1
T.Sato
1
A.Donaldson
0
R.Doornbos
0
McLaren Mercedes
164
Renault
162
Ferrari
98
Toyota
81
BMW Williams
59
BAR
33
Red Bull
27
Sauber
17
Jordan
12
Minardi
7
Next race: Japan, the penultimate race of the season, in two weeks. [F1 calendar, 2005]
Brazilian Grand Prix – Qualifying
Ugh. TSN’s showing golf (YOU SUCK!) so we’re stuck with the clueless commentators of SpeedTV. 
Track temperature 38°C; air temp 28°C; wind 0.8m/s; humidity 48%; pressure 926.6mBar.
Batch 1: GF, TS, MS, DC, JT
G.Fisichella (Renault) – Sector 1=18.4; S2=37.1; S3=17.0; 1:12.558 = provisional Position 1 (of course)
T.Sato (BAR) has a 10-grid-spot penalty after running into MS at Spa, so he’s opted not to put in a qualifying time. Has he also changed engine?
M.Schumacher (Ferrari) – S1=18.3; S2=37.3; 1:12.976 = pP2
D.Coulthard (Red Bull) – S1=18.6; S2=37.7; 1:13.844 = pP3
J.Trulli (Toyota) – S1=18.5; S2=37.1; 1:13.041 = pP3 … except he’s got a 10-spot penalty coming for an engine change earlier
Batch 2: AP, JM, RD, CA, NK
A.Pizzonia (Williams) – S1=18.5; S2=37.8; 1:13.581 = pP4
J.Montoya (McLaren) – S1=18.3; S2=36.7; 1:12.145 = pP1
R.Doornbos (Minardi) – S1=19.1; S2=40.7; spins it and aborts his lap.
C.Albers (Minardi) – S1=18.9; S2=38.3 – very twitchy though; 1:14.763 = pP7
N.Karthikeyan (Jordan) – S1=18.9; S2=38.0; 1:42.520 = pP7
Batch 3: FM, CK, TM, RS, JV
F.Massa (Sauber) – S1=18.5; S2=37.2; 1:13.151 = pP5
C.Klien (Red Bull) – S1=18.4; S2=37.1; 1:12.889 = pP3
T.Montiero (Jordan) – S1=18.8; S2=37.2; 1:13.387 = pP7
R.Schumacher (Toyota) – S1=18.6; S2=37.3; 1:13.285 = pP7
J.Villeneuve (Sauber) – S1=18.6; S2=37.3; 1:13.372 = pP8 … 2 places behind his teammate
Batch 4: RB, MW, JB, FA, KR
R.Barrichello (Ferrari) – 10km/h slower than MS through the speed trap! S1=18.4; S2=37.4; 1:13.183 = pP7 – that’s not good for the home-town boy
M.Webber (Williams) – S1=18.7; S2=37.4; 1:13.538 = pP11! Wow, that’s bad.
J.Button (BAR) – S1=18.4; S2=36.9; 1:12.696 = pP3
F.Alonso (Renault) – S1=18.2; S2=36.7; 1:11.988 = pP1
K.Raikkonen (McLaren) – locks up badly into Turn 1! S1=18.9; S2=36.7; 1:12.781 = P5
- F.Alonso (Renault) 1:11.988
- J.Montoya (Williams) 1:12.145
- G.Fisichella (Renault) 1:12.558
- J.Button (BAR) 1:12.696
- K.Raikkonen (McLaren) 1:12.781
- C.Klien (Red Bull) 1:12.889
- M.Schumacher (Ferrari) 1:12.976
- J.Trulli (Toyota) 1:13.041 ** 10-spot penalty coming for an engine change
- F.Massa (Sauber) 1:13.151
- R.Barrichello (Ferrari) 1:13.183
- R.Schumacher (Toyota) 1:13.285
- J.Villeneuve (Sauber) 1:13.372
- T.Montiero (Jordan) 1:13.387
- M.Webber (Williams) 1:13.538
- A.Pizzonia (Williams) 1:13.581
- D.Coulthard (Red Bull) 1:13.844
- N.Karthikeyan (Jordan) 1:42.520
- C.Albers (Minardi) 1:14.763
- R.Doornbos (Minardi) – no time.
- T.Sato (BAR) – no time + 10-spot penalty
FA: “tomorrow everything will be OK” (talking about the new aero package)
JM: “Kimi’s going to have a tough race tomorrow”; 8-year old girl who designed his helmet (which is auctioned after the race) is at the race.
[Weekend schedule] [F1 calendar, 2005]
Brazilian Grand Prix – Practice
Brazil’s not my favourite circuit by any means – it’s too short, the infield’s too tight (=very slow) and there’s almost no chance of overtaking. As well as being really bumpy, the drainage is faily poor … and the forecast for the weekend is wet! (Spring has just begun in Brazil.)
Alex Wurz was fastest in this morning’s session (1:11.701), followed by Sato, Alonso, Button and Raikkonen.
New engines this weekend for quite a few cars: FA, KR, AP, MW, RB, CK, JT, DC, TM, FM.
Liuzzi sets fastest lap (1:15.385), which is quickly beaten by Wurz.
M.Schumachers takes fastest lap (1:14.643) but then spins in the wiggly infield.
Raikkonen puts in 1:13.950
Montoya sets 1:13.896 … still a couple of seconds off this morning’s best time
Alonso sets fastest sector 1 and S2 … but then backs off as he’s catching up on another car.
M.Schumacher puts in 1:13.205 and looked to have the Ferrari on the ragged edge.
At the other end of the timing table, Doornbos is over 4.5 seconds slower (1:17.901)
30 minutes gone.
Massa puts up 1:12.710 to beat MS by almost half a second (0.495s)
Montoya clocks in at 1:12.694 – within a second of Wurz’s top time from this morning.
The onboard camera shots show just how bumpy the track is, even the newly resurfaced section. Ugh.
Button posts a personal best (for this session) of 1:14.189 but he’s still down in P14
Yellow flags are out after Klien spun off backwards into the wall.
15 mins left.
It’s taken the Brazilian marshals almost five minutes to move CK’s wrecked Red Bull car.
Notably at the tail of the scoreboard: P21=R.Schumacher (1:14.832) & P22=Coulthard (1:15.171), with only Karthikeyan & Kiesa slower.
Zonta sticks in a good time (1:12.802) to drag himself from P20 to P3 … and next lap he’s P2 with 1:12.706, just 0.012s off JPM.
Webber spins and teammate Pizzonia has to almost stop to avoid him as MW spins back onto the track
SpeedTV’s commentators prove (yet again) that they’re clueless; we may have to watch the race with the sound turned off.
5 mins left.
Zonta squeezes past Fisichella into Turn 1 – that was a little close for comfort for a practice session!
Almost everyone is on track now, so don’t expect to see anyone beat Montoya’s top lap time.
OK, ignore what I just said – Wurz posts 1:12.083, fastest by 0.611s
Albers is off track but I didn’t see how that happened; looked like a lock up but CA picked up a piece of bodywork.
Top times:
- A.Wurz (McLaren) 1:12.083
- J.Montoya (McLaren) 1:12.694
- R.Zonta
- F.Massa
- R.Barrichello
The South American drivers are doing well on home soil.
p.s. TSN sucks – there’s Formula One live but you choose to show golf. Duh!
[Weekend schedule] [F1 calendar, 2005]
Brazilian Grand Prix – Schedule + news
Instead of getting up to watch the race at 7am/8am on a Sunday, this weekend’s race is in Brazil which is only an hour different, so I’ll be able to watch it at lunchtime … except TSN are showing golf and Nascar instead, and Speed’s commentators are morons.
This weekend’s schedule:
| Circuit (local) time | EDT (GMT -4hrs) | TV coverage | |
| Friday Practice 1 | 1100-1200 | 1000-1100 | x |
| Friday Practice 2 | 1400-1500 | 1300-1400 | Live on Speed |
| Saturday Practice 1 | 0900-0945 | 0800-0845 | x |
| Saturday Practice 2 | 1015-1100 | 0915-1000 | x |
| Saturday Qualifying | 1300-1400 | 1200-1300 | Live on Speed; TSN is showing golf! |
| Race | 1400-1600 | 1300-1500 | Live on Speed (pre-race @ 1230); TSN is showing NASCAR |
[sources: official F1 site; TSN; SpeedTV]
Recent news:
- As expected (by most people, I suspect) Jenson Button is staying with BAR for next season. The rumours are that JB is paying Williams £20m, but no details have been officially released. [BBC]
- Christian Klien is keeping the Red Bull seat for the remaining three races, sidelining Vitantonio Liuzzi. [BBC]
- Nick Heidfeld has signed to remain with BMW … albeit in the renamed-for-2006 Sauber team rather than with Williams. [BBC]
- As well as losing their enginer supplier (BMW), an existing driver (Heidfeld), a potential new driver (Button), and changing tyre supplier, Williams have lost their main sponsor, Hewlett-Packard. [BBC]
- Not really that much of a surprise, Indianapolis Motor Speedway has confirmed that the 2006 race will be held on 2 July, subject fo final approval by the governing FIA. [BBC]
Tough question!
I was just checking out The Great Canadian Blog Survey that Liz mentioned in her blog, and there’s a question that stumped me: “If you could read only one Canadian blog every day, which one would it be?” So here’s your chance!
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