Australian GP – Race

April 2, 2006 by paul
Filed under: Uncategorized

Pre-penalty grid: P1=JB, 2=GF, 3=FA, 4=KR, 5=JM, 6=RS, 7=MW, 8=NH, 9=JV, 10=JT; 11=MS, 12=DC, 13=VL, 14=CK, 15=NR, 16=FM; 17=RB, 18=CA, 19=SS, 20=TM, 21=TS, 22=YI.
Penalties: just JV (P9->19).

Grid: P1=JB, 2=GF, 3=FA, 4=KR, 5=JM, 6=RS, 7=MW, 8=NH, 9=JT; 10=MS, 11=DC, 12=VL, 13=CK, 14=NR, 15=FM; 16=RB, 17=CA, 18=SS, 19=JV, 20=TM, 21=TS, 22=YI.

Pre-race:
Conditions: Air temp 20°C; track 28°C; humidity 47%; chance of showers.
It’s only JB’s third ever pole.
GF (in P2) won last year’s Australian GP.

Formation lap: JB leads the field away; everyone’s off the grid OK
JB lights up his tyres in the last corner
JM spun coming out of the last corner!
JM’s found reverse
GF’s waving his hands – he’s stalled his Renault – so the yellow flags are out
The grid is sent off for another formation lap; GF will have to start from the pit lane instead of P2
Wow – lots of activity and we’ve not started yet!
JM works his way back up through to his original grid spot (P

01/57: We’re finally away; JB stays P1 through Turn 1
JM is pushing teammate KR hard
DC and JT come together – both off … no, DC’s still going but JT is off
Safety Car deployed – FM’s stopped on track

02 (under Safty Car): JB, FA, KR, JM, RS, MW, NH, MS
Replay shows JT hit DC
NR pits – was he involved with FM? (NR started from P14; FM was P15)
NR’s out of the rear wing-less the car & fire extinguishers deployed!
GF has spun just before FM’s wrecked Ferrari

03 (SC): JB, FA, KR, RS, MW, JM, NH, MS
How has JM dropped 2 spots under the SC?
Replay shows GF spun where they’re recovering JT’s car
SC in at the end of this lap
Retirements: FM, NR, JT

04: FA passes JB as they cross the line to restart
MW and JM both pass RS

05: FA, JB, KR, MW, JM, RS, NH, MS
KR is all over the tail of JB’s Honda
JM passes MW for P3

06: Yellow flags for CK – big off into the wall under braking – ouch!

07: FA, JB, KR, JM, MW, RS, NH, MS

08: SC deployed so they can clean up the shattered Red Bull of CK
Retirements: FM, NR, JT, CK
TM pits for tyres and fuel
SC in at the end of this lap

09: JB not keeping up with FA … and KR’s closing on JB … takes him in T1
KR locks up and JB fights back – contact?
JB in a McLaren sandwich!

10/57: FA, KR, JB, JM, MW, RS
JM really pressuring JB – as JB goes defensive he’s letting KR pull away
GF passes DC and RB, up to P13
VL has passed MS for P8 and SS is on the Ferrari’s tail!

12: Things are settling down a little, although there are still battles up and down the field

13: KR has dropped 2s, increasing FA’s lead

15: FA, KR, JB, JM, MW, RS, NH, VL

16: FA f/lap 1:27.145
Nice on-board shot of MS locking up into T1 – his front-right looks horrible now

17: GF passes SS for P10

18: FA f/lap 1:26.999
JB seems to be slowly picking up his pace
GF’s engineer tells him MS is slow and he’ll “pass him easy”

19: MS runs a bit wide, over the rumble strips
JM pits from P4 – long stop – 9.7s – rejoins in P10, behind GF

20/57: JB pits from P3 – front wing adjustment – 7.8s – rejoins just ahead of JM
RS pits from P5
FA pits – long stop – 10.3s
JM’s passed JB in T2

21: FA pits from P1 – 9.5s – rejoins ahead of NH
Incident involving car 7 (RS) – speeding in the pit lane – drive through penalty

22: KR pits from P1 – 9.7s – rejoins in front of VL … who has a look at passing but KR holds him off

23: MW now leads his home Grand Prix
MW’s slowing – pulls off and retires – camera cuts to Williams timing wall and a mechanic with his head in his hands – did he run out of fuel?

24: RS takes his drive through penalty

25: NH pits from P2 … and MS from P4
NH rejoins ahead of JB

27: FA, KR, JM, NH,JB, MS, JV (yet to pit), RS; retirements: FM, NR, JT, CK, MW.
Looks like MS has woken up and found some more speed … and JB’s lap times are sliding down again

29/57: Half distance; yet to pit: JV, RB & DC.

30: DC pits

31: MS pushing hard; runs wide a couple of times
RB pits; just JV yet to stop

32: FA’s lead ~21.5s over KR; MS just over 2s behind JB

33: GF told to pull his finger out – “you’re on the same fuel as Fernando and you’re 2seconds a lap slower”!

34: Big accident for MS, into the wall on the main straight!
SC deployed – there’s debris strewn all over the track!
MS drives his wrecked Ferrari across the track, to the pit wall
MS climbs out and walks through the Toyota garge!?

35 (SC): Almost everyone’s in the pits
New nose cone for KR … which takes a few extra seconds to fit … with JM waiting behind him
Replay shows MS understeered out of the final corner, onto the grass, over a bump, and into the wall
The pit stops (and some drivers held up as their teammate gets into the box first) has shuffled the timing chart again
Apparently KR’s front wing endplate was damaged

36 (SC): FA, NH, KR, JB, RS, JM, GF, JV
SC in at end of this lap
FA has opened a huge lead before he hits the start line

37: The MF1 tries to move out the way; KR tries to pass NH into T1
Was JM bumped from behind?
Why’s JB slowing?
SC deployed again! VL has hit the wall – lots of mud on track

38 (SC): FA, KR, RS, NH, JM, JB, GF, JV

39 (SC): RB tells his pits that the brake pedal is sticking
Replay shows JM’s “bump” was his rear-right clipping JB’s front-left

40/57: SC in at end of this lap

41: MF1 between FA and KR before the restart, so FA gets another good lead
Honda think JB was passed by RS and JM after the SC was deployed

42: FA, KR, RS, JM, NH, JB, GF, JV
FA’s lead ~6s
TM off; recovers to pits; retires
Retirements: FM, NR, JT, CK, MW, MS, VL, TM.

43: GF less than 0.5s behind JB

45/57: Personal fastest laps by KR, RS and JM … all still slower than FA

47: JM runs wide out of the last turn, major tank slapper but collects it back up
JM’s pit lane warning light (the flashing red light on the rear) came on!
He’s pulled it over to the pit wall and he’s out of the McLaren

48: FA, KR, RS, NH, JB, GF, JV, RB
The Torro Rosso car (SS) is ahead of their “big brother” team (DC)

49: ITV-F1 ask JM what happened – “one of those days”

50/57: FA f/lap 1:26.189

52: Apparently even Renault team boss Flavio Briattore has also told GF to get a move on
DC gets told to pass SS too

53: GF puts in 1:27.561 – that’s hugely faster – so why was he so (comparatively) slow on previous laps?

54: GF is only a car length or two off JB’s rear wing
KR is putting in personal f/laps too

55: GF looks at passing JB but he’s not close enough

56/57: FA to his engineer: “I’m very relaxed”

57/57: final lap: DC 0.5s behind SS, so he probably won’t pass him; GF not close enough to JB either
FA takes the chequered flag for his first Australian GP win
JB’s Honda engine goes bang with just a couple of corners to go! He’s trying to make it to the line, but the car dies … and everyone streams past him – kind of sums up his race

Provisional results: 1=FA, 2=KR, 3=RS, 4=NH, 5=GF, 6=JV, 7, RB, 8=SS, 9=DC, 10=JB, 11=CA (1 lap down), 12=TS, 13/last=YI.
Retirements: FM, NR, JT, CK, MW, MS, VL, TM & JM.

Updates:

Scott Speed was penalised 25 seconds “for paying insufficient attention to yellow flags”, which drops him to 11th place and thus lost him, and the Scuderia Toro Rosso team, their first world championship point.
Moving up to eighth and gaining a point as a result was Red Bull’s David Coulthard, who claimed after the race that Speed had passed him under yellow flags.
The stewards also fined Speed US$5000 for use of abusive language to another competitor, thought to be Coulthard, during the post-race hearing.
In a separate incident, Takuma Sato, who finished 12th for Super Aguri, was reprimanded by the stewards for ignoring blue flags.

[source: Official FIA site]