British Grand Prix – Race

June 11, 2006 by
Filed under: Uncategorized 

Following yesterday’s qualifying for the 40th British Grand Prix, the grid looks like this:

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

(*TS penalised for engine change)

(**Investigation into JM allegedly blocking DC during qualifying did not result in a penalty.)

Pre-race:

Apparently Villeneuve resigned from the GPDA when MS retained his leadership position. TSN’s commentators (ugh!) tried to make it sound like MS did nothing wrong and JV’s just being a baby – never mind that MS was found guilty of cheating at Monaco! (But yeah, JV does whine a lot)

Track temperature 41°C; air 27°C; wind 2.3m/s; humidity 50% – it’s a warm one :)

Formation lap:

FA leads them away – everyone’s cleanly off the grid.

JT a bit slow taking his place at the very back

01/60: FA leads into Turn 1

Looks like MW and RS collided and broke Schumacher’s right rear suspension – RS out

Safety car standing by

02: SC deployed

SS pits

JB up to P14 already

Replay shows SS tapped RS in Becketts; as RS recovers, he hits MW

Another replay shows JM got bit of a whack in the side as he entered T1

03[SC]: FA, KR, MS, FMa, GF, NH, RB, JM; JB=14; retirements=MW, RS & SS

SC in at the end of this lap

FA is backing the field up too much – will there be complaints?

04: KR challenging FA for P1, but now MS is attacking KR

JM has passed RB for P7

FA sets fastest lap 1:25.156

05: FA f/lap 1:23.439

KR f/lap 1:23.427

06: JB passes VL in to Stowe for P12, behind DC

07: FA f/lap 1:23.323

08: FA f/lap 1:23.030

The top 3 are dropping FMa from the pack

09: JB is just 0.4s behind fellow-Brit DC

10: FA f/lap 1:22.997

11: NO!!! JB has spun off in flames – the engine’s let go and he spun on his own oil :(

FA f/lap 1:22.984

12: FA f/lap 1:22.675

13: FA f/lap 1:22.448

JT closing on DC

14: FA f/lap 1:22.351

ITV-F1 interview JB: “a massive blow”; “car was working really well”; “it was going very well”; “a little surprised at how well [the car] felt”

15: FA f/lap 1:22.114 – his lead over KR is now 2.9s – is he pitting soon?

18: FA’s lead now 3.2s

JT the first to stop – he pits from P12

Ferrari getting ready

19: MS pits from P3 – 8.5s – rejoins just ahead of RB who is in P8

20: KR and FMa both pit – 8.6 and 8.7s respectively

RB pits too

KR rejoins ahead of MS

21: JM pits – 10.2s – a long stop – rejoins ahead of DC

22: GF pits from P2 – 8.7s – rejoins ahead of FMa

Renault team reset, ready for FA

ITV-F1 say fellow report Louise Goodman is joining the Midland (MF1) team for a pit stop – she’ll be working on the left-rear wheel – the first woman ever in a F1 pit stop

23: FA pits from P1 – 8.0s – rejoins still in P1

24: ITV-F1 report

“Incident involving cars 7, 9 and 21 under investigation”

25: FA’s lead 9.7s over NH, who’s 2.3s ahead of KR

26: NH pits from P2 – stuck in neutral? – pushed out of the box and he’s going again

DC pits from P10

All of the top 10 have stopped now except JV in P7

27: ITV-F1 interview SS: “I don’t think it was anyone’s fault” – yeah, the stewards may not agree

28: JV pits – 10.1s

FA’s lead now 13.1s over KR, who has a 1.6 gap to MS

30/60: FA, KR, MS, GF, FMa, JM, NH, NR; DC=12; retirements=MW, RS, SS, JB

Closest battle is KR and MS for P2

33: FA lead down to 11.7s, mostly due to traffic

36: MS is trying to close on KR again

38: JM posts a personal f/lap 1:23.677

JT pits from P11

39: JM & RB post personal f/laps – pit stops coming

40/60: FA, KR, MS, GF, FMa, JM, NH, NR; DC=11; retirements=MW, RS, SS, JB

41: CK passes teammate DC for P11

42: DC’s falling back into JT – does DC have a problem?

MS pits from P3 – 6.8s

43: CK pits

KR pits – 8.0s – rejoins a few lengths behind MS – he’s lost P2

RB pits from P10

44: Renault pit crew getting ready

45: FA pits from P1 – 6.8s – rejoins in P2, between GF and FMa

46: GF and FMa pit – 6.7s and 6.3s respectively

JM pits – 6.6s

47: DC pits from P12 – 7.4s

Still to stop: NH & JV … and with that NH pits

49: JV pits

50/60: FA, MS, KR, GF, FMa, JM, NH, JV; DC=12; retirements=MW, RS, SS, JB

FA leads by 11.8s

51: FA lead up to 12.3s

Closest battle: NR just 1.1s behind JV

52: NR’s pit-car radio: “There’s a world championship point ahead of you”

53: GF now 1.4s behind KR

NR has dropped back to 2.5s off JV

55: ITV-F1 report that Renault have upped the revs for GF, but not to 100% because his engine will have to be used at Canada in 2 weeks

57: GF pit-car: “get him”; “payback for Suzuka” :)

GF is still 0.9s behind KR, and there’s just 4laps left

58: FA lead over MS 11.0s; MS has 10.0s over KR

59/60: FA, MS, KR, GF, FMa, JM, NH, JV; DC=12; retirements=MW, RS, SS, JB

On-board with FA shows he’s short-shifting and saving his engine … except he gets a new engine for the next race

60/60: MS coasting home too – he’s ~1s slower than FA

Chequered flag: FA takes a comfortable victory

P2=MS, 3=KR, 4=GF, 5=FMa, 6=JM, 7=NH, 8=JV

9=NR, 10/1lap=RB, 11=JT, 12=DC, 13=VL, 14=CK, 15=CA, 16/2laps=TM, 17/3laps=TS, 18/last=FMo.

Retirements=MW, RS, SS, JB

Post-race interview:

FA: “fantastic day”

MS: “we weren’t quick enough this weekend”

KR: “not an easy race”; “the maximum of what could have done today”

FA: “so far [the season] has been fantastic”

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