Chinese Grand Prix – race

October 1, 2006 by
Filed under: Uncategorized 

My notes from practice and qualifying are an earlier entry.

There are just two points between Championship contenders Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher, and there are three races (including this one) left.

Weather: track temperature 22°C; air temp 21°C; humidity 94%; likelihood of rain during the race, but there’s been no rain for ~45 minutes. (Probably means intermediate tyres initially.)

[Yes, it really is some unearthly hour of the morning!]

Pre-race penalties: Massa and Sato are dropped 10 grid spot places for engine changes, and Albers will start last after having all his qualifying times deleted for missing a weighbridge call during qualifying.
The grid: 01=F.Alonso, 02=G.Fisichella, 03=R.Barrichello, 04=J.Button, 05=K.Raikkonen, 06=M.Schumacher, 07=P.de la Rosa, 08=N.Heidfeld, 09=R.Kubica, 10=R.Doornbos; 11=S.Speed, 12=D.Coulthard, 13=V.Liuzzi, 14=M.Webber, 15=N.Rosberg, 16=R Schumacher, 17=J.Trulli, 18=T.Monteiro, 19=S.Yamamoto, 20=F.Massa, 21=T.Sato, 22=C.Albers

Apparently Bridgestone has apologised to their teams for their wet weather tyres being off the pace.

Speed Channel ask Mark Webber how the track feels ~10 minutes before the start of the race – MW says it’s almost as slippery as yesterday.

Formation lap: Looks like everyone is on intermediate tyres, as expected.
FA leads the grid away; everyone is away safely.

01/56: FA leads GF in to Turn 1
KR has passed RB for P4, behind JB
KR eases past JB on the back straight, taking P3
RK ran wide in Turn 1 and has dropped from P9 to P17!

02: FA, GF, KR, JB, RB, MS, PdlR, SS
RD pits – change of nose cone for the Red Bull?

03: FA sets the first fastest lap 1:45.236

04: FA f/lap 1:44.824
FA, GF, KR, JB, RB, MS, PdlR, SS
FA’s lead is 5.3s over his teammate

05/56: NH is harrying SS for P8

06: FA f/lap 1:44.747

07: PdlR is closing on MS, who is right on RB’s tail
There’s also a queue behind NR, with JT, RS and FM all looking to pass him for P14

08: MW passes DC for P11

09: NH pushes VL a bit wide to re-take P9
FM runs wide in T16 and drops to P17
MS passes RB for P5, and sets the fastest Sector 2 time

10/56: FA, GF, KR, JB, MS, RB, PR, NH
RS runs a bit wide in T16 and FM re-takes P16

11: DC is trying to hold off NR
FM passes JT for P15

12: FM passes NR for P14 – both Ferraris seem to have picked up their pace
TS and teammate SY make contact – TS goes wide but they both recover

13: FA f/lap 1:44.658; his lead is now 15.6s
KR passes GF to take P2

15/56: FA f/lap :44.599
KR f/lap 1:44.094, but is almost 16s behind FA
MS has passed JB for P4 :(
FM passes VL for P12

16: JB pit-car: no rear grip
JB pits from P5 – 7.9s stop – new intermediate tyres – rejoins behind MW
FA runs wide but recovers

17: KR pits from P2 – 9.3s stop – fuel only

18: RB pits from P4 – 9.0s stop – fuel only
PdlR pitted too
JB is struggling – he’s now in P9, behind NH and MW

19: RK passes JB, taking P9
MS now less than a second behind GF
KR is limping along – the McLaren sounds very rough, like the speed limiter is stuck on – he’s pulled off and retired

20/56: FA, GF, MS, NH, MW, RB, PdlR, RK; JB=9
VL spins but recovers

21: RK passes PdlR for P7
FM passes JB for P9 :(

22: ITV-F1 report the Renault pit wall has lost power and everyone’s had to move to the rear of the garage
MS pits from P3 – no tyre change
MW pits from P5
DC posts fastest S3

23: FA pits from P1 – front tyre change (and fuel) only – 8.4s
RK f/lap 1:44.065 from P5

24: GF pits from P1 – no new tyres but pressures adjusted
MS f/lap 1:43.874
NH f/lap 1:43.279
RK f/lap 1:42.072
Is it almost time to swap inters for dry tyres?

25/56: RK pits – dry tyres for the BMW
SS & RS both pit

26: RK struggling with the dry tyres, and he’s not going fast enough to warm them up … and then spins
NH pits – will he go with dry or inters?
RK pits again – back to inters

27: FA posts a slow lap ~4s off the pace
DC is fastest in S2 and teammate RD is quickest in S3

28/56 (half distance): FA, GF, MS, RB, FM, NH, PdlR, DC; JB=9; retirement=KR
FM and DC have yet to pit
GF has closed to just 3s behind FA after another slow lap for the race leader

29: GF now 0.4s off FA, with MS just 0.6s behind GF
GF passes FA then runs a little wide (deliberately?) letting FA back through

30/56: FM pits from P5
DC pits too
GF alongside down the back straight again – GF stays ahead this time, leaving FA open to an attack from MS

31: MS passes FA for P2
RB is 25s behind FA in P4

32: GF, MS, FA, RB, NH, PdlR, JB, MW

33: GF f/lap 1:41.960
FA now 4.4s behind MS, but 20+ secs ahead of RB

34: pit-car radio says NR pitting for dry tyres
GF f/lap 1:41.742
PdlR f/lap 1:41.690

35/56: GF f/lap 1:41.322 – he now leads MS by 2.6s
JB pits from P7 – 9.2s stop – he’s on dry tyres
MW and FM pit from P8 & P9 respectively

36: MS f/lap 1:40.997
FA pits from P3 – problem with the right rear

37: PdlR pits in the McLaren
MS just 0.9s off GF

38: RS has set fastest S1 and S2 times
RB pits from P4
RS f/lap 1:40.396

39: Ferrari mechanics in the pit lane … but they change their mind

40/56: RS f/lap 1:40.342
Yellow flags – TM has spun and is out of the car
Ferrari mechanics getting ready again

41: MS pits from P2 – 6.9s stop – dry tyres and front wing adjustment
NH pits from P3

42: GF pits from P1 – 6.6s stop – dry tyres
MS passes GF through T1 – GF is still getting used to the tyres
FM f/lap 1:39.850

43: FA f/lap 1:39.400
JT has pulled into the Toyota garage and retired
FM f/lap 1:39.397 – he’s pushing DC for P8

44: FA f/lap 1:39.163 – he’s still 11.7s adrift from GF, who’s 10s behind MS

45/56: MS, GF, FA, NH, RB, JB, PdlR, DC; retirements=KR, TM & JT
FA f/lap 1:39.157

46: FA f/lap 1:38.525 – he’s pushing really hard to catch MS
FM slowing after colliding with DC – FM’s off in the gravel and retired

47: FA f/lap 1:38.443 – that’s ~3.5s faster than MS but there’s a 15.6s gap between them

48: FA f/lap 1:38.412

49: Renault confirmed that FA and GF are “free to race” but FA closes on GF and passes him really easily
DC pit-car radio says the steering’s jamming on left-handers; team say telemetry shows no problems … and with that he has a half-spin and MW passes him for P8

50/56: FA f/lap 1:37.586 – he’s ~1s/lap quicker than MS but he’s ~13s behind with just 6 laps left
JB off-track momentarily after touching a wet line

51: RS makes a very late pit stop from P14 … and parks it in the garage – that’s both Toyota’s out
There’s rain falling on at least one part of the circuit – should be interesting as everyone’s on dry tyres

52: MS’ lead over FA now 11.7s

53: MS, FA, GF, NH, RB, PdlR, JB, MW; DC=9
FA should back off a little – he’s not going to catch MS but he’s risking going off and getting no points

54: MS’ lead down to 9.3s
If things stay as they are, MS & FA will be on equal points (116) but MS will be ahead on countback (he’s one more races)
SS spins but recovers and remains in P15

55/56: FA is now just 7.8s behind MS but there’s just this and one more lap left
JB passes PdlR for P6
FA struggling to keep the Renault facing forward

56 = final lap: JB attacking teammate RB for P5
There’s clearly rain falling and the track is getting very slippery again
JB uses a couple of back markers to pass RB for P5
MS takes the chequered flag
JB uses back markers again to box in NH and take P4
RB runs into the back of NH and punts him off track

Provisional result: MS, FA, GF, JB, PdlR, RB, NH, MW; DC=9, VL, NR, RD, RK, TS, SS, CA, SY=17/last
Retirements: KR, TM, JT, FM & RS

JB didn’t do anything wrong but I suspect there’ll be a stewards’ investigation regarding RB rear-ending NH in the last lap.

Wow, that’s a couple of really sour faces either side of MS on the podium!

Next race: Japan next weekend (Oct 8th) – another early morning for me!

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Comments

3 Comments on Chinese Grand Prix – race

  1. paul on Sun, 1st Oct 2006 4:32 pm

    2. Stewards disqualify Sato, penalise Albers

    Super Aguri’s Takuma Sato has lost his 14th-place finish in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix after stewards disqualified him for blocking faster drivers during the Shanghai race.

    Sato was the backmarker involved in a final-lap incident, which culminated in Honda’s Rubens Barrichello running into the rear of Nick Heidfeld’s BMW Sauber.

    The severity of Sato’s punishment reflects the fact that he has already been reprimanded for ignoring blue flags this season, in Australia back in April.

    Spyker MF1′s Christijan Albers was also penalized by Shanghai stewards for the same offence. The Dutchman had 25 seconds added to his race time, but actually moved up from 16th to 15th place thanks to Sato’s exclusion.

    source: FIA @ http://www.formula1.com/race/news/5050/767.html

  2. Paul, Kerri and The Boys » Japanese Grand Prix - Qualifying on Sat, 7th Oct 2006 10:58 pm

    3. [...] Just one week after the Chinese Grand Prix comes Japan and the distinctive Suzuka circuit with it’s cross-over layout. [...]

  3. Paul, Kerri and The Boys » Japanese Grand Prix - Race on Sun, 8th Oct 2006 12:33 am

    4. [...] The race starts at 1am (well, it’ll be 1am where I am) which is an hour earlier than the Chinese GP last week … and hopefully it’ll be another good race. [...]

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