Official 2006 F1 Season Discussion

[RudyJ]

Midland Group Sells MF1 Racing to Spyker

(10. 9. 2006 )

The Midland Group of Companies wishes to announce the sale of 100% of its shares in Midland F1 Limited to Spyker Cars NV (?Spyker?).

Prior to the sale, Midland F1 Limited headed all Midland Group motorsport activities, including ownership and operation of the Midland F1 Racing team (?MF1 Racing?), which competes in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

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[Martyn]

Alonso punished for blocking Massa

World champion Fernando Alonso has dropped from fifth to tenth on the provisional grid for Sunday?s Italian Grand Prix after Monza stewards penalized him for impeding Ferrari?s Felipe Massa during qualifying.

Massa complained to officials that Alonso had blocked him whilst on his final run at the end of session. The stewards agreed and deleted the Renault star?s three fastest times from Q3, though they did concede that Alonso?s actions may not have been deliberate.

The penalty has no effect on Massa?s grid position as he had qualified fourth, immediately ahead of Alonso. However, it is good news for Ferrari team mate Michael Schumacher, who qualified second. Schumacher, who trails Alonso by 12 points in the drivers? championship, now has seven cars between himself and his title rival for the start of Ferrari?s home race.

The final grid positions will be published by the FIA on Sunday morning.

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That is pathetic. Especially the bit were they thought Alonso's actions may not of been deliberate. Guess, who complained, a Ferrari driver, consipiracy or what?

That is three races on the run Alonso has been penalised I think?

[Fourjays Veteran]

That is pathetic. Especially the bit were they thought Alonso's actions may not of been deliberate. Guess, who complained, a Ferrari driver, consipiracy or what?

That is three races on the run Alonso has been penalised I think?

What I've been thinking. Alonso was about 5-6 car lengths away from Massa. By those standards, everyone should get a penalty because they were closer than that in the first and second qualifying sessions.

[Martyn]

Schumacher to retire, Kimi to replace him.

Absoloutely gutted that Kimi is joining Ferrari, I hate them.

[geek_rohit]

It was a great result for Michael, infront of the tifosi, winning his 90th race. Kimi had a good drive too to finish in second. Kubica was simply fantastic. Only his third race and he finished on the podium!!! Simply fantastic. And the moment Alonso's engine gave up...the tifosi went bonkers. But his retirement caused Massa flatspot his tyre, which caused him to miss some points due to his pitstop. Honda had a double points finish.

[satishsays.com]

Klien bids farewell to Red Bull

Christian Klien has thanked Red Bull for his time with the team, following this week’s confirmation that he will be replaced by third driver Robert Doornbos for the last three races of the season, before Mark Webber steps into his shoes fulltime in ‘07. Klien’s departure marks the end of a partnership dating back to the very start of his Formula One career with Jaguar.

“I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to the Red Bull team for their cooperation in the past two years,” said Klien in a statement. Those words followed a personal phone call to Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz, in which the Austrian politely declined his offer of alternative employment.

That offer was a Red Bull-funded drive in the US-based Champ Car series. But Klien, who hopes to land another Formula One seat for next year, chose to turn it down as the September 9 deadline for a decision neared. As a result, Red Bull agreed to immediately release him from his contract, freeing him to pursue alternative plans.

“I appreciate Red Bull’s decision to annul my current contract,” said Klien. “This will allow me to continue the current ongoing discussions regarding my Formula One options as an independent driver, free of any contractual obligations. I am now fully focused on the talks for my existing Formula One options.”

The Austrian has enjoyed a close relationship with Red Bull since his earliest karting days. After Formula Renault and Formula 3, Klien landed his first Formula One drive with Jaguar in 2004. A year later and Red Bull had bought the team, keeping Klien on in an unusual arrangement that saw him sharing his race seat with Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Strong performances - including a fifth place in the Chinese Grand Prix - meant he went on to secure exclusive occupancy of that seat for 2006. However, while team mate David Coulthard was taking the glory this season with Red Bull’s first podium, a string of disappointing results for Klien eventually led to the decision to replace him for next season.

So what now for Klien? At 23 he is still young by Formula One standards and the Austrian insists he has other options available for 2007. Whether those are testing roles with larger teams, or race seats with smaller outfits, remains to be seen. Either way Klien has promised to reveal all by the end of the season.

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[satishsays.com]

Renault to supply engines to Red Bull

At least one of Red Bull’s two Formula One teams will use Renault power next year after the Austrian company reached an engine supply agreement for the 2007 and 2008 seasons.

Red Bull Racing currently use Ferrari engines, with sister team Toro Rosso running Cosworth V10s. Red Bull will confirm at a later date which of the two will be switching to the Renault supply.

Commenting on the new agreement, Renault’s Formula One Team President Alain Dassas said: "It is positive for Formula One to have another team racing with a top-line, competitive engine, and this agreement will also reinforce Renault's presence in the sport. We look forward to working with a dynamic, ambitious company such as Red Bull."

Renault have a strong tradition of Formula One engine supply dating back to 1983, when the French manufacturer first supplied customer engines to Lotus. Lotus, Ligier, Tyrrell, Williams and Benetton all used Renault power at different times during the 1980s and 1990s, scoring a total of 80 Grand Prix wins.

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Edited September 16, 2006 by devilhead_satish

[Fourjays Veteran]

I'm hoping RBR get the Renaults, and STR get the Ferraris. It makes more sense for STR, and I feel RBR stand a better chance with the Renault engines.

[satishsays.com]

So just who are Spyker Cars?

The history of Formula One racing's newest team owners

Prior to last weekend, few but the hardened car enthusiast knew the name Spyker. All that has changed, however, after the company’s purchase of the Midland team, making the Dutch sportscar maker the latest auto manufacturer to enter Formula One racing. But the Spyker name is far from new to motorsport - indeed its involvement in racing dates back almost a century.

It was in 1898 that brothers Jacobus and Hendrik-Jan Spijker, coachbuilders in Amsterdam, built their first Benz-engined motorcar. The craftsmanship of the car’s bodywork won immediate acclaim and from that moment on the Spijker brothers changed the focus of their company. The pair committed fully to producing motorcars, changing the name of the company to Spyker to ease recognition of the brand in foreign markets.

The brothers were inventive and from the start the company pushed back technological barriers. In 1903 Spyker introduced the extremely advanced 60/80 HP, the first car to boast a six-cylinder engine, as well as permanent four-wheel drive and four-wheel brakes. In the same period the company devised and patented a special chassis fitted with a streamlined under tray which prevented the car from making dust on unpaved roads. It was innovations like these that came to characterise the Spyker brand, quickly making it famous for quality and engineering ruggedness.

In 1907 a privately entered standard model Spyker 14/18HP Tourer successfully competed in the infamously gruelling Peking to Paris raid. After the car arrived back in second place, the Spyker name became even more fashionable. The company’s models, with their characteristic circular radiators, were especially successful in the Dutch East Indies and in Britain, where Spyker became known as 'the Rolls Royce of the continent'.

The period preceding World War One saw a worldwide slump in the luxury car market and Spyker was forced to diversify its production. The company merged with Dutch Aircraft Factory N.V. and started to develop and build fighter aircraft. In all, the Dutch firm produced 100 planes and 200 aircraft engines for the war effort. The merger also prompted a new slogan - 'Nulla tenaci invia est via’ (meaning ‘for the tenacious no road is impassable') - which is still used by the company today.

After the armistice, Spyker resumed car production and true to its motto, continued to build record-breaking cars. One of the most innovative examples was the Spyker C4. Built by the famous German engineer Wilhelm Maybach, the car boasted a special engine with a double ignition system. In 1921, one example established a new endurance record, after driving continuously for 36 days and covering a distance of 30,000 kilometres. And a year later British driver Selwyn Edge broke the Brookland's Double-Twelve speed record in a C4, clocking an average speed of 119 km/h.

Although the original firm ceased trading in 1925, the name was never forgotten and 75 years later, the Spyker brand was re-established by two Dutch businessmen, Victor Muller and Maarten de Bruijn. In October 2000 the pair unveiled the new Spyker C8 at the UK’s Birmingham Motor Show and since then the brand has experienced a renaissance both in terms of commercial success and sporting achievement.

Since 2002 Spyker have made regular appearances in the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race and this year fielded a two-car line-up for the first time. It followed a successful 2005 campaign for the company’s Spyder GT2R machine, including a podium finish and second in class at the Nurgburgring 1000 kilometre race in Germany.

And the Spyker brand is even becoming known to cinema goers, Basic Instinct 2 and upcoming title Rogue just two of the movies in which a Spyker car has featured. All that’s needed now is a starring role in Formula One racing…

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[KzR]

Alonso is pole while Schumi is 6th on grid for the China GP.

I predict that Schumi will finish 4th, that means he'll be 7 points behind Alonso with 2 races to go. He'll finish second in the next race to close the gap to 5 points, and win the last GP the clinch his 8th championship title. It's all in the books. :)

[arrrgh]

Yet another disappointing race for Kimi, he must be waiting the next season and Ferrari a lot.

[satishsays.com]

Schumacher wins to tie with Alonso

It should have been Fernando Alonso’s race, but in the end Michael Schumacher’s 91st career victory earned him sufficient points to match the Spaniard’s score in the driver standings as they head for the penultimate round in Japan next weekend.

On a wet track Renault’s Alonso swept to a 25-second advantage over Schumacher in the Ferrari prior to the first set of pit stops. But then things began to go wrong for the champion. First Schumacher stayed on the same set of intermediate Bridgestones during his stop, whereas Alonso changed his Michelin front inters. The new ones did not give him anything like the performance of his originals. Then, to compound everything, a sticking right rear wheel nut in Alonso's second stop cost him at least seven seconds.

By that stage, lap 35, Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Renault was leading but under attack from Schumacher. The Italian made his second stop on lap 41 and was still leading when he left the pits, but then he ran wide and Schumacher, who had stopped on lap 40, pounced.

Alonso’s final set of dry tyres was back up to par, and he soon caught and passed his team mate and started to slash into Schumacher’s advantage. But that wheel-nut problem would prove decisive, and the German finished 3.1 seconds to the good, elated. Each now has 116 points, with two races left.

Nick Heidfeld should have been fourth for BMW Sauber after a great run. But the final corner proved his undoing. Jenson Button had been scrapping hard for fifth with Honda team mate Rubens Barrichello in the closing stages, when slight rain made the track treacherous. Button slid wide at one stage and fell behind McLaren’s Pedro de la Rosa. He eventually recovered and repassed the Spaniard when De la Rosa made a mistake of his own, and going into the final lap Button used traffic to go round the outside of Barrichello. Going down to Turn 16 he caught Heidfeld and trapped him behind Takuma Sato's lapped Super Aguri. As Button ducked down the inside, Barrichello hit the back of the BMW and spun it, damaging his own nose.

Button thus grabbed an unexpected fourth, De la Rosa gratefully snatched fifth from Barrichello, and the unfortunate Heidfeld had to be content with seventh ahead of Mark Webber in the Williams, who earned the final point when Red Bull’s David Coulthard half spun out of eighth place on lap 49. Four laps earlier the Scot had collided with Felipe Massa there, eliminating the Ferrari driver who had been trading fastest laps with Alonso during a strong recovery drive from his back-of-the-grid start.

Behind Coulthard, a single-stop run brought Tonio Liuzzi 10th for Toro Rosso, with Nico Rosberg in the Williams right alongside and Robert Doornbos also in touch in the second Red Bull.

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica had an up and down race, getting shoved down the order early on in the opening lap melees in heavy standing water and high spray; later he was the first to switch to dries, just before the track was ready. He headed home Super Aguri’s Sato, Scott Speed in the Toro Rosso, Spyker’s Christijan Albers (who was also involved in the final-corner incident), and Sakon Yamamoto in the Super Aguri (who received a drive-through penalty for ignoring blue flags when being lapped by Schumacher).

Neither of the Toyotas finished, their only high point being a spell towards the end when Ralf Schumacher set a couple of fastest laps, Spyker’s Tiago Monteiro spun in Turn 1 and stalled, Massa’s rear suspension was damaged, and McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen, having run as high as second early on after overtaking Fisichella, dropped out with a stuck throttle.

Thus the championship fight could not be better poised as we head to Suzuka. As he said goodbye to his legion of Chinese fans, Schumacher savoured his first decent race in Shanghai and said: “Today was a little present to myself."

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[Crazysah]

WOW! What a awsome race! it is going to be a brilliant last 2 races! I can't wait for next week! RENAULT LEAD FERRARI BY 1 POINT!

[Fourjays Veteran]

Great race. Renault were definitely much faster than Ferrari. Shame they lost it to a bad tyre choice and pit stop errors. Unusual for Renault to make those kind of mistakes.

Button's last lap was crazy. Good to see him making the most of everyone else sliding everywhere.

[Crazysah]

Yeah. I agree about Button's last lap!

[geek_rohit]

Well a real surprise. The race began at 11:30, electricity went at 11:42, came back at 12:42. And in that one hour things had changed!!! And boy is that some change!!! :blink: I knew it was gonna rain. I had checked all the weather sites on Saturday and all said it was gonna rain on Sunday. So I didn't have high hopes. But man Schumi's driving is something. Michael Magic is unbelievable. He really is a 7 time champ. When the electricity came I couldn't believe to see Michael on first place!!! But then i saw the position table below, which showed that Michael had to pit once more and Alonso had taken his stop already, so I thought that Michael must have got ahead of him only due to the pitstops. So I was quite shocked to see him rejoin behind Fisi!!!! :blink: Awesome!

The Championship is now really close, well how closer can it be, they are equal on the table!!! :lol: C'mon Schumi, you are the champ!

Sad for Massa though. He still has a championship fight of his own. Fisi has overtaken him in the standings, so Massa has a job to do on two ends, one his own, and other the constructors. Massa's retirement means that Renault overtakes Ferrari in the constructors.

Japan this weekend. GO FERRARI!!!

[Martyn]

Well a real surprise. The race began at 11:30, electricity went at 11:42, came back at 12:42. And in that one hour things had changed!!! And boy is that some change!!! :blink: I knew it was gonna rain. I had checked all the weather sites on Saturday and all said it was gonna rain on Sunday. So I didn't have high hopes. But man Schumi's driving is something. Michael Magic is unbelievable. He really is a 7 time champ. When the electricity came I couldn't believe to see Michael on first place!!! But then i saw the position table below, which showed that Michael had to pit once more and Alonso had taken his stop already, so I thought that Michael must have got ahead of him only due to the pitstops. So I was quite shocked to see him rejoin behind Fisi!!!! :blink: Awesome!

The Championship is now really close, well how closer can it be, they are equal on the table!!! :lol: C'mon Schumi, you are the champ!

Sad for Massa though. He still has a championship fight of his own. Fisi has overtaken him in the standings, so Massa has a job to do on two ends, one his own, and other the constructors. Massa's retirement means that Renault overtakes Ferrari in the constructors.

Japan this weekend. GO FERRARI!!!

Well Ferrari only run because they got the luck of the draw. If Renault had not made mistakes then Alonso would of won by a long, long way.

Exciting stuff though :D.

[Fourjays Veteran]

Well Ferrari only run because they got the luck of the draw. If Renault had not made mistakes then Alonso would of won by a long, long way.

Exciting stuff though :D.

Exactly. I wish Schumi fans wouldn't make him out to be some kind of wonder boy driver, when he won by luck. He wasn't even going very fast. Was just lucky that Alonso's pit stops/strategy were screwed up. Actually, I reckon Alonso must have lost about 40 seconds total, from those laps on the odd tyres and the bad pit stop. Amazing that he cut the lead down so much.

If anyone was driving brilliantly at China, Alonso was. Another 10 laps, and Schumacher would have come 2nd.

[KzR]

Schumi will clinch his 8th championship tomorrow if he wins the Japan GP and Alonso doesn't clock any points. :D

[geek_rohit]

Qualifying positions for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka:

1. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari one minute 29.599 seconds

2. Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:29.711

3. Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:29.989

4. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:30.039

5. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:30.371

6. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:30.599

7. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:30.992

8. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:31.478

9. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:31.513

10. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams - Cosworth 1:31.856

1-2 Ferrari

3-4 Toyota

5-6 Renault

7-8 Honda

All the teammates linedup alongside on the grid :p

[Shibby]

I thought it was good to watch today. The Michs didn't do too great in the rain but the bridgestones on the ferrari seem to have bags of grips.

Even thou Schuy and Massa are first i still think Schuy is a good driver. But thats not saying i like him.

I felt dissapointed that the mclarens didn't get much at all today they normally are a good team.

[Galley]

Japan results:

OMG, Schumi blew an engine. Alonso will most certainly win the championship now!

:D

[KzR]

Yep... Even if Schumi wins the Brazilian GP, Alonso needs to crash out for Schumi to win the title... :(

[S.MULLA]

good job alonso... just hope ferrari still put in a fight for the constructors position.. but what bad luck that was for ferrari- out of all the races this season hte engine gives up in a important champion deciding race. :( does anyone know if ferrari used this same engine in china?- well ferrari will get a fresh engine for interlagos anyway and so will renault (china and suzuka-same engine for renault)

[satishsays.com]

Alonso turns it around in Japan

Victory for Fernando Alonso and retirement for Michael Schumacher at Suzuka means just a single point at the season finale in Brazil will make Alonso champion for a second time.

For 36 laps of Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, Schumacher could see the Renault of Alonso in his mirrors and the 2006 drivers’ crown in his future. From the start he had pulled away from the Spaniard, taking the lead from polesitting Ferrari team mate Felipe Massa on the third lap, and though the Renaults were much more competitive than they had been in qualifying, everything was under control.

But then a plume of smoke erupted from the back of the Ferrari in the second Degner Curve on the 37th lap, and the unthinkable happened as the German’s V8 expired. It was his first non-crash retirement since Spain 2005, and this one really hurt.

As Schumacher trudged back to the pits, where he shook everyone by the hand and wore a philosophical smile, Alonso made the most of his good fortune. He had passed Massa during the first pit stops after the Brazilian stopped three laps earlier than scheduled because of a puncture, and been keeping Schumacher honest and the gap between them around five seconds, when his arch-rival dropped out. Now he was able to stroke his Renault home to his first victory since Canada in June, secure in the knowledge that eighth place in Brazil will be sufficient to retain his crown.

Massa backed off hugely over the final laps - possibly on the advice of his team - but was never challenged for second by Renault’s Giancarlo Fisichella, who had fought through to beat Honda’s Jenson Button, McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen and the Toyotas through better pit work. Button was a distant fourth, Raikkonen fifth, and Jarno Trulli led team mate Ralf Schumacher home for sixth after a race-long fight.

Behind them, Nick Heidfeld clung on ahead of BMW Sauber team mate Robert Kubica to take the final point, the Pole having caught back up a 10-second deficit after a big off in the second Degner on lap 31.

Nico Rosberg was Williams’ sole finisher in 10th, after Mark Webber crashed heavily exiting the chicane on lap 39, leading home McLaren’s Pedro de la Rosa and Rubens Barrichello, who needed a new nose on his Honda after a brush on the opening lap.

Robert Doornbos emerged from an early scrap between all the Red Bull runners to finish 13th ahead of Tonio Liuzzi, who performed a neat 360-degree spin early on exiting the chicane. Their respective RBR and Toro Rosso team mates David Coulthard and Scott Speed (who also spun) both failed to finish.

The two Super Aguris were 15th and 17th, sandwiching Tiago Monteiro’s Spyker MF1. The other Dutch car of Christijan Albers was in the thick of the Red Bull battle, but retired in spectacular fashion on the 20th lap when a rear suspension breakage removed its rear wing as the Dutchman exited the chicane. He was lucky it happened there.

The Suzuka result was a massive fillip for Alonso and Renault, who increased their lead in the constructors’ championship to nine points. It may not all be over, with one race left, but now it is Schumacher and Ferrari who have the mountain to climb.

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