Formula One 2010

**Rasputin** · 10-08-2006, 11:19 AM

Racing and strategy

A Formula One Grand Prix event spans an entire weekend, beginning with two free practices on Friday, and one free practice on Saturday. Third drivers are allowed to run on Fridays for teams that finished the preceding season in 5th place or lower. After these practice sessions, a qualifying session is held.

The format of this qualifying session has been through several iterations since 2003. Attempts were made to reinvigorate interest in the qualifying session by using a "one-shot" system in which each driver would take turns on an empty track to set their one and only time.

For the 2006 season a knockout qualifying system has been introduced. The FIA revised the 2006 procedures starting with Round 11, the 2006 French Grand Prix. In the first phase, all 22 cars are permitted on the track for a 15-minute qualification session. Only their fastest time will count and drivers may complete as many laps as they wish. In the original format, the clocks were stopped immediately at the end of the session, which meant that drivers on a timed lap did not have their time registered once the 15 minutes were up. From Round 11, any car running a timed lap at the time of the chequered flag is entitled to complete the lap. The slowest six cars can take no further part in qualifying, these cars will make up the last six grid positions in the order of their times.

The times for the sixteen remaining cars are reset for the next 15-minute session. In the original format, the clocks were stopped immediately at the end of the session. From Round 11, cars running timed laps at the chequered flag are allowed to complete the lap. The slowest six cars will make up the grid in positions 11 to 16 in the order of their times.

The times for the ten remaining cars will be reset for the next session. The shootout session lasted 20 minutes under the original regulations, changed to 15 minutes from Round 11. For the final period, the cars will be arranged on the grid in positions one to ten in the order of their times. In the first two 15-minute sessions, cars may run any fuel load and drivers knocked out after those sessions may refuel ahead of the race. However, the top-ten drivers must begin the final 15-minute session with the fuel load on which they plan to start the race. They will be weighed before they leave the pits. Whatever fuel they use in the 15 minutes may be replaced at the end of the session provided that the laps they complete are all within 110% of their best session time; outlaps (a lap that started in the pitlane) and inlaps (a lap that ended in the pitlane) are permitted to be no more than 120% of the driver's best session time. Any fuel for a lap outside of the 110% time will not be replaced. As with the first two 15 minute sessions, if a driver starts a timed lap before the chequered flag falls for the 15 minute session, their time will count even if they cross the finish line after the session has ended.

The race begins with a warm-up formation lap, after which the cars assemble on the starting grid in the order they qualified. If a driver stalls before the parade lap, and the rest of the field passes him, then he must start from the back of the grid. As long as he moves off and at least one car is behind him, he can retake his original position. A racer may also elect to start from pit-lane if he has any last minute problems with the car. If they choose to do this, they must wait for all cars to pass pit-lane before they may begin the race.

A light system above the track then signals the start of the race. Races are a little over 305 kilometres (190 miles) long and are limited to two hours, though in practice they usually last about ninety minutes. Throughout the race, drivers may make one or more pit stops in order to refuel and change tyres. Drivers have access to seven sets of dry-weather tyres, four sets of wet-weather tyres and three sets of extreme-weather tyres for the entire weekend. Drivers must choose the dry-weather compound they will use for the race ahead of qualifying.

The FIA awards points to the top eight drivers and their respective teams of a grand prix on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis (the race winner receives ten points, the first runner-up eight, and so on). The winner of the two annual championships are the driver and the team who have accumulated the most points at the end of the season. If any drivers and/or teams have the exact amount of points and are both competing for the driver and/or team championships, the driver and/or team who has won more Grand Prix races during the course of the season is declared the winner.

**Rasputin** · 10-08-2006, 11:21 AM

Drivers and constructors

Formula One teams must build the chassis in which they compete, and consequently the terms "team" and "constructor" are more or less interchangeable. This requirement distinguishes the sport from series such as IRL, Champ Cars, and NASCAR, which allow teams to purchase chassis, and "spec series" such as GP2, which require all cars be kept to an identical specification. In its early years, Formula One teams sometimes also built their engines, though this became less common with the increased involvement of major car manufacturers such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Toyota, and Honda, whose large budgets rendered privately built engines less competitive (and redundant).

Early manufacturer involvement came in the form of a "factory team" (that is, one owned and staffed by a major car company), such as those of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari (FIAT) or Renault. Companies such as Climax, Repco, Cosworth, Hart, Judd and Supertec, which had no direct team affiliation, often sold engines to teams who could not afford to manufacture them. As the manufacturers' deep pockets and engineering ability took over, almost all engines are now produced by major manufacturers.

After having virtually disappeared by the early 1980s, factory teams made a comeback in the 1990s and 2000s, and now form half the grid with Toyota, Ferrari (FIAT), Honda, Renault and BMW either setting up their own teams or buying out existing ones. Mercedes-Benz (DaimlerChrysler) owns 40% of the McLaren team and manufactures the team's engines. The remaining teams buy engines from the factory teams or from Cosworth, currently the only commercial engine manufacturer.

The sport's 1950 debut season saw eighteen teams compete, but due to high costs many dropped out quickly. In fact, such was the scarcity of competitive cars for much of the first decade of Formula One that Formula Two cars were admitted to fill the grids. Ferrari is the only still-active team which competed in 1950, and as of 2006 eleven teams remain on the grid, each fielding two cars. Although teams rarely disclose information about their budgets, it is estimated that they range from US$75 million to US$500 million each.

Entering a new team in the Formula One World Championship requires a £25 million (about US$47 million) up-front payment to the FIA, which is then repaid to the team over the course of the season. As a consequence, constructors desiring to enter Formula One often prefer to buy an existing team: B.A.R.'s purchase of Tyrrell and Midland's purchase of Jordan allowed both of these teams to sidestep the large deposit.

Each car is assigned a number. The previous season's World Drivers' Champion is designated number 1, with his teammate given number 2. Numbers are then assigned according to each team's position in the previous season's World Constructors' Championship. There have been exceptions to this rule, such as in 1993 and 1994, when the current World Drivers' Champion (Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost, respectively) was no longer competing in Formula One. In this case the drivers for the team of the previous year's champion are given numbers 0 and 2. The number 13 has not been used since 1974, before which it was occasionally assigned at the discretion of individual race organizers. Before 1996, only the world championship winning driver and his team generally swapped numbers with the previous champion – the remainder held their numbers from prior years, as they had been originally set at the start of the 1974 season. For many years, for example, Ferrari held numbers 27 & 28, regardless of their finishing position in the world championship. As privateer teams quickly folded in the early 1990s, numbers were frequently shuffled around, until the current system was adopted in 1996.

Michael Schumacher holds the record for having won the most Drivers' Championships (seven) and Ferrari holds the record for having won the most Constructors' Championships (fourteen). Jochen Rindt became the only posthumous World Champion after a fatal accident at the 1970 Italian Grand Prix.

**Rasputin** · 10-08-2006, 11:21 AM

Grands Prix

The number of Grands Prix held in a season has varied over the years. Only seven races comprised the inaugural 1950 season; over the years the calendar has almost tripled in size. Though the number of races had stayed at sixteen or seventeen since the 1980s, it reached nineteen in 2005.

Six of the original seven races took place in Europe; the only non-European race that counted towards the World Championship in 1950 was the Indianapolis 500, which, due to lack of participation by F1 teams, since it required cars with different specifications from the other races, was later replaced by the United States Grand Prix. The F1 championship gradually expanded to other non-European countries as well. Argentina hosted the first South American grand prix in 1953, and Morocco hosted the first African World Championship race in 1958. Asia (Japan in 1976) and Oceania (Australia in 1985) followed. The current nineteen races are spread over the continents of Europe, Asia, Australia, North America, and South America.

Traditionally, each nation has hosted a single grand prix that carries the name of the country. If a single country hosts multiple grands prix in a year, they receive different names. For example, every year two grands prix take place in Germany, one of which is known as the European Grand Prix.

The grands prix, some of which have a history that predates the Formula One World Championship, are not always held on the same circuit every year. The British Grand Prix, for example, though held every year since 1950, alternated between Brands Hatch and Silverstone from 1963 to 1986. The only other race to have been included in every World Championship season is the Italian Grand Prix. It has always taken place at Monza, with one exception in 1980 when it took place at Imola which now hosts the San Marino Grand Prix.

One of the newest races on the Grand Prix calendar, held in Bahrain, represents Formula One's first penetration into the Middle East with a high tech purpose-built desert track. The Bahrain Grand Prix, along with other new races in China and Turkey, present new opportunities for the growth and evolution of the Formula One Grand Prix franchise whilst new facilities also raise the bar for other Formula One racing venues around the world.

**Rasputin** · 10-08-2006, 11:22 AM

Circuits

A typical circuit usually features a stretch of straight road on which the starting grid is situated. The pit lane, where the drivers stop for fuel during the race, and where the teams work on the cars before the race, is normally located next to the starting grid. The layout of the rest of the circuit varies widely, although in most cases the circuit runs in a clockwise direction. Those few circuits that run anticlockwise (and therefore have predominantly left handed corners) can cause drivers neck problems due to the enormous lateral forces generated by F1 cars pulling their heads in the opposite direction to normal. Many corners have become well known in their own right, such as the high-speed Eau Rouge at Spa-Francorchamps, the Parabolica at Monza and, before the addition of chicanes to tame it, the Tamburello corner at Imola. Others, like thirteenth turn at Indianapolis (road course configuration), are simply straights for the drivers, even having taken in consideration the G-forces acting on the suspension. Also particularly lamented are the circuits at Zandvoort in the Netherlands and Kyalami in South Africa, neither of which are now used by F1.

Most of the circuits currently in use are specially constructed for competition. The only real street circuit is the Circuit de Monaco, used for the Monaco Grand Prix, although races in other urban locations come and go (Las Vegas and Detroit, for example) and proposals for such races are often discussed – most recently for London and Beirut. Several other circuits are also completely or partially laid out on public roads, such as Spa-Francorchamps. The glamour and history of the Monaco race are the primary reasons why the circuit is still in use, since it is thought not to meet the strict safety requirements imposed on other tracks. Three-time World champion Nelson Piquet famously described racing in Monaco as "riding a bicycle around your living room."

Circuit design to protect the safety of drivers is becoming increasingly sophisticated, as exemplified by the new Bahrain International Circuit, designed – like most of F1's new circuits – by Hermann Tilke. Whereas in the 1950s a driver was lucky to find a strategically placed bale of straw to absorb an impact, modern Formula One circuits feature large run-off areas, gravel traps and tyre barriers to reduce the risk of injury in crashes. This is an ongoing task – after the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at Imola during the 1994 season, the FIA mandated further changes to circuits. These were mostly aimed at better matching the speed of a car with both the available space to slow down in before reaching a barrier and the ability of those barriers to safely absorb the energy of a crash.

Several of the new circuits in F1, especially those designed by Tilke, have been criticized as lacking the "flow" of such classics as Spa-Francorchamps and Imola. His redesign of the Hockenheim circuit in Germany for example, while providing more capacity for grandstands and eliminating extremely long and dangerous straights, has been frowned upon by many who argue that part of the character of the Hockenheim circuits were the long and blinding straights into the Black Forest. These newer circuits, however are generally agreed upon to meet the safety standards of modern Formula One better than the older ones.

**Rasputin** · 10-08-2006, 11:23 AM

Cars and technology

Modern Formula One cars are mid-engined open cockpit, open wheel single-seaters. The chassis is made largely of carbon fibre composites, rendering it light but extremely stiff and strong. The whole car, including engine, fluids and driver weighs only 605 kg. In fact this is the minimum weight set by the regulations – the cars are so light that they often have to be ballasted up to this minimum weight.

The cornering speed of Formula One cars is largely determined by the aerodynamic downforce that they generate, which pushes the car down onto the track. This is mostly provided by 'wings' mounted at the front and rear of the vehicle, and to a lesser extent by ground effect created by the movement of air under the flat bottom of the car. The aerodynamic design of the cars is very heavily constrained to limit performance and the current generation of cars sport a large number of small winglets and turning vanes designed to closely control the flow of the air over the car.

The other major factor controlling the cornering speed of the cars is the design of the tyres. Tyres in Formula One are not 'slicks' (tyres with no tread pattern) as in most other circuit racing series. Each tyre has four large circumferential grooves on its surface designed to further limit the cornering speed of the cars. Suspension is double wishbone or multilink all round with pushrod operated springs and dampers on the chassis. Carbon-Carbon disc brakes are used for reduced weight and increased frictional performance. These provide a very high level of braking performance and are usually the element which provokes the greatest reaction from drivers new to the formula.

Engines are mandated as 2.4 litre normally aspirated V8s, with many other constraints on their design and the materials that may be used. The 2006 generation of engines rev close to 20,000 rpm and produce up to 800 bhp. The previous generation of 3-litre V10 engines are also allowed, albeit with their revs limited and with an air restrictor to limit performance. Engines run on unleaded fuel closely resembling publicly available petrol. The oil which lubricates and protects the engine from overheating is very similar in viscosity to that of water.

A wide variety of technologies – including active suspension, ground effect aerodynamics and turbochargers – are banned under the current regulations. Despite this the 2006 generation of cars can reach speeds of up to 360 km/h (around 220 mph) at some circuits (Monza). Even with the limitations on aerodynamics, at 160 kph, aerodynamically generated downforce is equal to the weight of the car and the often repeated claim that Formula One cars are capable of 'driving on the ceiling' remains true in principle, if not in practice. At full speed downforce of 2.5 times the cars weight can be achieved. The downforce means that the cars can achieve a lateral force of around four and a half times the force of gravity (4.5 g) in cornering - a road car might achieve around 1 g. Consequently in corners the driver's head is pulled sideways with a force equivalent to 25 kilograms. Such high lateral forces are enough to make breathing difficult and the drivers need supreme concentration to maintain their focus for the 1 to 2 hours that it takes to cover 305 kilometres.

**Rasputin** · 10-08-2006, 11:24 AM

Future of Formula One

Formula One went through a difficult period in the early 2000s. Viewing figures dropped, and fans expressed their loss of interest due to the dominance of Michael Schumacher and Ferrari.

The FIA has also been tasked with the responsibility of making rules to combat the spiralling costs which affect the smaller teams and to ensure that the sport remains as safe as possible.

To this end, the FIA has in recent years instituted a number of rule changes, including new tyre restrictions, multi-race engines, and reductions on downforce. Safety and cost are paramount in all rule-change discussions, and the FIA has made public its intention to continue to modify the rules with these goals in mind.

Over the coming years, more radical changes will be made to the rules. In October 2005, the FIA proposal of enhancing overtaking won the support of the teams by agreeing about the new rear wing concept that would eliminate the current single rear wing and replace it with two box-like wings, one behind each rear wheel. These changes are due in 2007. [9] In the long run, the FIA intends to introduce greater restrictions on testing and the introduction of standardised electronic units and tyres.

In the interest of making the sport truer to its designation as a World Championship, FOM president Bernie Ecclestone has initiated and organized a number of Grands Prix in new countries and continues to discuss new future races. The sport's rapid expansion into new areas of the globe also leaves some question as to which races will be cut.

Viewing figures are seeing some signs of recovery due to the varied 2005 season. Ferrari's dominance ended in 2005 as Renault and McLaren-Mercedes became the top two teams in Formula 1, with Fernando Alonso becoming the new World Champion. There has since been a resurgence of interest in the sport and 22 teams applied for the final 12th team spots available for the 2008 season (eventually awarded to Prodrive).

**Rasputin** · 10-08-2006, 11:27 AM

Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso Díaz (born on July 29, 1981 in Oviedo, Asturias, Spain) is a Formula One racing driver, currently living in Oxford, England. On September 25, 2005 he won the World Driver's Championship title at the age of 24 years and 59 days, thus breaking Emerson Fittipaldi's record of being the youngest F1 champion, and ending Michael Schumacher's run of five consecutive championships.

Alonso was often tipped to be Michael Schumacher's natural successor, sharing some of his attributes.

Born Fernando Alonso Díaz (Alonso is his father's first surname; Díaz, his mother's - this is the regular Spanish custom) on July 29, 1981, in Oviedo, in the Asturias province of northern Spain. His mother worked in a department store and his father was employed as an explosives expert in the mining industry. The Alonsos and their two children, older sister Lorena and Fernando, lived comfortably but were by no means a wealthy family. Fernando’s father José Luis, an amateur kart racer, wished to pass on his passion to his children. He built a pedal kart mimicking an F1 car. Originally the kart was meant for eight-year-old Lorena but she showed no interest in the sport, as opposed to her three-year-old brother, who was eager to have a go. His parents said he showed a competitive spirit at that young age. He is currently engaged to Raquel del Rosario, the lead singer of the Spanish pop group El Sueño de Morfeo.

As a child, Alonso and his father, who also doubled as his mechanic, competed in karting competitions around Spain. While his entire family fully supported Fernando’s increasingly successful hobby, his progress required more funding than his family’s resources could provide. It was difficult to acquire sponsorships and the only way to get the financial backings was to win races, and so he did. Age was never a hindrance as he easily won three Spanish Karting Titles (1994, 1996 and 1997). He raced in the European Karting Championship, placing second, and by his mid teens he was the world junior karting champion in 1996.

In 1999, Alonso made the jump to open-wheel cars, racing the Spanish Euro Open MoviStar by Nissan (his first and last season in the series) with the help of former Minardi F1 driver Adrián Campos. Then only 18 years old, he became the series champion, immediately earning him a ticket to Formula 3000 in 2000. A win at the Spa-Francorchamps highlighted a very solid fourth place in the drivers championship, and Alonso was off for Formula One in 2001.

Alonso was the third-youngest driver to start a F1 race when he made his debut with Minardi at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix. The car was not highly competitive during his rookie season, and Alonso failed to score a championship point. However, in the races he finished without mechanical problems, he was usually ahead of his team mate, and sometimes ahead of technically superior cars.

**Rasputin** · 10-08-2006, 11:29 AM

2004
Alonso remained with Renault for the 2004 season but the R24 kept him out of the winner's circle. In the early part of 2004, though, questions were asked of Alonso when he was comprehensively out-qualified and out-raced by teammate Jarno Trulli. The situation would change towards the end of the year when Trulli suffered a lack of form and also dropped Renault boss Flavio Briatore as his manager. Trulli's relationship with the team deteriorated to the extent that he signed for Toyota from 2005 onwards, and even left for his new team for the final 3 races of 2004. Though he had no wins, Alonso ended the year a career-best fourth in the championship standings, scoring 59 points and four podiums.

**Rasputin** · 10-08-2006, 11:30 AM

2005
For the 2005 championship season, he was joined by Italian Giancarlo Fisichella. He finished third in the first race in Australia. In the second race of the season in Malaysia he got pole position and easily won the race. Alonso repeated this form in the season's third race, winning the Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position, and continued his good form with a close win over Michael Schumacher in the San Marino Grand Prix after an epic battle with the 7-time World Champion lasting about 13 laps. While he did not win his home grand prix he set the mark for the rest of the season, driving consistently to finish second after Kimi Räikkönen.

McLaren's improving form saw Räikkönen win again at Monaco while Alonso suffered from high tyre wear, though finishing fourth. One of the most memorable moments of the 2005 season was Räikkönen's spectacular exit from the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring during the last few laps, which granted the win to Alonso. Räikkönen had flat-spotted a tyre which started severe vibrations which eventually caused the suspension to fail.

Alonso's run of good results came to an end at the Canadian Grand Prix, when he made a mistake and crashed into the wall at the Villeneuve corner, damaging his suspension, after coming under pressure from the McLarens of Juan Pablo Montoya and Räikkönen. It was his first retirement of the year.

At the United States Grand Prix, due to safety concerns over the Michelin tyres, Alonso, along with all the other Michelin drivers, did not start.

Alonso took his third pole position of the season at the French Grand Prix, and led the race from start to finish, winning his fifth race of the season. He followed this with pole position a week later at the British Grand Prix, where he finished a conservative second behind a McLaren-Mercedes, as colombian Juan Pablo Montoya took his first victory of the season.

McLaren's poor reliability granted another win to Alonso at the German Grand Prix when Kimi Räikkönen's car suffered a hydraulic failure. Alonso then celebrated his 24th birthday two days before the Hungarian Grand Prix but qualified only 6th and finished 11th and out of the points after a collision with the Toyota of Ralf Schumacher that partly damaged his car.

At the Turkish Grand Prix Alonso took 2nd place from Juan Pablo Montoya after the Colombian collided with Tiago Monteiro in the closing stages of the race. At Monza, Alonso qualified third and drove consistently to finish second behind Montoya.

At the Belgian Grand Prix, Alonso finished second and struggled with a car which was extremely difficult to drive due to a less than ideal set-up for the track conditions. He again made up a place in the closing stages after Antônio Pizzonia crashed into Montoya.

The Spaniard qualified on pole, but finished 3rd in the Brazilian Grand Prix to clinch the Driver's Championship title at the age of 24 years and 59 days old, thus breaking Emerson Fittipaldi's record of being the youngest F1 champion in history by about 18 months, and ending the 5-year dominance of Michael Schumacher. He had led the championship from the second race of the season. Commenting on his victory, he said:

"I just want to dedicate this championship to my family, and all my close friends who have supported me through my career. Spain is not a country with an F1 culture, and we had to fight alone, every step of the way, to make this happen. A huge thank-you should also go to the team as well - they are the best in Formula One, and we have done this together. It will say that I am world champion, but we are all champions - and they deserve this."
The Japanese and Chinese Grands Prix saw Alonso and Renault abandon the conservative style evident in Brazil when he was still chasing the championship title and Renault closed the performance gap considerably. Jordan's commercial director Ian Phillips described Alonso's overtaking manoeuvre around Schumacher at Suzuka as “one of the best of all time at this grandiose circuit”. Starting from 16th on the grid, he eventually finished third behind race-winner Räikkönen, who started from 17th on the grid and clinched victory with a last-lap pass on Fisichella, and his team mate. The Chinese Grand Prix saw Renault and Alonso win to claim the 1st Constructor’s Championship for the Renault F1 team.

Proponents of Kimi Räikkönen argue that he has been the best driver of the 2005 season despite having the same number of victories (seven) as the Spaniard. Without the reliability issues Räikkönen might have won the Drivers' Championship. However some commentators agree that Alonso fully deserves the title, dominating the early part of the season while McLaren struggled and driving consistently since then to capitalise on Räikkönen's problems.

**Rasputin** · 10-08-2006, 11:32 AM

Alonso's season started with a close win over Michael Schumacher at the Bahrain Grand Prix, overtaking the German after coming out of the pitlane with 18 laps left. He had qualified fourth but was able to win after overtaking Massa and edging Schumacher out after his last pit stop.

He qualified a disappointing seventh at the Malaysian Grand Prix due to a fueling error but was able to finish second to team mate Giancarlo Fisichella after an excellent start, overtaking four cars, and with a better race pace than Jenson Button. Fernando beat Kimi Räikkönen to victory in Australia after overtaking leader Jenson Button's Honda.

After poor qualifying (by their past standards) for both Renaults at San Marino, Alonso was unable to pass Michael Schumacher for the majority of the race, partly due to the track's lack of overtaking opportunities and partly due to Schumacher's defensive driving in a Ferrari which appeared considerably faster on the straights. Renault attempted to pre-empt Ferrari with an early pitstop but a clear in-lap for Schumacher, who counter-attacked by pitting early in the next lap, coupled with traffic for Alonso's out-lap, allowed Schumacher to leave the pit lane seconds before Alonso could pass him. Later, Alonso considered the early pitstop a tactical mistake. Schumacher won to reverse the positions of the previous year's San Marino Grand Prix.

Alonso won pole ahead of Schumacher for the European Grand Prix. It was thought he qualified with less fuel than in previous grands prix but this was not the case, as the Spaniard pitted only two laps ahead of Schumacher in the first stint. However, in the second stint Schumacher pitted several laps later and emerged 5.5 seconds ahead of Alonso. Those positions remained until the end of the race, with Felipe Massa finishing third and Kimi Räikkönen fourth, both just behind Alonso, as Räikkönen had been pressuring Massa in the final laps and appeared faster. On May 14, 2006, Alonso dominated to win the Spanish Grand Prix, becoming the first Spaniard to win his home grand prix.

He achieved his 12th victory and 12th pole position in the Monaco Grand Prix, the latter several hours after the qualifying session had concluded. Schumacher was sanctioned by the stewards for "deliberately stopping his car on the circuit in the last few minutes of qualifying", denying his rivals, Alonso included, the opportunity of recording fastest qualifying lap. During the race, Alonso was mainly threatened by Kimi Räikkönen, who ran close to him for much of the race, and Mark Webber, who looked set to challenge for the lead in the next round of pit stops. Both suffered mechanical problems and withdrew, allowing Fernando Alonso to cruise to his first victory at Monaco.

Alonso dominated the British Grand Prix from the Saturday qualifying session to the end of the race on Sunday. It was the first time Alonso achieved pole position, victory and fastest lap in a grand prix. Schumacher and Räikkönen joined him on the podium. The 2006 Canadian Grand Prix was a new victory for him, and his fifth pole position in a row. Michael Schumacher finished second after taking advantage of a late error by Kimi Räikkönen, who finished third, and a safety car period that allowed both of them to reduce the gap to the driver ahead.

His run of good results ended at the United States Grand Prix, when he qualified fifth and finished the race in that position. Ferrari were superior all weekend and Michael Schumacher won the race, followed by his teammate Felipe Massa, and Giancarlo Fisichella. This meant Alonso's advantage over Schumacher in the championship was reduced from 25 points to 19. Schumacher won the French Grand Prix too, with Alonso finishing second and losing 2 more advantage points. It had been suggested Michelin (tyre suppliers for Renault) had been too conservative at the United States Grand Prix. However, the French Grand Prix showed Bridgestone (tyre suppliers for Ferrari) were competitive in general, and had improved the quality of their tyres.

He finished fifth in the German Grand Prix while Michael Schumacher achieved another victory, the 89th of his career. This negative result, due to the lack of competitiveness of the car, by which his team mate Giancarlo Fisichella was also affected, meant that Schumacher closed the gap to 11 points in the championship, with Ferrari subsequently reducing the gap to 10 points in the constructors' championship.

Alonso was involved in an incident with Red Bull Racing Test Driver Robert Doornbos in the 2nd free Practice Session of the Hungarian Grand Prix. As a consequence, he was investigated by race stewards after the session concluded. They subsequently penalised him by adding 2 seconds to his final qualifying time, 1 second for giving Doornbos a braketest, and 1 second for overtaking under a yellow flag in a separate incident in the same session. He qualified in 15th place. Rival Michael Schumacher qualified in 11th place after being penalised with 2 seconds for overtaking two pilots (Alonso and Kubica) under a red flag during the Saturday morning practice session. Neither of them finished the race in points (both had mechanical problems but Schumacher was able to finish the race in 9th position) and the championship situation was going to stay the same. However, Robert Kubica was disqualified, allowing Schumacher to grab one point. Later, Alonso was able to finish second in the Turkish Grand Prix ahead of Schumacher, third, after passing him in a pit stop during a safety car period. They held a 1-on-1 battle during the last 13 laps, but Alonso defended his postion. This result gave him a 12-points advantage with 4 races remaining.

At the Italian Grand Prix Alonso suffered a tyre puncture during qualifying that also damaged bodywork at the back of his chassis. He still managed to qualify fifth but was later controversialy punished by the stewards for blocking Felipe Massa's Ferrari, and he started the race from the 10th position. Renault reacted angryly to the penalty and Fernando Alonso described Formula One as "not anymore a sport".In the race he rose to third place, overtaking Massa during the last round of pit stops and Robert Kubica during the pit stop itself. However a mechanical problem with his engine forced him to withdraw. Michael Schumacher won the grand prix and cut Alonso's Championship lead to two points.

At the following round in China, Alonso qualified on pole, thanks in part to a rain affected qualifying session that was kinder to the Michelin tyre. The race took place on a drying track and Alonso eventually finished second. A strong opening stint gave him an enormous lead, but poor tyre choice at the first pit stops left him with massive understeer, costing him up to two seconds a lap to the chasing Fisichella and Schumacher. Having dropped back to third place by his second pit stop the Renault team made the decision to swith to slick tyres. The mechanics had a problem with a wheel and the stop lasted 19 seconds. The new tyres gave the car a performance boost and he was able to pass his team mate, but not Schumacher. The result demoted Alonso to second place in the drivers championship, as depite being level on points with Schumacher, he had only six wins to Schumacher's seven. However, Fisichella's third place would return Renault to the top of the Constructors standings.

At the Japanese Grand Prix, Ferrari looked to be one step ahead of Renault after taking the first two grid positions in the qualifying session, more than half a second faster than the Renaults, fifth and sixth. However, during the race both performed similarly and Alonso ran 2nd, about 5 seconds behind Schumacher, during many laps. Then, the latter suffered a mechanical problem and could not finish the race. Alonso won and recovered the first place in the driver's championship with a 10-point advantage over Schumacher and only one race remaining.

During the 2006 season he was seen performing some sort of animal movements after his victories. When asked about them, he said "It’s a secret. It’s not an animal, either." indicating it was some kind of inside joke or bet with his friends or family.

**donsaeid** · 10-08-2006, 01:55 PM

i just cant stand M. SH.

Montoya and Alonso rock

**Rasputin** · 10-09-2006, 06:43 AM

Engine trouble douses M. Schumacher's F1 title hopes

Michael Schumacher saw his title hopes for this year's Formula One championship go up in smoke Sunday at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, Japan.

Reigning world champion Fernando Alonso won at Suzuka and heads into the season's final race with a 10-point lead over Schumacher, who dropped out in the 37th lap with a blown engine.

''I was leading the race and then suddenly the engine went up in smoke,'' said Schumacher, who will retire after this season. ``And I knew immediately what they meant for the race and championship.

''For me the championship is over,'' he said. ``I have to say clearly I don't really believe in the championship anymore.''

The Formula One driving title will be decided at the Brazilian GP on Oct. 22, with Renault's Alonso leading Schumacher of Ferrari 126-116 in the standings.

All Alonso needs to do in Brazil to win the title is finish in the top eight and score a point, no matter what Schumacher does.

''I think it is a little too early, but for sure the same thing can happen in Brazil. For sure we are now in a much better position than before,'' he said. ``Now we only need a few points and it becomes a bit easier.''

It was the Spanish driver's first win since the Canadian GP in June, his 15th career and seventh this year. Schumacher also has seven season wins.

Felipe Massa finished second to keep alive Ferrari's hopes of winning the constructor's title. Alonso's teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, finished third.

Jenson Button in a Honda, was fourth, while Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren, last year's winner here, was fifth. Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher were next, with Nick Heidfeld of BMW-Sauber eighth.

Sunday's F1 race is the last at Suzuka for a while as the Japanese GP moves to the Fuji track about 93 miles west of Tokyo next year.

DRIVER DIES OF INJURIES

New Zealand racing driver Mark Porter died two days after a high speed crash in the lead-up to Australia's most prestigious motor race, the Bathurst 1000.

Porter died at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital from serious head and internal injuries suffered Friday in the 115-mph crash with Australian driver David Clark during a second tier V8 race over the Mount Panorama circuit.

Clark was also critically injured but his condition stabilized and he was reported Sunday to be conscious and mentally alert, though not yet speaking.

Porter, 31, was climbing the mountain on the 12th lap of a 14-lap development race when his Holden Commodore spun sideways, stalled and was left stranded in the middle of the track in an area blinded to oncoming traffic.

Clark, 28, turned his Ford Falcon sideways in an attempt to escape a collision, but crashed directly into Porter's driver's side door at high speed.

**abbas_agha** · 10-09-2006, 11:28 PM

post count

**Rasputin** · 10-10-2006, 03:37 AM

Michael Schumacher

Is a German Formula One driver and seven-time Formula One world champion. . According to the official Formula One web site, he is statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen. as well as being the most successful driver in the history of Formula One. Schumacher has been nicknamed the Red Baron, both because of his red Ferrari, and also referring to the great German fighter pilot Manfred Von Richthofen, who was similarily the most successful in his endeavors as a flying ace.

Schumacher currently holds nearly every record in Formula One, including those for most drivers' championships, race victories, fastest laps, pole positions, and most races won in a single season. He is the first Formula One driver to win at every track he has started on at least once, starting from his first world championship title year (excluding the recently introduced Turkish GP). Schumacher has been noted throughout his career for his ability to produce fast laps at crucial moments in a race, his ability to push his car to the very limit, and for his driving abilities in wet conditions. Wet conditions are often thought of as the great equalizer in Formula One racing, where driver skills trump all else. Some of Schumacher's best performances occurred in such conditions, earning him the title "Regenkönig" (rain king) or "Regenmeister" (rain master).

Schumacher is the senior driver in the Formula One world championship, and he was for many years the president of the Grand Prix Drivers Association. He has also become a committed spokesman for road safety, most recently in support of the Make Roads Safe campaign.

Schumacher is credited with popularizing Formula One in Germany, where it had little following and was generally considered a fringe sport. Today, not only is the sport itself much more popular in Germany, but three of the current top ten drivers in the drivers' championship are German, more than any other nationality.

On September 10, 2006, after winning the Italian Grand Prix, Schumacher announced his retirement as a driver. He will be replaced at Ferrari by Kimi Räikkönen for the 2007 season. At the end of 2006, Ferrari will define Schumacher's new position within the reorganised Ferrari team, following his retirement as a race driver. Bernie Ecclestone has said he doesn't believe Schumacher's decision is final and that he could decide to race next year.