10 Tenths Grand Prix Preview - San Marino

[Super Tourer]

10 Tenths Grand Prix Preview – San Marino Grand Prix 24th April 2005.


2004 Race Result

1 M.Schumacher Ferrari 62 1:26'19.670
2 Jenson Button BAR/Honda 62 1:26'29.372 9.702
3 J.P.Montoya Williams/BMW 62 1:26'41.287 21.617
4 Fernando Alonso Renault 62 1:26'43.324 23.654
5 Jarno Trulli Renault 62 1:26'55.886 36.216
6 R.Barrichello Ferrari 62 1:26'56.353 36.683
7 Ralf Schumacher Williams/BMW 62 1:27'15.400 55.730
8 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren/Mercedes 61 1:26'20.284 1 Lap
9 G.Fisichella Sauber/Petronas 61 1:26'21.263 1 Lap
10 Felipe Massa Sauber/Petronas 61 1:26'33.852 1 Lap
11 Olivier Panis Toyota 61 1:26'58.490 1 Lap
12 David Coulthard McLaren/Mercedes 61 1:26'59.350 1 Lap
13 Mark Webber Jaguar/Cosworth 61 1:27'08.421 1 Lap
14 Christian Klien Jaguar/Cosworth 60 1:26'54.894 2 Laps
15 Z.Baumgartner Minardi/Cosworth 58 1:26'40.096 4 Laps


Retirements.

Takuma Sato BAR/Honda 56 1:19'10.315 Engine
Nick Heidfeld Jordan/Ford 48 1:09'14.164 Transmission
C.da Matta Toyota 32 45'48.898 Spun off
Gianmaria Bruni Minardi/Cosworth 22 32'58.138 Brakes
Giorgio Pantano Jordan/Ford 6 8'43.157 Hydraulics

Fastest Lap: M.Schumacher Ferrari 1'20.411 on lap 10



2004 Grid

1 Jenson Button BAR/Honda 1'19.753 - -
2 M.Schumacher Ferrari 1'20.011 0.258
3 J.P.Montoya Williams/BMW 1'20.212 0.459
4 R.Barrichello Ferrari 1'20.451 0.698
5 Ralf Schumacher Williams/BMW 1'20.538 0.785
6 Fernando Alonso Renault 1'20.895 1.142
7 Takuma Sato BAR/Honda 1'20.913 1.160
8 Mark Webber Jaguar/Cosworth 1'20.921 1.168
9 Jarno Trulli Renault 1'21.034 1.281
10 C.da Matta Toyota 1'21.087 1.334
11 David Coulthard McLaren/Mercedes 1'21.091 1.338
12 Felipe Massa Sauber/Petronas 1'21.532 1.779
13 Olivier Panis Toyota 1'21.558 1.805
14 Christian Klien Jaguar/Cosworth 1'21.949 2.196
15 Giorgio Pantano Jordan/Ford 1'23.352 3.599
16 Nick Heidfeld Jordan/Ford 1'23.488 3.735
17 Gianmaria Bruni Minardi/Cosworth 1'26.899 7.146
18 G.Fisichella Sauber/Petronas - - -
19 Z.Baumgartner Minardi/Cosworth 1'46.299 26.546 33.285
20 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren/Mercedes - - -


2004 San Marino results archive
http://www.formula1.com/archive/grandprix/2004/717.html


Read a review of the 2004 race:
http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr717.html


Looking ahead to the race.

After the heat of Bahrain we head back to Europe and the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.

Renault has made it three wins out of three races so far, will it be four by Sunday night? Probably, but some other factors may intervene.

1. Temperature – it will be much cooler at Imola which will suit the Bridgestones more. In Bahrain the first eight cars were all on Michelin’s.


2. Home turf – Ferrari will make a massive effort to perform on home soil and we can expect them to pull out all the stops. The car looked to be on the pace in Bahrain, but was clearly not race ready in reliability terms – something Ferrari will work quickly to rectify.


3. Reliability – Renault suffered a few gremlins in recent testing – will the pressure of keeping up the pace start to tell?


Having said all this Alonso looks supreme and totally at home winning Grand Prix as if he has been doing it for years, Ferrari are unusually on the back foot but I think we can see at least the start of the fight back at San Marino which should set us up for an intriguing few races.

McLaren are still almost there but not quite, lack of ability to get heat into the tyres in qualifying is hurting them on grid positions, which leaves more to do in the race. They face another race without JPM, but this time Alex Wurz gets the nod and will line up alongside Raikkonen.

Williams will be glad to get back to some cooler temperatures. The heat of Bahrain severely hampered the team. Heidfeld’s engine cooked itself and Webber was struggling with temperatures forcing BMW to wind back the motor a bit. They have more new parts for San Marino so should be mixing it with the McLaren’s. Webber is still chasing the illusive podium, two of which have seemingly slipped from his grasp so far this season – when he finally gets there I believe it will release him and he will drive even better – there is something about mental barriers, when Button scored his first podium it seemed to change him as a driver, he looked more confident, any perceived questions had been answered and I’m sure Mark will feel the same.

Toyota is on a high with another podium for Trulli and the scent of victory getting under the top brass’ nose. Jarno looks reborn at the team, a driver who needs to be ‘loved’ he is making a good home for himself at Toyota and all is gelling well – this all helps the team to perform.

It will probably be another tough weekend for Villeneuve, the luxury of some rare testing for Sauber not proving to be the team builder and step forward it might have been. With JV there is always news and rumour, but he needs a solid performance and to finish ahead of Massa to quell talk that his tenure in F1 will be limited.

RBR have scored some very solid points already this season and we get to see Liuzzi in the 2nd car this weekend, another interesting prospect and someone likely to figure in the driver market over the next couple of years.

It’s not often Minardi have much to shout about, but this weekend sees a rare event – a brand new car from Minardi. Pictures released so far show it to be much more in line with current F1 thinking with its waisted sidepods and generally svelte appearance. It’s not yet sporting the proliferation of aero tweaks present on the other cars, but certainly marks a step forward in design. It will also enable the team to run the latest Cosworth TJ engine. Their immediate target looks to be challenging Jordan, who seem totally focused on the 2006 car as there is little sign of development on the current car.

So, to the winner – you have to keep Alonso as the favourite and to beat Ferrari on home soil would be something special for Renault. I think Ferrari will throw everything at this weekend, so in a straight fight we can probably expect an Alonso/Michael front row, then let battle commence and relish it. A great time to be an F1 fan, watching the master v the young pretender

[Super Tourer]

Circuit Map
http://www.formula1.com/race/circuitmap/735.html


Weekend Timetable – local time/UK time
Friday 22nd April
11:00 -12:00/10:00 – 11:00 1st practice
14:00 – 15:00/13:00 – 14:00 2nd practice

Saturday 23rd April
09:00 to 09:45/08:00-08:45 1st practice
10:15 -11:00/09:15-10:00 2nd practice
13:00/12:00 – Saturday Qualifying

Sunday 24th April
10:00/09:00 – Sunday Qualifying
14:00/13:00 Race

UK is one hour behind local time

Convert the timetable into your local time
http://www.formula1.com/race/timetable/735.html


UK TV Schedule

San Marino GP on ITV1 and ITV2

Qualifying 1: Saturday 23 April 1130-1310 (ITV1)

Live race: Sunday 24 April 1200-1500 (ITV1)

Highlights: Monday 25 April 0015-0110 (ITV1)

Highlights: Tuesday 26 April 0240-0330 (ITV2)

http://www.itv-f1.com/TVSchedule.aspx



Drivers Table

Fernando Alonso Renault 26
Jarno Trulli Toyota 16
Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 10
David Coulthard Red Bull 9
Ralf Schumacher Toyota 9
Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 8
Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren 8
Kimi Raikkonen McLaren 7
Mark Webber Williams 7
Nick Heidfeld Williams 6
Pedro de la Rosa McLaren 4
Christian Klien Red Bull 3
Felipe Massa Sauber 2
Michael Schumacher Ferrari 2


Constructors
Renault 36
Toyota 25
McLaren 19
Williams 13
Red Bull 12
Ferrari 10
Sauber 2
BAR 0
Jordan 0
Minardi 0

[Super Tourer]

San Marino - facts and stats

2004 - 1st pole for BAR and Button
2002 - Barrichello's 150th Grand Prix start
1998 - Mika Hakkinen's 100th race start
1994 - Benetton wins it's 10th race
1991 - JJ Lehto's 1st F1 podium
1986 - Gerhard Berger's 1st F1 podium
1985 - Thierry Boutsen's 1st F1 podium
1982 - Michele Alboreto's 1st F1 podium
1981 - Brabham's 25th F1 victory

Most San Marino wins - Michael Schumacher - 6
Current F1 drivers who have won in San Marino - Ralf Schumacher & David Coulthard.