7th Pole in a row for Schumacher.

[EERO]

The Juggernaut continues: after pacing himself in Practise, TGF comes out and blows everyone away. Great showing from Ralf-Liz, scriptwriters are at work!!!!!

Montoya was also impressive.


Pos. Driver Team Times
1. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:13.780 210.252 km/h
2. R.Schumacher Williams BMW (M) 1:14.090 + 0.310
3. Hakkinen McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:14.122 + 0.342
4. Montoya Williams BMW (M) 1:14.165 + 0.385
5. Coulthard McLaren Mercedes (B) 1:14.178 + 0.398
6. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:14.191 + 0.411
7. Trulli Jordan Honda (B) 1:14.630 + 0.850
8. Frentzen Jordan Honda (B) 1:14.633 + 0.853
9. Heidfeld Sauber Petronas (B) 1:14.810 + 1.030
10. Raikkonen Sauber Petronas (B) 1:14.924 + 1.144
11. Panis BAR Honda (B) 1:15.046 + 1.266
12. Villeneuve BAR Honda (B) 1:15.182 + 1.402
13. Irvine Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:15.192 + 1.412
14. Burti Jaguar Cosworth (M) 1:15.371 + 1.591
15. Alesi Prost Acer (M) 1:15.437 + 1.657
16. Bernoldi Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:15.657 + 1.877
17. Verstappen Arrows Asiatech (B) 1:15.704 + 1.924
18. Fisichella Benetton Renault (M) 1:16.175 + 2.395
19. Alonso European Minardi (M) 1:16.184 + 2.404
20. Button Benetton Renault (M) 1:16.229 + 2.449
21. Mazzacane Prost Acer (M) 1:16.520 + 2.740
22. Marques European Minardi (M) 1:16.784 + 3.004

[JVA]

Nice result for Alonso in the Minardi
Bad result for the Benetton team. They have still to do a lot of work I think.

It is good to see that there arte six cars so close together.

I think that Mazzacane will be repaced by someone else.
He is to slow for the F1.

[EERO]

Welcome, JVA. I agree about Marzipan. Interestingly, the cars lined up in an almost Noah's Ark formation. Alesi is faster than the Prost and Mazzacne is slower, the car's real positions should be about 17th and 18th.

[downforce]

Yeah! i noticed the 'noah's ark' formation too!
Jacques true colours and Buttons' potential are slowly being revealed...

[R]

Liz could be right about her theory, that after the success of the brother v. brother duel in Malaysia qualifying, the same duel could now happen in a race! In that case I hope Ralf wins it (now that would be something for TGF to chew on), and a nice present for Steph on her birthday it would be as well!

Disappointing for Barrichello on his home track, I must say. He had a nice colour design on his helmet anyway.

[botsquad]

tgf: he's actually improved. remarkable

cheers to williams and sauber too.!

question: why was rubens the only pilot out of sync with his team? some sort of braking problem?

[Ralf's Girl]

Originally posted by R
In that case I hope Ralf wins it (now that would be something for TGF to chew on), and a nice present for Steph on her birthday it would be as well!

Indeed it would. (and I'm sure that if anything can get AMoffat to want Ralf to win, it would be knowing that it would make me very happy )

Excellent qualifying by Ralf - he showed that the gap to Ferrari isn't so big anymore. It's just a gap to TGF now (which won't be so easily closed).

Another good day for Fernando, and the Saubers were looking good as well. I'll be keeping an eye out for Raikkonen and Heidfeld tomorrow.

[Liz]

Ralf is going to win. You could tell in the post-qualifying press conference that The Big Brother knows it too. And I thought the press were just as bored as the rest of us with TGF and his eternal pole position.

Even if it hadn't been arranged in advance, I'd say the fact that Montoya was top of the charts in the last practice before qualifying lit a fire under Ralfie's bum and that nobody knows better than he does that if JPM hadn't taken the wild ride through the gravel, the grid positions would have been reversed!

Nice work by Alonso recovering from the spin to make 15th, and what do you think ails Jacques? Very clearly the car is not undriveable any more. The other guy seems to be managing fine.

Also well done Kimi. He and Nick are clearly making Peter Sauber a very happy boy!

[Jeanburrasca81]

You're right...or at least Ralf will be quite close to the victory...who knows if he can finish the race. Or will Juan kick Ralf's ass?...who knows..lol.

[Raoul Duke]

I'm hoping for a Ralf victory as well.

As for JV, everybody keeps going on about how bad the car is and how this is the end of JV's career. But what is so atrocious about the results so far?. He qualified 8th in Melbourn, and 7th in Malaysia and just had bad luck during the races. And yes he only qualified 12th today, but all the teams have a bad week-end every now and then, especially the mid-field runners. I don't think this is anything unsusual, or any reason to believe that JV will retire anytime soon.

[Schumacher]

Great drive by Ralf and Montoya. They totally outclasses both the Mclarens. Mika Hakkinen pushed as hard as he could to ge ahead of the 2nd Williams. Anyway, I still believe Michael will be the man to win yet another race tomorrow however I would be hoping that Ralf comes into play and picks up a well deserved win.


As for those who believe F1 is scripted - they should stop watching the WWF. Too many nights watching the WWF does that to you.

[Jeanburrasca81]

LOL@Schumacher. Well, I wonder if, for it's 2 races in a row now, the McLarens have lost all of their advatage on team 3 which is Williams. If so...do we have a 3 team battle for the title this year?

[SL]

The season has just started. The 'overseas' races tend to be the indicator but a lot can happen during the European tour when teams are closer to home. BAR are looking better than previous, Williams have got something and will get a win, probably Montoya as the script would suggest that. But Ralf might get gifted a win by big brother, how would Rubens feel about that !!!

As for the script, well as it has happened the last 10 odd years, the race down to the last two races. One 'lucky' win or outstanding drive, something happens mid season.... Time will tell this year.

Simon

[Jay]

and what do you think ails Jacques? Very clearly the car is not undriveable any more. The other guy seems to be managing fine.

Liz do you really consider Olivier's 0.136s faster than Jacques qualifying position in 11th "fine"?

The problem is a horrible car, and Jacques is not further up because he missed most of the morning session because of a broken gear box. Olivier Panis had a great morning practice and was promising 5th place! Taking that into consideration, being 0.136s behind your teammate looks pretty good.

Also, I see Ralf and Montoya going out on the first lap, and Ferrari having another 1-2. The only way Michael will NOT win tomorrow is if his car fails, or he loses a lap for some reason.

[Jeanburrasca81]

Nah, I don't think the BAR is a horrible car..it's just mediocre...lol. What should an Alesi or a Verstappen say if you already call the BAR horrible..they would be very glad to have such a bolid.

[Raoul Duke]

Everybody sais how bad the car is and how JV's career is coming to an end. But what is so atrocious about the results. He qualified 8th in Melbourn and 7h in Malaysia and simply had bad luck during the races. Sure he only qaulified 12th today but it's normal for all teams to have a bad week-end every now and then. I don't think that this is anything unsusual, or that it means that JV's career is coming to an end any time soon.

[Raoul Duke]

Oops, sorry, wrong thread!. My last post was supposed to be in the thread concerning JV

[EERO]

Scripted or not, I'd still like to see Ralfie take it. Montoya really had his foot in it until he went off and clouted the wall. Dumb mistake, but the mark of real talent to run back to the pits, climb into a car set up for the other driver and still qualify fourth on a track he hadn't seen till the day before. Ralf must have been worried as Liz has said. It was Montoy'a day. Tomorrow should be interesting.

[R]

I agree Montoya qualified really well considering his off and the fact he had to jump in the spare car set up for Ralf. It will be interesting to see what he can do if he can get to the finish for the first time.

I agree with Jay concerning Panis/Villeneuve. 0.136s is not a very big gap, and they're 11th and 12th respectively. Although they're a little further down the list than I would have hoped, the difference between them is certainly not like "heaven and hell". Look at what happened in practice, and it's not really that surprising. Besides, Panis is a very good driver.