10 Tenths Grand Prix Preview - Spain.

[Super Tourer]

10 Tenths Grand Prix Preview

Spanish Grand Prix – Circuit de Catalunya - 8th May 2005.


2004 Race Result.

1 1 M.Schumacher Ferrari 66 1:27'32.841
2 2 R.Barrichello Ferrari 66 1:27'46.131 13.290
3 7 Jarno Trulli Renault 66 1:28'05.135 32.294
4 8 Fernando Alonso Renault 66 1:28'05.793 32.952
5 10 Takuma Sato BAR/Honda 66 1:28'15.168 42.327
6 4 Ralf Schumacher Williams/BMW 66 1:28'46.645 1'13.804
7 11 G.Fisichella Sauber/Petronas 66 1:28'49.949 1'17.108
8 9 Jenson Button BAR/Honda 65 1:27'40.536 1 Lap
9 12 Felipe Massa Sauber/Petronas 65 1:27'57.220 1 Lap
10 5 David Coulthard McLaren/Mercedes 65 1:28'14.419 1 Lap
11 6 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren/Mercedes 65 1:28'17.262 1 Lap
12 14 Mark Webber Jaguar/Cosworth 65 1:28'17.539 1 Lap
13 16 C.da Matta Toyota 65 1:28'23.263 1 Lap

Fastest Lap: M Schumacher – 1.17.450 (lap 12)
Slowest Lap:Z Baumgartner – 1.23.390 (lap 8)


Retirements
Giorgio Pantano Jordan/Ford 51 1:11'17.704 Hydraulics
J.P.Montoya Williams/BMW 46 1:02'19.938 Brakes
Christian Klien Jaguar/Cosworth 43 58'52.203 Throttle
Olivier Panis Toyota 33 45'18.994 Hydraulics
Nick Heidfeld Jordan/Ford 33 45'30.426 Hydraulics
Gianmaria Bruni Minardi/Cosworth 31 44'28.507 Brakes
Z.Baumgartner Minardi/Cosworth 17 24'31.705 Spun off



2004 Grid

Gap pole to 20th – 6.448 seconds

1 1 M.Schumacher Ferrari 1'15.022 - -
2 3 J.P.Montoya Williams/BMW 1'15.639 0.617
3 10 Takuma Sato BAR/Honda 1'15.809 0.787
4 7 Jarno Trulli Renault 1'16.144 1.122
5 2 R.Barrichello Ferrari 1'16.272 1.250
6 4 Ralf Schumacher Williams/BMW 1'16.293 1.271
7 17 Olivier Panis Toyota 1'16.313 1.291
8 8 Fernando Alonso Renault 1'16.422 1.400
9 14 Mark Webber Jaguar/Cosworth 1'16.514 1.492
10 5 David Coulthard McLaren/Mercedes 1'16.636 1.614
11 16 C.da Matta Toyota 1'17.038 2.016
12 11 G.Fisichella Sauber/Petronas 1'17.444 2.422
13 6 Kimi Räikkönen McLaren/Mercedes 1'17.445 2.423
14 9 Jenson Button BAR/Honda 1'17.575 2.553
15 18 Nick Heidfeld Jordan/Ford 1'17.802 2.780
16 15 Christian Klien Jaguar/Cosworth 1'17.812 2.790
17 12 Felipe Massa Sauber/Petronas 1'17.866 2.844
18 20 Gianmaria Bruni Minardi/Cosworth 1'19.817 4.795
19 19 Giorgio Pantano Jordan/Ford 1'20.607 5.585
20 21 Z.Baumgartner Minardi/Cosworth 1'21.470 6.448


2004 Spain results archive
http://www.formula1.com/archive/grandprix/2004/718.html


Read a review of the 2004 race
http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr718.html


Facts and Stats – Spanish Grand Prix

There have been 34 Spanish GP’s held on 5 different circuits
2003 – Trulli makes his 100th GP start
2001 – JPM’s 1st F1 podium and Mike Hakkinen’s 150th GP
1995 – Johnny Herbert’s 1st F1 podium
1992 – Nigel Mansell’s 25th GP win and Michael Schumacher’s first F1 front row start
1990 – Ayrton Senna’s 50th pole
1986 – Lotus’ 100th pole position and Keke Rosberg’s 100th GP start.
1981 – Jacques Laffite’s 100th GP start

[Super Tourer]

Looking ahead to the race

In our San Marino preview, we anticipated a duel between the ‘young pretender’ (Alonso) and the ‘old master’ (Schumacher), we weren’t disappointed, one of the most compelling races for a long time saw Alonso’s Renault brilliant defend from the pursuing Ferrari of Schumacher. What was even more pleasing was the lack of weaving or a desperate lunge to spoil the battle – here were two drivers at the top of their game, respecting each other and giving us a real race to watch.

It was another case of what might have been for McLaren; Kimi looked to have the race under control until a driveshaft failure put him out and robbed us of an intriguing three way fight for the lead later in the race. If they can get everything to hang together, they will be challengers. We wait to hear if JPM will return, with mixed messages suggesting that the standard recovery time for his type of injury has not been met. There is the added complication of enduring a race distance tightly belted into the car, and with less mobility in his shoulder, meeting the required FIA cockpit exit time

Of course we can only guess how the race would have panned out had Schumacher not fluffed up qualifying and pitched himself down the grid. An Alonso/Schumacher front row would have set us up for an even more head to head contest – would Michael have romped away?

The new found pace of the Ferrari, coupled with cooler temperatures which help Bridgestone, certainly gave the feeling that Ferrari were starting the fight back which can only provide us with more compelling races as the season moves on.

BAR were much improved, Button finally getting to stand on the podium again – sadly post race investigations into the car may remove all his good work, although BAR remain ‘confident’ that nothing will be proved against them.

Of the others, Toyota didn’t enjoy the kerbs of Imola that much; the car was clearly not as competitive as we have seen in the early season races. Mike Gascoyne is confident of a better showing in Spain as the team seeks to maintain the momentum.

Williams–BMW clearly has more to do. Both drivers complained of sluggish starts in San Marino and struggled for outright pace. Looking at the list of fastest laps at Imola, the highest Williams was Heidfeld with 8th fastest lap, almost two seconds off the quickest lap set by Schumacher’s Ferrari. Webber’s car was only 14th fastest during the race another half a second from Nick’s time. Williams would be expecting to be much close than that. Sam Michael recognizes that the car needs to be improved, and they have some aero mods for this race but once again Williams are suffering from a slow start to the year, a candid Sir Frank Williams admits they haven’t done as good a job over the winter as their rivals. For the record, Heidfeld races with the same engine used at Imola, whilst Webber has a new engine for Barcelona.

Villeneuve had a much better race at Imola, finishing in the points and generally being on a much better pace throughout the weekend. Sauber are clearly struggling with the budget to push the pace of improvement forward quickly, which continues to hamper the team relative to the opposition.

RBR found just how much development counts in F1, as the other teams by passed them at Imola, however there are new parts in the pipeline and the announcement of Ferrari V8 power for 2006 underlines their serious approach to F1. However, they may struggle again in Spain.

A couple of Barcelona factors to consider. It’s one of the most common test tracks so the teams have plenty of data to work on. It used to be very hard on tyres, but the recent resurfacing should make the track less abrasive. It demands great aerodynamic efficiency whilst the long straight eats power (the cars run on full throttle for about 50% of the lap). The twisty infield section requires grip in the slow stuff, so the engineers will be trading off drag for wing levels and speed

Alonso will have home advantage, the Renault still looks the complete package over a race distance, it’s likely that although improved the track surface will be harder on tyres than some of the other tracks, which favours the combination of Renault and Michelin.

So, I’m going to go for a very close run thing again, a three way fight between Alonso, Kimi and Michael Schumacher – it’s almost to close to call, but I’m tempted to go for a role reversal from Imola with Alonso chasing MS home – but then again it could be Alonso on the top step again…


Circuit Map
http://www.formula1.com/race/circuitmap/736.html



Timetable

Local/UK Time

Friday 6th May
11:00 to 12:00/10:00 to 11:00 1st Practice
14:00 to 15:00/12:00 to 14:00 2nd Practice

Saturday 7th May
09:00 to 09:45/08:00 to 08:45 1st Practice
10:15 to 11:00/09:15 to 10:00 2nd Practice
13:00/12:00 – Sat Qualifying

Sunday 8th May
10:00/09:00 - Sun Qualifying
14:00/13:00 – Race

UK is ONE hour behind local time.

Covert the timetable to your local time
http://www.formula1.com/race/timetable/736.html

Live Timing
http://www.formula1.com/race/livetiming/736.html



UK TV Schedule

Spanish GP on ITV1 and ITV2

Qualifying 1: Saturday 7 May 1130-1310 (ITV1)

Live race: Sunday 8 May 1200-1500 (ITV1)

Full race replay: Wednesday 11 May 0145-0430 (ITV1)

Highlights: Monday 9 May 0005-0110 (ITV1)

Highlights: Tuesday 10 May 0125-0215 (ITV2)

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




Drivers Table

Fernando Alonso Renault 36
Jarno Trulli Toyota 18
Giancarlo Fisichella Renault 10
Michael Schumacher Ferrari 10
David Coulthard Red Bull 9
Ralf Schumacher Toyota 9
Rubens Barrichello Ferrari 8
Juan Pablo Montoya McLaren 8
Nick Heidfeld Williams 7
Kimi Raikkonen McLaren 7
Mark Webber Williams 7
Jenson Button BAR 6
Alexander Wurz McLaren 5
Pedro de la Rosa McLaren 4
Takuma Sato BAR 4
Christian Klien Red Bull 3
Jacques Villeneuve Sauber 3
Felipe Massa Sauber 2


Constructors Table

Renault 46
Toyota 27
McLaren 24
Ferrari 18
Williams 14
Red Bull 12
BAR 10
Sauber 5
Jordan 0
Minardi 0

[Adam43]

Brilliant as usual, thanks ST.

I am looking forward to this one, although Barcelona doens't always provide us with a great race. It could be another Alonso - Schumacher dual. IIRC they had a close battle in 2003 at Barcelona, with Alonso keeping very much in touch and only losing out over the race distance by 5s.

Remember to enter the competitions for this weekend:
Predictions competition and Fans competition

[wensleydale]

The 10-10ths chatroom will be open throughout this event. Please join us to discuss all the events in qualifying, and the race as they happen. If you would like to join the chatroom, and don't know how, please visit the chatroom website

If you have any problems with the chatroom, please contact one of the chat operators via PM. The operators are: Asp, Chezza, Cougar & myself.

Wens

[Pitstop]

Brilliantly summed up as usual ST - I'm going for a MS win on this one and can honestly say that this is the first race, for a very long time, that I'm really looking forward to.

[mac]

Lot of effort gone in there, ST. Well done!

I think Ferrari's pace at Imola was too hard to ignore. I expect a dominant win from Michael, and Rubens should be in second. Kimi and Fernando should fight out third.

I expect most team battles to be particularly close at Barcelona as all of the teams and drivers should be pretty well dialled in at this track.

On pace, I think the teams are in the following order at the moment:

Ferrari
Renault & McLaren
BAR
Toyota
Williams
RBR & Sauber
Jordan
Minardi

[Adam43]

Well the weather on race day seems like it will be similar to qualifying. Good for Michelin?

[TheMong]

hi all....
is thaere any where online i can listen to online commentary as five live
does'nt seem to be doing it for sunday qaulifying....cheers all

[Kicking-back]

5Live's commentary rights don't extend to the 'net.

I don't think anyone offers (legally) such a service.

[mac]

Originally Posted by mac

I think Ferrari's pace at Imola was too hard to ignore. I expect a dominant win from Michael, and Rubens should be in second.

Wrong!!!