San Marino GP

[r1ckst4]

First Qualifying times:

1. RAIKKONEN McLaren 1m19.886s

2. ALONSO Renault 1m19.889s

3. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 1m20.260s

4. WEBBER Williams 1m20.442s

5. BUTTON BAR 1m20.464s

6. TRULLI Toyota 1m20.492s

7. MASSA Sauber 1m20.593s

8. WURZ McLaren 1m20.632s

9. HEIDFELD Williams 1m20.807s

10. SATO BAR 1m20.851s

11. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 1m20.892s

12. R.SCHUMACHER Toyota 1m20.994s

13. VILLENEUVE Sauber 1m20.999s

14. COULTHARD Red Bull 1m21.632s

15. FISICHELLA Renault 1m21.708s

16. LIUZZI Red Bull 1m21.804s

17. KARTHIKEYAN Jordan 1m23.123s

18. MONTEIRO Jordan 1m25.100s

19. ALBERS Minardi 1m25.921s

20. FRIESACHER Minardi 1m26.484s

__________________________________________________ _______________

check out the first 6 drivers! :eek:
all good drivers, all different teams.... this is so exciting... i'm expecting to see a very entertaining grand prix this time.

dont miss it people! 2 hours from now!

[fpv_gtho]

I think the start and pitstops will be the only shakeup to the final qualifying, although after Schueys mistake that dropped him down to 13th, he'll have alot of attention payed to him. Hard to say what'lll happen at the front though, i dare say Kimi and Alonso will pull away from Button and Webber easily, and those 2 packs will tossle throughout the race.

Few more hours for my part of the globe......

[labomba]

Should be quite a few good tussles.. but yeah mostly the places will be sorted in the pitstops..... and who gets stuck behind Villeneuve 'the mobile roadblock'.

[fpv_gtho]

I think Villeneuves loosening up a bit, what hes mostly complaining about is the brakes, so im assuming he keeps braking too early, making him too slow, or braking too late making him look like he doesnt know what hes doing anymore.

I dont know what to read into Buttons performance though, him and Sato broke those 2 lap records testing the new aero kit, but its not really proven over a race distance from what ive seen so whilst he may get Webber at the start, maybe even Alonso and Kimi, who knows whats gunna happen as the race goes on.

[Cotterik]

Final qualifying positions for the San Marino Grand Prix

1. RAIKKONEN McLaren 2m42.880s
2. ALONSO Renault 2m43.441s
3. BUTTON BAR 2m44.105s
4. WEBBER Williams 2m44.511s
5. TRULLI Toyota 2m44.518s
6. SATO BAR 2m44.658s
7. WURZ McLaren 2m44.689s
8. HEIDFELD Williams 2m45.196s
9. BARRICHELLO Ferrari 2m45.243s
10. R.SCHUMACHER Toyota 2m45.416s
11. VILLENEUVE Sauber 2m46.359s
12. FISICHELLA Renault 2m46.710s
13. M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari 2m47.244s
14. COULTHARD Red Bull 2m48.070s
15. LIUZZI Red Bull 2m48.155s
16. KARTHIKEYAN Jordan 2m52.099s
17. MONTEIRO Jordan 2m54.252s
18. MASSA Sauber 2m44.930s*
19. FRIESACHER Minardi 2m57.048s
20. ALBERS Minardi no time

*Massa has a 10-place penalty for an engine change

[R34GTR]

Awesome battle between Schumacher and Alonso a true race :D

[labomba]

Yeah that was fantastic!

The strategy was most important @ SanMarino, a circuit where its so difficult to overtake.
There were some great battles behind Trulli's Toyota early on, Sato getting the best of that one. + between Massa and Coulthard.
The best racing was at the end though as the strategies panned out.
For a while it was possible to imagine that Schumacher was only 1 stopping and might take an unbelievable victory from 13th on the grid.
As it was the last 15 laps were nailbiting as Schumacher rejoined some 12sec behind Alsono but managed to close quickly up to the Renault and with 8 laps to go it looked certiain that he would pass for the victory.
However, Alsonso drove beautifully in a mature manner to take a well deserved 3rd win in a row.
No one can argue however that Schumacher was the star driver of the day.

.... The beginning of the Schumacher comeback. The next 15 races will be great in this... the most interesting season since Hakkinen retired.

[RazaBlade]

I cant believe he was a whole 2 secs a lap quicker than the leaders in the middle stint! Awesome car, superb driving. Kudos to Alonso for showing he's a true contender for champion and heir to Schumacher. But then again, no signs of Schumacher slowing down, rather his fight for the lead starts now!

[DasModell]

he was 8 tenths faster than anybody else .

http://www.formula1.com/race/result/fastestlaps/735/8.htm

[fpv_gtho]

Williams have to seriously go back and reconsider their race strategy, theyre getting left behind by the front runners especially now that BAR are back onto possible race winning pace, andas far as i can see they wouldnt be in such trouble if they could develop an credible race strategy

[fa22_raptor]

I'm spewin' about Kimi's retirement. I thought he had it in the bag as early as the end of the first lap... :( Good drive from Schuey though.

[fpv_gtho]

That was a pretty big dissapointment, he couldve been right up there with Alonso and Schuey at the end. Barcelona here we come

[BjD]

Great race, great finish! Looks like its shaping up to be a good season. Worst part was ITV's less than intelligent ad-break :mad:

[Rockefella]

I don't watch F1. :(

[blackcat77]

Apparently it was the best race in a long time but I'll never know because for some reason Speed TV, which shows F1 in the US, didn't show the race. They televised the practice and both quals but not the race. Maybe someone could explain that to me... :(

(Edit: Okay, it's on CBS this afternoon. I went over to Speed's website and saw about it. First I heard of it anywhere...)

[KnifeEdge_2K1]

wow last few laps were sooooo exciting, schumacher tried to pass a couple times and at teh same corner, i think it was the 2nd last chicane and both times he locked his front left tyre, i thought he was gonna spin out the second time

[Coventrysucks]

ITV can go f**k themselves.

Advert break started 4 laps to go, ended at the start of the final lap.

Adding insult to injury - what was the first thing that happened whilst the cars were crusing back to the pits? Another advert break.

Like they couldn't have waited.

I don't care about F1 anymore - it just annoys me too much. No enjoyment factor, especially with James bloody Allen.

[jorismo]

I think Schumi proved today, he can really race... and Ferrari gave the others teams a lesson in tactics... :D

[KnifeEdge_2K1]

from 13 to 2, the jump from 10 to 3rd was great pitstop tactics

[jorismo]

from 13 to 2, the jump from 10 to 3rd was great pitstop tactics

Exactly!!

[Wolf03]

The last 10 laps were the most exciting I've seen in years but I also really liked how Schumi passed Button. That was insanely brave, yet sort of stupid at the same time. I really thought MC could win, especially when he did those crazy fast lap times. I was on the edge of my seat on those last laps and this is how F1 should be. Exciting and challenging for the drivers. Can't wait for Spain!!

[KnifeEdge_2K1]

it was an amazing pass, i do the same trick all the time in gt4 and video games but there is no way id attempt that in real life, diving that deep into the braking zone at that speed and taking that kind of line into the corner ... man MS is one brave SOB

like the risk of spinning out or having button slam into the side of my car woulda scared the sh*tz outta me, but i guess that's why he's the 7 time world champion

[Plutus]

ITV can go f**k themselves.

Advert break started 4 laps to go, ended at the start of the final lap.

Adding insult to injury - what was the first thing that happened whilst the cars were crusing back to the pits? Another advert break.

I couldn't agree more Cov. ITV obviously know they screwed up as they showed the final laps after the race - but they had to cut off the end of the press conference to make way for it!! Idiots. :mad:

If only the BBC would buy back the rights for F1...

[Coventrysucks]

ITV have issued an apology claiming that they "had to" because they are contractually obliged to have 5 advert breaks during the race.

So what? 90 minutes of football can go advert free so why not 60 mins of F1?

[Plutus]

I hadn't seen the apology and had looked on their website. Where was it issued, on TV?

An apology isn't really enough though. They need to ensure they don't do this again. If you don't have the ability to broadcast live sport events, let someone else do it!!

[Matra et Alpine]

Send them a clear and simple complaint via their web site.

I've told them that next time I'm going to take a note of EVERY Advertiser and if they do that shit again, I'll personally e-mail each and every one and tell them i have no intention of buying their product and they wasted their advertising in supporting a bunch of amateurs.

It would only take a few hundred to do that for the advertisers themselves to get shirty :)

If anyone has the race recorded and fancied giving the list I'll do it this time :)

[johnnyperl]

well everybodies negative about the british coverage but i thought the CBS broadcast was OK. the last time F1 was broadcast in the US (2002) it was just a bige commercial for redbull drivers search. the commentators (derick daly and ralph sheheen) werent anything special.

At least it was an incredible finish.

[Quiggs]

It's just bad planning on ITV's part that they missed the end of the race. I've been watching televised NASCAR races since the early 90's and not once has ESPN, ESPN2, TNN, TBS, NBC, CBS, ABC, or Fox/FX ever- EVER- missed the closing laps of a race. They usually take one with 10-15 laps to go for a good 2-3 minutes and that's it- you don't miss anything until the finish.

Sounds like someone needs to get slapped around.

Edit: I missed the race on CBS; is Speed going to get to show it at all?

[Coventrysucks]

I said last season that unless it was interesting I was giving up F1 - the first four races were good (in parts). Having seen that from now on it looks like another Schumacher/Ferrari whitewash + all the crap you have to put up with from ITV; Barcelona will probably be my last GP untill next season.

Maybe not if McLaren's "new and improved" package proves better or equal to the Ferrari ensuring some semblance of competition, and I might watch Spa; which usually proves to be a good race.

Depressing isn't it?

[r1ckst4]

i saw the first 3/4 of the race then i fell asleep http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/images/smilies/crybaby.gif argh!!!! :mad: got up at 3 in the morning and it was soooo freezing... i'm so gutted!

[Birdman]

I enjoyed that race since they were actually racing. The last few have started well and just become a procession IMO. I liked this closer racing. Hopfully we'll get more of it.

[fpv_gtho]

We usually get the direct ITV broadcast, but that last 15 lap battle, we got to see basically all of it, minus about 1-2 minutes of ads in the middle. I think its just the ITV commentary we get though, Network 10 have gone to an ad simultaneously with ITV before and came back before ITV, so Bill Woods and Neil Crompton have had to make up their own commentary, probably better than ITV's anyway, and bridge the 1 minute gap before ITV came back.

[Matra et Alpine]

Well ITV have put a large apology up on their web site - but still not really offering any chance that in the future it won't happen again.

In fact from the description give it would suggest that it twill happen MORE often if we have close racing !!! WTF :(

ALSO, Button's Honda is below weight. The Italian steward accepted BAR explanation that although it weighed below the minimum 600kg dry weight with driver that during the race the fuel level was never low enough to dip below the minimum weight !! HOW they managed to pull that one I don't' know.

It's going to the FIA for final decision, so Button and Honda may lose the points.

Rightly so too. The regs are clear, HOW they conned the Italian stewards on the day I dont' know !!!!

[jorismo]

I couldn't agree more Cov. ITV obviously know they screwed up as they showed the final laps after the race - but they had to cut off the end of the press conference to make way for it!! Idiots. :mad:

If only the BBC would buy back the rights for F1...

That would be fun: than I could chose between 3 diferent channels to watch F1! :D

[labomba]

I said last season that unless it was interesting I was giving up F1 - the first four races were good (in parts). Having seen that from now on it looks like another Schumacher/Ferrari whitewash + all the crap you have to put up with from ITV; Barcelona will probably be my last GP untill next season.

Maybe not if McLaren's "new and improved" package proves better or equal to the Ferrari ensuring some semblance of competition, and I might watch Spa; which usually proves to be a good race.

Depressing isn't it?

You're almost as depressing as Coventry!!
Ferrari's pace was down to the tyres. Who knows which maufacturer will get it right for Barcelona? Michelin do most of their testing at that track, so it should be interesting. (Yeah, If Kimi's Mac can make the distance)

[Plutus]

Well, I got a personal apology from ITV but I imagine it is simply a copy and paste of the apology on their website. However, I am staging my own little protest by not giving their website any more hits and denting their advertising revenue by at least £0.05 a year.

Here is their pathetic reply in full. Sorry it is so long and note they spell Jenson's name wrong... they are obviously still idiots:


"ITV would like to apologise for cutting to a break at the climax of yesterday's Grand Prix and we are sorry that it affected your enjoyment of the race.


As you are probably aware, we always try to cut to adverts during the least contentious parts of the action and update viewers with anything they may have missed as soon as possible after the commercials.


ITV is contractually obliged to include a certain number of adverts during the race - we are a commercial channel and Formula One is a commercial sport.


On Sunday, the race was very exciting throughout and it was a tough call as to when to cut to adverts - for example, we didn't want to interrupt the race when Jensen Button was in the lead. Our production team make these decisions and have done so since we started F1 coverage in 1997, by and large they get it right.


In the event we delayed taking the break until the last moment but had to do so with three laps to go. Yesterday's race was a particularly difficult one to call as Michael Schumacher caught Fernando Alonso so spectacularly. It appeared that he would take the lead at any moment and we were reluctant to cut away from the action.


Unfortunately, the pass moment never came and we were forced to take the scheduled break too close to the finish. Coverage returned for the final lap to see Schumacher and Alonso battling for the lead. We know it is of little consolation but their positions didn't change hands during the advert break and we screened the final three laps in their entirety after the race finished.


Nonetheless, we are well aware that the timing of this advert upset many viewers and can only apologise to you again.

Whilst the strategy for cutting to adverts is not an exact science, we will do our utmost to ensure that this scenario does not happen again in future and your comments have been passed on to the production team plus the Controller of ITV Sport.


Thank you for writing in to us.

From the Duty Office, ITV"
:rolleyes:

[Coventrysucks]

What's the email address for complaining at ITV?

[Matra et Alpine]

go to www.itv-f1.com and their is a feeback/comment button