F1, Round 9: Indianapolis

[Ferrari Tifosi]

Today the events started in Indy. After the day's two practice sessions, Rubens Barichello came out on top with Davidson close behind. Its seems that the power of the Toyota engine is helping them out a lot. Tomorrow and Sunday should be interesting, will the engines be able to handle 22 seconds of full throttle around the banking and front straight? Here are the full results of todays practices:

1 Rubens Barrichello - Ferrari 1:10.365
2 Anthony Davidson - BAR-Honda 1:10.967
3 Juan Pablo Montoya - Williams-BMW 1:10.982
4 Michael Schumacher - Ferrari 1:11.036
5 Jenson Button - BAR-Honda 1:11.230
6 Ralf Schumacher - Williams-BMW 1:11.530
7 Cristiano da Matta - Toyota 1:11.893
8 Olivier Panis - Toyota 1:11.994
9 Ricardo Zonta - Toyota 1:12.019
10 Kimi Räikkönen - McLaren-Mercedes 1:12.197
11 Mark Webber - Jaguar-Cosworth 1:12.438
12 Jarno Trulli - Renault 1:12.441
13 Giancarlo Fisichella - Sauber-Petronas 1:12.537
14 Takuma Sato - BAR-Honda 1:12.601
15 Bjorn Wirdheim - Jaguar-Cosworth 1:12.761
16 Christian Klien - Jaguar-Cosworth 1:12.950
17 Felipe Massa - Sauber-Petronas 1:13.196
18 Zsolt Baumgartner - Minardi-Cosworth 1:13.384
19 Timo Glock - Jordan-Ford 1:13.446
20 Fernando Alonso - Renault 1:13.732
21 Nick Heidfeld - Jordan-Ford 1:13.961
22 Giorgio Pantano - Jordan-Ford 1:14.407
23 Bas Leinders - Minardi-Cosworth 1:14.409
24 Gianmaria Bruni - Minardi-Cosworth 1:14.428
25 David Coulthard - McLaren-Mercedes

[byronleehk]

I'm a Ferrari fan but I also would like to see some other cars to step up the challenge...just to see how great the red cars really are

[NAZCA C2]

I'm going to try to predict the top three positions in this weeks race. Schumacher 1st, Barrichello 2nd, and Button 3rd. If I am right this week like I was last week then I am going to stop watching F1. I think the Williams have an outside chance of winning and Button could win if there are any 1st turn crashes involving the red cars. I hope Mclaren can get a decent result.

[DarkPhenix]

Panasonic Toyota Racing made a strong start to the US Grand Prix weekend at Indianapolis, with all three of its drivers featuring in the top 10 positions after the first day of free practice. Cristiano da Matta lapped in 1m11.893s, the seventh quickest time of the day, with Olivier Panis and Ricardo Zonta eighth and ninth respectively on 1m11.994s and 1m12.019s.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as well as being one of the most historic and evocative racing venues anywhere in the world, also presents Formula 1 cars with an interesting challenge. They don't, of course, use the famous 2.5-mile banked oval on which the Indy 500 - the world's highest attended single venue sporting event - is run. Instead, they use the banked Turns 1 and 2 of the famous Speedway, plus the front straight, but run in the opposite direction. The turns are linked by the tight road course infield, built specially for Formula 1, which gives the teams a set-up dilemma.

In an ideal world, teams would run more downforce for the infield at the cost of some straightline speed. That would ultimately give a slightly quicker lap time, but with cars having to start the race in the configuration that they qualify, it also means being left vulnerable to those with a higher top speed in racing conditions.

"It's an interesting challenge here," said Da Matta, "and I think we are in decent shape although we will only really know where we are tomorrow. Indy is also the circuit where engines are at continuous full throttle for the longest period - more than 20 seconds. You need strong power and good reliability, which should play to our strengths."

Panis added: "It's a positive start for us and I personally still have some room for improvement because I was held up on my best lap."

Third driver Zonta explained: "I raced here in 2000 (with BAR) but it did take me some time to relearn the circuit. We seem to be going quite well but on my last set of new tyres I came out in traffic and backed off to create a bit of space. But doing that meant that I lost some brake temperature so, overall, there was a bit more to be had from the car."

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro's Rubens Barrichello (1m10.365s) set the quickest time of the day, ahead of Lucky Strike BAR Honda test driver Anthony Davidson (1m10.967s). BMW Williams F1 Team driver Juan Pablo Montoya (1m10.982s) was third quickest, ahead of Michael Schumacher (1m11.036s) with the second Ferrari. Jenson Button's BAR Honda was fifth.

Technical Director Chassis, Mike Gascoyne said: "Today was largely about evaluating the Michelin tyre compounds and all three drivers did see some significant drop-off from the rear tyres in the opening session, but the track was still quite green. Overall we have made a strong start and it is good to see all three drivers in the top 10."

Olivier Panis celebrates his 150th Grand Prix this weekend and the team will have an informal media event in the paddock after qualifying tomorrow, where specially produced merchandise will be distributed to those journalists attending.

Cristiano da Matta (Car 16, Chassis TF104/04)

First Session Classification: 16th, 18 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m13.555s (+2.201s)
Second Session Classification: 7th, 35 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m11.893s (+1.528s)

"I think we have had quite a good couple of sessions this morning. We have worked mainly on tuning the settings on the chassis and we also did the tyre comparison, which is the priority on Fridays. It seems quite clear to me what compound of tyre we need to use, but we will only really know where we stand tomorrow because every team does different things on the opening day. For us, I think the biggest thing we need to look at is the traction, but overall it's not been a bad start to our US Grand Prix weekend."

Olivier Panis (Car 17, Chassis TF104/03)

First Session Classification: 9th, 16 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m12.631s (+1.277s)
Second Session Classification: 8th, 30 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m11.994s (+1.629s)

"We have had two productive free practice sessions which we also used for long runs in order to get as much data about the two tyre compounds as possible. I am quite happy that all three of us drivers were able to get into the top ten. This is particularly encouraging as I know that I still have some margin for improvement because I was held up by traffic on my quick lap. The team did a very good job and I am looking forward to tomorrow."

Ricardo Zonta (Car 38, Chassis TF104/07)

First Session Classification: 5th, 25 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m12.366s (+1.012s)
Second Session Classification: 9th, 42 laps completed
Lap Time: 1m12.019s (+1.654s)

"Although I raced here back in 2000, the Speedway felt like a new track to me first thing this morning, so I spent the initial runs simply relearning the circuit. We made some good progress to improve the balance of the car for the second session when we completed our tyre programme and long runs. I had quite a bit of traffic on my final set of new tyres, so I backed off during the out lap to create enough distance. By doing this, the brakes were not at their optimum temperature, which resulted in me locking the wheels and losing a couple of tenths. Nevertheless, I am happy and I think we have done a good job."

Mike Gascoyne - Technical Director Chassis

"We enjoyed a trouble-free and solid opening day, although the track was quite green to begin with. As usual, we spent the sessions evaluating the tyre compounds that Michelin has brought to Indy. All three drivers complained about rear drop off in the opening practice hour, but we had no real problems. We were able to gather some interesting information concerning the tyre choice, which we will have to analyse tonight. Overall the cars look quite competitive and it is a great start of the weekend to have three cars in the top ten today."

United States Grand Prix - Practice Session 1

Pos. Driver Team Time Gap Laps kph
1 R. Barrichello Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:11.354 16 211.497
2 M. Schumacher Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:11.619 0.265 16 210.715
3 A. Davidson Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:11.693 0.339 23 210.497
4 J. Montoya BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:12.008 0.654 11 209.576
5 R. Zonta Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:12.366 1.012 25 208.539
6 B. Wirdheim Jaguar Racing 1:12.424 1.070 25 208.372
7 J. Button Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:12.553 1.199 14 208.002
8 G. Fisichella Sauber Petronas 1:12.575 1.221 12 207.939
9 O. Panis Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:12.631 1.277 16 207.779
10 R. Schumacher BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:12.850 1.496 14 207.154
11 F. Alonso Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:12.989 1.635 15 206.759
12 K. Raikkonen West McLaren Mercedes 1:13.147 1.793 8 206.313
13 J. Trulli Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:13.351 1.997 15 205.739
14 F. Massa Sauber Petronas 1:13.371 2.017 17 205.683
15 T. Sato Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:13.532 2.178 12 205.233
16 C. da Matta Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:13.555 2.201 18 205.168
17 M. Webber Jaguar Racing 1:13.762 2.408 10 204.593
18 D. Coulthard West McLaren Mercedes 1:13.916 2.562 10 204.166
19 C. Klien Jaguar Racing 1:14.407 3.053 26 202.819
20 T. Glock Jordan Ford 1:15.017 3.663 25 201.170
21 N. Heidfeld Jordan Ford 1:15.020 3.666 14 201.162
22 B. Leinders Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1:15.028 3.674 20 201.140
23 G. Pantano Jordan Ford 1:15.260 3.906 20 200.520
24 G. Bruni Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1:15.468 4.114 9 199.968
25 Z. Baumgartner Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1:17.051 5.697 16 195.859

United States Grand Prix - Practice Session 2

Pos. Driver Team Time Gap Lap kph
1 R. Barrichello Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:10.365 24 214.470
2 A. Davidson Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:10.967 0.602 42 212.650
3 J. Montoya BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:10.982 0.617 29 212.606
4 M. Schumacher Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro 1:11.036 0.671 28 212.444
5 J. Button Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:11.230 0.865 19 211.865
6 R. Schumacher BMW WilliamsF1 Team 1:11.530 1.165 30 210.977
7 C. da Matta Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:11.893 1.528 35 209.911
8 O. Panis Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:11.994 1.629 30 209.617
9 R. Zonta Panasonic Toyota Racing 1:12.019 1.654 42 209.544
10 K. Raikkonen West McLaren Mercedes 1:12.197 1.832 20 209.028
11 M. Webber Jaguar Racing 1:12.438 2.073 33 208.332
12 J. Trulli Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:12.441 2.076 28 208.324
13 G. Fisichella Sauber Petronas 1:12.537 2.172 27 208.048
14 T. Sato Lucky Strike BAR Honda 1:12.601 2.236 3 207.864
15 B. Wirdheim Jaguar Racing 1:12.761 2.396 30 207.407
16 C. Klien Jaguar Racing 1:12.950 2.585 31 206.870
17 F. Massa Sauber Petronas 1:13.196 2.831 32 206.175
18 Z. Baumgartner Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1:13.384 3.019 18 205.647
19 T. Glock Jordan Ford 1:13.446 3.081 33 205.473
20 F. Alonso Mild Seven Renault F1 Team 1:13.732 3.367 3 204.676
21 N. Heidfeld Jordan Ford 1:13.961 3.596 18 204.042
22 G. Pantano Jordan Ford 1:14.407 4.042 20 202.819
23 B. Leinders Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1:14.409 4.044 21 202.814
24 G. Bruni Wilux Minardi Cosworth 1:14.428 4.063 17 202.762
25 D. Coulthard West McLaren Mercedes 2

[Ferrari Tifosi]

Well the red cars will start from the front row, but it'll be Barichello starting from first. Here are the full qualifying results:

1 Rubens Barrichello - Ferrari 1:10.223
2 Michael Schumacher - Ferrari 1:10.400
3 Takuma Sato - BAR-Honda 1:10.601
4 Jenson Button - BAR-Honda 1:10.820
5 Juan Pablo Montoya - Williams-BMW 1:11.062
6 Ralf Schumacher - Williams-BMW 1:11.106
7 Kimi Räikkönen - McLaren-Mercedes 1:11.137
8 Olivier Panis - Toyota 1:11.167
9 Fernando Alonso - Renault 1:11.185
10 Mark Webber - Jaguar-Cosworth 1:11.286
11 Cristiano da Matta - Toyota 1:11.691
12 David Coulthard - McLaren-Mercedes 1:12.026
13 Christian Klien - Jaguar-Cosworth 1:12.170
14 Giancarlo Fisichella - Sauber-Petronas 1:12.470
15 Felipe Massa - Sauber-Petronas 1:12.721
16 Nick Heidfeld - Jordan-Ford 1:13.147
17 Giorgio Pantano - Jordan-Ford 1:13.375
18 Gianmaria Bruni - Minardi-Cosworth 1:14.010
19 Zsolt Baumgartner - Minardi-Cosworth 1:14.812
20 Jarno Trulli - Renault

Should be an interesting race tomorrow.

[Homem de Gelo]

Darn, with ferrari dominating all sessons, they should have a reliatively easy time this race. I hope it's RB who wins...

[Ferrari Tifosi]

Well the race has just ended, and it was filled with incidents. Before the race even started Montoya abandoned his car(couldn't get the engine to start) and fled to the pits to get in a back up car. He would later be disqualified for this incident. When the race started, the first turn took out a couple cars as Da Matta slowed up tremendously due to a gearbox problem. Couple laps later Alonso crashed due to a cut tire. Another few laps later Ralf Schumacher hit the wall on the banking hard. He was in his car for awhile, but it seems that he was just shakened up. At the end of the day, it was once again a Ferrari 1-2, with Schumacher taking the win. Sato got his first podium at third. Also Minardi got their first points in 40 races! Baumgartner finished 8 to score 1 point. This was due to the fact that only 8 cars finished. Here are the full results of this years US GP:

1 Michael Schumacher - Ferrari

2 Rubens Barrichello - Ferrari

3 Takuma Sato - BAR-Honda

4 Jarno Trulli - Renault

5 Olivier Panis - Toyota

6 Kimi Räikkönen - McLaren-Mercedes

7 David Coulthard - McLaren-Mercedes

8 Zsolt Baumgartner - Minardi-Cosworth

Ret Giancarlo Fisichella - Sauber-Petronas

Ret Mark Webber - Jaguar-Cosworth

Ret Juan Pablo Montoya - Williams-BMW

Ret Nick Heidfeld - Jordan-Ford

Ret Jenson Button - BAR-Honda

Ret Cristiano da Matta - Toyota

Ret Ralf Schumacher - Williams-BMW

Ret Fernando Alonso - Renault

Ret Christian Klien - Jaguar-Cosworth

Ret Felipe Massa - Sauber-Petronas

Ret Giorgio Pantano - Jordan-Ford

Ret Gianmaria Bruni - Minardi-Cosworth

[NAZCA C2]

F1 had their annual debacle today. Why is F1 so afraid to bring the safety car out when there is an accident? F1 does this every year. Last year they screwed up Brazil. If there is a crash and carbon fiber is all over the place then you bring out a full course caution and get the safety car on the course ASAP!!! Don't let people go flying through wreckage under a local yellow.

I almost correctly predicted the top 3 positions again but Sato had a great race and took 3rd. Both Mclaren's finishing in the points (yes both of them)was the highlight of the race for me. Congrats to Minardi!!! They got a point!

[Matra et Alpine]

What astounded me was the length of time it took to black flag Montoya.

Methinks there may have been commercial pressure applied to leave Montoya out in front of his US fans otherwise they'd have been lynched and no doubt HP ( major US company ) applied sponsors pressure to keep the car lapping for as long as they could.

Well, I know it's a crazy conspiracy theory, but HOW ELSE do you explain it ??

[pdr]

I think it borders on the criminal that Ralf was left out on the track like that for so long. Perhaps the most surreal shot was of the ambulance driving slowly ALONG THE COURSE and being overtaken by the safety car with racers behind it. I simply don't recall how the IRL or NASCAR handles it, but certainly some kind of safety exit should be set up for accidents that occur beyond the pit entrance.

[Ferrari Tifosi]

I think it borders on the criminal that Ralf was left out on the track like that for so long. Perhaps the most surreal shot was of the ambulance driving slowly ALONG THE COURSE and being overtaken by the safety car with racers behind it. I simply don't recall how the IRL or NASCAR handles it, but certainly some kind of safety exit should be set up for accidents that occur beyond the pit entrance.

It was driving slowly along the course because R. Schumacher was not in need of immediate medical attention. Also, NAZCA, the safety car WAS brought out after the incident involving R. Schumacher and remained to stay out for 10 laps.

However, it was suprising how long it took the medics to get to R. Schumacher. Also, as Matra pointed out, I don't know why they let Montoya even start the race, they should have black flagged him immediately.

[Coventrysucks]

What a crock.
They should have red flagged the Ralf Schumacher incident, that way
-Marshalls who might have been afraid of getting run over or something, possibly would have bothered to assist him sooner
-The entire field wouldn't have had to drive through a massive pile of carbon fibre debris, which could have caused more punctures/ dangerous crashes

Apart from the accidents (which I am sure entertained the US audience)
the race was dull as ever.
Another procession behind Schumacher M. and inevitable win for the FIA, err... Ferrari I mean.

[Ferrari Tifosi]

Apart from the accidents (which I am sure entertained the US audience)the race was dull as ever.

What the hell is this supposed to mean? Most Americans watch racing to enjoy the race, not for the crashes. I would know I live here. So keep your idiotic comments to youself.

[Homem de Gelo]

The crash actually scared the shit out of me.
It was horrible.

[Ferrari Tifosi]

The crash actually scared the shit out of me.
It was horrible.

Me too, not seeing R. Schumacher move for several moments had me holding my breath and hoping he was fine.