The safety car in F1

Allianz examine the past, present and future
If there is a dangerous situation in Formula One, the Race Director sends the safety car onto the track. Especially after an accident or during heavy rain showers, the safety car drives to the front of the field and leads it around the track at reduced speed until the danger has passed. During this phase, there is an absolute ban on overtaking.

For a racing driver, there is usually nothing worse than sitting in his car with his helmet and overalls on, having to watch helplessly as the field cruises round the track. But Bernd Mayländer; driver of the safety car again at the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, is always pleased when his services are not needed. “The best moments are the ones when I have nothing to do,” says the 34-year-old German.

The safety car is an important safety factor in Formula One. The FIA Race Director, Charlie Whiting, decides when it should be used, which is 'whenever there is an immediate hazard but the conditions do not require the race to be interrupted,' as it says in the regulations. Once the safety car is on the track, all the cars beginning with the race leader have to drive in formation behind it.

During a safety-car phase, the cars may drive into the pits and return to the track at any time. However, they then have to continue driving at reduced speed until they have reached the end of the queue behind the safety car.


Once the dangerous situation has passed, the safety car switches off its warning lights and drives one more full lap on the track before turning off into the pit lane. However, the drivers can only overtake after the cars have passed the start/finish line. The laps in a safety car phase count as normal race laps.

There is no safety car for emergencies in everyday traffic. However, the display bridges on motorways have a similar function, as they can display warnings or speed limits adjusted to the present needs in the case of accidents, difficult weather conditions or congestion.

For the future, additional electronic aids are being developed. The electronic systems and sensors in modern passenger cars will exchange more and more data with external communication networks. “This networking has great potential, for instance, in the case of accidents, where it could make the deployment of the emergency services more efficient, safer and, above all, faster,” says Dr. Christoph Lauterwasser from the Allianz Centre for Technology. “For example, an electronic alarm could warn other car drivers about upcoming accidents and signal the arrival of emergency vehicles.”

Whenever the safety car comes into play during a grand prix, it means more safety, but not necessarily less excitement. If a team manages to bring its driver into the pits at the right time, it can gain a crucial advantage – the cars on the track are moving slowly and so this stop involves a far smaller loss of time. That causes excitement, just like the end of a safety-car phase: when the tightly packed field is given the all-clear again, there are often breathtaking overtaking manoeuvres. As a rule, the safety-car phase is a disadvantage for the race leader, because he loses the lead that he had painstakingly built up.

But the benefit in terms of safety for everyone involved compensates for this disadvantage. “Of course, it is sometimes quite frustrating to drive for several laps behind the safety car,” says WilliamsF1 driver Mark Webber, “but we don't complain because it improves safety for all of us.”

The first safety car was used in 1911 at the Indianapolis 500 race. However, it didn't pull the field together because there was danger ahead, but simply so that the spectators could fill up their soft drink cups and popcorn buckets without missing too much of the race. Since the FIA set up clear guidelines for the use of the safety car in Formula 1 in 1992, the sporting competition and, above all, safety have taken priority over the spectacle.

Mayländer has been the driver of the safety car since 2000. His busiest year was in 2003. During that season, he and his co-driver Peter Tibbets were called upon 13 times – including five times at the waterlogged Brazilian Grand Prix.

Source Allianz

F1 fans vote for Schumacher & Raikkonen

What the papers say in Germany and Italy
The fans have voted - Michael Schumacher can become World Champion again, but his team-mate Felipe Massa should move over so that Kimi Raikkonen can drive a red car in 2007.
Germany's Bild newspaper this week published the results of a poll showing that 70 per cent of readers think Schumacher is capable of winning an eighth title.

'Yes, Schumi, your fans believe in you again!' the article read.
In a separate vote, this time conducted by the Italian La Gazzetta dello Sport publication, readers indicated that Ferrari's ideal driver pairing should be Schumacher with Raikkonen; the 'iceman' Finn.

46.
3 per cent voted to that effect, while just 3.7 per cent think that Massa should keep his ride. 16 per cent, meanwhile, said 'yes' to Valentino Rossi.

Odd names on the F1 grid

Birth certificate names
As is Spanish custom, there is a second surname on World Champion Fernando Alonso's birth certificate. It is 'Diaz' - his mother's maiden name.
McLaren Mercedes charger Kimi Raikkonen, meanwhile, has a second first name; separated with a hyphen, the 26-year-old Finn was actually born 'Kimi-Matias Raikkonen'.

But he's not the only famous Raikkonen in Finland. In 1998, a biathlete scored a bronze medal at the Winter Olympics, and his name was Ville Raikkonen.

Bet you didn't know that MF1's Portuguese racer is actually called 'Tiago Vagaroso da Costa Monteiro'. Or that the feisty Colombian in the McLaren cockpit is officially Juan Pablo Montoya-Roldan.

Similarly, you won't find too many men called 'Jarno' in Italy. The Toyota racer's parents named him after Jarno Saarinen - a Finnish motorcycle racer who died at Monza the year before baby Trulli was born.

Ralf Schumacher named his son 'David', but - laughing - has denied that a veteran Scot in a Red Bull car had anything to do with it.

More conventionally, Mark Webber and Scott Speed boast simple middle names; respectively Alan (after the Australian ace's father), and Andrew.

David Coulthard's middle name is the slightly odd 'Marshall', while fellow Brit Jenson Button has two - 'Alexander' and 'Lyons'. 'Goncalves' is Brazilian Rubens Barrichello's middle name.

Fly to Japan, however, and you won't find a single middle name. Also, Takuma Sato would be referred to as 'Sato Takuma', as family names precede given names.

Sato, too, is the most popular surname in the Land of the Rising Sun, loosely meaning 'assistance'.

Ron Dennis on British 'rich list'

McLaren boss takes position 648
It is no surprise to learn that a notable businessman in the English town of Woking has appeared in the Sunday Times' annual 2006 'Rich List'.

The local Woking News & Mail reports that Ron Dennis, boss of the McLaren team which is based in the region about a half-hour drive from London, is listed as the 648th richest man in Britain, with a fortune of about $160 million (£88m).

According to the newspaper, 58-year-old Dennis is now $14 million (£7.7m) richer than he was a year ago.

But he has a long way to go if he one day wants to beat Lakshmi Mittal to the Times' coveted number one position. The steel baron is worth an estimated $26.
7 billion (£14.8b).

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, meanwhile, has about $4bn (£2.2b) stuffed under his mattress in London, but he is only one of no fewer than fifty four billionaires who also call Britain home.

Rossi ponders his possible F1 team-mates

Congratulates Ferrari on Imola victory
By musing about the men who could sit in the other Ferrari, Valentino Rossi is threatening to reignite speculation about his possible F1 switch.
The MotoGP sensation told La Gazzetta dello Sport: "I do not know ... Kimi, even if I think he could be a good team-mate. Schumacher, I know well. We have a good relationship."
The Italian rider steered clear of saying much else, but he did suggest that there is 'still time' before he plans to make a definitive decision about his sensational move to four wheels 'in June'.
And Rossi, 27, commented about Schumacher's Imola win: "Bravo; they deserved it."

Imola qualifying press conference

With Schumacher, Button and Barrichello
Michael Schumacher claimed the Pole Position for the San Marino Grand Prix in his Ferrari from the Honda duo of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. Here’s what the fastest three had to say.

Q: I guess you know the statistic, you’ve just broken Ayrton Senna’s record for career pole positions.
Michael SCHUMACHER: Yeah. With the car we had, getting a pole position in Bahrain, it was sort of obvious at one stage that we should be in a position to do so. We worked very hard, naturally - because of our misfortune and the mistakes we made in the last weeks – to make up ground and here we are, and we’ve made up significant ground. Obviously the race is important – this is one step towards it – but seeing where Fernando, in particular, is it’s great for us in terms of first strategy and hopefully result as well by the end of the race.

Q: Can you just describe your feelings, right now, here at Imola on this beautiful day, to achieve that record and to be back in front of your home crowd on the pole, what it means to you?
MS: Well, the record is less important in a way. You look at it once you finish your racing and you may think about it, but not now. It was a little bit mixed feelings because I came in and I didn’t know (whether I was on pole), because I saw one Renault still out on the circuit and I wasn’t sure whether there could have been a change in position or not, so it was a little bit of mixed feelings.
But being here as an ambassador of San Marino, and getting pole position for all our tifosi after all the pain they’ve had to go through in the last weeks, I’m obviously very glad and very excited.

Q: It looks to have been a very troublfree weekend so far; a little bit of incident there with your team-mate at the top chicane, he went off just in front of you, but otherwise a great qualifying.
MS: Yeah, it wasn’t really an incident, he was just trying to find his way and nevertheless, we performed very well. We kept mentioning and talking about it. This weekend I sort of stopped talking about it and rather thought I should show (our performance) and here we are.

Q: Jenson, a great performance. Not particularly happy with the car yesterday but a great recovery today.
Jenson BUTTON: Yeah, you know we’ve done a lot of work overnight and also during the day and we’ve really improved it. We needed to because we were quite a long way off yesterday, not just on one lap but also the long run pace. I’m much happier with the car now. We did a reasonably good run in practice also so not a bad position to be in.

Q: And a strong position relative to the Renaults and the McLarens.
JB: Yeah, it’s quite interesting. We’ll have to see how the race pans out but yeah, they must be stopping very very late or they made mistakes, I don’t know. I’m happy with my qualifying and it’s great to have Rubens up here as well, for us both to be up here so it’s a good start for tomorrow and hopefully we can make good use of it.

Q: Rubens, great to see you up here next to your old team-mate Michael Schumacher.
Rubens BARRICHELLO: It’s nice, very nice and I want to thank the whole team. The team has done a great job and in testing they were able to improve the car to my liking and the braking seems to be a lot better so I want to thank the whole team, the mechanics, the engineers, everyone for their effort. They know that I’m pushing very hard. I don’t want to be playing second fiddle. There were some problems for me adapting to the car. Obviously I’m a little bit happier. Imola is quite a good place for an improvement and I think most of it, after the problems that we had in Australia, we had to improve the car on race pace, so tomorrow is a good test and we’re going into it with a lot more optimism, so I’m really looking forward to it.

Q: Michael, your final thoughts on the race tomorrow?
MS: Yeah, it’s interesting to study this weekend. Up to a point, Renault were miles ahead of every other Michelin runner and then suddenly it seems to have turned around a bit but nevertheless the race pace seemed very competitive from them. So is ours, honestly. We don’t have anything that is only good for one lap. We have worked very hard together with Bridgestone to have the optimum first lap but also have a very strong race pace and here, I think, we can certainly show this and at the end of the day we hope it’s good enough to beat the rest. That’s what it comes to and what counts.

Q: Michael, you’ve been quick all weekend, so I don’t suppose this was too much of a surprise.
MS: No, it’s not too much of a surprise. Not only have we been quick here, we have been quick in testing in Barcelona. We were quick in Australia as well but we couldn’t really do it all the time and now we worked very hard with Bridgestone to have a tyre which, quite frankly, we already had available in Australia but due to testing, bad weather conditions, we couldn’t test it and we didn’t want to risk it. Now, nevertheless, we know what we have to use and obviously it works very well.

Q: How much of a gamble is the tyre choice this weekend?
MS: No big gamble. We’re probably clear on what we brought here, what we wanted to have and Bridgestone is very well in this respect, in particular this year where we have made huge progress.

Q: It looked pretty fraught with the two of you coming in for your tyre stops at the same time.
MS: We planned to be out very early which meant that we were together and as you go together, we have the same strategy in terms of trying to achieve the number of laps and in this respect, it was normal that we would stay together for almost all the time.

Q: So it wasn’t too fraught.
MS: No, no, no. Not at all, not at all. My first stop took a bit longer because of the front tyre but then there is always some margin in time, it’s not a race pit stop, so it worked out well.

Q: Jenson, you have been on pole here before, so it must be becoming your favourite circuit.

JB: It’s a circuit I enjoy very much. It’s a beautiful setting, it’s very narrow and you have to bounce the car off the kerbs quite a bit. I enjoy it – it’s a circuit I’ve always gone very well at. Yeah, it’s always gone well for me here.

Q: Rubens was talking about race pace. We’ve seen you qualifying very well but not being so good on race pace. How confident are you for tomorrow?
JB: It just shows what we’ve been doing in testing. We had some good runs today and we just have to see tomorrow, but we’re reasonably happy that we’ve solved some of our issues and whether we have completely solved them – we’ll just have to wait and see.

Q: Are we going to see a vast improvement for the rest of the season?
JB: I’m hoping, yeah. I know I’m smiling, but it is only qualifying. Tomorrow’s the important day and hopefully we have quite a good car for the race and I’m sure we’ve made enough improvements.

Q: People were complaining about a lack of grip yesterday. How much better was it today?
JB: It was a bit better today with the grip level – maybe it was because of higher temperatures. I’ve struggled to get a set-up with the car, I struggled especially yesterday, and today also it’s been tough, but we found a set-up that works and I’m positive for tomorrow, but it hasn’t been an easy day for myself.

Q: High hopes then?
JB: Today’s been going well, so hopefully we’ll continue tomorrow.

Q: Rubens, well done. Are you surprised to be up here?
RB: Not really. Obviously it looks like chaos from the outside with the car, but it’s been hard to drive going to circuits with a new team and a new car. Still, our pace has been good. In Australia I should have been in the top ten but I got traffic on my quick lap and was knocked out. With these new rules, that can happen to the top guys as well. But like I said, I’ve been working very hard with the team. The team has been listening to my requests and this is the proof of it, that’s why I want to thank them so much, because they put a lot of effort last week into improving the car. Jock (Clear) has been quite good engineering and putting the car right for me. It’s still not 100 percent but I’m enjoying it much more. Imola is not actually a place where I go that well and so I’m quite happy.

Q: But how marginal is race strategy here?
RB: We’re only going to learn that tomorrow, but the most important thing is that we have to rely on ourselves. We understood a lot of the problems that we had in the races, since the beginning, not just in Melbourne. We made the car faster, there’s no doubt that the car is faster on race pace. Ferrari, with Michael, seems to be on another level in a way, but we’re here to win the race and we’re going to give it everything and see if our work from last week paid off and I think it will.

Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado do Sao Paolo) Michael, you are now first in the ranking of pole positions. Is there any special meaning for you?
MS: Yeah, obviously it has a special meaning for me but then, as I mentioned before, those sorts of statistics and records and so on, they will mean much more when you’re over it and look back to it. Right now, you’re so much focused on what comes next that it’s a nice achievement but you don’t pay too much attention to it.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Michael, can you explain your voice. Do you have flu?
MS: I just have an allergy.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) To the Honda drivers, the key question seems to be tyre temperatures. Do you think that you found the solutions in the long runs that you did yesterday and this morning?
JB: The issues we had in Melbourne with the tyre temperatures and the tyre grip, I think we’ve solved a lot of the issues and I don’t think we’re going to have a problem here. The temperatures seem to be very good all weekend so I don’t think we’ll have an issue but you never know. We’ve got to wait and see. It’s difficult. We hadn’t driven in such cold conditions like Melbourne so it’s difficult to see if we have solved the problems completely.

Q: Is it a problem that there seems to be a very narrow temperature range with the tyres this year, and this is perhaps hotter than you thought it was going to be?
JB: No, I think this is good for us. The hotter temperatures seem to work for us as a team and also for Michelin so I’m happy that the temperature has been good here, it’s been the best for quite a few years here in Imola, I think, so it’s positive for us and also for Michelin, so we’re very happy.

Q: Michael, is that a problem for you, the fact that it’s warmer?
MS: No.

Q: (Dario Torromeo – Corriere dello Sport) Rubens, with Alonso having such a bad position in the order, do you think the World Championship is still open for Honda and you in particular?
RB: No, listen, I was much more optimistic when I went to the first race and obviously what happened put us down a little bit, even though Jenson has being doing a superb job to be qualifying up there. In the first two races, he showed the pace of the car and he was on the podium once. We’re going to have to work really hard to get the car to where we want. It is a good car, there’s no doubt of that. We need to improve small areas to make it a real contender for race wins but the championship is still too open. You can see that from Ferrari’s pace. It’s a kind of a McLaren situation from last year; they start late… they start here in Imola actually, where they were faster than the Renaults. If that’s a bluff, just because of the track, we don’t know but the championship will be very open until very late, I guess.

Kimi signed Ferrari deal long ago

Kimi signed Ferrari deal long ago
Raikkonen reportedly under Ferrari contract
For more than a year now, Kimi Raikkonen's signature has appeared on a long-term Ferrari contract for 2007 and beyond.
That is the claim of a Ferrari 'source', who told Switzerland's Blick publication that the information is common wisdom up and down the corridors of Maranello.

“I am surprised that the (news) was not made official a long time ago,” the newspaper quoted the source as saying.
The red-coloured destination of McLaren's 26-year-old Finn has been spoken about at Ferrari 'for months', the source added.
Source GMM CAPSIS International

McLaren set for 'quantum leap'

McLaren Mercedes will make a 'quantum leap' up the F1 grid this year, according to Ron Dennis.

The Mercedes-powered team's principal is quoted on the sport1.de website as enthusing about upcoming improvements to the MP4-21 car, which has so far failed to live up to the promise of its ten-race winning 2005 predecessor.

And test driver Pedro de la Rosa warned: “If what I am experiencing on the test track is confirmed (in races), we are to make a big step.”

Colombian racer Juan Pablo Montoya is also bullish.
“We keep bringing our aerodynamic packages forward and the (V8) engine keeps improving,” he commented.

McLaren are second in the standings but already trail the dominant Renault team by 19 points.

New Super Aguri Honda delayed

New Japanese F1 team Super Aguri has demonstrated its commitment to the sport by signing a lease for Arrows' old Leafield HQ that runs to the end of 2008.
But the German sport1.de publication also reported information that the Aguri Suzuki-owned team's new 2006 car – the SA06 - has been delayed. “The new chassis will be used at Silverstone at the earliest,” it wrote.

Honda-powered Super Aguri is presently propping up the rear of the grid with the SA05, which is based on Arrows' four-year-old A23.

Meanwhile,Autosport magazine claims that Super Aguri was hoping to purchase the 2005/2006 interim 078 Honda chassis but is now pushing on with its own design.

High expectations from Luca di Montezemolo

High expectations from Luca di Montezemolo
Ferrari and Michael Schumacher's 2006 troubles persisted whilst testing at Vallelunga on Thursday, the German suffering a V8 engine failure on track.
But the 37-year-old downplayed the dramatic Italian press' crisis-like headlines, insisting that the current red car is 'strong'.

A spokesman also downplayed the V8 blow-up. "It was an old motor," the press office told Gazzetta dello Sport.

Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo, like Schumacher, is hoping for a impressive return to form next time out, following a lack of pace in Malaysia and Melbourne.

"We must win in Imola," said the Italian, referring to Ferrari's first home race of the 2006 season.

Schumacher commented at Vallelunga: "The car is good, but we have to demonstrate this full power. Imola? I don't like to make promises, but I am sure that we will deliver an improved performance. I repeat - the car is strong."

Melbourne post race press conference

With Alonso, Raikkonen and Ralf Schumacher
Fernando made it three wins from three for the Renault team today in Australia from Kimi Raikkonen and Ralf Schumacher.

Q: Fernando, I guess Giancarlo’s problem before the start opened up the first corner for you…
Fernando ALONSO: In a way, yes... It was a little bit difficult with Jenson because he did a good start, so I guess if Giancarlo had been there on the inside it would have been a little bit more difficult. I don’t know what happened to him exactly. We will have to see and check that it doesn’t happen any more, to him or even to me. Apart from this, I think the race was a little bit crazy. I didn’t understand some moments of the race, when I was maybe 20 seconds ahead and the gap disappeared after three or four safety cars in ten laps. But I think the car was perfect, there wasn’t any risk of losing victory at any time so I was quite confident.

Q: There seemed to be a lot of problems for others getting temperature into the tyres, but at every re-start, you got a fantastic lead.
FA: Yes, it seems that our car was warming the tyres better ready for the first lap.
It happened on the first lap, when Jenson was leading the race, I overtook him quite easily on the straight on the restart and then in the other ones, I was pulling away in the first two laps like six seconds, but that was enough to maintain the gap and so it was a little advantage for me today.

Q: Just talking about Jenson - it was very close with him on the opening lap of the race.
FA: Very close, especially at the start. I locked up the tyres and nearly hit him in the first corner. Then we fought really closely for turn three, but as always when I fight with Jenson I had no problems at all. We have a lot of respect for each other and we didn’t have any problem. I think after that he dropped back and disappeared from the leading places and it was a little bit easier for me.

Q: Then you had late race pressure from Kimi…
FA: Yes, as I said before, I was about 20 seconds ahead and then that was gone because of the safety car. After the re-start, I also had quite a good car, no problems at all with the balance, so it was not too difficult to pull away today.

Q: Kimi, an interesting and spectacular race for you, perhaps talk us through it… You obviously had a problem with your nose section at one point, and perhaps a vibration too.

Kimi RAIKKONEN: Yeah, at one of the restarts, I overtook Jenson and I locked up the inside wheel at turn one. I still managed to stay ahead of him through corners one and three, but fortunately, even with the vibration and a front tyre the car was still quite quick and I was able to keep up with Fernando, but then suddenly I think we lost part of the endplate because of the vibration. I was quite slow at that point, but luckily during the safety car period we had enough time to change the nose. After that, I think the speed was there, in the car, to really fight for victory, but my little mistake cost quite a lot in the end and also there were some lapped people always between me and Fernando, but the car is quick. If we get a proper race without any problems I think we should be able to fight for wins and then we will see what happens.

Q: The car must have been really good at the end; but I believe you were on slightly different tyres to Renault. Do you think that was a factor?
KR: Yes, I think we have different tyres, but I think they were good for us. But with all the problems with the car, with the nose really, I was not able to push. The car was quick all the time but of course he slowed down in the end, so it wasn’t really realistic but you can see that the speed is there so that’s positive. As long as we get a good race without any problems we should be OK.

Q: Ralf, with a stop-go and where you came from in Bahrain and Malaysia, this almost feels like a win for you…
Ralf SCHUMACHER: Oh yes, yeah. You can imagine, we are all very happy with what we achieved today. As you said, the drive-through was because of my mistake because I didn’t hit the limiter button. But I was lucky that due to the safety car I think we achieved a lot more than we ever thought before this weekend.

Q: The safety car allowed you to regain some time after that stop-go and you also picked up some places in the final safety car period just before the yellows came out…
RS: I thought we only had the (tyre) warm-up problems this weekend, but it looked like some Michelin runners had the same problem. Jenson struggled and Nick as well. So Nick went off and I was able to get by and that obviously gave me another position. With all the backmarkers in between us, it was a bit of a fight really, but yeah, we went through and finished third. It was great.

Q: Looked like you had a very spectacular phase on those opening laps…
RS: Similar thing you know: we were all sliding so I just saw a lot of locking wheels and stuff like that. It was very interesting, very difficult for me today because the car grip was never really there to fight the whole race, to keep it there but it worked out.

Q: Where do you think Toyota are? Do you think you are back to where you were in 2005?
RS: I think we had a good result today, but we were far away from the top teams, I guess. I have seen the lap times and we have to work, but I have no doubt at all that our crew is able to do that. We’re strong people and they are really pushing hard so I’m looking forward to the next few races.

Q: Fernando, a nice early lead to the World Championship, Renault very strong too. It’s all looking great…
FA: Yeah, I won the first one and this third one. Fisi did the previous race and I was second so 28 points out of 30 is a dream come true again, this start of the season, so let’s hope it finishes like last year.

Q: Fernando, how difficult was it for you to keep abreast with what was going on?
FA: Well, not too difficult because I was always leading. All the strategies worked OK and the safety car was not too difficult to know if it was the time to come in or not. It was quite clear. Thanks to that, and thanks to the nice gap I had, we pitted both times with a safe gap and no worries. The race was difficult in terms of keeping up the concentration and the motivation, because I pushed hard all the way through the first part of the race, I was 20 seconds ahead in spite of one safety car period – if not, maybe more – and I was ready to turn down everything at the end, in a nice way, and then the gap disappeared every time so I needed to push a little bit more again. But it was a safe race and the important thing was to save the engine, to keep it fresh for the Imola race, to try to do a good result there again, and we did it, so it was quite nice.

Q: Did you have problems getting the tyres up to temperature after the safety car periods?
FA: Yes, a lot, but I warmed the tyres very, very aggressively in this race. On the first lap, when I overtook Jenson, I think one of the reasons was that. I saw Jenson in front of me not warming the tyres too much and I was much more ready for the re-start. And the same happened in the next two restarts.

Q: Tell us about that overtaking manoeuvre with Jenson.
FA: Well, he had very cold tyres in the last corner so he went off the line and I was much quicker, but I didn’t overtake him before the line, so I was on half-throttle on the straight in order to be side-by-side and then when we crossed the line I was on full throttle.

Q: Then you were pushing hard until lap 51 and then you eased off?
FA: Yeah, we turned down the revs, but even with that the car was extremely competitive and we were maintaining the gap to Kimi. So, I pushed one lap just to check how quick the car was – a 26.2s or whatever – and from there the gap was nine seconds with five laps to go, so I was just cruising.

Q: And the team told you to relax; what was the reply you made?
FA: No, they were telling me the gap. Every time we crossed the line they told me ‘five laps to go, seven seconds’, ‘four laps to go, six seconds’ and I said ‘don’t worry, I’m relaxed. I’m not pushing.’

Q: Finally, I have been asked to ask you about the rabbit gesture – and what else do you have in your repertoire for the rest of the season?
FA: I don’t know. Every race, hopefully, if I win more races I will do something different. This was something like a kangaroo for Australia, for the fans.

Q: Kimi, I noticed on lap 12, the lead went up from 1.9s to 4.1s. Was that the nose section problem you talked about just now?
KR: Yes. Even with the flat-spotted tyre, the car was quite quick and I was able to keep the distance and then suddenly I lost the front end completely. We had some vibration and we lost some part of the front wing and the car started to understeer very badly and it wasn’t very quick any more. Really, at that point of the race, we had lost it.

Q: So did you wait until your scheduled stop on lap 21 to have it changed?
KR: We changed it under the safety car. We kept the same front wing on the first stop, otherwise it would take too late. The car was not quick because I was understeering all the time and then at the safety car, we had enough time to change the front wing. We really didn’t know what was the problem before. We were expecting to have a small problem, maybe with the front wing, but it would have taken too long so we needed to wait. That’s why we were so slow for half of the race.

Q: What about the early part of the race; you were right behind Jenson for two or three laps?
KR: Yeah. I overtook him when I had that flat spot. I almost went off, but I was able to keep him behind. I think we touched a little bit in corner three, he touched my rear tyre or something, we were so close to each other, but apart from that it was OK, fair play, a bit tight, but it was good.

Q: And it was pretty exciting with Juan Pablo, the two of you side-by-side.
KR: Yeah, on the first lap, but I was able to keep him behind so it was OK, but unfortunately with the problem that I had with the front tyre we were not able to really use our speed and try to challenge Fernando; but I think the car is still quick and without any problems, we should be able to fight.

Q: And you had the Midlands as well…
KR: Yeah, it never helps, but what can you do? It’s part of the whole thing and it’s easy to lose so much time, even when it’s one or two cars. You can’t push 100 percent. With them in between two fast cars, and when you’re trying to warm up your tyres, it’s not the easiest thing. I think the race result is still good, looking at what was going on at the beginning of the race. I was not really expecting to be able to keep second place but luckily we were able to change the front wing, so that car was back to normal.

Q: Ralf, it is mike Gascoyne’s birthday today and I am sure he is very happy to see you on the podium. It is a great birthday present for him and for you after the disappointments of the first couple of races…
RS: I am sure he will have a long night ahead of him on the plane and he will use that opportunity! It has been great for us and we had a particularly difficult start to the season, but we are still fighting to get our performance back and today we were a bit lucky at the same time. We had a decent pace but still too far away from where we should have been and that is clear. Nevertheless, I am pretty happy with what I achieved and for the guys. I mean they worked very hard over the winter and we were disappointed at the first race and second so this is quite good for them.

Q: You lost a couple of places after the first safety car. Is that the incident you were describing just now?
RS: The tyre warm-up was particularly difficult today. I had the pleasure of seeing a car spinning twice in front of me while he was trying to warm up his tyres. I took it easy, maybe too easy, and that is why I lost a lot at the first one, but I got it back at the third safety car, which then really helped.

Q: Do you think you can repeat this in the forthcoming races?
RS: Imola is going to be coldish temperatures again and so it is going to be difficult to judge for the moment with the problems we have. I mean on Friday we struggled a bit and worked overnight on set up and got it right on Saturday so it could happen at Imola. There are two tests before then, so we have time to work on it and we try to stay where we are.

Q: (Mark Fogarty, Auto Action) Ralf, you know Michael better than anyone. What do you think? Do you think Michael is getting very frustrated?
RS: Maybe you ask him. We have other things to worry about to be honest.

Q: (Livio Orrichio – O Estado do Sao Paulo) Ralf, as far as you know one of the problems you had at the beginning of the season was the tyre temperature and here where everyone suffered from this problem, it seems that you had less problem than the others. Is that true?

RS: Well, yes, less than the other Bridgestone runners, but there were reasons for that. I was still surprised watching all the other drivers today. Everyone had problems with warming up the tyres. It is not only us, suffering. In the first race, we definitely suffered, but we are still learning with the new tyres and we are on top of the game now.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Second place is your best result at this place. Was this your best result and race here?
KR: Not really. I think I’ve never had a proper race here. Something always happens. It has never been a perfect race here for me. It looks like something always happens here, but we have had a good result and I think we are getting back in the championship now. Maybe it is not ideal, but if you look at last year we are in a stronger position now than we were then and it is still only the beginning of the championship. So we will just see what we can do.

Q: Do you think that basically you were lacking mileage during practice, particularly yesterday morning when that turned out to be wet? Is that a part of the problem?
KR: It doesn’t help, but it is the same for everybody and we know that at some places the tyres are not so easy to warm up. We had a similar thing in the winter when it was very cold and maybe here it was an issue, but it could have been at any other place also.

Q: I was just thinking that not many people did much running on Friday and maybe that would have solved the problem?
RS: I don’t think that is a big issue. I think a lot of us, we had a particularly strong winter back in Europe and a lot of people thought just ok it is extremely cold so it will get better and don’t worry about the warm-up problems. And, I think, we were caught out by that, a little bit.

Q: (Tony Dodgins - Autosport) Fernando, when it comes to that warming-up process, obviously everybody is changing direction, but you seem to be almost locking the wheels and then starting again by spinning wheels. Is there a special technique there?
FA: No, I think we do always a different warm up for the tyres in the Renault team, especially for the out laps and going to the grid. When I see another driver in front of me, they spin the tyres in a different way and maybe they are using different traction controls or whatever and we have to really move the car a lot to get the spin and I think this extra work we were doing today was help enough to warm all four tyres in one way.

Q: (James Stanford - Herald Sun) Fernando, how much quicker do you think the Renault is compared to your main rivals?
FA: I don’t know. I felt quicker than the rivals probably yesterday and today. Yesterday I had a little bit of traffic and not a perfect qualifying, but today I had a normal race and felt quicker in all the stages of the race. But, also, Kimi had some problems with the wings so we don’t know in equal conditions how we are… But I think we are again one of the top teams and in some races we are fighting with the BAR (Honda), like we did in Malaysia, and some races with Ferrari, like we did in Bahrain, here with the McLarens. The important thing is to be always there.

Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat ) Fernando, last year you had 36 points after four races. Are you able to beat that record this time?
FA: Well I am 28 and so I need to win in Imola and I think that will be extremely difficult, but if I repeat the same number I will be extremely happy if I finish in the first two in Imola. The important thing is to be constant in the championship, try to be on the podium – as I was last year 15 times, I think – and concentrate and try not to do any mistakes and just to do good weekends in a professional way and finish the races and score points. It doesn’t matter if it is 10, eight or four – any points are important.

Q: (Anthony Rowlinson - Autosport) Fernando, you had a similar start to the season last year, but McLaren came on very strong throughout the year. Do you fear something similar this year?
FA: Yes, I am pretty sure that the little advantage that we saw at the beginning of the championship last year and this year will disappear sooner or later and the only thing we have to do is to take the opportunities as we are now and to win these race sand then when the other teams improve and are similar to us or quicker than us we just have to finish the races, to be 100 per cent from the drive-ability point of view, and push the other teams to the limit.

Domination from Fernando Alonso

Domination from Fernando Alonso
Australian GP - Race
The 57-lap Australian Grand Prix had it all. Incident, accident and drama and through it all came Fernando Alonso who dominated the third round of the championship to take his second win of the season and the tenth of his career. Kim Raikkonen chased Alonso hard to finish in second position in his McLaren Mercedes, but the Finn had no answer to the consistent and relentless pace from his championship rival. "The car was perfect," said Alonso. "At no time did I think I would lose the victory, I was very confident. The important thing was to save the engine to keep it fresh for the next race to do a good result there again, and we did it..."While the story of the Australian Grand Prix was the pace of Alonso, behind there was plenty of action in a race that saw just nine cars complete the full race distance and no less than four safety car periods. Starting from the third Pole Position of his career Jenson Button actually maintained the lead of the race from the traditionally fast-starting Alonso heading into the first turn. Behind chaos ensued as Felipe Massa clipped the back of Christian Klien into the first turn. The 248 F1 veered sharply to his right following the impact and wiped off the rear wing from the back of Rosberg’s Williams Cosworth. The safety car was deployed and Massa and Rosberg were both out of the race, while Klien survived the incident.

The restart on lap four saw Button passed with relative ease – a trend that would continue on cold tyres for much of the race. The Honda driver fought hard but was soon passed by Kimi Raikkonen and the race was on at the front. Alonso then put in a sequence of stunning laps and pulled clear of Raikkonen. The secret of his Australian victory was not his absolute speed over a single lap, but his ability to lap quicker on cold tyres than any of his rivals. Alonso dominated the event, pulling out over 25 seconds before the final safety car period and then taking the victory by two seconds from the hard charging Raikkonen who closed the gap dramatically in the final stages with a string of hot laps, the final of which was the fastest lap of the race. Raikkonen will be relatively happy with his runner up position after the failure to finish in Malaysia, but Alonso has pulled another two points out on the McLaren driver and enjoys a 14 point advantage after just three rounds. It was not such a good day for Giancarlo Fisichella and Juan Pablo Montoya in the second Renault and McLaren. Both had their own drama even before the race had got underway

Montoya, who qualified in fifth position, was busy warming up his brakes and tyres as he exited the final turn to approach the starting grid. The Colombian lost control of his MP4-21 and it seemed initially that he was in for a long day from the back of the pack. Fortunately for him Giancarlo Fisichella’s R26 stalled on the front row of the grid forcing another formation lap. Montoya was able to regain his position and Fisichella started the race from the pit lane.

Honda fails at the final turnMontoya would eventually retire from the race when looking all set to take the lower step of the podium. Exiting the final turn – again – he ran wide and on to the grass. As the McLaren bounced over the concrete rumble strip the car simply shut down – a safety feature - and Montoya was forced to pull to a halt. Fisichella’s race brought him a fifth position after he worked his way up through the field but he was unable to get close to the lap times set by team-mate and race winner Alonso. Ralf Schumacher drove a great race in his Toyota record the team’s first podium position of the season. The German fought back from a drive through penalty after speeding in the pits and while he undoubtedly gained position through attrition, the podium result was very much deserved. Team-mate Jarno Trulli was eliminated on lap one following contact with David Coulthard. Nick Heidfeld was another to put in a tremendous performance. The BMW Sauber driver ran as high as second on merit in the race and was unfortunate to lose position late in the race in the traffic. With Jacques Villeneuve also driving a strong race from the back of the field to finish in sixth, the team will leave Australia very happy with by far their strongest showing yet. Jenson Button’s day started brightly but ended in a huge cloud of smoke. The Honda racer simply could not lap as fast as his rivals on cold tyres and was unable to challenge either Alonso or Raikkonen for race pace. Button would look all set to finish in fifth position but as he exited the final turn his Honda V8 failed in dramatic style. They say life is cruel, but Button pulled the billowing RA106 to a halt just shy of the chequered flag and his fifth position turned into a tenth place classification. Rubens Barrichello showed little pace spending a good third of the race behind Takuma Sato in the Super Aguri Honda. Seventh place for Barrichello was fortunate as were the two points that go with it although he did manage to pick up his pace as the race progressed

Taking of speed, Scott Speed scored the first point for Scuderia Toro Rosso with a fine drive to eighth position. The American was able to hold off David Coulthard in the Red Bull Ferrari by the narrowest of margins to claim the valuable championship point and deny Coulthard his 500th. Christian Klien had a dramatic race in his RB2, surviving a first lap assault from Felipe Massa before crashing hard on lap seven and bringing out the safety car. With Coulthard ninth and out of the points and Button classified tenth a lap down, Christian Albers brought his MF1 Toyota home 11th ahead of the Super Aguri Hondas of Takuma Sato who finished two laps down and Yuji Ide who finished three laps down. For Sato, holding back both Barrichello and Coulthard until the first round of pits stops, it must have been especially sweet. It was another dismal day for Ferrari as Massa’s lap one exit left Michael Schumacher to carry the expectations of the team. Shadowing Button and looking set to pounce, Schumacher ran wide exiting the final turn and the Ferrari snapped to left into the unforgiving concrete retaining wall. A double non-finish for Ferrari as their bright start to the season begins to fade away. Mark Webber could well have finished on the podium in his Williams Cosworth had the FW28 gone the distance. Running fourth at mid-distance Webber pulled the Williams off track with either a hydraulics or gearbox failure. With Rosberg taken out by Massa on lap one, Williams has just five points from six starts. With three races complete, Fernando Alonso is stamping his authority on this championship season. The field packs up and heads off to test around Europe before reconvening at Imola, home of the San Marino Grand Prix.

First Bridgestone-Toyota podium

First Bridgestone-Toyota podium
Australian GP - Bridgestone - Race
Ralf Schumacher took the Australian Grand Prix chequered flag in third place this afternoon, claiming Toyota Racing's first podium since switching to Bridgestone tyres.Ralf Schumacher started the race from sixth place on the grid but it was by no means an easy Grand Prix after an aborted race start and four safety car periods resulted in an incident filled 57-lap race. Of the ten Bridgestone runners only four finished with MF1 Racing's Christijan Albers crossing the line in 11th place and the Super Aguri F1 team cars finishing in 12th and 13th place positions. For the remainder of the Bridgestone runners it was a frustrating day of unfulfilled potential. Local hero Mark Webber had qualified in seventh place and like Ralf Schumacher, was using the new Bridgestone compound developed in recent testing. His race was curtailed on lap 23 with a transmission problem after leading the race for the previous two laps. His team-mate Nico Rosberg was caught up in an opening lap incident and retired. Toyota's Jarno Trulli also went out of the race on lap one, as did Ferrari's Felipe Massa. Michael Schumacher, who was working his way up through the field and was lying in sixth place on lap 32, crashed out after running wide and getting caught on the uneven grass verges.

Ralf Schumacher, who takes six points from today's result, lies in seventh place in the drivers' standings. The Bridgestone teams now have three weeks before the first European event of the season, the San Marino Grand Prix.Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager "Congratulations to Ralf and Toyota on their first podium finish this season. It was a fantastic result for both the team and Bridgestone's personnel and this will spur us on to aim for greater achievements.""Unfortunately today was not a good day for the majority of the Bridgestone shod cars. Three of them retired without completing a lap. Webber stopped with a mechanical problem and Michael Schumacher crashed out, which was frustrating as they would both have been strong finishers and Webber's lap times were competitive. We had done a lot of testing prior to the event to improve our tyre performance and we have seen some good results this weekend. We are confident that we have gone in the right development direction with our new compound range and will keep working to improve it further."

Mike Gascoyne, Toyota Technical Director"Obviously this was a fantastic result for us after a difficult start to the season. Thank you to Bridgestone for bringing the latest development compound. While all the teams seemed to struggle keeping the heat in their tyres in the restarts I think comparatively we suffered less. This was partially due to the new compound and partially down to the work we have been doing with Bridgestone."

Schumacher confident in upturn of fortune

Schumacher confident in upturn of fortune
'I crashed because I was having a go’
Michael Schumacher has described his race-ending shunt at Albert Park as a 'stupid mistake'. The Ferrari driver was not going to trouble the leaders in the Australian Grand Prix, but dismissed any suggestion that this year could turn out like 2005. “We were having major troubles with understeer,” Germany's Schumacher explained, “as we could not keep temperature in the tyres.” “I crashed because I was having a go. If you don't try, you don't get anywhere, and I was trying to pass Button but I ran out of road.

” Schumacher baulked at claims Ferrari is heading into another period of uncompetitive crisis, but admitted that 'a lot of hard work' lies ahead for the team. “We have got to improve,” Schumacher urged, “so that we are fast in all conditions, not only in certain conditions. We will prepare very carefully for Imola.” Source GMMCAPSIS International

A comfortable victory for Alonso at Melbourne

A comfortable victory for Alonso
Australian GP - Renault - Race
Fernando Alonso took his tenth career victory after starting from third position on the grid in an action-packed Australian Grand Prix which featured no fewer than four safety car periods.The Spaniard took the lead on lap four at the end of the first safety car period, in a perfectly-judged manoeuvre on Jenson Button’s Honda, and only relinquished it during the first round of pit-stops. Giancarlo Fisichella was forced to start from the pit-lane after his R26 stalled on the grid, but he worked his way back up the order to claim fifth position right on the line, overtaking Button’s stricken Honda on the finishing straight.The result leaves the team with a 19 point championship lead over its nearest rival, and Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella lie first and second in the championship.Fernando Alonso"This was a very different race to the other two so far this season. In Bahrain, I was fighting with Michael all the way; in Malaysia, it was Jenson I was battling for second place. But today, it was quite comfortable. There were no fights, and I was very relaxed for a lot of the race. I had a good lead after the first pit-stops, but I lost it during the second safety car. However, I managed to get a good gap on each re-start, and that made life quite easy for me.""I was very happy with the balance all the way through the race, so I just needed to make sure I didn’t take any unnecessary risks and I am pleased we were able to save the engine performance for the next race.

So far, we have shown we are strong in all conditions on all tracks. But Imola is a very different challenge, and we must have a calm approach, because we know it will be more difficult than ever."Giancarlo Fisichella"After a race like that, I have really mixed feelings. You know, it’s great to go from the pit-lane and to finish fifth, especially in such an exciting way. But also, we saw today that I had the car to fight for the win with Fernando, so I am disappointed I couldn’t make use of it.""At the start, the engine stalled and I had to start from the pit-lane, then during most of the first stint I had no telemetry – so I was giving the engineers updates on my fuel load all the time, and telling them about the car while overtaking the people in front of me. That problem fixed itself, but the second stint was really hard because the car was understeering so much during that part of the race. The team were calling me to push harder, but I was on the limit all the way. Then after the final stop, the clutch failed, and we only managed to fix it a few laps from the end. As soon as we did, I set my fastest lap, showed what I could do and started to put pressure on Jenson."

"I could see his engine was failing in the final corners, then I was blinded by the oil and smoke during the final corner with big oversteer, and I got him as he moved over the track. It was an exciting afternoon, and it’s good to still score points after starting so far back. I am second in the championship going to Imola, and that’s a great feeling because I should have a new specification engine there as well."Flavio Briatore, Managing Director"This was a fantastic win for Fernando. He had a great car this afternoon, and he controlled the race from start to finish. There were a lot of complicated situations to deal with, and he did it brilliantly. I am sorry for Fisi, because he suffered with more problems. We only solved it right towards the end of the race, and then it was too late for him to get close to the podium. But he showed he had the performance at the end, and we still scored a lot more points than our rivals today. We are in a strong position, but we will keep on pushing."Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering"This was a really hard weekend. We had rain, unusually cold temperatures, and a punctuated race. But the car showed great performance, so we are very, very pleased with our result. Fernando put in a faultless drive, and he was able to run at whatever pace was needed with ease. The safety car periods denied him the luxury of a big lead, but he was able to maximise his performance in the laps immediately afterwards, as his early overtaking manoeuvre on Jenson showed. He then built good leads after every other safety car period, and controlled the race.""Giancarlo was unfortunate at the start, when his anti-stall system triggered several times. He was unable to catch the last one, and this meant the safety systems shut the engine down. After starting from the pit-lane, he benefited from the first safety car to catch the field, and then drove very well. He had a lot of understeer during the middle part of the race, when we were encouraging him to push hard over the radio, and then the clutch failed after the final stop. That gave us some worries for a few laps, but once the problem had been solved, he started pushing Jenson very hard. This paid off handsomely to give Fisi a well-deserved fifth place after a fantastic race.""The team is in a very strong position now after three races, but there are still fifteen to go. We have some important test sessions coming up in the next fortnight, and we are still working hard to improve the performance of the car."E.A.Source Renault

Brusque Schumacher rues 'slow' Ferrari

'I am definitely not pleased, no'

A brusque Michael Schumacher neither minced his words nor masked his malcontent after qualifying out of the top ten in Australia. “We were just too slow,” the Ferrari driver told a squad of reporters in the paddock. “We had two attempts (at a quick lap) and on both we were not fast enough. I am definitely not pleased, no.” Asked what the problem was, the ace German ruffled his brow and said: “If we knew, we would do something about it. Things did not unfold for us perfectly, but basically we were not fast.” It was a bad day all round for the Italian team. Team-mate Felipe Massa put his 248 F1 into the tyre barriers, while Schumacher threw debris down pitlane after mechanics forgot to remove a big cooling fan from his brake ducts.

Michael explained: “You have to realise how hectic it is in a garage - particularly with situations like the red flags. So, it can happen.” Schumacher baulked when he was asked what could be done about his poor starting position in terms of race strategy. “No idea,” the German said. “At the moment we are not fast enough, so - first - we have to look into why.”

Melbourne Pole for Button and Honda

Melbourne Pole for Button and Honda
Australian GP - Qualifying

It was certainly a case of mixed fortunes for Honda today as Jenson Button secured his first Pole Position since Montreal last year, while team-mate Rubens Barrichello found himself eliminated form the first phase of qualifying after setting the 17th best time. "It's a very special feeling," said the delighted Button. "I've already seen a few of the guys from Honda and they seem pretty ecstatic, but more important for them will be to have a win tomorrow..."The three-phase qualifying session certainly brought a few surprises this afternoon in Australia. While Button took a superb Pole with a best lap of 1:25.229s, Giancarlo Fisichella was 'pretty happy' as he continued the momentum from Sepang, recording the second best time in his Renault to start along the British racer. Fernando Alonso showed stunning ‘race fuel’ pace early in the final phase of qualifying, but found himself a tenth off Fisichella’s best as the fuel load lightened in those critical final few laps. However, starting third, Alonso is by no means out of contention for the race win tomorrow afternoon. "I'm confident I can drive for the win here...

"Kimi Raikkonen starts fourth in his McLaren Mercedes while team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya spun away his chance of going for Pole Position and starts fifth in the sister MP4-21. Montoya looked to have the pace to challenge Button’s pole time in the final minutes of the session, but a poor final sector on his very final lap put paid to his chances. Toyota has a great deal to smile about today as not only did Ralf Schumacher and Jarno Trulli qualify sixth and ninth respectively, but the team also took the honour of being the fastest Bridgestone entry on a day when Ferrari firmly shot itself in the proverbial foot. Mark Webber had a solid qualifying session in his Williams Cosworth and starts the race from seventh position. The FW28 package does not look as driveable in Melbourne as it did in Malaysia two weeks ago. Webber survived one lurid off track moment while team-mate Nico Rosberg has not looked comfortable with his setup and starts the race from 14th position. Nick Heidfeld qualified his BMW Sauber in a fine eighth position while team-mate Jacques Villeneuve set the ninth best time but drops to 19th position due to his engine change penalty.

It was a nightmare of a day for Ferrari. Both Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa made it through the first phase of qualifying but in the second 15 minute session, Massa hooked his left wheels over the kerbing and seconds later found his tail-happy 248 F1 travelling rapidly backwards into the tyre wall. Massa was unhurt but his Ferrari was badly damaged. Massa starts 15th. Michael Schumacher meanwhile rushed out of the Ferrari pit following the red flags to sweep away Massa’s Ferrari. Unbeknown to the former Champion, a brake cooling device was still attached to the car snd whilst exiting the pits the device flew off and shattered into small pieces. It mattered little as the car was not on the pace of the front-runners and as the briefest of rain showers right at the close of the second phase of qualifying, Schumacher had set just the 11th best time.

Tonio Liuzzi did a good job for Toro Rosso as he split the Red Bull Ferrari pair of David Coulthard and Christian Klien. Felipe Massa starts the race back in 15th position behind Rosberg. While Button enjoys his Pole, Rubens Barrichello must be wondering quite why it is all going wrong, so fast, for him at Honda. The Brazilian was eliminated from the first phase of qualifying and starts 16th. Barrichello was however badly held up by the erratic and not so rapid Yuji Ide, but that is perhaps the risk you take if you bank on one lap to see you through the first phase of qualifying. Barrichello’s body language as he stepped out of the car summed it up... He is certainly not having fun. Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro start 17th and 20th for MF1 Toyota with Scott Speed and the unfortunate Villeneuve separating the two while Takuma Sato starts 21st in his Super Aguri Honda. Yuji Ide spun once, went off track twice, baulked Barrichello and was nearly four seconds a lap off the pace of his team-mate. Unsurprisingly he starts last. The top Michelin teams have dominated qualifying in Melbourne and now it seems the battle for the win will be between those in the top five.

22 teams enter F1 for 2008

22 teams enter F1 for 2008
Applicants to meet with the FIA
No fewer than 22 potential F1 teams met the FIA's Friday deadline to enter the 2008 World Championship. With the current eleven outfits certain to be among them, the official news means that eleven others - including Paul Stoddart's Minardi and David Richards' Prodrive - will duke it out for just one available slot. Ten, therefore, will miss out. “All applicants have been invited to a meeting in London on April 10, 2006,” the FIA said in a statement. Also among the additional eleven teams is almost certainly Craig Pollock, Jacques Villeneuve's manager and a founder of the BAR (now Honda) operation.
“If something will come out, something will come out,” the coy Scot told Speed TV. Another prospective entry is probably McLaren's 'Direxiv'-funded b-team; likely to be a front-runner in the FIA's selection process as it would be based at the refurbished Woking factory. The FIA will publish the 2008 field on April 28

Theissen impressed with Robert Kubica

Theissen impressed with Robert Kubica
BMW Sauber test driver being groomed for 2007

Robert Kubica is emerging as a potential star of the future. The young Pole is BMW Sauber's full time Friday test driver; and paddock speculation suggests that he is simply getting up to speed ahead of his 2007 debut. “He does not make mistakes,” lauded BMW chief Mario Theissen in Melbourne, “even though these have all been new tracks for him. I think for a young driver, and Robert is only twenty one, it is very valuable to test for a whole year in order to establish yourself.” “F1 is not just about driving, but about a total understanding of the sport - and it's not a simple thing to grasp.

Robert has the opportunity to be calm and to get himself ready -- and I assume he will be (ready) by the end of this season.” Kubica was third fastest in Friday practice. E.A.Source GMM

Melbourne qualifying press conference

Melbourne Australia qualifying press conference
With Jenson Button, Fisichella and Alonso

Jenson Button secured the third Pole Position of his career and the first of the season today in Melbourne ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella and Fernando Alonso. Q: Jenson, your third pole, tell us about that last 20 minutes? Jenson BUTTON: Manic. The whole day’s been pretty manic with the weather but we were a little bit off the pace when qualifying started. We were really struggling for grip so to finally get this pole position is fantastic and it shows how keeping relaxed – the whole team – and very very focused that we were able to get the pole position. So it’s fantastic and it’s great for the team. Honda have done a fantastic job over the last few weeks and it’s good to repay (them) with a pole position. I know it’s not the end result but it’s a good start. Q: You can’t do a lot to the car once the qualifying session begins, so how did you work on that problem? JB: Well, it was working with the diff (differential), the TC (traction control), the tyre pressures, the front wing. There are so many little things that you can change that do help and it was really just playing around with that because we haven’t had any practice in the dry, really, over the last couple of days. So it worked and I’ve got to thank the team for that. They did a great job. Q: Giancarlo, keeping the momentum going after a great Malaysian Grand Prix.

You set the lap time right at the end there, but you looked competitive throughout the one hour session? Giancarlo FISICHELLA: Yeah. Unfortunately yesterday I had a problem with the engine and we lost good time to improve the set-up and overnight we made some changes. Yes, the car was better but it would have been good to run a little bit more yesterday. Anyway, at the end of the qualifying session the car balance was quite good. On the second lap we were quicker because there was better grip from the tyres but unfortunately I made a couple of mistakes in the first part of the circuit but apart from that I’m really happy and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. We’ve got great pace for the race. Q: Very close race between you and Jenson into the first corner in Malaysia, could be the same story tomorrow? GF: Yeah, it could be the same story. I’m second, he is the leader at the moment, but I think if we start as usual, we can do a great start and the target is to be first into the first corner. It’s not easy but I will do my best.

Q: Fernando, you said yesterday how important it was to be on the first two rows of the grid here in Australia, and there you are on the second row? Fernando ALONSO: Yeah, it’s OK, maybe a little bit frustrating because I didn’t manage to complete the lap. I think a Sauber, Heidfeld, was in front of me. Unfortunately he made a mistake in turn 13 and then I caught him very quickly for the last two corners and I lost half a second, I think, in the last sector. But even with that, I think the car performed very well. I’m really happy with the balance so for the race we should be extremely competitive so let’s wait and see. Q: The guy on your right looks very fast; what are your thoughts on strategy tomorrow in terms of where you are and indeed where Honda may be on fuel load? FA: I think we should be similar. We will see tomorrow but in the last couple of races we are not much different and without this traffic problem, we should have set quite similar lap times so I guess the strategies will not be too different. Q: Jenson, turning back to you, you’ve always said how much you enjoy this new qualifying system in 2006 and this one had it all: rain, traffic, accidents? JB: Yes, it did. It was a very hectic session and I’m sure that the fans really enjoyed it. It was mad for us. Trying to get a lap time in was very difficult but we did it in the end and as I said, it’s a special feeling being on pole here. Q: Jenson, your feelings after that and looking forward to the race tomorrow? JB: I’m still shaking with the excitement. It was a manic session: the first one with a red flag and the second one with a red flag, it was really difficult to stay calm. But to get the lap in at the end was a great feeling. The car felt very good, very good actually, on the new tyres. It was a little bit unexpected after the first two runs in qualifying one and qualifying two, but it’s good, and I am very happy with it. I still don’t know about the race. I haven’t really done that much long race pace but I’m sure it will be good. Q: You had a brief off in Q1 as well. JB: Yeah. I’ve been going off a lot this weekend. I went off twice yesterday as well. It’s bit unusual but the conditions have just been so tricky out there: it’s very very windy, it’s very very low grip so to make a mistake is very easy. It’s bumpy as well so it’s tough.

Q: Your teammate had some sort of a problem, I don’t know what it was. Did you have any idea what was happening with him and did you have any similar problem? JB: I think his problem was just no tyre temperature - I think, but I will have to wait to get back and find out but I think that was the issue. Q: And you had a bit of a problem with that in the first two parts? JB: Yeah, I did a little bit but we were making sure that we were keeping the blankets on for a long time because it’s really tough to keep the heat in the tyres. I don’t know if you’ve seen but a lot of the cars, on the straight, are weaving around to get tyre temperature. It’s because it’s different conditions here than what we expected, I think. Q: You had a problem with your start in Bahrain and you’ve got two of the fastest cars off the line around you, is that something you’re concerned with? JB: It’s better to be in front now than it is to be behind, so we’re in the best position we possibly can be. Our start wasn’t too bad in Malaysia; it wasn’t as good as the Renaults’ but it wasn’t too bad either. We’ve just got to hope that we get a relatively good start. We’re on the clean side and it’s the right line for turn one so it’s not so bad.

Confident he go for his second win of the seasonQ: Giancarlo, it’s been a fairly difficult weekend so far; have you felt short of time in terms of set-up and adjusting the car? GF: Honestly, yes. I did just two runs with a problem on the engine yesterday and then I couldn’t run any more because there was a big problem, but then they fixed it and overnight we made some changes on the car which was better this morning but it was better to have run a little more yesterday. So apart from that I am pretty happy: second on the grid today and looking forward to tomorrow. I’ve got a great opportunity to do well again, we’ve got a good race pace and if we can start as usual, we can already do well in the first corner. Q: You’re fairly confident of that, are you? GF: Yes, I am. Q: Generally, your feelings coming into this race after the win in Malaysia? GF: I already have a good feeling myself, but the start of the season wasn’t great because I had a problem… not a problem, we made a mistake. That was a bad start but then I was really confident because the car package and the potential is good and straight away, when I put the car on the ground in Malaysia there was a great feeling and it was a great weekend. Even today, we are there so I am really happy about that.

Q: Fernando, third on the grid, you sounded a little bit frustrated when you were talking to Peter Windsor. Were you? FA: Well, no, I am happy because in the last race I was seventh, so this is my best qualifying of the year. I won the first race and I was second in Malaysia, so now is my best qualifying. Hopefully, I can fight for the win, but it is true that I lost nearly half a second in the last sector because of traffic and, you know, I can wish (for something) a little bit better, but these things happen to everybody and so it is better to be third than further back. Q: Jenson said he found qualifying was fairly manic, or crazy. What about you? FA: Yes, I feel the same, but not only this one! I think that all three races were a little bit crazy especially with the red flags we had. There was just a complete panic in the garage so, you know, maybe outside it is nice and interesting to see, but inside the teams, for sure, it is quite complex. Q: (James Stanford - Herald Sun) Jenson I was wondering, as you said you did not have too many laps at race pace, is that a concern for you – and do you think the Honda is as quick as the Renaults? JB: It is very difficult to know, but personally I haven’t done a lot of laps over the last few days in the dry, but the thing is that we have the third car, which is great and Anthony is a very good driver and I believe in everything he says. He did his normal running on Friday and went quickest in both sessions and did some reasonably long runs as well. It is not too worrying. I just meant personally I have not done so many laps around here, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem. Q: (Andrea Cremonesi - La Gazetta dello Sport) Jenson, did you realise that you have made an important event in the history of Honda after 37 years since their only pole position at Monza? JB: I didn’t know that before today but it’s a very special feeling and I have already seen a few of the guys from Honda and they seem pretty ecstatic, but I am sure that more important for them is to have a win tomorrow. This is a great feeling to be on pole position, but we know how competitive the Renaults are and we know we have to have a faultless race tomorrow and I know we can do that. In the team, we are very confident and calm and we know exactly what we have to do. So, tomorrow is the important day for us.
to do battle with the mighty R26Q: (Andrea Cremonesi - La Gazetta dello Sport) To Jenson again, in Malaysia you said ‘we are the second team in the championship, but we have to work a lot’ because in the first lap Giancarlo was able to put a very good gap in just one lap… Do you think that you have closed that gap?

JB: Well, I think that over one lap the car seems to be very quick and so it just depends whether we have (done that) in a race situation. We have worked on a few areas in Vallelunga – or the team did – that are an improvement. I think they are the sort of things that improve you in a race, but not qualification so much. So, they should help us, but still we have to wait until tomorrow to see how competitive we are. We know we’ve not won a race yet and it is our aim to do that, but it is never easy when you have such competition from Renault. Q: (Andrea Cremonesi - La Gazetta dello Sport) Fernando, we saw that you put your hand out of the steering wheel when Giancarlo was in front of you. Was there a misunderstanding with him at the beginning of the third sector? FA: No, I was talking with the team on the radio because I had the new tyres at the beginning, just to get the maximum from the new tyres, and I told them, but there was no answer for one lap. So…