Interlagos Qualifying: Massa, Raikkonen, Trulli.
Written by George Katinger · October 21, 2006
With Fernando Alonso in fourth and Michael “Where’d my reliability go” Schumacher in tenth place, the last race of the season gets stranger by the minute.
speedtv.com: Massa Thrills Home Crowd with Interlagos Pole
motorsport-network.com: Brawn confirms fuel pressure problem for Schu
gp2006.com: Why Renault changed Alonso’s engine
signonsandiego.com: Alonso ahead of Schumacher in qualifying
mg.co.za: Schumi’s chances of final victory take a hit
timesonline.co.uk: Conspiracy theories rife in Brazil
If you were hired to write a script for a thrilling season ending race, with championships hanging on the results, this scenario would get rejected as too far fetched!
After both Ferrari’s appeared to easily dominate Q1 and Q2, Schumacher never turned a fast lap in Q3 due to a faulty fuel pump. That resulted in a 10th starting slot. My question is will the Ferrari team tear the car down looking for other gremlins and opt for an engine change for the sake of reliability?
Would Schumi have a chance to win from 20th on the grid, as opposed to 10th? The Ferrari’s are far and away fastest in the field, and with a compliant and subserviant Felipe Massa in P1, Michael only has to deal with 18 cars ahead of him. And with Massa holding P1 Felipe may have a chance at slowing the entire field through the back half of sector two and the first part of sector three, the “twisty bits.” Certainly starting from 10th is not an insurmountable starting spot, as Alonso has frequently shown all year long.
I expect Schumacher will have the hammer down all race long and will be in 5th position by the end of lap 1. And you know that will mean an on track tango with Fernando Alonso. There will be no bumping and grinding of sidepods, as Fernando will “allow” any aggressive pass by Michael in defense of his ten point lead. He cannot risk any contact or car damage that will prevent his scoring of that vital one point he needs for the championship.
End of story. So, unless additional Ferrari failures occur during the race, as long as Schumi starts from 10th, I still look for a Schumacher, Massa, Alonso podium. Alonso defends his driver’s title, Ferrari win the Constructor’s championship as Fisichella will fall off the pace, or expire on track. Some how, it only seems fair that way.
Saturday Qualifying Session
POS DRIVER NATIONALITY ENTRANT TIRE TIME
1. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 1:10.680
2. Kimi Raikkonen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 1:11.299
3. Jarno Trulli Italy Toyota 1:11.328
4. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault 1:11.567
5. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Honda 1:11.619
6. Giancarlo Fisichella Italy Renault 1:11.629
7. Ralf Schumacher Germany Toyota 1:11.695
8. Nick Heidfeld Germany Sauber-BMW 1:11.882
9. Robert Kubica Poland Sauber-BMW 1:12.131
10. Michael Schumacher Germany Ferrari No Time
11. Mark Webber Australia Williams-Cosworth 1:11.650
12. Pedro de la Rosa Spain McLaren-Mercedes 1:11.658
13. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 1:11.679
14. Jenson Button Britain Honda 1:11.742
15. Robert Doornbos Netherlands Red Bull-Ferrari 1:12.591
16. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1:12.861
17. Scott Speed United States Toro Rosso-Cosworth 1:12.856
18. Christijan Albers Netherlands MF1-Toyota 1:13.138
19. David Coulthard Britain Red Bull-Ferrari 1:13.249
20. Takuma Sato Japan Super Aguri-Honda 1:13.269
21. Sakon Yamamoto Japan Super Aguri-Honda 1:13.357
22. Tiago Monteiro Portugal MF1-Toyota No Time
Comments
4 Responses to “Interlagos Qualifying: Massa, Raikkonen, Trulli.”
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This could be interesting, MS will go all out for a victory & should deliver some exciting overtaking moves. Should he come up upon Alonso I can’t really see Fenando putting up much of a fight.
I wonder if the famous “Brazilian curse” that has been inflicted on Ruben’s, at his home track over the years, will apply to Massa.
Here’s an interesting scenario: Felipe has the lead over MS by 20 seconds or more with three laps to go: Alonso has the title locked up, does Felipe slow down in front of his home fans to gift Schumi the race? Or does his pride kick in and he takes the win?
Would Felipe be considered a stooge by the hometown crowd or would his sacrifice be admired and appreciated?
Can’t wait to see this one, And I don’t have to lose any sleep as it’s our hemisphere!
Massa has said that if he is leading, he will only pull over for Michael if Alonso is out of the points, otherwise he’s taking the win, if he can stay in front of Michael. There’s a lot of ifs in there.
I think we’ll see Alonso well within the points, freeing Massa up to fly like the wind to a win, as long as the gremlins stay off his car. Maybe it’s just Reubens the gremlins like to attack, anyway?
Why do I get the feeling that Jarno Trulli and Ralfie will be large factors in the race outcome? I sincerely hope not, but their starting positions set them up to play pivotal spoiler rolls for either Schumi or Alonso.