Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher still trails defending champion Fernando Alonso in the F1 championship standings, but following his dominant home grand prix victory at Hockenheim on Sunday, the German is arguably the favourite to win this year’s driver’s title.
By Mike Fourie – Editor
Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher still trails defending champion Fernando Alonso in the F1 championship standings, but following his dominant home grand prix victory at Hockenheim on Sunday, the German is arguably the favourite to win this year’s driver’s title.
Kimi Raikkonen raised hopes that McLaren-Mercedes would offer resistance to the Scuderia when he clinched pole position on Saturday. However, the Finn started the race with too little fuel (due to a technical problem in qualifying) and relinquished the lead when he made his first pit stop on lap 11. A jammed right-rear wheel-nut then cost Raikkonen 7 seconds – and any chance of victory.
Then again, the sheer pace of Schumacher’s Bridgestone-shod Ferrari 248 F1 suggested that the German’s third consecutive victory – and his fourth in his home Grand Prix – was never in doubt. The German and team-mate Felipe Massa cruised to the chequered flag; It was Ferrari’s second one-two finish in three races and Alonso, whose Renault struggled with low grip and blistering rear Michelin tyres, saw his points advantage shrink to 11 despite a fifth-placed result.
With less than a week before the next grand prix in Hungary, the Régie appears to be in a tight spot. Following the FIA’s ban on the mass damper system, which was pioneered by Renault and said to optimise the way in which the R26 utilises its Michelin rubber, Alonso and team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella have been off the pace. Renault wasn’t the only team that used the system, but clearly lost the most momentum as a result of the ban… Strong performances by Bridgestone-backed teams (Ferrari, Williams and Toyota) are not good omens either, although Honda’s Jenson Button and Raikkonen (in Michelin-shod cars) also outclassed the Renault duo on Sunday.
Raikkonen wowed the thousands of fans in the Mercedes-Benz stand when he muscled past Button (who impressively re-captured the form that saw him finish a strong second at Hockenheim two years ago) on the 58th lap. The Finn finished 13 seconds behind Schumacher to clinch the final podium spot and although he wasn’t a match for the Ferrari pair, his much-improved MP4-21 may ultimately ruin Alonso and Renault’s chances of defending their championship titles.
Alonso’s route to fifth was eased when Mark Webber, who has silenced his critics by trouncing highly-rated rookie team-mate Nico Rosberg, retired from the race due to (yet another) mechanical failure. As had been the case at Monaco, the Aussie looked set for a podium finish, but his Williams let him down.
The Spaniard had further good fortune when he wrested back the control of his R26 after a lurid slide in Turn 12 on Lap 61. If Alonso manages to defend his title this year, that brave bit of driving will be remembered for a long time to come, not least by Fisichella -who was momentarily blinded by a plume of dust, but still prevented Toyota’s Jarno Trulli from passing the Renault. The trio finished fifth, sixth and seventh, with the final point going to Red Bull’s Christian Klien.
On Sunday, Raikkonen, Button, Webber and Trulli respectively proved why they are on the top rung of motorsport, but Ralf Schumacher was all at sea. Michael Schumacher’s less talented brother collided with McLaren’s Pedro de la Rosa on Saturday, then clashed with David Coulthard’s Red Bull early in race and later got a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane. The Toyota driver trundled to ninth place ahead of Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Toro Rosso. To his credit, Liuzzi completed an impressive move to pass Coulthard for the place on lap 53.
The two BMW Saubers collided on the opening lap, and after Nick Heidfeld retired with a brake problem, Jacques Villeneuve crashed his F1.06 heavily on Lap 31. After digging deep in their corporate pockets to buy out Sauber last year, the top brass at BMW AG must have chocked on their weisswurst on Sunday!
According to reports, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone says Hockenheim will not host the German Grand Prix next year. Although it is not official yet, the Nurburgring will reportedly host the only German race next year, before Hockenheim gets its turn in 2008 in a season-by-season share scheme.
What a pity… If it were up to me, the unimaginative (new) Nurburgring wouldn’t host a grand prix again. Ever since its Hermann Tilke-penned revision, Hockenheim has served up exciting races thanks to its spectacular high-speed sections and well-established overtaking points. Please Bernie, ditch boring circuits like San Marino, Hungaroring and Nurburgring. Hockenheim must stay!