2006 European Grand Prizzzzzzz

Oh man. You know how I’ve been in ‘light blogging’ mode because of all that exam malarkey. Well I was going to break my silence today, because there was a Grand Prix today, and I usually write reviews of each Grand Prix. But it’s been a real struggle. That was an immensely boring race, and it’s difficult to think of much interesting to say about it. But I’m writing about it anyway just to prove that I’m still here. (I was also going to write about the local elections, but I couldn’t be arsed with that either.)

Firstly, I should take my hat off to Ferrari. I said at the time that I thought Imola was a fluke, but they’ve shown that it wasn’t. Ferrari are back and consistently challenging once again. Not only has Michael Schumacher won two races in a row (after a drought lasting over a season, discounting last year’s USGP), but Felipe Massa has also scored his first podium.

Everybody who was thinking that it would be a case of Alonso vs. Räikkönen was wrong. We’ll have to wait until at least next year for that. Right now Michael Schumacher is in much better shape than Kimi to challenge for the championship, particularly with that vulnerable and slow-ish McLaren.

Despite Ferrari’s resurgence, Renault are still looking good. Well, Alonso is anyway. Giancarlo Fisichella had a pretty rotten weekend. He failed to make the top ten in qualifying for the second race running, losing his rag with Jacques Villeneuve in the process. Traffic or no traffic, at the moment Fisichella is making the Renault look rather mediocre while Alonso makes it look like the best car in the world.

It was yet another worrying result for Jenson Button and Honda. They are failing to convert their winter testing form into consistent results. After all the pre-season promise, this season is beginning to look more like 2005 than 2004. At least Rubens Barrichello got a decent result. His issues with the car seem to have finally been resolved.

As for Williams, those Cosworth engines, which were bullet proof in winter, have become a liability. At least Rosberg had a good race, starting last on the grid but ending up with two points. Good work. BMW, meanwhile, are looking slightly slower but more consistent.

Maximum comedy points this weekend go to David Coulthard and Vitantonio Liuzzi, driving for the Red Bull A- and B-team respectively. They knocked each other off at the first corner. David Coulthard thinks he’s good at starts at the Nürburgring, and he’s right — he moved from 12th to 4th at the first corner last year. But taking that inside line isn’t a guarantee that you won’t be crashed into. In fairness, Liuzzi was tapped by Ralf Schumacher, so it was really Ralf’s fault — ITV’s commentators never noticed this.

We’re off to Barcelona next week, and that is usually quite a boring race because the drivers all know it so well because they test there all the time. And after that is Monaco, where it’s almost impossible to overtake! I’ll need to make sure we have enough coffee…

Full race result

1 comment

  1. 2006 Spanish Grand Prix…

    Last week I correctly predicted that the Spanish Grand Prix would be boring.
    I was right.
    Somebody wake me up when something interesting happens?

    ……