Fernando Alonso was penalised by the F1 Stewards at the hungaroring on Friday for dangerous driving in front of Robert Doornbos during free practice. Apart from the Spaniards incident with Doornbos, Alonso also overtook him under yellow flags. Both incidents will cost him one second each during qualifying. The angry hand gestures at Doornbos were similar to those directed against championship rival Michael Schumacher in the Hockenheim pit lane a week ago. A statement said the reigning World Champion’s antics were ‘unnecessary, unacceptable and dangerous’, while Alonso (also) also overtook under a yellow flag.
The Spaniard will have two seconds added to his lap times in each of the three sections of knockout qualifying on Saturday, which could leave his Renault car stranded down the grid on a circuit that is notoriously difficult to pass on. For Alonso it will be almost impossible now to make it to the final knock-out round in qualifying with a total of two seconds being added on his qualifying time. Read More »
Schumacher and Ferrari, dominant all weekend to date swept the second row while Renault secures the front row at Circuit de Catalunya. Alonso celebrated his second successive Pole position and first at his home race with his team mate Fisi grabbing the second spot on the front row. Schumacher now has a real fight in his hands, but his 248 F1 does seem to have a straight line speed advantage here in 2006 Spanish Grand Prix. So, the scene is set for another epic duel between Ferrari and Renault.
In other news Schumacher announced on Thursday that he could delay his decision to continue with Ferrari or quit the sport until the end of the year and Ferrari is quite happy to wait until the end of the season. Technical director Ross Brawn thinks someone of the magnitude of Michael gets as much time as he wants and we have to work around it. This news could mean that Schumacher is still considering retiring, and after two-straight wins he has the form to win this year’s championship. What will be better than for the Ferrari legend to go out than by securing an eighth title?.
Former BAR F1 team boss Dave Richards is set to return to Formula 1. His Prodrive motorsport group’s entry for the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship was accepted by FIA on friday and the existing 11 teams have retained their places in the series. A total of 22 entries were filed for the 2008 championship, with Trevor Carlin’s Carlin’s Carlin Motorsport and former Minardi boss Paul Stoddart were among those to miss out.
Since their formation in 1984, Prodrive have won more than 200 international rally and race events, including six World Rally Championship titles, five British Touring Car Championships and a GTS class win at Le Mans in 2003.#.
Michael Schumacher says Ferrari is gearing up for an all-out assault at Imola. Ferrari is preparing a significant upgrade for its first home Grand Prix of 2006. The red car driven by Michael Schumacher at Imola later this month will boast better aerodynamics, a stronger V8 engine with revised pistons, new front and rear suspension and new Bridgestone tyres. ”We are going to work flat out for three weeks,” Schumacher vowed. The 37-year-old will test the new Imola-spec package next week at Barcelona. Ferrari Principal Jean Todt said: ”I think we can be competitive at Imola — exactly how competitive, we will find out. ”Much depends on the other teams. We will have a significant upgrade in Imola, but we will not be the only ones.”
The seven-time champion, who crashed out of the Australian Grand Prix having struggled for pace on cold tyres, said that his performance in Melbourne is not representative of Ferrari’s competitive level in 2006. “performances like that of this weekend are not our objective,” said Schumacher. “This year is completely different,” he said. “This time we are much more competitive and our all-round package is much better than it appears. However, in the course of this weekend we did not show this. Read More »
Post-retirement plans? Michael Schumacher plays Sevens with Wallabies Stephen Larkham, Matt Giteau, and Mark Gerrard.
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