I think my title is suitably ambigious for those who are waiting to watch it taped. Anyway, I didn't actually get to watch the whole race but what do you guys think about Ferrari's rather poor performance (Ruben's crash and shumi's tire and chassis problems) and Macleran's great success. Is it a fluke or a sign of what's to come?

Oh and also, for Montoya's reverse stall park into the wall and still pulling off 2nd (I think it was 2nd.)


[Modified by robbin, 2:17 PM 3/9/2003]

 

Ruben's hit some oil causing his crash, Michaell didn't win because of an air gun failure during his first pit stop which costed him 8 secs and Kimi held him up as a result.

 

Even with everything that went wrong with Ferraris, I thought Schumacher drove VERY well. Even without the barge boards, he was right with the front pack till the rest of the race. In some laps, he had quicker time than Coulthard.

Seems like though Michelins had really improved their tires.

 

A good start to the new season!

Go McLaren!

 

Montoya was just far enough ahead that he didn't lose more than 1 position.

And that air gun failure...wasn't that Ralf, not Michael? Ralf had something like an 18 second pit stop (it was the rear right wheel/tire).

 

I think both of them had some pit stop problems. Raikkonen did too if memory serves.

Crazy race. Its on speedTV right now... as I post this.


[Modified by mos, 6:57 PM 3/9/2003]

 

Watching it now too.. Whats up with the 2 BAR cars coming in at the same time? Someone should be fired for that..

 

in case you didnt get to hear the post race comments, i love jpm's frankness. "yeah, $hit happens".

btw, i only caught hte last boring 10 laps of the race, it did look like an awesome and setup for a great season. sometimes i wish they all werent so damn good of drivers, i wanted to see a pass for 2nd or 3rd in the last few laps but seemed like none of them were giving up anything.


[Modified by Tyson, 7:27 PM 3/9/2003]

 

one theory i saw somewhere that someone heard from somewhere else is that it was punishment for Button not listening to orders to back off of Villeneuve.........

Brian

 

Shumey made an extra stop and had a car basically disintergrating around him and STILL finished 4th and was still turning laps as fast as or faster then Montoya and Rikkonen at the end. Now *that's* mad skillz. Reminded me of the race last year when Barrichello came from the back of the grid to finish 2nd after his car stalled on the parade lap.

 

LOL! Is there ever an end to the rumors? So you really think that BAR would tank their own race, and a chance at a points finish, just to teach him a lesson?!?

JV's radio wasn't working, he was supposed to have come in the lap before, but he didn't see it on the board. Button saw him coming in, but knew that he didn't have enough fuel for another lap, so he came in behind him. It was a radio problem, not a conspiracy.


Matt

 

Actually, this is a terrible title. It's missing the key word: "spoiler". If you are going to post anything that gives away any part of the race results (i.e. that Montoya spun and lost the lead), then put the word "spoiler" in the title so that the people who want to watch it on tape know not to read this thread.


Matt

 

but conspiracy theories are so much more fun . pretty fun race, Kimi squeezing Schumacher off was pretty impressive, I guess pay back for when he got squeezed by Schumacher last year after going wide in a turn thanks to another cars oil

Brian

 

Sorry, my bad. I'll remember that for next time.

 

Perhaps I spoke too soon, there might be more to this. Apparently Villeneuve has done this in the past to "psych out" his teammates. Also, after the race they checked his radio and it seemed to be working fine....


Matt

 

You mean, kinda like Raikkonen starting from pit lane and ended up third in this race?!?!

I like these new rules... it makes stuff like that much more possible.

 

Conspiracies, Weather, Rules and anything else, at the end of the day there was a goof F1 race. There was passing due to weather and tire changes. Also present was some pit lane drama that affected overall positions. That was good racing to watch on TV.

 

What the hell was with the BAR strategy of three stops? Way to go.

 

The strategy was two stops, but they had to change it because they couldn't make it to the first stop on the wet tires. Regardless, they blew what should have been a double points finish through bad strategy, bad tire selection, and possibly Villeneuve being a total jackass.


Matt

 

I think FIA has hit on something positive with the new post qualifying impound (i.e. you start the race with the same amount of fuel, same tires, set up etc.). I think this allows a lot of strategy and made the race interesting to watch. I hope the rest of the season just as fun to watch.

Oh yeah...and both BAR Hondas finished!!!