I might be wrong about this (as girls often are about manly sports!) but it seems to me that the Ferrari cars are just too advanced over the others for the competition to mean anything anymore.
You are dead on the money... except for the "anymore” part. Since this could change, particularly if Michelin continues to improve on their tire... (Ferrari has Bridgestone and they could be at risk here.)
Formula One is possibly the most competitive sport there is and in the past there has been periods of domination by one specific marque or another. What it is a little different this time around is that I believe Michel Schumacher has extended this period, particularly for Ferrari. Also, Ferrari has reached a level of incredible chassis stability and engine reliability, not seen before. The combination has been simply too hard to beat.
The weakest link right now is the tire. Bridgestone has been caught by Michelin (particularly in hot & dry weather)
Last year, towards the end of the season Schumacher hit a lull in his performance combined with a few races where the weather was hot and dry... The Michelin shod cars caught up with Michael, (Kimi and JP).
Then in the US GP the race turned out to be a wet/semi-dry race and it simply created havoc, particularly with Montoya. In this instance Michael was provided with the opportunity to prove how good he is... he never gave up, he came back strong and the team's strategy, in changing tires was simply perfect, (as well as the Bridgestone tire, which in wet/cool weather is still superior to Michelin).
There have been other factors... Williams (the car that Michael's brother Ralf and Montoya drive, had come up with a very competitive chassis and even better motor (BMW) than Ferrari... then the winter came along and they started changing things in the interest of getting better. I believe they lost ground a bit, and Ferrari has become even stronger.
McLaren is a puzzle to me... they had a fairly competitive package at the beginning of 2003, since then, it everything has gone against them, to the point that this year I do not believe they will be a factor, not withstanding some brilliant performances by Kimi Raikkonen, who is perfectly capable of doing so.
The surprise, I believe will come from Renault's Fernando Alonso, and/or BAR's Jenson Button. Both teams are improving (particularly Renault) and both drivers are young and very capable. Montoya still holds an outside chance but there seems to be too much turmoil within the team... Montoya has already signed to drive for McLaren in 2005 and Ralf is rumored to be disputing his contract for 2005... So who knows what the team spirit really is.
Thank God we are not condemned to the archaic styles of Hotel de Paris and Hotel Hermitage anymore
Good for David! thank him... I hear that David has "engaged" his Brazilian girlfriend... although both deny it... oh well.... that's gossip stuff and I am no god at that at all...
In fact, I remember being told that MC is the slowest F1 circuit, and its highest speed of slightly above 200 km/hr is achieved at the exit of "the tunnel" - i.e. as the car comes out from under Grand Hotel. [I would HATE to be a guest in that hotel during GP - imagine the NOISE!]
It is indeed... in fact, the only reason MC still is (and it will always be) in the calendar is because of the tradition that Monte Carlo is and brings to the world of Formula One.
If you were to try to introduce a "street circuit” these days, with all the safety regulations that dictate the introduction of a new circuit to the F-1 calendar, it would simply not qualify...
But MC has a blue blood history and tradition... so MC stays. To drive there, without incident, you simply have to drive the perfect race, no 'over-slides' at the exit of corners... you do ONE and touch the ARMCO rail and you are done. On the other hand, if you have a reliable car, you win the race by qualifying fastest and making sure that at the start, no one passes you.... once you are in the lead, and have a reasonable car; then it is practically impossible for anyone to pass you...
Street circuits (like MC, the former Long Beach and former Detroit etc) are very hard on cars, brakes, transmissions, motors, every piece is tested, (and consider the driver as another piece of the machinery...) probably the old circuits of England, like Thruxton, Snetertton, (and especially) ---> Brands Hatch and Oulton Park could compare with the "bumpiness" of a car thundering at better than 160 mph or a lot more in the F-1's assuming they would be allowed to drive there in the ups and down hills.
Silverstone (the venue for the British GP) is a flatter course, without the hills of Brands; I forget what year was the last one when the GP was held there, (in the past they used to alternate between Brands and Silverstone)
I once watched the GP from in front of the Metropole - that is, that road that slopes down immediately after the Casino. It is one of the sections of the circuit where the cars slow down the most, down to about 70 km/hr. I kept hearing these strange loud explosion noises (2-3 of them) each time a car passed by. I guess what they are is no mystery to you, but I was amazed to hear that was the noise of their gears shifting down! :-)
Out of Saint Devote in second gear they go through the gears quickly into 6th (at about 170 mph) right before the Casino square... following a left hander and then right, down hill (at about 130 mph) to the Hotel Mirabeau corner in second gear (this is where you were) at about 50 mph....
The absolute slowest part is a little further past that point, this would be the Grand Hotel Hairpin (where cars sometimes "bunch-up") and slow down to about 30 mph in first gear... there is a short straight between Mirabeau and the hairpin...
The explosions you heard are the "backfire" as they slow down and down-shift, take their foot off the gas pedal and wait (very briefly) for the right moment to gas it again as they go around the corner... this has to do with the "spark-timing" of the motor, it is NOT the actual gears shifting as they go to a lower gear...
See... this is part of the music of these superb engines, I know, unless you are tuned into this madness, all this is strange gibberish that probably sounds like Martian to you.... -g
It is like the percussion section coming on in Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture -ggg... and then it gets better as it switches to Beethoven's Ode to Joy as the engines power up and rocket away out of the Portier corner into the tunnel... fading away as they fly through the gears into 6th gear again (at 175 mph) out of the tunnel into the Nouvelle Chicane... just pure glory! -LOL !
btw.... going into the Nouvelle Chicane, is where Jenson Button crashed last year, something went wrong with his tires or suspension and his car just kept going straight hitting the barriers, if I remember correct, I believe he hit something before, breaking the speed at which he hit the final barrier.... (He was unconscious as his car came to a full stop).
My personal favourite reason for living here is the "weather",
Ah yes, I can relate to that... as for no taxes... well, that too -g |
