Suzuka decides the championship - yet again!
There are things one can predict with a near perfect degree of certainty. I know that it will get dark tonight. I also know that the sun will rise tomorrow. There is no gainsaying either of these two things. Before yesterday in Japan, I would, like everybody else, have placed the following prediction within the same certainty bracket: Michael Schumacher will not retire from the Japanese Grand Prix because of an engine failure. Retirements occasioned by problems like that had been eliminated by Ferrari years ago. No car was more reliable. The last time Schumacher's engine broke was in 2001 - in the days before al-Qaeda attacked America and caused a stupid president to suffer irreversible insanity.
Like the rest of the Formula One watching world, I stared at the screen in disbelief yesterday - at least what I was able to see when not obscured by Chipo leaping up and down and doing cartwheels across the room. With one almighty bang and lots of smoke, the world championship was dramatically snatched away from Michael Schumacher's grasp and placed squarely in the lap of Fernando Alonso. Suzuka was spoken of as a championship decider by many - not least, yours truly. It was spoken of as the place that tested true grit. The circuit that separated the racers from the mere pretenders. Never once did I expect that the championship would be decided in Alonso's favour at Suzuka. Never. If there was a decisive retirement destined for Suzuka on 8 October 2006 it involved a British-built, French-badged car in blue livery. Not a blood red Ferrari. No way. How wrong we all were.
In qualifying on Saturday everything seemed to be going the way of the Scuderia. In an apparent reversal of fortune from the bad experience Bridgestone had in Shanghai a week previously, Michelin looked like they were in serious trouble. The Ferraris were a second a lap quicker than the Michelin-shod Renaults. All top four positions on the grid were taken up by Bridgestone runners. Fernando Alonso in fifth place looked as though the best he could achieve was a damage limiting points scoring position - fifth, possibly, or fourth if he was lucky. Tyres are the black art of Formula One. They make such a massive difference to everything that, considering all the elements required for success - chassis, tyres, driver and team - they probably account for at least thirty per cent. At the end of qualifying Michelin seemed so disadvantaged that virtually every commentator predicted a walk in the park for the Bridegstone-shod Ferrari. More fool they. Tyres didn't matter a jot in the final analysis yesterday.
Felipe Massa failed to adhere to the script on Saturday. By running marginally more quickly than team boss Schumacher, he contrived to snatch pole position from the man who needed it most. Dutifully, in the race he did as commanded and let Schumacher through to take the lead minutes from the start. From then on, pit stops notwithstanding, Schumacher proceeded to do what he does best and lead the Grand Prix from the front. He never once seemed in danger of losing the lead until the unthinkable happened and he saw the unfamiliar cloud of smoke in his own rear view mirrors as his engine gave up the ghost. On the day when reliability mattered most to Ferrari it deserted them. This was decided by the Gods. Like Alonso's blown engine in Monza, this was not what was written in the master plan.
It is to be said for Schumacher that he graciously conceded that the drivers' title was lost. He acknowledged that for him to win the championship, he would have to win the last race in Brazil and Alonso score no points. Even if he won and Alonso scored one point, it would be game over, Alonso champion. This is not how Schumacher wanted to win his eighth title. He wanted to do it on the racing track, not be gifted a win by circumstance. He will go to Brazil hoping for a win on his last Formula One race ever but not expecting to be crowned world champion.
As things have turned out I have been proved both right and wrong by Suzuka. I predicted early in the season that Alonso was destined to be a double world champion at the end of 2006. I then changed this and confidently (some might say foolishly) declared that the advantage had swung away from the Spaniard in favour of the Teutonic genius in the red overalls. I should have stuck with my initial prediction…
If you believe in omens, remember this: there is no circuit that is quite as chaotic as Interlagos. It is perhaps fitting that the last season ends in the home of Grand Prix mayhem. Don't hold your breath, though. Schumacher's championship chances are six feet under.
Gitau
9 October 2006
Like the rest of the Formula One watching world, I stared at the screen in disbelief yesterday - at least what I was able to see when not obscured by Chipo leaping up and down and doing cartwheels across the room. With one almighty bang and lots of smoke, the world championship was dramatically snatched away from Michael Schumacher's grasp and placed squarely in the lap of Fernando Alonso. Suzuka was spoken of as a championship decider by many - not least, yours truly. It was spoken of as the place that tested true grit. The circuit that separated the racers from the mere pretenders. Never once did I expect that the championship would be decided in Alonso's favour at Suzuka. Never. If there was a decisive retirement destined for Suzuka on 8 October 2006 it involved a British-built, French-badged car in blue livery. Not a blood red Ferrari. No way. How wrong we all were.
In qualifying on Saturday everything seemed to be going the way of the Scuderia. In an apparent reversal of fortune from the bad experience Bridgestone had in Shanghai a week previously, Michelin looked like they were in serious trouble. The Ferraris were a second a lap quicker than the Michelin-shod Renaults. All top four positions on the grid were taken up by Bridgestone runners. Fernando Alonso in fifth place looked as though the best he could achieve was a damage limiting points scoring position - fifth, possibly, or fourth if he was lucky. Tyres are the black art of Formula One. They make such a massive difference to everything that, considering all the elements required for success - chassis, tyres, driver and team - they probably account for at least thirty per cent. At the end of qualifying Michelin seemed so disadvantaged that virtually every commentator predicted a walk in the park for the Bridegstone-shod Ferrari. More fool they. Tyres didn't matter a jot in the final analysis yesterday.
Felipe Massa failed to adhere to the script on Saturday. By running marginally more quickly than team boss Schumacher, he contrived to snatch pole position from the man who needed it most. Dutifully, in the race he did as commanded and let Schumacher through to take the lead minutes from the start. From then on, pit stops notwithstanding, Schumacher proceeded to do what he does best and lead the Grand Prix from the front. He never once seemed in danger of losing the lead until the unthinkable happened and he saw the unfamiliar cloud of smoke in his own rear view mirrors as his engine gave up the ghost. On the day when reliability mattered most to Ferrari it deserted them. This was decided by the Gods. Like Alonso's blown engine in Monza, this was not what was written in the master plan.
It is to be said for Schumacher that he graciously conceded that the drivers' title was lost. He acknowledged that for him to win the championship, he would have to win the last race in Brazil and Alonso score no points. Even if he won and Alonso scored one point, it would be game over, Alonso champion. This is not how Schumacher wanted to win his eighth title. He wanted to do it on the racing track, not be gifted a win by circumstance. He will go to Brazil hoping for a win on his last Formula One race ever but not expecting to be crowned world champion.
As things have turned out I have been proved both right and wrong by Suzuka. I predicted early in the season that Alonso was destined to be a double world champion at the end of 2006. I then changed this and confidently (some might say foolishly) declared that the advantage had swung away from the Spaniard in favour of the Teutonic genius in the red overalls. I should have stuck with my initial prediction…
If you believe in omens, remember this: there is no circuit that is quite as chaotic as Interlagos. It is perhaps fitting that the last season ends in the home of Grand Prix mayhem. Don't hold your breath, though. Schumacher's championship chances are six feet under.
Gitau
9 October 2006
posted by Gitau at 12:40 pm
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