Ferrari and Bridgestone Cracked in Brazil

{ Posted on Oct 26 2006 by dScribe }

Ok, we’re very late on this Grand Prix update but better late than never right? :)

The Brazilian Grand Prix was a rather unspectacular finish to the spectacular career of Michael Schumacher. He could have gone out with a win, but the pressure was too much. He missed a shot at qualifying well due to a fuel pickup problem, and ultimately his race was finished when he had a tyre failure.

But it wasn’t just the team and Bridgestone who made mistakes (although the tyre failure may have been caused by debris or contact with another car).. Michael’s driving was not representative of a 7 time World Champion (I almost wrote 8 time World Champion just then – that’s how much hype there’s been!! 8)). Sure, he was bl**dy quick and pushed to the limit, but he also went past the limit many times to the point where he was so far off line-it looked like there was a mechanical failure.

Now we don’t want to bag Schumacher too much, but feel there needs to be a bit of balanced reporting. It’s ridiculous that some publications have even said that Brazil 2006 was Michael’s best race ever. That’s really a case of looking at the race with rose coloured glasses! :)

Anyway, let’s finally get to the points:

  • Felipe Massa – Fantastic win! Very lucky that he had the opportunity to win at his home Grand Prix while under the influence of team orders (understandably). Really drove well though and may actually give Kimi a run for his money next year.
  • Fernando Alonso – Did enough. Nuff said.
  • All drivers who were passed by Michael Schumacher bar Kimi Raikkonen and Giancarlo Fisichella – Wimps. Didn’t have the b*lls to fight Schumacher for one last time. It really looked like a lot of the drivers were scared to fight with Schumi just in case they took him out of his last Grand Prix (can you imagine the worldwide hate they’d get :) )
  • Giancarlo Fisichella – Did a great job for his team and Fernando. He might really surprise some people next season even though most think he’s at the tail end of his career (including us). Good luck to him.
  • Jenson Button – Great effort! Let’s hope Honda can get their act together for an entire season instead of a handful of races.
  • Michelin – If you look at Ferrari’s pace, it looked like Bridgestone did a much better job than Michelin. But then again, where did the other Bridgestone runners finish? So it was probably just another great job from Ferrari. Creds to Michelin for fighting to the end. Farewell.
  • Michael Schumacher – Very unfitting way for him to finish his career if you look at this one race, but a very fitting season to finish on – fighting right to the end with another driver for the ultimate glory.

So it’s farewell to Michael Schumacher and farewell to Michelin and farewell to another Formula One season. Stay tuned though because we have a lot of light fun coming your way during the off season! :)

PS. Thank you to everyone for the support throughout the year! 8)

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