lucky ferrari

I stayed up late last night (well, technically, it was already early this morning) to watch the Montreal Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher had a good performance during qualifying, but I didn't get my hopes up. How well a driver performs in qualifying depends on how much fuel he's carrying, and more often than not, it's the lighter cars that make it in front of the grid.

Well, Michael and Jenson did have light cars, and as a result, both had to pit early. They were relegated back to 6th and 5th places, respectively, and I thought that was how they'd end the race. However, the Montreal GP turned out to be a race of attrition. Fortunately, the scarlet cars were ignored by the F1 gremlins.

Michael didn't go on and win the race, but got the next best thing. He finished second behind Kimi Raikkonen, who amazingly seemed gremlin-free after almost 2 years of having resident gremlins in his McLaren. Rubens Barrichello's 3rd place finish was a pleasant surprise, because I thought there's no way he'd get a respectable finish after starting from the pits.

The famous wall in the Giles Villenueve race circuit was the culprit this time. Although known to have snuffed the chances of both the young guns and the seasoned veterans, in this race, it showed that experience did give the older guys the upper hand. Patience, too, played a role: JPM was black-flagged (the first in a looong time -- I can't remember the last time a driver was given the black flag) for not waiting for the end of the safety car procession to rejoin the pack.

Is Ferrari back in winning form? I'd like to say they are, but honestly, I don't think so. The car is just not fast enough. Bridgestone is said to be launching new tires in the next race, and I hope that these would give Michelins a run for their money. I'm also praying that the FIA would wake up and realize just how stupidly hazardous their rule of not allowing cars to change tires during the race. I really miss the bustle of the pit crew during the stops; it was really a treat to watch them refuel, change the tires, clean the radiators and do wing adjustments in a fraction of a minute.

Next week I'll be staying up late once again to see the US Grand Prix. I hope Lady Luck will still be smiling on Ferrari.

written on 12 June 2005