A blip on the radar of F1 2006. The incidents on the first lap looked spectacular, but they instantly eliminated 8 cars from the race. Another incident reduced us to 12 cars once the race restarted properly after the SC drove in, and that doesn't leave a lot of room for interesting racing..
Ferrari were expected to totally dominate, but in the end Massa was only 8.6s ahead of Fisichella - big plus to Renault. (hint - the gap was expected to be +1 minute) Massa essentially moved over to let M.Schumacher win, but that is to be expected I guess.
One thing I'd like to know - was Massa really quicker than Schumacher in the first stint, or was Schumacher simply staying put as he knew Massa would let him past? Victory Ferrari anyway, but only as Bridgestone had a huge advantage.
Fisichella had a fresh/new engine this weekend, hence why he was able to finish ahead of Alonso.
Michelin weren't on form last weekend, which was to be expected after last years joke.. France will almost definitely see a return to form.
McLaren were unlucky.. as were Super Aguri and Midland (although neither were going to do much). BMW looked strong, but Villeneuve's engine wanted to go home early. Toyota had a very impressive race, yet more proof at how very strong Bridgestone were over the weekend.
Williams..
Overtaken by a Red Bull and a Toro Rosso for position. They're going downhill once more.. If you remember, a similar situation occured last season. Williams were strong in Monaco, but quite poor in North America. I don't expect them to be on the pace at all in France.
American GP Results Finishers
1. M.Schumacher. 73 Laps
2. F.Massa. +7.9s
3. G.Fisichella. +16.5s
4. J.Trulli. +23.6s
5. F.Alonso. +28.4s
6. R.Barrichello. +36.5s
7. D.Coulthard. +1 Lap
8. V.Liuzzi. +1 Lap
9. N.Rosberg. +1 Lap
Retired
- R.Schumacher. 62 Laps
- C.Albers. 37 Laps
- J.Villeneuve. 23 Laps
- T.Monteiro. 9 Laps
- T.Sato. 6 Laps
- J.Button. 3 Laps
- K.Raikkonen. 2 corners
- N.Heidfeld. 2 corners and 3 rolls across gravel!
- J.P.Montoya. 2 corners and into the back of Kimi
- S.Speed. 2 corners
- M.Webber. A few 100 yards
- C.Klien. A few 100 yards
- F.Montagny. A few 100 yards
Fastest Lap
M.Schumacher. 1:12.719
Prediction League
Points Gained -
Lizzy - 8
Neil - 24
Gert-Jan - 18
Total Points After American GP
1. Neil. 244.
2. Gert-Jan. 224.
3. Lizzy. 187.