Posted on March 12th, 2006 by Oliver White
Alonso shone in the Bahrain sun today to take the first win of the 2006 season from Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen.
In what was a good race for the opening of the season, Schumacher Snr led for the first half, but succombed to Fernando’s breath-taking pace in the final third to lose the lead after the Spaniard’s final stop.
Kimi drove a superb race, coming from the very back of the grid after qualifying issues to finish on the podium, closely followed by the boy Button and McLaren’s other car piloted by Juan Pablo Montoya.
Giancarlo Fisichella continues his bad luck from 2005 with engine-mappng problems and finally a hydraulics failure, forcing him to retire after telling the the team how bad the car was with some rather colourful language! Felipe Massa in the sister Ferrari also had a poor race, spinning out just before turn one and almost taking the reigning world champion with him. Massa managed to lock a rear wheel whilst under braking which forced a spin and ultimately destroyed his chances of success in Bahrain.
The Williams ran well. with both Webber and Rosberg scoring points, and Nico even managed to put some noteworthy lap times, making the car and the Cosworth engine look pretty impressive. Nico has obviously been working hard over the winter, and his performance today was very, very good. I can see the son of former world champion Keke having a bright career in Formula One, and the 2006 Williams could be the signal that the team is once again on the up.
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Posted on March 11th, 2006 by Oliver White
So? How’d it go?
Feel free to post your thoughts on the first qualifying session from the F1 2006 season. Did it go okay? Was it too confusing? Does every driver deserve to be in the place they are in? Speak your mind…
A really short post I know, but I am away at the moment and couldn’t really post anything else. My absence shouldn’t stop conversation though…
Formula One, F1, Bahrain GP, Qualifying
Posted on March 10th, 2006 by Oliver White
The qualifying session has changed once again, and below is the lowdown on how the 2006 grids will be decided. It is going to be a little more complex this year, so bear with me as I attempt to explain this…
Qualifying will take place on a Saturday afternoon, and will consist of one session. This qualifying period will determine the start positions of each car for the race on the following day. The qualifying session is split into three parts.
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Posted on March 9th, 2006 by Oliver White
I am going to be away from Friday morning to Saturday evening (so I’m going to miss qualifying 
) as I’m heading over to Geneva to see the Motor Show. I will catch up with everything and everyone late Saturday night.
In the meantime, enjoy qualifying, wherever in the world you are watching it from and I look forward to giving my opinions and hearing yours when I return.
Ollie.
Posted on March 9th, 2006 by Oliver White
The reigning Formula One World Champions have prepared long and hard for this years assault on the title. Their one aim must surely be to defend both titles and continue their reign at the top of the listings.
With such a great start to last years campaign, Renault were able to defend the late charge from McLaren and keep the Silver Arrows at bay. However, I do feel that this year will prove to be more difficult, with McLaren looking set to hit the ground running. Renault will need to be more aggressive throughout the year if they are to successfully defend their crown. The true test of Renault starts in 2006, and I am very keen to see the clash of the titans.
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Posted on March 8th, 2006 by Oliver White
Tom just mailed me pointing out the early start of the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday 19th March. A 5.30am start, oh what fun! In the email, Tom wrote:
I assume from that [the listed qualifying times] the race will also be very early in the morning… (Sunday’s listings aren’t up here yet)
I read a story earlier on F1 Links Heaven about the lack of schedule for the Malaysian GP on UK television. Check it out here. I’m not going to post anything relating to this until it is confirmed, as I think ITV will show the race on ITV’s regular channel and they will also show it live. What else can they show at half five in the morning that will get nearly enough viewers as F1?
Posted on March 8th, 2006 by Oliver White
ITV-F1 have reminded us when the first Grand Prix of 2006 will be shown for UK watchers.
Qualifying Live - 10.30am to 12.15pm on Saturday 11th March
Race Live - 10.30am - 1.30pm on Sunday 12th March
Highlights - 12.10am - 1.10am on Monday 13th March
Highlights (again) - 2.45am - 3.45am on Tuesday 14th March
Much better then the 5am wake-up call when the sason opened in Australia!
Posted on March 8th, 2006 by Oliver White
In my opinion, McLaren start the 2006 season the favourites to steal it away from Renault. Whilst last year was less than perfect, they came back very strong in the second half of the season and proved to the world they had a very fast car. Had it not been for reliability issues, Kimi Raikkonen would have had a better shot at the drivers’ title, and McLaren would almost certainly have taken the constructors’
Unfortunately though, as last year proved, having tremendous speed is only half the story, and McLaren need to work very hard on getting their cars to finish line.
The Woking squad took a big blow just after the final round of the championship when it was announced that the teams Chief Aerodynamicist was intending to leave the team and head over the Red Bull. Adrian Newey cited “needing a new challenge” as the primary reason, echoed by the statement put out by McLaren. Not to feel too discouraged though, Ron Dennis then managed to swipe Vodafone out from under Ferrari’s noses to be McLarens’ primary sponsor from 2007 onwards. And just after this announcement, the canny Mr. Dennis secured the services of the just titled World Champion – Fernando Alonso. The deal sent shockwaves through Formula One as Alonso’s manager is also the team principal at Renault, and knew nothing of the deal until it was too late. Does Fernando know something he shouldn’t regarding the future of the Renault squad, or does he feel that the McLaren team are on the up again and look set to dominate the field again. I’m leaning towards a little bit of both.
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Posted on March 7th, 2006 by Oliver White
The Red Baron rides again as Ferrari enter the 2006 Formula One Season, and partnering Michael Schumacher this year is Felipe Massa. The usual crew continue to remain loyal to the Scuderia, and the Ferrari 248 is the second car to be constructed under the guidance of Aldo Costa. With 2006 seeing the return of tyre changing, Bridgestone are looking good on the scarlet cars, and things are looking up for Ferrari.
The 2005 campaign didn’t quite go as planned for Ferrari, with the only win coming from the now legendary US Grand Prix. The red cars won simply because there was no competition, the other runners being Jordan and Minardi. Michael managed to put in some stellar performances though, and was often ringing every ounce of speed from the car. Unfortuantely though, it wasn’t up to the task of beating the Renault or the McLaren. Before the season closed, Rubens Barrichello announced his departure to the Honda team for this year, and Jean Todt, Ross Brawn and the team settled on fellow Brazilian Felipe Massa to take the second seat.
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Posted on March 7th, 2006 by Oliver White
I’ve just caught up on all the Formula One news and gossip (I have been working lots over the past couple of days) and I came across a good conversation at F1 LinksHeaven about the 2006 qualifying vs. last years system (and how some people are never happy). Head over and take a read, but I would like to add one quote that I liked:
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