Mobil 1 German Grand Prix 2006 , Hockenheim

Hat trick in 2006 for Micheal Schumacher, 100th Grand Prix Victory for Bridgestone, 1-2 for Ferrari, 14 finishers and the disqualification of the Midland F1 cars for using flexible rear wings. The Grand Prix of Germany brought more excitement and drama.

The start of the race was once again a near perfect one. Kimi Raikkonen rocketed from the start-finish line in his MP4-21, chased by the two Ferraris. Fernando Alonso carved his way through the traffic from 7th to 5th and nearly overtook his team-mate at the first turn. Yamamoto’s first Grand Prix did not bring a good result for him by any means. The car refused to run at the very start of the race. The Japanese driver managed to somehow complete one lap but not at race pace. Nico Rosberg’s misfortune continued in his home Grand Prix. The Williams driver crashed into the tyre wall on the very first lap. The McLaren of Kimi Raikkonen had already started to run away, but the Ferrari drivers were not going to let it disappear into the distance. The top three runners put some amazing lap times. On the second lap of his second race of 2006, Pedro de la Rosa pulled off the racing line. It was later discovered that the fuel pump failure brought an end to the hopes of the second McLaren. There was a question mark on the race leader Kimi Raikkonen’s car. Reliability has always been an issue with McLaren. Had it not been for the same mistakes the team has made, Kimi could have easily split the two Ferraris at Hockenheim. An expected very early pit stop for the only McLaren left on track handed over the race lead to Ferrari of Michael Schumacher. The right rear wheel nut refused to come off the McLaren of Kimi. One pit stop cost the time of two for the McLaren team.

It was time for the rest of the runners to think about the pit stops. Jenson Button was the first one to make a scheduled pitstop. As always Felipe Massa’s Ferrari was the first to make the pit stops out of the two cars of the team. Schumacher and Alonso stopped on the same lap. The race began to stabalize. Fernando alonso found him out of the championship points at one stage, but things never go wrong for him. The car in front will have some problems if he has some fight to put up, that is how lucky he is. The race progressed with the Honda of Rubens Barrichello breaking down yet again. Jack Villeneuve went onto the dirty side of the track in an attempt to overtake and spun off the track to crash into the tyre wall. It was game over for the BMW Sauber’s only car left on track. Jenson Button looked strong in the 4th position. Ralf Schumacher who was running ahead of both the Renaults, was penalized for speeding in the pit lane. Any drivers’ loss is Alonso’s gain. Later in the race, Fisico who was running well ahead of Alonso went onto the grass and lost his position to his team-mate. The Italian driver came close to overtaking Alonso but did not make a move which was pretty much expected. Had another driver got past Alonso, the current world champion would have lost vital championship points.

The race started to unfold with another pit stop session. The Ferraris stopped for the second time and it looked like they will have to stop once again to make it to the chequered flag. Kimi had to stop three times no matter how hard he tried. The tight and twisty circuit of Hockenheim does not spare the tyres one little bit. Mark Webber who was running very strong and in front of Alonso, retired with a mechanical failure. Bitter disappointment for the Williams driver. One more position gain for Fernando Alonso.

Ferrari sprung up a little surprise while running the last 10 laps on an economy drive. The team decided not to go for another stop, even though they were running slower than the main competitors. McLaren of Raikkonen was a mere 25 seconds behind but this did not seem to bother the Prancing Horse. Both the Ferraris did lap after lap and brought the cars home. A sweet one-two finish. Kimi finished third. Its great to see a driver or McLaren standing on the podium in Germany. Celebrations for Ferrari had just begun and the team really deserved it. The Bridgestones have played a vital role in this victory. The tyre war has been on from the start of the season. And Michelin have not been able to match Bridgestones on more than a couple of occasions. Fernando Alonso finished 5th behind Jenson Button’s Honda. Fisico followed his team-mate.

The Victory is secured

Time to celebrate with team-mate

“Get outta here, I know how to do it”, the ICE MAN is simply great

Enjoyment Matters !!

The numbers say it all

The gap between Schumacher and the reigning world champion has now come down to 11 points. And the constructors championship is becoming more and more interesting with Renault clear of Ferrari by just 10 points. The things can go either way, and it seems the fight will go all the way down to the 18th race of the season. Michael will be on attack again in Hungary. Renault may be able to use a technological tool to their advantage although the decision on the use of mass-dampers in Formula1 is still under discussion. This one race can cause a big difference as far as the championship goes. But yet again, if someone benefits from all the happenings here and there , it has to be Renault and Fernando Alonso. Every race from now on will become more exciting. The fight for the championship is on. And I dont want to see a repeat of the last year’s events with Kimi just failing to clinch the championship. That was a perfect example of how fortunes can turn. The celebrations of Renault after McLaren’s failures were the worst sites to see in 6 years of Formula1 I have been watching.

Its all set for Hangaroring. The rest of the season is surely going to bring some more excitement and drama. Qualifying is LIVE from Budapest on saturday @ 17.30 hours IST on Star Sports.

© 2006 Kamal Agarwal