31 replies to this topic

[RedFever]

From Gazzetta dello Sport:

"We were anxious about the fuel consumption higher than what expected. Therefore I advised Michael to slow down."

ANd if McLaren was still in the race?
"Well, they weren't and it was helpful. The second stop for Rubens instead relaxed everyone in the team by guaranteeing that one of the two would finish ahead. It was a fantastic 1-2".

So, MS slowed to save fuel as they were low on it.

Rubens' 2 pit strategy, more than an attempt to pass HHF, was a guarantee that at least one of them had enough fuel at the end.

As it turned out, with both Macs and Jordans out, MS had no problem with the fuel, since he could slow down.

Cheers. I had fun though reading all of the 007 hypotesis thus far.

[Todd]

Hmm. That doesn't seem to good. Michael was stationary for 12.1 seconds. That is a lot of fuel. If they couldn't get enough in that time for him to make it to the end at speed, I think they have a serious consumption problem. Could Michael have been on a two-stop strategy before the McLarens retired? He pitted pretty early and took on more fuel than I seem to recall from 1-stop races last year.

[magnum]

Brawn's statement suddenly makes me suspicious. Not enough fuel? How - a 12 sec stop at half stage should give them more than enough ...

[RedFever]

it's not that they couldn't get enough fuel in the car, guys. The engine used more fuel that they had estimated from testing. That is a problem they need to address of course, but the reality is that Schumi was low on fuel and was lucky that Mika was not around. However, who knows, maybe Mika would have had the same problems if he was in the race. We will never know.

[Hellenic tifosi]

In fact, Schumacher was in a two pit-stop strategy, as he pitted very early, and so he took a lot of fuel.
Also, the fact that he slowed down could indicate overheating, vibrations, etc. Nothing special, however.

------------------
If you wanna play
keep the throttle pushed.....

[magnum]

okay call me simple minded but Ferrari would ADMIT to this???? WHY???? Why would they admit a clinque in their armour? It is completely against anything that has happened at Ferrari (or any other team) for the last decade. Schumi on a 2 stop? And he was merely matching Hakkinen's pace? Makes the Macs half a second faster. And why did they not bring Schumi in for a cursory pit stop when the jordans went out - he was way ahead of Ralf. I don't get this at all ...

[Peeko]

You don't get it cause you weren't there...

[Todd]

Maybe they're trying to trick McLaren into thinking that they have limited pit-stop options in a future race. If McLaren thinks Ferrari is burning too much fuel, they'll think they can predict what Ferrari will do. If this information is wrong, they can fool McLaren into underestimating them. Just think, suppose DC was following Rubens and assumed he had to make a second stop. He would sit and wait. When he figures out Rubens isn't going to stop, it may already be too late to do something about it on warn tires.

[Peeko]

Forget it Todd. Everything Ferrari does, is either wrong or illegal or both. Really if that was Brawn's intentions(to throw McLAren off) it is absolutley brilliant cause it can leave McLaren wondering.

On to Brazil.

[magnum]

well if this is a ruse,it sure worked on me.

[Ricardo F1]

Sounds like utter shite to me.

[Todd]

Ricardo,

How many posts have you used that phrase in today? It is all just an expensive game for our entertainment. Cheer up.

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Forza Michael Schumacher,
Todd

[magnum]

And todd where were u? at hooters hey! Checking out the booty! Ya pervert! No wonder u have such a screwed up view of the race - bet the only curves u were watching were serving u shrimpo and beer!

[Todd]

magnum,

This time I went with the chicken fingers instead of the shrimp. They were pretty good, but I guess they didn't compare to the cuisine over on 33rd. As to Hooters, I'd go to one of my regular hangouts to watch the race, but the topless dancing girls get insulted when you stare at the TV instead of them.

[Oho]

Ave !!!

Michael may have had a slightly longer stop because he overshot his pit and had the side pods cleaned. As far as I can recall the last work done to his car was the crew men cleaning the pods. Michael was almost the first to pit, this alone I think suggests that he indeed was consuming more fuel than anticipated especially when every body else Rubens included seemd to push their stops as far possible and the only early stopper was Salo who also suffered for it. If Ross is as good a stategist as suggested one would think he would have realized what just about everybody else had realized. Maybe just maybe Ronzo was right to say that McLaren did indeed have the upper hand until their problems realized themselves.

Michael pitted around lap 30, right. He sure as hell was not on a two stopper after making it that far with a single tankload of fuel.


- Oho -

[This message has been edited by Oho (edited 03-13-2000).]

[AD]

I don't think Ferrari have any feul problems. Remember at the launch they said that along with Shell they have considerably improved feul consumption.

[Mila]

say Todd, I don't recall any topless dancer girls when we went; the wait staff all had very appropriate attire--however limited that attire might be!

I have to laugh, though--our intense concentration (on the TV set, that is) caused the waitress to get nervous and fumble the beer! when she asked us how Jeff Gordon was doing, she couldn't get out of our way quickly enough!

so we'll hook up for Brazil GP qualifying? it should work out time-wise.

[RedFever]

a few clarifications:

Nobody at Ferrari said MS was on a 2 stop strategy. In fact, they were not. Both MS and RB were on a scheduled 1 stop.

They changed Rubens strategy because he was stuck behind HHF and losing contact with the leaders. Rubens also added that he didn't dare to pass HHF because it's almost impossible in Australia without risking to damage the car and he wanted to finish his first race with Ferrari. He conceded that HHF was almost one second slower than the pace he could have handled without the Jordan.

Ferrari didn't officially communicated they had fuel problems. As I said, it was Ross Brawn that stated it. He works for Ferrari, but he is not the occial voice of the team (ask Jean Todt for an official version).

It is a fcat (unless you are blind) that SChumacher lost 7 seconds in 2 laps to Rubens. Brawn said it was low fuel and he asked Schumi to slow until he was back on schedule. Schumi said it was a vibration to one of his wheels, at which point he started talking to his car: "don't let me down, don't let me down (his statement).

Finally, Peeko, you are a total idiot for stating something like "Everything Ferrari does, is either wrong or illegal or both". In fact there is no rule that forbids a driver to slow down or a team to change pit strategy for one of their drivers.

[130R]

Why do you insist on calling people names? What the hell is wrong with you?

[mono-posto]

I don't know if Peeko is an idiot, I've never met him/her. But that satement is a pretty idiotic thing to say IF it was said in ernest. Ferrari may have somewaht of a rep among some, founded or not, but I hope there was some sarcasm in that.

[RedFever]

OK, 130R. Give me a better way to describe an idiotic statement like that and I will use it to please you. Happy?

[This message has been edited by RedFever (edited 03-14-2000).]

[Raelene]

I thoguht Peeko was being sarcastic...

[130R]

How about: ' finally Peeko, you are offside for stating...' RedFever, don't misunderstand me, i respect your passion very much, I just think if we all try to bring it up a level, the board will benefit tremendously. Me included.

[Yelnats]

No surprises here guys. Schui was asked slow to conserve his car/fuel or whatever to assure his win. In order not to give the impression that Ruben's was faster than him, he slowed dramatically so that even the least perceptive fans (and reporters) could see that Schumacher was in control and there was no question about RB being faster than him on this occaision. After letting RB by, MS resumed a comfortable car conservation speed at about a second a lap slower than his best pace.

[magnum]

schumacher speaks to his car? But he doesn't even speak Italian!

[Todd]

Mila,

Cool. We'll go for lunch on Saturday. Fox is offering the race live, but I won't know if FSNY is picking it up until next week. If they are, I think I'd rather watch it with the sound than at a bar. On the other hand, the middle of the race was scrambled at my house during the replay at 10:00 am on FSNY and when they showed it again in the middle of last night, the picture and sound were completely broken up for the first 20 minutes. Not vey reassuring.

[Arnaldo]

Think about this: MS started with a light fuel load to try to get him ahead of the two McLarens at the start. It didn't work, so he was given a full tank at his pit stop to try to convert to a one stop. However, this meant he was very close to the limit on fuel as he came in early. Slowing down for the two or so laps, plus not going flat out afterwards meant he could get to the finish OK. I think if you read the first post carefully, this is the picture Ross Brawn paints. My belief is that MS never went flat out at any stage of the race. We will not know until Brazil how fast the Ferrari, driven by MS really is - not until the last 30 seconds of Qualifying. And please, no more name calling; everyone is entitled to his opinion, no matter how much anyone else may disagree with it.

[Arnaldo]

PLease Raelene, what is the other site that we post at? The one where Pamella posts all the good funny stories. My hard disc crashed, and I lost all my bookmarks.

[Todd]

Arnaldo,

Sounds like www.dailyf1.com to me.

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Forza Michael Schumacher,
Todd

[RedFever]

130R, you are of course right. But sometimes I really get pissed off to see such statements. For example, look at Mr.A signature. Ferrari fans are a flock of sheep...what does he know about it? what does he know why I became a Ferrari fan in 74, when being one was not some kind of fashion, but the only option to anyone passionate about F1 born in Italy? comments like that, that show no respect for others are what lower the level of this BB. And you are right, I should ignore them and contribute to make it better. It just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. But you know what? I can laugh my ass off, whatever they say, it's still 1-2 in Merlbourne and nobody can take that away!!!

[130R]

Cheers to you !! Long-time members need to lead by example. Bravo!

[Lamont]

RedFever, I agree with 130R. Bravo!