The ICE MAN finally gets a weapon to attack the Ferraris!

Throughout free practice, qualifying and the actual race it self the McLaren team showed to us all that the new improved “B” spec car was a quantum leap forward compared to the car they had at the start of this season.

Both the drivers for McLaren posted very impressive times with Kimi qualifying at pole position. Kimi’s driving style showed that his engine was constantly revving over the 18,300rpm mark and yet the reliability of the engine stood strong through out the weekend. Usually when an engine revs to the limit the reliability side is compromised, but the McLarens’ new engine did not seem to have such a problem at all.

However, the Ferraris (especially Michael) had, as always, the better of things. Going into this weekend Button had boasted about how he is the best driver around. Team BAR boss was very quick to add to this comment saying that Button and the team still had a long way to go. This is precisely what the Ferraris proved. The experience, both the team Ferrari and their drivers have is enormous compared to what the majority of the other teams have. This is crucial in sport such as this.

In today’s F1, most of the time, races are won in the pits and not out on the track. It is not just raw power and aggressive driving that brings about a win these days. This the Ferraris showed today, as they have done since the start of their dominance.

The Ferrari camp saw, during qualifying, that the McLarens were back in pace. They also knew that Silverstone unlike other venues was a high-speed racetrack with plenty of overtaking possibilities. Knowing this, they adopted the most ideal strategy of heavy fueling Michael (remember he was light fueled in France last week?) so that he could do a two-stop strategy. The Bridgestone tires were very poor in the very first couple of laps. But once the temperatures were built up the tires gave the car the traction needed and also lasted longer over the race distance than the Michelins did. Ferrari and Michael used this to their advantage and won the race.

Some may say that if it wasn’t for the traffic Kimi got caught to after the first pit stops, he may have got in front of Michael. Whilst this may be true, it was clearly seen that once the Bridgestone tires built up enough temperature, the car was slightly more superior to even the McLarens. Supporting this is the sixth place finish by Fisichella in the Sauber.

Also on Bridgestone tires and also two stopping, Fisichella managed to mix it up with the big boys and haul in some valuable points.

On the other hand, though out qualifying Michael, Rubens only managed a third place finish. The shorter stints did not give his tires the required time to come into their own and give him the traction he required. Even after the safety car situation, when the race restarted, Rubens was right behind Kimi. But the McLaren was able to leave Rubens behind and build up a safe enough gap. By the time Ruben’s tires had built up the temperature needed it was too late.

Basically, Michael sacrificed his qualifying to win the race.

I am very happy for Kimi. The man who I personally feel had the chance of becoming this year’s champ was unable to reap his potential due to the car he was given at the start of the season. But now, finally, McLaren seems to have found the edge with the new and improved MP4 car.

Williams, on the other hand haven’t been doing all that well recently. Though still having the pace, a fifth place finish by Montoya and dismal 12th by Gene did not do too well for the Williams team. Whilst the absence of Ralph is certainly a disadvantage for the team, the advancements made by the team on their car does not seem to be as great as what some of the other teams have managed to bring about. The BMW engine is still one of the most powerful engines in F1, but the car seems lacking in the aero department.

The BAR’s too were well off the pace this weekend. Button managing a low fourth whilst Sato finished way down the board in 11th. Button was certainly giving it a good fight, but after the second pit stops his tires seemed to let him down, depriving the British driver a podium finish in his home GP, let alone a top slot finish.

Toyota is bringing out a brand new car (hopefully) in the next race and if the talent of Mike Gascoyne and the unlimited budget Toyota has got is anything to go by, then we certainly should see some big improvements in this car. Ralph having confirmed his move to Toyota in 2005 and the strong paddock rumors that Trulli might be joining the team gives those Toyota fans a strong performance to look forward to. I being one of those fans, gave the team five years from the time they joined F1 to make their mark. 2005 will be that year.

Author -Duncan Udawatta,
Gaborone, Botswana (Southern Africa)
[email protected]

* Next Race – July 25th Germany, Hokenheim.