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Why did Michael slam on his brakes in the tunnel?
Is he really going to cry foul?
My opinion is, that he slammed on is brakes and JPM had no where to go but to the inside and then Michael took the line and JPM was already there.
I think actually JPM and the others should cry foul on Michael for almost stopping in the tunnel almost causing a chain reaction.
Later
Maryb
MS made a foolish mistake if he truly was trying to put space between himself and the safety car.
Both drivers were called before stewards but no actions taken against either driver.
I think somethink probably went wrong with the car. I say smoke comming only from the left wheel, in a straight line generally both wheels will lock at the same time
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however there was a certain elemant of the famous MS brain fade in action there as well....<p align=center>
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...seeing Schumi's terrible race starts, maybe he could get by on the restart. Not that it was in any way reality, but JPM is gonna try, you know that. He doesn't want the final stats to say -1 in the lap column. The bigger question to me...brake test JPM, in a tunnel, with a bunch of garbage on the road. Not smart. Like you said, brain fade. It seemed to be contagious during that race.
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Whenever you see brakes locking up, it's almost always just one wheel. This is because the reason why they are braking in the first place is to slow down for a turn.
That said, it didnt look like Schumi was going fast enough to lock his wheels like that. Like the announcers said, it must be either some debris caught in there, or he was messing around with the brake bias.
Either way, he f*'ed up big time.
Michael Schumacher took a swipe at long-time Formula One adversary Juan Pablo Montoya after seeing his record hopes shattered in the Monaco Grand Prix.
Schumacher was chasing his sixth win from six races which would have been the best-ever start to a season, but he did not even get to the end of the race after a clash with Montoya.
During the second safety car period, brought about after Fernando Alonso crashed his Renault, world champion Schumacher was warming the brakes on his Ferrari.
That crucial procedure when driving behind a safety car involves accelerating hard over a short distance and then slamming on the brakes - a potentially dangerous move when cars are travelling close together.
Schumacher, who was leading at the time, fell foul of the practice when he suddenly slowed under the Monaco tunnel and Montoya nipped to the inside.
Schumacher squeezed him against the wall and the pair collided, with the German forced to retire after bouncing into the wall and destroying his suspension.
After a race in which Renault's Jarno Trulli broke his grand prix duck, Schumacher was less than complementary about Montoya.
The Colombian accused Schumacher of deliberately running him off the road at the San Marino Grand Prix, but world governing body the FIA decided no action was necessary then or yesterday.
Schumacher said: "Firstly I want to congratulate Jarno, he did a fantastic job and I am very happy for him.
"I don't think I could have really challenged him, but nevertheless when the accident with Montoya happened I was leading the race, so the situation is that the race leader was knocked out of the race after being hit by a backmarker.
"I am sure there was no deliberate intention on his part and I accept the steward's decision.
"I was accelerating and braking just as we do when we go to the grid and in the standard way when running behind the safety car.
"The tunnel was not even the first place I had done it as I had used the same procedure earlier in the lap."
Montoya felt he could not have avoided contact.
The Williams driver, who finished fourth, said: "With regards the contact with Michael in the tunnel, he braked very hard as he was warming up his brakes and I moved to the right side of the track to avoid him but the gap narrowed and we touched."
Schumacher heads to home ground at the Nurburgring for the European Grand Prix after the unique experience of being beaten this season.
He is hoping to avenge yesterday's performance though.
He said: "After not the most successful weekend for us, I am really looking forward to next weekend when we will be at the Nurburgring for one of my home races."
I agree- severe brain-fade on MS's part...
One of the first things they teach you in racing school is situational awareness- know what's happening around you in order to avoid trouble. MS knew JPM was back there- I assume he uses his mirrors. MS knew he was leading the race and that JPM was a lap down. So why create a situation in which a "backmarker" could take you out and take away a potential race win? I think it was arrogance on his part to assume JPM would naturally avoid him. MS has that annoying confidence/ arrogance that everyone else will defer to him- he likes to play "chicken" and most of the other drivers back down. JPM doesn't. JV didn't at Jerez in '97. Besides, there is no rule in racing that requires drivers to give "space" to another car on a restart- JPM had every right to be up MS's exhaust even though he was a lap down. Remember, if JPM gets past MS on a restart he gets his lap back. JPM is more aware of restart procedure than MS because of his days in CART- MS has much less experience in that regard, and it cost him.
Bottom line is that JPM was cleared by the stewards of any blame.
MS's problems in the race were due as much to surprisingly very poor strategy from Ferrari than anything else:
Poor choice on fuel load for qualifying- a heavy load caused a slow start and he got stuck behind slower cars. When he gets stuck behind slower cars, he is not in control of his destiny. That puts him in the wrong spot throughout the race- slow pace ruins his opening stint fuel strategy, not going to the pits on Alonso's yellow, which puts him directly in front of JPM on the restart, which puts him in place for the incident. PS- no matter how fast MS goes after the restart, Trulli proved he could run within tenths of his best laps. Plus he still has to pit and Trulli doesn't. Not one of Ross Brawn's best weekends by a long shot.
Remember also that JPM was the only front runner passing for position, even though his pace was slower than MS. MS never passed for position. Seems to me that MS looks great running at the front unchallenged- clicking off ultra-quick laps, great ability to think through strategy during the course of a race, but he didn't pass anyone in the opening part of the race with a car that still set fastest lap of the race. MS is still not as pure a racer as JPM is....
That said, I think MS is back in front for Nurburgring...
Thanks for that!!!
JJLehto wink,wink
MS is not the pure racer JPM is? c'mon now.
BTW the strategy has to be set before qualifying, MS kind of blew his lap and the strategy with it.
As far as the tunnel incident. My guess is that JPM was crowding MS to prevent him from getting enough heat into the tires and brakes. This would allow him to possibly make the move to unlap himself. Read Trulli's comments about how close JPM was to Schumi for the whole lap before the incident. Unlike us, he was there right behind the two of them.<p align=center>
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I saw Trulli's comments- so what? Again, there is no rule that states JPM couldn't be in the position he was. Was it smart to be that close to MS in the tunnel? No. What did he have to lose if he couldn't make it past MS on the restart? Not much. He was a lap down and secure in fourth place. What did MS have to lose by not being aware of where JPM was, and assuming he would NOT create contact? The race. And he did. Both at fault, but MS might have WON THE RACE by not doing what he did. That is an amateur's mistake. His post-race temper tantrum should have been directed at himself- he blew the race.
As for his strategy being set at qualifying- yes, at least through the first pit stop. After that, Ferrari could have reworked the strategy to fit the race at the time. That's what has made them so successful over the past 4 years- Brawn's and MS's claim to fame. How many times have you seen them short fill on a stop for some ultra-quck laps to get them out front? So they couldn't do that in Monaco? Why not?
As for being a "pure racer"... Again, MS set fast lap by a significant difference over JPM. JPM passed 2 cars. MS was not able to pass any. What was his problem?
Even though I am a huge fan of JPM, I'll be the first to admit he is his biggest enemy. He loses his cool, and it has cost him many times. On the other hand, he can put an uncompetitve car in competitve situations that MS has NOT shown he can do as consistently nor effectively. JPM is also much better on cold tires...I am not impressed by MS passing slower cars for position- when has he passed someone for position with an inferior car? In my mind, JPM is better than MS in that regard....and so was MH.
Steven
1990 M5
2000 Land Rover DII