F1 German Grand Prix Wrap-up :Schumacher & Ferrari Rule!

[IndyCarzGo]

Schumacher blasts title race wide open
By Alan Baldwin
Sun Jul 30, 11:56 AM ET

HOCKENHEIM, Germany (Reuters) - Ferrari's Michael Schumacher blasted the Formula One title race wide open on Sunday with a commanding one-two victory in his home German Grand Prix.

While the 37-year-old celebrated the 89th victory of his incredible career, serenaded by air-horns and his jubilant army of red-shirted fans, Renault's world champion Fernando Alonso limped home fifth.
The Spaniard's overall lead was slashed from 17 points to 11, leaving his championship hopes on a knife-edge with six races remaining and barely time to breathe before the next clash in Hungary in a week's time."The next races won't present any problems for us," said Schumacher. "If we can keep this up, the championship will be really, really exciting. We hope to have our nose in front at the end."

Renault's lead over Ferrari was cut to 10 points in the constructors' championship.In what could be his final race appearance in Germany, with his manager Willi Weber advising him to retire if he wins the title, Schumacher took the lead after 10 laps when McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen pitted.The rest was straightforward. Schumacher's third win in a row, and fifth of the season, was one of his most important on what the seven-times champion could only describe as a "superb weekend."

On a blazingly hot afternoon, Schumacher and Brazilian team mate Felipe Massa were in a race of their own as they anchored the team's second one-two finish in three starts and tire partner Bridgestone's 100th grand prix success. They crossed the line in close formation, just 0.7 seconds apart, with Schumacher becoming the first driver to win the German Grand Prix four times. "We have the edge on the other guys for three races," declared Schumacher. "We have to keep this advantage for as long as we can."

"The numbers are very important but at the moment, probably the most important is 11. And it's 11 points left in terms of the championship lead for Fernando. "We had a superb weekend, our car just functioned really great," he said.

"It's the right moment in time, where we need to have such a performance in order to bring down the gap in the championship and keep pressure on."

Raikkonen, who had started on pole, was out of sight in third place and 13.2 seconds behind as he ended a jinx and finished at engine partner Mercedes's home track for the first time in six attempts.

"Bridgestone have a slight advantage, but you could say we're up there," said Mercedes motorsport director Norbert Haug  "We're going on the right way. We were clearly behind Renault before and now we're clearly in front of them. We'll see what happens now."

Alonso, who had qualified a disappointing seventh on his 25th birthday, made up two places at the start but then faded and was never in contention. He has 100 points to Schumacher's 89.

The Spaniard would have been staring at his worst result in almost a year had Australian Mark Webber, wrestling every scrap of performance from his Williams, not retired eight laps from the finish while ahead of him. Alonso also survived a big scare five laps from the end when he went wide, the car bucking and jumping over the gravel before he regained the track just in front of Italian team mate Giancarlo Fisichella. Briton Jenson Button was fourth for Honda, ending a run of five races without points.

Fisichella finished sixth, with Toyota's Italian Jarno Trulli seventh and Austrian Christian Klien taking the final point for Red Bull. Germany's Nico Rosberg failed to get past the first lap, crashing his Williams into the tire wall, while Canadian Jacques Villeneuve also had a crash in the BMW Sauber.

[Chris]

No big surprise there...

Shame there are no Americans who can compete on the F1 stage...
think we can convince Jeff Gordon to give it a shot,... hehehehee

[IndyCarzGo]

No big surprise there...

Shame there are no Americans who can compete on the F1 stage...
think we can convince Jeff Gordon to give it a shot,... hehehehee

He wouldn't stand a chance...The last American that was anything in F1 was Mario Andretti...won it all ...the 1978 Formula One World Championship. To date, he remains the only driver ever to win the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500, and the Formula One World Championship.

[Tyyrus]

The Only way an American or North American (Jacques Villenueve / 1997/ F1 Champion) will be recognized is
when there is a form of Open Wheell Racing that can compete on a International Basis both Geographically and economically with F1. Until North American Teams are ready to fork out the Minimium 50 Million per Team
to complete forget it. The top F1 Teams spend approx. 200-300 Million Annually  , that would fund half a dozen Nascar Cup Teams along with their Busch Support Staff. I think the Red Bull Equation is a start  , but
without major additional funding support  ...this effort too shall fail. To bad that Cart & IRL. can't find common ground . I,am afraid that in the short term that F1 has the same interest Level in North America as
Moto / Gp Motorcyle Racing , regardless of Dave Despains Support...Chow..Baby ! 

[IndyCarzGo]

And THAT my friend is why all the new GP and F1 Drivers drive for the European teams like Ferari and Renault....They are not afraid to spend the bucks necessary to win..It is a shame that people here in Nrth America for the most part have no idea what GP and F1 is all about... I only wish Roger Penske would actually field an F1 and GP team...he would probably ne the only one who could pull it of....penske cars....Honda powered...or v-10 Cosworth.... although the Honda seems to be running awa from everyone save the Feraris....

Although i watched a large part of the Petit Le Mans rRace at Road Atlanta on Speed this past weekend.... and the crowds there seemd to be pretty damn impressive for North America... Maybe there's hope for us yet!!!

[Chris]

Road Atlanta (where the Petit La Mans race was) is about 10 minutes from my house.  I had to be out that way a couple days over the weekend, and the place looked PACKED all weekend long.
I watched the race off and on,... looked to be OK.
Never had the time to really get into it.... not sure I even know who won what divisions...

Staying busy getting ready for the "Legends Nationals" this coming weekend.  It is just across the street from Road Atlanta at Lanier Speedway.  Expecting 250-300 entries.

[Tyyrus]

HEY INDY !   PENSKE IN F1 & GP ? WOW , THAT WOULD BE GREAT...WHAT A RUSH...MAN !