Bits of news before the official start of Friday

Thanks to ITV-F1 For news

Heikki Kovalainen will partner Giancarlo Fisichella in Renault’s race team in 2007, the Anglo-French squad confirmed on Wednesday morning.

The 24-year-old Finn will take over Fernando Alonso’s seat when the Spaniard moves to McLaren at the end of this season.

Kovalainen was runner-up in last year’s GP2 championship behind Nico Rosberg and has been Renault’s test driver for the past two years.

“I am thrilled to get the opportunity to race with a world champion team like Renault,” he said.

“I have been a member of the Renault Driver Development programme since 2002, when I had the distant ambition of one day becoming an F1 driver.

“It is a fantastic feeling to have finally achieved that.

“My two seasons testing for the team, as well as my time in GP2, have allowed me to build my technical knowledge and to understand what it takes to win in Formula 1.

“I have also had the opportunity to show the team what I can do, and it is a great motivation to know that they believe in me.

“It will be a fantastic feeling to line up on the grid in Melbourne, but that is still a long way off.

“At the moment, I am totally focused on helping Renault win the 2006 championship.”

Kovalainen has accumulated extensive mileage in his time as Renault’s test driver and has consistently matched the pace of the race drivers.

Nonetheless the decision to promote him to the world champion team without serving an apprenticeship with a smaller outfit will be regarded as something of a gamble as he has yet to make his F1 competition debut.

But team boss Flavio Briatore, who has renewed his commitment to Renault through to the end of 2008, said he was confident the team had made the right decision.

“Everybody at Renault is very optimistic about our driver line-up for 2007 and beyond,” he said.

“We have taken the conscious decision to build for the future, without compromising the stability of the team in the short term.

“Giancarlo is a proven force in Formula 1 and Heikki is already fully integrated into the team.

“After seeing performances in testing this season, we have very high hopes for him.”

The news brings an end to speculation that Renault might succeed in luring Kimi Raikkonen away from Ferrari.

F1’s other Finn now seems almost certain to be confirmed as one of the Maranello team’s drivers at Monza on Sunday.


Renault team boss Flavio Briatore has ended months of speculation about his future by renewing his contract with the world champions for a further two years.


The French manufacturer announced on Wednesday morning that the Italian, who led the team to double championship success in 2005, would extend his stay with the squad until 2008.

The 56-year-old signed for a further two years on the day that Renault confirmed that current test driver Heikki Kovalainen would race alongside Giancarlo Fisichella in 2007, with the team keen to stress that next year marks “the beginning of a new era”.

Briatore himself said his decision to stay beyond 2006 had been heavily influenced by the commitment of Renault president Carlos Ghosn to Formula 1, along with the continuity of the team's current technical structure, which will remain unchanged into next year.


“I am delighted to continue to lead Renault’s Formula 1 challenge,” he said.


“It is an honour to be working for one of the top global companies, and with one of the world’s leading managers.


“The commitment and enthusiasm Carlos Ghosn has shown for the Formula 1 project over the past year has been a key factor in my decision.


“It is now important for the Renault F1 Team to begin a fresh cycle of development from 2007, with a reinvigorated driver line-up and several major new commercial partners.


“This is the key to performing at the top level in the medium and long term.


“We begin this new cycle on the platform of a stable management structure, headed by team president Alain Dassas, with whom I enjoy an excellent working relationship, and myself.


“We know how important it is to manage change in an organisation, and we have a close-knit, dynamic team capable of fighting for victory.


“I am confident Renault will be a major force in Formula 1 in the years to come.”


Ghosn added: “Under Flavio’s leadership, the team achieved a remarkable double in 2005 by winning the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, and maintaining that competitiveness in 2006.


“I am counting on the determination, talent and effectiveness of Flavio and the entire Renault F1 Team, under the presidency of Alain Dassas, to once again take Renault to the forefront of Formula 1.”


Briatore has headed up Renault’s F1 operations since 2000, when the French squad bought the Benetton team – with whom the Italian had enjoyed world championship-winning successes as team boss with Michael Schumacher in the mid-1990s.

Well done.

Read off F1 Live.

Another story with credit to F1 Live is:

Following the lead of Germany's Bild newspaper, the Italian sports media is now also reporting that Michael Schumacher has decided to retire from F1.

After it was confirmed that Kimi Raikkonen is definitely not a part of the Renault line-up for 2007, La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote on Wednesday that the task to announce Schumacher's withdrawal after 15 years in the cockpit will fall on Jean Todt at Monza on Sunday.

At the same time, Ferrari is expected to confirm the 2007 lineup of Raikkonen alongside Felipe Massa.

''One cannot comment on everything that is written,'' said Schumacher's spokeswoman, Sabine Kehm.

''You will have to wait until Sunday.''

The 37-year-old German himself was in Venice on Wednesday, attending a PR event alongside Massa.

He continued to stick to a team agreement to keep quiet until Sunday, but was quoted by Gazzetta dello Sport as reflecting on his five titles and eleven seasons for the red team.

''I do not have colleagues (at Ferrari),'' he said, ''instead I have friends.

''After more than ten years I am nearly Italian and the experience has been beautiful.''

The original bild story here:

Michael Schumacher will announce on Sunday that he is going to retire at the end of 2006, according to major German newspaper Bild-Zeitung.

'Schumi turns his back on Formula One,' the headline reads, adding that Ferrari's Technical Director Ross Brawn is also likely to withdraw after the season.

Bild reported that Schumacher is to announce the news in the post-race press conference, if he finishes in the top three.

Otherwise, a formal announcement to the world's press is scheduled for 6pm at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.

"Before then we are saying nothing," Schumacher's manager, Willi Weber, told the 'paper.



I honsetly can see him go another year if he doesn't win the title. I'm not sure otherwise.

I am not buying the above just yet

Just a bit of General (madness) F1 News

http://f1.racing-live.com/f1/en/headlin ... 1111.shtml

Silverstone announced an interesting publicity programme this morning. The circuit has promised to give anyone purchasing an adult grandstand ticket, before the end of September, £50 ($95) back if Button takes the chequered flag at the 2007 British Grand Prix.

Silverstone ticket prices for an adult range from £179 to £349 over the 2007 race weekend which is now back in its traditional early July date.

“We’re delighted that the British Grand Prix has been moved back to its traditional July date,” stated Silverstone MD Richard Phillips. “The British public don’t like change and they look forward to the British Grand Prix being in July.
"

"It would be great if a British driver won. Jenson and David Coulthard always enjoy huge support at the British Grand Prix, but our offer to give fans £50 back if Jenson wins his home race will take that support to an entirely new level.”

Highly unlikely to happen in my honest opinion

Time to retire and get your pension Chinny.

Off the Autosport Site

Sebastian Vettel of Germany topped the times in Friday morning's opening free practice session for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, the 19-year-old driver clocking a best time of 1:23.263 in his BMW Sauber.

Vettel, the youngest driver to take part in a Formula One meeting when he drove at the Turkish Grand Prix two weeks ago, finished the session 0.4 seconds clear of his nearest rival and teammate Poland's Robert Kubica.

Austrian Alexander Wurz, in a Williams, was third fastest ahead of Finn Kimi Raikkonen in a McLaren. Swiss Neel Jani was fifth for Scuderia Toro Rosso and Portuguese Tiago Monteiro was sixth for Midland.

On another hot day, the session began amid air temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius and with a track temperature of 34 degrees.

The stands were more than half full on the main straight where a large red banner was draped across the railings. It read "Schumy + Ferrari = Amore Eterno". The message was clear and the story of the weekend easy to understand.

The session was interrupted and stopped after only two minutes when Briton Anthony Davidson, driving a Honda, stopped his car at the Curve Grande. A red flag was waved immediately because of the danger to the rest of the field and the session stopped for ten minutes.

The session was restarted and saw few additional incidents as barely a dozen cars went out and recorded laptimes. Jani was one of the few who spun, losing his car briefly at the Variante Ascari, but he recovered and continued.

As the session ended, the sun rested behind unwelcome cloud cover and the humidity intensified on a day when high tension is expected later as both defending drivers' world champion Fernando Alonso and his rival German Michael Schumacher, who is seeking an eighth title, both took the morning off without clocking a time.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Vettel BMW-Sauber (M) 1:23.263 22
2. Kubica BMW-Sauber (M) 1:23.745 + 0.482 5
3. Wurz Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:23.868 + 0.605 19
4. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:24.037 + 0.774 5
5. Jani Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:24.196 + 0.933 24
6. Monteiro MF1-Toyota (B) 1:25.413 + 2.150 7
7. Doornbos Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:25.578 + 2.315 19
8. Albers MF1-Toyota (B) 1:25.766 + 2.503 7
9. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:26.708 + 3.445 20
10. Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:27.310 + 4.047 20
11. Montagny Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:27.597 + 4.334 7
12. Mondini MF1-Toyota (B) 1:28.444 + 5.181 7
13. Davidson Honda (M) No time 2
14. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (M) No time 1
15. Massa Ferrari (B) No time 1
16. Trulli Toyota (B) No time 2
17. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (M) No time 1
18. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) No time 2
19. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) No time 3
20. Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) No time 1
21. Rosberg Williams-Cosworth (B) No time 1
22. Webber Williams-Cosworth (B) No time 1
23. Klien Red Bull-Ferrari (M) No time 1
24. Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari (M) No time 1
25. Alonso Renault (M)
26. Fisichella Renault (M)
27. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B)
28. Barrichello Honda (M)
29. Button Honda (M)


German teenager Sebastian Vettel topped the times again for BMW Sauber in Friday afternoon's second free practice session for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.

He delivered a fast lap late in the session to eclipse the two Ferraris driven by Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa and prove that his arrival in Formula One as the youngest man to take part in a weekend's action is the signal of a major talent.

Schumacher and Massa were second and third fastest ahead of Austrian Alexander Wurz in a Williams, Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa in a McLaren Mercedes-Benz and Finn Kimi Raikkonen in another McLaren.

After a warm morning of sunshine, the air temperature had risen to 32 degrees and the track temperature was 40 when the second session began in the afternoon. Again, as in the morning, the first incident of note was the sight of a Honda, driven again by Anthony Davidson, pulling up and stopping amid flames and smoke.

The young Briton seemed to be pushing his car's power units beyond their endurance and the spectacle was loud and colourful.

Davidson's second enforced stoppage of the day was followed by Japanese Sakon Yamamoto in his Super Aguri Honda missing the apex the first chicane and then doing it again, his two errors punctuated by the sight of Alexander Wurz in his Williams spinning at the Variante Della Roggia.

Yamamoto, Austrian Christian Klien in his Red Bull and then German Nico Rosberg, in a Williams, all flew straight through the first chicane before American Scott Speed went off track and then continued at the opening part of Lesmo.

The arrival of the two Ferraris on track sent a flutter through the crowd, which remained relatively sparse with many empty seats clearly visible.

Immediately, as soon as they clocked their times, Schumacher and Massa took over at the top of the timesheets, the German clocking a best time of 1:23.128 to outpace his Brazilian partner by just four-hundredths of a second.

By the three-quarter mark in the session, they remained unchallenged, with Wurz in his Williams third fastest ahead of Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa in his McLaren Mercedes Benz. German Nick Heidfeld in his BMW Sauber was fifth ahead of Finn Kimi Raikkonen in the second McLaren.

Then, just when it seemed that the scarlet-dressed tifosi could begin to celebrate, along came 19-year-old Vettel in his BMW to wreck the Ferrari fans' hopes, the young German topping the times ahead of both Schumacher and Massa.

Vettel had topped the times earlier ahead of de la Rosa, but this lap in 1:22.631 blitzed the field and ensured that he remained on top.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Vettel BMW-Sauber (M) 1:22.631 29
2. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:23.138 + 0.507 11
3. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:23.182 + 0.551 12
4. Wurz Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:23.414 + 0.783 26
5. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:23.970 + 1.339 12
6. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:24.034 + 1.403 11
7. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (M) 1:24.330 + 1.699 9
8. Alonso Renault (M) 1:24.577 + 1.946 15
9. Kubica BMW-Sauber (M) 1:24.813 + 2.182 5
10. Montagny Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:24.943 + 2.312 24
11. Albers MF1-Toyota (B) 1:24.985 + 2.354 11
12. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:25.027 + 2.396 12
13. Rosberg Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:25.040 + 2.409 9
14. Klien Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:25.108 + 2.477 11
15. Fisichella Renault (M) 1:25.160 + 2.529 14
16. Monteiro MF1-Toyota (B) 1:25.277 + 2.646 12
17. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) 1:25.316 + 2.685 22
18. Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:25.318 + 2.687 11
19. Davidson Honda (M) 1:25.356 + 2.725 8
20. Webber Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:25.500 + 2.869 11
21. Mondini MF1-Toyota (B) 1:25.586 + 2.955 29
22. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:25.707 + 3.076 19
23. Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:25.755 + 3.124 21
24. Jani Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:25.878 + 3.247 32
25. Doornbos Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:26.058 + 3.427 31
26. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:26.118 + 3.487 21
27. Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:26.705 + 4.074 14
28. Barrichello Honda (M)
29. Button Honda (M)



Not a good day for motorsport though with the death of Peter Brock

I have to admit that now I'm starting to think that Schumi will retire. Just yesterday I thought it would be 50-50 but now I'm thinking around 75% in my mind of him retiring.

Whooooooo party on!

Close the door quietly on your way out!!

Yes he will probably retire but as I have yet to see any confirmation on crash.net or autosport.com I am not buying it

That would probably leave a Raikkonen/Massa pairing

EDIT Spoke too soon in a way I suppose

On Autosport

Formula One champions Renault would have signed Kimi Raikkonen for next season had he not been committed already to Ferrari, team boss Flavio Briatore said on Friday.

Ferrari say they will confirm their 2007 line-up on Sunday, with widespread expectation that Raikkonen will join from McLaren and seven times world champion Michael Schumacher announce his retirement.

Renault's champion Fernando Alonso is switching to Mercedes-powered McLaren in a deal announced last December.

"We tried to have Raikkonen," Briatore told reporters after free practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

"We did not really expect to lose Fernando and we moved a little bit late. Kimi chose to sign this pre-contract with Ferrari and good luck," he added. "We will try to beat him next year.

"Sure, for me the dream was to have Fernando and Kimi," said Briatore. "But what is not possible is not possible.

"We try to do whatever we think is the best and Raikkonen's commitment was made very early with Ferrari. We believe, we presume, that he will be driving for Ferrari next year with (Brazilian Felipe) Massa."

Renault announced on Wednesday that their Finnish test driver Heikki Kovalainen would be partnering Italian Giancarlo Fisichella next year, with Briatore also signing up for another two years at the helm.

The team boss said he did not see anyone better than Kovalainen on the market and dismissed suggestions that he was too inexperienced and not a big enough name.

"Kovalainen is quite a big name. It's very long," he joked.

"Everybody was very happy because the name was very long and big. Montoya was short but unfortunately he was in another series.

"Everyone is talking about how he has no experience. This is utter rubbish. Montoya has experience and he's not in F1 any more," added Briatore.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, a seven times race winner, left McLaren for the U.S.-based NASCAR series in July.

Briatore, who oversaw Schumacher's first two titles with Benetton, paid tribute to the German but suggested also that it was time the 37-year-old called it a day.

"There's no doubt that Massa was quicker in the last two or three Grands Prix," he said.

"Formula One is strong enough to lose an important driver. We lost (Ayrton) Senna and Senna was a star. Nobody believed that one day we would have a Formula One without Senna.

"If Michael decides to stop, I believe it is the right way for him," he said.

from www.autosport.com/news

Brazilian Felipe Massa topped the times at the end of Saturday's final free practice session for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, the Ferrari driver dominating the second half of the morning running.

Massa clocked a best time of 1:21.665 around the old Autodromo Nazionale, where despite resurfacing work, the drivers have called for major safety revisions.

He wound up three tenths of a second ahead of BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, with Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher third, half a second adrift.

Massa was the only driver to break the 1:22 barrier.

Robert Kubica was fourth in the second BMW, ahead of world champion Fernando Alonso in his Renault.

The conditions were slightly cooler on Saturday morning, after heavy overnight rainstorms, thunder and lightning having lit up the old park on Friday evening. The air temperature was 27°C and the track temperature was 34.

The session began in clear conditions under blue skies on a dry circuit and featured all the drivers in the early running for installation laps.

The first major incident came when McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen went off circuit at the Ascari chicane, but he recovered to rejoin the normal route on the asphalt.

In the early stages, Honda's Jenson Button, who had suffered a dismal Friday, was among the pace setters, and he led the times after 25 minutes ahead of Massa and Raikkonen.

Just before the half-hour mark, Massa clocked the fastest lap to go top of the times and arouse a cheer among the thin band of scarlet scuderia supporters around the track. There appeared to be fewer spectators than on Friday.

Massa remained top for the next half an hour ahead of Button, but Raikkonen soon recorded a lap time that put him second to the delight of the tifosi many of whom clearly believe he is heading to their team for 2007.

Several drivers were pushing harder in the second part of the session, and among those to take off-circuit excursions or miss the chicanes were Nico Rosberg (Williams), Rubens Barrichello (Honda) and Heidfeld, who had difficulties at the Variante della Roggia.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:21.665 12
2. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (M) 1:22.052 + 0.387 13
3. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:22.257 + 0.592 14
4. Kubica BMW-Sauber (M) 1:22.280 + 0.615 12
5. Alonso Renault (M) 1:22.371 + 0.706 15
6. Fisichella Renault (M) 1:22.412 + 0.747 15
7. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:22.682 + 1.017 11
8. Barrichello Honda (M) 1:22.835 + 1.170 18
9. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:22.915 + 1.250 11
10. Klien Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:23.081 + 1.416 11
11. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) 1:23.244 + 1.579 17
12. Button Honda (M) 1:23.295 + 1.630 15
13. Rosberg Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:23.334 + 1.669 8
14. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:23.467 + 1.802 15
15. Coulthard Red Bull-Ferrari (M) 1:23.536 + 1.871 9
16. Webber Williams-Cosworth (B) 1:23.599 + 1.934 8
17. Speed Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:23.659 + 1.994 20
18. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Cosworth (M) 1:23.777 + 2.112 20
19. Albers MF1-Toyota (B) 1:24.186 + 2.521 17
20. Monteiro MF1-Toyota (B) 1:24.541 + 2.876 14
21. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:24.549 + 2.884 25
22. Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda (B) 1:24.717 + 3.052 19

Yamamoto goes and ruins it for everyone!!

As always from www.autosport.com/news

Finn Kimi Raikkonen grabbed pole position for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix with a dramatic last-gasp lap in qualifying on Saturday.

His effort, clocked at 1:21.484, enabled him to outpace Ferrari's seven-time champion Michael Schumacher by just 0.002 with only a few seconds of the session remaining.

It meant an 11th pole of his career for the Finn, who is apparently bound for Ferrari in 2007, and pushed the Italian squad out of pole position for their home race at the Autodromo Nazionale.

German Nick Heidfeld was third fastest behind Schumacher for BMW Sauber ahead of Brazilian Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari. Defending world champion Fernando Alonso ended up fifth on the grid in his Renault after a puncture wrecked his hopes in the final third session.

Briton Jenson Button was sixth for Honda, Robert Kubica seventh for BMW, and Italian Giancarlo Fisichella was eighth in the second Renault.

Alonso's puncture - a high speed tyre failure on his right rear wheel - upset his hopes, but not completely end them as he brought the car back to the pits and rejoined the fray in an exciting final session.

The final session was only a few minutes old when drama erupted. Alonso, on a flying lap, suffered a right rear tyre failure.

After a bright and clear morning, qualifying began with air temperatures of 28 degrees Celsius and a track temperature of 42 degrees. Most of the seats in the main stand opposite the pits were taken, but there were still enough gaps to be of concern to the promoters.

A red flag after five minutes caused an eight-minute delay. This was caused by a tyre failure on the left rear wheel of Japanese Sakon Yamamoto's Super Aguri Honda, which left a stream of pieces of debris on the circuit. The session was stopped and restarted eight minutes later after the debris had been collected off the track.

At that stage, veteran Briton David Coulthard topped the times in his Red Bull Ferrari ahead of Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi in his Toro Rosso Cosworth, but both Michael Schumacher and Alonso remained in their garages.

After the restart, Brazilian Massa, the fastest man in the morning session and winner of his maiden Grand Prix in Istanbul two weeks ago, went to the top for Ferrari ahead of Pedro de la Rosa in a McLaren Mercedes-Benz.

Soon after this, Schumacher, seeking to win and rekindle his hopes of an eighth title, was out on the track to take over at the top ahead of fellow-German Heidfeld, with Kimi Raikkonen third for McLaren.

As the first mini-session ended, Alonso emerged and the Spaniard swiftly delivered the second-best time behind Schumacher while Austrian Christian Klien in a Red Bull Ferrari went off at the Variante della Roggia.

This first part saw the elimination of Tonio Liuzzi, Dutchman Christijan Albers of Midland, Australian Mark Webber in his Williams, Portugal's Tiago Monteiro in the second Midland and the two Aguri drivers, Yamamoto and fellow-Japanese Takuma Sato.

The second session started promptly and Alonso was out swiftly to set a fast time of 1:21.526. Schumacher followed almost immediately, but was unable to better his rival and after the first runs it was Alonso, Kubica and Nick who led.

Massa, however, made light work of their efforts by clocking a 1:21.225 to take command and dominate the closure of the second session ahead of Kubica, Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher. Heidfeld was fifth and Alonso sixth.

The eliminated six were Italian Jarno Trulli, for Toyota, Germany's Nico Rosberg in his Williams, Ralf Schumacher in his Toyota, Coulthard, American Scott Speed in his Toro Rosso and Klien.

Italian GP qualifying breakdown Session 1 Session 2 Session 3
Pos Driver Team Pos Time Lap Pos Time Lap Pos Time Lap
1. Raikkonen McLaren M 4. 1:21.994 4 3. 1:21.349 3 1. 1:21.484 11
2. M.Schumacher Ferrari B 1. 1:21.711 3 4. 1:21.353 3 2. 1:21.486 11
3. Heidfeld BMW M 3. 1:21.764 3 5. 1:21.425 6 3. 1:21.653 11
4. Massa Ferrari B 5. 1:22.028 3 1. 1:21.225 3 4. 1:21.704 11
5. Alonso Renault M 2. 1:21.747 3 6. 1:21.526 3 5. 1:21.829 11
6. Button Honda M 10. 1:22.512 4 7. 1:21.572 6 6. 1:22.011 11
7. Kubica BMW M 8. 1:22.437 4 2. 1:21.270 6 7. 1:22.258 11
8. de la Rosa McLaren M 7. 1:22.422 5 10. 1:21.878 6 8. 1:22.280 11
9. Barrichello Honda M 14. 1:22.640 4 8. 1:21.688 6 9. 1:22.787 11
10. Fisichella Renault M 9. 1:22.486 3 9. 1:21.722 7 10. 1:23.175 11
11. Trulli Toyota B 6. 1:22.093 6 11. 1:21.924 6
12. Rosberg Williams B 11. 1:22.581 5 12. 1:22.203 6
13. R.Schumacher Toyota B 13. 1:22.622 7 13. 1:22.280 6
14. Coulthard Red Bull M 12. 1:22.618 6 14. 1:22.589 8
15. Speed Toro Rosso M 16. 1:22.943 8 15. 1:23.165 9
16. Klien Red Bull M 15. 1:22.898 6 16. No time -
17. Liuzzi Toro Rosso M 17. 1:23.043 9
18. Albers Midland B 18. 1:23.116 5
19. Webber Williams B 19. 1:23.341 6
20. Monteiro Midland B 20. 1:23.920 5
21. Sato Super Aguri B 21. 1:24.289 8
22. Yamamoto Super Aguri B 22. 1:26.001 4

Advantage Ferrari.

I hope the BMWs stay quick and give Alonso a hard time to pass.

Yes cos i've never seen Ferrari win.

I wouldn't mind seeing another team like BMW- Sauber Or McLaren to win this weekend.

Not really too bothered about the Ferrari- Renault situation

Hot off the Ferrari International Aid and the Cheating "Chin" Production studios

Below is the full decision by the Italian Grand Prix stewards on the matter of Renault driver Fernando Alonso:

A report was received from the race director that stated that the driver of car No. 1, Fernando Alonso, had impeded another driver during qualifying, mainly Felipe Massa, car No. 6.

The stewards after hearing the explanation of both the drivers, their team managers, and having seen video evidence and data supplied by Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, find that:

1. Fernando Alonso was on his out-lap and, having been caught by Felipa Massa, did impede him;

2. To impede another driver during the qualifying practice session is an offence. (Article 116b of the 2006 Formula One Sporting Regulations);

3. Such actions may not have been deliberate.

The stewards determine that a breach of the regulations has occurred during qualifying practice and by virtue of the provisions of the 2006 Formula One Sporting Regulations Article 112 order that the best three laps set by Fernando Alonso in the third period of qualifying be deleted.

Signed by Tony Scott Andrews, Enzo Spano and Alessandro Tibiletti


World champion Fernando Alonso has been relegated to 10th place on the grid for impeding Felipe Massa during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix.

Alonso, who had qualified in fifth position, was summoned by the Monza stewards after Ferrari driver Massa complained that the Spaniard had blocked him during his final run.

"On Q3 on my last run, I came up behind Alonso who was also setting out on his quick lap. I lost at least three tenths," said Massa after qualifying.

Alonso said he had not blocked the Brazilian, but the Monza stewards thought differently and have penalised the Renault driver, who will start the race from 10th place.

Alonso got his three fastest laps deleted.

The penalty means he will start eight positions behind championship rival Michael Schumacher, who is 12 points behind him in the standings with four races to go.


and to cap it off I found this on another forum.

Guess who is smiling!

Toad of toadhall.