2006 CHINESE GRAND PRIX POSTSCRIPT
Alonso thinks tires will prove pivotal in two-race title showdown
INDIANAPOLIS, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2006 – Fernando Alonso has predicted a very close fight with championship rival Michael Schumacher in the last two races of the FIA Formula One World Championship.
Schumacher won the Chinese Grand Prix on Oct. 1 in his Ferrari while Alonso finished second in his Mild Seven Renault. They are now tied in the points with 116 each.
“We will try to improve and to win every race,” Alonso said. “Sometimes we can and sometimes not. (In China) we had a great opportunity, and we lost at the end with weather conditions that were not favorable for us.
“For Japan and Brazil, we need to believe in our tire. At the moment both cars, Renault and Ferrari, have been since quite similar in terms of performance, and each race is dominated by the tires. So hopefully Michelin can give us something more for the last two races.”
The Japanese Grand Prix will be Oct. 8 and the season finale in Brazil will be Oct. 22. Next year’s United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be June 17.
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Constructors Championship wide open: Renault leads with Constructors World Championship by one point over Ferrari, 179-178. Last year, Renault won the title for the first time as the maker of both the chassis and engine. Ferrari has won the championship a record 14 times.
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Schumacher closes on impressive feat: Michael Schumacher’s victory in China was the 91st of his career that includes five wins in the United States Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
If he can win one of the two remaining races this season, Schumacher will tie the combined victory total of the two drivers who are second and third in the record books. Alain Prost earned 51 wins, and Ayrton Senna won 41 times.
Having announced that he will retire at the end of the season, these will be the last two F1 races of Schumacher’s career.
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Speed hammer: There is a massive amount of construction going on in China, and some of it was happening very, very close to American F1 driver Scott Speed.
“I stayed right next to the circuit in a hotel that is under construction because they seem to like to hammer above me and on all sides of me throughout the night!” he said.
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Spyker confirms engines and driver: Spyker, the new owners of Midland MF1 Racing, have announced that the team will switch from Toyota to Ferrari engines next year.
“This announcement completes the first chapter of Spyker MF1 team and I believe truly illustrates our commitment and ambition,” team director Michiel Mol said. “We are in F1 to be competitive.”
Driver Christijan Albers has been confirmed for another season.
“This is just crazily exciting,” Albers said. “First I get to keep my place in the team, then it becomes a Dutch team and, best of all, they’ve agreed to pay me. It doesn’t get better than that going into the third year of my F1 career.”
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New directors: The Grand Prix Drivers Association, the drivers’ group that helps promote driver and circuit safety and oversees other driver interests, has elected a new board of directors. Fernando Alonso, Ralf Schumacher and Mark Webber replace David Coulthard, Michael Schumacher and Jarno Trulli.
“We have 22 drivers,” Alonso said, “and we all have a lot of respect for each other. Safety…is the GPDA’s main thing. All 22 drivers work perfectly OK, and there is only one direction to go and to promote safety for drivers in F1. To work with Mark and Ralf will be good.”
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Karthikeyan remains at Williams: Narain Karthikeyan, who last year became the first F1 driver from India, will remain with WilliamsF1 in 2007 in the same testing role he has this season.
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Korea to join championship: A Korean Grand Prix will be part of the FIA Formula One World Championship starting in 2010, Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone and Korean officials announced Oct. 2.
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2007 USGP tickets: Three-day “Season Passes” for the 2007 United States Grand Prix, June 15-17, are on sale for $60 to all customers. All other reserved seats will go on sale Wednesday, Nov. 1.
Ticket information can be found any time at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com or by calling the IMS Ticket Office at (800) 822-4639 or (317) 492-6700. Ticket Office hours are from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (ET) Monday-Friday.
