A Good Weekend For Ferrari but Not Great.

The only thing that could have been better for Ferrari in Turkey was to have Michael Schumacher finish first and Felipe Massa second, but even so first place for the Brazilian and third for the German netted 16 valuable points that brought Ferrari within two points of Renault in the constructors’ championship.

In all probability Schumacher would have won, all things being equal, but Michael lost out when the safety car was deployed on the 13th lap and he had to wait behind Massa while they were serviced in the pits. Then Michael blistered his second set of Bridgestones pushing overly hard to make up time while running with a heavier fuel load than his two rivals. His performance in the closing laps was mighty, but those two factors militated against the victory that would have decreased the gap to Alonso.

Instead, the Spaniard opened it out by two, and it is 12 going into the final four races. So it was good and bad news after all. From a sporting perspective, Massa’s victory was most welcome, making him the second first-time winner of the season after Jenson Button.

The other good news for Ferrari and Bridgestone was that they had race pace, against the expectations of Renault and Michelin. As both Schumacher and Alonso stress continually, the championship will be won or lost on tyre performance.

We will have to see what happens in two weeks in Italy, but things still aren't over for Schumacher and Ferrari.

Massa Gets his First Pole!

Massa is on the pole with Schumacher right next to him. Alonso qualified in thrid place but things dont look to good for Alonso with two Ferraris in front of him. Hopefully it will be a good weekend for the Ferrari Squad and there will be a victory to celebrate Sunday.

Kimi Rumors Continue to Fly

Mercedes to keep Raikkonen at McLaren?

Following news that Mercedes will buyout McLaren, rumours are circulating that the carmaker has offered Raikkonen $64 million to stop him from going to Ferrari for at least another two years. This adds another twist in the tale to the Finn's future considering the drawn out speculation over a supposed option that Ferrari has on the 26 year old.

The possible retention of Raikkonen at McLaren was reported in Germany's popular daily newspaper 'Bild' on Wednesday, who are also keen to fuel speculation that Mercedes are about to increase its stake in the Woking-based team.

I hope Kimi picks Ferrari personally.

Will Anyone Remember Michael Schumacher?

If you ask Jacques Villeneuve the answer is no. Jacques was quoted as saying, "I think the day he hangs up his helmet people will just forget him. I don't even think Michael will live on in people's memories as strong or as long as [Alain] Prost has - certainly not as strong or as long as [Nigel] Mansell has. Those people attained a hero status that Michael never has and never will. Michael simply isn't a great champion because he's played too many dirty tricks and because he isn't a great human being. He thinks he's bigger than the sport, too, but he isn't. And when he retires, and no one really remembers him, that will become clear."

Those are some pretty arrogant comments from a second tier driver who got paid like a top tier driver. I personally am glad to see characters like Montoya and Villeneuve leave the sport. They always blamed others for their mistakes and losses and were two of the most arrogant drivers in the sport. Just my two cents.

Michael Schumacher Was Made An Informal Offer From BMW

Mario Theissen has now admitted that BMW made an approach to Michael Schumacher about the German joining the team in 2007. "Sure, we talked, but we did not have a serious discussions about it."

It was reported that BMW-Sauber offered Ferrari's 37-year-old, whose future on the grid beyond 2006 is uncertain, $100m a year.

Theissen would not be drawn on the specifics of any offer, but said: "Whoever is in my position and does not think about Michael, is doing the wrong thing." He said BMW can not at the present time offer Schumacher a winning car."Only by 2008 do we want to be winning races." Theissen insisted.

100m a year is a pretty amazing offer. It might damage his legacy to take it and drive a losing car, but even with over 1 billion in earnings 100m a year is a pretty attractive offer.

Ferrari 599 Test Video

This is a video from 5th gear where they test drive the new Ferrari 599. Unfortunately the review of the car wasn't very good. He said Ferrari took this car to the next level but that it just wasnt as exciting as the F430. Now that is exactly an apples to apples comparison there but he did compare it to the Corvette Z06 which is a better comparison in my opinion and he liked the Corvette better on the track.

A Bad Day For Michael Schumacher And Ferrari At Hungary

It was a bad weekend for Michael Schumacher and Ferrari that started during qualifying. Michael ended up scoring only one point which was a lucky point at that. He was only able to score a point because BMW were under wieght at the end of the race, allowing Michael to slip in and steal the last point. It could have been much worse though if Fernando Alonso hadn't had problems with his rear tire that took him out of the race. All in all 10 points is still possible for Michael to take back but who knows, only time will tell. Overall it was an exciting race that brought out the rain tires for the first time this season.

The overall results of the race are below.
Pos Driver Team Points

1 Jenson Button Honda 10
2 Pedro de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes 8
3 Nick Heidfeld Sauber-BMW 6
4 Rubens Barrichello Honda 5
5 David Coulthard RBR-Ferrari 4
6 Ralf Schumacher Toyota 3
7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 2
9 Tiago Monteiro MF1-Toyota
10 Christijan Albers MF1-Toyota
11 Scott Speed STR-Cosworth
12 Jarno Trulli Toyota
13 Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda
Ret Fernando Alonso Renault
Ret Kimi Räikkönen McLaren-Mercedes
Ret Vitantonio Liuzzi STR-Cosworth
Ret Nico Rosberg Williams-Cosworth
Ret Giancarlo Fisichella Renault
Ret Christian Klien RBR-Ferrari
Ret Mark Webber Williams-Cosworth
Ret Sakon Yamamoto Super Aguri-Honda
DSQ Robert Kubica Sauber-BMW

Kimi Raikkonen On Pole For Hungary

Kimi Raikkonen took advantage of the qualifying penalties given to title rivals Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher, to grab pole position for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix.

The focus at the start of Sunday's race is for once likely to be on the middle of the grid, where Schumacher and Alonso find themselves.

Alonso was given a two-second penalty for each of his flying laps as punishment for his practice shenanigans on Friday. The Renault driver veered in front of Red Bull tester Robert Doornbos before braking sharply in what stewards called a "unnecessary, unacceptable and dangerous" move.

He was also punished for overtaking under a yellow flag but almost before those penalties could sink in this morning, Schumacher found himself hauled before the stewards. He was also docked two seconds for overtaking two cars under red flags.

That leaves Schumacher starting 11th, four places ahead of Alonso, whom he trails by 11 points in the Championship. Schumacher benefited from Jenson Button's practice misery. The Brit was docked 10 places for an engine change after his Honda burst into flames this morning and he starts 14th.

Its not all bad news for Ferrari though since Felipe Massa just missed having his maiden pole position by 0.267secs but the Ferrari driver nevertheless lines up second.

Times
01 K. Räikkönen McLaren 1:19.599
02 F. Massa Ferrari 1:19.886
03 R. Barrichello Honda 1:20.085
04 J. Button Honda 1:20.092
05 P. de la Rosa McLaren 1:20.117
06 M. Webber Williams 1:20.266
07 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:20.759
08 G. Fisichella Renault 1:20.924
09 J. Trulli Toyota 1:21.132
10 R. Kubica BMW 1:22.049
11 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:20.623
12 M. Schumacher Ferrari 1:20.875
13 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:20.890
14 C. Klien Red Bull 1:21.207
15 F. Alonso Renault 1:21.364
16 T. Monteiro Midland F1 1:23.767
17 V. Liuzzi Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:22.068
18 N. Rosberg Williams 1:22.084
19 S. Speed Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:22.317
20 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:22.967
21 C. Albers Midland F1 1:23.146
22 S. Yamamoto Super Aguri 1:24.016

Ferrari Rumors Continue To Fly

Rumors continue to fly that Kimi Raikkonen will be moving to Ferrari for the 2007 Formula One Grand Prix season to drive alongside Michael Schumacher. Bild newspaper quotes an unnamed "McLaren insider" as saying that the Finn has made up his mind, in favour of Ferrari. Only time will tell if this is true but it looks very likely we will see Kimi and Michael racing together. I'm not sure how it would work for Ferrari as Michael has always been number 1. I personally would really like to see Kimi join Ferrari as I believe he is the best replacement for Ferrari when Michael Schumacher does decide to call it quits.