It's Rubens!

[Kex]

Finally Rubens has beaten Schumi fair and square!

Brawn and Todt wouldn't have dared to make him let Schumi through.

[eatapc]

Who'd have thought that a 1-2 Ferrari romp could be so exciting? I was on the edge of my seat for the last 10 laps. Team orders sure make things interesting.

[Mr V]

Congratulations to Rubens, he deserved it IMO, wonder what would have happened had the hearing not been happening this week?

[Suzy]

I am really pleased for Rubens but I fear that I am also cynical and believe the lack of "switching places" has something to do with a hearing in Paris on Wednesday...

I shouldn't be cynical but I will try and behave. Rubens won fair and square, JPM and DC was a racing accident (as illustrated later in the race by several "near misses" between other drivers), Kimi got a podium and Panis finished in the top 10!

[freud]

Heroic win by Rubenho!

Though I agree with Suzy...

[Kex]

Eddie Jordan must be tearing his hair out! That's twice this year that his cars have collided. And remember this same race five years ago? Ralf and Fisi colliding at the first corner....surely Jordan are due some better luck.

Anyway I think it would have been extremely brave of Ferrari to switch the places, under the current circumstances.

[Mr V]

Originally posted by Kex
Eddie Jordan must be tearing his hair out! That's twice this year that his cars have collided.

I hope Fisi apologized to Taku about the incident, Just as Taku was man enough to apologize to Fisi back in Maylasia!

[EERO]

Europe: Grand Prix
MT : M.SCHUMACHER 1'32.226
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
P. No Pilote Team - Moteur Pneus Ecarts/Trs Moyenne Arrêts
1. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari B 1h35'07"426 194.666 Km/h 2
2. 1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari B + 0'00"294 194.656 Km/h 2
3. 4 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes M + 0'46"435 193.095 Km/h 1
4. 5 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW M + 1'06"963 192.409 Km/h 1
5. 15 BUTTON Renault M + 1'16"943 192.077 Km/h 2
6. 8 MASSA Sauber Petronas B 1 lap(s) 1
7. 7 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas B 1 lap(s) 1
8. 14 TRULLI Renault M 1 lap(s) 2
9. 12 PANIS BAR Honda B 1 lap(s) 1
10. 17 DE LA ROSA Jaguar Cosworth M 1 lap(s) 1
11. 21 BERNOLDI Arrows Cosworth B 1 lap(s) 2
12. 11 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda B 1 lap(s) 2
13. 20 FRENTZEN Arrows Cosworth B 1 lap(s) 2
14. 25 MCNISH Toyota M 1 lap(s) 2
15. 23 WEBBER Minardi Asiatech M 2 lap(s) 2
16. 10 SATO Jordan Honda B 2 lap(s) 2
17. 24 SALO Toyota M 9 lap(s) 2
18. 22 YOONG Minardi Asiatech M 12 lap(s) 3
19. 16 IRVINE Jaguar Cosworth M 19 lap(s) 2
20. 6 MONTOYA Williams BMW M 33 lap(s) 0
21. 3 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes M 33 lap(s) 0
22. 9 FISICHELLA Jordan Honda B 34 lap(s) 3



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non official results - Information: http://www.f1-live.com

[Damon]

Originally posted by Suzy
I am really pleased for Rubens but I fear that I am also cynical and believe the lack of "switching places" has something to do with a hearing in Paris on Wednesday...

I shouldn't be cynical but I will try and behave. Rubens won fair and square, JPM and DC was a racing accident (as illustrated later in the race by several "near misses" between other drivers), Kimi got a podium and Panis finished in the top 10!

I too agree that the timing is somewhat fortunate shall we say. That is not to say the the victory wasn't deserved but he won less fairly here than in Austria. Had they been allowed to race I think schu would have got it easily.

[EERO]

Originally posted by eatapc
Who'd have thought that a 1-2 Ferrari romp could be so exciting? I was on the edge of my seat for the last 10 laps. Team orders sure make things interesting.

David Hobbes sure made it funny. I was convinced that up until the exit of the final corner that Ruybens would pull over and let TGF by. That spin by Michael made things complicated. If the gravel trap had not been paved over, he would have been stuck for sure, and out of the race.

Its too bad about Montoya and Coulthard as well-it was great racing a a flukey angle of contact after JPM's spin that took them both out.

[Liz]

I think it would have been even more ludicrous than Austria if TGF had swarmed through -- he would have had to keep on driving back to Switzerland without stopping in Parc Ferme!

But what is also interesting is that the Speed Channel people all agree that Rubens is racing TGF as equally as anyone has ever raced him -- within the parameters of Team Orders -- and this perhaps is what has TGF so scared!

[enemy-ace]

Originally posted by eatapc
Who'd have thought that a 1-2 Ferrari romp could be so exciting? I was on the edge of my seat for the last 10 laps. Team orders sure make things interesting.

All I could think was that it is pretty sad when the most exciting thing about a race is the politics of a certain team.

[R]

Originally posted by EERO
If the gravel trap had not been paved over, he would have been stuck for sure, and out of the race.

The same thought struck me. Just TGF's luck - when he has a rare spin, it happens in the best possible place for him.

To me, Ferrari went a long way of redeeming themselves today. I didn't think they would instruct Rubens to let TGF through - that would just have been too much. And if they had, I'm sure TGF wouldn't have passed him this time - he sure as hell doesn't need another reaction like the one he received after the Austrian fiasco.

[eatapc]

Originally posted by enemy-ace
...pretty sad when the most exciting thing about a race is the politics of a certain team.

It's a little sad, and a little funny, but at my age I'll take excitement wherever I can get it.

With a new, more powerful engine ready at Ferrari, the rest of the year looks pretty bleak for those who aren't dedicated tifosi.

[R]

[Mania]

I thought it was an excellent race. The opening lap was exciting. I liked the way Ralf dusted off Montoya in the first corner - unfortunately the Ferraris were quick to dust off both the Williams BMW's as well!

Rubens drove really well and deserved this win. Its nice to see a different face at the top of the podium, especially since Rubens deserved a win after Austria.

Drivers of the race - Rubens, Bernoldi, and Massa. All Brazilians! Bernoldi did really well to get up from 21st place and Massa held of Heidfeld really well.

[R]

Originally posted by Mania
I liked the way Ralf dusted off Montoya in the first corner

You would, wouldn't you! That was a great duel for the lead, and I was sure they would touch. I screamed: "NOOOOO!!! It won't work!!!" But it did, and kudos to them both for not taking each other off.

[freud]

Originally posted by Mania

Drivers of the race - Rubens, Bernoldi, and Massa. All Brazilians! Bernoldi did really well to get up from 21st place and Massa held of Heidfeld really well.

I would disagree slightly... I didnt pay attention to Bernoldi at all so I wont know how he did but Massa had a lucky day. Fact is that Heidfeld outqualified Massa by 0.5 seconds and was faster on the track. He had a flawless race except for the poor launch control which saw him drop behind Massa on the first lap. Obviously he didnt wanted to attack Massa as it would've created havoc in the Sauber pits.

[MrTTraces]

well done rubens

you deserve it

[f1manoz]

Rubens took a well-deserved victory yesterday at the Nurburgring. He led from almost the very start to the finish of the race and justifiably so. Schu finished second, but looked quite pleased with the result. No doubt in some small way this was payback for Austria.

However, I disagree with the comments that Rubens couldn't have held off Schu if they did fight. At no time during the race did Schu look like getting past, and when he spun off lost any chance to win. The only reason he got close at the end was Rubens simply backed off, and it was a formation finish from lap 50 onwards.

Ferrari dominated the entire race and were in a league of their own. If they'd pushed the entire way, even though there was no need, they would have lapped the entire field quite easily.

Other notable performances and non-performances:

Raikkonen gets another podium with a consistent and quick run. He really hounded Ralf there for a while and would like to have seem him pass, but as he said, there was little point.

Trulli blew a possible podium, and definete points position, when he went off at the first corner, as he showed throughout the rest of the race that he had the speed to stay with the top 6.

Massa was impressive holding off Heidfeld, and that was an exciting race long battle between the Sauber pair. And at no time did they look like clashing..... unlike the Jordan pair, who did it again. But this time Fisichella was the culprit with a silly move on the first corner. And it got from bad to worse in his 100th GP when he retired early on.